THE MANUFACTURE OF WAGGONS, CAISSONS, AND OTHER VEHICLES APPLICABLE T
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Francis, of New York, in the County of
New York and the State of New York, U. S. A., for the Invention of
"THE MANUFACTURE OF WAGGONS, CAISSONS, AND OTHER VEHICLES APPLICABLE
T
11
Sealed the 19th December 1854, and dated the 1st November 1854..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Francis at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st November 1854.
I, JOSEPH FRANCIS, of New York, in the County of New York, and State
of New York, U. S. A., do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"THE MANUFACTURE OF WAGGONS, CAISSONS, AND OTHER VEHICLES APPLICABLE
TO TRANSPORT MILITARY AND OTHER STORES ON LAND AND WATER" to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in constructing the bodies of waggons, caissons, and
other vehicles for transporting stores, of corrugated iron, put together with.
water-tight joints, so that the stores may without unloading be floated across
streams and rivers; and the vehicle bodies so constructed are supported on

page_text: wooden frames, to which the wheels; shafts, &c. are attached, and which for
crossing water may or may not be removed. The upper edge of such vehicle
bodies also are strengthened with wood, to render them less liable to be
injured by blows.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Francis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st May 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
FRANCIS, of New York, in the County of New York, and the State of New
York, U. S. A., send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of November, A.D. One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four, -in- the eighteenth-year-of-Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Francis,
Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Francis, my executors, adininis-
_trators, and assigns, or such others. as I, the said Joseph Francis, 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 Kingdoni of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "THE MANUFACTURE OF WAGGONS, CAISSONS,
AND OTHER VEHICLES APPLICABLE TO TRANSPORT MILITARY AND OTHER STORES ON
LAND AND WATER," upon condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Francis, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Francis, 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
thereof (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in constructing road and ammunition waggon bodies,
military caissons, &c., for the transportation of stores, powder, and fixed
ammunition, of corrugated wrought metal of any required form and dimensions,

page_text: for the purposes of land carriage, which shall also be capable of use for
transportation across streams, &c. without unloading, thus serving the purpose
of boats and barges or batteaus, for which, latter purpose they may in certain
forms be solely used.
The construction consists of corrugated metal formed into waggon bodies
or other like structures, so made as to float by making them water-tight, and
thus carry their loads across watercourses without wetting them, while I am
enabled to transport any article on land with the same facility and ease as
could be done in the ordinary road waggon made of wood, forming an im-
proved and durable vehicle, less liable to injury or the destructive influences of
the atmosphere than the common military waggon, whilst they afford all the
facilities of pontoons, or other cumbersome appendages of similar character,
connected with military or emigrant trains, for crossing streams and other like
purposes, without increasing the size or number of the waggon trains beyond'
what is absolutely necessary to transport stores.
The waggon body is made of any usual or convenient shape, and its bottom,
sides, and ends are entirely composed of corrugated iron, as-clearly-represented*
in the Drawing, Fig. 1. The upper edge turns over at right angles all
around and then down, and the space thus formed is fitted with a top rail of.
wood (a); this is most clearly shown in Fig. 2, which is a cross section. All
the joints are made water-tight, and the lower portion of the tail board is fixed
permanently, a small portion only of the upper part turning down, which
when in place may have a water-tight joint by means of cotton, flannel, or
other cloth, if required, at each of the corners on the inside. . I place angle
iron or corner pieces, strongly riveted to the sides and ends, to prevent breakage
or leakage, and fill the openings caused by the corrugations with solder and'
cement of red lead and oil; all the other appendages of an ordinary wooden
waggon are also affixed thereto. This forms the superstructure, and it rests
upon and is attached to a wooden framework, shown at Fig. 3, formed of
two side and two end pieces, framed together with cross pieces (p, p, p.)
intervening; the rear end piece (b) projects beyond the sides, and sustains a
diagonal brace that supports the sides at that point. A centre brace may
also project in the same way for a like purpose. This framework, thus
fashioned, 'enables me to affix the the running gear of the waggon without
piercing the bottom with holes, a matter indispenable to avoid leakage. To
the front end of the frame the bolster is screwed, so that it can be detached
readily from the running gear and wheels, and thus the body alone can be
used as a boat. The king bolt (k)-passes through the bolster, with its head
countersunk below the top of the bolster, and having an iron plate firmly
.

page_text: secured to the bolster over the head of the bolt. By this means I avoid.
making a hole through the bottom of the waggon, as before stated, and when
the bolster is removed with the running gear, the body can be drawn along
upon the timber frame as upon skids, or on the snow as a sleigh, dispensing
with the wheels; the corrugated flanges, &c. giving support and strength to
bear the concussions of a rough road without any chance of injury to the
structure. In rapid transit, or where from any cause the running gear is not
unshipped, a loaded waggon can be drawn directly into the water, and floated
across the stream without unloading or injury to the contents. Without the
running gear each waggon can be employed as a batteau; if occasion require,
the box in front can be of the shape shown, or may be, formed more like the
bows of a boat, if required.
•
This mode of construction is applicable to the construction of caissons and
other structures for military purposes. The sides are made of one piece, struck
up into shape with a die. Each corrugation should be sharp, deep, and well
defined, having its sides straight and at right angles to the surface, as shown
at (x, x,) Fig. 2. This sustains the body perfectly, and gives strength to the
structure, keeping the parts in proper figure. These parts are formed in
proper dies, by pressure; and boats or vessels of any figure may be made upon
the same general plan, as hereafter described, the dies being suitably formed
for the purpose. There is a wooden gunwale in the place of the rail upon the
waggon, which is important to keep the proper figure and give stability thereto,
the elasticity of the wood preventing a permanent binding of those parts. I
form the feed trough of corrugated metal, made of any convenient form or
dimensions, to answer the double purpose either of a feed trough or a boat to
obtain communication with the opposite shore. I make the ammunition bodies
and caissons with a corrugated top or cover, to open in sections for convenience
in taking out powder. These are fire and water proof, and also made to be
used on wheels as waggons, on snow as sledges or sleighs, on rivers as boats,
batteaus, &c., and to transport powder and fixed ammunition without unloading,
thus avoiding the exposure to injury of the materials or loss of life by explosion.
I claim the above-described improvements in corrugated metal structures for
transportation.
I also claim the wooden top rave for supporting that part of the waggon or
other vehicle, constructed and arranged as described, or any device substan-
tially the same; and I also claim, in combination with the water-tight body,
the wooden framework below, as herein specified.
I also claim the employment of the above-described structures for the
transportation of powder, fixed ammunition, and stores over rivers and roads

page_text: without unloading, which thereby facilitates and gives to an army an imme-
diate crossing on reaching a river, and a continuance of its rout, without the
cumbrance of a pontoon train, or the delay of unloading the waggons, &c.
I also claim, striking the metal sides of the within-described vehicles
up into the form desired, by means of metal dies made to the pattern, and
forced together by any suitable power, as is clearly described in the above
Specification.
JOSEPH FRANCIS. (L.S.)