"Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming."
Richard Branson, British entrepreneur
Londoner Obadiah Elliot invented the leaf spring in 1804 when he piled steel plates on top of each other, pinned them together, and attached them to the end of a carriage. His design remains a key component in supporting heavy goods vehicles, however, he was not the first person to add a bit of spring to transportation, Ancient Roman vehicles were suspended on elastic wooden poles, which work on the same principle.
The spring is formed by stacking several layers of steel in the shape of an arc with an axel in the center and the edges tied to the vehicle. What has made the leaf spring such a popular invention is that varying the number of leaves (steel plates) or the curvature of their configuration alters the performance and weight capacity of the spring. They are also cheap to produce and reliable to use. Another source of their popularity however, comes from their ability to minimize the nauseating vibrations of eighteenth-century road travel. A lack of adequate suspension meant that travel sickness was a regular occurrence. Elliot could not even out the roads, but he could cushion their blows.
A rapid growth in passenger travel followed Elliot's invention, which in turn fueled other industries. Coaches required horses, and horses needed food for fuel, leading to a growth in the corn and feed industry. Passengers themselves fueled the inn and hotel boom that grew up concurrently along the way.
