IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES AND WHEEL VEHICLES
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Oxley, of Camden Town, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES AND WHEEL VEHICLES."
Sealed the 19th April 1859, and dated the 4th November 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Oxley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th November 1858.
I, JOHN OXLEY, of Camden Town, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES AND WHEEL VEHICLES," to be as
follows:-
ThisInvention relates to certain improvements in two-wheel and four-wheel
carriages and vehicles; first, in a novel construction of two-wheel carriage,
intended for private or public use; second, in the application of certain parts
of the said Invention to railway carriages, and to private and public vehicles;
and, thirdly, a novel construction of wheel plate or locking plate and parts of
the fore carriage of carriages or vehicles having four wheels.
The first part of my Invention consists in constructing a two-wheeled
unlike
carriage so that it may be used as a close or open carriage at pleasure ;
the Hansom cabs, they may be constructed to carry three persons comfortably;
or luggage may be placed within the carriage if only two persons are carried
within. The door or doors may be closed by the rider or passenger from
within, or by the driver or servant without dismounting for that purpose.

page_text: The second part of my Invention relates to the introduction of an elastic
material between the shackles and other bearing, suspending & pulling parts
of carriages between the body and under carriage of wheel vehicles.
Instead of hanging or mounting the body of the herein-before described
carriage, or any other carriage or wheel vehicle upon the springs or under
carriage with iron shackles & pins and scrolls in the ordinary and well-known
methods, I introduce between what may be described as a double clip shackle
arrangement, a cylinder of vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable material,
having a permanentlyelastic character, whichin addition toformingelastic beds
or bearing,& pull pieces in aid of the springs,also actasinsulators between the
under carriage and the body for checking the noise and jar which otherwise
would be carried up from the wheels to the body; I also apply these cylinders
of elastic material in like or similar manner to carts, waggons, trucks, and
other wheel vehicles.
The third part of my Invention relates to those parts of four-wheel vehicles
technically known as the fore carriage, and the locking plate or wheel plate,
and consists in substituting for the ordinary kinds of apparatus used or
employed for turning four-wheel carriages, a novel arrangementor mechanical
contrivance by which a vehicle may more easily than heretofore be turned
and in a much shorter space, and which also at the same time affords greater
safety or security to those driving and to those being conveyed therein, whilst
a greater angle may in the same time be made in less distance during the
forward motion of the carriage, and also allowing the centre or turning point
to be brought much nearer to the hiuder wheels than heretofore; and this
increased safety is effected in consequence of the uniform or unvarying amount
of working and bearing surfaces in contact between the upper fore carriage
and the under or lower fore carriage during the operation of turning or
changing the direction of motion.
I construct the apparatus connected with the fore carriage of four-wheels
vehicles by taking two flat iron rings or transom plates of suitable diameter
and strength, having opposing surfaces suitably turned or fitted, each transom
plate having a bar or stay piece across its diameter. I connect them together
by a centre stud pin or bolt, which passing through the cross bar or stay of
the upper transom plate,passes into and through and secures firmly the upper
bed piece. On the opposite sides of the lower transom or wheel plate I fit
slides, sockets, clips, or guides, in which or through which the slide bar
hereafter described is allowed to move back and forth. This slide bar is
intended to extend across the fore carriage, and to be attached to the under

page_text: From the novel and peculiar construction of these carriages more room can be
obtained for the purpose of passing in & out than in anytwo-wheel vehicles at
present in use wherein the weights of the carriage, driver, and the
passengers
are thrown well back for the purpose of preventing the load resting upon the
horse, as in a carriage constructed according to this Invention a perfect
balance may be obtained; they are easier to ride in; and should last longer
from the novel mode of hanging the body which I propose to employ.
I construct a body somewhat like the ordinary box cab form of vehicle, but
with the driver's seat behind, as in the Hansom cab; I mount it on two
wheels, and I introduce between the shackles supporting the weight of the
body upon the springs a cylinder of vulcanized india-rabber or other elastic
material, which will be compressed when under pressure, and to take off the
jar and check the noise which is occasioned whilst passing over stone pitching
or paved roads. On each side of the body of the carriage, and before the
wheels I leave an opening or doorway, and I close such opening by a door,
which I make to slide back and forward in or upon suitable grooves, bars, or
rails arranged outside of the body, and which doors, upon being drawn or slid
forward, shut against suitable uprights or pillars forming the front of the
vehicle, and which front may be circular, or the portion of a polygon, or it
may be flat; and it may be glazed or contain a glass frame; and the front
uprights or pillars should be so constructed as to form part of the frame of
the carriage by joining or framing the bottom, roof, and the back part of the
carriage together. The uprights or pillars are suitably formed or rebated to
receive the front of each door for the purpose of forming a weather-tight
joint therewith; the front pillar of each door should be so formed as when
the door is slid back or opened, it will overhang or overlay the thickness of
the panel frame or side of the carriage when the carriage is used as an open
carriage, and the doors may either slide outside of the side panels or frames
of the body, or if thought preferable, the sides of the carriage may be double,
and the doors be made to slide in the space left for that purpose, but if the
doors are so hung that they slide externally, they and the body should be
suitably panelled and painted to accord or agree with each other, so that the
character of the carriage may be maintained whether and whenever the car-
riage may be used closed or open. The closing and opening of the doors
by the driver from behind may be effected either by means of lines or
pulleys, by levers, or by any other suitable means, or the doors being sus-
pended or otherwise made to slide easily, may be opened & closed by hand
by the passenger upon entering or leaving the vehicle.

page_text: bed, and so form the lower transom from the centre of the slide bar, and at
right angles with it is forged a short bar or connecting piece, to the end of
which the futchels or the splinter bar are attached. This bar has a slot
through it near to its junction with the slide or lower transom bar, and in this
slot the stud or bolt connected with the upper transom plate slides back &
forth, each end of the slide bar or lower transom being connected with or
attached to the spring of the fore axle. The upper trausom plate is connected
to the top bed by means of the centre stud or bolt.and also at each side of the
transom plate, and when the draught is straight the top bed and the bottom
bed are immediately above each other. From the under side of the front part
of the upper transom plate or wheel plate a stud or bolt projects downwards;
this stud or bolt works in the longitudinal slot in the bar before referred to,
which is forged at a right angle with the slide bar, as before described; thus,
when the futchells and the bar. connecting them with the slide bar and lower
bed piece is moved to the right or left, the two transom or wheel plates are
moved together, or caused to slide along the slide bar to that end of the bar
corresponding with the direction in which it is intended to turn the vehicle; at
the same time as both transon plates slide, the upper transom plate or wheel
plate revolves concentrically upon the upper surface of the lower transom
plate or wheel plate, with which it keeps uniformly in contact; thus, whilst
the lower transom plate or wheel plate merelyslides back & forward upon the
slide bar by means of the sockets or clips, the upper transom plate, together
with the top bed and fore part of the carriage, revolve or turn upon the centre
stud which connects concentrically the upper and lower transom plate
together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Oxley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
3rd May 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
OXLEY, of Camden Town, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and graut unto
ne, the said John Oxley, Her special licence that I, the said John Oxley,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Oxley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any tinie 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
CARRIAGES AND WHEEL VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said John Oxley, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 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 John Oxley, 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 and accompanying Drawings :—
This Invention relates to certain improvements in two-wheel and four-wheel
carriages and vehicles; first, in a novel construction of two-wheel carriages
intended for private or public use; second, in the application of certain parts
of the said Invention to railway carriages, and to private and public vehicles;
and, thirdly, a novel construction of wheel plate or locking plate and parts of
the fore carriage of carriages or vehicles having four wheels.
The first part of my Invention consists in constructing a two-wheeled
carriage,so that it may be used as a close or open carriage at pleasure; unlike
the Hanson cabs, they may be constructed to carry three persons comfortably,
or luggage may be placed within the carriage if only two persons are carried
within the door or doors may be closed by the rider or passenger from
within, or by the driver or servant without dismounting for that purpose.
From the novel aud peculiar construction of these carriages more room can
be obtained for the purpose of passing in and out than in any two-wheel
vehicle at present in use, wherein the weight of the carriage, driver, and the
passengers is thrown well back for the purpose of preventing the load resting
upon the horse. In a carriage constructed according to this Invention, a.
perfect balance may be obtained; they are easier to ride in; and from the
novel mode of hauging the body which I propose to employ they should last
longer.
I construct a body somewhat like the ordinary box cab form of vehicle, but
with the driver's seat behind, as in the Hansom patent safety cab; I mount it

page_text: on two wheels, and I introduce between the shackles supporting the weight of
the body upon the springs a cylinder of vulcanized india-rubber or other
elastic material, which will be compressed when under pressure, and to take
off the jar and check the noise which is occasioned whilst passing over stone
pitchings or paved roads. On each side of the body of the carriage and before
the wheels I leave an opening or doorway, and I close such opening by a door
which I make to slide back and forwards in or upon suitable grooves, bars, or
rails, arranged outside of the body, and which doors upon being drawn or slid
forward shut against suitable uprights or pillars forming the front of the
vehicle, and which front may be circular or the portion of a polygon, or it
may be flat and be glazed, or contain a glass frame; and the front uprights
or pillars should be so constructed as to form part of the frame of the carriage
by joining or framing the bottom, roof, and back part of the carriage
together. The uprights or pillars are suitably formed or rebated to receive
the front of each door, for the purpose of forming a weather-tight joint
therewith. The front pillar of each door should be so formed as when the
door is slid back or opened it will overhang or overlay the thickness of the
panel frame or side of the carriage, when the carriage is used as an open
carriage; and the door may either slide outside of the side panels or frame
of the body, or if thought preferable, the sides of the carriages may be made
double, and the doors be made to slide in the place left for that purpose.
But if the doors are so hung that they slide externally, they and the body
should be suitably panelled and painted to accord or agree with each other,
so that the character of the carriage may be maintained whether and when-
ever the carriage may be used closed or open.
The closing and opening of the doors by the driver from behind may be
effected either by means of lines and pulleys, by levers, or by any other
suitable means; or, the doors being suspended or otherwise made to slide
easily, may be opened and closed by hand by the passenger upon entering
or leaving the vehicle.
In Sheet 1, Fig. 1 shews a side elevation of a carriage constructed according
to this Invention; Fig. 2, a front elevation of the body of a carriage similar
to Fig. 1, without the wheels or other fittings; Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view
of the body to an enlarged scale, shewing the arrangement of the seats, the
sliding doors, wheel guards, and other parts of the carriage, which is shown
as being in frame only, unlined, and untrimmed; Fig. 4 is a vertical elevation
showing two sections, one taken on the line A,B,and the other on the line C, D,
of Fig. 3. This view shews the arrangement of sliding doors in a square

page_text: sided carriage, but where the front is narrower than the after body, the front
pillars of the doors approaching more closely together than the back pillars,
the doors instead of being hung, as shewn, may be fitted with stud pins at top
and bottom with or without rollers thereon, which will admit of compensation
for the angle which the door would make with the line of the main body and
groove in which it slides or travels. Fig. 5 is a side elevation to the same
scale as Fig.1,shewing an arrangement which may be employed for enabling
the driver to open or close the doors by means of a quick-thread screw set in
motion by a handle and a pair of mitre or bevel pinions; Fig. 6 is a side
elevation similar to Figs. 1 and 5, but shewing the quick-thread screw
arrangement for opening the door as being actuated by a quadrant rack
instead of the plan shewn in Fig. 5. Instead, however, of these mechanical
means, the door may be fitted in slides and opened and closed by means of a
line or lines and pulleys; or, by being suspended from the top on sheaves
working upona suspension bar, the suspension barbeing pivotted or hung upon
a centre or fulcrum either at the extreme end or in the centre thereof, which
bar upon being lowered at its back end causes the door to open by running
down the incline plane, and upon the driver lifting the end of the suspension
bar, so as to reverse the incline, the door will slide back and close the opening
or doorway. The several parts of the Figures 1 to 6,inclusive, Sheet 1, are so
clearly defined and will be so readily understood by those conversant with the
art of coach making or building that it is unnecessary to refer to the several
parts further in detail, or resort to the aid of letters of reference.
The second part of my Invention relates to the introduction of an elastic
material between the shackles and other bearing, suspending,and pulling parts
of carriages, between the body and under carriage of wheel vehicles. Instead
of hanging or mounting the body of the herein-before described carriage or
any other carriage or wheel vehicle upon the springs or under carriage with
iron shackles and pins and scrolls in the ordinary and well-known methods, I
introduce between what may be described as a double clip shackle arrange-
ment, a cylinder of vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable material having
a permanently elastic character, which in addition to forming elastic or
bearing and pull pieces in aid of the springs, also act as insulators between
the under carriage and the body for checking the noise and jar which other-
wise would be carried up from the wheels to the body. I also apply these
cylinders of elastic material in like or similar manner to carts, waggons,
trucks, and other wheel vehicles.
In Sheet 2, Figures 1 and 2 show two exterior views (front and side

page_text: elevations) of my improved elastic and insulating suspending shackles, and
Figs. 3 and 4 show sectional views of Figs. 1 and 2 respectively, and exhibit
the elastic cylinder of vulcanized india-rubber or other suitable material.
These cylinders or blocks are shewn solid,but they may be cored or hollow, and
for various purposes I prefer to employ hollow cylinders in manner herein
described. Both clips or parts of the shackle may be iron, or the box part
may be of gun metal, brass, or other suitable metal, and where iron is used
for both or either purposes, I prefer to galvanize or coat them with zinc.
In Figs.7 and 8,Sheet 1,I have illustrated myimproved mode of suspending
the bodies of four-wheel vehicles upon the under carriage, and I introduce
at a, a, Fig. 7 and 8, my elastic shackles between the projecting arms or
suspending piece belonging to the under carriage and the scroll irons or other
fittings projecting from the hind part of the body. Instead of hanging or
suspending the bodies of four-wheel carriages with C springs (in perch
carriages),I employin conjunction with myelastic shackles the following mode
of suspension:-In addition to the ordinary elliptic springs, I fix on the top
thereof a bed piece and stay or stays, to which the hind end of the perch is
attached, and upon this bed piece I place a cross spring, from the ends of
which I suspend the body connected with the shackle or brace by means of the
"ordinary body loop;" this mode of suspension is also applicable to the front
of the carriage or the front part of the body may be suspended on stays,
shackles, and braces, as shewn in Figs. 7 and 8, Sheet 1. I also introduce
the said shackles as shewn at 6, Fig. 8, between the iron projecting from the
front boot, and the point of the C spring. In these cases I introduce the
ordinary leather strap or long leather link between the upper and lower
shackle.
The third part of my Invention relates to those parts of four-wheel vehicles
technically known as the "fore carriage "and the locking plate or wheel plate,
and consists in substituting for the ordinary kinds of apparatus used or
employed for turning four-wheel carriages, a novel arrangement or mechanical
contrivance, by which a vehicle may more easily than heretofore be turned in
a much shorter space, and which also at the same time affords greater safety
or security to those driving or to those being conveyed therein, whilst a
greater angle mayin the same time be made in less distance during the forward
motion of a carriage, allowing the centre or turning point to be brought much
nearer to the hinder wheels than heretofore, and this increased safety is
effected in consequence of the uniform or unvarying amount of working and
bearing surfaces in contact between the upper fore carriage and the under or

page_text: lower fore carriage, during the operation of turning or changing the direction
of motion; by this arrangement much higher front wheels,combined with the
advantage of shortening the distance between the fore and hind wheels
thereby lessening the draught of the carriage is effected.
I construct the apparatus connected with the fore carriage of four-wheel
vehicles, by taking two flat iron rings or wheel plates of suitable diameter and
strength,having opposing surfaces suitably turned or fitted, each wheel plate
having a bar or transom piece across its diameter.
I connect them together by a centre pin or perch bolt, which passing
through the transom or bed plate,passes into or through and is secured firmly
to the opposite bed piece, at the same time allows the carriage to turn easily
on the perch or centre bolt.
On the opposite sides of the lower transom or wheel plate I make or fit
slides, sockets, clips, or guides to suit the shape of the slide bar,in which or
through which the slide bar, hereafter described, is allowed to move back and
forth. This slide bar is intended to extend across the whole length of the
bottom bed of the under fore carriage, and to be attached to the under bed
and so form the lower transom plate. From the centre of the slide bar, and
at right angles with it, is forged or otherwise fixed a short bar or connecting
piece, to the cross end of which the futchells or the splinter bar are attached.
this bar may have a slot through it, or it may be either round, flat, oblong,
square, or oval, and in this slot a stud or bolt connected with the upper wheel
plate or transom plate slides back and forth, each end of the slide bar or
lower transom being connected with or attached to the bottom bed, or the
springs, stays, or other fixings.
The upper wheel or transom plate is connected to the top bed by means of
bolts, and also at each side of the transom wheel plate; and when the
draught is straight, the top bed and the bottom bed are immediately above
or over each other.
From the under side of the front part of the upper transom plate or wheel
plate a stud or bolt projects downward; this stud or bolt works the longi-
tudinal slot in the bar before referred to, which is forged or fixed at a right
angle with the slide bar, as before described; or when any other form of bar
or mechanically equivalentarrangement is substituted for the pin sliding in a
slot, the movement peculiar to this Invention will be the same; thus, when the
futchells and the bar connecting them with the slide bar orits equivalent and
lower bed piece is moved to the right or the left, the two transom or
wheel plates are moved together or caused to slide along the slide bar (or

page_text: transversely to the longitudinal axis of the carriage body) to that end of the
bar corresponding with the direction in which it is intended to turn the
vehicle. At the same time as both transom plates slide, the lower transom or
wheel plate revolves concentrically under the under surface of the upper
transom plate or wheel plate, with which it keeps uniformly in contact; thus,
whilst the lower transom plate or wheel plate turns, it also slides back and
forward upon the slide bar, and is held in its place by means of the sockets
or clips or their equivalents. The upper transom plate, together with the top
bed and fore part of the carriage,are fixed to the body of the carriage, and the
under carriage turns upon the centre bolt or stud which connects concen-
trically the upper and lower transom or wheel plates together.
Now, instead of fixing a stud pin or bolt to the upper transom or wheel
plate, and having a slot bar attached to the lower bed piece for receiving the
sliding pin, stud, or bolt, I prefer for some purposes to employ a round or
other shaped bar instead of a slot, and an eye bolt or loop to slide over and
move along the bar, or a forked bolt to slide back and forward thereon,
instead of the plain pin, stud, or bolt moving in the slot or groove of the
bar before described.
In Sheet 2 of the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the
fore part of a fore-wheel carriage, fitted with the locking plate or wheel
plate, according to iny Invention, Fig. 6 being a side elevation of Fig. 5.
Figs. 7 and 8 are detailed views, exhibiting the fore carriage in plan,
Fig. 7 shewing the position of the parts when in a straight draught, the motion
of the carriage and the horse being in the same straight line. In Fig. 8 the
positions of the parts are shewn due to the line of the pull or draught of the
horse, being nearly at a right angle with the line of motion of the carriage,
the wheel plate or locking plate having glided to one end of the guide bar.
Figs. 9 and 10 are detached views of two modes or methods of effecting the
elliptic motion of the transom or wheel plate, the variations being merely
mechanically equivalent modes of holding and guiding the stud by which the
elliptic motion is produced, whilst the trausom or wheel plate is sliding along
the transverse guide bar on the bed, as herein-before described; Figures
9 and 10 being side elevations of the transom and wheel plates. The several
Figures 5 to 10, both inclusive, are drawn to the same scale.
Having described the several parts of my said Invention, and illustrated
the same by the accompanying two Sheets of Drawings, I claim,-
First, the novel construction and arrangement of the parts of two-wheel
carriages, as herein described.

page_text: Second, the construction of elastic and insulating shackles, and mode of
suspending four-wheel carriages, as herein described.
Third, the novel construction and arrangement of wheel plates or locking
plates, and the parts of fore carriages, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Oxley, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine.
Witness,
FREDERIC ROBERTS,
18, Salisbury St., Strand.
JOHN OXLEY. (L.s.)