IMPROVEMENTS IN HANSOM CABS AND SIMILAR VEHICLES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Hunt, of 31, Walnut Tree Walk, in the
Parish of Saint Mary, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Practical
Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HANSOM CABS AND
SIMILAR VEHICLES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO
OTHER CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 17th October 1856, and dated the 19th April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Hunt at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th April 1856.
I, EDMUND HUNT, of 31, Walnut Tree Walk, in the Parish of Saint Mary,
Lambeth, in the County of Surrey, Practical Chemist, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HANSOM CABS AND SIMILAR
VEHICLES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER
CARRIAGES," to be as follows, that is to say:-
My Invention consists of an arrangement by which the opening and closing
of the door or doors or other means of entrance and exit to carriages is placed
under the complete control of the driver thereof, without the necessity now
existing of his leaving his seat or reins to close or open the same, and by
which Invention the passenger or passengers may be saved much trouble and
inconvenience, and are less liable to injury from accidents. Instead of the

page_text: usual doors in Hansom cabs and similar vehicles, I have a screen or apron
or door made of suitable material or materials capable of being wound and
unwound round or upon a roller, the said roller being placed transversely
under the bottom or foot board of the vehicle, and secured in its position by
proper bearings. By a simple arrangement of levers, or by guides, bands, and
wheels, or other suitable contrivance, I enable the driver to wind the said
apron, screen, or door on or off from the roller, and cause the same to be
raised or depressed to close or open the entrance to the vehicle to any
required extent, or completely, if desired. The said apron, screen, or door
passes below or under the foot-board or bottom of the vehicle, and is com-
pletely out of the way of passengers when depressed, and may be also there
enclosed in a case or otherwise suitably protected from dirt, &c. by a shell or
cover.
Or, instead of the above-named, or a similar screen, door, or apron
being arranged or worked off and on a roller, as above described, I can
accomplish the same purpose by causing the same to slide in or to be raised
and depressed as required in grooves with pullies or on guides, by means also
of levers or other suitable mechanical contrivances under control of the driver
when he is seated in his place, passing also under the foot board or bottom
of the vehicle, and between the said foot board or bottom I have an outer
case or bottom, which will also act as a guide for and will serve the purposes
of protecting and preserving the screen or door when not required to be
raised or closed.
Further, by another arrangement to enable the driver of Hansom cabs
and similar vehicles to open or close the doors as at present constructed
without leaving his reins or seat, I place or fix under the floor or bottom
of such vehicles two levers, the ends of which work in or through semi-
circular slots in the foot or stepping board, and are attached to or com-
municate with the doors of the cab or vehicle; the other ends of the said
levers are connected to two other levers, which last are attached to a disc or
wheel by a pin or bolt in such a manner, that by the revolution or partial
revolution of the said wheel or disc the two sets of levers are acted upon, and
cause the doors to be opened and closed. The wheel or disc is put in motion
by an endless band or any simple mechanical contrivance by the driver. It
is evident that a sligth modification of this arrangement of apparatus will
enable the same to be easily applied to box cabs and other carriages, that the
doors may be opened jointly or separately, and that the passenger or passen-
gers can have control over the opening or closing of the door or doors as
well as the driver.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edmund Hunt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
HUNT, of No. 31, Walnut Tree Walk, in the Parish of Saint Mary, Lambeth,
in the County of Surrey, Practical Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Edmund Hunt, Her special licence that I, the said Edmund Hunt, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edmund
Hunt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN HANSOM CABS
AND SIMILAR VEHICLES, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO
OTHER CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Edmund Hunt, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be
filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Royal Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that the said Edmund Hunt, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
My Invention consists, firstly, of an improved door or arrangement for
closing the passage of ingress or egress in Hansom cabs, and giving to the
driver the means of opening and closing the same from his driving sent, which
I accomplish by using some flexible material or suitable arrangement of other
material to allow of the same being wound on to or off a roller, which roller
I place in a suitable position under the cab, the apron or screen of flexible
5 material being wound on to or off the same through a slot in the stepping
board by means of a band or chain placed within reach and under the controul
of the driver, enabling him to unwind and draw up the apron or screen, thus
I
closing the passage into the cab, the reverse motion opening the same.

page_text: also have a communication inside of the cab between the band or chain for
unwinding or winding on the apron or screen to the roller, thus giving to the
passenger as well as driver the means of closing or opening the passage into
the cab.
Secondly, of the adaptation of mechanical contrivances to cabs as at
present in use, for the purpose of enabling the driver of the vehicle to open
and close the doors of the same from his driving seat. This I accomplish by
attaching the doors to spindles, the ends of which pass through the stepping
board or bottom of the cab; to these, ends I fix cranks, which I connect by
means of rods to a long lever, having its fulcrum under the seat of the cab
on the outside of the same, the long end of the said lever being within reach
of the driver of the vehicle; the movement of this lever acting upon the rods
and cranks gives a partial revolution of the spindles, the doors being attached
are consequently opened, and closed. Or, I fix under the bottom of the cab
two discs or wheels, the centres of which are placed under the bottom and
under the doors of the cab in the bottom or stepping board. In that part
between the horse screen and doors I have two semicircular slots cut through,
corresponding to the discs or wheels placed underneath; through these slots
I connect the doors to the discs or wheels, so that when they are made to
revolve they carry the doors with them, opening or shutting the same. I
cause the discs to revolve by means of- rods connected to the end of a lever,
as described in the last arrangement, or by means of bevil wheels, or any other
mechanical contrivance. These improvements will be clearly understood by
reference to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, with the figures and the
letters of reference thereon, the letters referring to each Figure separately.
Fig. 1 is a side view in section of part of a Hansom cab with flexible apron
or door attached, and Fig. 2 a plan of roller with grooved pulley attached;
Fig. 3 shews the bar as arranged on the top of the cab with the bands
attached; Fig. 4 is a side view of the cab with the mechanical adaptation for
opening the doors affixed; Fig. 5 is a plan of the arrangement of the con-
necting rods with the levers and cranks; Fig. 6 represents a plan of another
arrangement for opening the deors of cabs by means of cams and levers; and
Fig. 7 is a detached view of one of the levers connected to the spindle of the
.door.
In Figs. 1 and 2, a represents the side of the cab; b, the roller upon
which the flexible apron or door, is, wound; c, the groove, or guide for the
apron when being drawn up or down; d shews the apron partly drawn up
and on the roller; e, a band attached at one end to the apron d, passing
between and over guide pulleys.f, the other end of the band is fastened in the

page_text: groove of the pulley g; his a rod passing over the top of the cab, and to
which the bands or chains e, arranged on both sides of the cab, are attached;
i, a handle connected to the band to enable the passenger to draw up or down
the screen. It will be clearly seen that by the driver pulling the bar h
towards his seat the apron d will be pulled up, the passage into the cab being
closed, and the band e will be wound on the pulley g; on forcing the bar in
the opposite direction the band is unwound, the apron d being at the same
time wound on the roller b, thus opening the passage into the cab. The
bands e may be arranged between the lining and cab side, or may pass through
tubes arranged inside of the cab.
Fig. 3 shews the bar has arranged on the top of the cab with the bands e
attached: It is not absolutely necessary to employ the bar right across the
top of the cab for the purpose of pulling the bands, as the same effect may be
accomplished by bringing the connections of the bands either to one side of the
cab or at the top in the middle; but I prefer the employment of the bar aš
being most simple, and less liable to derangement.
In Fig. 4, a is a side view of a cab, shewing the levers band b¹ attached
to the spindle c working in suitable bearings at d; the levers 6 and 61
act upon the rods e and f connected with the crank g, which is fixed by
a hinged joint to the spindle h, which spindle is made fast to or carries
the doors. It will be seen that by the movement of the long lever b toward
the seat the connecting rods e and f will be forced forward and act upon the
cranks g, causing the spindle h to move on its axis, as will be more clearly
explained in Fig. 5, in which a represents the stepping board or bottom of the
cab. 6, 6, are the levers; the connecting rods are shewn at, c and. f, f, f
attached to the cranks g with hinged joints,. shewn at the bottom of the
spindle h; i, i, are guides arranged to determine the rise of the cranks g, by
which they are accommodated to the inclination of the spindles h; j repre-
sents a radial bar upon a pivot or centre at ¹ loosely jointed to the connecting
rod f. When the lever b, shewn fully in Fig. 4, is pulled by the driver
towards his seat, the spindle c moves on its axis, forcing the lever b¹ in the
direction of the arrow, the radial arm j causes the connecting rod f and
crank g nearest it to come the first into action, thus starting the overlapping
door first; the reverse action takes place on drawing the rods and cranks
back, the overlapping door being the last to start. k and I are the doors.
Fig. 6 represents an arrangement of propelling curves or cams combined
with a slot by means of which I encrease the arcs described by the cranks,
and the extent of movement of the spindles to which the doors are attached,
enabling me to move them through a full half circle. a is the body of the pro-

page_text: pelling arrangement; b, b¹, the curves or cams; and c, a slot cut in the body;
e, connecting rod to moving power; g, g, the cranks connected to the spindles
h, h, and doors k, l. On the ends of the cranks g I-arrange small rollers upon
a pin, as shewn at r, Fig. 7. It will be observed in the Drawing that the
cranks are arranged at obtuse angles with the door; upon moving the pro-
peller forward in the direction of the arrow the curved sides of the propeller
are brought into contact with the rollers r at the ends of the cranks, by which
the cranks are moved inward, and by continuing the forward motion of the
propeller the rollers r enter the groove or slot c, as shewn by the dotted
lines s.
When the doors are turned fully back the arrangement will have the
position shewn by the dotted lines t; the reverse motion is easily understood.
I so arrange that one of the curved sides of the propeller comes first into
action to enable me to open the overlapping door first.
Having thus fully described the nature and particulars of my said In-
vention, and the manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it
to be distinctly understood that I claim the mechanical arrangement for
opening and closing the doors of Hansom cabs, and also the arrangements
for the flexible door or apron, part or parts of which arrangements or con-
trivances are applicable to other carriages, as herein described, and illustrated
in the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Hunt, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Edmund Hunt, in the presence of
E. J. HUGHES,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
EDMUND HUNT. (L.S.)