Improvements in and in the Manufacture or Production of Felt Handles for Cycles and other Articles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in and in the Manufacture or Production of Felt
Handles for Cycles and other Articles.
We, JOSIAH COOPER and FRANCIS GEORGE BENSLY, both of Little King Street,
in the City of Birmingham, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention has relation to handles or grips for cycles, and other articles
covered with, or principally made of, sheet felt, and known in commerce as felt
handles. Such handles have heretofore been furnished at the extreme outer
end or tip with a hollow metal or celluloid mount or cap, with the body part only
being made of, or covered with, felt internally supported by a liner or foundation
tube, and which said end caps or mounts have always been liable to denting or
other damage by the machine falling, and also to easily come off, and further
they are unpleasant to the touch.
Now the present invention consists in forming or providing such felt or felt-
covered handles with solid or other felt outer ends or tips instead of metal or cellu-
loid caps, and in concealing the joint or seam between the meeting edges of the
said body part and end by a metal, celluloid or other ring or mount.
In carrying out the production of a felt handle according to one form of our
invention, we take a liner or foundation tube of cardboard or other material and
cover or enclose the greater part of the same with sheet felt, which is attached
by glueing or otherwise in the usual way and is preferably longitudinally fluted
or scored, but the said covering is of such a length as to leave one end of the
foundation tube naked or exposed, and onto this exposed part, the solid felt end
or tip of the handle is fitted and secured.
The said tip end is made by taking a solid disc or block of felt of suitable thick-
ness, and forming upon the inner side thereof, an annular groove corresponding
to, and adapted to take onto, the extending end of the foundation sleeve, to which
the tip is affixed either by glueing or by cross-pinning or other means, after which
the body and end of the handle are given their finished figure by turning or by
a shaping machine.
The joint or seam between the opposed edges of the body covering and the felt
end is concealed or covered over by an annular ring or narrow band of metal,
with that edge which overlaps the end part being impressed or buried into the
material whilst the other edge overlaps the contiguous parts of the body.
This ring may also be made to serve as a medium for preventing the felt end
from being pulled off the foundation sleeve by embedding the turned down
opposite edges thereof respectively into the material of the body covering and end.
Instead of fashioning the end tip out of a solid disc of felt, the same may be
fashioned out of thin sheet felt by operating upon the same by dies and pressure
to form shallow caps which are placed over the exposed end of the foundation

page_text: sleeve and secured there by cementing pinning or by a spun-on or closed on ring
mount as before referred to.
Dated this 11th day of November 1898.
JOSIAH COOPER,
FRANCIS GEORGE BENSLY.
By Henry Skerrett,
Agent for Applicants.
Improvements in and in the Manufacture or Production of Felt
Handles for Cycles and other Articles.
We, JOSIAH COOPER and FRANCIS GEORGE BENSLY, both of Little King Street,
in the City of Birmingham, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
-
This invention has relation to handles or grips for cycles, and other articles,
covered with, or principally made of, sheet felt, and known in commerce as felt
handles. Such handles have heretofore been furnished at the extreme outer
end or tip with a hollow metal or celluloid mount or cap, with the body part only
being made of, or covered with, felt internally supported by a liner or foundation
tube, and which said end caps or mounts have always been liable to denting or
other damage by the machine falling, and also to easily come off, and further
they are unpleasant to the touch.
Now the present invention consists in forming or providing such felt or felt
covered handles with solid or other felt outer ends or tips instead of with metal
or celluloid caps, and in connecting the said end to the body and concealing the
joint or seam between the meeting edges of the said parts by a metal, celluloid
or other ring or mount.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents an elevation of a felt handle
for cycles, constructed and provided with a solid felt end in accordance with one
form of our invention.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the said handle, showing more
clearly how the solid felt end is connected to the body, and the joint between the
two parts is concealed, by a metal ring or mount.
Figure 3 is a cross section of Figure 2 upon the dotted line, taken through
the said ring.
Figure 4 is an end view of the said handle.
Figure 5 represents sectional views of the several component parts of the
improved handle separately.
Figure 6 is a view showing the inner side of the solid felt end, showing the
annular groove formed therein to take onto the end of the tubular foundation of
the handle.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in Figures 1 to 5
of the drawings.
In carrying out the production of a felt handle according to this form of our
invention, we take a liner or foundation tube a, made of cardboard or other
material and cover or enclose the greater part of the same with sheet felt, which
is attached by glueing or otherwise, in the usual way and constitutes the felt
body b, of the handle, which is preferably longitudinally fluted or scored at 6',
but the said body or covering is of such a length as to leave one end a¹, of the

page_text: foundation tube naked or exposed, and onto this exposed part, the solid felt end
or tip c, of the handle is fitted and secured.
The said tip end is made by taking a solid disc or block of felt of suitable
thickness, and forming upon the inner side thereof, an annular groove c¹, corre-
sponding to, and adapted to take onto, the extending end a¹, of the foundation
sleeve a. The said tip or solid end is secured in position and at the same time,
the joint or seam d, between the opposed edges, b, of the body covering and
the said end is concealed or covered over by an annular ring or narrow band
of metal e, the opposite edge el, e, of which respectively overlap and are impressed
or buried by spinning or otherwise into the material of the contiguous parts of
the tip and body. f is the metal mount at the open end of the handle and f¹
the spring clips which embrace a handle bar.
After the felt end has been secured in position the finished shapes are imparted
by a turning or other process to it and also to the body cover, which is applied to
the foundation tube in the form of sheet material of thickness sufficient to admit
of such shaping being performed, whilst the longitudinal grooves may be formed
by scoring the felt at any suitable stage in the making of the article, but pre-
ferably when the felt is in the flat, thus facilitating the turning of it up into a
tubular figure.
Instead of the metal ring e, being used to secure the solid felt end in position,
it may serve only to conceal the joint and improve the appearance of the handle,
in which case the said end may be affixed to the foundation by glueing, cross-
pinning or otherwise.
Figure 6 represents another method of applying the ring e, the one edge el,
of which overlaps and is embedded into the end of the felt covering or body
part, whilst the other edge e, is forced into the solid end as represented and
serves as a means for retaining or holding on the said end without glueing or the
like.
Instead of fashioning the end tip out of a solid block or thick disc of felt, the
same may be fashioned out of thin sheet felt by operating upon circular blanks
by suitable means, such as dies and pressure, to form shallow caps which are
placed over the exposed end of the foundation sleeve and secured there by cement-
ing, pinning or by a spun-on or closed-on ring mount as before referred to.
Figure 7 represents partly in elevation and partly in section, a handle pro-
vided with such a felt end cap which is attached by means of a closed-on metal
ring as in the arrangement shown in Figures 1 to 5.
Figure 8 is a sectional view of the said end b, separately.
Figure 9 represents an edge view and a plan of the circular felt disc from
which the said cupped end is made.
a is the tubular foundation of the handle, 6 the end cap, which is made from a
sheet felt disc g (Figure 8) fashioned as above described, and is attached to the
body covering a, by a metal ring or mount e.
Instead of the felt end fitting onto an exposed part of the foundation, the
end 63 of the body covering 6 may be shouldered down or reduced in diameter, as
represented in Figure 10, and onto the said reduced part, the felt end c is fitted.
Or the felt tip c, may have a reduced part c¹, as represented in Figure 11,
adapted to fit plug-wise within the open end of the foundation of the handle and
be there secured by a closed ring or other means.
Figure 12 represents a still further modification, in which the handle is pro-
vided with a mount e, having an opening at e¹, through which a portion of a
felt tip c, extends. By this arrangement a novel appearance is imparted to the
handle.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
First Providing felt handles for cycles and other uses with an attached felt end
:

page_text: or tip, connected to either the body part or covering of the handle, or to the
foundation thereof, or to both covering and foundation.
Secondly: A felt handle for cycles and other uses, provided with a solid
felt end or tip having an annular groove adapted to receive an extended or exposed
part of the foundation of the handle, with or without a metal securing ring or
mount, substantially as herein described and set forth.
Thirdly: In felt handles having attached felt ends or tips, the employment
of a metal ring applied as herein described and adapted both to secure the felt
end in position and conceal the joint between it and the body or covering.
Dated this 13th day of June 1899.
JOSIAH COOPER,
FRANCIS GEORGE BENSLY.
By Henry Skerrett,
24, Temple Row, Birmingham,
Agent for Applicants.