IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES."
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Godfrey Simon and Thomas Humphreys, of
the State of Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES."
with
We, GODFREY SIMON and THOMAS HUMPHREYS, do hereby declare
5 the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CARRIAGES" to
be as follows:-
This Invention consists in a new mode of constructing carriages with
shifting or moveable seats, and is intended more particularly for open
be
carriages, such as landaus and phaetons, whereby such vehicles may
readily and easily altered so as to be either single-seated or double-seated,
as may be required; and further, such seat is constructed with a
moveable back, which admits of the position of the seat being readily
altered, so as to become either a driving seat or a vis-a-vis.
And, in order to explain more fully the nature of this Invention,
drawings are annexed to this Provisional Specification, exemplifying the

page_text: At Sheet 1, Figure 1, exhibits a side elevation of a carriage, shewing
the application of this Invention thereto, so as to make it double-seated.
Figure 2, is a top plan view of certain parts hereafter referred to.
Figure 3, exhibits the moveable seat, hereafter described, detached from
the carriage.
At Sheet 2, Figure 4, exhibits a side elevation of a carriage, arranged
according to this Invention, so as to be single-seated. Figure 5, shews
the dasher board, hereafter referred to, detached from the carriage.
At each of these Sheets of Drawings similar letters of reference
are employed to denote corresponding parts at each of the figures
respectively.
,
At Sheet 1, A, A, marks a moveable seat, which may be connected to
the carriage body by the arrangement shewn at Figure 2, where B, B,
1
mark two spring bolts attached to the cross piece C, of the carriage
frame; D, a cord passed through holes in the cross piece C. The opposite
ends of said cord are securely fastened to rings passed through the
bolts B, B, as shewn: these bolts take into holes a, formed in pieces 2
of metal attached to the foot board E, of the moveable seat A, as shewn
at Figure 3. And to construct a carriage according to this Invention,
so as to make it single-seated, it is necessary that the dasher board F,
be made removeable, which may be effected in the manner exhibited at
Sheet 2, where G, G, (Figure 5,) mark pieces of metal securely fixed 25
to the frame of the dasher board: the pieces G, G, pass through holes
in staples b, b, shewn at Figure 4, which are fixed to the under side of
the carriage framing: and there are thumb screws c, c, passing through
he staples 6, 6, for the purpose of holding the dasher board firmly in its
lace. And to convert the carriage exhibited at Sheet 2, into a double- 30
eated carriage, the same may be effected in the following manner:
he dasher board F, must be removed, and the seat exhibited at Fig. 3,
Sheet 1, substituted in place thereof, the same being securely con-
cted to the carriage by the spring bolts B, B, which must be drawn back
b,
-

page_text: by pulling the cord D, at Z, while the moveable seat is being placed
in its proper position, the springs d, d, forcing the bolts into the holes a,
upon leaving hold of the cord D. It will be seen, upon referring to
Figures 1, and 3, of Sheet 1, that the seat A, is formed with a move-
able back H, by hinging the same to the iron work of the sides of the
seat A. The drawing exhibits the back in the position it would occupy
when the seat is required to be used as a driving seat, or for the sitters
to face the horse; but upon turning the back over in the opposite
direction, it will appear evident that the position of the seat would also
be reversed with respect to any one seated thereon. And in this manner
and by these means this Invention may be carried into practical effect,
and constitutes "Improvements in Carriages."
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Godfrey Simon and Thomas Humphreys, in the
Great Seal Patent Office, on the 7th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
GODFREY SIMON and THOMAS HUMPHREYS, of the State of Pennsylvania,
in the United States of America, send greeting.
year
of
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto us, the said Godfrey Simon and Thomas Humphreys, Her
special license that we, the said Godfrey Simon and Thomas Humphreys,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said Godfrey Simon and Thomas Humphreys, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 CARRIAGES," upon the con
dition (amongst others) that we, the said Godfrey Simon and Thoma
Humphreys, or one of us, by an instrument in writing under our hand

page_text: and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Humphreys, one of the
parties hereto, 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:
The first part of our said Invention consists in a new modeof construct-
ing carriages with shifting or removeable seats, and applies to open carriages,
such as landaus and phaetons, whereby such vehicles may be readily and
easily altered, so as to be either single-seated or double-seated, as may
be required; and further, in constructing such said seat with two
moveable backs to admit of the position of one part of such seat being
readily altered so as to make such part a vis-a-vis, whilst the other
part of the seat serves for the driver, or the backs of said moveable seat
may be so placed as for both sitters to face the horse.
5
The second part of our said Invention consists in a mechanical
arrangement for enabling the raising and lowering of the head of the
carriage to be effected from the inside thereof instead of from the
outside, as hitherto practised.
The third part of our said Invention consists in a new mode o
suspending the body of the carriage, and of connecting it to the axle
trees, as also a new mode of connecting the perch to the front axle
tree, thereby dispensing with the turn plates hitherto employed in th
construction of four-wheel carriages.
The fourth part of our said Invention consists in the use and appl
cation of wood grown in the United States of America, and known an
distinguished as hickery, in and for the manufacture of carriages generall
as being lighter, cheaper, and more durable than ash or lance wood,
ordinarily employed in the construction of certain parts of carriages, a
is more particularly applicable to the construction of the shafts or pol
thereof. In order to explain our said Invention as completely
1

page_text: possible, we proceed to describe the best means we are acquainted with
for carrying our said Invention into practical effect, reference being had
to the illustrative drawings hereunto annexed, and to the numeral
figures and letters of reference marked thereon respectively, as
follows:-
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
At Sheet 1, Figure 1, exhibits a side elevation of a single-seated
carriage constructed according to our said Invention; Figure 2, is an
elevation of the back of said carriage; Figure 3, an elevation of the
front thereof; Figure 4, is a transverse and vertical section taken
through the line A, B, at Figures 2, and 3; Figure 5, is a perspective
view of the dashing board, shewing the mode of connecting it to the
body of the carriage. At Sheet 2, Figure 6, exhibits a side elevation
of a double-seated carriage constructed according to our said Invention;
Figure 7, exhibits a side elevation of the removeable seat and dashing
board, detached from the carriage; Figure 8, is a top plan view
thereof; Figure 9, is a top plan view of the perch and axle-trees of
the carriage; Figure 10, is a top plan view of certain parts herein-after
referred to. At each of the foregoing Figures we employ similar
letters of reference to denote corresponding parts, in so far as such
parts appear or can be seen at each of the Figures respectively of each
Sheet of Drawings. At Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, of Sheet 1, A, A, marks
the body of the carriage; B, the dashing board; C, a removeable head;
D, D, the running wheels; E, the perch for connecting the front and back
axle-trees F, and G, together; H, H, weight springs for supporting the
body, which are connected thereto by cross pieces of wood I, I, to the
ends whereof straps of iron K, K, are attached by bolts and nuts 1, 2,
as shewn: these straps extend along the under side of the body to
which they are affixed by screws. The dasher board B, may be
attached to the body of the carriage by inserting the parts a, a, (shewn
at Figure 5,) into staples b, fixed to the under side of the carriage, and
securing them in that position by thumb screws c, as shewn at
Figures 3, 4, 5. And as regards that part of our said Invention
which relates to the constructing carriages according to our said
Invention, and in which it is intended to have shifting or removeable

page_text: seats, it is as follows:-At Figures 6, 7, and 8, of Sheet 2, L, marks
a removeable seat constructed as exhibited at Figures 7, and 8, where
M, marks a foot board composed of a framing of wood and iron com-
bined; N, the dashing board, securely fixed thereto; O, hinge pieces, of
which only one is shewn, in which holes are formed for connecting the
foot board to the body of the carriage, in the manner herein-after stated.
The seat L, is connected to the foot board M, by hinges; and to the
upper part of said seat, and at the sides, and across the middle thereof,
iron rails P, are securely fixed, and carry bent hinged pieces Q, which
are connected thereto by screws or rivets: the pieces Q, are stuffed or
padded at the part q, which serves as the back of the seat against
which to lean; and thus it will be seen that by turning the part q, in
either of the positions exhibited at Figure 8, the backs of the removeable
seat may either be both turned so that the sitters may face the horse,
or one sitter (the driver) may face the horse, and the other may sit
with his back to the horse, as exhibited by the position of the backs of
the seats at Figure 8. The mode of connecting the above-mentioned
removeable seat to the body of the carriage, as exhibited at Figure 9,
is as follows:-The front part a, of the framing of the body of the
carriage has pieces of iron b, b, securely fixed thereto; c, c, are two
spring bolts which pass through holes formed in the pieces b, b;
d, marks a cord passed through holes in the part a, as shewn, the
ends whereof are fixed to the bolts c, c. By pulling this cord in the
direction of the arrow's flight the bolts will be drawn back to admit the
parts O, of the removeable seat, which being inserted, the cord d, is let
go of, and the elastic force of the springs e, forces the bolts c, c, through
the holes in the pieces o; and in this manner and by these means the
removeable seat may be readily adjusted to the body of the carriage, or
detached therefrom, so as to make it either single or double seated.
And we would remark, that this mode of attaching seats to the bodies
of carriages may also be employed with advantage for attaching
"rumble seats" to carriages.
The mechanical arrangements which we propose to employ for
effecting the raising and lowering of the heads of carriages is as
follows, and exhibited at Figure 6, of Sheet 2, and Figures 1, and 2, of

page_text: Sheet 1, where R, marks a square bar of iron, the ends whereof are
supported by and move in a circular direction in bearing pieces S,
fixed to the body of the carriage. T, are jointed levers, attached to the
bars T, of the head in the usual way; U, is a lever handle, securely
fixed upon that part of the bar R, which is within the body of the
carriage; said handle being placed near the side of the seat, so as to be
readily used; and, supposing the head of the carriage to be down, as
exhibited at Figure 4, of Sheet 1, by pulling the handle U, in the
direction of the arrow's flight, the head may be easily and readily
raised from within. We also propose to make the covering of the
head of enamelled cloth, as being lighter and cheaper than leather,
and to make the sides and back thereof removeable, when necessary.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be and may be performed, we desire it to be
distinctly understood that we do not claim the exclusive use of any
of the separate parts above mentioned and referred to, except in so far
as the same may be employed in combination, and for the purposes of
our said Invention, which we hereby declare to consist in, and we claim
as of our Invention of "Improvements in Carriages," the mechanical
arrangements and combinations of parts herein-before particularly
described, and represented by the illustrative drawings hereunto annexed,
and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Humphreys, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
hsee