A NEW STEP OR STEPS TO ASCEND AND DESCEND FROM COACHES AND OTHER CARRIAGES
Year: 1825

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Ross
CORBETT, of Glasgow, in Scotland, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of June, in the sixth year of His
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Ross Corbett, His especial licence that I, the said Ross'
Corbett, my exors, admors, and assigns, and every of them, by myself and
themselves, or, by my and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or
such others as I, the said Ross Corbett, my exors, admors, or assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time at all times
thereafter during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend my Invention of "A NEW STEP OR
STEPS TO ASCEND AND DESCEND FROM COACHES AND OTHER CARRIAGES," within.
that part, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called
England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
also in all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, in such manner as
to me, the said Ross Corbett, my exors, admors, and assigns, or any of them,
should in my or their discretions seem meet; in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said Ross Corbett, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in His Majesty's High Court
of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of, the said recited Letters. Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully, and; at large appear.
0

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Ross Corbett, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and
ascertained as follows, that is to say:-
"
The object of my improvement consists in a more convenient step or
steps to ascend and descend to the inside and outside seats of coaches and
carriages.
First, by connecting the steps used for ascending to the inside of the
carriage with the door, and to bê turned down and folded up by the opening
and shutting of the same, thereby enabling the occupant or traveller to get in
or out without the assistance of a servant in private carriages, or guard or
coachman in those for public service. And,
Secondly, in a folding step for ascending to the roof of public carriages,
more convenient than those in present use, which steps I propose to be folded
up by hand against the boot or body of the coach when not in use, but to be
readily turned down when wanted, which contrivances, with their attachments
to the coach, are farther explained by the Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, on the
accompanying Drawing. The same figures and letters of reference denote the
same parts in all the views..
Figure 1 represents a side elevation of a coach, shewn by dotted lines, with
the steps attached, as shewn by the coloured lines. Figure 2, an end elevation
of ditto, with the steps on each side. On the right-hand side of this Figure
the door is seen open with the steps turned down.
Figure 3, a bird's-eye view or ground plan of the coach. Figure 4, an
enlarged view of the steps, with the manner of their being fixed to the lower
framing of the coach. And Figure 5, a bird's-eye view of the steps on one side
of the coach, shewing the connection with door. It will be observed that the steps
are hung in pivots in the fixed sides a, a, and are to be turned up from 6 to c
and to lie within the sides, where, by means of a back covering of leather or
any other substance, they will be kept perfectly clean when not in use, as
Figure 4. The steps are to be thrown down and folded up by the door in the
following manner:-On Figure 5, the door is shewn open with a rod fastened
to it and moving on a pin at d; the other end of this rod is attached to a
lever D, lying horizontally, and to work in a pivot e, fixed to the bottom of the
coach. To the other end of this lever is attached a rod f, proceeding from it
under the sill of the coach to the bell crank g, hung in a fixed bracket, sec
Figure 4, from which descends the jointed rods h and i, which are connected
to the levers ; and / of the steps; then by the closing of the door the rods h, i,
are pushed down, and the steps are thrown up in the direction of the arrows.
1

page_text: The steps for ascending to the roof of the coach are also hung in sides fixed to
the coach on pivots, and are connected together by a jointed rod 1, see
Figures 1 and 2, to which is attached a handle lever m, hung on a pivot ȧt n,
for the purpose of lowering the steps when wanted, and turning them up when
not required.
In conclusion, I beg to observe that my Invention consists in the con-
trivance and adoption of the sliding bars or rods, which move the levers and
steps upon their pivots in the fixed bars for the purpose of actuating the steps,
not confining myself to this particular arrangement for communicating the
motion from the door to the steps, which may be varied, to suit the various
coaches and carriages to which the same are applicable.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ross Corbett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
The steps for ascending to the roof of the coach are also hung in sides fixed to
the coach on pivots, and are connected together by a jointed rod 1, see
Figures 1 and 2, to which is attached a handle lever m, hung on a pivot ȧt n,
for the purpose of lowering the steps when wanted, and turning them up when
not required.
In conclusion, I beg to observe that my Invention consists in the con-
trivance and adoption of the sliding bars or rods, which move the levers and
steps upon their pivots in the fixed bars for the purpose of actuating the steps,
not confining myself to this particular arrangement for communicating the
motion from the door to the steps, which may be varied to suit the various
coaches and carriages to which the same are applicable.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ross Corbett, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-five.
ROSS CORBETT. (L.S.)
Gilbert Laurie Flay, of Edinburgh, in the County of Edinburgh, Writer
to His Majesty's Signet, maketh oath and saith, that he was present at the
signing and sealing of the annexed Specification of Ross Corbett's Invention,
and that the seal and the signature thereon is the seal and signature of the
oforesaid Rose Corbott Deponent further saith that he was present at