IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE HEADS. AND IN APPAratus PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATIONARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING OR ASSISTING TO RAISE AND LOWER THEM
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Lenny, of the Firm of Charles Lenny and
Company, of North End, Croydon, in the County of Surrey, and
of Park Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Carriage Builders, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE HEADS. AND IN APPAratus
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Lenny at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st February 1872.
I, CHARLES LENNY, of the Firm of Charles Lenny and Company, of
North End, Croydon, in the County of Surrey, and of Park Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Carriage Builders, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE HEADS, AND
APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING OR ASSISTING TO RAISE AND LOWER THEM,"
to be as follows:-
IN
These improvements relate, firstly, to carriage heads, and principally
to those with side lights or windows, and consist of arrangements by
means of which the whole front moves at one time, the front pillars

page_text: being fastened to and moving with a double knuckled hinge fixed to the
corner pillar of the body, and not falling inwards as in the old fashioned
manner. The upper part of the front pillar is again hinged to the cant-
rail, and the cantrail itself is jointed at any convenient spot between
the front pillar and the upper door pillar or casing; by arranging these
hinged points as necessary to the size and shape of the different parts
the whole will fall together when a pressure is applied to it.
The apparatus for raising and lowering or assisting to raise or to lower
such heads consists of levers, chains, or rods connected with springs
or appliances either fastened to the hinges or not for causing the head
or heads to act automatically or nearly so either in opening or closing,
so that the operation can be performed from the inside with little
exertion on the part of the occupants.
The springs I prefer to employ are steel rods held fast at one end,
only such as those patented by me on the 11th day of April in the year
1871, but other springs may be employed for the purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Lenny in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st August 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
LENNY, of the Firm of Charles Lenny and Company, of North End,
Croydon, in the County of Surrey, and of Park Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Carriage Builders, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Lenny, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Lenny, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Charles Lenny, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time 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,

page_text: and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGE HEADS,
AND IN APPARATUS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING OR ASSISTING TO RAISE AND LOWER
THEM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Lenny, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Charles Lenny, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings.
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
This Invention relates, firstly, to improvements in carriage heads,
and principally to those with side lights or windows, and consists in
constructing the half head back or front only or both back and front so
that each half head or whole head, as the case may be, can move at one
time through the front or the back pillars being fastened to and moving
with double knuckle joints or with single knuckle joints at either side
fixed to the corner pillars of the body.
This part of the Invention will be more clearly understood by referring
to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in which Figure 1 shows partly
in section the body of a "landau," a being the upper part of the front
pillar, which is divided at b, and shaped with mortice and tenon to
guide and steady the head while being raised, and to hold the two parts
firm when completely raised. The front pillar a has a strap c whose
lower end is carried downwards and pinned to a lever d forming together
the double knuckle hinge referred to in my Provisional Specification,
the lever d being pinned or jointed to the body at e. The top of the
front pillar is hinged in the inside to a divided cant rail fas shown, the
division being hinged at g to enable it fold up as it were on being
lowered, taking the upper door pillar h with it, which when down would
rest upon the seat back or upon a projection fitted to receive it.
I do not limit myself to jointing the cant rail at the spot shown and
marked g, as that can be done at any part of it to suit the size and
style of carriage to which this part of my Invention has to be fitted,

page_text: nor do I limit myself to attaching the lower end of the double knuckle
hinge to the corner pillar, as that can be secured to any other part, as
will be understood by reference to Figure 3, where it is attached by a
steel spring rod to the boot or body loop or crane between the body and
the driver's seat.
It will be observed that by this first part of my Invention the double
knuckle hinge falls forward and not inwards as in the old fashioned
manner, thereby giving a much lighter appearance to the carriage,
greater comforts to the occupants, and entails less labour to lower as
also to raise the head from the inside.
1
Figure 1º is a view of a single knuckle joint, this being a modification
of the double knuckle joint shown in Figure 1.
I have in thus detailing the nature of the first part of my Invention
only referred to one side of a half head, but both sides are fitted in the
same manner, both for the front and the back heads or half heads when 1
such are intended to be falling heads.
In the case of carriages with side lights or windows my Invention is
specially applicable, as through the upper door pillar being hinged at i
it can when the windows are lowered into the pockets or spaces in the
side pannels or in the doors of the carriage rest upon the cill or top. 2
The head need not be lowered each time the window is opened, as from
the arrangements of the parts before described in combination with
springs and other appliances, the head or heads can be kept closed at
all times.
The second part of my Invention relates to appliances for enabling 2
the heads or half heads to be lowered or raised easily from the inside and
without jerk.
According to Figure 1 I form a lug a short distance up the lower
portion of the lever d, and pin a rod j to it, which passes through a slot
in the body corner pillar to form a connection with a short lever k
centred upon a steel rod. This rod is square on the part where the
short lever is situated, but its end is round to fit a hole in a plate 1, so
that it can turn and produce a twist in the length of the rod, whose
opposite end is fixed in a plate at the opposite side of the carriage.
The twist of the rod is sufficient to resist the sudden descent of the head,
and its return to its normal position on the slightest lifting force being
applied to the head to close it.
E

page_text: The steel spring rod or its equivalent is covered by a previous Patent
granted to me on the Eleventh day of April in the year Eighteen hundred
and seventy-one, Number 958, and any number of such rods or their
equivalents can be used according to the weight of the head and the
resistance to be overcome.
In Figure 1 I have shown four of such rods, two to actuate the short
levers k on opposite sides of the body, and two to actuate other levers m
linked to the hinge pin at the lower ends of the upper door pillars h,
but they can be increased to any extent until the head is counter-
balanced by them. The links can be substituted by chains or by cords
if found necessary, but these by themselves form no distinctive feature
in this part of my Invention.
In the Figure I have shown the front head as closed in full lines and
as open in dotted lines, while the back head is shown closed in dotted
and open in full lines.
The four steel spring rods are shown clearly in Figure 2, this being a
view looking upon the inside face of the lining board.
As an example that other forms of springs can be used in lieu of my
previously patented ones, I show in Figure 4 a portion of a carriage
body with a coiled box springs as being fitted to the plate 1, and the
body has also another spring of coiled shape on the front lower door
pillar, its free end being attached to the front upper door pillar, and
becomes expanded or drawn out by the partial circular rotation upon
its centre in lowering, thereby placing the spring in a condition to uncoil
and lift or assisting to lift the head, as described in reference to the
steel spring rods first mentioned.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
Firstly. Arranging falling heads or half heads to carriages in the
manner described, whether such carriages have side lights or windows or
not.
Secondly. The employment of double knuckle hinges to the falling
heads or half heads of carriages when such hinges fall forwards, as
described and shown.
Thirdly. Attaching forward falling knuckle hinges to the body or to
the boot or other adjacent part of a carriage, substantially as and for the
purposes described.

page_text: .
Fourthly. I claim the employment of springs, levers, or other appli-
ances for raising and lowering or assisting to raise or lower my jointed
carriage heads as first herein-before mentioned, whether such springs
or appliances are of the kind shown in the Drawings or of any other
kind.
Fifthly. I claim the combination of springs, levers, and other appli-
ances as described and shown, also the modification thereof when
employed for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Lenny, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-two.
ATT TAN TTTY
CHARLES LENNY. (L.S.)