IMPROVEMENTS IN RECORDING THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS IN PUBLIC VEHICLES
Year: 1875

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Josiah Latimer Clark and
Edward Hamilton Thomson at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 13th August 1875.
We, JOSIAH LATIMER CLARK, of 5, Westminster Chambers, Victoria
Street, and EDWARD HAMILTON THOMSON, of 5, Bolton Road, Abbey
Road, N.W., in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RECORDING THE NUMBER OF
PASSENGERS IN PUBLIC VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
Our first improvement consists in placing a catch under each seat of
the omnibus or other vehicle, which is so arranged that when a
passenger sits down this catch holds down the seat or a contact spring
connected with it, and makes an electrical contact and record on the
recording instrument in the manner described in a previous Patent
granted to the said J. L. Clark and E. O. W. Whitehouse, with the
further peculiarity that when the passenger rises the catch is still held
down and the contact remains, and is only released when the passenger
either sits down on another seat or leaves the vehicle. To effect this a
sliding bar or a revolving bar runs round the whole length of the seats,

page_text: and when any seat is sat upon this bar is momentarily moved or turned,
and by this action it releases every other catch in the vehicle, so that if
a passenger leaves one seat and moves to another the contact is
maintained while he is so moving; but as soon as he sits down the
contact on his original seat is released at the moment that he makes
contact on the second seat, so that as long as he remains in the vehicle
he is counted once for all, and this equally so whether he changes his
seat or stands up part of the journey. Whenever any person leaves the
vehicle or enters it, the act of stepping on the footboard operates the bar
or rod, and release all the contacts (except those occupied by passengers)
in the same manner as if he had sat down on a seat. It is obvious that
a chain or cord or a pneumatic connection may be substituted for the
rod or bar. In all cases a wedge or hook as it is pressed down
momentarily moves the bar or rod in such manner as to disengage all
the other catches, the bar or rod returning immediately to its original
position.
The second improvement consists in placing arms of a peculiar
construction between the seats so as to separate the passengers, the
peculiarity consisting in their having a lateral sliding movement through
a limited distance at front or back, so as to allow the arms to give and
take to some extent and allow for the varying size of passengers.
The third improvement consists in a method of enabling the conductor
to mark on the way bill or recording slip described in Patent No. 4082,
in the year 1873, granted to Clark and Whitehouse, the amount of the
fares received. A series of keys is placed on the outside of the vehiclo
within convenient reach of the conductor, each key representing different
fares, as for example, 2d., 3d., &c., and on pressing either of these keys,
the corresponding fare is imprinted or embossed on the paper or slip,
and if correctly operated these marks should correspond with the
indications of the movements of passengers given by the recording
instrument itself.
Our fourth improvement consists in making the recording instruments
described in the above mentioned Patent self winding; this is effected
by causing the contact spring which presses in succession on the
metallic studs of the apparatus to make contact at the same time on
another set of studs, and each contact so made causes an electric
current to work the armature of an electro-magnet, which armature
working on a ratchet wheel connected with the winding up axis of the

page_text: instrument causes it to revolve, and to keep the instrument constantly
wound up.
Our fifth improvement consists in making the terminal board of the
instrument a separate and independent apparatus, permanently fixed to
the omnibus, while the contact spring which traverses the terminals
remains part of the instrument itself; the advantage of this arrangement
is that the instrument with its contact spring can be changed and
replaced at will without altering or disconnecting any of the contacts,
while the wires which lead from the seats to the terminal board remain
fixed and unaffected by any changes of the instrument.