Closing of the Doors of Hansom Cabs.
Year: 1885

page_text: Closing of the Doors of Hansom Cabs.
We, FREDERICK FORDER, of 4 Summerfield Road, Wolverhampton in the
County of Stafford, coach builder, and CHARLES FORDER, of 10 Saint Mark's
Road, Wolverhampton, aforesaid, manager at a coach factory, do hereby declare
the nature of our invention for IMPROVED MEANS OR APPARATUS FOR FACILITATING
THE OPENING AND CLOSING OF THE DOORS OF HANSOM CABS, to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to provide simple and efficient means whereby
upon one of the doors of a Hansom cab being opened or closed by the "fare" the
other opens or closes automatically therewith, and, also, when required, to make
additions to such means whereby both doors may be readily opened and closed by
the driver without dismounting from his seat at the back of the cab.
The means employed, according to this invention, whereby one door opens
automatically with the other door, as above stated, comprise two pulleys, one of
which is fixed upon each of a pair of pins projecting from the bottom of the doors
below the bottom of the cab and in the same axes with the hinge pins, and an
endless chain or cord passed around both pulleys and crossed between then so as,
when the chain or cord is moved by the motion of one door, to give a motion of
rotation to the pulley of the opposite door in an opposite direction. This chain
or cord is fixed by a pin to the periphery of each pulley.
That part of the chain or cord which acts in giving motion direct from one
pulley to the other is somewhat slack when the doors are in either their open or
closed position, and thus a lead is given in opening to the door which overlaps the
other door, and a lead is given in closing to the door which underlaps the other
door. A tightening screw or analogous device is employed in such part of the
chain so that the length thereof may be properly adjusted.
When it is desired to add to the above-described mechanism further mechanism
so as to enable the driver to open and close the doors without dismounting from
his seat at the back of the cab, the part of the chain which is not the part giving
direct motion from one pulley to another is formed open-ended and is passed
around guide pulleys so as to bring its two ends to the opposite ends of a cross-
lever carried at the back of the vehicle. The two ends of the chain or cord are

page_text: attached to the two ends, respectively, of the cross-lever. An exterior vertical arm,
terminating upwards in a handle, is fixed to the spindle carrying the cross-lever.
The chain or cord is set in motion by means of the handle on the vertical lever
which is operated by the driver. As the handle is moved in one direction the
chain or cord is pulled so as to turn the pulleys and pins, aforesaid, at the bottom
of the doors to open the doors, and as the handle is moved in the opposite direction
the doors are closed.
The ends of the chain may be guided in any convenient manner from the
connection with the door pulleys to the cross-lever, but they may be conveniently
brought from the pulleys to about the centre of the front of the cab, and pass
from thence under the bottom of the cab and up inside the heel board and under or
over the frame of the seat, and thence inside or outside the back of the cab to
their connection with the cross-lever.
A pair of guide pulleys is carried in suitable position to guide the two ends
of the chain up the cranked or curved back of the cab, and, in order to allow for
the sideway play of these parts of the chain, consequent upon the vibration
of the cross-lever, these guide pulleys are made capable of sliding lengthways.
upon the pins around which they turn, or are made of sufficient width for this
purpose.
A pulley is fixed in position according to either modification above-described,
to keep the parts of the chain from contact where they cross each other under
the cab.

page_text: Improved means or Apparatus for Facultating the opening and
Closing of the Doors of Hansom Cabs.
We, FREDERICK FORDER, of 4 Summerfield Road, Wolverhampton in the
County of Stafford, coach builder, and CHARLES FORDER, of 10 Saint Mark's
Road, Wolverhampton, aforesaid, manager at a coach factory, 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,
reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
==
The object of this invention is to provide simple and efficient means whereby,
upon one of the doors of a Hansom cab being opened or closed by the "fare," the
other door opens or closes automatically therewith, and, also, when required to
make additions to such means whereby both the doors may be readily opened and
closed by the driver from his seat at the back of the cab.
For the sake of convenience we will describe first the means whereby, according
to this invention, the doors may be operated by the driver from his seat at the
back of the cab.
This invention is illustrated by the drawings herewith, of which figure 1 is a
longitudinal section through the centre of a Hansom cab body provided with our
improvements. Figures 1 and 1° are detached detail views which will be herein-
after described. Figure 2 is a plan of part of the bottom of the cab looking from
below, such view being squared down from figure 1. Figure 3 is a front view of
the mechanism inside the cab body and of part of the mechanism below the
body, viewed in the direction of the arrow, figure 1. Figures 4 and 5 are detached.
elevations, to an enlarged scale, of the screw-coupling hereinafter described.
Figure 6 is a view, corresponding to that shewn by figure 2, shewing the arrange-
ment of the mechanism when the doors are designed to be opened and closed only
by the "fare."
Similar letters of reference occurring upon two or more of the views indicate
corresponding parts.
A is the cab body, A¹ the drivers seat, B one door of the usual pair of doors, and
CC pins or studs fixed to brackets, one of which is shewn at D figure 1. These
brackets are fixed to the inner edges of the doors, as shewn at figure 1* which is a
view of the edge of a door and pillar to which the same is hung as such appears
when the door is open. In this view the part p is a plate forming the base of the
bracket D. Figure 1b is an edge view of the bracket D. The plate p is rebated
or recessed as shewn at q, and one flap of the lower hinge is fitted into such recess
and screwed to the door together with the plate, by means of screws n n etc.
passing through both the flap of the hinge and plate of the bracket. Screw bolts
passing through the width of the door may be employed to fix the bracket to the
door in lieu of screws, if preferred. n¹ is a screw or bolt through the angle of the
bracket D.

page_text: The pins C C are in the same axes with the hinge pins, and pass down through
the platform E and through bearings, one of which is shewn at F figure 1,
fixed underneath such platform. G G are pulleys fixed upon the pins C C,
and a a, a¹ a¹, bb, represent a chain or other flexible connector (such as a cord)
passing around the pulleys G G and also around guide pulleys c c and d d under
the foot board of the cab. The chain passes up from the pulleys d d in the
manner shewn by figures 1 and 3 respectively. 61 61 etc. is the chain passing from
the pulleys & d up inside the heel board H, over pulleys e e which are immediately
under the top of the seat board J, thence along a transverse groove in the seat
board and under pulleys ff, and from thence upwards again behind pulleys g g to
links or rods h h joined, respectively, to the ends of a cross lever K carried inside
the back of the cab as shewn. The cross lever K is fixed on a spindle / which is
carried through to the outside of the cab at the back, and a handle L is fixed on
the backwardly projecting end of the spindle.
The chain is crossed as it passes from one pulley G to the other, in order that the
doors may be moved simultaneously in opposite directions, and, for the purpose of
avoiding chafing and friction between the two oppositely moving sides of the chain
at this point, we carry between them a small friction roller j mounted on a suitable
bracket. The chain is fastened to the circumference of each pulley G by means of a
pin. The attachment of the chain to the pulleys is made in position to allow each
pulley to make half a revolution, which is enough to throw the doors wide open.
As the handle L is moved in one direction the chain is operated to open both the
doors, and as the handle is moved in the opposite direction the doors are closed.
The part a a of the chain, being the part which acts in giving motion direct
from one pulley G to the other, is somewhat slack when the doors are in either
their open or closed position, and thus a lead is given in opening to the door which
overlaps the other door, and a lead is given in closing to the door which underlaps
the other door.
A tightening screw of a similar character to that shewn by figures 4 and 5, or
analogous device, is employed in the part a a of the chain so that the slackness
thereof may be properly adjusted.
Referring to figures 4 and 5, M is a bolt screwed into a box N provided with
a lock-nut O. P P are jawed ends to the bolt and box, respectively, for the chain
connections.
The part of the chain passing up inside the heel-board H is boxed or cased in,
and the remaining parts of the chain within the cab are covered by the cushion
and other furniture of the cab, as will be readily understood.
The guide pulleys gg are mounted on long studs el el upon which they are
capable of sliding longitudinally, to allow of the sideway movement of the ends of
the chain consequent upon the vibration of the lever K, or such pulleys may be
made sufficiently wide for this purpose, in which case, of course, they need not slide
endways upon their studs.
A treadle may, of course, be substituted for the lever L, in which case the
spindle should be brought down to a lower level.
When it is desired simply that the opening of one door by the "fare" shall cause
the automatic opening of the other door, the chain or cord, aforesaid, is fixed to the
pulleys G G as before described, but instead of passing up to the cross lever K,
which is in this case not required, is simply passed across from one pulley G to the
other pulley G as shewn at figure 6. In this case also an adjusting appliance, as
described, may be used in the chain, but the pulley j is not required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim in respect of apparatus for facilitating the opening and closing of the
doors of Hansom cabs, is
1. The means by which the driver is enabled to open and close the doors from
his scat at the back of the cab, substantially as described and shewn.

page_text: 2. The pulleys (G) upon studs fixed to the doors so as to rotate in the axes of
the hinges, in combination with a chain passing around and crossed between such
pulleys and having its ends connected to the opposite ends of a lever to which
motion is given from a handle (or treadle) in convenient position to be operated by
the driver, substantially as described and shewn.
.
3. In apparatus by which one door of a Hansom cab is opened or closed
automatically with the other door, or by which both doors are opened or closed by
the driver from his seat at the back of the cab, a chain passing around a pair of
pulleys fixed to studs projecting from the bottoms of the doors such chain being
fixed to each pulley at a convenient point in the circumference thereof, substantially
as described and shewn and for the purpose set forth.
4. The brackets (D) having plates (p) fixed by means of screws or bolts to the
edges of the doors, substantially as described and shewn and for the purpose set
forth.
5. The guide pulley j substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.