A MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS WITH CARRIAGES IN DESCENDING HILLS, OR IN OTHER PERILOUS SITUATIONS
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD.
Boys, Junior, of Rochester, in the County of Kent, Gentleman, send.
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,.
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Fourth day of April, in the third year of His reign, did,.
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Edward Boys, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Edward Boys, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Edward Boys, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exer-
cise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed,.
my Invention of "A MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING ACCIDENTS WITH
CARRIAGES IN DESCENDING HILLS, OR IN OTHER PERILOUS SITUATIONS;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Edward Boys, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's.
High Court of Chancery within. six calendar. months next and immediately.
after the date of the said in part recited Letters; Patent, as in and. by the,
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully, and at large appear..

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edward Boys, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon
(that is to say):
My Invention consists in applying certain arrangements of apparatus to the
axle of various descriptions of carriages, whereby a person may be able to
obtain a friction (similar to the skidding of a wheel) to retard the progress of
the carriage without the necessity of stopping the carriage for that purpose.
And in order that my Invention may be fully described and understood, I
will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 shews an arrangement of my apparatus as applied to a four-
wheeled carriage. a being a skid pan of the form described in Figures 5 and 6,
which is affixed to the base y, on which rest the arms b, b, which come
together at the top, as shown in the Drawing. c is a lever having its fulcrum
at d, in a bearing which is affixed to the axle: To one end of the lever c is
attached the descending arms b, b, by means of a bolt e. To the base y, which
is bolted to the skid pan, is attached the rod or chain f, which is attached to
any convenient part of the carriage, in like manner to the chain of the ordi-
nary skid, but I prefer that the same should be so attached as to obtain a
pull as nearly in a direct line with the skid as possible. 9 is a strap or band
affixed to one end of the lever'c, and connected with the roller or windlass m,
and from this roller m there is another strap or band i attached to the end
of an arm that is fixed on the top of the arms b, b, as shewn in the Drawing.
This roller m turns on a piu affixed to the hind part of the carriage,
and may be actuated by any person sitting near it; or in place of the
roller m being fixed behind the carriage, it may be fixed conveniently for tho
driver. In this case the straps g and i may be conducted over small rollers to
the roller m, and if required the same straps 9 and i may be continued on to a
windlass or roller affixed to the pole of the carriage so as to be used by a
postilion. It should be observed that the roller m is of two diameters, to suit the
difference of the length which the strap 9 & i have to pass through. Now
it will be evident that if it be desired to produce friction, and thus tend to
retard the carriage in case of descending a hill or the running away of the
horses, the guard or other person may, by turning the roller or windlass m,
bring the skid pan over the arms b, b, to press on the ground, thereby raising
the wheel gradually from the ground, and thus produce a similar friction as the
placing a skid pan under one of the wheels; and when it will be required to

page_text: remove the friction, then all that will be necessary will be to turn the roller m
in the opposite direction, and the skid pan a will be raised off the ground, and
the wheel will again rotate upon the ground. If this machine or apparatus
were affixed to the axle on the outside of the hind wheel, instead of within, a
greater degree of safety would be preserved, by reason of two of the points of
pressure of the carriage being extended to a greater width from each other;
but I am aware also that in these cases some attention is necessary to be paid
to appearances.
Figure 2 is another arrangement, differing chiefly in the manner of
combining the lever c and the descending arms b, b. In this instance the
lever c stands at right angles with the wheel in place of being parallel with it.
The lever c has its fulcrum at d, and turns horizontally thereon. At one end
is formed a toothed rack, which takes into the teeth formed on the circular
plate p, which turns freely on the axle of the wheel, the descending arms b, b,
being attached to this plate by a pin, as shewn. 9 is a chain or link connected
to the plate p, and to the lever c. Now if similar straps g, i, be attached, as
before described, to the other end of the lever c, and connect with the roller m,
or otherwise, it will be evident that by the moving the lever c a similar result
would be effected as in Figure 1, that is, the wheel may be raised from the
ground, and the skid pan may be lowered down or the wheel may be lowered
to the ground, and the skid pan raised up as required, without stopping the
carriage. In Figure 1 the lever may be arranged either with an upwards or
downwards pull or action, as is most convenient to the form of carriage to
which it is applied; and as a further means of guarding against accidents in
case of the horses running away, and to give an additional friction, I would
recommend that the arms b, b, with a similar base pan and rod, but without the
lever c, be suspended from the axle of the opposite hind wheel, the radius of
which machine (measuring from the axle to the base) is somewhat greater
than the wheel. If this be hooked up from the ground to a convenient height
by a chain, strap, or cord, it will only be necessary when required to use the
same to release the strap, and that side of the coach, together with the adjacent
wheel, will be immediately raised from the ground to a height equal to the
difference between the shoed arms and that of the wheel; but in this instance
the carriage must be stopped and backed off as in ordinary cases to release the
skid. I would recommend also that the horses be at all times somewhat
checked in their speed at the moment of skidding, in order that the action may
not be too sudden to cause the rod or chain to break.
What I claim is the combining and affixing the common jack or lever
movement b, b, and c, having the skid or shoe a as above described, and

page_text: actuated by the bands or straps b connected with a windlass or roller to be
fixed at any convenient position of the carriage where it may be desired to be
acted on, either by the guard behind, the coachman in front, or by others in
the carriage, or by the postilion, having in that case the roller affixed to the
pole, depending only on the position of the roller or windlass.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Boys, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.