Improvements in Adjustable Body Vehicles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd Feb., 1895
'Complete Specification Left, 25th Nov., 1895-Accepted, 18th Jan., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Adjustable Body Vehicles.
I, GEORGE WILLIAM HUTT of Appley Towers, near Ryde, in the Isle of
Wight, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in adjustable body vehicles and the object
of it is principally to prevent a heavily weighted body sticking when it is desired
to move it into a fresh position with reference to the axletree.
In carrying my invention into effect, I set the front runners.or sliders as far
forward as practicable for the purpose of relieving them of the weight of the body
as far as may be. I prefer to make them fast direct to the scroll irons. The back
runners hitherto used are, according to the present invention, dispensed with and
the body rests upon antifriction rollers supported by hangers fast to the shafts.
Beyond the foregoing, the present invention does not limit me in respect of the
details of the construction of the runners or sliders, either back or front.
The back cross bar from shaft to shaft, is used to take the thrust or strain of
moving the body in either direction. The adjusting mechanism consists of a
screw (or screws) carried by the body and engaging in a nut carried by the
cross bar.
I
The screw mechanism is operated by any suitable device, preferably, of the
crank or winch type, carried by the body within reach of the driver's hand.
The body of the vehicle may be either above the level of the shaft.or sunk down
between them.
Dated this 23rd day of February 1895
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Adjustable. Body Vehicles.
I, GEORGE WILLIAM HUTT of Appley Towers, near Ryde, in the Isle of
Wight, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:―
:
My invention relates to improvements in vehicles the bodies of which are
adjustable. The principal object of it is to prevent a heavily weighted body
sticking when it is desired to move it into a fresh position with reference to the
axletree.
In carrying my invention into effect, I set the front runners or sliders as far
forward as practicable, for the purpose of relieving them, as far as possible, of the
weight of the body. The back runners hitherto used are, according to the present
invention, dispensed with, and the body rests upon antifriction rollers. The rollers
last mentioned may be replaced by fixed surfaces having a suitable contour.
Rollers and surfaces are supported on the bar which frames up the shafts behind.
In all other respects, the constructional details of the runners or sliders, both back
and front, may be varied to any extent..

page_text: The back cross bar from shaft to shaft, is used to take the thrust or strain of
moving the body in either direction. It also serves, by reason of its connection
with the adjusting screw described further on, to prevent lateral lurching or
jumping on the part of the vehicle body.
The mechanism for adjusting the position of the vehicle body upon the shafts, is
of the screw and rut type, the screw aligned with the shafts and approximately
in or near the same plane-being made fast to the body and the nut to the back
cross bar.
The mechanism for operating the screw may be of any suitable kind but I prefer
one of the crank or winch type. Such a one is fixed to the body of the vehicle
within reach of the driver's hand.
Whether the floor of the body is in a plane higher or lower than that of the
shafts is a matter of indifference as far as the present invention is concerned.
Referring to the accompanying figures which are to be taken as part of this
Specification and read therewith.
Figure 1 is an off side elevation (omitting the off wheel) of a vehicle having an
adjustable body attached to the shafts according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 3; and the latter, a plan of a
back runner rocker.
Figure 4 is a detail sectional elevation of a back:runner and its rocker, taken on
the line 44 of Figure 6.
Figure 5 is a detail plan of the central portion of the back-cross bar and of the
off side back runner and its rocker.
Figure 6 is a rear elevation of the vehicle, partly in section.
Figure 7 is a side elevation of the off side front slider, its guide rod and their
connections.
Figure 8 is a sectional eud elevation taken on the line 88 of-Figure 7.
Figure 9 is a sectional front elevation of a modified form of front slider together
with its connections.
Figure 10 is a side elevation of the same front slider and the adjacent end of the
front cross bar.
Figure 11 is a front elevation of the vehicle partly in section.
Figure 12 is a sectional elevation of the self-adjusting nut.
Figure 13 is a side elevation of the vehicle illustrating a modified connection of
shaft end, spring and back runner.
Figure 14 is a plan of the vehicle.
Figure 15 is an end elevation of a modified form of nut.
Figure 16 is a side elevation of the same.
A is the body of the vehicle; a, its floor; b;b the shafts and c, c the front scroll
irons.
d is the front cross bar. It is a metal rod passing under the floor a, close under
the same and to the front edge thereof, in which position it is firmly held by tabs
and bolts. Its outer ends are turned upwards and terminate in sockets d', d, the
axes of which stand at right angles with the direction of the cross bar, being
thereby aligned with the direction of the adjusting motion of the body A. These
sockets are the front runners or sliders. The latter,term is hereafter used to
designate them because of their sliding motion. They may be pivotted on the ends
of the bar d, as shewn in Figs. 9 and 10. d², d² are the guide rods upon which the
sliders are moved to and fro in the act of adjusting the position of the body A.
Each guide rod d² is supported immoveably by its ends being made fast in
lugs d³, d³, depending for that purpose from the tabs d', d, of the respective front
scroll iron. These tabs are made long enough to carry the lugs d³, d³ in their
proper position with reference to the advanced position of the front cross bar.
'e is the back cross bar, extending from one shaft to the other as heretofore. As
the body A. projects below the shafts b,-b, it is bent upwards at both ends, these
bent up ends e¹, el, terminating in tabs e², e, through which it is fixed to the shafts.
The rear tabs and the respective back scroll irons e³, e³, are incorporated, thereby

page_text: providing for the fixation of the latter to the respective shaft ends. Further,
I prefer that the back cross bar, front and rear tabs and back scroll irons are
forged in one piece throughout. My invention places a back runner under each
side of the body A. f,f are metal strips 'let into the under side of the floor a,
flush with the surface thereof, for the purpose of imparting durability to those
portions of it which are destined to come into contact with the peripheries of the
runners. Each back runner consists, in its most elementary form, of a fixed
surface or an antifriction rotary surface supported on the back cross bar. Various
modifications of it are, therefore, practicable. I have shewn it in the form which
I prefer as the most useful one, viz., two rollers g, g of equal diameter, supported
with their axes parallel with each other, and at right angles with the adjusting
motion of the vehicle body, the roller bearings being supported in the ends of a
pair of bars g', g'. The two bars g', g' of a pair are held fast together by a saddle
piece g², the three together constituting what is, for the purpose of this Specifica-
tion, called a rocker. A saddle piece straddles the back cross bar e between a
pair of collars e, e, fast thereon to prevent lateral motion of the rocker upon the
said bar. The surface of the rollers 9, 9 are supported at the proper height to
bring them in touch with the floor a.
The modification of the connection between shaft end, spring and back runner,
illustrated in Figure 13 consists in the combination of an upward continuation e* of
the upwardly bent end e¹ of the back cross bar, beyond the junction of the latter
with the shaft end, a C shaped continuation e' of the spring end and a shackling
device adapted to shackle the adjacent ends of the continuations e and e' above
described, together.
The mechanism for adjusting the position of the vehicle body upon the shafts
consists of a square threaded screw h; two pillow blocks ', h¹ and a nut i. The
screw is supported parallel with the direction of the adjusting motion of the vehicle
body A in the two pillow blocks which are, themselves, fixed upon the floor a half
way between the sides of the vehicle body A, in order that the strain upon both
the latter and the back cross bar, may be central of both body and bar. The
journals of the screw are threadless, in order that the only motion possible to the
screw in respect of both the bearings and the nut i may be one of rotation about
its axis. The nut i stands up from the centre of the back cross bar through the
floor a.
It is held to the said cross bar, rigidly by flanges on both bar and nut
and bolts through both flanges. The nut i is shewn in Figures 1, 6, 11 and 14,
as made in two parts and of the same width throughout, excepting where project
the connecting tabs of the said parts. This width requires that the slot in the
floor a up through which the nut stands shall be correspondingly wide. The novel
construction of the nut is illustrated in Figure 12, and consists in adapting it to
compensate for errors in the workmanship, by providing it with trunnions 4, 4,
which project laterally from it at right angles with its axis and are supported in a
stout shell. This latter is held to the back cross bar in the same way and by
the same means as described above, i.e., by means of flanges and bolts 2.
The modification of the nut illustrated in Figures 15 and 16, consists in con-
necting the body of the nut proper to its flange 2 by a web which, standing edge
on, allows of the slot being a narrow one. Such modification is chiefly applicable
to the construction illustrated in Figure 13. The diminution in width above
referred to may be clearly seen by comparing Figures 11 and 15 in this respect.
One mechanism illustrated as adapted to operate the screw h consists of a disc
crank presenting its pin j', shaped as a grip, within reach of the driver's hand; a
shaft upon the front end of which the said disc crank is fast; a bearing j³ carried
by a hanger depending from the driver's seat, for the front journal of the said
shaft; a bearing carried in the top of a pillow block connected with the front
block h¹ by a bar 6 and, like it, fixed upon the floor a; a chain pinion j' fast upon
the rear end of the shaft ; a second chain pinion aligued edge on with the
pinion and a chain jo round the two pinions.
A second mechanism, substantially identical with
the one just described is

page_text: illustrated in Figure 1. It consists of a winch handle k fast on the front end of a
shaft adapted to rotate in a front pillow block k², of the proper heights and
slope and fixed on the floor a; a second shaft ³ adapted to rotate in a second but
lower pillow block k likewise fixed upon the floor a; a joint connecting the
adjacent ends of the shaft and k³ and making them one flexible shaft. The
:second shaft k³ is a forward continuation of the screw h, so that the pinions and
chain described above are dispensed with by the last described mechanism. The
handle presents itself near to the driver's left leg.
The invention does not limit me in respect of the details of the mechanism for
operating the screw h.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
The combination of vehicle body, shafts, front sliders, with back rockers and
runners, or equivalent fixed surfaces, screw and nut mechanism for adjusting the
position of the vehicle body and preventing lateral lurching or jumping on the part
thereof, and any mechanism for operating the said screw and nut mechanism.
Dated this 25th day of November 1895.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.