An Improved Road or Tram Car.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Jan., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 6th Oct., 1890-Accepted. 6th Jan., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Road or Tram Car.
FREDERICK ROUSE Coach Builder Empire Coach Factory Courtnay Place
Wellington New Zealand do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
A road or tram car that will seat 24 people-that will run upon the metaled track
of street tramways, that will leave the track by turning the horses off the said track
and will return to it in same manner, thereby not requiring sidings or loop lines, that
will run upon a common road (as do omnibuss's) that is provided with a powerful
brake is safe & pleasant to ride in, is easy of access. The wheels running under seats
and locking by means of a fore carriage taking 1 pole with 2 horses 2 poles for
3 horses at pleasure. New features, that I wish to patent is the manner that the
wheels run under the car body, the under carriage, the axles and manner of fixing
of springs upon ends of axles and the whole as a combination that will be of great
use to the general public.
Length over floor 13 feet width 6 feet 3 in. having 3 double cross seats having
5 longitudinals 3 in. deep x 2 in. wide running full length of car-the 2 outer ones
forming the base of sides 4, cross bars of each 4 × 2 in. deep 2 bars of 3 × 2
running from hind cross bar to hind mid do. to carry front scrolls of hind springs.
2 sweps 3 x 2 at ends-the whole being lapped together and floored with
tongued & grooved boards running from end to end thereby stiffning floor framing
upright pillars are lapped into sides to support the roof & further secured by the
pannelling of seat ends & also by the back rails of seats, pillars supporting a cant
rail of 5 in. deep x 3 thick. Supporting hoopsticks of 1 sq. and lapped boards of
thick which is covered by canvass & painted white there being a frame taking
three large panes of glass, fitted in the space betwixt top of seat back and roof boards
which breaks the draught, each end of car has a fence 2 ft. 6 in. high.
The car is mounted upon wheels with 2 in. tires-the front being 2 ft. 6 in. high &
the hind ones are 3 ft. 3 in. high-taking axles 2 in. in diameter-the ends of which
project through wheel hubs 3-the top part of round being cut down to a flat
surface upon which rests the centres of side springs, which are secured there by stout
clamps pasing under the remaining round portion of axle end there held by 2 spring
clips-front ends of hind springs are fastened to the bar under floor hind being taken
by cross spring affixed to car bottom by a deep block or open span iron the wheels
running up through floor directly under the division of the 2 seats.
Front wheels are affixed to springs and axles in the same manner upon a triangular
fore carriage the wheels passing through a wider but shorter gap in floor-these
openings are cased up. part of case shifting to enable the mud splashes to be
cleaned away-the front wheels locking within these boxes allows the car to be easily
turned round. Axle ends are fitted with oil syphons, the oil passing down a hole
drilled out of centres of axle arms fore carriage is fitted with 1 in. perch bolt
and a wheel & transome plate 2 feet in diameter also pole & bars. Access is gained
to seats by stepboards and steps along the sides of cars.
Car is fitted with a powerful brake suspended from the bottom and acted upon by
ratchet & chain worked by a vertical handle by driver.
Dated this 6th day January 1890.
PARAR
F. ROUSE,
Wellington, New Zealand

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Road or Tram Car.
I, FREDERICK ROUSE Empire Coach Factory Countnay Place Wellington New
Zealand, Coach Builder, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
A road car, that will seat 24 people, that will run upon the metallic track of street
tramways, and will leave the track, by turning the horses off the said track, and will
return to it in the same manner, thereby not requiring sidings and loop lines, that
will run upon a common road like an omnibus. That is provided with a powerful
brake and is safe and pleasant to ride in, easy of access; the wheels running under
the seats as shown in the annexed drawing. Rocking by means of forecarriage,
taking 1 pole with 2 horses or suitable number.
.
The new feature that I wish to patent is the manner in which the wheels run under
the car body, the under carriage, the axles and manner of fixing the springs upon
the ends of the axles, and the whole as a combination will be of great use to the general
public.
In order that my invention may be understood I now refer to the annexed drawing
which shows one example of my invention.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a car in which a, a, is the main body of the car.
b, b, b, partitions supporting seats indicated by dotted lines c, c, c, shown in plau
in Fig. 2 being of any well known construction with the exception of the position
of the springs. is the fore carriage which revolves on the ordinary circle plates e, e.
f is the spring which is bolted to the semicircular plate on the end of the axle g,
outside the wheel h, as shown. k, k, are the points at which the spring is secured to
the fore carriage d. are the steps for mounting the car, m is the handle for
operating the brake which may be of any suitable design. The rear wheel n is
supported in a similar manner the spring f being secured to the semicircular plate
as before and in turn secured to the body of the car at o, o. p, p, is a suitable boxing
or casing for enclosing the wheels. 9, 9, 9, are hand rails for aiding passengers to
mount the car. r, the seat occupied by the driver of the car.
. If desired I may connect the ends of the springs to the forecarriage through the
medium of a spring or its equivalent. It will be seen that the axle g is fixed & that
the wheels revolve around same & are kept in position by the collars g².
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
(1) The combination and arrangement of the car, or bus' as shown in Figure 1,
substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
(2) In street or road cars, the arrangement of the springs upon the outside of the
wheels in combination with a forecarriage to which the pole for the motive power is
attached, the wheels running upon the axle underneath the car body, substantially as
described and for the purpose set forth.
(3) In street, or road cars, the means of connecting the springs to the axle of
the wheels, by means of a semicircular plate encircling the axle and bolted or screwed
to the spring substantially as described and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 6th day of October 1890.
E. EATON,
Agent for Applicant.