CERTAIN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE ATTACHED TO CARRIAGES FOR THE PURPOSES OF AFFORDING SAFETY IN TRAVELLING
Year: 1828

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ZACHARIAH
RILEY, of Union Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of December, One thousand eight hundred and
twenty-eight, in the ninth year of His reign, did, for Himself, is heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Zachariah Riley, His especial
licence that I, the said Zachariah Riley, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Zachariah Riley, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, should
at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE ATTACHED TO
CARRIAGES FOR THE PURPOSES OF AFFORDING SAFETY IN TRAVELLING;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Zachariah
Riley, by an instrument 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 inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within four calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Zachariah Riley, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say) :
My improved apparatus to be attached to carriages for the purpose of
affording safety in travelling has two particular objects:-first, to afford the
means of liberating the horses from a carriage instantly in the event of their
running away; and, secondly, in a contrivance for locking one or both of the
hind wheels, in order to prevent the carriage from running forward by its
momentum when the horses have been released from it.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a side view of the carriage with
the improved apparatus adapted thereto (the body part being removed in order
to exhibit the improvements more evidently).
Fig. 2 is a horizontal view of the carriage, shewing the improvements, as
seen on the upper side.
Fig. 3 is a front view of the splinter bar, exhibiting the manner in which
the traces are attached and detached.
Fig. 4 is a view of the back part of the carriage, exhibiting the hind wheels
with their axletree, and the apparatus connected thereto for locking the wheel;
the respective letters of reference pointing out the same parts of the apparatus
in all the Figures.
a, a, is the splinter bar, fixed to the carriage by means of the iron strap
pieces b, b, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3. The pins c, c, c, c, round which the traces
are intended to pass, are attached to an iron frame d, d, and this frame is s
mounted upon or connected by joints to two levers e, e, by which means the
iron frame with the pins c may be raised or lowered, the pins passing through
the splinter bar. On raising the frame, the ends of the pins euter sockets in
the upper iron bar f, f, f.f, for the purpose of holding the traces, and when
the frame is lowered the pins descend with it and release the traces. The
shifting of the frame and pins is effected by the lever g, which has its fulcrum
in the middle of the splinter bar. The shorter arm of this lever is connected
to the rods h, h, which are attached by joints to the levers e, e, as shewn in
Fig. 1. When the traces are to be connected to the carriage, the loops at
their ends are to be passed over the pins c, between the splinter bar a and the
upper bar f, and the longer arm of the lever g being brought down and locked
by means of the spring catch i to k, the pole of the carriage, the pins will be
passed upwards through the loops of the traces, in the way above described, and
will be held fast by the locking of the lever. At the extremity of the lever g

page_text: there is a small lever 1, turning upon a fulcrum pin, which lever lays along the
pole of the carriage when the apparatus is locked; and when it is required to
release the traces from the carriage, a cord attached to the end of the lever
being pulled, draws up the lever 1, and this movement of the lever causes a
small eccentric m to act against the spring catch i and force it back, releasing
the lever g, which rising, allows the frame d and the pins c to descend and let
go the traces, as above explained. The throat straps, which pass from the
horses' collars to the end of the pole, are to be made fast to the rings of the
piece n, and this piece is confined in a slot between the jaws of the clip o
when the before-described apparatus is locked; but on the lever grising, a bent
arm p, extending from the lever 9, pushes the long rod q, which rod, passing
through the whole length of the pole, projects the clip piece o forward, and
that being no longer confined, its jaws open, and allow the piece n with the
rings and throat straps to be drawn out by the horses, which are thus com-
pletely disengaged from the carriage. When four horses are to be attached to
the carriage, the leaders are connected by thin bars, in the usual way, to the
ring at the end of the clip o, the opening of which, by the means above
described, disengages them. In order to prevent the fore wheels of the car-
riage locking under when the horses are disengaged from it, a pin r at the
back end of each of the levers e rises as the frame d descends, and passing
through the futchels s, enters into notches in the wheel plate t, and thereby
fixed the fore carriage. The apparatus for locking the hind wheel of a car-
riage is shewn in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, and consists of a break or friction band u,
embracing the nave of the wheel; and also of a tumbler catch v, to be thrown
into a groove in the nave of the wheel by the action of a lever w. The lever w
turns upon a fulcrum on the piece x, fixed to the axletree. The extremity of
the longer arm of this lever works between two plates y, containing the catches
and the springs, which keeps the end of the lever stationary, whether the wheel is
locked or unlocked. In Fig. 2 the parts are represented in the positions in which
they would stand when the wheel is unlocked; in Fig. I they are placed as when
the wheel is locked. On pulling the cord 1, which is fastened to the connecting
piece 2 between the levers 3 and 4, the lever 3 disengages the spring catch 5
from the tooth 6 on the end of the lever w, and allows the lever to be drawn
into the position shown by dots, when the spring catch 7 holding the tooth on
the end of the lever, keeps it in that position and the wheel locked. The
locking of the wheel is effected by the shorter arm of the lever w, which works
in the slot in the piece 8, see Fig. 1, and as it moves sideways, throws up the
tumbler catch v into the groove 9, ready to lock against the notch at the end of
the groove; at the same time the piece 8 being moved, brings the friction

page_text: band u (which is attached to it) into close contact with the periphery of the
nave, and thus retards the rotation of the wheel until the notch at the end of the
groove comes in contact with the catch of the tumbler, when the wheel is
effectually stopped. For the purpose of unlocking the wheel, the cord 10;
which is passed over a pulley attached to the under side of the carriage, must
be drawn, which disengages the spring catch 7 from the tooth 6, and allows
the lever w to be brought into its former position, and the tooth of the
tumbler v thrown down, and as the wheel always locks at the same point, I
have placed upon the tire a thick piece of hard steel z for the purpose of
saving the wear of the tire. It is only necessary to' add, that the cords for
raising the levers in disengaging the horses, and those for locking and unlocking
the wheels, may be conducted by pulleys to any part of the carriage, so that
they may be acted upon by either the coachman, or by any persons riding
within or upon the coach,
In witness whereof, I, the said Zachariah Riley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine.
ZACHARIAH (L.S.) RILEY.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of April, in the
tenth year of the reign of His Majesty King George the Fourth, the said
Zachariah Riley came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth
year of the reign of His late Majesty's King George the Third.
Inrolled the Tenth day of April, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-]
nine