Carriage

a subassembly of a mechanism or machine that supports a number of parts and moves along guides or, less frequently, rotates in bearings. In metalworking machines the carriage is the lower (supporting) part of a slide, which moves along the guides of a bed (in lathes) or traverse (in planers and vertical lathes), or it is a part of a machine table that moves in the guides of a console (in shapers and milling machines). In looms the carriage is a shed-forming mechanism used in the production of finely patterned fabrics and for complex weaving. In typewriters the carriage is a frame with a cylinder for the paper. In bicycles the entire pedal mechanism is called the carriage.

(also contract of carriage), one of the forms of civil legal contract. In the USSR contracts of carriage are regulated by the Basic Principles of Civil Legislation (1961), the civil codes of the Union republics, and the Rules of Railroads of the USSR, the Rules of Transport on Inland Waterways of the USSR, the Rules of Automotive Transport of the RSFSR, the Merchant Shipping Code of the USSR, and the Air Code of the USSR. All these acts define the rights and obligations of the carrier and the client (shipper and receiver).

Contracts of carriage are subdivided, according to type of transportation, into contracts for rail, river, sea, automotive, and air carriage. They are also classified by objects carried, resulting in contracts for carriage of passengers, freight, mail, and baggage, and by the number of types of transportation participating in carriage, resulting in contracts of carriage for local communication, direct communication, and direct, mixed communication. The length of the term during which it applies also defines the contract, which may be either a long-term agreement or an agreement covering a single occasion. An annual contract for automotive transport, a navigation contract for river and sea transport, and a special contract for air transport are examples of contracts of carriage.

According to contracts of freight carriage, the transportation organization (carrier) is obligated to deliver the freight entrusted to it by the shipper to the point of destination and to turn the shipment over to the party authorized to receive it. The shipper is obligated to pay an established fee for carriage of the freight.

The system for presenting freight for shipping, for delivery by a certain deadline, and for turning freight over to the receiver is regulated by shipping regulations that are ratified by the transportation ministries. (The General Rules for Shipment of Freight by Automotive Transport, approved on July 30, 1971, is an example of such regulations.)

Contracts for carriage of passengers obligate the carrier to convey the passenger to the point of destination and, if the passenger entrusts him with baggage, to deliver the baggage to the destination also and turn it over to the authorized party; the passenger, in turn, is obligated to pay the set payment for the trip and for conveyance of the baggage.

The carrier is liable for property losses and may be required to pay fines, penalties, and compensation for losses if the shipping agreement is not fulfilled, if the freight accepted for carriage is not kept in good condition, or if the deadline for delivery is not met. The carrier is also held responsible if all or part of the baggage accepted for carriage is lost, spoiled, or damaged or if a passenger suffers physical injury or other damage to health. Property liability has also been instituted for the parties concerned in cases of failure to provide means of carriage and failure to present freight for carriage.

Any demand that a client may make is drawn up in the form of a claim against the carrier. If it is rejected or left unanswered for a period of time established by law, the client has the right to bring suit against the carrier in a court or arbitration tribunal. The circumstances that served as grounds for submitting the claim are presented in the form of commercial acts.

a mobile support, bracket, or stand for attaching optical devices and their individual parts to an optical bench.

a subassembly designed to support and shift (mechanically or manually) a tool, such as one used in metal-cutting machine tools. Carriages usually consist of a tool holder and intermediate slides, which guide the tool’s movement. Carriages may be classified by the machining operation (turning or grinding), the type of tool holder (single-tool or turret holder), the mounting on the machine (overhead or horizontal), and the direction and nature of the carriage movement (longitudinal, transverse, or reciprocal). Universal carriages can be shifted in several directions. The solidity and the degree of precision in the motion of a carriage are determined to a large extent by the quality of the machine.