A NEW OB IMPROVED VEHICLE OR CAR
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hortensius Coates Simpson, of Shrewsbury, in the
County of Salop, General Merchant, for the Invention of "A NEW OB
IMPROVED VEHICLE OR CAR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hortensius Coates Simpson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.on the
17th June 1861.
I, HORTENSIUS COATES SIMPSON, of Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop,
General Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"A NEW OR IMPROVED VEHICLE OR CAR," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of a vehicle or car to be drawn by one or two horses,
tandem driven, constructed in the following manner The body of the vehicle
covers or encloses the upper halves of the wheels, and is supported on the axle
by springs five feet long attached to the shafts in the ordinary manner. The
body is connected to the shafts by means of two arched bars or stays, which,
crossing each other in the centre nearly over the axle, are continued outwards
as rest for the whole of the body and footboards, and are rivetted or screwed
to the shafts. The lower ends of each bar or stay are fixed to the lower corners
of the body, one end of each bar being fixed to the back corner of one side
and to the front corner of the other side. Moveable seats outside the vehicle
o carry from two to six persons. Two seats may be fixed
may be arranged to carry from two to six persons.

page_text: on the top nearly over the sides of the body over the wheels, and two seats
may be placed on each side of the body, about midway between the top and
bottom of the body about level with the shafts or springs. The seats on the
top may be placed so that their occupants may either look in the direction of
the vehicle's motion, or sit sideways, as in the Irish car. The seats on the
sides are placed so that their occupants sit back to back, those in front looking
in the direction in which the vehicle is moving, and those behind in the
opposite direction. The seats are all made so as to be readily fixed and
removed, and folding footboards are provided for the side seats. The horse is
much nearer the axle than in ordinary vehicles, the hind part of his body
occupying the open front part of the body of the vehicle beyond the axle. The
hind part of the vehicle forms a capacious receptacle for luggage. In the
centre between the two upper seats is space for one or two persons to sit, who
can use the luggage board for a footboard. In the paneled boxes, which are
outside the wheels and form the body of the carriage for the footboard of the
upper seats as well as of the lower seats, is a centre box or opening, in which
the bush of the wheels plays, thus reducing the width of the vehicle. The
wheels can be of any height and the axle of any length. All the seat boxes,
with rails, are moveable for the purpose of keeping them free from damp.
The vehicle or car is so constructed, that each person can hold an umbrella
up without annoyance to any other person riding. There is room for four
ordinary sized trunks without interfering with its occupants, even should there
be two, four, or six on it.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Hortensius Coates Simpson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th December 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HORTENSIUS
COATES SIMPSON, of Shrewsbury, in the County of Salop, General Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Hortensius Coates Simpson, Her special licence that I, the
said Hortensius Coates Simpson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Hortensius Coates Simpson, my executors,

page_text: 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 "A NEW OR IMPROVED VEHICLE OR CAR," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Hortensius Coates Simpson,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Hortensius Coates Simpson, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of a vehicle or car to be drawn by one horse or to bo
drawn by two horses, tandem driven, constructed in the manner herein-after-
particularly explained, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
The said vehicle or car may be arranged so as to carry four or six persons.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents in side elevation my new or improved
vehicle or car, arranged to carry four persons; and Figure 2 represents the
same in front elevation, the shafts being shewn in section.
Figure 3 represents a side elevation of the said vehicle or car arranged to
carry six persons; and Figure 4 represents a back elevation of the same.
I will describe the general arrangement of the parts of my Invention with'
reference to Figures 1 and 2. The body a of the vehicle covers or encloses
the upper halves of the wheels b, the said body being connected to the shafts c
in the manner herein-after explained. The said shafts c are connected to the
axle d by means of springs e in the ordinary manner. The said springs e are
about five feet in length. The body a is connected to the shafts c by means of
arched or curved bars or stays marked f. In Figure 1 the bars or stays f are
indicated in dotted lines. Either four of these arched bars or stays may be
employed fixed to the shafts c and to the under side of the top of the body a,.
as represented in the Drawing, or two arched bars or stays may be employed.
In the latter case each of the said stays or bars forms a complete arch.or
semicircle, and I prefer to make the said arched or semicircular bars or stays
cross each other at their middle or highest part. Each of the said semi-
circular bars or stays rests at one end on the shaft at the back of the body and

page_text: at the other end on the other shaft at the front of the body, the said semi-
circular bars being fixed to the inside of the top of the body by means of bolts
or screws, but I prefer the use of four bars or stays of the form represented in
the Drawings. On the top of the body a two seats g, h, may be fixed, the said
seats being over the vertical sides of the body, and almost immediately over
the wheels, as will be best seen by an examination of Figure 2. These
seats g, h, are placed so that their occupants look in the direction of the
vehicle's motion, as represented in the Drawings. Footboards i, i, are fixed
in the position represented in the Drawing, and the flaps k are turned upon
the boxes l, m, and reduce the width of the vehicle to the ordinary size.
Between the seats g, h, two other seats n, o, may be fixed on the top of the
body a.
These seats n, o, are so situated that the occupants may ride with
their backs to the horse, and the board p, which is fixed between the shafts c, c,
for the reception of luggage, serves as a footboard for the seats n, o. Or the
higher footboard q may be fixed upon the board p, or the seats n, o, may be
reversed, so that their occupants look in the direction of the vehicle's motion,
in which case the footboard q is fixed across the shafts at the front of the
vehicle. r, s, are steps at the front and back of the vehicle respectively; t is
the lamp; and u, the whip holder or socket. The boxes l, m, which are
fixed on the sides of the vehicle, and are furnished with doors l³, m³, serve
to hold cushions, and the moveable parts of the vehicle, when not in use,
or may be used for the reception of luggage. The bushes of the wheels
play in spaces between the boxes l, m, thus reducing the width of the
vehicle.
When the vehicle is arranged to carry six persons the seats are disposed in
the manner illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, the seats n and o being reversible.
The seats g, h, Figures 1 and 2, are removed, as well as the footboards i, i.
The flaps are opened outwards, constituting shelves, upon each of which two
seats v, tv, are fixed, the said seats being supported by the boxes l, m, as well
as by the said flaps k. The said seats v, w, are nearly on a level with the
shafts c, c, and are so placed that their occupants sit back to back, those in
front looking in the direction in which the vehicle is moving, and those behind
in the opposite direction, as will be understood by an examination of Figures 8
and 4. When the seats v, w, are used, footboards for the said seats are fixed
upon the steps r, s, as represented in Figures 3 and 4. The hind part of the
body a of the vehicle forms a capacious receptacle for luggage, the said luggage
being supported upon the luggage board p fixed between the shafts. There is
room for four trunks in the body of the vehicle without interfering with the
occupants of the seats, whether there be two, four, or six seats on the vehicle.

page_text: The hind part of the horse's body occupies the front open part of the body of
the vehicle, the horse being much nearer to the axle than in ordinary vehicles.
The wheels of the vehicle may be of any height, and the axle may be of any
length if the side boxes are left out so as to allow of the wheels working under
the seats v and w. All the seat boxes with their rails are moveable, being
fixed in their places by screws passing through holes underneath the cushions,
which said screws take into or engage with screw nuts fixed in those parts of
the vehicle to which the seats are to be affixed. When not required, the seats
may be removed to keep them free from damp. Each person occupying one
of the side seats of my new or improved vehicle can hold an umbrella up
without annoyance to the occupants of any of the other side seats. Curtains
or valances may be fixed to the fronts of the several seats, so as to defend the
legs of their occupants; but the said curtains or valances are not shewn in
the Drawings in order that the other parts of the vehicle may be the more
clearly exhibited. When the seats are arranged in the manner represented in
Figures 1 and 2, an additional lamp may be placed on either side of the
vehicle, beneath the footboards i, i, or at the front connection of the springs
with the shafts.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein-before described and represented in
the Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of my Invention; but I claim as my Invention a new or improved vehicle or
car, the several parts of which are constructed and combined or arranged
essentially in the manner herein-before described, and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hortensius Coates Simpson, havo here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness, .
GEORGE SHAW.
HORTENSIUS COATES SIMPSON. (L.S.)