AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CARRIAGE SHAFTS, POLES, OR BEAMS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Alexandre Genetreau, of Paris, in the Empire
of France, and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City), London, for the
Sealed the 20th March 1855, and dated the 23rd September 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Alexandre Genetreau
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd September 1854.
1, HENRY ALEXANDRE GENETREAU, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
and of 16, Castle Street, Holborn (City), London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CARRIAGE SHAFTS,
POLES, OR BEAMS," to be as follows, viz. :-
This Invention consists in constructing carriage shafts, poles, or beams of
such flexible material as will allow these parts to bend, and thus prevent the
breakage of the shafts, &c., or other accidents arising from the falling of the
horses, &c. &c. The material I use for constructing the improved shafts, &c.
is cane (Malacca cane) or whalebone, both combined with metallic parts. The
shafts, &c. thus constructed may have any suitable thickness or shape given
to them.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Alexandre Genetreau in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd March 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ALEXANDRE GENETREAU, of Paris, in the Empire of France, and of 16, Castle
Street, Holborn (City), London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Alexandro Genetreau, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Alexandre Genetreau, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry Alexandre Genetreau, 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, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVED SYSTEM OF CARRIAGE SHAFTS, POLES, OR BEAMS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Alexandre Genetreau, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 dato
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Alexandre Genetreau, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Invention consists in constructing carriage shafts, poles or beams of
such flexible materials as will allow these parts to bend, and thus prevent the
breakage of the shafts or other accidents arising from the falling of the
horses, &c. The materials I use for constructing the improved shafts, &, are
Malacca or Indian cane, bamboo, or any other similar exotic reed or cane,
also whalebone, the whole being combined with metallic parts. The shafts,
&c. thus constructed may have any suitable thickness or shape given to them.
These materials are used in the following manner in the manufacture of
carriage shafts, &c. :-The interior or core of each shaft is made from one or
several pieces of stiff bamboo or of whalebone. I also sometimes use a round,

page_text: square, or flat iron rod, which extends to any suitable length of the core
through the whole length of the shaft or only part of it. The outer portion of
the shaft is made up of cane, which is either round or made square, either by
planing by hand or drawn square through a drawing bench. The proper
shape is then given to it externally by filing, the interstices being left empty
or filled up with pitch or mastich. The necessary curvature is given to the
bamboo or other cane by the application of heat, either by shaping the cane
by hand or by confining it in a proper mould. The curved shape may also be
given to it by means of the iron core piece which the shaft may have, as above
said, and round which the pieces of cane or bamboo may be tied. The
picces of cane, &", may also be varnished over in any suitable style, and have
different colours given to them so as to produce any desired design. The
whole bundle of canes may be secured together, and around the centre piece
or core, either by glue or ticing it by ligatures of threads or wires, and the
whole may be covered with leather, oil-cloth, gutta percha, caoutchouc, or any
other suitable material, which is sewed or glued to the shafts, and ornamented
with metallic ferrels or ligatures of wire or thread. The iron squaro ferrels
or shoes which hold the end of each shaft are fixed by means of glue and
wedges, and the empty spaces in the ferrel are filled up with hard wood, so as
to receive the pins or bolts for fastening the shafts to the front end of the
under frame. The studs, between which pass the ridge bands or straps, are
made of round iron, and they are fixed by any kind of ligature, or rivetted on
to a metallic ferrel as well as the springs, which may either by of metal or of
leather. The above construction is not only applicable to double but also to
single shafts, poles, or beams.
譬
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is or may be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that what
I claim as novel, and being secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, is, the use and application of whalebone, and also of bamboo,
cane, or any other similar exotic reed in the construction of carriage shafts,
poles, or beams.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Alexandre Genetreau, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March, Ono
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
A. H. GENEIKEAU. (LS.)