IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE ENGINES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Shand, of the Firm of Shand, Mason, and
Company, of Upper Ground Street, Blackfriars Road, in the County of
Sealed the 17th November 1865, and dated the 22nd May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Shand at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd May 1865.
J, JAMES SHAND, of the Firm of Shand, Mason, and Company, of Upper
Ground Street, Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE ENGINES," to be
as follows:-
These improvements in fire engines consist of a set of fire-engine pumps of
the usual or any other construction fixed to the front end of a box which
contains the hose and implements; this box is attached to a frame, the two
front ends of which project and form draught handles for men or shafts for a
horse. The end of the box to which the pumps are attached is made at such
an angle that when the ends of the frame rest on the ground the pumps are
in a proper position for working, and when the men or horses are attached for
draught the pumps are inclined and the weight thrown more on the axle ;
but to more evenly balance the whole the box with fire engine attached may
be constructed to slide within limits on the frame, and be adjustable by a
serew or otherwise.

page_text: The whole machine is mounted on two high wheels with a pair of springs
and an axle; the wheels may be of any convenient height, this not being
limited, as in ordinary fire engines, by the working handles. The lever or
levers to which the latter are attached is or are placed across the frame
parallel with the axle, and the men when at work stand on each side of the
engine clear of the wheels; this lever is made so as to be contracted in
length when not at work so as not to project beyond the ends of the axles
when travelling, and the wooden handles may be kept in their places or
removed to another part of the engine for the same purpose. The engine is
complete on two wheels, and carries (as in the ordinary brigade fire engines)
the whole of the hose, suction pipes, ladders, and implements in or upon it,
and when constructed for horse draught, the men and driver ride on the box;
the box may also be used at a fire as a reservoir from which the engine pumps
the water, or a portable canvas cistern may be used for this purpose, the
latter being carried under the box and inside the frame.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Shand in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
SHAND, of the Firm of Shand, Mason, and Company, of Upper Ground Street,
Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
James Shand, Her special licence that I, the said James Shand, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Shand, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FIRE ENGINES," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Shand, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,

page_text: and cause the same to be filed in the Great Sea! Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Shand, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:
These improvements in fire engines consist of a set of fire-engine pumps
of the usual or any other construction fixed on the outside of the front end of
a box which contains the hose and implements; this box is attached to a
frame, the two front ends of which project and form draught handles for
men, or shafts for a horse. The end of the box to which the pumps are
attached is made at such an angle that when the ends of the frame rest on
the ground the pumps are in a proper position for working, and when the
men or horses are attached for draught the pumps are inclined and the
weight thrown more on the axle; but to more evenly balance the whole,
the box with fire engine attached may be constructed to slide within limits
on the frame, and be adjustable by a screw or otherwise. The box may also
be used without a frame, the shafts for the horse draught being fixed one
on each side, or a draught handle for men may be fixed to the bottom of the
box.
The whole machine is mounted on two high wheels with a pair of springs
and an axle; the wheels may be of any convenient height, this not being
limited as in ordinary fire engines by the working handles. The working
lever or levers to which the latter are attached is placed across the frame
parallel with the axle, and the men when at work stand on each side of the
engine clear of the wheels, the ends of the shafts or the drag handle resting
on the ground, and forming with the wheels points of support. The working
lever is made so as to be contracted in length by means of a folding joint or
otherwise when not at work so as not to project beyond the ends of the axles
when travelling, and the wooden handles may either be kept in their places or
be removed to another part of the engine for the same purpose. The engine is
complete on two wheels, and carries, as in the ordinary brigade fire engines,
the whole of the hose, suction pipes, ladders, and implements in or upon it,
and when constructed for horse draught the men and driver ride on the box;
the box may also be used at a fire as a reservoir from which the engine pumps;
or a portable canvas cistern may be used for this purpose, the latter being
carried either under, in, or upon the box and inside the frame.
And in order that my improvements in fire engines may be most fully

page_text: Figure 1 shows a side view, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 3 an end
elevation of a fire engine constructed and arranged according to my Invention,
being furnished with a drag handle for draught by men; Figure 4 shows a
side elevation of a similar fire engine having shafts applied thereto for horse
draught, one of the lids of the box being shown so as to serve as a foot board
for the men sitting behind the driver. The letters of reference indicate
correspoding parts in all the Figures.
A is the pump of the fire engine; B, the box to which the pumps are
attached; C, the axle of the carriage; D, the springs; E, the wheels; F is
a drag handle for draught by men; G, in Figure 4, showing shafts for
horse draught; I, I, are the levers for working the pumps; K, joints to
the working levers; L, pump handles made of wood; and M shows the
brigade fire ladders carried by the engine.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is carried into practice, I would have it understood that I do
not confine myself to the exact details herein described; but what I claim is
the arrangement and combination of the several parts A, B, C, D, F, G, I, K,
and L, in the manner herein described, mounted upon two wheels E, by
which a fire engine of extremely light draught and small cost is produced
furnished with all the appliances required for extinguishing fire, and capable
of being moved with great facility from place to place either by manual or
horse power.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Sband, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
J. G. TONGUE,
Patent Agent,
34, Southampton Buildings,.
Chancery Lane, W.C.
JAMES SHAND. (L.S.)