Improved Mechanism for Raising and Lowering the Hoods of "Victorias" and other Single Hooded Carriages.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Apr., 1887.
Specification Accepted, 31st May, 1887.
Improved Mechanism for Raising and Lowering the Hoods of
"Victorias" and other Single Hooded Carriages.
I, JOHN COOK, of Highgate Street, Birmingham, Warwickshire, Carriage Builder,
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, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters and
Figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My invention consists in the improved arrangement of mechanism hereinafter,
described by means of which the hoods of single hooded carriages such as
"Victorias" can be readily raised and lowered either by the occupant of such
carriages or by a person outside thereof.
I will describe my invention by referring to the accompanying drawings which
illustrate it as applied to the folding hood of a cab. Fig. 1 represents a side elevation
of the said mechanism and the framework of the folding hood and part of the cab
body, the hood being in its raised position; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same;
Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same with the hood partly lowered and Fig. 4 is a
similar view with the hood in its lowest position; Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate details of
part of the mechanism on an enlarged scale.
In these views the leather covering and the lining of the hood are removed so as to
more clearly shew the said mechanism.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
a is the body of the vehicle, bis the front hoop-stick of the hood and c', e, care
the slats hinged at each side of the hood to the pillar pieces at d in the ordinary
manner. At each side of the hood are the ordinary outside hinged extension
stays e, e², hinged respectively to the front hoop-stick band to the bottom framing of
the hood. I will for simplicity restrict the description of the mechanism to one side
of the hood but it will be understood that similar mechanism is employed at both
sides thereof. According to my invention I employ, preferably inside the hood that
is between the slats c', c², c³ and the hood lining, a lever of about the same length as
the extension rod e¹ and fixed on the joint pin g to which the rod e' is also fixed so
that the lever and the rod e¹ will swing together as one piece. Jointed to the

page_text: lever is a second lever h the bottom end of which is free to slide in a swinging
bearing (shewn on an enlarged scale in Figs. 5 and 6) carried by a bracket from
the cab body somewhere about midway between the point e3 where the rod e¹ is
jointed and the point d where the hoop-stick and slats are hinged. Around the
lever is a coiled spring which is in compression and tends to force the lever h
end wise out of its swinging bearing i. The lever h has a downwardly projecting
arm which is connected by a cord or chain or by a link or other means to
a lever m fixed on a shaft n rocking in bearings o, o and running across the
cab underneath the seat so as to actuate the mechanism at both sides of the hood.
Fixed to the shaft-n is a hand lever p by which it can be rocked.
The operation of the mechanism above described is as follows:-In-order-to-
lower the hood from its raised position shown in Fig. 1, the hand lever pis
moved downwards which motion is transmitted by the cords or chains / to the
levers, and from them through the joint pin g to the stays e¹, e³ which
gradually bend at their knee joints (see Fig. 3) and compressing the spring k
ultimately assume their lowest position (see Fig. 4).
When in raising the hood the front has been moved in the ordinary
manner to about-the-position-shewn by Fig. 3 the spring will act upon it and
throw it fully open as shewn in Fig. 1. It will be seen that by the arrange-
ment of mechanism above described the spring k not only assists in raising the
hood but also prevents any possibility of its folding down when the side stays
-have become loose.
Although I prefer to employ the ordinary side extension stays e, e³-as-shewn-as-
they render the hood more secure when in its raised position still-they-may-be-
dispensed with and the internal mechanism used alone.
My invention can be applied to the hoods of "Victorias" and other single
hooded carriages similarly as above described with reference to the hood of a cab
such alterations in the parts only being made as are necessary to adapt them to
the particular hood with which they are used.
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 :
In "Victoria" and other single hooded carriages the arrangement and construction
of the levers and h, and spring k, connected to a hand lever p, in combination
with the front hoop-stick b, and with or without the hinged extension stays e¹, e³,
substantially as and for the purposes herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Ddth: 90th day of Anil 1887