IMPROVED APPLIANCES FOR ADJUSTING THE MOVEABLE SEATS OF CARRIAGES SO AS TO BALANCE THE WEIGHT
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Keen, Coach Builder, of Farnham, in the County
of Surrey, for an Invention of "IMPROVED APPLIANCES FOR ADJUSTING
THE MOVEABLE SEATS OF CARRIAGES SO AS TO BALANCE THE WEIGHT."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Keen at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd May 1880.
.
CHARLES KEEN, Coach Builder, of Farnham, in the County of Surrey.
"IMPROVED APPLIANCES FOR ADJUSTING THE MOVEABLE SEATS OF CARRIAGES
SO AS TO BALANCE THE WEIGHT."
Between the sides of the carriage (to each of which it is screwed) and under the
seat thereof a bar of iron or steel extends, and upon this bar is fixed a lever
composed of a handle, which may be designed to fit underneath or at the top
sido of the seat, and two or more joints. At the end of the lever are grooves
in which it when acted upon slides the soat backwards or forwards to any
required position to balance the weight, and the lever handle drops into a rack to
regulate the distance.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Lotters Patent filed by
the said Charles Keen in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd November
1880.
CHARLES KEEN, Coach Builder, Farnham, Surrey. "IMPROVED APPLIANCES
FOR ADJUSTING THE MOVEABLE SEATS OF CARRIAGES SO AS TO BALANCE THE
WEIGHT."
My improvements relate to the means I employ for adjusting the moveable
seats of vehicles so as to balance the weight, and this result is accomplished by a
a lever centered upon a bar, which extends from one side of the vehicle to the
other.
For the better explanation of my said Invention I refer to the accompanying
Drawings.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a vehicle showing the lever-handle and notched-
plate or rack hereinafter described.
Figure 2 is a plan of my appliance as fixed, the view being taken from underneath
the seat.
Figure 3 is a back view of the seat and appliance.
The same letters denote corresponding parts throughout the Figures.
a, a, are the sides of a vehicle; el, e, are the grooves formed upon the sides
of the vehicle by two pairs of ledges; b is the seat; c is the aforesaid bar; d is the
lever; d is the lever-handle; d² are the knuckle-joints; is the knuckle-joint
connecting the aforesaid lever to the edge of the seat. The lever may be so
arranged that this connection may be either to the front or back edge of the seat;
e is the notched-plate or rack; e¹, e¹, are the notches therein.
The mode of operating is as follows:-I fix in the body of the vehicle between
the sides and under the seat a bar of iron or steel c, and under or upon this bar I
mount a lever d, the handle of which may be made to be at a level either above or
underneath the seat, and two or more knuckle-joints d³. The lever being actunted
by means of the handle d', slides the seat forward or backward in the groove a' to
any required position to balance the weight, and the lever springs into one of the
retaining notches el of the rack c fixed to the side of the vehicle. The rack e may
have as many notches as may be required. The dotted lines in Figure 2 show
the effect of the driver's pushing the handle backward, and so bringing the seat to
the front.
Having now fully explained and described the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be carried out, I claim the arrangement of
cross-bar, jointed-lever, and notched-plate, substantially as and for the purpose
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Keen, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Signed and sealed
in presence of
JOSEPH LEE,
East Street,
Farnham,
CHARLES KEEN, (L.S.)
Coach Builder,
Farnham,
Surrey.