Improvements in Bells,
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1895-Accepted, 7th Dec.. 1895
Improvements in Bells,
I, PAUL SCHILLING, of Mehlis, Thuringia, Germany, Manufacturer of Iron
and Steel Goods, 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 :-
It has of late not only been sought to reduce the weight of cycles, but also the
weight of their accessories including the bells which have consequently been made
of very small size.
Now with bells of such small size operating mechanism such as heretofore usually
employed cannot be used effectively, and my invention has reference to cycle bells
that can he made of the small sizes required and the operating mechanism of which
shall not be open to the objection just mentioned.
In a bell according to my invention the operating mechanism comprises an
elastically mounted toothed bar or straight rack which on being pressed say by the
thumb or forefinger actuates a corresponding pinion, toothed segment or the like
and through suitable wheel or lever mechanism operates the hammer mechanism of
the bell.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. illustrates a bell according to this invention, the dome being removed,
Fig. 2 is a similar view but without the striking mechanism.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken transversely through the toothed bar, and
shewing the bell attached to the handle bar of a cycle.
a is a toothed bar or rack mounted in a dish-shaped supporting plate A and
extending laterally through an aperture therein. f is a spring that constantly
An elongated
tends to hold the rack in the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2.
slot e serves in conjunction with vertical pins d d fixed in the supporting plate A, to
guide the rack in a straight line, the said pins & being connected together, by a
small plate d¹ for the purpose of preventing the rack from moving upwardly.
The free outer end of the rack a is bent over to form a lug or flange b, or is
provided with a knob, for the purpose of facilitating the application of the finger
in operating the bell.
In the arrangement shown, the rack engages with a pinion g which is mounted
loosely on the axle h and which is coupled to a larger toothed wheel i situated
above it. This toothed wheel i engages with a toothed wheel k of the striking
or hammer mechanism / which latter is, for the purpose of more efficient operation,
held downwards by means of a spring p, and is moved about the axle m which
carries the dome o of the bell.
With the arrangement described, if pressure be applied to the lug b of the rack a,
the latter will be moved into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2, thereby
placing the spring fin tension, and when the said pressure is removed, the re-action
of the spring comes into play to return the rack to its outer position. Thus the
haminer mechanism will be continuously actuated by the to-and-fro movement of
the rack a.
The arrangement may be modified for example by making the rack a gear,
instead of with a pinion, with a toothed segment which is connected with suitable
lever mechanism adapted to operate the striking mechanism. Also, the operating
device hereinbefore described may be applied to hammer-mechanism of the most
varied kinds. The arrangement may also be applied to double bells.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A cycle bell having an elastically mounted rectilinearly guided toothed bar
or rack a as the device for actuating the hammer mechanism of the bell substantially
as herein described.
2. The improved cycle bell hereinbefore described with reference to and shown
in the drawings annexed
Dated this 1st day of November 1895.
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.