IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKS FOR PERAMBULATORS AND OTHER VEHICLES PROPELLED BY HAND." BREAKS FOR PERATORS AND OTHERCLES PROLED BY
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Pearson Hill, of No. 59, Leinster Square, in
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREAKS FOR PERAMBULATORS AND OTHER VEHICLES PROPELLED BY HAND."
BREAKS FOR PERAMBULATORS AND OTHER VEHICLES PROPELLED BY HAND."
Sealed the 18th September 1868, and dated the 19th March 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Pearson Hill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th March 1868.
I, PEARSON HILL, of No. 59, Leinster Square, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BREAKS FOR PERAMBULATORS AND OTHER VEHICLES PROPELLED
BY HAND," to be as follows :---
My Invention has reference to an improved arrangement of that
description of break for stopping or retarding the motion of perambulators
and other vehicles propelled by hand, in which the break is put on
as the handle by which the perambulator is propelled is
released, in order to prevent the perambulator from running away
when not pushed by the attendant. For this purpose an arm is hinged
to the under side of the perambulator, by preference over or nearly

page_text: over the axle of the front wheel, the free end of which arm has a
double hook formed upon it. This arm is attached in such a position
that when allowed to fall it will lie close against the side surface of
the wheel, being prevented however from passing beyond the rim of
the wheel by a stud projecting from the side thereof coming in contact
with the periphery of the wheel or by a short retaining chain or
other means. Upon the side of the rim of the wheel are formed or
fixed one or more projecting studs, which when the arm is in the
just described position will pass into the one or other of the hooks
when the wheel has revolved sufficiently in the one direction or the
other, and in being thus prevented from revolving further will stop
or retard the motion of the perambulator. To the break arm is
connected a chain, cord, or strap which passes up to the handle of
the perambulator, and is so arranged that by grasping the handle and
the chain simultaneously the attendant draws away the break arm from
the front wheel and thus allows it to revolve, but when the handle.
and chain are released, the chain allows the break arm to fall forward
and stop the perambulator as described. Or, in place of the chain
having to be grasped by the attendant to hold the break out of gear,
it may be attached to a short lever connected to a handle capable of
turning somewhat on a fulcrum fixed to the back of the perambulator,
so that on depressing such handle in pushing the perambulator the
chain is made to draw the break out of gear in a similar manner to
that described in the Specification to Letters Patent granted to John
Forster Meakin, dated 29 June 1857, No. 1819. Or the break arm
may be pushed into gear by means of a spring pressing against a
double-ended lever to one end of which the break arm is connected
by means of a rod while the handle of the perambulator is connected
to the other end; on pressing the handle to push forward the
perambulator the break is released. The break arm may also be
arranged to fall against the rim of the wheel instead of at the side,
and be provided with hooks passing across each side of the rim, which
is then also provided with studs on both sides. The break arm may
also be applied to one or both of the hind wheels instead of the front
one, and it may also have an ordinary friction break combined therewith.
Instead of providing studs upon the rims of the wheels for the break
arm to catch into as described, the break arm may also be arranged
to fall sideways against the wheel and to catch into the spokes thereof.
Or again, in place of actuating the break arm by a chain as described,

page_text: it
may
be connected to a rod passing up to the back of the perambulator
and provided with a handle whereby the rod and break arm are turned,
pulled, or pushed so as to catch into the studs or spokes of the
wheel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Pearson Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 18th September 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PEARSON
HILL, of No. 59, Leinster Square, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
first year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Pearson Hill, Her special licence
that I, the said Pearson Hill, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Pearson Hill, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BREAKS FOR PERAMBULATORS AND OTHER VEHICLES PROPELLED BY HAND," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Pearson Hill, 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 Pearson Hill, 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 thereof, reference, being had to the accompanying

page_text: Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say:-
My Invention has reference to an improved arrangement of that
description of break for stopping or retarding the motion of peram-
bulators and other vehicles propelled by hand, in which the break is
put on as soon as the handle by which the perambulator is propelled
is released, in order to prevent the perambulator from running away
when not pushed by the attendant. For this purpose an arm is hinged
to the under side of the perambulator, the free end of which arm has
a hook or catch formed upon it. This arm is attached in such a
position that when allowed to fall it will lie close against the side
surface of the wheel, being prevented however from passing beyond
the rim of the wheel by a stud projecting from the side thereof coming
in contact with the periphery of the wheel, or by a short retaining
chain or other means. Upon the side of the rim of the wheel are
formed or fixed one or more projecting studs, which when the arm
is in the just described position will pass into the one or the other
side of the hook or catch when the wheel has revolved sufficiently
in the one direction or the other, and in being thus prevented from
revolving further will stop or retard the motion of the perambulator.
To the break arm is connected a chain, cord, or strap which passes
up to the handle of the perambulator, and is so arranged that by
grasping the handle and the chain simultaneously the attendant draws
away the break arm from the front wheel and thus allows the latter
to revolve, but when the handle and chain are released the chain
allows the break arm to fall forward and stop the perambulator as
described. Or, in place of the chain having to be grasped by the
attendant to hold the break out of gear, it may be attached to a
short lever connected to a handle capable of turning somewhat on a
fulcrum fixed to the back of the perambulator, so that on depressing
such handle in pushing the perambulator the chain is made to draw
the break out of gear in a similar manner to that described in the
Specification to Letters Patent granted to John Forster Meakin, dated
29 June 1857, No. 1819. Or the break arm may be pushed into
gear by means of a spring pressing against a double-ended lever to
one end of which the break arm is connected by means of a rod,
while the handle of the perambulator is connected to the other end;
on pressing the handle to push forward the perambulator the break
is released. The break arm may also be arranged to fall against the

page_text: rim of the wheel instead of at the side, and be provided with hooks
passing across each side of the rim, which is then also provided with
studs on both sides. The break arm may also be applied to one or
both of the hind wheels instead of the front one, and it may also
have an ordinary friction break combined therewith.
Instead of providing studs upon the rims of the wheels for the break
arm to catch into as described, they may be formed or fixed upon
the spokes, or the break arm may also be arranged to fall sideways
against the wheel and to catch into the spokes thereof.
Or again,
in place of actuating the break arm by a chain as described, it may
be connected to a rod passing up to the back of the perambulator
and provided with a handle whereby the rod and break arm are turned,
pulled, or pushed as a sliding bolt so as to catch against the studs or
spokes of the wheel.
On the accompanying Sheet of Drawings is shown the arrangement
of my Invention which I prefer to employ as being the most simple
and inexpensive. Figure 1 shows a side elevation of a perambulator
with the improved break apparatus applied thereto; Figure 2 shows a part
plan of the same; Figures 3, 4, and 5 show respectively a front view
and the two opposite side views of the break arm with attachment to
an enlarged scale; Figure 6 shows a transverse section of the arm
at X, X, Figure 4; and Figures 7 and 8 show respectively a detached
side view and front view of the stop or stud to be fixed on the side of
the front wheel.
The arm A formed of malleable cast iron or other suitable metal
is suspended by means of the bracket B from the under side of the
perambulator C in such a position as to have a tendency to fall closely
past the rim of the front wheel D. It is prevented, however, from
passing beyond the position shown in Figure 4 by means of the stud E
projecting from the side thereof, so as to come in contact with the
rim of the wheel D, in which position the finger or hook F passes
across one side of the rim. Upon this latter are fixed one or more
stops or studs G, by preference by means of two screws, as shown,
which stops, when the arm A is in the position shown in Figure 4,
will in coming in contact with the one or the other side of the finger F
prevent the further rotation of the wheel. The surface of the finger
or hook F is by preference made with only the slight curvature shown,
in order that the arm may be withdrawn with a moderate pull on the

page_text: chain or cord even when the stop G is pressing against the finger.
The chain or cord H for releasing the break arm A is attached to
the loop I on the latter and passes up to the handle of the peram-
bulator, as shown in Figure 1; here it is made fast by preference in the
manner shown in Figure 2, so that the hand in grasping the handle
can at the same time grasp the cord or chain so as to draw it up against
the handle, thereby causing the break arm A to be withdrawn from
the wheel D into the position shown in Figure 1.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that
I in no way limit myself to the particular arrangement thereof as
herein-before described with reference to the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, as the several parts thereof may be variously modified as
before stated without departing from the essential feature of my
Invention, whereby perambulators and other vehicles propelled by hand
are provided with a break apparatus so arranged that when the handle
of the vehicle is released by the hand a break arm shall move against
the front or hind wheel or wheels so as to come in contact with studs
or stops fixed on or near the side or inner surface of the rim thereof,
or so as to pass between the spokes thereof, and thus prevent the
further rotation of the wheel or wheels, substantially in manner herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Pearson Hill, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.
PEARSON HILL. (L.S.)