A New or Improved Protector for the Outside Seats of Omnibuses, Tramcars, and other Seats.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 21st Feb., 1894-Accepted, 31st Mar., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Protector for the Outside Seats of Omnibuses,
Tramcars, and other Seats.
I, GEORGE HERBERT SWEET FARRANT, of Bemerton, Salisbury, Corn
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object to provide seats, and more especially the outside
seats of omnibuses, tramcars, and other public vehicles, with an automatically closing
cover for protecting the seat from dust and rain, so that passengers may not suffer
the discomfort of sitting upon wet seats, even in rainy weather.
The seat protector is pivoted on end gudgeons supported in the seat frame, so that
it may either be lowered upon the seat or turned up at the back thereof, and is so
weighted that it always tends to assume the former position when the seat is
unoccupied.
It may be constructed of a wooden cover or of a light frame covered with
waterproof material and suitably padded on the underside, so that when raised it
will form a comfortable back support for the occupant of the seat.
Dahi and don of Lany 1894
G. H. S. FARRANT,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
COMPLETE STE
A New or Improved Protector for the Outside Seats of Omnibuses,
Tramcars, and other Seats.
I GEORGE HERBERT SWEET FARRANT, of Bemerton, Salisbury, England, Corn
Merchant, 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 has for its object to provide seats, and more especially the outside
seats of omnibuses, tramcars, and other public vehicles, steamboats, public parks,
etc., with a combined seat-back and automatically-closing cover for protecting the
seat from rain, snow, and dust.
The combined seat-back and cover is hinge-jointed to the seat frames in such
manner that when raised it will form a rigid back for the seat, but always tends to
fall down upon and cover the seat, so that when the latter is unoccupied it will be
protected from rain and dust without any attention on the part of the passengers or
conductor.
The combined seat back and protector may be constructed of a wooden or metal
cover or of a light frame covered with waterproof material, and may be suitably
padded so that when raised it will form a comfortable back support for the occupant
of the seat.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this
Specification, wherein
Figure 1 is a perspective rear view of the seat with the combined seat-back and
cover closed down upon it, and

page_text: Figure 2 is a perspective front view of the seat with the cover raised to form
a back for the seat.
Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section with the combined seat-back and cover
raised.
The same letters of reference are used to denote like parts in all the figures.
A is the seat formed of cross-bars in the usual way, or solid, and either flat or
curved, as shewn, or of any other suitable shape, said seat being supported on the
usual standards B, and C is the combined seat-back and cover hinged at D to
rearwardly and upwardly projecting arms b forming extensions of the seat
standards B, the hinges being formed between these arms band arms c attached to,
or forming part of, the standards c' of the seat-back and cover, said arms c projecting
or being offset from the rear side of the latter, so that when the seat back is
raised, its centre of gravity will not be in the vertical plane of the hinges but will
be situated so far forward thereof, by reason of the offset or rearward projection
of the arms c that it will not remain in the raised position when the seat is
unoccupied.
The hinges D are provided with stops formed by the end c² of the arm c
projecting beyond the hinge-knuckle and abutting against the shoulder formed by
the upper end of the arm b, so as to limit the movement of the hinge in one
direction and afford a rigid support for the back C when raised, as shewn in
Figure 2.
The combined seat-back and protector corresponds to the flat or shaped form of
the seat, as the case may be, and is formed of the standards and of wooden
cross-rails e¹ e affixed thereto, a sheet of waterproof fabric, metal, or wood, E
being stretched over the rear or upper side of the frame and extending beyond those
edges which correspond to the ends and rear of the seat, the overhanging edges of
the covering permitting the rain to drip off free of the seat and preventing it creeping
between the seat and its cover.
The uppermost rail e¹, or both rails, may be padded on the face, if desired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1st. A seat provided with a combined back and cover adapted to fold down
upon and wholly cover the seat and to be raised so as to form a back therefor, the
said combined back and cover being so hinged to the seat frame that when raised
it will be supported rigidly against backward pressure, but will fall forward by its
own weight when relieved from such pressure, substantially as specified.
2nd. A combined seat back and cover constructed of a frame formed of standards
and cross-bars over which a waterproof covering is stretched, the standards being
formed with rearwardly-offset arms connected by stop-hinge joints to rearwardly
and upwardly projecting arms on the seat frame, the stops of the hinges limiting
the motion in the rearward direction, so that when raised, the back will be rigidly
supported against backward pressure and retained in such position that the
centre of gravity of the back will be in advance of the vertical plane of the hinges,
so that the back will fall forwards upon the seat when relieved from backward
pressure, as specified.
Dated this 21st day of February 1894.
G. H. S. FARRANT,
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.