IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Williams, of Wigginton, near Banbury, in
the County of Oxford, Clerk in Holy Orders, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES."
Sealed the 15th January 1867, and dated the 12th September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Williams at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th September 1866.
I, JOHN WILLIAMS, of Wigginton, near Banbury, in the County of Oxford,
Clerk in Holy Orders, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in arranging and constructing in the manner
herein-after described the seats of two-wheeled carriages adapted to carry
four persons. Instead of dividing the seats of the said carriages in the
ordinary way, that is, transversely or in a vertical plane parallel to the axle
of the carriage, I divide the seats longitudinally, that is, in a plane at right
angles to the axle of the carriage; by this division the front and back
seats on one side of the carriage are separated from the front and back seats
on the other side of the carriage, and each pair of seats can be moved

page_text: forwards or backwards independently of the other pair. In order to provide
for the motion of the seats I fix a bar across the upper part of the carriage
above and parallel to the axle. Upon this bar, and at right angles thereto,
a strip of wood is fixed horizontally, the said strip passing along the middlo
of the top of the carriage. This strip of wood has grooves in either odge,
and similar and parallel grooves are made in the inner sides of the carriage
opposite to the grooves in the edges of the strip. There is thus formed two
pairs of grooves in which the seats of the carriage are respectively fitted and
in which they slide, the said seats being provided with ribs or projections on
their edges, which ribs or projections take into the said grooves. By this
arrangement the seats on either side of the carriage can be moved forwards
or backwards without interfering with those on the other side. A thumb
screw, or spring catch, or other fastening may be employed to fix the seats in
any required position. I construct the seats of the carriage in the following
mauner-Instead of rigidly fixing the backs to the seats I connect them
therewith by means of stop hinges which allow the said backs to be inclined
either backwards or forwards at an angle of eighty degrees or at any other
required angle. I provide the moveable backs with bolts by which they may
be fixed in a vertical plane when required. When preferred fixed backs of
the ordinary construction may be used in conjunction with the sliding seats
herein described.
By constructing the seats of two-wheeled carriages according to my Inven-
tion great facility for preserving a uniform balance over the axle tree and the
convenience of the persons conveyed are obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Williams in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
9th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILLIAMS, of Wigginton, near Banbury, in the County of Oxford, Clerk in
Holy Orders, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Williams, Her special licence that I, the said John Williams, my

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Williams, my executors, administrators, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TWO-WHEELED CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that
1, the said John Williams, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 John Williams, 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 :-
My said Invention consists in arranging and constructing in the manner
herein-after described the seats of two-wheeled carriages adapted to carry four
persons. Instead of dividing the seats of the said carriages in the ordinary
way, that is, transversely or in a vertical plane parallel to the axle of the
carriage, I divide the seats longitudinally, that is, in a plane at right angles
to the axle of the carriage; by this division the front and back seats on one
side of the carriage are separated from the front and back seats on the other
side of the carriage, and each pair of seats can be moved forwards or back-
wards independently of the other pair. In order to provide for the motion of the
seats I fix a bar across the upper part of the carriage above and parallel to the
axle. Upon this bar, and at right angles thereto, a strip of wood is fixed hori-
zontally, the said strip passing along the middle of the top of the carriage. This
strip of wood bas grooves in either edge, and similar and parallel grooves are
made in the inner sides of the carriages opposite to the grooves in the edges of
the strip. There is thus formed two pairs of grooves in which the seats of the
carriage are respectively fitted, and in which they slide, the said seats being
provided with ribs or projections on their edges, which ribs or projections take
into the said grooves, or the seats may slide on bars of angle iron. By this
arrangement the seats on either side of the carriage can be moved forwards or
backwards without interfering with those on the other side.
A thumb screw,
or spring catch, or other fastening may be employed to fix the seats in any

page_text: required position. I construct the seats of the carriage in the following
manner Instead of rigidly fixing the backs to the seats I connect them
therewith by means of stop hinges, which allow the said backs to be inclined
either backwards or forwards at an angle of eighty degrees or at any other
required angle. I provide the moveable backs with bolts by which they may
be fixed in a vertical plane when required. When preferred fixed backs of the
ordinary construction may be used in conjunction with the sliding seats herein
described.
By constructing the seats of two-wheeled carriages according to my Inven-
tion great facility for preserving a uniform balance over the axle and the
convenience of the persons conveyed are obtained.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to describe,
with reference to the accompanying Drawing, the manner in which the samo
is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal section a two-wheeled carriage con
structed according to my Invention, the seats of which are arranged to carry
two persons face to face; Figure 2 is a plan of the same, and Figure 3 is a
cross section of the same; Figure 4 is also a longitudinal section of the
carriage, the seats being arranged to carry four persons back to back, and
Figure 5 is a plan of the carriage, the seats being arranged to carry three
persons, two sitting back to back, and the third with his back to the horse.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3 the cushions are removed for the purpose of exhibiting
the construction of the seats. The same letters of reference indicate the same
parts in each Figure of the Drawing.
a, b, are the two seats of the carriage, each of which may be arranged to
carry one or two persons, the said seats being capable of moving backwards
and forwards independently of each other. The said seats a, b, are supported
and made capable of sliding in the following manner :-Across the upper part
of the carriage and parallel to the axle a bar c is fixed, the said cross bar c
carrying the longitudinal or middle bar d. To the bar d two pieces of angle
iron e, f, are fixed, and on the sides of the carriage similar pieces of angle iron
g, h, are fixed. The shape of the bars of angle iron e, f, g, h, are best seen in
the cross section Figure 3. By means of the angle irons e, f, g, h, two pairs
of projecting and parallel ribs are formed, botween each pair of which the
seats a, b, are respectively capable of sliding. Each of the seats a, b, is
provided with a back i, k, which said backs can be inclined or be fixed in a
vertical position. The backs turn on pins or centres l, m, and by means of
the collars n, o, which slide on the rods of the backs, the said backs may be

page_text: fixed in a vertical position as in Figure 4, or they may be inclined as in
Figure 1. When the said collars n, o, are fixed by means of their clamping
screws to the bottom of the rods on which they slide the backs cannot move
out of a vertical position; when the said collars are raised more or less on
the said rods they permit the backs to take an inclined position, as will be
understood by an examination of Figure 1. Each of the sents is composed
of three parts hinged together, marked respectively 1, 2, 3. When either the
seat a or b is to be employed for carrying two persons, as in Figure 4, the
three parts 1, 2, 3, are placed in the same horizontal plane; when it is
wished that one of the seats a, b, should be used by only one person
the part 1 or the part 3 is raised up and folded back in the manner repre-
sented in Figure 1, the cushions having been previously removed from the part
to be raised.
In Figures 1 and 2 each of the seats is arranged for one person only, the
said persons facing each other, and as will be seen by referring to the
Drawing the part 3 of the seat a is folded against the back i, and the part 1
of the seat 6 is folded against the back k. The seat a is made to slide
towards the back of the carriage until its back i is in the position represented
in Figure 2, and the seat b is made to slide towards the front of the carriage
until its back k is in the position represented. The position of the seats a, b,
may be fixed by the clamping screw p (see Figure 2).
It will be readily understood by an examination of the Drawing that by the
sliding motion of the seats a, b, upon the angle irons e, f, g, h, and the folding
up of the parts 1 and 3 of the seats, together with inclined or vertical posi-
tions, which may be given to the backs i, k, that the seats may be arranged in
a great variety of ways, and whether one, two, three, or four persons occupy
the carriage the weight may be so distributed as to well balance the carriage
upon its axle. The arrangements of the seats of the carriage also affords
great facilities to the occupants of the carriage for seating themselves in a
variety of ways.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit myself
to the precise details berein described and illustrated in the Drawing, as the
same may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention, but I
claim as my Invention the improvements in two-wheeled carriages herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say,
constructing the seats on one side of the said carriages independently of those
on the other side, and making the said seats capable of sliding in the direction

page_text: of the length of the carriage, so that the carriage may be balanced whether
occupied by one, two, three, or four persons, and the seats so arranged as to
allow the occupants to seat themselves in a great variety of ways.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Williams, have hereunto set my
band and seal, this Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness to the signature of the
Revd. John Williams,
T. FELLOWES GILL.
JOHN WILLIAMS. (L.B.)