Year: 1898

page_text: I, AUGUSTIN AVRIAL, of 51, Rue Saint Dominique, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to velocipedes of that kind or class in which the front
wheel is at the same time the steering and the driving wheel.
My invention consists more particularly in a driving mechanism in which a
reciprocating rectilinear motion is given to the pedals, which motion is convérted
into a reciprocating rotary motion communicated to loose wheels or pulleys on
the axle of the driving wheel, the said wheels or pulleys engaging with clutches
or ratchet wheels on the axle of the driving wheel in such a manner as to cause
these clutches to rotate in one direction only.
My invention further consists in the arrangement of the whole of the frame
and the wheels as well as in the details of construction, enabling bicycles of
extreme lightness to be obtained at a very small cost and which bicycles are
capable of being easily converted into tricycles.
According to one construction of my invention I employ a frame made of a
single tubular piece having somewhat the general shape of the frame of the
"ordinary or high bicycles; a front wheel which forms at the same time the
driving and the steering wheel; a rear wheel of smaller diameter than the front
wheel a handle bar secured to the fork of the front wheel; and a saddle adjusted
to a suitable height on the frame.
The front fork formed of two tubes or members connected at the top to a
head or crown attached to the handle bar stem or steering post, and, at the
bottom, to the axle of the driving wheel by means of suitable brackets forming
or carrying bearings placed loosely on the ends of the said axle. These two tubes
or members are of U section, the opening being arranged laterally, and each
having an opening or cut-away portion allowing the free passage of the teeth
of wheels that are mounted loosely on the ends of the axle of the said driving
wheel. The head or crown is formed with sockets, in which are fixed the said
fork members; it carries, furthermore, a fixed pin or axle, on which turns, on
ball bearings, a grooved pulley around which passes a metal strip or flexible
band hereinafter described.
Within the fork members are other members of the same sliape, U section,
But the open side of which is turned towards the above mentioned toothed wheels
in such a manner that the opening of the exterior members is, so to speak, closed.
The said interior members are shorter than the exterior ones and they are con-
nected to one another by means of the above mentioned flexible strip or band,
which is fixed to their upper ends, and which passes over the above-mentioned
pulley arranged to turn freely on the fixed axle carried by the head or crown.
It is to be noted that the head may be covered with a casing protecting the
outer portion of the flexible band.
4
The interior members are provided with rollers having cheeks. or contact sur-

page_text: faces and rotatably mounted one above another in such a way that their cheeks
touch. They are mounted upon pins suitably screwed into the sides of the
member which encloses them, in such a manner as to confine the whole column
of rollers and keep the same in place. It is also to be noted that these two
columns of rollers constitute pin or cog racks, each of the pins or cogs being
constituted by a roller free to turn on its own axis.
In consequence of the aforesaid openings or cut away portions of the exterior
members, the teeth of the said toothed wheels can engage with these pins or
rollers of the rack thus formed.
Finally, upon each of the interior members is arranged a pedal, the spindle or
support of which can slide in the lateral opening of the exterior member. The
spindles of these pedals are secured not only to the inner members but also to the
corresponding rollers, for the purpose of ensuring greater solidity of the attach-
ment. As will be readily understood the two pedals are thus connected by the
flexible strip fixed to the ends of their respective racks. By bearing on one
of these pedals the other is made to rise, and vice versa.
The wheels engaged by these racks are simple peripherally toothed wheels, in
the centre of which are clutch devices whose fixed portions are keyed to the
extremities of the axle of the front wheel. Between these fixed portions and the
toothed wheels are placed rollers or balls and the said fixed portions are so shaped
that the rollers are free when the wheels are turned in one direction, but become
wedged when the wheels are turned in the contrary direction. The rollers and
the toothed wheels are held laterally by discs carried by the fixed portion of the
clutch, or otherwise.
It will be noticed that the raising of one of the pedals is brought about by
the lowering of the other, and that consequently the power exerted on one pedal
is transmitted to the opposite toothed wheel; that the toothed wheels rotate
alternately in a direction which causes a continuous motion of the driving wheel;
that, finally, the clutch rollers, at the time of the reverse motion of the toothed
wheels, constitute ball bearings for the said wheels which are thereby prevented
from grinding on their respective clutch devices.
In the preceding description I have assumed that the two pedals depend one
upon the other, that is to say, are connected by a flexible band. These pedals
may however be rendered independent without departing from the nature of
the invention.
In such case the said interior members to which the pedals are secured may
be of circular section, and slide, as before, in the exterior or guide members of
corresponding section. A return spring, one end of which bears against a ring
fixed around the interior tube and the other end of which bears against another
ring fixed to the inside of the exterior member, tends to continually bring back
the said tubes and the pedals to their highest position.
In the inside of the tube there is a cord which turns around a grooved pulley,
and serves to convert the reciprocating rectilinear motion of the tube into a
rotary motion of the pulley. The two ends of this cord are fixed to the ends of
the tube by means of bolts which serve as stretching or tightening devices to
regulate the tension of the cord. To enable the cord of the tube to pass around
the pulley, this tube is slit or cut open along nearly its whole length.
To prevent the cord from slipping on the pulley it is fixed to the circumference
thereof by any means. The following construction may for example be employed.
A notch is arranged in the web and in the rim of the pulley, in which notch
is placed a loop of the cord; a pin is then passed into this loop, the ends of which
pin bear against the unnotched cheeks of the rim. The cord is thus held at
this point.
The pulleys take the place of the before mentioned toothed wheels, and, like
them, are mounted loose on each end of the driving wheel axle in such a way
as not to carry it directly with them in their rotary motion. In the centre of
these pulleys there is a device analogous to that described with reference to the

page_text: toothed wheels and the object of which is to convert the alternating rotary
motion of the said pulleys into an intermittent rotary motion.
It is to be noted in fact that; at each downward movement of one of the
pedals and of the corresponding tube, that part of the cord comprised between
its point of attachment to the upper end of said tube and its point of attachment
to the pulley unwinds on this pulley and communicates to it a rotary movement
in the direction of the rotation of the driving wheel; that this pulley carries
with it the fixed portion of the clutch by means of the rollers which become
wedged between the pulley and the surfaces of the clutch; that, in consequence,
this pulley communicates its rotary movement to the driving wheel of the veloci-
pede that when the pressure of the foot upon the pedal ceases, the return spring
causes the tube to rise again, and consequently the other part of the cord com-
prised between the points of its attachment to the pulley and to the lower end
of the tube pulls upon the pulley in the reverse direction, and causes it to turni
in the opposite direction. In this movement the pulley has the tendency to
cause the rollers to rise on the inclined surfaces of the fixed portion of the clutch-
in such a manner as to release the latter from the pulley, so that this pulley
turns loose on the driving wheel axle which continues to turn in advance, in
virtue of the speed acquired and of the impulse communicated to it by the other
pedal, which can be lowered to the extent that the first rises, and which transmits
its motion to the other pulley and to the corresponding clutch device in the
same manner as has been above described.
This alternate and independent working of the pedals may be continued indefi-
nitely under these conditions.
It is obvious that the arrangements which have just been described in detail
with reference to a bicycle, apply equally as well to tandems, triplets, quadruplets,
etc., as also as to tricycles, quadricycles etc.; and that in view of these various
applications, I may modify the herein described construction in various ways.
In particular I may convert the herein described bicycle into a tricycle by
substituting for its rear wheel two parallel wheels mounted on the same axle
which is attached to the rear fork. This conversion is most simple.
Dated this 6th day of April 1898
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
I, AUGUSTIN AVRIAL, of 51, Rue Saint Dominique, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Engineer, 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 relates to velocipedes of that kind or class in which the front
wheel is at the same time the steering and the driving wheel.
My invention consists more particularly in a driving mechanism in which a
reciprocating rectilinear motion is given to the pedals, which motion is converted
into a reciprocating rotary motion communicated to loose wheels or pulleys on
the axle of the driving wheel, the said wheels or pulleys engaging with clutches
or ratchet wheels on the axle of the driving wheel in such a manner as to cause
these clutches, to rotate in one direction only.
My invention further consists in the arrangement of the whole of the frame

page_text: and the wheels, as well as in the details of its construction, enabling bicycles of
extreme lightness to be produced at a very small cost and which bicycles are
capable of being easily converted into tricycles.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood I have represented the
same in the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a bicycle provided with my
improvements:
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the same taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3-3. of Figure 1;
Figure 4 is a horizontal section showing the substitution for a single rear
wheel of a pair of parallel wheels, with the view of converting the machine into a
tricycle;
Figures 5 to S show different views on a larger scale of the details of the
essential parts of the driving mechanism; and
Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 show various views of a modification of this
driving mechanism in which the racks of the arrangements are superseded by
cords.
According to the construction of my invention shown in Figures 1 to 3 1
employ a frame A made of a single tubular piece, having somewhat the general
shape of the frame of the "ordinary" or high bicycles; a front wheel 13 which
forms at the same time the driving and the steering wheel; a rear wheel B₁ of
smaller diameter than the front wheel; a handle bar C secured to the fork D
of the front wheel; and a saddle E adjusted to a suitable height on the frame A.
The front fork D is formed as shown in Figures 1 to 3 and 5 to 8 of two
tubes or members a a¹ connected at the top to a head or crown attached to
'the handle bar stem or steering post and, at the bottom to the axle of the
driving wheel B by means of suitable brackets or plates d d carrying bearings
placed loosely on the ends of the said axle. These two tubes or members are of
U section, the opening being arranged laterally, and each having an opening or
cutaway portion aa allowing the free passage of the teeth of wheels e e¹ that are
mounted loosely on the ends of the axle e of the said driving wheel B. The head
or crown is formed with sockets 1 and 2 in which are fixed the said fork
members a a¹; it carries, furthermore, a fixed pin or axle 63, on which turns,
on ball bearings, a grooved pulley Q, around which passes a metal strip or
flexible band, g, hereinafter described.
Within the fork members a a¹ are other members of f¹ of the same U shape,
but the open side of which is turned towards the above mentioned toothed
wheels e e, in such a manner that the opening of the exterior members a a¹ is,
so to speak, closed. The said interior members f f are shorter than the exterior
ones a a¹ and they are connected to one another by means of the above mentioned
flexible strip or band g, which is fixed to their upper ends, and which passes
over the above-mentioned pulley Q arranged to turn freely on the fixed axle
carried by the head or crown b. It is to be noted that the crown b may be
covered with a casing protecting the outer portion of the flexible band g.
The interior members f fl are provided with rollers or contact surfaces having
cheeks and rotatably mounted one above another in such a way that their cheeks
touch. The rollers ¹ at the extreme ends have passing through them an axle
suitably screwed into the sides of the member which encloses them, in such a
manner as to confine the whole column of rollers and keep the same in its place.
It is also to be noted that these two columns of rollers constitute pin racks, each
of the pins being constituted by a roller free to turn on its own axis.
In consequence of the aforesaid openings or cut away portions the exterior
members of the teeth of the said toothed wheels e e¹ can engage with these pins
or rollers of the rack thus formed.
Finally, upon each of the interior members f f is arranged a pedal P or P¹
the spindle or support of which can slide in the lateral opening of the exterior
member à à¹. The spindle of these pedals are secured not only to the inner

page_text: members but also to the corresponding rollers h, for the purpose of insuring
greater solidity of the attachment. As will be readily understood the two
pedals P, P are thus connected by the flexible strip g fixed to the ends of their
respective racks. By bearing on one of these pedals the other is made to rise
and vice versa.
The wheels e, e engaged by these racks are simple peripherally toothed wheels,
in the centre of which are clutch devices whose fixed portions are keyed to
the extremities of the axle of the front wheel. Between these fixed portions
and the toothed wheels are placed rollers or balls J and the said fixed portions
are so shaped that the rollers are free when the wheels are turned in one direction
but become wedged when the wheels are turned in the opposite direction. The
rollers and the toothed wheels e, el are held laterally by dises k, carried by
the fixed portion of the clutch, or otherwise.
It will be noticed that the raising of one of the pedals P, Pi is brought about
by the lowering of the other, and that consequently the power exerted on one
pedal is transmitted to the opposite toothed wheel; also that the toothed wheels
c, el rotate alternately in a direction which causes a continuous motion of the
driving wheel; and that, finally, the clutch rollers at the time of the reverse
motion of the toothed wheels, constitute ball bearings for the said wheels which
are thereby prevented from grinding on their respective clutch devices.
In the preceding description I have assumed that the two pedals depend one
upon the other, that is to say are connected by a flexible band. These pedals
may however be rendered independent without departing from the nature of
the invention. In this case the mechanism is arranged as shown in Figures 9,
10, 11, 12, and 13.
In such case the said interior members f, f' to which the pedals P, Pare
secured may be of circular section, and slide, as before, in the exterior or guide
members a a of corresponding section. A return spring R, one end of which
bears against a ring m fixed to the exterior tube a, and the other end of which
bears against another ring fixed to the exterior of the inner member of tends
to continually bring back the said tube f and the pedal P to their highest
position.
In the inside of the tube f there is a cord L which turns around a grooved.
pulley, and serves to convert the reciprocating rectilinear motion of the tube f
into a rotary motion of the pulley. The two ends of this cord are fixed respec-
tively to the lower end o and to the upper end, not shown of the tube f by
means of bolts such as Fig. 9, which serve as stretching or tightening devices
to regulate the tension of the cord. To enable the cord of the tube to pass
around the pulley g, this tube is slit or cut open along nearly its whole length;
this slit is seen most clearly in Figure 10.
To prevent this cord from slipping on the pulley it is fixed to the circum-
ference thereof by any means. The following construction may for example be
employed:
A notch is arranged in the web and in the rim of the pulley, in which
is placed a loop of the cord L, a pin is then passed into this loop, the ends of
which pin bear against the unnotched cheeks of the rim see Figures 9, 10 and 11.
The cord is thus held at this point.
The pulleys take the place of the before mentioned toothed wheels e c¹ and
like them are mounted loose on each end of the driving wheel axle c in such a
way as not to carry it directly with them in their rotary motion. In the centre
of these pulleys there is a device analogous to that described with reference to
Figures to S, and the object of which is to convert the alternating rotary
motion of the said pulleys into an intermittent rotary motion.
It is to be noted in fact that, at each downward movement of one of the pedals
and of the corresponding tube, f that part of the cord comprised between the
upper end of the tube f and the point of attachment to the pulley, unwinds
on this pulley and communicates to it a rotary movement in the direction of the

page_text: arrow,
Fig. 9, that this pulley carries with it the fixed portion of the clutch i
by means of the rollers which become wedged between the pulley and the
surfaces of the clutch portion : that, in consequence, this pulley communicates
its rotary movement to the driving wheel of the velocipede, and also that when
the pressure of the foot upon the pedal ceases, the return spring.R causes the
tube f to rise again, and consequently the other part of the cord comprised
between the point and the point o of its attachment to the pulley and to the
lower end of the tube respectively pulls upon the pulley in the reverse direction,
and causes it to turn in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow
(Fig. 9). In this movement the pulley has the tendency to cause the rollers j
to rise on the inclined surfaces of the fixed fork of the clutch in such a manner
as to release the latter from the pulley A; that this pulley turns loose on the
driving wheel axle which continues to turn in advance, in virtue of the speed
acquired and of the impulse communicated to it by the other pedal, which can
be lowered to the extent that the first rises, and which transmits its motion to
the other pulley A and to the corresponding clutch device in the same manner
as has been above described. It will be understood that in place of the cluich
devices above described I may employ cam wheels or other equivalent ratchet
devices.
This alternate and independent working of the pedals continues indefinitely
so long as these conditions exist. It is obvious that the arrangements which have
just been described in detail with reference to a bicycle, apply equally as well
to tandems, triplets, quadruplets, and the like, as also as to tricycles, quadricycles
and the like and that in view of these various applications, I may modify the
herein described construction in various ways.
In particular, I may convert the herein described bicycle into a tricycle, by
substituting for its rear wheel two parallel wheels mounted on the same axle
as shown in Figure 4 of the drawing which is attached to the rear fork, provided
with an axle on which are two wheels 12 and B3 in place of the wheel B¹, the
said conversion being most simple.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A bicycle characterised by two slides carrying the pedals and capable of
receiving a reciprocating rectilinear motion in the guide formed by the fork
of the driving wheel, in combination with the loose wheels or pulleys on the
axle of the said driving wheel, and engaging in clutches fixed on the axle of the
said wheel, in such a manner as to turn this in only one direction of the recipro-
cating rotary motion which is communicated to the wheels or pulleys by the
pedals, substantially as above described.
2. As a practical means of constructing the bicycle forming the subject of
the first claim, the combination of the tubes a, a, of the fork of the driving wheel,
of the rack tubes f, f sliding within them of a fixed, metal band joining the
ends of the said tubes f and f' and passing over a grooved pulley Q, of wheels
e, e¹ working in the rack tubes, loose on the axle of the driving wheel, and
engaging in only one direction of their rotation with clutches, cam wheels, or
other equivalent ratchet devices fixed on the axle of the driving wheel, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose described.
3. In the system of bicycle forming the subject of Claims 1 and 2, the arrange-
ment of the brackets joining the guide tubes a, a to the nave of the driving
wheel mounted in bearings formed in said brackets; the said bearings being
furnished with clutches i working in combination with the wheels or pulleys e, e',
loose on the axle of the driving wheel through rollers, as described.
4. In the bicycle forming the subject of Claims 1, and 2, a fork for the steering
and driving wheel, intended to enclose a part of the driving mechanism and
formed by two tubes a a¹, and by a head or cross piece b carrying the pulley Q,

page_text: the said tubes having the shape of a U, the open side of which is directed
towards the exterior, the sides of the said fork being fixed at the top to the head
or cross piece, and at the bottom to strips placed loosely on the axle of the driving
wheel, and the head or cross piece being provided with the pulley Q and with
a socket in which the rod of the handle bar is fixed, as described.
5. In the bicycle forming the subject of Claims 1 and 2, a rack formed of
rollers with two cheeks, threaded in a tube f formed of U shape, to which are
fixed the end rollers, and intended to engage in a toothed wheel e, which is
fixed by a ratchet, in one direction of the motion of the axle of the driving wheel
as described.
6. In the bicycle forming the subject of Claims 1 and 2, the arrangement of
two racks of the above kind in the side of the fork above mentioned, and joined
by a flexible strip passing around the pulley Q of the head or cross piece, each
of these racks being provided with pedals on which the action of the feet of the
cyclist takes place, as described.
7. In the system of bicycle forming the subject of the first claim, the combina-
tion of the tubes a, a¹ of the fork of the driving wheel, of the tubes f, fl sliding
within them, of cords L fixed respectively to the ends of the said tubes f, f' and
rolling around the grooves pulleys q, to one point of which they are fixed, the
said pulleys being loose on the axle of the driving wheel and engaging in only
one direction of their rotation with clutches, cam wheels or their equivalents
fixed on the axle of the driving wheel, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
8. The arrangement of the bicycle and the various details of construction sub-
stantially as above described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
The
dow of Lun 1899
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.