CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELED CARRIAGES
Year: 1821

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
GORDON, of the City of Edinburgh, in the County of Edinburgh, at present
residing in the Town of Stranraer, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fourteenth day of August, in the second year of His reign,
give and grant unto me, the said David Gordon, my exors, adññors, and
assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said David Gordon, my exors, admors, and assigns, 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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELED
CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that
if I, the said David Gordon, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the
same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages
whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as
in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
David Gordon, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention of certain improvements in the construction of wheeled
carriages consists, first, in placing each of the wheels of the carriage between
two horizontal bars or rails, in such manner that the wheels may be supported
or hung upon bearings or pivots, which pivots may be adapted to turn round
in brasses or collars fixed in the rails extending on each side of the said
wheels. By this arrangement each wheel is furnished with its own axis or
axle, having pivots formed at both ends thereof, which turn round in fixed
collars (in the same manner as the wheel of the ordinary wheelbarrow), being
entirely independant of the other wheels belonging to the carriage.
In order to render the application of my Invention clear and intelligible,
and to enable persons conversant with such matters to put it in practice,
I have hereunto annexed a Sheet of Drawings or plans; wherein Fig. 1
shews a plan of the framing adapted for a cart or two-wheeled carriage upon
my improved construction, with the body of the cart or carriage supposed
to be removed, in order to explain my Invention; Fig. 2 shews an elevation
of the same. (Note.-The same characters or letters of reference are used to
denote corresponding parts upon both the Figures.)
A, A, represent the two main bars or rails of the frame of the carriage;
they project in front sufficiently to form the shafts, and are kept parallel and
maintained at a proper distance asunder by two cross pieces B, B, which
extend in width beyond the side rails A, A, and serve to support the outermost
rails C, C, in such manner as to form two oblong openings or frames of
sufficient width to receive the carriage wheels D, D. Each of the wheels
D is fixed upon a short separate axis or axle, having pivots formed at each
end; the outer pivots of the said axis or axles turn in collars which are
attached to the rails C, C, and the inner pivots turn in collars attached
to the rails A, A; the collars may be placod either on the under or
the upper sides of the rails, or through the middle thereof, as may be
found best; but I should recommend their being fixed on the under sides
of the rails, as represented in the Figure, with screw bolts passing through
the rails, to retain them in their respective situations and tighten them as
they wear away. The bearings may be supplied with oil by pouring it in
through a small hole from the upper side of the rails, which holes should be
covered by a turning plate or cap, to prevent any dust from penetrating to

page_text: the pivot; in like manner, the pivots should not pass quite through the
collars so as to expose their ends, but should be rendered somewhat convex
at their ends, to bear against the bottom of the cavity in the collars, in order
to support any shocks endways which the wheels might receive in passing
over rough roads. E, E, represent two iron bars, extending from the rails
C, C, to the shafts, in order to strengthen the frame and prevent the ends
of the rails C, C, from entangling with other carriages in passing; otherwise
inclined pieces of wood might be substituted for the iron bars, as may be found
most convenient. F, F, shews a framing of wood, placed a little distanco
above the main frame, as seen in Fig. 2, and supported by small blocks a, a,
rising up from the cross pieces B, B, in the plane of the wheels D, D, as
seen at a, a, a, a, in Figure 1. The body of the cart or carriage is placed
upon the framing F, F, which by its bearing upon the main frame at a, a, a, a,
in the plane of the wheels, does not tend to twist or strain either the main
frame or the wheels themselves, otherwise the body of the carriage might
be suspended from the under sides of the rails of the frame at the points
a, a, a, a.
Fig. 3' on the annexed Sheet of Drawings represents a plan of the framing
for a waggon or carriage having four wheels; the body of the carriage is
supposed to be removed; Fig. 4 shews an elevation of the same.
A, A, the main rails of the frame, which are kept parallel by the four
cross rails B, B, and G, G, being morticsed into them; C, C, are two pieces
lying parallel to the main rails, and mortised into the cross rails B, B; those
pieces form the openings to receive the hindermost wheels D, D, of the
carriage, the bearings or pivots of which turn in collars fixed to the rails
A, A, and pieces C, C, in the same manner as before described in the Figures
1 and 2, the cross rails G; G, having pieces H, H, mortised into them, and
these again have a cross rail I fixed to them, which carries the traverse
bolt or bolster K for the front wheels E, E, with their framing a, a, b, b, c, c,
to turn round upon when the carriage is intended to be turned in its direction.
The front wheels E, E, are mounted upon short axes or axles, having a
bearing and support in the pieces b, b, c, c, on each side of each wheel (as
before described for the hindermost wheels).
L, M, Figure 4, represent two circular frames of wood, placed horizontal and
lying in contact with each other (similar to ordinary four-wheeled carriages);
they are fixed concentric with the traverse bolt or bolster K, and serve to
steady the front wheels and their framing in turning. The wheels may either
have the axis or axles fixed fast in their centres, and be made with pivots
or bearings to turn in fixed collars, as herein-before described, or they may

page_text: have boxes fixed in the naves of the wheels, adapted to turn upon nxea
bolts or arms extending across each of the openings where the wheels are
to be fixed, always observing that the said bolts or axles do not extend across
the framing of the carriage from one wheel to the other.
Having shewn how and in what manner the first part of my improvements
is to be carried into effect, it remains for me to explain what part thereof I
consider as my Invention, as I wish it to be observed that I do not claim the
Invention of placing the wheels upon axis or axles and supporting them on
the outsides of the wheels, the same things having before been used, neither
do I make claim to any particular part of the framing of the carriage; but I
confine my claim to the placing of each of the wheels upon a separate axis or
axle, to be supported between two bearings or rails, and without having any
bolt, axes, or axles extending across the frame of the carriage, thereby leaving
the wheels quite independant of each other, so as to allow of the load or body
of the carriage being placed or suspended (if required) near to the ground
between the wheels, and even below the level of their axis or axles; at the
same time I must state that I only claim the application of this improvement
to carriages having two, three, or more wheels. The advantages of placing
the wheels of carriages according to my improvement above mentioned are
numerous.
In the first place, I am enabled to fix the axes or axles of the wheels
horizontal (or parallel to the ground), and thereby obviate the necessity of
dishing or hollowing the wheels, and also to render their action upon the roads
Jess injurious by rolling over the ground instead of grinding upon it, as must
be the case with wheels placed in a position inclined to the direction of their
motion, such being the usual method of placing the wheels of carriages.
Second, the rail which extends along the outside of the wheel (to support
the outer pivot of its axis or axle) is an effectual defence to the wheel, and
serves to protect it from blows or shocks which it might otherwise receive by
other carriages running against it; the said rails also obviate completely the
inconvenience and risk of carriages becoming locked together by the wheel of
one carriage being forced in between the wheel and body of another carriage,
which accident tends to strain the wheels very much.
Another important advantage of my improvement is, that the axes or axles
of the wheels do not extend across the frame or bed of the carriage from one
side to the other, by which circumstance I am enabled to obtain a large clear
space between the wheels for the purpose of containing heavy merchandize,
and carrying it near to the ground for the facility of loading and unloading
the same, and furthermore without the risk of overturning, as must be the case

page_text: in carriages as heretofore constructed, with the axes or axles of the wheels
extending across the carriage from one side to the other, thereby obliging the
load to be carried at a considerable height from the ground; for the same
reason I can make use of wheels of a larger diameter than what are usually
employed, by which means the carriage would travel over rough and uneven
roads with more facility.
And, lastly, the placing of the wheels upon separate axes or axles, with a
bearing on each side and independent of each other, would be of considerable
importance for carriages to be propelled by the power of a steam engine or
other mechanical force, since the wheels could be easily acted upon separately
by the moving power, for the purpose of turning the carriage (or changing
the direction of its course); at the same time the space between the wheels
not being interrupted by the axes or axles extending across the carriage, would
admit of the steam or other engine and heavy machinery being placed in the
vacant room between the wheels near to the ground.
The second of my improvements in wheeled carriages consists in the appli-
cation of an additional wheel (to a two, three, or four-wheeled carriage),
formed like a hollow roller or drum, which drum may be caused to move or
roll along the road (in order to advance the carriage forwards), by having a
steam or other engine placed within side of it, in such manner that the engine
would tend to advance or climb 'up) the inside of the drum, and so by its
gravity to turn the drum round (in the manner of those machines termed
walking wheels, which are used in cranes, &c.), and would roll it forwards,
advancing the carriage along with it. To effect this, the drum may be
furnished with one, two, or more endless racks, extending round its inside
circumference, into which rack or racks a toothed wheel or wheels may be
made to engage, such-wheel or wheels being put in motion by the power of
the engine. By this arrangement, the toothed wheels being connected with the
engine, would, by their motion, always tend to advance up the inside of the
drum along with the engine, and turn the drum round to roll it along the road.
The toothed wheels may be kept in their places upon the racks by having
bigh ledges or projecting rims formed on one side of each of the said wheels,
such ledges or rims to bear against the sides of the racks. I should recom-
mend the above-described drum to be situated in the frame of a carriage, in
place of the large or hindermost wheels, and be connected with the frame
of the carriage by means of iron rods or arms, one end of which rods or
arms should be jointed to the axis of the toothed wheels before mentioned
within the drum, and the other ends of the rods or arms should be jointed or
otherwise fixed to any convenient part of the frame of the carriage, so that

page_text: the drum on rolling along would necessarily move the frame of the carriage
with it. The course of a carriage of this description could be directed by
turning the forewheels round (with their frame) upon the traverse bolt or
bolster, by means of a rack and wheelwork or other similar contrivanco, whilst
the facility of turning might be greatly increased by making the roller or drum
somewhat largest in the middle (or barrel shaped). The steam engine may
be constructed in the same manner as those engines used for drawing car-
riages upon railroads, and may be applied to act within the drum in various
ways.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Gordon, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.