IMPROVEMENTS IN PERAMBULATORS AND OTHER WHEELED VEHICLES.
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William James Ingram at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd September 1882.
WILLIAM JAMES INGRAM of the Strand, in the City of Westminster, Gentleman
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PERAMBULATORS AND OTHER WHEELED VEHICLES.'
"
These improvements are chiefly applicable to that class of perambulators in
which an oblong body or carriage, adapted to receive children in a sitting or
recumbent position, is supported on four wheels; the object in view being to so
connect the body or superstructure of the vehicle with the wheels that the whole
may be readily put together or taken to pieces by a servant or other person, without
the necessity for using wrenches or tools of kind.
any
To this end the invention consists of a light rigid frame of iron adapted to
support and be secured to the underside of the frame or platform of the
perambulator, or other carriage, by means of screw bolts and butterfly nuts, or their
equivalent.
In the case of a four-wheel perambulator this iron frame has two fixed axles
having each of their extremities enlarged to form a socket for the reception of a
separate part of the axle upon which the wheel is loosely mounted, and which
separate part, with the wheel upon it, may be secured in place in its socket, or be
readily withdrawn therefrom, by screwing or unscrewing a set screw or nut. Each
of these set screws or nuts is formed with a hole through it to facilitate the
application of force when necessary. The end of the detachable part of the axle
where it enters the socket in the fixed axle is coned or grooved so that the set
screw may securely hold it from moving end ways.
Each of the fixed axles is supported on spring bearings of novel construction
which can be easily removed for examination or repair when required by simply
removing a screw bolt.
The spring bearing consists of two cups of metal kept apart by a spiral spring.
The lower cup rests on the upper side of the axle. The upper cup bears against
one arm of the light iron frame, and the screw bolt above referred to passes
centrally through the end of this arm, the two metal cups, and the spiral spring,
and is screwed into the upper side of the axle. In a line with this screw bolt, and
secured to the underside of the axle, is a guide pin which passes through a hole
in another arm of the iron frame.

page_text: The weight of the load is transmitted by the frame to the upper cups of the
spring bearings, passing thence through the spiral springs to the axles, and thence
to the wheels; and the frame as it rises and falls works vertically on the screw
bolts and guide pins. Stout rubber washers or blocks may be used instead of the
spiral springs.
The handle of the perambulator whether for pulling or pushing, is also made
detachable, so that in a few minutes the entire vehicle may be separated into a few
principal parts, which will greatly facilitate storage, or packing for conveyance by
rail or sea.
The invention may be readily applied to other vehicles besides perambulators,
euch as Bath-chairs, hand trucks and small carts, whether they are mounted on
two, three or more wheels.