IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS OF CARRIAGE SHAFTS AND IN CONSING SOLDIER BARS TO CARRIAGES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Catt and Charles Shorten Catt, of the
Firm of Catt and Son, of Ipswich, Carriage Builders, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS OF CARRIAGE SHAFTS AND IN
CONSING SOLDIER BARS TO CARRIAGES"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Catt and
Charles Shorten Catt at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 16th March 1869.
We, WILLIAM CATT and CHARLES SHORTEN OATT, of the Firm of
Catt and Son, of Ipswich, Carriage Builders, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE JOINTS OF
CARRIAGE SHAFTS AND IN CONNECTING SPLINTER BARS TO CARRIAGES," to be as
follows:-
Our Invention consists, firstly, of the improvements herein-after
described in the joints of carriage shafts, whereby a combined joint and
stop is produced of greater strength and durability and of neater appear-
ance than the joints of carriage shafts as ordinarily constructed.

page_text: In making a combined joint and stop according to our Invention we
construct and arrange the parts in the following manner :-That part to
which the shaft is to be jointed consists of two flat plates of steel fixed to
the carriage, between which plates a filling-up piece of wood is secured
by bolts. The outer ends of these plates are of a nearly circular figure,
and holes are made in their middle. The said curved and perforated
ends project beyond the filling-up piece of wood described, and constitute
the outer eyes or knuckles of the shaft joint. At the junction of the outer
knuckles with the steel plates from which they are made are shoulders,
which form stops against which the other part of tho joint abuts when
the shaft is raised, as herein-after described. To the end of the carriage
shaft a forked plate is -rivetted, the solid end of which plate carries a
knuckle or eye of a size proper to fit between the outer eyes or knuckles
herein-before described. The shaft or middle knuckle having been fitted
between the outer knuckles a joint pin is passed through them and
secured in its place. The jointing of the shaft is then complete. The
joint pin which we use consists of a screw pin having a large flat head
which bears firmly against and covers the face of one of the outer
knuckles of the joint, the said pin being secured in its place by a nut
screwed on its end. The solid end of the forked plate carrying the shaft
or middle knuckle is curved on either side the said middle knuckle so as
to fit and work upon the curved edges of the outer knuckles. When
the shaft is turned on its joint, so as to place it at right angles to the
plates to which it is jointed, the solid end of the forked plate on the
shaft abuts against the stops at the back of the outer knuckles, and the
further motion of the shaft is arrested.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in connecting splinter bars to
carriages in the following manner :-Near either end of the splinter bar
a short projecting metal arm is fixed. The end of each of these arms has
a nearly circular figure and is perforated at the middle. These arms
constitute eyes or knuckles, and are of a shape and size proper to be
fitted between the outer knuckles of the shaft joints herein-before
described.
When it is wished to use a pole with the carriage the shafts are re-
moved by withdrawing the joint pins, and the eyes or knuckles on the
splinter bar are fitted between and fastened to the outer knuckles of
the shaft joints by screw pins. The splinter bar is thereby fixed

page_text: to the carriage. The screw pins used are similar to the shaft joint
pins, excepting that they have square shanks instead of cylindrical
shanks.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Catt and Charles Shorten Catt in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th September 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
CATT and CHARLES SHORTEN CATT, of the Firm of Catt and Son, of
Ipswich, Carriage Builders, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said William Catt and Charles Shorten Catt,
Her special licence that we, the said William Catt and Charles Shorten
Catt, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said William Catt and Charles Shorten Catt, our executors, adminis-
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 THE JOINTS OF
CARRIAGE SHAFTS AND IN CONNECTING SPLINTER BARS TO CARRIAGES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said William Catt and Charles
Shorten Catt, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under, our or their hands and scals, or under the hand and scal
of one of us or them, 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 Scal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that. I, the said William Catt, on behalf of
myself and the said Charles Shorten Catt, do hereby declare the nature of

page_text: 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 :-
Our Invention consists, firstly, of the improvements herein-after
described in the joints of carriage shafts, whereby a combined joint and.
stop is produced of greater strength and durability, and of neater
appearance than the joints of carriage shafts as ordinarily constructed.
In making a combined joint and stop according to our Invention,
we construct and arrange the parts in the following manner :-That
part to which the shaft is to be jointed consists of two plates of steel or
iron fixed to the carriage, between which plates a filling up picce of
wood is secured by bolts. The outer ends of these plates are of a
nearly circular figure, and holes are made in their middle. The said
curved and perforated ends project beyond the filling up piece of wood
described, and constitute the outer eyes or knuckles of the shaft joint.
At the junction of the outer knuckles with the steel or iron plates from
which they are made are shoulders, which form stops against which the
other part of the joint abuts when the shaft is raised, as herein-after
described. To the end of the carriage shaft a forked plate is rivetted,
the solid end of which plate carries a knuckle or eye of a size proper to
fit between the outer eyes or knuckles herein-before described. The
shaft or middle knuckle having been fitted between the outer knuckles
a joint pin is passed through them and secured in its place. The
jointing of the shaft is then complete. The joint pin which wo use
consists of a screw pin having a large flat head which bears firmly
against and covers or nearly covers the face of one of the outer knuckles
of the joint, the said pin being secured in its place by a nut screwed on
its end. The solid end of the forked plate carrying the shaft or middle
knuckle is curved on either side the said middle, knuckle so as to fit
and work upon the curved edges of the outer knuckles. When the
shaft is turned on its joint, so as to place it at right angles to the plates
to which it is jointed, the solid end of the forked plate on the shaft
abuts against the stops at the back of the outer knuckles, and the further
motion of the shaft is arrested.
Our Invention consists, secondly, in connecting splinter bars to
carriages in the following manner :-Near either end of the splinter bar
a short projecting metal arm is fixed. The end of each of these arms

page_text: has a nearly circular figure and is perforated at the middle. These arms
constitute eyes or knuckles, and are of a shape and size proper to bo
fitted between the outer knuckles of the shaft joints herein-before
described. When it is wished to use a pole with the carriage the shafts
are removed by withdrawing the joint pins and the eyes or knuckles on
the splinter bar are fitted between and fastened to the outer knuckles
of the shaft joints by screw pins. The splinter bar is thereby fixed to
the carriage. The screw pins used are similar to the shaft joint pins
excepting that they have square shanks instead of cylindrical shanks.
Having explained the nature of our Invention, we will proceed to
describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan, and Figure 2 in elevation, a combined
joint and stop of a carriage shaft constructed according to our Invention ;
Figure 3 represents the shaft raised, and Figures 4, 5, and 6 are parts
of the same as herein-after explained. The same letters of reference
are employed to indicate the same parts in each Figure.
a, a, are the two plates of metal fixed to the carriage and to which
the shaft is to be jointed; b is a filling up piece of wood inserted
between the parts a³, a³, of the plates a, a, and secured by the bolts and
nuts at c, c. The ends of the said plates are circular and are
perforated and constitute the outer eyes or knuckles of the shaft joint; d
is a forked plate in which the end of the shaft is fitted and to which it
is rivetted. The solid end d' of the said forked plate carries a knuckle'
or cyc d of a size proper to fit between the knuckles a³, a³, of the
plates a, a. The bearing faces of the knuckle or eye d³ are covered
with disks of brass or gun metal rivetted thereto; Figures 4 and 5
represent the parts of the joint separated from one another. Figure 4,
representing in plan and side elevation the forked plate and middle
knuckle, and Figure 5, representing in plan the plates and outcr
knuckles. When it is wished to connect the shaft to the carriage the
eye or knuckle d is fitted between the eyes or knuckles a³, a³, and a
screw bolt e is passed through the holes or perforations in the said eyes
or knuckles a, a, a. By then screwing a nut on the end of the
screw bolt e the shaft is jointed to the carriage, as illustrated in Figures 1
and 2. The screw bolt and nut used to secure the knuckles of the joint-
together are represented detached from the joint in Figure 6. By an
examination of Figures 2, 3, and 4 it will be seen that the parts d', d³,

page_text: of the solid end d' of the forked plate d are curved to the radius of the
outer knuckles a³, a³, so that the said parts d³, d, bear and are capable
of working upon the said outer knuckles. At the back of the outer
knuckles a, a, or at their junction with the plates a, a, shoulders or
stops a, a, are made. The shape of these stops is best seen in Figures 2
and 3. When the shaft is turned on its joint to place it at right angles
to the plates a³, to which it is jointed, the solid end d' of the forked
plate d on the shaft abuts against the stops a, a, as illustrated in
Figure 3, and thereby prevents the further motion of the shaft.
Shoulders as are made opposite the stops a to give symmetry to the
outer knuckles. Instead connecting the shaft to a forked plate
provided with the middle eye or knuckle, as previously described, the
said middle eye may have a stem at its back, which stem fits into a
socket on the shaft. This arrangement of our Invention is represented
in Figure 7 and the parts separately in Figures 8 and 9. g is the
socket fixed on the end of the carriage shaft, and is the stem on the
back of the middle eye or knuckle of the joint. The stem / is fixed
in the socket by the cross bolts represented.
I
Figure 10 represents in plan our arrangement for connecting splinter
bars to carriages, and Figure 11 represents a cross section of the same.
is the splinter bar near either end of which is a short projecting metal
arm k.
These arms have a nearly circular figure at their ends, and are
perforated in the middle, as represented in Figure 11, and constitute
cycs which fit between the outer knuckles a³, a³, of the shaft joints
constructed in the manner herein-before described. The splinter bar i
is provided with the ordinary roller bolts. The end roller bolts are
marked. When, it is wished to use a pole with the carriage having
shaft joints made according to our Invention, the shafts are removed.
from the outer knuckles a³, as, by withdrawing the pins e, and the arms.
or knuckles k, k, of the splinter bar are fitted between the outer
knuckles of the said joints, as illustrated in Figure 10. By passing
pins having square shanks through the outer knuckles a and arms or
knuckles on the splinter bar, and fastening them by screw nuts, the
splinter bar is securely connected to the carriage.
By this means the carriage to which shaft joints made according to
our Invention are applied can at pleasure either have shafts or a splinter
bar connected to it.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner

page_text: in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and
illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature
of our Invention, but we claim as our Invention,-
Firstly. The arrangement or combination of the parts of the joints of
carriage shafts, substantially as herein-before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings; also, combining with the said joints
shoulders or stops for limiting the motion of the shafts, as herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Secondly. The arrangement or combination of parts for connecting
splinter bars to carriages, herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Catt, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of September, in yacr of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
WILLIAM SPALDING,
Ipswich.
WILLIAM CATT. (L.s.)