Improvements in Milk Wagons.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 9th Nov., 1895
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Milk Wagons.
We, JOHN LUCRETIA OWENS, Carriage Maker and ANDREW MONROE
BEATTIE Merchant both citizens of the United States of America, residing at
Charlotte, in the County of Mecklenburg, State of North Carolina, U.S.A., do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
he performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Figue is a side elevation of a milk-wagon according to my invention, a
portion of the front being broken away.
Fig. I represents the forward portion of the wagon in horizontal section,
looking down, upon the line of Fig. 1.
Fig. III is transverse vertical section at the line y of Fig. 1.
Figs. IV, V, VI, and VII are detail views of parts of my wagon.
The delivery of milk in small quantities to families satisfactorily to both parties,
the dealer and customer, involves a great many conditions among which are, first,
to deliver the milk as rapidly as possible; second, to churn it as little as possible
while in a rapidly moving wagon; third, to keep the milk as cool as possible to
prevent its souring; fourth, to carry the bottles with safety against breakage and
yet so that they may be taken out with the least delay possible.
To this end our invention consists, first, in means for turning the wagon short so
that it may be started away quickly in any desired direction; means for mounting
the wagon-body as near to the ground as possible to save labor in getting in and
out at every stoppage; means for making the wagon-body as short as possible and
yet allowing every available inch of space for carrying milk and the driver, for
obtaining the largest practicable doorway to get in and out quickly, and for closing
the said doorway in stormy weather; second, means for holding the bottles
elastically and separated from one another; third, in means for perfect ventilation
around the bottles, for carrying milk in a reservoir surrounded by ice and for
carrying a series of crates filled with bottles so that they shall not jar and rattle,
and in some minor details for convenience to the wagon driver as will be hereinafter
more fully described and claimed.
The body 10, of the wagon is mounted upon the rear axle 11, by means of
springs 12, and upon the forward axle 13, by means of a fifth wheel 14 with
springs 15 interposed. The rear axle 11 has a drop bend permitting the body to
spring down lower than the level of the rear wheel hub so that the wagon may be
readily mounted into by means of a single step 16. The side frame 17 rises
forward of the step so high that the forward wheels will swing directly under it
to permit the wagon to turn short; and in order that the body may be as short
as possible and yet leave room for the driver to get out and in at the sides readily
we have made the front board 18 of the drop or main portion of the body, curved
backward at the center so that the forwaid wheels when turned under closely
passing the side frame 17, will not touch this front board. With this construction
there is barely room at the center of the wagon in front of the seat and behind
the said front board for the driver's feet, and yet the curving forward of the frout
board at the sides permits a wide doorway and plenty of room for the driver to
jump in and out. For the doorway we provide a door consisting of a frame 19
hinged at 20 to an upright portion of the body, and a curtain 21 adapted to cover
the whole length of the door frame and to be fastened thereto in any usual manner

page_text: in stormy weather, and to be rolled up entirely out of the way at the top or to be
completely removed from the door in pleasant weather, so that, to avoid the necessity
of opening the door every time the driver passes out or in, he may go directly
through the door frame. To prevent rapid wear of the door frame by the driver's
boots in passing out and in we make the lower cross bar 22 and the slanting side
portion 23 of metal very light and thin.
Each rack comprises a bottom piece 24 which may be a plain board, or a series
of strips fastened together, and upon this bottom piere are secured a series of
perforated plates 25. each by means of a central screw 26, as a base piece upon
which a bottle is to be set, and we provide each base with a series of springs 27
located around the plate to press against the body of the bottle held thereon
whereby the bottles will be kept separated so as not to be broken by rattling
against each other, and they will be elastically held so that the milk carried in
them will not receive a solid thump when shaken from side to side. These springs
are preferably made of wire, with the two ends bent under the plate and projecting
upward through it a little at 28. It will be seen that all the springs of one holder
are firmly secured in place by means of the single central screw 26, and that if
this screw be turned out a little ways and the plate 25 be raised the springs may all
be removed and bundled together for close packing and a series of rack bottoms 24
may be piled in a bunch without injury to the springs in case the wagon should be
wanted to carry home a load of general merchandise after the milk bottles have
been delivered. Each plate 25 has three sets of perforations at different distances
from center to receive the projecting ends 28 to adapt the springs to hold large or
small bottles by being located transversely far apart or nearer together. The
plates 25 may be made of wood grooved on the under side to admit the wire
springs, each to any pair of holes, or the plate may be made of tin or other sheet
metal flanged downward at its outer edge and the flange cut away to admit the
springs. In the modification shown in Fig. V the springs are made of sheet metal
such as steel or brass, one of them, No. 29 being curved upward midway for the
other one 30 to pass under, and each picce having its two ends bent up to serve as
springs.
The racks 24 are to be placed like shelves upon cleats 31 which are permanently
secured to uprights at the sides of the wagon body, and we provide a parallel
bar 32 hung upon pitmen 33 which in turn are hung upon the said vertical uprights
of the body in such a position that they hang almost straight down all slanting one
way when the parallel bar rests upon the rack, thereby bracing down the rack
tightly upon the cleat. By swinging one of these parallel bars either forward or
backward from its hanging position it will rise up away from the cleat, but when
it rests upon the rack it can only be swung one way upward and as a matter of
convenience we have arranged this way to be forward, and to enable the operator
to loosen all the parallel bars of one side at a time I have connected said bars by
means of vertical strips 34. Now by moving any one of the parallel bars the
others connected therewith will be given a similar motion, and by means of a
slotted segment 35 attached to one of the strips 34 and a binding screw 36 con-
necting it with one of the body uprights all the parallel bars of one side of the
wagon may be secured in any fixed position, either close upon the racks to hold
them all down, or raised freely therefrom to permit their removal.
It is very seldom required to turn so short as to bring the shafts square off side-
wise and the forward wheel square across under the wagon and we propose to utilize
the central portion above the curvature of the forward wheel when turned nearly
square across, as a refrigerator. This comprises the curved sides 37, a forward
exten-ion 38 of the bottom through which a strong central timber 39 of the body
may extend, serving as a securing base for the upper member of the fifth wheel 14.
The refrigerator further comprises a trough 40 having notched cleats 41 to support
a milk can cr tank 42 which is made especially for that purpose and provided with
a faucet 43 which projects out through the front board 18 into the wagon cor-
enient for the driver to draw cold milk from. Ribs 44 separate the trough 40

page_text: from the curved sides 37 forming an air space between these inner and outer walls
of the refrigerator.
45 is a curved cover over the milk can to close in the ice that is to be placed at
the sides, beneath and on top of the can leaving an air space below the deck 45!,
which deck covers the whole raised portion of the wagon body, like a floor and
serves as the top outer wall of the refrigerator. This deck comprises two luds 46
which part midway and are hinged at 47 to swing outward upon the remaining
portion of the deck for the purpose of opening the refrigerator.
48 represents a drain pipe through which the water from melting ice may freely
discharge.
In this application there is no invention claimed in the construction of the fifth
wheel and the running gear below it, but it is evident that the fullest advantage of
the curved front 18 may be obtained if the refrigerator box be left out from between
the upper portions of the forward wheels so that the forward wheels could turn
completely under the wagon body, and yet as such extremely short turning is
seldom desirable we prefer to take advantage of the space between the wheels not
generally used in wagons with raised decks for the purposes of the refrigerator as
described. A guard 58 may be placed on each side of the refrigerator box to
prevent the box being worn by the wheels when the wagon is cramped short.
The driver's seat 49, is hinged at its front edge to swing up forward for ready
access to bottles carried under the seat. The forward end and the sides of the fore
part are provided with glasses mounted in removable sashes 50. In good weather
the sashes may be removed and to leave the front entirely open at such times we
hinge the central frame piece 51 at its upper end to the wagon frame and provide
it with a bolt 52 whereby it may be secured when down in service or be held up to
the top.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination in a wagon of a door frame and a central removable portion ;
the upper portions of the frame being of wood and the lower cross piece and the
lower portion of the front piece being of thin metal, whereby free entrance is
obtained level with the floor and flush with the front, substantially as described.
2. The combination in a milk wagon of a shelf or rack bottom, a perforated plate,
a screw securing the plate upon the rack bottom; and springs projecting upward
through the plate and extending outward and upward at the sides thereof as bottle
holders, substantially as described.
3. The combination in a milk wagon of a shelf or rack bottom, a plate perforated
with holes in pairs located at different distances from center; bottle holding springs
to engage the said holes and means for removably securing the plate to the rack
bottom, substantially as described.
4. The combination of a wagon body having uprights and cleats secured
horizontally thereto; bars located parallel with the cleats and pitmen pivotally
hung to the said uprights and to the said bars substantially as described whereby
shelves placed upon the cleats and pressed by the bars will be held from bounding
and rattling in service.
5. The combination of a wagon body having uprights and cleats secured thereon;
pitmen pivotally hung upon the uprights; bars parallel with the cleats hung upon
the pitmen, and vertical strips connecting the parallel bars substantially as
described whereby all the bars thus connected may be operated by operating one
of them.
6. The combination of a wagon body baving upright sides and cleats secured
thereon; pitmen hung to the said sides; bars hung upon the pitmen parallel with
the cleats; connections between the bars uniting them as a frame and means for
holding the said frame in any desired position relative to the cleats, substantially as
described.

page_text: 7. The combination in a milk wagon of a deck forward raised above the floor
of the main body, forward wheels hung to turn sidewise under the said deck; a
tank located beneath the deck and between the upper portions of the wheels, aud
a double casing surrounding the tank substantially as described whereby a
.refrigerator for keeping milk cool is located in otherwise waste space in the
wagon.
8. The combination in a milk wagon of a floor for the main body; a higher deck
forward of that floor; forward wheels hung to turn under the deck; a milk tank
⚫ located beneath the deck and having a faucet projecting into the open space
over the said floor; a casing surrounding the tank at a distance therefrom; and an
outer wall at a distance from the casing substantially as described whereby ice
may be packed against the said tank and a dead air space be interposed between it
and the over air.
9. The combination in a milk wagon of a floor for the main body; a raised deck
forward of the floor, wheels hung to turn beneath the said deck and a refrigerator
located beneath the deck and between the wheels and having side walls curved
nearly parallel to the curve of the wheels when turned under the deck, substantially
as described.
10. The combination in a wagon, of a body having a cover frame having sides
and top portions to receive window sashes, a vertical portion of the frame hinged
at its upper end to the top midway thereof to depend therefrom and provided with
a fastener for its lower end, and means at the said lower end and in the top to
engage the said fastening substantially as described whereby the midway portion
of the frame may be fastened down in service or fastened up out of service.
Dated this 18th day of July 1895.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.