Improved Step Frame for Carriage Box Seats.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Sept., 1899-Accepted, 9th Dec., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Step Frame for Carriage Box Seats.
I, RIDLEY JAMES URQUHART, of 57, Barton Arcade, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention, which has been communicated to me by Wilhelm Reeck, of
46, Queberstrasse, Koeslin, Prussia, Carriage Builder, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement: -
This invention relates to carriages and similar road vehicles, more particularly
to four-wheeled vehicles, and consists in an improved arrangement or construction
of a step frame for ascending the driver's or box seat at the front wheel.
Ordinarily either no steps are used or only one step, the person ascending the
box seat stepping upon the wheel nave, the step and the tyre, which is incon-
venient especially when the roads are dirty, and often causes accidents if the
horses start during the mounting. These inconveniences are obviated by the
improved step frame which can be applied both to new and to existing carriages,
and is so arranged that the part above the top and in front of the wheel can
be readily removed when the wheel is to be taken off.
On the drawing appended hereunto, Figures 1 and 2 represent a dog-cart fitted
with the improved arrangement of step frame and Figures 3 to 6 represent details
of the same.
The improved step frame consists of a fork-shaped frame composed of a strut
fixed upon the front wheel axle at the back of the wheel, a tread extending over
the top of the wheel and a step carrier hanging from the tread in front of the
wheel and fitted with steps. It is made in two or more pieces connected together
so that the tread and step carrier can be readily removed.
Preferably it is constructed in the manner shewn on the drawings of three
parts, B, C and D, and hereinafter described.
Upon the axle A a strut B is fixed, which at its upper end is forked into two
parts a, a, Figure 3, which terminate in pins a a. Upon these the two
tubular back legs of a three legged stool C, Figures 2 and 4 are pushed, the
top of which forms a tread t, extending across the wheel in such a manner that
the wheel can turn freely between the said legs bb and the third similar leg 1
hangs down in front of it. Into this hollow leg the stirrup shaped step
carrier I) is inserted with its upper pin c, Figures 5, & 6 which carrier is formed
at its lower end with the step 2 and in its middle part with the lateral step t¹.
The parts C and D are connected by means of a set screw or other suitable
means.
In order to enable the step frame to be manufactured wholesale and suitable
for all sizes of wheels, the pins a and c and the tubular sockets for them are
made of such length, that distance rings or washers r r can be placed upon the
pins. By using more or less of such washers the distance between the tread t
and the axle and step 2 can be varied so that the wheel can in all cases turn
clear of the tread t.
Where the axle is what is usually called a patent axle with a cover on the hub,
as shewn on the right hand of Figure 2. the rings are preferably made of
elastic material, such as india rubber. In consequence of this arrangement,
the lowest part rests on the wheel hub, that is to say, a fixed support, when

page_text: a person mounts, and the danger of the step frame becoming bent by the one
sided load is obviated. The person mounting over the front wheel thus finds
a stationary, firm and broad tread t², and even if the horses start during the
mounting, the support of the foot is not influenced thereby.
When the carriage has an ordinary axle arranged for taking off the wheel to
grease it, the improved step frame offers a convenient means for preventing the
axle nuts from becoming detached. For this purpose a lug is forged or
fixed on the step 2 having an opening shaped to fit the nut, which when pushed
over the same renders a turning of the nut impossible. Thereby the detachment
or loss of these nuts is prevented in the simplest manner. The lug may be open
at the bottom and shaped like the jaw of a screw key:
The top tread forms a mud guard for the front wheel and may for this
purpose be extended on both sides round the wheel in order to increase its
effect.
The strut B may be fixed to the axle A in the manner shewn by Figures 2
and 3, or in any other convenient way to suit the front axle and carriage.
Instead of the tread 2 having tubular legs, these may be solid and the parts B
and ]) formed with tubes instead of pins, or equivalent sliding parts may be
used. The improved step frame offers the following advantages:
1. Absence of danger in mounting the box seat even while driving.
о
2. The necessity of using this step under all circumstances, which prevents
the mounting or descending out of recklessness or inattention in the usual
dangerous way.
3. A saving of clothing as this will not come as easily into contact with the
dusty or dirty wheel tyre as with the usual arrangement.
4. A mud guard for the front wheels formed by the top tread, and
5. The securing of the nuts on the wheel axle where these are not enclosed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is: :-
1. The construction, arrangement and use of a step frame for the driver's box
of carriages consisting in a forked frame embracing the front wheel one leg of
which frame forms a strut fixed to the wheel axle while the other leg and the top
are detachably pushed upon said strut, the leg being provided with steps, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes herein before described and illustrated by the
drawings.
2. In a step frame constructed as specified in Claim 1, forming the top of the
same as a broad tread or step with a leg descending in front of the wheel, and
connecting the step carrier adjustably thereto, substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated by the drawing.
3. In a step frame constructed as specified in Claim 1, the use and arrangement
of packing rings or washers for the purpose of adjusting the distance of the top
of the fork from the wheel, part of which rings may be elastic and so placed
that the lowest step is pressed upon the wheel hub by the weight of the person
mounting, substantially as and for the purpose described and illustrated by the
drawings.
4. In a step frame for the box seat of carriages having a step carrier in front
of the wheel, the arrangement on the bottom step of a lug holding the nut which
secures the wheel to the axle and preventing it from turning and falling off,
substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 6 of the
drawings.
Dated the 2nd day of September 1899.
R. J. URQUHART, C.E.,
Chartered Patent Agent, Manchester, and Liverpool.