IMPROVEMENTS IN Two- WHEELED CARRIAGES, PART OF WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO FOUR- WHEELED CARRIAGES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Brinsmead, of Fore Street, St. Clements, Ipswich.
in the County of Suffolk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN Two-
WHEELED CARRIAGES, PART OF WHICH IS ALSO APPLICABLE TO FOUR-
WHEELED CARRIAGES."
Scaled the 7th November 1876, and dated the 3rd June 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Brinsmead at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd June 1870.
HENRY BRINSMEAD, of Fore Street, St. Clements, Ipswich, in the County of
Suffolk. "IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES, PART OF WHICH IS ALSO
APPLICABLE TO FOUR-WHEELED CARRIAGES."
This Invention has for its object improvements in carriages.
In the construction of two-wheeled carriages, such as dog carts, it is convenient
to have the power to adjust the length of the shafts and also their inclination to
the body of the vehicle. In order to adjust the length of the shafts I attach to the
under side of the body in front a bar of iron having at its ends necks which are
embraced and held by clips of a peculiar construction fixed on the under sides of
the shafts. Each clip consists of a plate or bar having 5 or other number of semi-
circular notches formed in it at suitable distances apart. The neck of the bar fixed
to the body of the carriage can be placed and held in one or other of these notches
and so the length is adjusted as may be required. The neck of the bar is locked
or held in the notch in the following manner :-There is a block beneath the neck
which is also grooved to receive it, and the block rests upon a circular rod supporting
it. The rod has eccentric pins at its ends below its centre, which are held in lugs
at the ends of the notched plate or bar. When the rod is free to turn about the
cccentric pins and is so turned, the block beneath the neck of the bar attached to
the body of the carriage is lowered away from the notched plate or bar, and then
the neck can be shifted from one notch to another. The whole is locked fast when
the proper adjustment is obtained by screwing up nuts on the ends of the bar fixed
to the body of the carriage, which render the blocks beneath the necks immoveable.
To adjust the inclination of the shafts I cause them to pass through shaft holders,
which are connected with the sides of the body of the vehicle near the back, in
such manner that they can be raised and lowered, and the shafts can also slide
longitudinally in the holders. A link suspends the shaft holder from a pin fixed
Price Gd]

page_text: to the body of the carriage, and when this link hangs vertically the shaft holder
is in its lowest position in respect to the body of the carriage, and as the link is
caused to incline the shaft holder is raised. To effect this I fix on the shaft holder
a toothed arc, and arrange a worm to be carried on the link, and to engage with
the teeth of the arc. Thus by turning the worm the link can be inclined to any
extent desired, and the shaft holder is raised accordingly. A locking screw can also
be provided to lock the parts fast when they have been set.
According to another arrangement I provide a socket on either side of the body
of the carriage, and a screw works through the socket to adjust the height of the
shaft. The screw is hollow, and a stem jointed to the shaft holder extends up into
it and terminates in a head or nut within the hollow screw. There are spiral
springs within the hollow screw which tend to hold the head or nut above mentioned
midway between the ends of the hollow screw, but allow some play to lessen the
shaking of the carriage arising from motion of the horse. In some cases I arrange
carriages of this class in such manner that the body may be moved forward or back
upon the bed frame to adjust the position of the load. On the bed frame I mount two
transverse bars or axes, and I support the body of the carriage on rollers on these
axes. The front axis has also pinions upon it engaging with racks beneath the
body, so that when this axis is turned the body is moved forward or back, according
to the direction of rotation of the axis. The axis has two ratchet wheels at one
end, where also a hand lever is arranged to turn upon it. The hand lever carries
two pawls, either of which can at pleasure be made to engage with its ratchet.
The motion of the hand lever to and fro shifts the body of the carriage either
forward or back, according to the pawl which is in gear. The pawls are put in and
out of gear by a secondary lever mounted on the hand lever. To hold the reins I
employ a coiled spring mounted horizontally in a holder in front of the driver; the
reins when placed between the convolutions of the spring will be securely held.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Henry Brinsmead in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st December
1876.
HENRY BRINSMEAD, of Fore Street, St. Clements, Ipswich, in the County of
Suffolk, "IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES, PART OF WHICH IS ALSO
APPLICABLE TO FOUR-WHEELED CARRIAGES."
This Invention has for its object improvements in carriages.
In the construction of two-wheeled carriages, such as dog carts, it is convenient
to have the power to adjust the length of the shafts, and also their inclination to
the body of the vehicle. In order to adjust the length of the shafts I attach to the
under side of the body in front a bar of iron having at its ends necks which are
embraced and held by clips of a peculiar construction fixed on the under sides of the
shafts. Each clip consists of a plate or bar having 5 or other number of semi-
circular notches formed in it at suitable distances apart. The neck of the bar fixed
to the body of the carriage can be placed and held in one or other of these notches,
and so the length is adjusted as may be required. The neck of the bar is locked or
held in the notch in the following manner:-There is a block beneath the neck
which is also grooved to receive it, and the block rests upon a circular rod supporting
it. The rod has excentric pins at its ends below its centre, which are hold in lugs
at the ends of the notched plate or bar. When the rod is free to turn about the
eccentric pins and is so turned the block beneath the neck of the bar attached to
the body of the carriage is lowered away from the notched plate or bar, and then
the neck can be shifted from one notch to another. The whole is locked fast when
the proper adjustment is obtained by screwing up nuts on the ends of the bar
fixed to the body of the carriage, which render the blocks beneath the necks
immoveable.

page_text: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a dog cart to which my improvements are applied.
I will first describe the arrangement for adjusting the length of the shafts. It
is represented to a larger scale at Figure 2, which is a side view. Figure 3 is an
under side view, and Figure 4 is an end view of the same.
a is a portion of the shaft; b, b, are clips by which the plate c is secured to the
under side of the shaft. Five or other number of semi-circular notches are formed
in this plate, & is a portion of a bar fixed to the body or frame of the carriage,
and running across it from side to side. At the ends of the bar necks are formed
and the neck at each end is adapted to fit into either of the recesses or notches in
the bar d. Underneath the neck there is a block or brass e, it rides upon and is
supported by the round bar f, which is itself held in lugs formed in connection
with the clips b and the plate c. The bar is turned down at its ends so as to form
on it two eccentric necks. The lugs are formed with holes through them, as the
Drawing shews, through which the bar d can be entered endwise, and when it is
in its place the necks of the bar drop down into notches formed to receive them in
the lower part of the holes in the lugs. The bar d has flats filed upon it at each
end to admit of its being taken hold of by a spanner for the purpose of turning it.
When the bar is turned half round in consequence of the eccentricity of the necks
the distance between it and the plate c is increased, so that the neck of the bar d
and the block e are then free to be moved to any position desired, when they have

page_text: been placed the bar can be turned back and all the parts can be rendered fast and
immoveable by screwing up the nut on the end of the bar d. When this is done
the block or brass e is held between the nut and the collar, which is formed, as the
Drawing shews, upon the bar d. A pin inserted at prevents the possibility of
the nut shaking loose. The hinder end of the shaft is held in a socket . This
socket and the parts in connection with it aro shown in Figure 1, and also at
Figure 5, which is a side view. Figure 6 is an end view. Some of the parts shewn
in Figure 5 are in section. The shaft is able to slide freely through the socket l
which is jointed to a stem i. This stem passes up within the hollow screw k, and
at its upper end it carries the head or nut i; 7, 7, are two coiled springs one on
either side of the head or nut i. They abut also on the ends of the hollow screw k,
the lower one of which is removable. The springs tend to hold the head or nut i*
midway between them, but they allow play and so prevent sudden oscillations or
shocks being conveyed to the body of the carriage. The hollow screw k can be
raised or lowered to adjust its position to suit the size of the horse by turning it
round within the holder x which has a corresponding screw thread cut within it.
The holder * is fixed to a bracket secured to the body or frame of the carriage.
Figure 7 is a plan and Figure 8 is a side view of another arrangement. The
socket or shaft holder h is in this case jointed to a link m, which hangs from a
pin n fixed to the side of the carriage. The shaft holder has a toothed arch¹
formed in connection with it, and a screw m¹ carried upon the link m engages
with the teeth of this are so that by turning the screw the link can be set at any
inclination desired in relation to the shaft holder, which in consequence can be
made to lang more or less below the level of the pin n. In some cases I arrange
the body of the carriage so that it can slide upon the frame to adjust the position
of the weight.
Figure 9 is a portion of a transverse section of the arrangement which I adopt.
1, 2, are two longitudinal bars forming part of the bed frame of the carriage to
which the shafts are attached; 7, 9, are the two sides of the carriage body; ?, 1,
are toothed racks fixed to the body, they engage with two pinions 8, 8, on an axis al
which is held in bearings on the bed frame. The same axis also has upon it two
plain rollers t, t, on which the plain portion of the rack bar rests. Underneath
these rollers a bar also extends, it is formed of a piece with the rack 7, and it
serves to prevent the body of the carriage rising from the bed frame. A strip
of india-rubber is inserted between the bars and the rollers t. At the back of
the carriage there are other rollers similar to the rollers t for the purpose of
supporting the body of the carriage at the back, but there are no pinions applied
in connection with these rollers. For the purpose of shifting the body of the
carriage forward or back, and for locking and holding it in position, I employ a
novel arrangement, which I will proceed to describe. The axis & is provided with
two ratchet wheels, they are fixed upon it and their teeth are inclined in opposite
directions. An end view of the axis with the parts in connection with it is
shewn at Figure 10. and are two pawls engaging with the teeth of the
wheels. The pawls are mounted on a pin carried by the lever handle v, which is
able to turn upon the axis &¹. The lever handle v has a light spring handle w
mounted upon it, so that it can turn upon a stud at w, and at its upper end the
spring handle is provided with a pin which can be made to drop into one or other
of three holes formed to receive it in the main handle v. The spring handle is
forked at its lower end and embraces the tails of the two pawls u¹ and u. The
Drawing shews the spring handle in its central position, and then both the pawls
engage with the teeth of the ratchets into which they are pressed by the spring .
By this means the axis s¹ is locked so that it cannot turn in either direction.
When it is wished to turn the axis for the purpose of moving the body, the pin at
the end of the spring handle w is made to enter one or other of the outer holes,
according to the direction in which it is desired to shift the body. This causes
one of the pawls to be lifted from the teeth of its ratchet, and then by working
the main handle v to and fro the axis & is rotated, and the desired motion is

page_text: obtained. When the carriage body has been brought to the position required the
axis is again locked by bringing the spring handle back to the central position.
The arrangement which I employ to hold the reins when the driver dismounts
or at other times is shown at Figures 11 and 12. Figure 11 is a side elevation
partly in section, and Figure 12 is a front elevation also partly in section. y, y,
are two sockets clipped on to the dash leather in front of the driver, and z is a
coiled spring held slightly compressed between them. When the reins are pressed
down between the convolutions of the spring they become securely held.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the exact details described, but I claim my improvements in the construction of
carriages substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Brinsmead, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eight day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.