Improvements in and relating to Road Transport Vehicles for Oil and like substances and Fittings thereof.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Road Transport Vehicles for Oil and
like substances and Fittings thereof.
"
THOMAS DAVIES, 30, Strand Street, Liverpool, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows: -
This, invention, relates to improvements in road transport vehicles for
like substances, and also to the fittings.
and
Heretofore the transport vehicles which have been used for hawking petroleum
and like oils have in a general way been constructed with a cylindrical tank
placed upon a carriage, which is run on four wheels, and drawn by one or more
horses.
:
Now the objects of this invention are--firstly: to lighten the vehicle, and
secondly to reduce, as far as possible, the cost of production, and it will be
clearly seen that by running these vehicles on four wheels, which necessitates a
front carriage and circle, that there is a great amount of superfluous weight.
I attach to the tank wagon tank itself (steel cylindrical tank) two angle bearers
riveted firmly to the tank and to these the springs of the vehicle are attached
one on either side. The shafts of the vehicle are also attached to these angle
bearers and the wheels in the usual way to the springs. This angle bearer has
a projection at the back end of the tank and to this I secure a leg or a foot in
such a position that it will prevent the tank up-turning when the horse is not in
the shafts. In fact the tank will rest in such a position that it will enable a
person at any time to bring the tank to its normal position by pulling down on
the shafts.
To these angle bearers I also attach a can box, which is frequently carried with
petroleum transport vehicles. The measure rack which is usually carried under-
neath tank is secured to the angle bearer and the leg or foot, previously
mentioned. The seat of this vehicle I secure to the tank wagon tank itself. In
this manner I entirely do away with the carriage and two front wheels-which
reduces the weight of the vehicle about 7 cwts.
I also further reduce the weight of the vehicle by entirely doing away with
the cab for the driver, leaving only the seat attached to the tank as before
mentioned and in its place I provide an umbrella weather guard which may be
adjusted to any convenient position by the driver.
In some cases, I. may find it advisable instead of having an angle bearer riveted
to the tank to have the shafts extended so that they form a carriage for the
tank wagon tank. In this case the tank would be secured by hoops in a similar
manner to those at the present time in use.
A further item which has added to the expense of these transport vehicles is
the foot valve, which it has been found necessary to attach in order to guard
against accidents. The draw off cocks of these vehicles stand out some 8" or 9"
beyond the rear end of the wagon, and on several occasions this has received a
blow, which has caused the cock to be either knocked off or damaged, so that

page_text: the contents have run off. The way this difficulty has been overcome is by
placing a foot valve constructed so that the valve portion is underneath the tank.
These valves are operated by a lever from the top of the tank; this necessitates a
considerable amount of mechanism, viz.: a lever, a stanchion, a stuffing box,
bracket, and a length of pipe, which by this invention are entirely done away
with, and is substituted by placing a specially designed cock underneath the
tank, so that no portion of it projects beyond the rear end of the tank, and so
that it may be operated by a hand lever, and is connected with the draw off
nozzle by a short length of flexible hose which is secured in a convenient manner
so that the filling measure may be supported by it. I don't wish to limit this
part of my invention to a flexible hose, as I find it in some cases more convenient
to use a piece of metal piping. When this is attached I reduce one portion of the
piping so that it is considerably weaker than any portion of the specially designed
draw off cock, and it will be clearly seen that should any accident happen by
which the draw off nozzle received a blow, the metallic pipe would snap off at
the weak spot, and no serious accident, causing loss of the contents, would happen,
and this pipe and nozzle are so designed that if such an accident happened they
may be easily replaced at little cost.
I may also add that this form of foot valve not only does away with a consider-
able amount of expense but also a very considerable reduction of the total weight
of the vehicle.
Dated this Prontinth of I
1000
Improvements in and relating to Road Transport Vehicles for Oil and
like substances and Fittings thereof.
THOMAS DAVIES, 30, Strand Street, Liverpool, Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in road transport vehicles for oil and
the like substances, and also to the fittings.
Heretofore the transport vehicles which have been used for hawking petroleum
and like oils, have in a general way been constructed with a cylindrical tank
placed upon a carriage, which is run on four wheels, and drawn by one or more
horses.
Now the objects of this invention are:-firstly, to lighten the vehicle, and
secondly to reduce as far as possible the cost of production, and it will be
clearly seen that by running these vehicles on four wheels, which necessitates a
frout carriage and circle, that there is a great amount of superfluous weight.
This invention will be more clearly understood, by the aid of the accompanying
drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved road transport vehicle running on
two wheels.
Fig. 2 is an end elevation partly in section.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2 A is the tank (steel cylindrical tank) to the sides
of which are securely rivetted two angle-bearers B, one on either side, to these
angle bearers are attached the springs C in the usual manner and the wheels 1)
in turn attached to the axle and the axle to the springs.
On the drawings, the axle is shown straight, in some cases I prefer to have it
hent in order to give plenty of clearance to the tank.

page_text: The shafts E are also suitably attached to the angle-bearers B by bolts or other-
wise, and I provide a leg F in order to support the vehicle when there is no horse
in the shafts; this is also suitably attached to the angle-bearer, having a stiffen-
ing leg F as will be seen in Fig. 1.
The angle-bearers B are carried beyond the end of the tank, so as to form a
support for the can rack G. H are the brake blocks, one on each wheel; these
are operated by the hand wheel H¹, through the spindle H2, forked lever H³,
shaft H and levers H shaft H which is supported by the bearings H6 which
are attached to the angle-bearers B. H7 is a screw thread on the end of the
spindle H operating in the moveable nut in the lever H. The thrust of the
spindle H is taken up by the bearing H" attached to the angle-bearer B on the
right hand side of the vehicle.
It is usual for road transport vehicles for oil and the like substances, to carry
standard measuring cans, to measure the liquids drawn off.
These have previously been carried in wooden boxes, placed underneath the
tank at the back of the vehicle; now I entirely do away with this box, and sub-
stitute a rack I of wrought iron or other suitable material, which is attached
partly to the leg F before mentioned, and partly to the under side of the can
box G.
The latter part I of this rack is arranged so as to catch the sloping part of the
measure J, which enables the measure to be kept hard up against the front
portion I of the measure rack.
The seat is attached by wrought iron brackets K to the forward end of the
tank. L is the footboard M is the step, both of which are attached to the
shaft. N is the manhole collar, and N¹ my patent cover No. 1244593
The lamp brackets are usually attached to the under side of the seat, by
arranging the parts thus, it will be seen that I entirely do away with the front
wheels and circle, the wooden carriage, & wooden measure box, and cab. In
place of this cab I sometimes attach as a guard against the weather, an umbrella,
which may be adjusted by the driver, to any suitable angle at his convenience;
A further item to which I attach considerable importance in my invention, is
the abandoning of the old style of footvalve, which also enables ine to abandon
the lever, stanchion, stuffing-box, bracket, and a length of pipe. In my Provisional
I explain why it was previously found necessary to adopt a foot-valve, and it
will be clearly seen that I overcome the objections that are therein described by
placing the draw-off valve Q, so that no portion projects beyond the end of the
tank, but as it is necessary to have the draw-off nozzle Q standing out some
eight or nine inches from the back end of the tank I attach this nozzle by a
bracket or chain Q from the under side of the can box, and connect it with the
draw-off cock by means of a flexible tube Q3 (this attachment is made by a
union nut Q to enable it to be easily replaced) and it will be seen should any
accident happen, causing the nozzle to be knocked by a passing vehicle, or other-
wise, it would not be materially damaged, and there would be no loss of the
liquid contents of the tank.
I have found it in some cases preferable to connect the nozzle with a piece of
rigid tubing which is weakest at point near the draw-off valve, that is;-I
reduce the metal down, so that this point is considerably weaker than elsewhere;
the object of this will be clearly seen, should the nozzle receive a blow, the nozzle
and pipe will break off at this weak point, and as its cost is very small, and can
easily be replaced, little damage is done.
Another arrangement which I find is very satisfactory to connect the nozzle
with the draw off valve, is by means of a short piece of lead piping slightly bell
mouthed at each end, and screwed against a tapering outlet on the draw-off cock
by a union nut screwed to the same, the nozzle end of the lead pipe is secured
in a similar manner.
When these vehicles are used in the streets for delivering liquids, it is necessary
always to remove the handle of the draw-off cock before restarting, as it has been

page_text: found that they have occasionally been tampered with resulting in the loss of
oil, and to make it doubly certain the cock is shut off before the attendant
removes the handle, I attach a guard which enables the handle to be removed
only, when the cock is shut off; I wish it clearly to be understood, that I do
not limit the use of this draw-off apparatus to this style of road transport vehicle
only, as it may be adapted to those four wheeled vehicles at present in use, or as
may be in the future, also that the angle-bearers B before mentioned might be in
a similar manner secured to a four wheeled vehicle, and adapted to carry the
springs and front circle etc.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, declare that what
I claim is-
:..
(1) Road transport vehicles for oil, and the like substances, having an angle-
bearer secured to each side of the tank to which is attached the springs, the
shafts, the brake, the back leg (if there is one) substantially as described and
illustrated.
(2) In road transport vehicles for oil and the like substances, the combination
of a tank, two angle bearers, springs, shafts, brake, back leg, can box, measure
rack, drivers seat, and draw-off cock substantially as described and illustrated.
(3) A draw off valve constructed so as to be attached to the under side of the
tank, and so that no vital part projects beyond the end, a draw off nozzle sus-
pended from the under side of the can box by a chain or bracket and connected
to the draw off valve by a piece of flexible pipe or hose, substantially as described
and illustrated.
(4) A draw-off valve constructed so as to be attached to the underside of the tank,
and so that no vital part projects beyond the end, a draw off nozzle connected to
the draw off valve by a lead or similar soft metal pipe substantially as described.
(5) A draw off valve constructed so as to be attached to the underside of the
tank and so that no vital part projects beyond the end a draw off nozzle connected
to the draw off valve by a metal pipe, reduced at a point near the valve leaving
it considerably the weakest spot substantially as described.
Datod this 20th T of Wush 1200