IMPROVE- MENTS IN VELOCIPEDES AND OTHER WHEELED VEHICLES PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO MACHINE SHAFTING and the like
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Soper at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th January 1882.
WILLIAM SOPER, of Reading, in the County of Berks, Gun Maker. * IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VELOCIPEDES AND OTHER WHEELED VEHICLES PARTS OF WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO MACHINE SHAFTING and the like."
My Invention relates firstly to an improved safety bicycle or tricycle; Secondly to
an improved form of saddle for bicycles, tricycles and the like; Thirdly to an
improved arrangement of roller bearing for velocipede and other journals or shafts ;
and fourthly to an improved compound roller and ball bearing especially suitable
for tricycles and similar vehicles.
According to the first part of my said Invention I construct my improved safety
bicycle or tricycle with the parts and features of an ordinary bicycle, but with the
addition of a combination from the back-bone of the same of a tube or equivalent
part and which I will name the safety rod, over and in front of the driving and
steering wheel, in a similar manner to that in which the said backbone is arranged
behind said driving and steering wheel, and on the front lower end of said safety
rod I provide a wheel which I refer to hereinafter as the safety wheel and which
I mount in a fork which is pivotted castor-wise on the said front end of said safety
rod, that is to say, the centre line of said pivot, with regard to the forward motion
of the vehicle is in advance of the point on the periphery of the said safety wheel
which is intended to be in contact with the road in the event of its safety action
being required. The said safety wheel is intended to prevent the accidental
overturning of the machine in its forward motion and may not in the ordinary
running of the same be allowed to run on the road, but may be so nearly placed.
to the same that in the event of an accident as aforesaid it may act as a stop or
support to a machine and prevent an overturning of the same which would take
place in the case of an ordinary bicycle.
"
The said fork pivot may be constructed after the manner of what is known as.&
Stanley head or may be an ordinary taper or straight pivot of sufficient length,
and in any case must be provided with stops which allow of sufficient movement
but prevent its getting
.65 across the path of the machine to which it is fitted.
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page_text: And further for the purpose of maintaining the rim of said safety wheel on the.
centre line of said backbone at such time as it is not in action I provide side
springs of sufficient elasticity for allowing said wheel to perform its functions
when such are required and at the same time for placing it in a position of average
convenience in whatever direction it may be required to act.
Also in order to avoid the distressing effect to a rider of the "kicking" action
of the rear wheel of my improved safety bicycle or tricycle or other velocipede I
provide an improved arrangement of mounting for saddle springs of the same,
consisting in the connection of the fore ends of said springs to the neck of the
backbone of the machine, by means of "standing" links of convenient length, and
of the connection of the rear ends of said springs to brackets fixed on said back-
bone by means of" pendant" links of as much shorter length than said "standing"
links as may be convenient in such a manner that besides being approximately
under the seat of the rider, the said "pendant" links shall by reason of their short
length as regards said "standing" links, at all times maintain a mechanical
advantage over said "standing" links or in other words that the stability of the said
"pendant" links shall be greater than the instability of the said "standing" links
and that the positions of said "standing" links shall be regulated and governed by
those of the said "pendant" links and that the action of the saddle as regards the
fore and aft motion due to the "kick" of the said back wheel of that portion of
the said backbone and bracket to which said "pendant" links are attached shall
be that of the swinging of said springs and saddles in a fore and aft line on the
said "pendant" links and by these means avoiding the fore and aft rubbing action
of said saddles on the seats of the rider.
According to the second part of my said Invention I provide an improved formn
of saddle or seat which may be used for bicycles or tricycles or for other purposes
and consists chiefly in providing for the safety and comfort of a male rider and to
admit of the weight of the body being borne more comfortably on the fore part of
the saddle. The pommels or fore parts of saddles as heretofore constructed are of
a convex form and are usually of a hard substance and my improvement consists
in forming a hollow or groove in said pommel framing covered with some soft or
elastic substance which without undue pressure will accommodate itself to the
rider.
I usually prefer to construct the framing of my improved saddle of two tubes at
a sufficient distance from each other for the fore part or pommel, secured to a
metal plate of a suitable form for the rear part and to cover the whole frame withi
a suitable material and in a suitable manner for realizing the objects of my said
Invention.
For the attainment of the objects of the third part of my Invention I provide
hard steel rollers having concentric bearing pins turned on each end of the same and
for the purpose of keeping said rollers in correct position in their bearing chamber I
provide rings or collars having radially slotted holes in their flat sides suitable for
the reception of said bearing pins of said rollers, and further between each roller
and fixed suitably into and between said rings or collars I provide pillars or studs
which with said rings form a rigid bearing frame for the rollers aforesaid, and
which effectually prevent the twisting of the rollers which is so detrimental in
roller bearings as heretofore constructed.
For the purpose of adjusting the path or bearing of the rollers aforesaid I
construct the said path of a thin ring or cylinder. of steel having an open joint in
the direction of its length which said ring or cylinder I fit to an outer casing or
chamber as aforesaid, and when the said path or rollers become worn I contract
the said path by the insertion between it and said outer casing of a thin sheet of
brass or other suitable material, thus maintaining in the said path the cylindrical
form of the said outer casing, and any slight intermediate adjustment of said path
may be made by a split joint in the said outer casing and one or more clamping
screws. By a modification of the said third part of my Invention, for the purpose
of providing rolling surfaces to any end thrust which may take place in roller

page_text: bearings used in bicycle or other journals I construct said rollers with convex
rounded corners to the flat ends of their rolling cylinders and provide on the outer
path or bearing of the same approximately corresponding hollow rounded corners
to suitable collars as also on the inner path or journal of said bearing in such a
manner that any end thrust put upon one end of a roller by the outer path or
bearing by means of the said rounded collar on the same, will be taken by the
other end of said roller on the said rounded corner of the said collar of the inner
path or journal.
The fourth part of my said Invention is designed for the purpose of obviating
the friction of parts which takes place in roller bearings as heretofore constructed,
in such cases in which end thrust of the journals of said bearings is unavoidable
and which end thrust has usually been provided for by collars which require
constant lubrication ; and in carrying out this part of my said Invention, I interpose
between the outer ends of the bearing chambers of roller bearings and suitable
adjustable collars on their journals, a series of hard steel balls running on hard steel
surfaces in such a manner that said end thrust of such journals is carried on and by
said balls and rolling friction is thus substituted for sliding friction as heretofore.