IMPROVEMENTS IN EXPANDING And CONTRACTING CANOPIES APPLICABLE TO OMNIBUSES, FURNITURE VANS, NAVIGABLE VESSELS, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Ellisdon, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXPANDING And
CONTRACTING CANOPIES APPLICABLE TO OMNIBUSES, FURNITURE VANS, NAVIGABLE
VESSELS, AND OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 22nd August 1871, and dated the 21st April 1871.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Joseph Ellisdon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 21st April 1871, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, BE IT
KNOWN, that I, JOSEPH ELLISDON, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare that I have invented certain new and
useful "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXPANDING AND CONTRACTING CANOPIES APPLICABLE TO
OMNIBUSES, FURNITURE VANS, NAVIGABLE VESSELS, AND OTHER PURPOSES," and
that the. following is a full aud complete description of the same, and

page_text: the best means 1. am acquainted with for carrying it into practical effect
(that is to say) :-
This my said Invention has for its object certain improvements in
the construction of expanding and contracting canopies which are
peculiarly suitable for the tops of omnibuses, street railway cars,
furniture vans, and other open vehicles, garden seats, and as awnings
for navigable vessels, and other purposes, when temporary coverings are
required.
In applying this my said Invention to (say) the roof of an omnibus
I fix (say) an upright standard at each corner of the roof, the fore and
hinder standards being connected together by two longitudinal and two-
transverse rods, which latter are curved to give a contour to the roof,
which is angular in plan. I fit a solid or tubular rod which extends
longitudinally from the centre of one curved rod to the other. This
centre rod I fit with a pair of sliding collars which encompass it, and to
each of which is attached a transverse sliding bar resembling in contour
the arched rods forming the ends of the fixed, horizontal, rectangular
frame. The ends of these sliding bars rest and travel on the parallel
side rods. I form the roof of the canopy of canvass, by preference,
waterproofed, or other suitable water repellant fabric, which I make, by
preference, of two lengths of canvass or other suitable material of a
width equal to about the pitch line taken from the centre horizontal rod
to the side rods, but of considerably greater length than the fixed
rectangular frame to which they are attached by rings or sliding collars.
These two lengths of fabric I attach together longitudinally by means of
an intermediate strip of Macintosh cloth or other suitable pliable water-
proof material, cut so as to form a continuous series of gussets, that the
whole may be folded into a series of transverse zig-zag creases or folds.
The extremity of the upper edge of cach crease in the sheet of canvass
or other material is attached by straps or bridle pieces to rings sliding
on the centre rod, or their mechanical equivalent, and by rings to the
two longitudinal parallel side rods, the two arched ends are nailed or
otherwise secured to the transverse longitudinal travelling beams. The
canopy I expand and contract by means of an endless or other suitable
band travelling over a horizontal grooved pulley working on a vertical
axis at one end of the centre fixed rod, and over two vertical grooved
pulleys turning on axles on each side of the reverse end of the said
rod, and down over a fourth grooved pulley mounted vertically and

page_text: transversally on an axis having its bearings acted upon by a spring or
springs, or their mechanical equivalent, in such a manner that there
will at all times be the required tension on the endless band to ensure
its
proper action.
One of the transverse travelling beams, between which the canopy
cover is stretched, I make securely fast to the endless band on one side
of the centre fixed rod, and the other stretcher I secure in like manner
to the endless band at the other side of the rod, by which arrangement
is will be evident that if the endless band is operated in one direction,
the transverse beams to which the canopy is attached will be brought
towards each other, thus contracting the canopy at the centre of its
length, and that on the band being driven in the opposite direction it
will be expanded or opened out; or if only one travelling transverse
beam is used I attach one end of the canopy to one end of the rectangular
frame; the canopy roof can then be gathered up to that end in place of
at the centre by connecting the travelling beam on each side to the
endless band.
In place of using solid rods for the centre and parallel side rods
hollow tubes with longitudinal grooves cut through their length may be
substituted, in which case I use internal travellers with rings projecting
through the slits in the rods, in place of ordinary rings to which the
outer longitudinal edges of the canopy are secured.
When the canopy roof is contracted or drawn together in the centre of
the framework it may be covered in from above by a suitable narrow
roof supported on standards springing from the external side rods of the
framework; or in place of this fixed protecting roof bonnet pieces may
be mounted on the transverse travelling beams, so that when they are
brought together the said bonnet pieces form a roof over the contracted
canopy sheet.
Where the canopy is large, or it may be desirable to operate one-half
of the roof thereof independantly of the other, this can be done by the
use of two endless bands in place of one as described, that is to say, I
use an independant band for each of the travelling beams to which the
canopy cover is attached.
In some cases I prefer to mount the two outer longitudinal side rods
on brackets or arms springing from the vertical standards outwards, so
as to give a greater spread to the roof for the purpose of carrying off
the water beyond the roof base.

page_text: When the improved canopy roof is fully extended the folds form a
number of shallow gutters which collect and carry off the rain fall
beyond the roof of the omnibus.
When this my said Invention is applied to (say) an omnibus or other
vehicle, I propose to fit a series of aprons mounted on rollers actuated
by springs or otherwise, along the outer side of the standards carrying
the hand rail on the top of the omnibus, these rollers being enclosed
in suitable casings and the aprons on the upper edges being attached
to stretchers, so that they can be drawn out of the casing and passed
over the hand rail or horizontal bars below and parallel thereto, and
carried obliquely over the knees of the passengers and held in position
by being buttoned on to stud pins on the back of the seats on cach
side of the passengers; on being released from the stud pins the apron
is drawn into its casing by the roller being acted upon by springs or
their mechanical equivalent. In place of the rollers a plain water-
proof sheet may be used, the vertical edges of which are attached to
vertical rods by a sliding stretcher connected to the lower edge of the
apron, the upper edge also being provided with a horizontal stretcher
that the same may be drawn over the hand rail or other horizontal rail
extending along the sides of the roof of the omnibus, in order that the
same may be readily drawn towards the body of the passenger.
Further protection against rain can be obtained by using a spring
roller covered with waterproof or other material placed across at the
end of tramway cars or omnibuses, over the door and behind the driver's
seat, and when required these waterproofs can be drawn out and attached
to the transverse rods at the ends of the rectangular frame.
That this my said Invention may be the more readily seen and under-
stood, I have hereunto annexed Drawings illustrating so much of my
Invention as is requisite to shew the practical application of the same
to a canopy on the top of an omnibus or street railway car. Like letters
and figures marked thereon being used to denote similar parts.
Figure 1 is a transverse sectional elevation of the top of an omnibus
fitted with one modification of my improved expanding and contracting
canopy and Figure 2 is a partial longitudinal sectional elevation of
the same taken from "a" to "6" (Figure 1); Figure 3 is a top view
or plan of the centre of the longitudinal parallel rods and transverso
sliding bars seen broken off, and the transverse arms with T heads for
carrying the fixed narrow roof for protecting the expanding and con-

page_text: tracting canopy; and Figure 4 is an elevation of one of the slide beams
scen detached; and Figure 5 is a top view or plan exhibiting the
rectangular frame for carrying the expanding and contracting canopy
with centre rod and T headed supports for fixed roof and sliding bars,
to which the ends of the canopy roof are attached, and the horizontal
pulley on the end of the centre rod, and the two vertical pulleys on the
reverse end. In this figure the canopy roof is shewn removed to exhibit
the lead of the endless band, and the mode of attaching the same to the
sliding bars.
Figure 6 is an enlarged partial sectional elevation of the canopy roof
fixed centre rod on which the sliding ring travels and supporting the
centre of the canopy by the bridle pieces attached to the inner edges of
each half of the roof, between which is seen the centre gusset piece;
Figure 7 is a top view or plan of a portion of the centre. rod (F) with
the slide to which the transverse longitudinal sliding bar is attached;
Figure 8 is a vertical section of the hollow rod to be used when internal
travellers are applied; Figure 9 is a top view or plan of the hoods or
bonnets fixed on the sliding bar for protecting the roof when contracted
in place of the fixed roof exhibited in former Figures, and Figure 10 is a
longitudinal partial section of the same; in each of the two last Figures
the longitudinal rods are shewn broken off.
A, roof of the omnibus, from which spring B, vertical standards,
carrying C, C¹, parallel rods, and D, D', transverse arched rods,
forming a rectangular frame, which carries F, a parallel centre rod, on
which slides G, G³, transverse sliding beams and rings H, to which is
attached J, the expanding and contracting canopy roof; K, K',
T headed standards, springing from C and C³, which carry L, narrow
fixed roof for protecting the cloth of the canopy roof when contracted;
M and M' (Figures 9 and 10), bonnet picces for protecting canvass or
other canopy roof when not in use; N and N¹, rollers on which is wound
O the aprons shewn in dotted lines; P and P¹, roof seats; Q, back of
roof seats.
It will be readily seen that this my said Invention may be con-
veniently adapted to awnings for steam boats, garden seats, and to other
positions where such coverings are required.
In applying this my Invention to awnings for navigable vessels I
prefer to form the transverse sliding bars with joints so that they will
contract and expand to accomodate themselves to the side bars which

page_text: aro not parallel to each other, being nearer together towards the stern of
the vessel.
And having now fully described and ascertained the nature of this my
said Invention, and the best means I am acquainted with for carrying
the same into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that the detail,
proportions, or dimensions herein-before described and set forth may be
considerably varied without departing from the Invention, but what I
claim is, the peculiar construction, arrangement, and combination of the
several parts forming the expanding and contracting canopies, operated
substantially in the manner and for the purposes herein-before fully
described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Ellisdon have hereunto sct
my hand and affixed my scal, this Twentieth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
Witness,
WILLIAM WALKER,
of 44, Castle Street,
Liverpool..
JOSEPH (L.S.) ELLISDON.