IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELBARROWS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, of the Firm of
Harris and Mills, of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
WHEELBARROWS."-A communication from abroad by Nestor Rolland
and Jean Vanhoorde, both of Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard
Mills at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 19th February 1874.
I, BENJAMIN JOSEPH BARNARD MILLS, of the Firm of Harris and
Mills, of 23, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN WHEELBARROWS," a communication to me from abroad
by Nestor Rolland and Jean Vanhoorde, both of Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, to be as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in wheelbarrows such
as are commonly used by labourers and having only one wheel, and the

page_text: improvements consist in mounting the axle of the wheel in bearings
acted upon by springs in such manner that the shocks given to the
wheel in wheeling the wheelbarrow are borne by such springs and are
not communicated to the labourer, thereby easing the load to be carried,
and consequently enabling the labourer to work longer and with less
fatigue than when using wheelbarrows of ordinary construction.
According to one arrangement the two ends of the axle of the wheel
are supported in bearings, the upper side of each of which bears against
a spiral spring enclosed in a cylindrical box firmly mounted in a vertical
position upon the front prolongation of each side bar of the wheelbarrow
in the same position in which the axis of the wheel is ordinarily fixed.
These boxes are each provided with slots or openings in the sides thereof
in which the axle of the wheel can slide vertically according to the
action of the springs. Tio bars are connected to the top of each box and
to the body of the wheelbarrow in order to hold the boxes firmly in
position. If desired a screw may be mounted in the top of each box by
which the springs may be more or less compressed to suit the load to be
carried.
The spiral springs may be replaced by springs of a somewhat similar
form to those employed for carriages, in which case they are mounted in
two vertical frames fixed upon the front prolongations of the side bars of
the wheelbarrow, in which case the bearings of the axle would be guided
by two vertical rods, and the springs would be fixed in the back parts of
the vertical frames and bear upon the tops of the bearings, tie rods being
employed to retain the vertical rods in position.
It is evident that other arrangements of springs and parts acting
therewith may be employed without departing from the nature of the
present Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills in the Great Seal 30
Patent Office on the 18th August 1874.

page_text: send greeting.
Dunamgs, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent,
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Ier heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, Her
special license that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, my
exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, 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 WHEELBARROWs,” (a communication to me
from abroad by Nestor Rolland and Jean Vanhoorde, both of Brussels,
in the Kingdom of Belgium,) upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Scal Patent Office within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
11
The Invention has for its object improvements in wheelbarrows such
as are commonly used by labourers and having only one wheel, and the
improvements consist in mounting the axle of the wheel in bearings
acted upon by springs in such manner that the shocks given to the
wheel in wheeling the wheelbarrow are borne by such springs and
are not communicated to the labourer, thereby easing the load to be
carried, and consequently enabling the labourer to work longer and
with less fatigue than when using wheelbarrows of ordinary con-
struction.

page_text: cach of which is screwed firmly to the back of the wheelbarrow and to
the top of a box B.
Figure 2 represents a side view of a wheelbarrow having the present
improvements applied thereto according to the arrangement herein-
before secondly described. In this last-mentioned arrangement the.
ordinary carriage spring is adopted, two of which are fixed to the
square iron frames B. The bearings A are cach attached to a spring E.
The guides H, H, traverse and are guided by the front prolongations of
the side bars C of the wheelbarrow and the square iron frames B, and
maintain the parallelism and the rigidity of the springs and of the
bearings in their movement under the weight of the wheelbarrow.
Figure 3 represents a side view of a wheelbarrow showing a slight
modification of the present Invention. In this arrangement the
boxes B, B, as shown at Figure 1, are dispensed with, and they are
replaced by cast metal guides B. Each of the springs E encircles-a
guide B, and is retained in position between the flanged base of the guide
and the top or cap V. The axlo of the wheel is flattened at each end,
and rises and falls in the grooves or slots A of the apparatus and-presses
directly upon the spring E.:
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
modo in which the same is carried into effect, I would have it under-
stood that what I claim as constituting the present Invention is the
manufacture of wheelbarrows with springs, in manner and for the
purpose substantially as herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Joseph Barnard Mills,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of
August, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-four.