IMPROVEMENTS BREFALnza
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Rock the younger, of Hastings, in the
County of Sussex, Carriage Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
BREFALnza ma
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Rock at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th March
1856.
I, JAMES ROCK the younger, of Hastings, in the County of Sussex,
Carriage Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES, PARTS OF WHICH ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER
STRUCTURES," to be as follows:-
My improvements in carriages are the following:-My Invention consists,
first, in certain folding or collapsing heads or coverings for carriages, which
may be either permanently attached to the carriages or made moveable, and
which may be applied to wagons, huts, ships, and other buildings or
structures.
Figures 1 to 5 shew the improved head as applied to a dog-cart or phaeton.
Figure 1 is a side view; Figure 2, an end view; Figure 3, also an end view,
with the head partly raised; Figure 4, another end view, shewing a different
mode of raising the head, which may be useful when the roof is heavy, and

page_text: therefore difficult to raise all at once; Figure 5 is an end view, shewing the
head shut down close upon the body of the cart: When shut down it may be
removed or it may remain on the cart; cushions may be placed on the roof,
and the passengers sit there as if it were the ordinary top of an open cart.
In all these Figures (1 to 5) the same letters refer to the same parts. A, the
body of the cart or phaeton; B, B, the collapsing head; C, C, hinges; D, D,
guard rails, to turn up at the sides when passengers sit upon the roof, as
shewn by dotted lines in Figure 5. The parts B, B; in Figures 3 and 4, may
be taken to represent jointed irons to support the roof, the sides and ends
being closed by leather, attached to and folding with the jointed irons; or by
means of curtains, or by separate pieces of panelling not attached to the roof,
an arrangement which may be useful in certain cases. Figures 6, 7, and 8
shew the improved head applied to an omnibus or sociable, in which the
passengers sit sideways over the bind wheels. In this, when the head is
collapsed it forms wings or wheel guards, to protect the passengers from the
dirt of the wheels. Figure 6 is an end view, shewing the head collapsed,
cushions placed on the roof, and guard rails raised; Figure 7 shows the head
elevated (also an end view); Figure 8 is a side view, with the head raised to
enclose the passengers. The references for Figures 6, 7, and 8 are the same
as for the preceding Figures. Figure 9 is an elevation of a collapsing head,
framed diagonally, so as to shut down when closed in on all its sides, or on
three of them, as may be required; Figure 10 (a plan) shews the same when
collapsed. The frames A, A, A, A, are jointed to each other and to the roof
and bottom (if any); the corners B, B; B, are closed in with leather or some
other suitable flexible substance. Figure 11 shews the application of the
improved head to cover a part of a carriage. A is the body of the carriage;
B is the front head collapsed, and serving as a knee-flap.. The dotted lines
shew the head raised to meet the binder head C, which may either be on the
same plan or made in any ordinary way.
be applied to a double-seated carriage, so as to form a canopy. roof; Figure 18
shews the manner in which this roof is to be
of this Figure shew the carriage quite open.
head partly raised. In raising the head, the two parts A, A, corresponding to
cand c, must be raised till their highest points meet; these being tinited
at B, first one-half c' may be pushed back to its place, and then the other
half (), so that the whole may assume the appearance of Figure 12. The
parts D, D, D, in Figure 12, are. made to fold inwards and lie upon the seats
of the carriage when the head is collapsed or shut down. Figure.14 shews a
single-seated carriage with a collapsing head. The' dotted lines shew how the
Figure 12 shews how the plan may
raised or lowered. The outlines
The dotted lines represent the

page_text: back, and roof of the head shut down, as if there were a similar head on the
front part of the body; the parts E, E, E, fold, together and shut inwards
upon the seat of the carriage. In constructing these collapsing heads, I
sometimes use solid panels hinged together for the folding sides and ends;
sometimes framework, filled in 'with thin panelling, or merely covered with
leather, canvas; india-rubber, thin metal, or other suitable substance. In
some cases, to obviate the evils, of shrinkage, in the wood, forming panels both
for the heads and other purposes;. I join together edgewise so many pieces of
wood of convenient width as may be necessary to, make up any requisite
width, and after boring holes through such pieces edgewise, secure them all
together by means of screwed or keyed, bolts, which may be tightened, up from
time to time to compress the joints together. This panelling may.be, used for
other structures, than carriages; coverings, such as I have described, for. car-
riages, may also be used, of enlarged size, to form huts and buildings, in which
case I recommend the several panels to be clamped up by means of bolts, in
the manner above mentioned. For the latter purposes, as well as occasionally
for carriages, it may be desirable to place the joints or divisions, by means of
which the sides of these coverings; collapse vertically instead of horizontally,
as in the Figures. Figure 15 shews a piece of panelling clamped in the
manner above described. A, A, the boards; B, B, B, clamp bolts. The
heads of these bolts may be made to form hinges or joints for connecting the
panels together.
Secondly, my Invention consists in an arrangement for the locking of the
fore wheels, which enables those wheels to be placed more backward or nearer
to thic hind wheels than can be done by the usual plan of a single centre or
perch bolt. Each of the wheels A, A, Figure 16, has an axle of its own
A¹, A, which is bent at a right angle, or curved in such manner that one part
shall be horizontal or nearly so for the wheel to run on, and the other
part shall be vertical, passing up through the beds B, B, to the boot of the
carriage C. The weight of the carriage is to be supported by a spring or
springs (which may be of india-rubber or of steel), resting, upon shoulders or
bearings formed on the axles between the lower bed and the stocks of the
wheels. In the Figure, D represents a spring placed transversely to the car-
riage, and resting at its points upon the axles. In order to actuate the wheels
for the purpose of locking, a lever E, E, is formed upon or attached.to each
vertical axle, and passes across towards the opposite side of the carriage, the
two levers crossing each other. Figure 17 is a Diagram, shewing the action
of this locking movement; the dotted lines indicate the position assumed. by,
the several parts when the carriage is locked, i, e., turned. round. A,.A, the

page_text: wheels; B, the bed of the carriage; C, C, centres of vertical axles; D, D,
the crossed levers; E, bar to keep the shafts always equidistant; F, F, the
shafts.
Lastly, my Invention consists in an improved hinge for carriage doors.
Figures 18 and 19 represent a pair of pivot joints or invisible hinges for the
doors of carriages. I make these pivots or gudgeons of considerable diameter,
usually from to 4 of an inch, so that they may not be soon worn away by
use. The pins of ordinary hinges being small soon wear away; and by letting
the doors drop prevent them from shutting properly. Figure 18, the upper
pivot for the door of a brougham, consists of two plates, one of which A,
upon which the vertical pin B is formed, is fixed to the upper part of the
door, the other plate C is fixed to the body of the carriage. D is a pin
working in a segmental groove of a certain length to serve as a stop to the
opening of the door. Figure 19, the lower pivot, is also formed of two plates
curved to suit the shape of the body, one of which plates A is to be attached
to the body, and the other B to the door. When the lower part of the
body is "turned under," so that it is of less width at the bottom than at the
top, the joint of the door to which these pivots are attached must be curved in
like manner, as shewn by the dotted line at D, Figure 11, and not made
straight, as is usual when common hinges are used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Rock in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
Rock the younger, of Hastings, in the County of Sussex, Carriage Builder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Rock, Her special licence that I, the said James Rock, my exccutors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Rock, 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

page_text: Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES, PARTS OF WHICH
ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER STRUCTURES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Rock, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment 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 James Rock, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, in the construction and employment of certain
improved folding or collapsing heads or coverings for carriages or wagons,
intended to be either permanently attached thereto or made removable, and
constructed either of two or more solid panels hinged or jointed together to
form folding sides and ends; or of panels consisting of a number of strips or
pieces, jointed or hinged one to another, or connected together after the
manner of venetian blinds; or of a frame or frames of metal or wood, or
plastic material, or other suitable substance, or of jointed rods filled in or not
with thin panelling, or with thin metal or glass, or covered or not with leather,
canvas, baize, or other flexible or textile material, or with india-rubber or
other suitable substance; or I sometimes form the heads or coverings of
folding panels, made after the fashion of a book cover or portfolio, with parts
thereof flexible, to serve in lieu of or in aid of hinges. In some cases, when
I employ wood panels for the heads or other parts, to obviate the incon-
veniences arising from the shrinking of the wood, I joint together edge-
wise a number of pieces of wood of convenient width, bore holes through the
pieces edgewise, and secure them together by means of screwed or keyed
bolts, which may be tightened from time to time as the wood shrinks to bring.
the joints together. The panels may be left plain, or they may be varnished
or painted, and covered or not with leather or other suitable material. The
heads or coverings, or the frames thereof, may be formed and curved in various
ways, to suit the taste of the builder or designer.
My Invention consists, secondly, in constructing wagons, ships, huts, and.
other buildings or structures, or parts thereof, of panelling formed and con-
nected together in the various modes just described as being employed in
constructing collapsible heads or coverings for carriages; that is to say, I-

page_text: construct wagons, ships, huts, and other structures, or parts thereof, of a
number of plain, painted, or varnished solid panels, covered with leather or
other material, or not, and -hinged or jointed together so as to fold or collapse;
or of panels with flexible parts, serving in lieu or aid of hinges; or of
panels consisting of a number of pieces or strips jointed together, or con-
nected after the manner of a venetian blind; or of panels consisting of
pieces of wood jointed-together edgewise by screwed or keyed bolts," which
may be tightened to obviate the shrinking of the wood.
The manner in which I carry the first part of, my Invention into effect is
exemplified in the annexed Drawings, Figures 1 to -17, which: shew my
improved folding or collapsible head applied to carriages.
Figure 1 is a side view, representing the head or covering fitted to_ȧ:
phaeton or "dog cart;" Figure 2 is an end view of the same; Figure.3,
another "end view, shewing the head as partly raised; Figure 4, .ànother
end view, illustrating a different mode of raising the head, which may be
useful when the roof is heavy and difficult to raise all at once; Figure 5 is
an end view, shewing the head shut down close upon the body of the vehicle.
When shut down, it may be completely removed, or it may remain on the cart,.
and cushions may be placed on the roof or top so that the passengers may.sit
there, as on the ordinary top of an open cart. In Figures: 1 to. 5 similar.
letters refer to similar parts: A-is the body of the cart or phaeton;. B, B,. the
collapsing head or covering; C. C, are hinges; D, D, guard rails, which are
turned up at the sides when passengers sit upon the roof, as shewn by dotted
lines in Figure 5. B, B, (Figures 3 and 4,) is the frame 'of. the collapsible
head; liere shewn as consisting of jointed rods which support. the roof, the
sides and ends being closed, if so required; with leather or some other flexible
substance, attached to and folding with the jointed irons, or by means of
curtains, or by separate, 'pieces of panelling not attached to the roof,an
arrangement which may be useful in certain cases. In Figures 6 and 7: (end
views,) and Figure 8 (side view,) the improved head is shewn as fitted to a
small omnibus or "sociable," in which the passengers sit.sideways over the
hind wheels. In this case, when the head is collapsed it forms wings or wheel
guards to protect the passengers from the dirt of the wheels. A is the body
of the carriage; as before; B, the collapsible bead; CC, hinges. In Figure 6.
the head is shewn as folded or collapsed. Cushion's E; E, are placed on the
roof, and the guard rails D, D, raised. In Figure 7.the head. Bis: shewn
elevated; Figure 8 is a side view, shewing the head. Braised to cover the
passengers; Figure 9-is an elevation of a collapsing head, framed diagonally,
or in such inanner as to shut down when closed in on all its sides, or on three of

page_text: them, as may be required; Figure-10, a plan, shews the same when collapsed..
a, a, a, a, are the pieces forming the frame, they are jointed together and to
the roof and bottom (if any). The sides b, b, b, are closed in with leather or
other suitable flexible substance. Figure 11, side view, shews my improved
covering or head, so-contrived as to cover only a part of a carriage. A is
the body of the carriage; B is the front head collapsed, and serving as a
knee-flap. The dotted lines shew the head raised to meet the hinder head. C;
which may-cither be made. on my improved plan, as shewn in Figure 12,
where. the-head-is-represented as closed, or constructed in the ordinary way.
Figure 13 shews-the collapsing head made in two parts and folded up-so-as
to form two back rests for the carriage when not required as a covering; each
half of the head is provided with hinges c, c, Figure 12, so that when
collapsed it may be thrown back, in the same way as the ordinary knee-flap of
a carriage. In some cases I make the whole of the head to fold up into one
of liese flaps, or detach it altogether from the carriage when so folded, or
attach it to. some other part of the carriage. When I use glasses to close
the doorways; Igenerally..make them to drop into the doors, and I form
grooves on the edges of the frames to slide upon the edges of the collapsing
"quarters of the head. Figure 14 is a side view, 'shewing the head applied
to a double-seated carriage so as to form a canopy roof; and Figure 15 is a
diagram, shewing the manner in which this roof is raised or lowered. The
outlines in Figure 15 shew the carriage quite open; the dotted lines repre-
sent the head partly raised. In raising the head, the two parts A1, A2, cor-
responding to 'C; and C, must be raised till their highest points, meet at 'B'
first: one half may be pushed back to its place, and then the other half, so
that the whole may assume the appearance 'shewn in Figure 14. The parts
D', D', DI, in Figure 14, are made to fold inwards, and lie upon the seats of the
carriage when the head is collapsed or shut down. Figure 16 is a side view,
shewing a single-seated carriage-fitted with my improved collapsing head.
The dotted lines represent the manner in which the back and roof of the
head are shut down, as if there were a similar head on the front part of the
body;rthe parts E, E, E; fold together and shut inwards upon the seat of
the carriage. Figure: 17. represents-another form of collapsing covering for
carriages. A, A,iare two frames, either open or panelled, which are pivoted
or. hinged to..the sides or top of the body of the vehicle B, and shut down
into, upon, or over it, as shewn by the dotted lines, Figure 18. The doorways
and sometimes the whole of the frames (if not panelled) may be closed by
folding flexible materials, or by curtains of any kind, or by sliding or fixed
glasses: When the collapsing coverings or head are in separate parts, those

page_text: parts may be made reversible, so as to cover the passengers back to back or
face to face, as occasion may require.
In carrying the second part of my Invention into effect, I recommend that
the several panels should be clamped up by means of the bolts edgewise, in the
manner mentioned, or by outside clamps coupled together at the ends, so that
they may be tightened up as required, and for the last-mentioned purposes, or
when used for huts and buildings, as well as occasionally for carriages, the
joints or divisions, by means of which the sides of the coverings are made to
collapse, may be placed vertically instead of horizontally, as shewn in the pre-
ceding Figures. Figure 19 (side view) represents a piece of panelling clamped
in the manner above described. A, A, are the pieces or boards composing the
panel; B, B, B, are clamp bolts connecting the pieces together. The heads
of these bolts may be made to form hinges or joints for connecting the panels.
together.
bent at a right angle, or
Thirdly, my Invention consists in an arrangement for effecting the locking
of the fore wheels of carriages or other vehicles, whereby these wheels may be
placed more backward, or nearer to the hind wheels, than can be done by the
ordinary contrivance of a single centre or perch bolt. My improved arrange-
ment is exemplified in Figure 20 (back view). Each of the wheels A, A,
(Figure 20) has an axle of its own A2, A3, which is
curved in such manner that one part is horizontal or nearly so (which is the
part on which the wheel is mounted), while the other part is vertical, and
passes up through the beds B, B, to the boot of the carriage C. The weight
of the carriage is supported by a spring or springs (which may be of india-
rubber or of steel), resting upon shoulders or bearings formed on the axles
A', A, between the lower bed and the stocks of the wheels. In Figure 20,
D is a spring placed transversely in respect of the carriage, and resting at its
points upon the axles A', A². In order to actuate the wheels for the purpose
of locking or turning round, a lever E, E, is formed upon or attached to each
vertical axle, and passes across towards the opposite side of the carriage, the
two levers crossing each other. Figure 21 is a Diagram, shewing the action
of this locking arrangement; the dotted lines indicate the position assumed by
the several parts when the carriage is locked, i. e. turned round. A, A, are the
wheels; B is the bed of the carriage; c, c, centres of vertical axles; E, E,.
the crossed levers; F, bar to keep the shafts always equidistant; G, G, the
shafts.
Lastly, my Invention consists in an improved hinge for carriage doors.
This improved binge is represented in Figures 22 and 23 of the Drawings
annexed. It consists of a pair of pivots or invisible joints. Figure 22 is a per-

page_text: spective view of the upper pivot, Figure 23 a perspective view of the lower
pivot. I make the pivots or gudgeons of comparatively considerable diameter
(usually from half to three-quarters of an inch) so that they may not be soon
worn away by use, thereby obviating the defects of pins of ordinary hinges,
which being small soon wear away, allow the doors to drop, and thereby
prevent them from shutting properly. The pivot, Figure 22, consists of
two plates A and B, one of which A is attached to the upper part of the door,
and the other plate B is fixed to the body of the carriage. C is a vertical
pin formed or fixed on the plate B; D is a pin which works in a segmental
guide groove d of a certain length, and serves as a stop to limit the extent to
which the door may be opened. The lower pivot, shewn in Figure 23, is also
formed of two plates E and F, curved or formed to suit the shape of the body
of the carriage; one of these plates E is fixed to the body of the carriage, and
the other F to the door. When this hinge is applied to carriages of a con-
struction in which the lower part of the body is "turned under," so that it is of
less width at the bottom than at the top, the joinit of the door must be curved
in a corresponding manner, as shewn by the dotted lines at e, Figure 11, and
not made straight, as is usual when common hinges are used.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the construction and arrangement of folding or collapsing heads
or coverings for carriages, as herein-before described with reference to the
Drawings annexed.
Second, the construction of wagons, huts, ships, and other buildings and
structures, or parts thereof, of folding or of jointed panelling, in the manner
herein-before described.
Third, the improved arrangement for effecting the locking of the fore wheels
of carriages and other vehicles, herein-before described with reference to the
Drawings annexed.
And, fourth, the improved hinge for carriage doors, herein-before described,
and represented in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Rock, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fiftu.civ
JAMES ROCK, J. (L.S.)