IMPROVEMENTS IN 'HANSON' CABS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVE- MENADED MA OTORD WHEELED CARRIAGES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Postlethwaite Gore, of 14, Langham
Street, Portland Place, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN 'HANSON' CABS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVE-
MENADED MA OTORD WHEELED CARRIAGES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Postle-
thwaite Gore at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 16th October 1866.
I, WILLIAM HENRY POSTLETHWAITE GORE, of 14, Langham Street, Portland
Place, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN 'HANSON' CABS,' PARTS OF WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE EQUALLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER WHEELED CARRIAGES," to be as
follows:-
In the first place the floor and the roof of the cab are made of a semicircular
form in front, and are furnished with curved grooves, in which the doors slide
at top and bottom; this semicircular portion is divided into three equal parts,
the central part being fixed to the roof and floor at top and bottom, having
it's lower portion panelled and its upper half glazed; the side portions are
similarly panelled and glazed, but are moveable, sliding in the grooves above
==

page_text: and below, and thus forming curved sliding doors. When either door is
opened it slides behind the fixed central portion, and the grooves are so
arranged that the doors slide behind each other.
The following improvements are applicable to cabs made with the semicircular
front, as above described, or to cabs made in the usual or other form, and to
other wheeled carriages:-The springs which support the body and connect it
to the axle are made with their ends free to slide to and fro through holes in
bearings or supports attached to the axle for that purpose. The side windows are
made of a circular form, having a revolving shutter by which they may be wholly
or partially closed when desired. On the roof of the cab are three small hinged
signal arms which may be elevated or depressed from the inside by means of a
small knob or handle, and are for the purpose of directing the driver to turn
either to the right, or the left, or to stop. The roof of the cab, when made
of papier maché, is to be covered with thin sheet copper or other metal to
protect the same from injury and from the effects of wet weather, such metal to
be rivetted to the angle iron frames, and painted or japanned in the ordinary
manner. The doors are to be made of a grooved metal frame, somewhat
similar to the frame of a school slate, and filled in with papier maché panels;
three sides of the frame to be made in one piece and the fourth moveable, so
that the panel can be made to slide in and then be fixed by screwing or fixing
on the fourth side of the frame. The breasts of the cab may also be made in
the same manner. In cabs made with flexible windows to draw down in front
or push up under the roof I make the bands or laths which are hinged together
of iron or other metal in a somewhat similar manner to that described for the
doors and breasts of the cab, with spaces for the glass to be inserted, the said
glass to be fixed in the metal frame with putty or other similar material, or the
grooves to be lined with cloth or other soft substance to prevent the glass
from rattling. The ends of the bands or laths run in iron or other metal
grooves in the sides of the cab. Inside the papier maché back of the cab or
carriage, and between it and the lining or stuffing I propose to place thin
plates of perforated steel or other metal to prevent the poles of other
carriages in crowded thoroughfares from penetrating through the back and
injuring the occupants. Instead of making the square part of the axle with
two of its sides vertical and two horizontal, as usual, I make it anglewise, or
with all the sides diagonal to the ground, by which means I get a wider
bearing for the axle arms to which the springs are attached. I make the
shafts of angle iron, filling in the angle underneath with wood, the rear ends
of the said shafts being carried on and forming part of the frame of the bottom
of the cab. The tire of the wheels I make of a trough-like section, so as to

page_text: embrace the sides of the felloes, the object being to protect the sides of the
felloes and prevent their being worn away by coming in contact with the curb
or otherwise. I make the boxes of the wheels of iron with hollow iron
sockets (which are slightly taper) screwed therein, and the inner ends of the
wooden spokes are driven tightly into these iron sockets. In some cases, in
circular fronted cabs, I propose to make the doors open on hinges, and to
make the windows flexible, but to slide horizontally in grooves in the sides of
the cab when open, and to slide in grooves in the top of the doors and meet
in the centre when closed; in this case the fastening of the doors must be so.
arranged that they cannot possibly be opened when the windows are partially
closed, that is, when the window is partly in one groove and partly in the
other.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Postlethwaite Gore in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 16th April 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY POSTLETHWAITE GORE, of 14, Langham Street, Portland Place, in the
County of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Henry Postlethwaite Gore, Her special licence, that I, the said William Henry
Postlethwaite Gore, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Henry Postlethwaite Gore, my exccutors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thercafter 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 HANSOM CABS, PARTS OF 'WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE EQUALLY
APPLICABLE TO OTHER WHEELED CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others).
that I, the said William Henry Postlethwaite Gore, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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

page_text: 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 William Henry Postlethwaite Gore, 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 in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Sheet
of Drawings, that is to say :-
In the first place the floor and the roof of the cab are made of a semicircular
form in front, and are furnished with curved grooves in which the doors slide.
at top and bottom; this semicircular portion is divided into three equal
parts, the central part being fixed to the roof and floor at top and bottom,
having its lower portion panelled and its upper half glazed; the side portions
are similarly panelled and glazed, but are moveable, sliding in the grooves above
and below, and thus forming curved sliding doors. When either door is
opened it slides behind the fixed central portion, and the grooves are so
arranged that the doors slide behind each other.
The following improvements are applicable to cabs made with the semi-
circular front, as above described, or to cabs made in the usual or other form,
and to other wheeled carriages:-The side windows are made of a circular
form having a revolving glass shutter by which they may be wholly or partially
closed when desired. On the roof of the cab are three small hinged signal
arms which may be elevated or depressed from the inside by means of a small
knob or handle, and are for the purpose of directing the driver to turn either
to the right, or the left, or to stop. The roof of the cab when made of papier
maché is to be covered with thin sheet copper or other metal to protect the
same from injury and from the effects of wet weather, such metal to be rivetted
to the angle iron frames, and painted or japanned in the ordinary manner.
The doors are to be made of a grooved metal frame, somewhat similar to
the frame of a school slate, and filled in with papier maché panels; three sides
of the frame to be made in one piece and the fourth moveable, so that the
panel can be made to slide in and then be fixed by screwing or fixing on the
fourth side of the frame. The breasts of the cab may also be made in the same
manner. In cabs made with flexible windows to draw down in front or push up
under the roof I make the bands or laths which are hinged together of iron or
other metal in a somewhat similar manner to that described for the doors and
breasts of the cab, with spaces for the glass to be inserted, the said glass to be
fixed in the metal frame with putty or other similar material, or the grooves
to be lined with cloth or other soft substance to prevent the glass from rattling.
The ends of the bands or laths run in iron or other metal grooves in the sides

page_text: of the cab. Inside the papier maché back of the cab or carriage, and between
it and the lining or stuffing, I propose to place thin plates of perforated steel
or other metal to prevent the poles of other carriages in crowded thorough.
fares from penetrating through the back and injuring the occupants.
Instead of making the square part of the axle with two of its sides
vertical and two horizontal, as usual, I make it anglewise, or with all
the sides diagonal to the ground, by which means I get a wider bearing
for the axle arms to which the springs are attached. I make the shafts
of angle iron, filling in the angle underneath with wood, the rear ends
of the said shafts being carried on and forming part of the frame of the
bottom of the cab. The tire of the wheels I make of a trough-like section,
so as to embrace the sides of the felloes, the object being to protect the
sides of the felloes and prevent their being worn away by coming in contact
with the curb or otherwise. I make the boxes of the wheels of iron with
hollow iron sockets (which are slightly taper) screwed therein, and the inner
ends of the wooden spokes are driven tightly into these iron sockets. In some
cases in circular fronted cabs. I propose to make the doors open on hinges and
to make the windows flexible, but to slide horizontally in grooves in the sides
of the cab when open, and to slide in grooves in the top of the doors and meet
in the centre when closed. In this case the fastening of the doors must be so.
arranged that they cannot possibly be opened when the windows are partially
closed, that is, when the window is partly in one groove and partly in the
other.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention for "Improvements
in Hansom Cabs, Parts of which Improvements are equally applicable to
other Wheeled Carriages," I will now proceed to describe more in detail the
manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect; and in order that the same may be distinctly understood
I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and havo
marked the same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those
in the following explanation thereof, that is to say :-
"
Figure 1 in the annexed Drawing represents a side view of a "Hansom
cab constructed according to my Invention, and Figure 2 is a plan view of
the same, part of the roof. being removed in order to show more clearly the
action of the doors.
The front portion of the cab is made of a semicircular form, as clearly seen
in Figure 2, the roof and floor being furnished with two curved grooves a, a,
in which the curved doors b, b, slide at top and bottom; c, c, is the fixed
central portion of the front, which is of about the same width as the doors, and.

page_text: behind which the doors b, b, slide when open, the grooves a, a, being so
arranged that the doors slide one in front of the other, as scen in Figure 2.
The upper portion of the doors (as well as of the fixed central part c, c,) is
glazed, the said glazed portion being made so as to slide up and down in the
usual or any other convenient manner. The side of the cab may also have a
corresponding fixed glazed light, as at d, d; the side windows e, e, are made
circular, one half of the glass being fixed and the other half moveable on a
central stud or button, by turning which the moveable half may be opened or
shut, either wholly or partially, as shown by the dotted lines, Figure 1; f, g, h,
are the three signal arms on the roof of the cab which are mounted on hinges
made to be raised up or depressed by means of a small nob or other simple
contrivance inside the cab. The simple raising of the central arm is the
signal to stop, and the elevation of either of the arms for h singly is the signal
to turn to the right or left. Various other signals may be given by the com-
bination of two or more arms if required, a code or explanation of the signals
to driver being hung up inside the vehicle.
The doors, breasts, or other panelled parts to be made as represented in
Figure 3, in which i, i, represents a grooved metal frame somewhat similar to
the frame of a school slate, three sides being fixed and the side i* moveable, so
that the papier maché panel j,j, can be made to slide in and then be fixed
firmly by screwing or otherwise fixing on the fourth side i*. The window
sashes (and the glazed laths of flexible windows as above described) are also
to be made in the same manner, so that the glasses if broken can be readily.
replaced. The axle and axle arms are formed, as shown at Figure 4, the
square part of the axle, instead of being made with two of its sides vertical
and two horizontal, as usual, is formed anglewise, or with all its sides diagonal,
by which means a wider bearing is obtained for the axle arms l, l, which are
forged with or welded to the axle and connect it to the springs.
Figure 5 represents a section of the shafts, which are made of angle iron
m, m, filled in with wood n, n, and connected together by screws or bolts.
Figure 6 is a section of a portion of the felloe of a wheel, o, o, being the
tire, which is of a trough-like section, having an outer rim or flange p to
prevent the felloes from being worn away by contact with the curb or
otherwise.
Figure 7 is a section of the nave or boss of the wheel, which I make of iron
or of hard wood with hollow iron sockets q, q, screwed therein; these sockets
are slightly tapered inside, and the inner ends of the wooden spokes r, r, are
driven tightly therein. The outer ends of the spokes may be furnished with
screwed sockets in the same manner.

page_text: Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention for
Improvements in ‘Hansom' Cabs, Parts of which Improvements are equally
applicable to other Wheeled Carriages," together with the manner in which
the same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I would
remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention, the several improvements
herein-before described and represented in the annexed Drawings, or any mere
modification or imitation thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Postlethwaite Gore, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
W* HENRY P. GORE. (L.S.)