The Saint Paul globe., 1897-12-06
ONE MORE CHAINLEss.
A Duluth Man Thinks He Has Hit
the Right Thing.

Special to the Globe.
DULUTH, Mimi, Dec. Sit is not at all
improbable that among the many chainless
bicycles that will be put on the market next
year one will be the result of six years
thought and perseverance of resident of
Duluth. A. Eckers, of 16 East Superior street,
has applied for and has ben granted patent
on chainlcss safety that is said to be the
very best thing that has yet made its appear
ance. At the present time Mr.. Eckers is
building one of the wheels and will have it
ready for the critical eye of the general public
some time after the first of the year. The
patentee claims that, with his machine, he
has solved the question of the one-sided
bicycle. The principle of the new machine is
an inside cam movement, or, in other words,
a wheel within a wheel. Attached to the
axle of the back wheel Of the bicycle is a
small cog wheel, and it is around this small
cog that the outer wheel works. The in
side Of the outer wheel. which is irregular in
shape, cannot be seen, but it is made up of
series OF small ball-bearing rollers, which
work over the small cogs when the wheels re-
VoIVe. and thus lend added smoothness to
the working of the wheels. The outside
wheel is built into and forms a part of the
pedal crank which is twenty-one inches long
and extends to the front of the wheel, so
that the pedals are directly under the saddle.
The crank works on a ball-bearing roller
which is attached to the lower part of the
frame of the wheel. The roller fits in a slot
that is cut in the crank four inches from the
center of the outside wheel, and extends four
This allows the crank a forward and back
movement of but four inches, while the full
sweep up and down is fourteen inches, the
same as any other bicycle, and this is one of
the advantages claimed by the inventor, for
it means that the pedal is almost directly un-
der the rider at all times, and in this way
the rider not only does not have to reach
back as the pedal revolves, on other
wheels, but he also gets the full sweep of
the pedal down, or one-half of the full revo-
lutioD, while on the ordinary wheel it is i'm
possible to put power in the turn of the pedal
for more than one-quarter of the turn. In
addition to this double power, the inventor
claims that, by reason of the length of the
crank the same exertion that is put forth
to turn the pedal of a chain gear will re-
suit in three times the power this wheel.
Mr.. Eckers' model is geared to 81 and every
revolution Of the crank sends the wheel for
ward full twenty-one feet. In giving this
description but one side of the wheel has
been spoken of. The opposite side of the
wheel is a duplicate of the one described, and
is Is in this way that Mr.. Eckers claims that
he has solved the problem of the one-sided
wheel
Mr.. Eckers has been an enthusiastic wheel
man since the first chain safety was put OH
the market and the first one he ever saw
impressed him with the idea that there was
something lacking. He began work on a
model some six years ago, and since that
time has turned out five different wheels
In each wheel he incorporated his principle
of having both sides of the wheel alike, but
he has never been satisfied with the results
until the present model was made.