IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Arthur East Holmes, of Derby, in the County of Derby;
Carriage Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED
CARRIAGES AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
ealed the 13th February 1877, and dated the 18th November 18
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Arthur East Holmes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th November 1876.
ARTHUR EAST HOLMES, of Derby, in the County of Derby, Carriage Builder.
IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH."
This Invention relates to apparatus or means for more easily moving the body of
a dog cart or other two-wheeled carriage, when required, for the purpose of better
balancing the weight, and it consists of an arrangement of levers which may be
alinost instantaneously brought into action in the manner herein-after described.
I employ a straight bar working on a fixed point connected with the body or
carriage, which by means of a short connecting rod, either connected with the body
or carriage as most convenient, causes the body to slide into the position required.
The straight bar, which with the connecting rod forms a bell-crank lever, is so con-
structed as to be movable from its upright position to the horizontal line of the
carriage, and the power and traverse thus obtained is equal to any amount of
resistance and movement of the load and body which can ever be required.
The traverse may be obtained by a screw acting upon the levers, or by a screw
acting independently of the same.
In lieu of employing four slides upon which the bodies of carriages of this nature
have hitherto been caused to slide, I propose to use three slides only, one being at
each side and the other in the centre, and either behind or before, as may be found
most convenient.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Arthur East Holmes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 17th May
1877.
ARTHUR EAST HOLMES, of Derby, in the County of Derby, Carriage Builder.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES."
My said Invention relates more particularly to dog carts and other two-wheeled
carriages, and has for its object providing increased facilities for moving the body of
the vehicle, when required, for the purpose of better balancing the weight.
In carrying out my said Invention in order to effect this object I employ a
peculiar combination of levers and rods for acting upon the body in order to adjust
its position, and an improved arrangement of the guides or slide surfaces along which
the body slides in its motions of adjustment.
In order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed
more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to the several
Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating
corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a side elevation of a dog cart
constructed and arranged according to my said Invention; and Figure 2 is a plan
of the under side, and Figure 3 an end view of the same, both corresponding to
Figure 1. Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating a modification.
A (Figures 1, 2, and 3) is the body of the vehicle, on any convenient part of
which, as, for example, at a, I mount a bell-crank lever B consisting of the two
arms b, c, one of which, vizt, that b, is attached to one extremity of a rod C, con-
nected at its opposite extremity at d to a portion of the framing D of the under
carriage, whilst the other arm (c) of such bell-crank lever forms a lever handle, by
the act of moving which through the quadrant e the body A is brought into the
position indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 1, or into any intermediate position,
according to the length of the arc which the handle c is caused to describe, notches
being formed in the quadrant e for retaining the lever in any adjusted position.
The bell-crank lever B is by preference mounted on a shaft or rod a¹ extending
through the body A, as shewn, and carrying at its opposite extremity a lever arm b¹,
which is connected through the intervention of a rod C¹ to the framing D at d², so
as to ensure an equal and uniform motion of both sides of the vehicle.
The body in its motions of adjustment slides along guides or slide surfaces, three
only of which I employ in lieu of four, as heretofore, one being at each side
and the other in the centre, and either behind or in front as may be found most
convenient.
E, E, F, represent the guides or slide surfaces, E, E, being the side guides and F
the central one, which in the example shewn in my Drawings is situate behind.
The guides E, E, consist of two rods carried by the framing D of the under carriage,
over which eyes or bearings E, E¹, attached to the body slide, whilst the guide F
consists of an eye or bearing carried by the framing D of the under carriage, through
which a rod Fattached to the body slides, but the converse of this arrangement
may be adopted if found more convenient.
If desired, the bell-crank lever B may be pivotted to the framing D of the under
carriage at any suitable point, as, for example, at d, in lieu of being mounted on the
body A of the vehicle, as shewn in the Drawing, in which case the free extremity of
the connecting rod C will be attached to the body at any convenient point a, a
similar result being accomplished to that obtained with the converse arrangement,
shewn in the Drawing.
By means of my Invention the vehicle may be balanced almost instantaneously
for one, two, three, or four passengers without disturbing any person already seated,
and with as little exertion as is necessary to apply a lever brake to a four-wheeled

page_text: vehicle, and the driver of any two-wheeled carriage to which the apparatus is affixed
can entirely relieve his horse of the load in descending a hill.
The apparatus is applicable to many existing vehicles.
Suitable gear for multiplying power, such, for example, as a screw traversing a
nut, or a worm and worm wheel, may be employed in combination with or in sub-
stitution for the arm or handle c, if found desirable. In the diagram, Figure 4, I
have shewn an example of the use of a screw and nut for this purpose. Č¹ is the
screw, which is suspended so as to be free to swivel from a projection e¹ from the
body, and is provided with a handle ƒ for the facility of turning the same, and g is
the nut, to which the arm c of the bell-crank lever B is pivotted. It will be obvious
that by the act of turning the screw c¹ the nut 9 will be moved through the arc h, i,
or through a portion of such arc, according to the number of revolutions imparted
to the screw, and the position of the body of the vehicle will be adjusted accordingly
in a manner similar to that herein-before described with reference to the arrange-
ment, Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I
would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original, and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is, mounting the body of a two-wheeled carriage upon three guides
or slide surfaces, and operating such body in order to cause the same to slide
therein or thereon for the purpose of balancing the weight by the aid of levers
and rods, arranged substantially in the manner herein-before described and illus-
trated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Arthur East Holmes, have to this my Speci-
fication set my hand and seal this 24th day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-seven.
ARTHUR EAST HOLMES. (L.S.)