IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR AIDING OR ASSISTING PERSONS IN ENTERING AND ALIGHTING FROM VEHICLES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sidney Grafton, of Warstone Lane, Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR AIDING OR ASSISTING PERSONS IN ENTERING AND ALIGHTING
FROM VEHICLES."
Sealed the 19th July 1864, and dated the 27th January 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sidney Grafton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
January 1864.
I, SIDNEY GRAFTON, of Warstone Lane, Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR AIDING OR ASSISTING PERSONS IN ENTERING
AND ALIGHTING FROM VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to the application of travelling hand-holds to the roofs
and other parts of vehicles, such as omnibuses, and consists in the application
of longitudinal rods, on which are placed pullies to run thereon; to the axes of
these pullies depend handles suitable for a passenger to take hold of and
steady himself in walking along in the vehicle, as in walking up the centre of
an omnibus, the passenger holding the handle while the pulley runs along the
When the handle is released it runs back to the position from which
the passenger brought it by reason of the inclination of the bar on which it is
placed. In order that passengers may also assist themselves in the opposite
direction, I employ two bars and pullies with handles, the one bar being
rod.

page_text: inclined in the opposite direction to that of the other, so that the handles run
to opposite ends of the vehicle; more than two bars may be used, but they
should be of less length, and with handles traversing from the door or access
to an intermediate point.
Instead of rods to carry the pullies and handles, projections or ledges from
the roof may be adopted, the object being to carry a traversing handle, which
it is not necessary to release until the passenger has arrived at his or her seat
in the vehicle.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Sidney Grafton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th July 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SIDNEY
GRAFTON, of Warstone Lane, Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Sidney Grafton, Her special licence that I, the
said Sidney Grafton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Sidney Grafton, 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 APPARATUS FOR AIDING OR ASSISTING PERSONS
IN ENTERING AND ALIGHTING FROM VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Sidney Grafton, my executors or administrators, 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 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 Sidney Grafton, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the fol-

page_text: lowing statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to the application of travelling hand-holds to the roofs
and other parts of vehicles, such as railway carriages or omnibuses, and
consists in the application of longitudinal rods or supports, on which are placed
pullies to run thereon; from the axes of these pullies depend handles suitable
for a passenger to take hold of and steady himself in walking along in the
vehicle, as in walking up the centre of an omnibus, the passenger holding the
handle while the pulley runs along the rod. When the handle is released it
runs back to the position from which the passenger brought it by reason of
the inclination of the bar or support on which the pulley is supported. Instead
of inclining the bars and causing the handles to return by their own gravity,
india-rubber or spiral springs or cords with weights suspended over pullies
may be employed to return the handles to their normal position when released
by the passengers. In order that passengers may also assist themselves in the
opposite direction, I employ two bars and pullies with handles, the one bar
being inclined in the opposite direction to that of the other, so that the
handles gravitate and travel of themselves to opposite ends of the vehicle.
More than two bars may be used, but if so they may be of less length and
with handles traversing from the door to an intermediate point in the length
of the vehicle, while another bar and pulley conveys you from midlength to the
further end, and vice versa.
Instead of rods to carry the pullies and handles, projections or ledges from
the roof may be adopted, the object being to carry the traversing handle
in such manner that it is not necessary to release it until the passenger has
arrived at his or her seat in the vehicle. The handles may be of various
kinds, such as a knob, a metal loop handle, or even a leather loop or strap.
It is not absolutely necessary that pullies should be introduced to carry the
handles on the rods or supports, as with sufficient inclination and smoothness
of the rods, a metal strap having the weight of the handle hanging on it will,
by reason of the jar of the vehicle, gradually traverse towards the lower end
of the supporting rod. It will also be readily traversed by the hand in use,
and will steady the passenger as required.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2 a transverse
section of an omnibus furnished with traversing hand-holds according to my
Invention, while Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 show the parts detached.

page_text: handles B, B, traverse; they are represented as supported in brackets C, C,
fixed to the roof of the omnibus, and in such position that each rod shall be
inclined to the horizontal, but in opposite directions, as seen in Fig. 1. I make
these rods a foot or eighteen inches shorter than the length of the omnibus,
which will be long enough for the purposes required, and will be stiffer than
if carried out the full length; the handles B, B, are shown separately on an
enlarged scale at Figs. 3 and 4. I have only represented two handles on
each rod, but three may be placed in readiness for three persons entering the
vehicle, one immediately after the other; e is a forked piece of brass or other
metal receiving the pulley f, which revolves freely on its axis 9, and the
piece e is securely fixed in an ivory or other hand-hold h; the handle and pulley
are placed and suspended on the rod A, as seen in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and it
will be readily understood that if the rod is inclined to the horizon, the
pulley and handle will traverse by its own gravitation towards the lower end;
and two rods A being used, the one inclined in an opposite direction to the
other, the handles on each rod will always of their own accord take up the
position shown in Fig. 1, and therefore be in readiness for use as desired. A
passenger on entering or alighting from the vehicle, and having to traverse its
length, can readily take hold of the handle B at the lower end of the rod, and
steady himself thereby, while at same time traversing it along its supporting
rod A, and he will thus be steadied and receive much support without its at any
time being necessary to release the hold of the handle, and which he does not
quit hold of until he has arrived at the desired point; immediately on
releasing the handle it will run back to its normal position from which it was
brought, this it will do more or less quickly according to the inclination of the
rod, and will then be in readiness for the next person who may desire to use
it. In this way the traversing handles will always be in readiness for the use
of passengers either on entering or when desiring to alight from the vehicle.
Fig. 3 represents a side view of handle and pulley, and part of rod A, and
Fig. 4 an end view of the same; Fig. 5 represents the metal fork piece e &
pulley f, having a leather loop handle i attached; while Fig. 6 represents a metal
loop handle k and pulley, either of which may be substituted for the handles
shown at Fig. 3 and 5. Figs. 7 and 8 represent a handle in which the
pulley is dispensed with. Instead of the metal fork bearing for the pulley,
I form a metal strap to encircle the rod A, and to slide freely upon it, this,
if the contact surfaces be smooth, will traverse to the lower end of the rod by
reason of the jarring motion of the vehicle, and if there be sufficient inclination
of the rod, may traverse quick enough, but not so quickly as with the pulley ;
I make the strap 1 embracing the rod A so that it will swing freely in any
2
l

page_text: direction and otherwise so as to move freely on the rod A. Fig. 9 represents
a longitudinal section of an omnibus roof, having the traverse rods A, A, in
two lengths in the length of the omnibus. These rods and handles are the
same in every respect as those previously described, with the above exception,
and will require no further description. Being in two lengths will tend to
render the rods A stiffer, and will form a firmer support for the hand-holds.
Instead of the handles B being supported on rods, they may depend from and
run on ledges or rails fixed inside the roof of the vehicle, and as represented
in the cross section of an omnibus roof at Fig. 10; x, x, are the ledges or
rails (seen in cross section only), which are fixed in an inclined position from
end to end, as described with reference to the rod A. The strap b, in which
the pulley c is pivoted, is modified to suit the ledge rails, the handle being
fixed to one limb, which passes up over the pulley, as seen in an enlarged
view of the handle at Fig. 11. It may be necessary to put a stop bar above
the handle throughout the length of the ledge rail to prevent the handles
rising off the rails.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the application of rods or rails
with traversing hand-holds to vehicles, as and for the purposes herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sidney Grafton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
SIDNEY GRAFTON. (L.S.)