CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES
Year: 1855

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION .left by John Bailey Surgey at the Office
'
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 18th January
1855.
I, JOHN BAILEY SURGEY, of Lidlington Place, St. Pancras, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES" to be as follows:
The Invention is chiefly intended to facilitate the conveyance of passengers
on two wheels in narrow or crowded thoroughfares, the carriages proposed to
be constructed requiring smaller space in length or width than those in
ordinary use.
I construct a carriage with seats placed alternately facing the two sides of
the vehicle. Thus, if the first seat faces the right side of the carriage, the
second seat will face the left, and the third seat (when three are used) will face
the right, and so on, according to the numbers to be accommodated. The
width of the carriage is thus reduced to that required for one person sitting
sideways. Any or all of the seats may be hinged, and made to turn up or
down, so as to give free ingress and egress. The axle may be bent, so as
to pass under the body of the vehicle, or it may pass through the body either
straight or bending between or under any of the seats. I also construct
carriages similar to that above described, but having a seat on one side only,
two or more persons sitting side by side and travelling in the direction of the

page_text: seat's length. In these carriages the driver's seat is placed at the top or in
front, and may be moveable backwards, forwards, or sideways, as occasion
may require, to adjust the balance or trim of the carriage. Over the driver's
seat I place a canopy, roof, or framework, either fixed or moveable, or more
or less collapsible. The framework is covered with waterproof canvass or
other suitable material, which may also be carried down to the roof of the car-
riage behind the driver, or at the sides, to protect him from the weather. I also
apply a canopy for sheltering the horse in wet or very hot weather, consisting of
waterproof or other suitable material, fixed at one end to part of the carriage,
and so suspended as to allow of the other end being easily drawn forwards and
withdrawn again; the covering when in use being kept clear of the horse by
suitable contrivances for stiffening it, either attachable to the harness or shafts
of the carriage, or forming part of the covering itself. I also construct a one-
horse carriage, which is capable of turning in a very small compass, by placing
a wheel on each side of the horse, with a separate axle to each wheel, or with
the axle passing under the belly of the horse, or over its back, or round it; seats
for passengers are constructed over the wheels, or (in cases where width is not
objectionable) between each wheel and the horse's side. In connection with
these seats a framework is carried up, to support a seat for the driver over the
horse's back, but not touching it. This arrangement may be made with
an additional wheel or wheels, and in combination with that herein-before
described, so as to carry passengers or other freight partly at the sides, partly
over, and partly behind the horse.