Improvements in Constructing Transport, Commissariat, or other Army Service Carts to Render them Available as Rafts or Pontoons if Required.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Mar., 1887
Complete Left, 2nd Dec., 1887
Complete Accepted, 6th Jan., 1888
Improvements in Constructing Transport, Commissariat, or other
Army Service Carts to Render them Available as Rafts or
Pontoons if Required.
1 EDWARD STEPHENS COPEMAN, of 4 Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster,
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of my invention is to construct transport, commissariat or other army
service carts so that they can readily be converted, if required, into rafts or into
pontoons.
With this object I make that portion of the cart which is to contain the ammuni-
tion, water food or other stores detachable from the rest of the cart and in the form
of an oblong tank, vessel or receptacle-say 9 feet long, 4 feet wide and 2 feet deep-
of galvanized iron, steel, copper or other suitable material. It must be water tight
and is preferably fitted with one or more transverse water.tight partitions; it has one
or more manholes at the top preferably near one side and these manholes can if
necessary be provided with water tight covers. It is intended that in making up a
raft or a potoon three or more of these tanks or vessels shall be placed end to end,
and with this view they are provided with means for securing them together in this
position. Suitable means for this purpose consist of projecting pieces or lugs at the
upper parts of the meeting ends with rings and bolts or other like devices for fastening
these lugs together while at the lower parts of the meeting ends thero may be hooks
and eyes. Two of the tanks should be rounded at what would be the outer end and
they should all be somewhat rounded at the lower portion of the sides or so formed
that the base shall be smaller than the top.
The platform or bottom of the cart upon which the tank rests is, according to one
modification, made without sides and with front and tail boards which are hinged so
as normally to lie upon the platform or bottom, the tank resting upon them and being
fastened to the platform by ropes, bolts, chains or other suitable devices. The cart
shafts form prolongations of parallel longitudinal beams or bars, extending to the
rear of the cart bottom or platform and upon which the latter can be made to move
endways as required and there are holes in the platform and other holes in the beams

page_text: to enable the platform to be secured by means of chocks or pins at the required
position. These chocks or pins or some of them are constructed to receive rowlocks
for use when the carts are converted into rafts.
Or instead of fitting the platform of the cart so as to slide on longitudinal beams
as above described, it is, according to another modification, permanently fixed and
does not extend so far rearwards, terminating about 2 feet short of the rear of the
cart frame upon which frame is a transverse beam upon which the rear end of the
tank would rest. In this modification there is a hinged front board but no tail
board:
the front board normally lies on the cart bottom and the front part of the
tank rests thereon while the back part rests on the transverse beam above described.
The cart has removable sides.
Such being the general construction of the carts I will proceed to describe how
they are converted into rafts. Three (or more) of the tanks are removed from the
carts, placed in the water end on end as before explained and secured together so as
to form a sort of pontoon about 27 feet long. A second similar pontoon is made with
three (or more) other tanks. The wheels of some of the carts (preferably three)
from which these tanks have been taken are removed and the platforms (if the
carts are made according to the first modification above described) are shifted along
the beams until they occupy a position midway between the rear end of the beams and
the front end of the shafts. If the carts are inado according to the second modi-
fication, the front board is turned over so as to lie on the shafts, and the two removable
sides are placed the one across the front part of the shafts and the other across the
rear part of the cart frame so as to fill up the opening between the cart bottom and
the transverse beam. The two pontoons are placed opposite. each other at about
4 feet, more or less, apart and the three (or other number of) carts, of whichever
construction, are then placed transversely across the two pontoons as near amidships
as practicable and are secured thereto by chains, ropes, or other suitable devices, the
tanks being provided for the purpose with rings, blocks or other like contrivances.
The front and tail boards of the carts if made according to the first modification may
now be placed upright so as to form a sort of barrier to prevent persons on the raft
going too near the side.
If it should be required to form a pontoon bridge the necessary number of pontoons
made up as above described are employed and are secured together at the required
distance apart by means of the cart platforms, beams and shafts placed transversely
in the manner already explained, and placed in their proper position across the water.
These platforms will act as supports to the saddle beam and saddle of the bridge,
which will be formed substantially in the manner now in use in military service.
Datel this damn davet
L 1007

page_text: 1 EDWARD STEPHENS COPEMAN, of 4 Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to construct transport, commissariat or other army
service carts so that they can readily be converted, if required, into rafts or into
pontoons.
With this object I make that portion of the cart which is to contain the ammuni-
tion, water, food or other stores detachable from the rest of the cart and in the form
of an oblong tank, vessel or receptacle, say, 5 to 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 1 foot
10 inches deep-of galvanized iron, steel, copper or other suitable material. It must
be water-tight and is preferably fitted with one or more transverse water-tight
partitions, it has one or more man-holes at the top and these man-holes can if necessary
be provided with water-tight covers. It is intended that in making up a raft or a
pontoon three, or more, of these tanks or vessels shall be placed end to end, and with
this view they are provided with means for securing thein together in this position.
Suitable means for this purpose consist of projecting pieces or lugs at the upper parts
of the meeting ends with rings and bolts or other like devices for fastening these lugs
together while at the lower parts of the meeting ends there may be hooks and eyes.
Two of the tanks should be rounded off at what would be the outer end and should
be somewhat longer than the other tank to compensate for the loss of capacity due to
the rounding and they should all be somewhat rounded at the lower portion of the
sides or so formed that the base shall be smaller than the top.
The platform or bottom of the cart upon which the tank rests or partly rests is
made without sides and with a front board which is hinged so as normally to be upon
the platform or bottom, the front part of the tank resting upon it. The cart shafts
form prolongations of parallel longitudinal beams or bars which extend about two
feet to the rear of the cart platform and are connected together at the rear end by a
transverse beam upon which the rear end of the tank normally rests.
Means are
provided for securing the tank to the platform.
Such being the general construction of the carts I will proceed to describe how
they are converted into rafts. Three (or more) of the tanks are removed from the
carts, placed in the water end on end as before explained and secured together so as
to form a sort of pontoon about 17 feet long. A second similar pontoon is made with

page_text: three (or more) other tanks. The wheels of the carts from which these tanks have
been taken are removed and the front boards are turned over so as to lie on the shafts.
The two pontoons are placed opposite each other at about 4 feet, more or less, apart
and the carts are then placed transversely across the two pontoons and are secured
thereto by chains, ropes or other suitable devices, the tanks being provided for the
purpose with rings, blocks or other like contrivances.
If it should be required to form a pontoon bridge the necessary number of pontoons
made up into rafts as above described are employed and are moored at the required
distance apart across the water. These rafts will act as supports to the saddle and
saddle beams of the bridge which will be formed substantially in the manner now in
use in military service.
The annexed drawings will serve to illustrate my invention. Figure 1 is a side
elevation and Figure 2 a rear elevation of one of my transport or army service carts.
Figure 3 is an elevation and Figure 4 a plan of a raft or pontoon formed from a
number of these carts with their tanks. Referring first to Figures 1 and 2, a represents
that part of the cart which is to carry ammunition, water or other stores; it is an
oblong tank which is shown as having straight or flat ends but the tanks on some of
the carts should have rounded ends such as the end tanks seen in Figures 3 and 4.
b, bare two man-holes at the top of the tank fitted with water-tight covers c.
The
ends of the tank have at their upper parts lugs & with eyes or holes to enable them
to be attached by rings and bolts or other like dovices to similar lugs on another
tank and at the lower parts of the ends of the tank are hooks and eyes e, e for the
like purpose. Along each side of the top of the tank is fixed a beam (which
however is optional). g is the platform or bottom of the cart; it is made without
sides and has a front board hinged thereto which lies upon the platform, as seen in
Figure 1. The platform is fixed to parallel longitudinal beams or bars i, i to which
the cart shafts k, k form prolongations; the shafts are shown as parallel and of the
same distance apart as the beams i but if preferred they may be bent or inclined
towards each other so as to reduce the width in front as in ordinary cart shafts. The
beams i extend about 2 feet to the rear of the platform g and are connected together
by a transverse beam 1. The tank a rests at its front part upon the front board h and
at its rear upon the transverse beam 1. The platform g is secured to plates m fixed to
the axle n, buffer springs o, o being interposed between the platform ġ and the plates;
or the buffer springs may be dispensed with. The tank a has handles p, p for lifting
it or it might have staples on, each side to receive longitudinal lifting rods; it is also
provided with rubbing bars 4, 7 on the underside. The tank can be secured to the
platform by chains or ropes passed through the handles p, p or otherwise.
Referring now to Figures 3 and 4 which represent a raft or pontoon made from six
of these carts, it will be seen that there are two sets of tanks, each set composed of
three, secured together end to end by means of the fastenings d and e. The two sets
are placed opposite each other about, say, 4 feet apart and the bodies of the six carts
from which the tanks have been taken are placed transversely, and alternately in
reverse directions, across the two sets the wheels having been first removed and the
front boards having been turned over so as to lie upon the shafts k, k. The cart
bodies are secured to the tanks by suitable means such as those shewn, viz.: by
chains, passed through hooks or rings, s on the tanks and through rings t, t on
the ends of the beams, and shafts k, k and lashed, and wedges may be inserted if
thought necessary between the meeting ends of the tanks to ensure rigidity. There
are holes in the transverse beams and also near the ends of the end tanks to receive
rowlocks 21, and the end tanks are fitted with rings v, to be used for towing
when required. The beams on the tanks are recessed at the parts where the
beams i, i lie.
r
In addition to the hinged front boards before described the carts may have inclined
foot boards at front and back detachable or otherwise. These boards if detachable
can be utilized in the raft to form the sides of or a protection to the roadway in the
centre thereof.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The construction of transport, commissariat and other army service carts,
substantially as hereinbefore described, in such manner that they can be converted
into rafts or pontoons, as set forth.
2. A transport, commissariat or other army service cart so constructed that its
platform or frame and shafts will serve to couple or connect together two pontoons in
the form of a raft and constitute the deck of the same, substantially as set forth.
3. A cart platform or bottom, such as g, having a hinged front board, such as h,
and supported on longitudinal beams or bars, such as i, i, connected together at the
rear by a transverse beam, such as l, in combination with a cart body, such as a, in
the form of a tank or receptacle which normally lies or rests upon the said hinged
front board and the said transverse beam but is detachable therefrom and from the
rest of the cart, substantially as and for the purpose herein before described.
Dated this 2nd day of December 1887.
J. C. MEWBURN,
169, Fleet Street, London,
Agent.