IMPROVE- MENTS IN OMNIBUSES
Year: 1856

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Henry Walsh at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 30th January
1856.
I, JOHN HENRY WALSH, of Portland Place, Clapham Road, in the County
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OMNIBUSES, to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in omnibusses relates to a particular
arrangement of the seats, whereby I am enabled to keep a clear passage up
the middle of the omnibus, & at the same time provide ample accommodation
for passengers, & with little or no variation in the size of the vehicle. For
this purpose I form a separate seat for each inside passenger at the sides, so
that the passenger sits with his side to the side of the vehicle. The knees &
legs of one passenger pass under the seat of the passenger in front; but in
order to afford sufficient room, I raise the seats, each one to a higher level than
the one behind it. The floor of the omnibus may be similarly inclined, or
may rise in a succession of steps to correspond with the level of the seats.
I arrange four or five such seats on either side of the vehicle, & at the end
next the driver I arrange four seats, somewhat in a semicircular form, with
the backs to the horses, & with a board raised above the floor of the omnibus
as a foot board, in order to make room for the feet of the two nearest side
passengers. The top or roof of the omnibus must of course be inclined, the

page_text: same as the floor, to afford the necessary head room. Each of the side seats
may be partitioned off up to the roof, or left partially open at the upper part.
Instead of the ordinary seat along the roof, I arrange a seat in the form of a
semicircle to carry five or six persons with the feet towards the centre, with
the backs more or less towards the horses; the extreme seats on either side
project a little beyond the roof. Immediately over the door I place two seats
facing forwards, the feet of the sitters approaching the feet of those sitting in
the semicircle; this leaves room on either side of the door to get up and down,
where I place proper steps & hand rails. The front outside seats I arrange
in the ordinary manner.
Another improvement refers to a telegraph or signal apparatus, for commu-
nicating with the conductor, which consists of a rod running along the roof on
the inside. It is fitted in bearings to turn round, & has projecting arms or
handles, which keep close up to the roof by reason of the action of a cam &
spring, arranged so that the longitudinal rod may be turned half round &
have a tendency to carry the handles up when they are placed on either side
of the vertical position. An index hand is fixed on the longitudinal rod with
a dial visible to the conductor. When a passenger wishes to stop the
omnibus, one of the inside handles is to be pulled down & released when
on that side of the vertical position corresponding with the side of the road
on which the passenger wishes to alight. Pulling down the handle causes
the longitudinal rod to perform a partial rotation, & at the same time to
strike a bell, & so attract the attention of the conductor, who sees by the
index hand on which side of the road to draw up.