Improvements in or relating to Dressguards and the like for Velocipedes and the like..
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Dec., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 16th Sept, 1897-Accepted, 6th Nov., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Dressguards and the like for
Velocipedes and the like..
I, FRANK BAGNALL of 17 Wren Street, Coventry, Warwickshire, Assistant
Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to dress guards and the like for velocipedes and the like,
particularly guards for protecting the skirts of female cyclists from the rear wheel
of the type of velocipede commonly known as the. rear driving safety bicycle.
These guards usually consist of a radial or netted cordwork of sector like form
stretched between the metal mudguard edge and a metal quadrant plate or cor-
responding device fitted at or near the centre of the rear wheel. Each side of.
wheel is similarly guarded. Meteoroligical changes and other influences tend to
cause the cordwork either to shrink so much as to injure the same or the parts to
which it is attached, or to cause it to stretch so much as to allow the skirt to come
into contact with those parts from which it is intended to be protected. Further
the vibration of the velocipede causes the metal fittings to cut the cords; and the
presence of the guard renders certain parts of the velocipede difficult to get at
for cleaning and other purposes.
According to my invention I overcome these defects in the following manner.
I take a piece of sheet india-rubber or other suitable elastic material of sector or
other suitable shape and along the curved edge I form a series of eyes or provide
other suitable means whereby the inner or central part of the cordwork may be
attached thereto. Near the centre point or angle of the sector I form another eye
or the like whereby the sector may be readily engaged with or disengaged from a
suitable hook provided for the purpose on the velocipède, or any other suitable.
part such as the projecting end of the wheel spindle a small screw or the like.
The sector may be strengthened at the perforated or like parts by moulding the.
material of increased thickness or by introducing an insertion of canvas or by
other means. The remainder of the guard may be constructed and attached to
the velocipede in any suitable manner. In constructing a dress-guard com-
prising my improved sectors, the parts are so arranged and adjusted that the
sector is subjected to a certain degree of tension, so that any ordinary amount of
slacking or shrinkage in the cordwork as a whole or in its radial parts will be
taken up or allowed for, as the case may be, by the sectors and the cordwork kept
taut without being too tight. At the same time, by disengaging the sectors from
the above mentioned hook or the like, the cordwork may be folded back out of the
way. Vibration also is diminished by the elastic sector and the material of which
it is constructed is not liable to cut the cordwork.
15th day of December 1806
G. DOUGLAS LEECHMAN,
.18, Hertford Street, Coventry, 75, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., and
49 Middle Abbey Street, Dublin, Patent Agent. for the Applicant,

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Dressguards and the like for
Velocipedes and the like.
I, FRANK BAGNALL of 17 Wren Street, Coventry, Warwickshire, Assistant
Manager, 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 dress guards and the like for velocipedes and the like par-
ticularly guards for protecting the skirts of female cyclists from the rear wheel of the
type of velocipede commonly known as the rear driving safety bicycle. These guards
usually consists of a radial or netted cordwork of sector-like form stretched between
the metal mudguard and a metal quadrant plate or corresponding device fitted at or
near the centre of the rear wheel. Each side of the wheel is similarly guarded.
Meteorological changes and other influences tend to cause the cordwork either to
shrink so much as to injure the same or the parts to which it is attached, or to
cause it to stretch so much as to allow the skirt to come in contact with those parts
from which it is intended to be protected. Further the vibration of the veloci
pede causes the metal fittings to cut the cords; and the presence of the guard
renders certain parts of the velocipede difficult to get at for cleaning and other
purposes.
1 overcome these defects in the manner and by the means hereinafter described
and illustrated.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure I is an elevation of a sector constructed according to my invention.
Figure II is a vertical transverse section of the same.
Figures III and IV are elevations of inodified forms of sectors.
Figures and VI show the sector fitted to dress guard on the back wheel of
a velocipede.
Figure V is drawn to a smaller scale than Figures I, II, III and IV. Figures I
and I also show the stud on to which the sector is hooked.
Corresponding parts are marked with the same reference numerals in the
various figures.
I take a piece of sheet india-rubber or other suitable elastic material 2 of sector
or other suitable shape and along the curved edge I form a series of eyeletted
holes 3, or I may provide other suitable means whereby the inner or central part
of the cordwork 4 may be attached thereto. Near the centre point or angle of
the sector 2 I form another eyeletted hole or the like 5 whereby the sector may be
readily engaged with or disengaged from a suitable stud 6, provided for the pur-
pose on the velocipede; or some suitable existing part of the machine such as the
projecting end of the wheel spindle 7 (see Fig. VI) may be adapted to engage with
the eye or the like 5. The stud may be screwed into the fork-end 9 or into the
end of the axle 7: its head is smaller than the eve 5, so that it acts like a hook.
The sector may be strengthened at the perforated or like parts by moulding the
material of increased thickness or by introducing an insertion of canvas or pre-
ferably by cementing to one or both sides thereof pieces of "patent" or varnished
leather 8 as shown. The remainder of the guard may be constructed and attached
to the velocipede in any suitable manner. The web of the sector 2 may be
provided with radial strengthening ribs 10 as shown in Fig. III, or it may be
otherwise fashioned, if desired. In constructing a dress guard comprising my
improved sectors the parts are so arranged and adjusted that the sector is sub-
jected to a certain degree of tension so that any ordinary amount of slacking or

page_text: shrinkage in the cordwork as a whole or in its radial parts will be taken up or
allowed for, as the case may be, by the sectors, and the cordwork kept taut without
being too tight. At the same time by disengaging the sector from the above
mentioned stud or the like the cordwork may be folded back out of the way.
Vibration is also diminished by the elastic sector and the eyelets or the like aro
so constructed as not to be liable to cut the cordwork.
I do not confine myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated
as these may obviously be modified without departing from, or exceeding the scope
of, my invention. For example, the eyelet holes 3, 5 may be merged into one
another, the sector then taking the form of a rubber ring suitably strengthened
locally in a manner similar to that hereinbefore described as may be required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invertion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. A sector of india-rubber or other suitable elastic material provided with eye-
letted holes or other suitable means whereby the inner or central part of the
dress guard may be detachably and elastically connected with a suitable part of
the velocipede or a stud or the like provided thereon, substantially as set forth.
2. In a velocipede 'or the like, the combination with the cordwork of the dress
guard of a "sector" of india-rubber or other suitable elastic material provided
with means for connecting the inner or central part of the said cordwork thereto,
and of a stud or equivalent for detachably connecting the said sector to the
velocipede, substantially as set forth.
3. A velocipede dress guard sector consisting of a web of rubber or other suit-
able elastic material such as 2 having eyeletted holes such as 3 and 5, and with
or without strengthening strips such as 10, the same being adapted to expand
and contract so as to maintain the dress guard at a suitable tension, to be readily
detachable from the machine and to prevent the vibration of the machine cutting
the cords, substantially as herein described.
4. The improvements in or relating to dress guards for velocipedes and the
like substantially as described and as illustrated herein.
Doted this 15th day of September 1897
G. DOUGLAS LEECHMAN,
18, Hertford Street, Coventry, 75, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., and
49 Middle Abbey Street, Dublin, Patent Agent for the Applicant.