CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON- STRUCTION OF VEHICLES
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MELCHIOR
COLSON, of 37, Finsbury Square, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of August,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the sixteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Melchior Colson, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial license,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Melchior Colson, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Melchior Colson,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CON-
STRUCTION OF VEHICLES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said Melchior Colson, shall cause a particular description of the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Melchior Colson, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, in which the same letters of reference indicate
the same parts wherever they occur, that is to say: -
My Invention relates to a new system of conveyance or transport of goods
on railways by which the vehicle and its contents are made to run direct on
the rails of the railway, instead of bearing on the axletrees. The application
of my Invention effects a very great reduction in the resistance of traction,
lessens the expenses of lubricating, and prevents to a considerable extent the
wear and tear of supporters and axletrees.
Figure 1 of the Drawing represents a side elevation of a waggon con-
structed to hold merchandize, and Figure 2 is a plan of the same. In these
Figures the vehicle containing the goods to be carried is composed of two boxes
or chambers A, A, constructed of sheet iron or of any suitable material, to
contain the kind of merchandise to be conveyed. These boxes may be con-
structed of a cylindrical or pentagonal form, and be divided in several com-
partments, according to the various descriptions of goods they are to contain.
The boxes have flanges on their periphery similar to those of wheels for
ordinary railway vehicles, which serve to consolidate them, and are kept in
contact with the rails on which they travel. The boxes are united together
by means of the drawing frame B, B, provided with the lubricating boxes c, c,
the fastening chains D, D, the safety chains E, E, and buffers F, F. 'The
frame B, B, is suspended to the axes of the boxes A, A, in order to have the
buffers F, F, and the fastening chains D, D, on the same horizontal plane
with those of other vehicles.
And having now described the nature of my Invention, and the best means
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the precise arrangements of the parts herein shewn and described,
nor do I claim any of the parts taken separately, provided the principle for
carrying out my Invention be retained.
But what I consider as new, and
intended to be protected by the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent, is, the direct bearing of the boxes A, A, on the rails, that is to say,
of the vehicle and its contents, as herein-before described, reference being had
to Figures 1 and 2 of the Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Melchior Colson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
MR (L.S.) COLSON:

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of February, in the
year of our Lord 1853, the aforesaid Melchior Colson came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.