IMPROVEMENTS IN FOLDING PERAMBULATORS.
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Thompson, of Islington, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FOLDING
PERAMBULATORS.'
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Thompson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd June 1871.
I, BENJAMIN THOMPSON, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN FOLDING PERAMBULATORS," to be as follows :-
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of per-
ambulators whereby they may be more readily and compactly doubled
up when not in use.
I construct the perambulator in three parts or frames, viz., the front
frame or footboard; the rear frame, to which the hind wheels are
attached; and the seat or body of the carriage. These three parts are
jointed together at or beneath the front part of the seat, the front and

page_text: rear frames being blocked so as to mutually support one another and
the seat or body when opened out, the whole being rigidly secured in
the open position by a rod or strut jointed to the axletree and attached
to the rear of the body by a pin and staple or equivalent device. To
this rod the framework of the handle is jointed so as to fold up with {
the perambulator. The handle is secured rigidly in position by the
means employed to fasten the rod to which it is attached. The rear
frame is provided with a cross bar, which serves to block it as before-
mentioned, and also as a handle by which the carriage may be carried
when doubled up.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Benjamin Thompson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 2nd December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BENJAMIN
THOMPSON, of Islington, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Benjamin Thompson, Her special licence that
I, the said Benjamin Thompson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Benjamin Thompson, 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
FOLDING PERAMBULATORS,” upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Benjamin Thompson, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Thompson, 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 following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings
5 hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :—
My Invention relates to improvements in the construction of per-
ambulators whereby they may be more readily and compactly doubled
up or folded up when not in use.
I construct the perambulator in three parts or frames, viz., the front
frame or footboard; the rear frame, to which the hind wheels are
attached; and the seat or body of the carriage. These three parts are
jointed together at or beneath the front part of the seat, the front and
rear frames being blocked so as to mutually support one another and
5 the seat or body when opened out, the whole being rigidly secured in
the anon nosition be any suitable means

page_text: .
of the rear or under carriage are made still narrower and are placed
between the side frames d. This disposition and relative width of the
frames may however be varied without departing from my Invention.
Frames & may or may not be prolonged towards the front, so as to abut
upon the cross piece f, as shown, as the said frames also take a bearing
under projecting plates x fixed at the other side of centre D. to the
upper edge of frames d. The sides a of the body are supported on
other plates y, also bolted to frames d, and projecting from the under
edge thereof, as shown. The seat 6 may or may not rest upon the rear
extremities of frames d. i, i, are the springs of the under carriage
fixed to frames and to the axle k, which should be curved or bent
at the middle to allow of the fore wheel passing under it when the
perambulator is doubled up, as shown in Figure 3. is a cross bar
fixed to frames h, to which the body is connected by a spring catch m,
whereby the whole carriage is held rigidly together. This spring m is
made of considerable length and is fixed at the upper end to the back C,
its free end passing through the seat b. It terminates in a catch and
is made strong enough to hold the parts of the carriage firmly together
when in use, yet sufficiently flexible to be readily disengaged from the
bar / when the perambulator is to be doubled up. Any other suitable
locking device may be substituted for spring m. The handle n is hinged
at o to a plate p secured to the back c, so as to fold down against the
seat when the perambulator is doubled up. When in use the handle
is fixed by a sliding ring a to the plate p, or by a pin and staple
or equivalent device. The part of the seat may be in the form
of a flap hinged to the part b, so as to folded back out of the way
of the frames & in doubling up the perambulator, which is effected
by first turning down the handle and bringing over the body to the
position shown in red lines Figure 1, and then closing the fore and
rear carriages together, as shown in Figure 2. When the extremities of
frame h are not made to bear upon ƒ they would be short enough to
turn without lifting the part 6¹, which may then be a fixture. The
parts may be secured in the closed position by a strap passed round
the handle. 8 is a loose cushion, and t is a handle to lift the carriage
by when it is doubled up. The back and arms may be covered and
padded as usual.
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,

page_text: constructing folding perambulators in three parts hinged or jointed
together on a common centre at or near the fore part of the seat,
whereby the perambulator may be compactly folded, substantially as
herein-before set forth and illustrated in the Drawings annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Thompson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this First day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.