IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES
Year: 1873

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Botwood at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 5th
May 1878.
'I, WILLIAM BOTWOOD, of Woodbridge Road, St. John's, Ipswich, in
the County of Suffolk, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is, firstly, to improve the axles and boxes
of coaches and other carriages. For this purpose I cut a screw thread
upon the end of the axle, of the same size or nearly so as the arm, and
I turn out a square recess at the front of the axle box to receive a
leather washer, this is pressed against the box by a long nut which
screws on to the end of the axle and from the back of which projects a
rod to form a step stay. The leather washer prevents noise from lateral
motion, and thus a silent axle is obtained. The step stay passes out
through the end of the cap, and is prevented from turning around the
axle by a linch pin passing down through a hole in the long nut and
through a slot in the end of the axle long enough to admit of the step

page_text: stay being screwed up from time to time until the washer is completely
worn out. The stop stay is curved upwards to receive a step which may
be welded on, or a socket on the under side of the step may be slipped
on to the stay and be secured by a bolt; the edge of the head next to
the spokes and each of the side edges have flanges standing up from
them. The step is used to facilitate mounting to the seats of carriages
over the wheels, and a succession of steps may be added either upwards
or downwards. The interior of the cap is hollowed out to receive oil
and to prevent any material escape of oil from its end where the step
stay passes out through it, the interior of the cap is made of a curved
form and with an annular recess in its end around the opening through
which the stay passes, the recess is somewhat semicircular in section
and its inner edge comes up to the edge of the opening through which
the stay passes and forms there a sharp angle, the entrance to this
opening being slightly coned away from the stay, by this means the oil
will constantly be thrown inwards as the wheel revolves and will be
prevented from passing out along the step stay. As a silent axle I use
only the long nut and leather collar in front with linch pin and ordinary
oil caps where a step is not required.
To improve the mechanism for raising and lowering the heads of
carriages I place a crank stay on the upper pillar having at its bottom
end a set off and roller, the said set off rests upon the end of a curved
spring placed at the back of the bottom pillar, and in lowering or
raising the head the rollers in the end of the stay pass up and down the
spring and force upon the spring towards the pillar in such a manner
that when the head is down the spring forces it up and the stay rests
upon the top of the spring. I act upon the cantrail by the old joints
outside at the top of the pillar, I square the prop into the head joint
and let the same revolve in the pillar and fit on the prop inside or in
the centre of the pillar a short stay, I fix another stay on the cantrail
and connect the two by means of a connecting stay or rod so that in
the action of the outside joint the cantrail is raised or lowered.