IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES
Year: 1840

page_text: SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
Cook, of King Street Regent Street, and Liquorpond Street, both in the
County of Middlesex, Coach Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster the Twenty-second day of February, in the third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Cook, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Cook, my exors, adññors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Cook, my exors, adñiors, 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, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso that I, the said William Cook, 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 Her 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 there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Cook, do hereby declare the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascertained in
and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon (that is to
say) -
My Invention relates to that description of carriages wherein what are
called German shutters are used to close them, and the Invention consists of a
mode of constructing and applying certain apparatus to such carriages and
German shutters to facilitate the working and moving of such shutters.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood, and readily carried
into effect, I will proceed to explain the Drawings hereto annexed, and the
figures thereon, first remarking that the same letters of reference are used to
indicate similar parts wherever the occur.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a view of a German shutter having my improvements
applied thereto, the shutter being shewn as down, and the view represents
the parts in the positions in which they would appear supposing a person were
sitting in the carriage to which such shutter is applied. Figure 2 shows a
perspective and inside view of the shutter as partly down, the dotted lines
indicating the folding head of a carriage. Figure 3 shows a section of a
carriage head with a shutter and apparatus according to my Invention, the
shutter being folded out of the way at the upper part of the head of the
carriage, the other Figures showing the various parts of the apparatus which
are applied to the carriage and to the German shutter for facilitating the
moving or working of the shutter; a, b, c, being the three folding parts of the
glazed shutter, the upper part a being hinged to the frame d, which is fixed
in the head of the carriage, the middle part 6 being hinged to the upper part
a in such manner as to fold against that upper part, and the lower part c is
hinged to the middle part 6 in such manner as to fold under the part c when
up. e is what I call the spring box, which contains three coiled springs
e, e, e, in cases or barrels, which revolve on axes in like manner to clock
springs, and they can each be wound up more or less strongly, by means of a
key, on their axes, and they are retained by clicks or catches acting in the
ratchet wheels on their axes as shewn, and as will readily be understood on
examining the Drawings. f is a cord, which is fixed to the case or barrel of
the spring e', and being conducted out of the box e, passes partly under the
b

page_text: pulley g, and thence is conducted to the plate h, affixed to the upper part of
the lower portion c of the shutter; i, i, are two cords, one affixed to each of
the cases or barrels of the springs e, e, and passing out of the case e (at the
ends thereof) are conducted over the pulleys 1, 2, and are then made fast to
the projecting studs j affixed on the upper part a of the shutter, as is shewn in
the Drawings; k, k are two studs projecting from plates which are affixed to
the side frame d, which is fixed in the head of the carriage, and these studs k
may be said to become the axes of what may be called moveable hinge joints,
which are produced by means of the hooked-formed projections I, l, affixed on
the upper part of the centre portion 6 of the shutter. The various parts being
shewn separately on a full-sized scale and on a smaller scale in their places,
their nature and construction will readily be traced. m is a tassel, and n is a
strap affixed to the lower part of the shutter. Supposing the German shutter
to be closed, as shewn in Figure 1, the person sitting on the inside of the
carriage, and wishing to open it in order to let it go up out of the way, will
simply draw the strap n inwards, by which the shuttle will assume the position
shewn at Figure 2, and the shutter will then, by means of the springs, go up
into its place in the head of the carriage, as shewn at Figure 3; and when it
is desired to close the shutter, a person on the inside will take hold of the
tassel m with one hand, and draw down the shutter a short distance, and then
take hold of the strap n, and draw down the shutter with the other hand,
taking care that in the so drawing it down the hooks take around the studs
k, when those parts will act as hinges on which the parts b and c of the shutter
move, and the springs e¹, e², will then facilitate the closing of the shutter,.
and retain it closed as long as desired.
I would remark, that although I prefer to use a spring to each cord, that
is not absolutely necessary, and slight variations may be made in other parts of
the apparatus, provided the mode of action as herein described be retained.
And I would have it understood that what I claim as the Invention secured..
under the present Letters Patent is the mode of combining the parts as
herein described, and applying them to carriages for facilitating the moving or.
working of German shutters by springs.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Cook, have hereunto set my.
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Nineteenth day of August, in
the year of our Lord 1840, the aforesaid William Cook came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty..

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
Cook, of King Street Regent Street, and of Liquorpond Street, both in the
County of Middlesex, Coach Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster
the Twenty-second day of February, in the third year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Cook, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Cook, my exors, adiňors, and assigns, or such others as I
or they should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES:" And
whereas, in pursuance of a proviso in the said in part recited Letters Patent
contained, I, the said William Cook, did cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery on the Twenty-second day of August,
in the said year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty: And
whereas I, the said William Cook, am desirous to enter a Memorandum
of Alteration in the title of the said Invention, and have obtained leave of
Her Majesty's Solicitor-General, certified by his fiat and signature, according
to the form of the Statute in that case made and provided.
KNOW YE, THEREFORE, that I, the said William Cook, do hereby enter
the following Memorandum of Alteration (that is to say):-
I alter the said title of my said Invention of "Improvements in Carriages"
by adding thereto the words following, videlicet, "wherein German Shutters
are used, as to the mode of Moving and Working such German Shutters," so
that after the said alteration, the title of the said Invention will be "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CARRIAGES WHEREIN GERMAN SHUTTERS ARE USED, AS TO THE MODE OF
MOVING AND WORKING SUCH GERMAN SHUTTERS." And I also alter the said.
Specification in the recital therein of the said Letters Patent, by stating the
title of the said Letters Patent as so altered as aforesaid, instead of the title

page_text: of the said Patent before the same was altered. And I, the said William
Cook, do hereby further declare that the above Memorandum of Alteration is
not such an alteration as will extend the exclusive right granted by the said
Letters Patent.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-
first day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and forty-three.
To the Clerk of the Patents of England.
This is to certify, that William Cook, of King Street, Regent Street, and of
Liquorpond Street, both in the County of Middlesex, Coach Maker, has
applied to me for leave to enter with you the within-written Meinorandum of
Alteration of title of a certain Invention, for which Letters Patent were
duly granted to him under the Great Seal, bearing date the Twenty-second
day of February, in the third year of the reign of Her present Majesty
Queen Victoria, and of the Specification which was enrolled on the Twenty-
second day of August, One thousand eight hundred and forty. And on con-
sidering of the said application, I directed him to advertize his said Alteration
in the London Gazette, and in the Times and Morning Chronicle newspapers,
and such advertizements have been duly made in the said Gazette of the
Tenth day of this instant March, in the Times of the Eleventh day of the
same month, and in the Morning Chronicle on the Tenth day of the same
month, and no objection having been made to the said application, I have
accordingly granted leave to the said William Cook to file his said Memoran-
dum of Alteration, pursuant to the Statute passed in the fifth and sixth years
of the reign of His late Majesty, entituled "An Act to amend the Law
touching Letters Patents for Inventions."

page_text: This is the parchment writing produced and shewn to James Hertslet, and
is the same referred to in his Affidavit sworn before me, this Sixth day of
April, 1843.
D. DREW.
James Hertslet, Sub-Librarian at the Foreign Office, Downing Street, in
the County of Middlesex, maketh oath and saith, that he has the custody of
the correspondence addressed to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State
for Foreign Affairs by the Consuls and Consular Agents of this country
resident in foreign parts, and by the means aforesaid Deponent has sufficient
opportunity of becoming, and does in fact become acquainted with the
character and manner of handwriting of such Consuls and Consular Agents,
and, in particular, this Deponent has in manner aforesaid become acquainted
with the handwriting of John Freeborn, Esquire, the Consular Agent of Her
Britannic Majesty at Rome; and this Deponent saith, that he verily believes
that the name or signature and description "John Freeborn, British Consular
Agent, Rome," appearing, set, or subscribed to the acknowledgement written
in the margin of the parchment writing now produced to Deponent, marked
("A."), is of the proper handwriting of the aforesaid John Freeborn.