IMPROVEMENTS IN CATTLE TRUCKS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Welch, of Southall, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CATTLE TRUCKS."
Sealed the 29th March 1870, and dated the 18th October 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Welch at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th October 1869.
I, ALFRED WELCH, of Southall, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CATTLE TRUCKS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in cattle trucks.
To prevent cattle from fouling the troughs of cattle trucks when not
required for drinking, also to uncover them readily for the cattle to drink
from them, I fit them with a metal or wood cover shaped to an arc equal
to one quarter of a circle, which cover works to and fro in a groove.
formed to the arc of a circle.
Also I have another method to secure the troughs of cattle trucks,
viz., by a longitudinal board, the lower edge of which rests upon the

page_text: whole length of the inside edge of the trough, and the two ends are
confined by and work each in a groove, so that by means of two pins
fastened to and projecting outwards through two vertical apertures in
the side of the truck a man by his hands may raise the board, lifting it
upwards off the edge of the trough and suspending it there high enough
to permit the cattle to drink from the trough. Next, as a means of
supplying fodder to cattle in cattle trucks, I stretch across the whole
area of the truck horizontally, about nine inches beneath the roof of the
truck, a strong netting of cord or other material to hold the fodder,
which is supplied to it by means of moveable slides in the roof of the
trucks.
Also for the convenience of supplying food and water to my improved
cattle trucks I place across the ends of the trucks a platform extending
in width between the ends of the trucks and the buffers when driven in.
Also for stallings or slides to keep separate cattle in trucks and for
facilitating the loading and unloading them. I make each slide or
stalling in separate pieces, which can be drawn apart or pushed together,
and which parts when drawn asunder are connected together by
moveable bars attached to the several portions and forming when
connected one rigid stalling or slide.
These improvements are accompaniments of the Invention described
in the Provisional Specification of my Patent for "Improvements in
Cattle Trucks," dated the 9th instant, No. 2949.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Welch in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
WELCH, of Southall, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Welch, Her special licence that
I, the said Alfred Welch, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alfred Welch, my executors, adminis-

page_text: trators, 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 CATTLE TRUCKS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Welch, my
exccutors 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 Alfred Welch, do hereby declare.
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in cattle trucks.
These improvements are accompaniments of the Invention described
in the Specification of my Patent for improvements in cattle trucks,.
dated 9th of October last, No. 2949, and they are illustrated by the
annexed Drawings, in which Figure 1 is a transverse section of the upper
parts of a cattle truck fitted with my improvements. The wheels.
and underworks are removed. Figure 2 is a side view, one half in section.
of the same truck; Figure 3 is a plan of the roof of the same. The truck
is provided with drinking troughs supplied from a tank a* on the roof.
To prevent cattle from fouling the troughs of cattle. trucks when not
required for drinking, also to uncover them readily for the cattle to.
drink from them, I fit them with a metal or wood cover shaped to an
arc equal to one quarter of a circle, which cover works to and fro in a
groove formed to the arc of a circle.
a, a, in the Drawings are troughs thus constructed :---They are semi-
cylindrical or nearly so, and have circular ends on which guides are
formed for the cover b. The cover is in transverse section about one-
fourth of a circle, and it leaves the remaining quadrant uncovered.
When the cover is placed as it is shown in Figure 1, the trough is open to
the inside of the truck and the cattle can drink; but when it is turned
over into the position in which it is shown in Figure 2 it is closed to the
inside of the truck. The troughs are closed whilst travelling in order

page_text: that the cattle may not be able to put their feet in them or otherwise
foul the troughs.
Also I have another method to secure the troughs of cattle troughs,
viz., by a longitudinal board, the lower edge of which rests upon the
whole length of the inside edge of the trough, and the two ends are
confined by and work each in a groove, so that by means of two pins
fastened to the board and projecting outwards through two vertical
apertures in the side of the truck, a man by his bands may raise the
board, lifting it upwards off the edge of the trough and suspending it
there high enough to permit the cattle to drink from the trough. A
trough thus arranged is shown at c in Figure 1. The board which
closes it to the inside of the truck is marked d, it slides in vertical
guides on the uprights of the truck; d', d¹, are the pins or handles fixed
to the board d, by which it is lifted when desired; it is fastened up by
a bolt or in other convenient way.
As a means of supplying fodder to cattle in cattle trucks, I stretch
across the whole area of the truck horizontally, about nine inches beneath
the roof of the truck, a strong netting of cord or other material to hold
the fodder, which is supplied to it by means of moveable slides in the roof
of the truck. In the Drawings this net is shewn at e, e; f*,f*, are doors
or shutters in the roof, which are able to slide in a direction across
the carriage, and thus open to allow fodder to be placed on the net.
One of the doors or shutters is shewn open in Figures 1 & 3. The dotted
lines indicate the position in which it then stands.
In forming stallings or slides to keep separate cattle in trucks, and
for facilitating the loading and unloading them, I make each slide or
stalling in separate pieces, which can be drawn apart or pushed together,
and which parts when drawn asunder are connected together by
moveable bars attached to the several portions, and forming when
connected one rigid stalling or slide. In the Drawings f,f, represent
the sliding pieces or uprights of which the stalling is composed; these
pieces are fitted into guides g, g, on the floor, and under the roof of the
truck in these guides they are able to slide. To admit the beasts or to
unload them the uprights are pushed close together at one side or end
of the truck (according as the stalling is transverse or longitudinal), and
when the beasts are in their places the pieces fare separated and placed,
as the Drawing shows them. h, h, are bars jointed to the posts f, and
capable of turning up into grooves formed in them, so as to be out of

page_text: the way when the stalling is not required. When the truck is loaded
with the cattle the bars h turn down horizontally and enter notches in
the adjacent uprights f, when they are secured by a locking piece, as is
shown in Figure 4.
A modification of this arrangement is shewn in side view at Figure 5,
where a, a, are upright pieces or posts, and b, b, are sliding shutters in
the thickness of the post, which can close together in the centre of the
post, stand out from it on either side. I form a roll on the upper edge
of each shutter, and a split metal cylinder slides thereon and connects
the adjacent shutters when out. Suitable pins fix the cylinder in
its place.
When I employ longitudinal stalling, I generally provide a separate
stall for cach beast. When I use a transverse stalling, it is usually to.
divide the truck into two parts to separate the cattle into two lots, the
larger from the small, whereby liability to injury in transit is much
lessened.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that what
I claim is,-
First. The arranging the troughs of cattle trucks, substantially as
herein described.
Second. The arranging for the supply of fodder to cattle in cattle
trucks by stretching a net horizontally under the roof, and providing
doors in the roof for the fodder to be. placed upon the net, substantially
as herein described.
Third. The arranging stalling in cattle trucks, consisting of separate
uprights or pieces capable of being pushed together or drawn apart and
connected by moveable bars, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Welch, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
ALFRED WELCH. (L.S.)