IMPROVE- MENTS IN LOCKS OR FASTENINGS FOR THE DOORS OF PLEASURE CARRIAGES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Brown, of Redmonds' Hill, in
the City of Dublin, Coach Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN LOCKS OR FASTENINGS FOR THE DOORS OF PLEASURE CARRIAGES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Brown
.at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th September 1872.
I, HENRY EDWARD BROWN, of Redmonds' Hill, in the City of Dublin,
Coach Builder, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCKS OR FASTENINGS FOR THE DOORS OF PLEASURE
CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to render it unnecessary for a
coachman to descend from the box of his carriage in order to open the
door.
In carrying out this Invention an ordinary or by preference a spring
lock is fitted on to the pillar of the door of a carriage whilst the striking

page_text: plate is fitted on to the door itself. To the spring bolt of the lock there
is attached a rod, wire, or chain, which is connected with the pull or
lever under the control of the coachman or driver of the vehicle, so that
when he stops at a place at which the passenger is to alight he can by
withdrawing the bolt allow the door to open. There is also a small lever
or other handle attached to the bolt on the inside of the pillar (but
entirely out of the way of dresses) by which the person inside the
carriage may if necessary open the door.
By the use of a small spring or other contrivance, which when the
spring bolt is withdrawn throws the door back about the 1th of an 1
inch, the spring bolt when. the pull is relaxed is caused to act on the
inside of the striking plate and to force the door outwards. The door
is closed by merely drawing it to in the usual way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Henry Edward Brown in the Great Seal Patent 1
Office on the 28th March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD BROWN, of Redmonds' Hill, in the City of Dublin, Coach
Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her :
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Edward Brown, Her special
license that I, the said Henry Edward Brown, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Edward
Brown, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN LOCKS OR FASTENINGS FOR THE DOORS OF PLEASURE CARRIAGES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Edward
Brown, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing

page_text: 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 Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Edward Brown, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, that is to say :—
My said Invention relates to a peculiar combination and arrangement
of apparatus of a more simple construction than has hitherto been
adopted for enabling a coachman or, driver of a vehicle to open the door
thereof without descending from his seat.
In carrying out this Invention as applied to a pleasure carriage or
brougham for example an ordinary or by preference a spring lock is
fitted on to the pillar of the door of the carriage, whilst the striking
plate is fitted on to the door itself. To the spring bolt of the lock there
is attached a rod, wire, chain, or cord which is immediately connected
with a pull or lever under the control of the coachman or driver, so that
when he stops at a place at which the passenger is to alight he can by
withdrawing the bolt allow the door to open. The pull is of bent iron
and as will be seen from the description acts directly upon the bolt of
the lock in the pillar without the intervention of any lever whatever,
thus rendering the apparatus both simple, economical, and more efficient
in its action as it is not so liable to get out of order as when a combi-
nation of several levers and springs is employed. A small lever or
other handle is attached to the bolt on the inside of the pillar (but
entirely out of the way of dresses) by which the person inside the
carriage may if necessary open the door..
By the use of a small spring or other contrivance for throwing the
door back about one-quarter of an inch or more when the spring bolt is
withdrawn, the said spring bolt is permitted on the release of the pull
to act on the inside of the striking plate and consequently to force the
door outwards. The door is closed by merely drawing it to in the usual
way.
It is obvious that the same disposition of the locks and lock plates is

page_text: by the combination therewith of a simple connection for actuating the
bolts simultaneously the opening of all the doors of a railway carriage
may be effected by the sole action of the guard.
Behind each lock there may be fitted a bell crank lever working on a
horizontal pin at its angle or elbow. From the end of one of the arms
of this bell-crank lever there is suspended a small flat iron bar which
passes down behind the lining boards and through the frame of the
carriage to a distance of about two or three inches below the frame, a
slotted opening being formed in the lower end of such bar. A round
iron bar is attached to the framing of the carriage near to this slot,
which bar is caused to rock or revolve part way round by means of a
lever handle secured thereto and situate at one end of the carriage con-
venient to the hand of the guard in passing along the train. Short arms
project from the said rocking bar and enter the slots of the several flat
bars before referred to, so that when the rocking bar is partly rotated
the projecting arms thereon will draw down the several slotted bars
and draw back the bolts of the locks, which latter operation is accom-
plished by causing the end of the second arm of the before-mentioned
bell crank to engage with a slot in the end of the bolt of the lock.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. Attaching the lock of an ordinary carriage door to the pillar
and the lock plate to the door, when the bolt of the said lock is con-
nected immediately by a rod, wire, chain, or cord without the inter-
vention of intermediate levers to a pull or handle convenient to the hand
of the driver or coachman when mounted on his box as and for the
purpose herein-before described.
Second. In combination with the above arrangement the use of a
spring or its equivalent for throwing the door back slightly when the
bolt is withdrawn, and allowing the bolt when released again to act on
the inside of the striking plate to force the door outwards as herein-
before described.
Third. The attaching the locks of railway carriage doors to the pillars
and the lock plates to the doors when the bolts of the said locks are con-

page_text: nected with a lever or pull convenient to the hand of the guard for the
purpose of simultaneously opening the several doors of the carriage as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Brown, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of
March One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
HENRY EDWARD BROWN. (L.B.)
HENRY EDWARD BROWN. (L.B.)