IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VEHICLES
Year: 1884

page_text: We JOHN MCQUEEN of Plymouth Avenue, Manchester in the County of
Lancaster and WILLIAM HASSALWOOD CARMONT of Saint Anns Square in the
same City, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VEHICLES " to be as follows:-
Our Invention relates to the construction of the bodies of Cabs, Broughams and
other road carriages and vehicles and of Railway Carriages and vehicles and has
for its object to obtain a combination of lightness with strength and durability.
Wo make the skeleton frame of a cab or carriage of light steel which is rolled,
pressed or shaped into a special chaunel form. The upper edges of the two sides
project inwards and over.the central web which is either flat or is corrugated to
increase the stiffness. At the points of connection of two or more members of the
frame we apply steel knees or plates which are punched sheared or pressed into the
required forms or are otherwise suitably produced. These knees have fingers which
enter some distance into the channels of the members to be connected and are
formed at such angles with one another as may be suitable for the special application
of each knee so that one knee may serve to connect together two or more members
in a side frame and also in some cases a cross bearer or more than one cross bearer
that is to say all the intersecting members of.the frame. The parts of the members
which have to receive the said knees are prepared by expansion or by opening out
the channel or raising the inward projecting edges so that the fingers on the knees
can be readily placed in position. The said inward projecting edges are then
pressed or hammered down so as to tightly grip the said fingers which are or may
be further secured by means of rivets. In practice we heat the part which has to
receive the knee. Uprights or connecting or stiffening struts or brackets are secured
to the frame by the same means. Whenever conveniently possible the continuity
of the members is preserved by bending the members into the required form. A
corresponding result might be obtained by the use of square channel metal the
edges being hammered over or down or pressed or compressed so as to secure the
knees or the timber inserted as hereinafter stated. To facilitate the attachment of
the covering and upholstering material and the completion of the vehicle we secure
wood within the channels in the members of the frame. The strips of wood are
by preference forced end wise into the channels before the members are secured
together. In some cases however it may be convenient to insert pieces of wood
after the frame has been put together in which cases such pieces of wood may be
secured by means of wedges and pins or nails or by other suitable means. Although
we prefer to use mild steel in the formation of the frames we do not confine ourselves
to any particular metal or quality of metal so long as the peculiarity in the section
of metal is retained.

page_text: We JOHN MCQUEEN of Plymouth Avenue, Manchester in the County of
Lancaster, and WILLIAM HASSALWOOD CARMONT of Saint Anns Square in the
same City, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VEHICLES" and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement and accompanying drawings:—
Our Invention relates to the construction of .the bodies of Cabs Broughams and
other road carriages and vehicles and of Railway carriages and vehicles and has
for its object to obtain a combination of lightness with strength and durability.
We make the skeleton frame, of a cab or carriage of light steel which is rolled,
pressed or shaped into a special channel form. The upper edges of the two sides
project inward and over the central web which is either flat. or is corrugated to
increase the stiffness. At the points of connection of two or more members of the
frame we apply steel knees or plates which are punched; sheared or pressed into
the required forms or are otherwise, suitably produced. These knees have fingers
which enter some distance into the channels of the members to be connected and
are formed at such angles with one another as may be suitable for the special
application of each knee so that one knee may serve to connect together two or
more members in a side frame and also in some cases a cross bearer or more than
one cross bearer that is to say all the intersecting members of the frame.
In order that our Invention may be clearly understood we will describe the same
with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein Fig: I drawn to a scale of
about two inches, to the foot, represents a Sectional Elevation of the frame of a
Hansom cab. In this Fig a, a, are the channel steel members of the frame and b, b,
are the knees, which connect together the several parts so as to form a complete
skeleton frame. One, of the points of connection is represented about the full size
in Figs 2 and 3, and a cross section of one of the members a in Fig: 4 wherein it
will be seen that the sides a¹ of the channel project inwards so that the channel is
wider at the bottom than at the top. The knees bare_by_preference also made of
steel and are of various forms-according to the angles or curves and numbers of the
members to be connected together. Taking for example the knee b¹ the one knee
sérves to connect the members 1, 2, and 3 of the side frame and also a cross bar' 4
which is secured to the framing on the opposite side of the body which is not seen
in the drawing. In a corresponding manner others of the knees connect together
not only intersecting members of the side frame but also connect the ends of cross
bars with the side frames so that the whole of the parts of the skeleton frame, are
secured together. The knees are formed with fingers or parts which are inclined
with respect to each other at such angles as are suitable for the particular part of
the frame at which the knee is intended to be applied and these fingers' or parts
are usually beveled. at the edges to suit the formation of the channels in the
members of the frame. In some cases the fingers can be slid or forcéd endwise
into the channels but in other cases it is necessary to open out or widen the top of
the channel to admit of the knee as.for example referring, to Fig: 2 the part 1 could
be pushed endwise into the channel but a portion of the channel in a would have
to be widened to admit the part 2 of the knee in consequence of the connection
with a being effected at a point between its two- ends. that is to say it is a side

page_text: connection. For the same reason a portion of the side of the channel would have
to be cut away or removed to admit the part 1. In practice we heat the members a
of the frame at the points of attachment to expand the channel and to facilitate
the introduction into position of the knees. When the parts are in their proper -
positions we press or hammer down or close up the edges of the channel whilst
they are hot so as to make them fit closely upon the knee and tightly grip the
same. The contraction of the parts a upon the knee increases the security, of the
joint. To still further secure the joint we rivet the parts together in the manner
indicated in Fig: 1 or in a suitable manner but in some cases or if not considered
to be necessary this riveting may be dispensed with. It will be seen that by the
same means any uprights or connecting or stiffening struts or brackets may be
secured to and be inade to form part of the frame. Whenever conveniently possible
the continuity of a member is preserved by bending the member into the required
form as in the case of the bend c in Fig: 1. We also obtain a corresponding
result by the use of square channel steel that is to say of channel steel having the
sides a at right angles to the bottom or connecting web. When using such material
we hammer or press inward the edges upon the beveled edges of the knees at the
point of attachment as when securing the knee within the channel in the part a³ in
Fig: 2 in the manner hereinbefore described or when the edges of the knees are not.
beveled we hammer or press the upper edges of the channel over and down upon
the said knees. To facilitato the attachment of the covering and upholstering
material and the completion of the vehicle we secure wood within the channels in
the members of the frame. In Fig: 4 d represents such wood filling. The strips
of wood are in some cases forced endwise into the channels before the members are
secured together. In other cases however it may be convenient or necessary to
insert pieces of wood into the channel at any parts of the frame after it has been
put together in which cases such pieces of wood may be secured by means of wedges
and pins or nails or of cement or by other suitable means. When using the
ordinary channel sections of steel or metal we place the wood in position and then
close in the channel sides so as to make them grip the wood. Although we prefer
to use mild steel in the formation of the frames as we thereby obtain strength and
lightness we do not confine ourselves to any particular metal or quality of metal
nor to the exact sections and proportions as indicated in Fig: 4 and in the other
Figs so long as the method of connecting together the intersecting members of the
frame is retained.
.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
1. The frame composed of parts formed and connected together in the manner
and by the means substantially as set forth and indicated hereinbefore and in the.
accompanying drawings.
2. The body frame of a vehicle composed of members of channel steel or metal a
connected together by means of knees or connecting plates b substantially in the
manner set forth and indicated.
3. In the construction of a body frame of a vehicle the use of channel steel or
metal having the channel sides inclining inward substantially as and for the purpose
set forth and indicated.