Apparatus for the purpose of Lifting the Weight of the Shafts of a Vehicle from the Back of the Draught Animal Drawing the same.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Sept., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 28th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 18th June, 1898
Apparatus for the purpose of Lifting the Weight of the Shafts of a
Vehicle from the Back of the Draught Animal Drawing the same.
We, WILLIAM EVAN LEECE, of 14, Allerton Road, Higher Tranmere, in the
County of Chester, Bookkeeper, and JAMES WILLIAM BURGESS, of 13, Willowbank
Road, Higher Tranmere, in the County of Chester, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
From the underbody of the vehicle two or more screwed rods are fitted perpen-
dicularly these go through a loose beam which can be fixed up or down on them
by wing nuts as required.
From the bottom crosspart of the shafts a flat pair of C springs come which
when the shafts are joined to the vehicle have their loose end under the aforesaid
beam.
This beam is lowered by the nuts until the compression of the springs take up
the weight of the shafts through the ends of the springs which are secured to the
shafts as described above.
Apparatus for the purpose of Lifting the Weight of the Shafts of a
Vehicle from the Back of the Draught Animal Drawing the same.
-9:
We, WILLIAM EVAN LEECE, and JAMES WILLIAM BURGESS, of 14, Allerton Road,
Higher Tranmere, Birkenhead, in the County of Chester, 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:-
Our invention relates to apparatus for lifting the weight of the shafts of a
vehicle from the back of the draught animal drawing the same, and has for its
object to provide such an apparatus in a simple form, and one that while being readily
affixed to the vehicle and easily adjustable for different heights of draught animals
and weights of shafts, shall at the same time be effective and cheap.
The drawing shows our invention and includes such portions of a vehicle (in
this instance a lurry) as are necessary to properly explain it.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation.

page_text: Fig. 3 is a side view of one of the springs hereafter described, and is drawn on
a larger scale than the other figs.
A indicates the body of the vehicle, B the wheels, C the timbers of the under
carriage, D the circle plates, and E the centre piu.
F shows the shafts and G the footboard thereof. The portions above described
form no part of our invention and do not differ from those hitherto in use.
Depending from and carried by the timbers C of the under carriage are two
screw threaded rods H H. They may be attached in any convenient manner,
preferably by having T-shaped heads through which screws or bolts are passed
and connect them to the timbers C. We provide a beam I, preferably faced or
shod with iron plate, and it is supported by the said rods H which pass through
holes bored in it, its height thereon being adjusted and maintained by wing
nuts J, or their equivalent. A pair of springs K preferably shaped after the
manner of "C" springs, but having prolongations L, are rigidly attached to
the foot board G in such manner that the free curved portions project rearwardly
as shown, and, when the shafts are in operative position, said free ends rest
against the underside of beam I and thus take up the weight of shafts F.
It will be observed that by altering the height of beam I on rods H, that the
inclination of the shafts may be varied.
We find in practice that steel springs having three tiers or laminations as shown
in Fig. 3, each 2 inches by 5/16 inch, give very good results for heavy shafts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. In a device such as described, the combination of a pair of <depending rods
attached to the under carriage of the vehicle and carrying a cross beam whose
position thereon is adjustable, with a pair of springs rigidly connected to the
shafts and whose free ends are adapted to bear against the under side of said
beam and thus support the weight of said shafts, substantially as described.
2. In a device such as described a pair of laminated springs K, having pro-
longations L, in combination with adjustable means such as beann I, against
which their free ends are adapted to rest, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
3. The apparatus for the purpose of lifting the weight of the shafts of a vehicle
from the back of a draught animal drawing the same, taken as a whole, substan-
tially as set forth.