IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLES
Year: 1877

page_text: "
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James McKean at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 14th August 1877.
JAMES MOKEAN, of Laragh, in the County of Monaghan, Ireland, Manufacturer.
'IMPROVEMENTS IN VEHICLES."
This Invention consists, firstly, of improved fittings and appliances more especially
adapted for use on jaunting cars; and, secondly, of improvements applicable to
vehicles generally.
My first improvement consists of a trough or box, fixed in any convenient
position upon the car, and intended for the reception of umbrellas or sticks, and it
may be pierced through the bottom to allow wet to drain off.
Another improvement in cars lies in attaching a market box or basket under the
car in such manner that it can be attached and detached without risk or trouble
whilst the horse is in the cart, and also the contents can be conveniently got at;
for which purpose I provide a long box or basket with a lid or cover to admit of
packing and unpacking readily, but with a loose end or door, by which the box or
basket inay be got at without removal from the car. When packed the box or
basket is carried underneath the car, so that the lid cannot then be raised, but the
end being in that position, capable of being opened, the contents may be got at
without removal.
Another improvement consists in making foot rests for cars which may at the
same time act as foot warmers, for which purpose I employ shallow boxes with per-
forated tops or lids to contain hot water pans, or when these are not needed these
boxes may be used as receptacles for other articles.
Another improvement consists in so arranging and fixing a waterproof cover on
jaunting cars and other like vehicles as to cover the entire car when there are no
occupants, and to form a protection from the water falling from the well cushion
when the seats are occupied. For this purpose I so roll up the cover from the sides
that a gutter is formed in the centre which carries off the water at the end, the
driver's seat being supported on brackets, or so arranged as not to interfere with
this arrangement.

page_text: The next improvement is in the knee cover or front apron, and the mode of
attaching it to the vehicle without the usual bottom fastenings. I attach a spring
steel rod or other stiff substance to the bottom and sides of the apron, so that it clips
the apron under the foot board, and continuing up the side pieces, is at the top
provided with a spring ring of sufficient strength to hold over a stud, so placed on
the rail of the car as to retain the apron in place unless any unusual strain come
upon it, such as might be caused by an accident, in which case the ring would yield
and release the occupants, thus avoiding the chance of being dragged. This
description of spring ring is also adaptable to the aprons of all vehicles.
The next improvement refers to vehicles of all kinds, and it consists in an
improved tyre, adapted for the better protection of the rim or felloe, and this I
effect by making the tyre broader than the periphery of the felloe, or it may be of
such a section that it will close slightly over the edge of the felloe, and so entirely
enclose it on the periphery and its edges, and thus' more effectually preserve the
wood from injury, and the wheel from getting out of shape.
My next improvement is one by which carriages of all ordinary descriptions may
be adapted to run on tramways as well as common roads, and tramway cars can
likewise be thus adapted for common road traffic. I employ a fixed flange, or it
may be a small wheel carried at the end of a lever extending close to the inner
rims of the wheels, and attached to any convenient part of the body of the vehicle,
and so arranged that at the will of the driver this flange or small wheel can be
lowered into the groove of a tram rail, thus practically making the wheels as if
flanged for running on rails, whilst by operating the lever the flange or wheel can
be raised clear of the ground, and thus allow the vehicle'to run off the rails. Or
the lever may carry a small flanged wheel, which when lowered would travel on
the rail immediately in front of each wheel of the vehicle, and would thus keep it
on the rails, or when raised would allow of its running off them.