Improvements in and relating to Tricycles.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 30th Dec., 1893-Accepted, 3rd Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Tricycles.
I, ERNEST JULES MATIERE, of St. Aubin Jouxte-Boulleng in the Republic
of France, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to a tricycle which is convertible so that it may be used
by two three four and if necessary five persons and is thus well adapted for
excursions.
The improved tricycle comprises a frame with two saddles designed for riders
who operate the machine, and which are placed parallel with the plane of the
driving wheels.
As in ordinary tricycles the brake and handle bar are provided upon the fork of
the front wheel and may be actuated indistinctly by either of the two riders seated
on the saddles in front.
A saddle without pedals is arranged for a third person between the two driving
wheels, on the side of the frame, and is supported upon the axle of the said wheels
by means of uprights.
For enabling four persons to ride use is made of an attachable and detachable
mounting adapted to receive two riders who seated on the saddles at the rear
help to operate the machine. In this case the saddle in the middle is dispensed
with.
This mounting comprises two frames each of which carries a saddle.
These frames are attached on the tricycle by sockets on the one hand to the
main frame and on the other hand by means of forks or rollers upon the axle of the
driving wheels of the machine.
A fourth combination consists in placing the middle saddle as in the second case
but concurrently with the four seats for the persons who drive the machine, thus
providing a seat for a fifth person.
In this tricycle is obtained elegance, comfort, strength, and lightness; and it has
moreover the advantage that it may be driven at a great speed and with the most
complete safety.
Elegance. The machine is only 0.60 centimetres wide by 1.86 centimetres
long; it can therefore pass almost anywhere and no large place is required for
keeping it.
Comfort. The two front saddles and the place in the middle being arranged for
ladies who do not require to wear a special costume.
As the two front saddles are
placed parallel the persons are at the same height as when they are promenading,
without constraint and without being higher. A gentleman and a lady may be
seated side by side.
When there are four or five persons to make an excursion, the mounting can be
attached in less than five minutes, and two persons may be seated thereon.
Strength. The body and all the parts of this machine and also the wheels are
made very strong.
Lightness. Its weight is nearly the same as that of other tricycles, and it may be
driven by two persons (or by four persons when the mounting is attached) without
causing fatigue.
Speed. This machine can be driven at a speed which has not heretofore been
attained by the most ardent excursionists, because the power is supplied by four
persons instead of one.
. Safety. By the arrangement of the seats relatively to the driving wheels the

page_text: machine cannot be turned over, because it would be necessary for the person on the
left to throw over the person on the right or vice versa, thus displacing the centre of
gravity, which is impossible.
Dated this 30th day of March 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Tricycles.
I, ERNEST JULES MATIÈRE, of St Aubin Jouxte-Boulleng, 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 :-
My invention relates to a tricycle which is convertible so that it may be used by
two, three, four and if necessary by five persons and is thus well adapted for
excursions.
In the accompanying drawings
Figures 1 and 2 are respectively an elevation and a plan of a tricycle provided
with four seats and with three pairs of pedals.
Figures 3 and 4 are respectively an elevation and a half plan of a tricycle provided
with five seats and four pairs of pedals.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are respectively an elevation, end view and a half plan of a
tricycle having one seat but adapted to be converted into a tricycle with three
seats.
Figures 8 to 12 are detail views hereinafter referred to.
The tricycle illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a frame with three
saddles b, designed for riders who operate the machine, one, b, being placed in
front above the front wheel a while the other two b¹ 62 are placed parallel in the
plane of the driving wheels, d and f.
As in ordinary tricycles the brake d' and handle bar are provided upon the
fork h of the front wheel g and may be actuated by the person seated on the
saddle in front.
A saddle without pedals is arranged for a fourth person between the two
driving wheels d and f on the side a¹ of the frame a, and is supported upon the axle
of the said wheels by means of uprights, k, k¹.
The cyclist seated upon the saddle 6 can actuate the pedals pp' the cranks of
which are keyed upon the axle of the front wheel g, and the cyclists seated on the
saddles can respectively actuate the pedals p' p' and p² p² the cranks of which
communicate the movement to the wheels d and through the medium of toothed
pinions and wheels and endless chains.
The tricycle represented in Figures 3 and 4 differs from the preceding in that
there is no seat above the front wheel g and that it carries five seats bbc c¹ c²,
of which the two seats c¹² at the rear are secured upon a mounting which may be
either fixed or movable. This mounting is composed of two similar frames l m n o
and m n o fixed to the triangle, on the one hand to the frame a by the
sleeves and q' and on the other hand by means of the forks r upon the axle of
the driving wheels d and f of the velocipede.
The saddle c is, as in the previous case, fixed upon the side a¹ of the frame a
between the wheels d and and can receive a fifth person.
The lever of the handle bar h¹ may be actuated concurrently by the two persons
seated upon the saddles 6' 62 or only by one of them; the handle y2 of the brake g¹
is preferably operated by the person seated on the saddle b¹ on the right hand side.

page_text: In this tricycle the four pairs of pedals p¹ p², p² p² p³ p³ p¹ p¹ actuate the
driving axle e through the medium of toothed pinions and wheels and endless.
chains.
In order to ensure stability I make in this machine the front frame longer than
that of the preceding machine, and to give more rigidity and solidity to the frame a
I connect its two sides by a supplementary transverse piece a² which is in turn
connected at its middle to the sleeve g³ for the fork by a tie rod a³.
With this velocipede provided with its attached mounting I form a double
tandem having only three wheels and four operators.
In Figures 3 and 4 the four pairs of pedals p³, p' are mounted parallel upon
their respective axes, but in order to obviate the dead points they may all be keyed
upon their axes differently and at 90 degrees relatively to each other.
The tricycle having three seats as shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7 is not provided
with an attached mounting; the two seats and 6 Figures 3 and 4 placed on each
side of the frame a may be removed and also one of the endless transmitting chains
and the pedals and outer cranks so as to leave only the crank shaft p³ with two
cranks. The tricycle may thus be arranged for a single person occupying the
seat c; this seat is fixed upon the transverse piece a connecting the two sides of
the frame a and in case a single person uses the vehicle the supporting rod for this
seat c is turned forwards so as to arrange the said seat c nearer to the handle bar h¹
and to put the person within reach of the pedals of the crank p³.
In case it is desired to adapt the machine for the use of three persons the centre
of application of their weight is not removed from the vertical plane passing
through the axle e of the rear driving wheels, which might interfere with the
stability. For obviating this inconvenience I arrange at the rear of the vehicle a
roller u arranged at a short distance above the ground and carried by a tail piece u¹.
fixed upon the axle e.
This latter tricycle without an attached mounting is very elegant, very light and
practical, it may be constructed with a distance between the wheels not exceeding
0.65 metres and its length is not greater than that of a bicycle.
All my tricycles are very narrow, yet' possess great stability by reason of the
arrangement of the seats on each side of the frame; they can be mounted with
previous experience and the wheels can be partially covered with dress-guards for
enabling ladies to mount my velocipedes without requiring a special costume.
Figure 8 represents a driving mechanism actuated by chains from one of the
driving wheels suitable for a tricycle with five seats, in this arrangement the
chains and s', set in motion by the pedals p¹ and p³ for example, actuate two
pinions keyed upon one of the sides of the nave e' of one of the driving wheels.
In the driving mechanism represented in Figure 9 the driven pinions keyed upon
the naves e el of the driving wheels are placed on each side of these naves.
In Figure 10 the naves e¹ e¹ of the driving wheels are not connected by an axle,
but the forks or uprights k k¹ which support the frame are connected by a rod t.
Figure 11 is an elevation of a crank p which may replace the cranks and
inner pedals in my tricycles and Figure 12 represents a crank the extremities of
which are articulated to the cranks for replacing only the pedais.
From the preceding description it will be seen that my various types of
velocipedes with multiple places possess the advantages of being elegant, agreeable
in appearance, strong, comparatively light, susceptible of giving a great velocity
and the greatest safety.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. A tricycle provided with one or more seats, the three wheels of which are
connected by a suitably braced frame carrying in front the handle-bar and the
brake, the seats being placed some inside the frame an.l the others upon the frame
and above the steering or the driving wheels, the said frame being adapted to be

page_text: prolonged to the rear by a fixed or detachable mounting with or without pedals and
adapted to be connected by gear wheels and endless chains with the driving axle
and carrying two complementary seats.
Second. A tricycle having four seats Figures 1 and 2, the three wheels of which
are driving wheels and the front wheel only a steering wheel, and are connected by
a frame braced by a transverse rod which carries a seat, the other three seats being
respectively fixed upon the frame above the three wheels, these latter seats alone.
corresponding to three pairs of pedals one pair actuating directly the front wheel
and the others the rear wheels through the medium of gear wheels and endless
chains.
Third. A tricycle with five seats Figures 3 and 4, in which the front wheel is
exclusively for steering, two of the seats being arranged upon the frame above the
driving wheels, and corresponding each to a pair of pedals; a third seat fixed upon
a transverse piece of the frame and the two other seats corresponding respectively
to two pairs of pedals arranged upon a fixed or movable mounting which enables a
tricycle having five seats to be converted into a tricycle with three seats.
Fourth. A tricycle with three seats Figures 5, 6 and 7 the front wheel of which
is exclusively the steering wheel and the two rear wheels the driving wheels; two.
of the seats being arranged upon each of the branches of the frame above the
driving wheels, the third seat being fixed interiorly upon a transverse rod con-
necting the two branches of the frame, the two seats placed above the driving.
wheels being adapted to be removed for converting the tricycle into a velocipede
with a single seat.
Fifth. In the tricycles hereinbefore described the devices for transmitting
movement by gear wheels and endless chains Figures 8 and 9, in which the driving
pinions are placed either symmetrically on each side of the naves of the driving
wheels or on one side only of these naves.
Sixth. In the tricycles above described the replacing of the interior pedals and
cranks by a cranked shaft carrying pedals as shown in Figures 11 and 12.
Dated this 30th day of December 1893
HASELTINE, LAKE & .Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.