AN INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR CORRECTLY ASCERTAINING THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS CONVEYED IN OMNIBUSES AND OTHER PUBLIC CARRIAGES
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
LEE BENHAM,. of Wigmore Street, in the County of Middlesex, Ironmonger,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighteenth day of June, in the second year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Lec Benham, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said John Lee Benham, my exors, admors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said John Lee Benham, 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, my Invention of "AN INSTRUMENT OR APPARATUS FOR
CORRECTLY ASCERTAINING THE NUMBER OF PASSENGERS CONVEYED IN OMNIBUSES
AND OTHER PUBLIC CARRIAGES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said John Lee Benham, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, 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
John Lee Benham, do hereby declare 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 Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
-
The first part of the Invention relates to an instrument to be applied to
each seat for one passenger; hence the general seat will require to be divided
into separate seats, each suitable for one passenger.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 represents a section of the seat of an omnibus, and the apparatus
suitable for recording the number of persons who may have sat thereon;
Figure 2 is a front section; and Figure 3 is a sectional plan. The seat a is
hinged at back, and can be raised from the front, but is to have a lock, in
order to prevent its being raised except by the proper person; 6 is an axis,
rising up on one side of the seat, and at the upper part is bent over, as at b,
in order to prevent any person sitting down till the rod is turned partly round.
This rod 6 passes through a socket, and then enters another socket c, there
being an inclined slit in such manner that when the arm b¹ of the rod b is
turned partly round it will rise up, and so remain so long as the person is
sitting in the seat; the arm b¹ will be prevented assuming its place across the
seat, but so soon as the passenger rises the rod 6 will descend, and the arm
thereof will stand across the seat and prevent any person taking the seat
unless the catch hereafter described is first set free; c is what I call a counter,
which may be of hard wood, or any other suitable material, one of which the
passenger receives on his entering an omnibus, and then allows it to drop
down the tube d at the back of the seat, and this counter is received into the
end of a lever e below, and becomes a filling piece between the end of that
lever and the sliding arm f, such sliding arm f being at all times borne
towards the front of the seat by a spring; and it will be seen that on the lower
part of the rod b is a projecting arm 6%, which, on the passenger moving
slightly round (which he is enabled to do), comes in contact with the lever
catch 9, which moves the sliding bar or arm f towards the lever e, but the
distance being regulated, the bar or arm f cannot reach the end of the lever e,
and consequently can have no effect thereon; but supposing there to have been
a counter dropped down, in such case the counter will act as a filling piece, and
the arm will be forced back, and with it the lever e, which will cause the

page_text: lower end of the lever e to move upward,, and as it moves on the wire h it will
cause the axis i to turn round, and in turning round will remove the stop j,
and thus allow the rod 6 to move to an extent equal to about a quarter of a
revolution, and thus place the arm b' out of the way of the seat, and the
counter c will fall from the lever e, and the parts will be borne back by the
spring k to the lever, and when the passenger rises from the seat the rod b
will assume its lower position, and the arm 6¹ will stand across the seat and
prevent any person sitting therein till another counter is dropped in. I would
remark that I make no claim to any of the parts separately, nor do I confine
myself to the precise arrangement, so long as the general character of
employing counters in combination with suitable mechanism for preventing
the passenger taking a seat unless a counter be employed or be resorted to.
Another part of my Invention is represented at Figures 4 and 5, in which
sufficient of an omnibus is shown with an apparatus applied thereto, for
recording the number of passengers which enter the same, and the appa-
ratus half size is also shown. In these Figures the same letters indicate
similar parts, a being the step by which the passengers enter the omnibus,
there being a moveable surface 6 hinged thereon, on to which the passenger
steps; this moveable surface 6 is bound with iron, and altho' the surface 6 can
be moveable freely between the sides c, at the same time those sides care
covered with iron, in order to prevent as much as possible the introduction of
any instrument between the moveable surface b and the sides c; on to the
front of the moveable surface 6 of the step a is affixed a plate b, which can
move up and down freely with the moveable surface b, yet prevent any
instrument being introduced between the moveable surface b and the step a,
in order to prevent its correctly working when stepped on by a passenger.
d is flap hinged to the riser e of the step, such flap being placed in order to
prevent the passenger stepping too close to the riser, but the flap can rise and
fall easily with the surface 6 of the step a. To the surface b is affixed a pro-
jecting arm 6, which acts against one end of a cranked lever f, moving on an
axis carried by a projection affixed to the riser of the step, as is shewn in the
Drawing; g is a connecting rod, attached at one of its ends to the cranked
lever f, and at the other of its ends it is attached to a driver to actuate the
count wheel by which the number of passengers is recorded. I would remark
that the lever f and the connecting rod 9 are to be enclosed in such manner
as not to be accessible. The casing in the Drawing is omitted, in order to
shew the parts more clearly. The connecting rod passes through a tube on
the inside of the omnibus or other convenient position, and the counting

page_text: apparatus is to be affixed either on the inside or outside of the omnibus.
The Drawing represents it on the inside, and the counting apparatus
may be enclosed in such manner as only to be seen by opening a door,
or the door may be glazed with glass; but whatever be the arrangement
of the door, it should be provided with a good lock, to prevent its being
opened by any person other than is appointed for that purpose. By this means
much greater security to the owners will be obtained, and they will be more
certain of receiving the whole of the money paid by passengers. i, i, is the
case of the counting apparatus seen from the back; and k represents the face
of the frame and the dial; is the count wheel, which moves on an axis at m,
such axis having a pointing hand n to point to the division on the dial plate;
9 is the connecting rod rising from the step b; and o is a lever driver moving
on an axis o¹, and it has the driving blade o hinged to it, and kept up by
a spring o; and o* is another spring which bears on the lever driver o, as is
clearly shewn in the Drawing. p is a spring click or catch to prevent the
count wheel moving back; 7 is a lever catch moving on an axis at q', and it
has an arm with a hammer affixed thereto; and r is a bell which the
hammer strikes every time a passenger enters, and thus indicates that the
apparatus is working correctly, the lever catch 9 being borne up to the teeth
of the count wheel 7 by the springs s; and s¹ is a stop to prevent the end of
the lever catch moving away too far. By this arrangement it will be evident
that every time a passenger steps on the step bit will cause one tooth of the
wheel to be driven forward, and thus indicate on the dial plate how many
times the step 6 has been acted on. The count wheel is arranged for
counting ninety-five actions on the step b; but this may be varied, and
if a large number of actions is required to be counted, then a train of
wheels may be employed in place of a single wheel, as is well under-
stood, and the apparatus is so arranged that when it has counted ninety-
five actions it will stop, there being a tooth cut out of the wheel 7; and in
order to start it again the sliding bar t is forced in, which coming against the
stud on the count wheel forces the same one tooth, and then the apparatus is
again in a condition to work. On the front of the step a is hinged a board
or flap u, which can be raised or lowered by the conductor, the object being
to prevent persons getting on the step 6, unless to enter or leave the omnibus,
and as this flap is employed for the protection of the conductor, he will be
careful to retain it up at all times, excepting when a passenger is about to
enter or leave the omnibus.
I would remark that I am aware that moveable steps have been attempted

page_text: to be used by others to actuate counting apparatus, in order to indicate the
number of passengers; I do not therefore claim the same, but only the mode
of applying the flap u.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Lee Benham, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of December, One thousand