IMPROVED DRAYMAN'S SAFETY LADDER
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Morgan, of 21, Cockspur Street, Charing
Cross, in the County of Middlesex, Secretary of the Inventors'
Patent Right Association, Limited, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
DRAYMAN'S SAFETY LADDER."-A communication from abroad by
Adolphe Pieper, Engineer, of Mörs, Kingdom of Prussia.
Sealed the 26th April 1876, and dated the 26th October 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Morgan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th October 1875.
I, THOMAS MORGAN, of 21, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, in the
County of Middlesex, Secretary of the Inventors' Patent Right Associa-
tion, Limited, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED DEAYMAN'S SAFETY LADDER," (a communication to me from
abroad by Adolphe Pieper, Engineer, of Mörs, Kingdom of Prussia,) to
be as follows :-
:-

page_text: same, and to afford safety to the workman in case the weight should
threaten to overpower him. The same consists of two pairs of ladder
beams, the inner beams being connected to each other by ties, as usual.
The outer and the inner beams are fixed to each other mainly at the
ends, and between the two there is a space left, in which are arranged
levers, serving as struts to prevent an untimely rolling down of the cask.
These levers in their upright position project at either end from between
the ladder beams, but cach of them may be depressed so as to lie
entirely within this space. The cask in being rolled upwards presses the
first lever down; as soon as it has passed the end of the same it bears
on the second lever, which thereby with its lower end pushes the first
lover up again, and into the position to serve as strut for the cask.
The latter, after having passed the second lever, causes the third one to
lift the second, and so on, so that the cask, after having been rolled
a short distance, ever has a lever in its rear to retain the same in its
place.
In rolling a cask down from the cart it requires but a very small
pressure on the same, as if it were to be rolled over the projecting lever,
and the latter will give way, but at the same time it will lift the next
lower lever, which then is ready to retain the cask. The levers oscillate
on bolts passing through the ladder beams, and certain stops are arranged
to prevent the levers from rising above the requisite point.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Morgan in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
MORGAN, of 21, Cockspur Street, Charing Cross, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Secretary of the Inventors' Patent Right Association, Limited,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto the said Thomas Morgan, Her special
,

page_text: "
licence that I, the said Thomas Morgan, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Morgan, my exc-
cutors, 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, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVED DRAYMAN'S SAFETY LADDER," (a communication to me from
abroad by Adolphe Pieper, Engineer, of Mörs, Kingdom of Prussia,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Morgan,
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 YẺ, that I, the said Thomas Morgan, 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 :—
This ladder is designed to facilitate the rolling of heavy casks and
other round objects on to drays or carts, and such like, or down from
the same, and to afford safety to the workman in case the weight should
threaten to overpower him. The same consists of two pairs of ladder
beams a, a, and a', a', (sec accompanying Drawing) the inner beams
being connected to each other by ties, as usual, whilst the outer and the
inner beams are fixed to each other mainly at the ends; the necessary
iron fittings complete this part of the ladder. Between each of the
outer and inner beams there is a space left, in which are arranged the
levers b', ', b, b', b³, 6º, b', serving as struts to prevent an untimely
rolling down of the casks. These levers oscillate on bolts passing
through the ladder beams, and the stops or bars c, c, screwed to the
under side of the beams limit the oscillation of the levers in one direction,
so as to prevent their upper end from rising above a certain point, as
shewn by lever 6. In the other direction the motion of the same is
limited by the next lower one, as is shewn by the position of 6' with
regard to . In their upright position these levers project at either end
from between the ladder beams, but cach of them may be depressed so

page_text: as to lie entirely within this space. Suppose now the dotted circle to
represent a cask which is to be rolled upwards; the same has pressed
the lever 6* down. On being moved forward a short distance it passes
the end of 64, and then bears on the following lever 6³, so as to cause the
latter to push the lever * up again, and into the position to serve as
strut for the cask, in the same manner as 6 fulfils this object in the
position which the cask is supposed to have in the Drawing. After the
same has passed 6' the lever 6° will push into position to serve as
strut, and so on, so that the cask after having been rolled a short
distance ever has a lever in its rear to retain the same in its place.
.
If the cask in being rolled down from the cart has come into the
position of the dotted circle, it requires but a very small pressure on the
same, as if it were to be rolled over the projecting lever 6', and the latter
will give way, but at the same time will lift the next lower lever b²
into the dotted position of the Drawing, so that the latter is then ready
to retain the cask. This ladder consequently presents the advantage
that by means of the same the handling of casks under the circum-
stances in question is facilitated, and that complete security is attained
against the danger of their rolling down from the ladder against the will
of the workman.
Having now explained the nature and object of my Invention, and in
what manner the same may be carried out in practice, I claim as im-
portant points of the same the levers b', b, b³, 6, 6, 6º, b', acting on each
other, and combined with a drayman's ladder, or with any other inclined
plane on which casks or other round objects are to be rolled up or down, 1
as and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Morgan, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of