IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO WHEEL CARRIAGES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Archer, of Lea Marston, Minworth, near.
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Carriage Builder, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO WHEEL CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 23rd June 1871, and dated the 14th January 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Archer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th January 1871.
I, WILLIAM ARCHER, of Lea Marston, Minworth, near Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Carriage Builder, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO WHEEL CARRIAGES,"
to, be as follows:-
In constructing a two wheel carriage according to my Invention, I
make the body by preference of the figure of an ordinary brougham
carriage, the driver's seat being placed behind in the position of that of
a hansom cab. The said driver's seat is not however attached directly
to the carriage body, but is affixed to the door of the carriage which is
situated at the back of the carriage, the said seat turning aside with the
door when the said door is opened, thus giving free ingress and egress
to and from the carriage. I support the body of the carriage upon
springs of the kind commonly called three-quarter elliptical springs,

page_text: which springs I attach to the carriage in the following manner:-The
upper part of each spring is attached to the outside of the carriage and
immediately under the seat. The lower part of the spring passes to the
inside of the carriage through an opening under the seat, and is con-
nected at its end to the lower part of the frame of the carriage. Those
portions of the spring which are inside the carriage lie close to, and are
parallel with the sides of the carriage and are covered or concealed by a
casing. By this arrangement of the springs additional width is obtained
in the carriage without additional length of axle. The shafts are
attached to the body plate of the carriage which projects for that purpose
and the front of the carriage is made semicircular and of glass. Near
the top of the door I affix a conical roller with pulleys, cords, and
weights or springs. This conical roller carries an awning connected
with the door, which awning when the door is opened is unrolled and
rolled up on the shutting of the door. A covering is thus made when
the door is opened for any one entering or leaving the carriage, and the
padded back of the door is protected from rain.
When it is wished to have the entrance to the carriage at front I
make two doors, one opening on either side. These doors are curved to
the circular figure of the carriage body and are provided with glass
sliding frames. These frames by means of cords attached to them and
passed over pulleys inside the body and extending through the back of
the carriage may be acted upon by the driver.
When the doors are in front the shafts are constructed differently.
Edge plates are extended from the body of the carriage, on the ends of
which plates are flaps or lugs to which the shafts are attached by pins
or bolts. The said pins or bolts act as fulcra, about which the shafts.
have a limited motion. The shafts are connected at their back ends by
a cross spring or an elbow spring.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign; did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Archer, Her special licence that I,
the said William Archer, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Archer, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO WHEEL CARRIAGES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Archer,
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 William Archer, 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 :-
In constructing a two wheel carriage according to my Invention I
make the body by preference of the figure of an ordinary brougham
carriage, the driver's seat being placed behind in the position of that of
a hansom cab. The said driver's scat is not however attached directly
to the carriage body but is affixed to the door of the carriage which is
situated at the back of the carriage, the said seat turning aside with
the door when the said door is opened, thus giving free ingress and,
egress to and from the carriage. I support the body of the carriage
upon springs of the kind commonly called three-quarter elliptical
springs, which springs I attach to the carriage in the following manner:
The upper part of cach spring is attached to the outside of the carriage
and immediately under the seat. The lower part of the spring passes to
the inside of the carriage through an opening under the seat, and is
connected at its end to the lower part of the frame of the carriage.
Those portions of the spring which are inside the carriage lie close to;
'

page_text: and are parallel with the sides of the carriage and are covered or concealed
by a casing. By this arrangement of the springs additional width is
obtained in the carriage without additional length of axle. The shafts
are attached to the body plate of the carriage, which projects for that
purpose, and the front of the carriage is made semicircular and of glass.
Near the top of the door I affix a conical roller with pulleys, cords, and
weights or springs. This conical roller carries an awning connected
with the door, which awning when the door is opened is unrolled and
rolled up on the shutting of the door. A covering is thus made when
the door is opened for any one entering or leaving the carriage, and the
padded back to the door is protected from rain.
When it is wished to have the entrance to the carriage at front I make
two doors, one opening on either side. These doors are curved to the cir-
cular figure of the carriage body and are provided with glass sliding frames.
These frames by means of cords attached to them and passed over pulleys
inside the body and extending through the back of the carriage may be
acted upon by the driver. When the doors are in front the shafts are
constructed differently. Edge plates are extended from the body of the
carriage, on the ends of which plates are flaps or lugs to which the
shafts are attached by pins or bolts. The said pins or bolts act as fulcra,
about which the shafts have a limited motion. The shafts are connected
at their back ends by a cross spring or an elbow spring or springs.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation a two wheel carriage containing
my improvements, and Figure 2 is the same partly in horizontal section
and partly in plan. Figure 3 represents the said carriage in side
elevation, showing one of the doors at front open. Figure 4 is a front
elevation of the carriage. Figure 5 is a plan, and Figure 6 a front
elevation of a modification of the arrangement for connecting the shafts.
Figures 7 and 8 are parts of my Invention detached. The same letters
indicate the same parts in each Figure.
In the Drawings I have represented a carriage in which my arrange-
ments of doors both at front and back are combined in one carriage, but
ordinarily I only use one of the said arrangements of doors.
a is the body of the two wheel carriage, 6 is the door at the back of
the body, and c is the driver's seat affixed to and turning aside with the

page_text: said door 6 when the said door is opened. I prefer to fix near the top of
the door ba conical roller for carrying an awning as herein-before
described. When the entrance is at the front of the carriage, two doors
d, e, are used, the said doors being curved to the circular figure of the
front of the body a. These doors are hinged or jointed to the middle
pillar f, and open on either side the said pillar. In Figures 3 and 5
one of the doors marked e is represented open. Combined with these
doors are glass sliding frames g, h, curved to the figure of the front of
the body. In the top of each door d, e, are two grooves, and correspond-
ing grooves are also made in the top of the body. In one of these
grooves at top and bottom one of the glass sliding frames g or h works,
and in the other groove at top and bottom the other glass sliding frame
works. Before either. of the doors d or e can be opened it is necessary
to slide its sliding frame g or h from off the said door on to the other
door so that the two sliding frames g, h, are situated parallel to one another
as represented in Figure 3, where both of the sliding frames are supported
on the door d, the door e being capable of being opened. The sliding
frames g, h, can be moved by the person inside the carriage and by the
driver. In order that the glass sliding frames may be under the control
of the driver, cords k are attached to them and passed over pulleys at 1, 1,
inside the body of the carriage to the back thereof to be acted upon by
the driver, as indicated by dotted lines in Figure 2.
The body of the carriage is hung on the three-quarter elliptical
springs m, m. The upper part of each spring is attached by bolts
at n to the outside of the body a, and immediately, under the seat,.
while the lower part of each spring passes to the inside of the body.
through an opening under the seat. The end of the lower part of
the spring is connected by the shackle p to an arm carried by the
pillar q, as will be understood by an examination of Figures 1 and 2.
By this arrangement the lower portions of the springs lie parallel
with the sides of the carriage and additional width is thereby obtained.
in the carriage without additional length of axle. The ends of the
springs within the carriage are concealed by casings.
The shafts,, are constructed and connected to the body of the
carriage in the following way:-Extending from the front of the
carriage are two pairs of edge plates s, s, having on them lugs or
eyes t. The shafts ",", are provided with similar lugs or eyes u,"
formed by preference of metal clips secured on the shafts. Each shaft

page_text: is fitted between each of the pairs of edge plates 8, 8, the lugs or eyes
on the shaft being placed opposite those on the edge plates. By passing
pins or bolts through the said lugs or eyes the shafts are attached to
the body of the carriage and are capable of a limited motion in a
vertical plane upon the said pins or bolts. The back ends of the
two shafts are connected together by the cross spring v, the ends of
the said spring being secured to the ends of the shafts by the pins w
and shackles x. The cross spring is supported by the bar y,
secured to flaps on the upright, parts 2, 2, of the edge plates s, s.
Figure 7 represents in plan the pairs of edge plates s, s, before the
shafts, r, arc secured thereto, and Figure 8 represents one of the shafts
in section.
Instead of connecting the back ends of the shafts r, r, together by
a cross spring, elbow springs may be employed for that purpose, as
represented in Figures 5 and 6, the said elbow springs being marked
3, 3. The inner ends of the elbow springs are supported on the plate 4
projecting from the body a. When elbow springs are used the horse
can be brought back nearer to the front of the carriage than when a
cross spring is used, as will be understood by comparing the plans Figures
2 and 5. By this method of connecting the shafts with the body of
the carriage great clasticity is given to the shafts and their oscillating
motion is not transmitted to the carriage.
In applying this part of my Invention to gigs and other like vehicles
I prolong the back ends of the shafts, the said prolonged ends passing
on either side or under the body of the vehicle, the cross or elbow
springs connecting the rear ends of the shafts being supported by
a plate projecting from the front bar of the vehicle.
When I use the door at the back of the carriage the arrangement
described and represented for connecting the shafts to the body is
omitted, and the shafts are attached to a plate projecting from the body
for that purpose.
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 described
and illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of my Invention, but I claim as my Invention of improvements
in two wheel carriages.

page_text: Firstly. Attaching the driver's seat to the door of the carriage when
the said door is situated at the back of the carriage as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. Providing the door at back with a conical roller and awning
as described.
Thirdly. Making curved doors in front of the carriage and combining
with the said doors, glass sliding frames which slide in grooves in the
tops of the doors and in the under side of the top of the body of the
carriage, substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Fourthly. Hanging the body of the carriage on springs of the kind
called three-quarter elliptical springs and connecting the said springs
with the body of the carriage substantially as described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings.
Lastly. The arrangement or combination of parts substantially as
herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings
for connecting the shafts with the body of the carriage whereby the
motion of the carriage is made very steady.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Archer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM ARCHER. (L.S.)