IMPROVEMENTS IN INVALID CARRIAGES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN INVALID CARRIAGES."-A
communication from abroad by Auguste Quitzow, of Rue St. Sebastien,
Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 3rd October 1865, and dated the 21st April 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st April 1865.
1, HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INVALID CARRIAGES," to be
as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to so construct carriages, omnibuses, and
other vehicles as to make them impervious to the exterior air, and thus to
preserve in the interior air more or less compressed as may be thought
advisable for the transport of certain classes of invalids. To effect this the
carriage is made of strong and tenacious wood, the different parts of which
are strongly jointed, screwed, and then covered with sheet iron of a sufficient
thickness to resist considerable pressure where the iron and wood join ; caout-

page_text: chouc or other suitable material may be introduced to render these parts
completely air-tight; caoutchouc or other suitable material is also put round
the doors and windows of the vehicle for the same purpose.
The compression of the air in the carriage is caused by two small air
pumps placed in a box under the seat, and they are worked by means of a
rocking shaft and levers connected with excentrics fixed on the hind wheels.
The air from the pumps is conveyed into the carriage through a pipe passing
up the back of the carriage nearly to the top. The opening of the pipe which
admits the air into the interior of the carriage is provided with a piece of
some porous material, in order to prevent the entrance of dust or any
extraneous matters into the carriage; this porous material may be supplied
with any medicament suitable for the disease to be treated.
A small valve is placed in the roof of the vehicle in order to regulate the
degree of compression.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 20th October 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Henry Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Heury
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Henry Edward Newton, 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 "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN INVALID CARRIAGES," being a communication from Auguste
Quitzow, of Rue Saint Sebastien, Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Edward Newton, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,
or one of their bond seals, should particularly describe and ascert

page_text: 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 Newton, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of this Invention is to so construct carriages, omuibusses, and
other vehicles as to make them impervious to the exterior air, and thus to
preserve in the interior air more or less compressed as may be thought
advisable for the transport of certain classes of invalids. To effect this the
carriage is made of strong and tenacious wood, the different parts of which
are strongly jointed and screwed together, and then covered with sheet iron of
a sufficient thickness to resist considerable pressure. Where the iron and
wood join, caoutchouc or other suitable material may be introduced to render
these parts completely air-tight. Caoutchouc or other suitable material is
also put round the doors and windows of the vehicle for the same purpose.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of a carriage
constructed in this manner, and Fig. 2 a sectional plan view of the same.
The compression of the air in the interior of the carriage is effected by
means of two small air pumps P and P' placed in a box under the seat, to
which they are firmly attached in any convenient manner. The pistons k
and are set in motion from the binder wheels by means of excentrics E
and E' secured to the nave of each wheel. These excentrics are connected by
means of the rods S and S' to short levers h and h' fixed on the rock shafts
W and W. These rock shafts pass through bearings B and B' in the interior
of the carriage, as seen in Fig. 2, and rest in a bearing L placed between the
cylinders of the pumps. To these shafts a second pair of levers H and H' is
secured, to which the rods F of the pistons K and K' of the pumps P and P!
are attached by means of the forked connecting rods Z and Z'. The air from
the pumps is conveyed into the carriage through a pipe X passing up the
back of the carriage nearly to the roof.
The opening of the pipe which admits the external air into the pumps is
provided with a piece of some porous material in order to prevent the entrance
of dust or any extraneous matters into the carriage. This porous material
may be supplied with any medicament suitable for the disease to be treated.
A valve J provided with an adjustable spring N situate in the roof of the

page_text: vehicle serves to regulate the degree of compression of the air in the
interior.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that under the
above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, the construction of vehicles of all descriptions for the transport of
invalids in such a manner as to be air-tight, so as to admit of the air being
compressed therein, and prevented from escaping from the interior through a
suitably constructed valve, as herein set forth.
I also claim the mode berein described, or any modifications thereof,
for providing and maintaining an atmosphere of compressed air in such
vehicles.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
H. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)