Year: 1889

page_text: I, RICHARD EAGER BOWEN, of St. James' City, Lee County, Florida, United
States of America, Millwright, 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 bicycle of the "Otto" type, that is to say a bicycle in
which the two wheels are side by side; and the main object of the invention is to
provide such a bicycle with means for enabling the wheels to be inclined for the
purpose of running on a narrow track.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this
specification, in which figure 1 is a front elevation of the bicycle of my invention, in
which the dotted lines represent the wheels in their inclined position. Figure 2 is a
sectional side elevation of one of the wheels, and the operating and braking mechanism.
Figures 3, 4, and 5, are enlarged details; figure 3 being a section on line ax figure 4,
figure 4 a sectional front view of one portion of the frame, and figure 5 a section on
line z z figure 4. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the
figures.
The main frame of the machine is of the form shewn in the drawings, that is to
say it consists of a rounded or bow-shaped upper portion A formed in one with side
pieces each consisting of a curved outer piece A', a horizontal piece A³, and vertical
piece A³.
a a are pairs of converging members of the frame extending downward
from each of these side portions and united by the cross-piece a³, and B is the seat
secured to and suspended from the frame by the rods B. B³ is a rod fixed at its
upper end to the under side of the seat and attached near its lower end to the cross-
piece a², its lower end terminating in a step b. CC are the cranks or treadles
journaled in the frame a' at the outer ends and supported at the centre in the rod B*.
DD are sprocket wheels keyed on the crank shaft on the outer sides of the frame.
The pieces A' have lateral vertical slots or are of U shape to permit of the adjustment
of the axles of the wheels of the vehicle as hereafter referred to, and E' are curved
or arc slots which intersect the slots E, as shewn in figures 4 and 5. F F are two
short wheel axles made in two portions connected by a universal joint F². The
axles F pass through the slots E in the frame A' and are journaled in sliding blocks G
LD

page_text: movable in the slots E' E'. The upper side of the block G has a recess G¹ in which
the extremity of the pressure-screw G³ is received, said screw screwing into a nut
or threaded socket G which is pivoted to the piece A' within the slot E. G' are the
wheels of the vehicle mounted on the axles F. The inner ends of the axles F1 are
journaled in the frame at F3. F is a block mounted on the cross-pieco A², the upper
end of said block being provided with a bearing F for supporting the axle F.
A friction wheel I is mounted on the axle F¹ between the block and the portion A³ of
the frame. J is a short shaft, one end of which is supported in a sleeve bearing J¹
which is pivoted to the outer pieco A' of the frame, the other end of the shaft J being
journaled in a hearing J' mounted to slide in a slot in A³. This shaft is provided with
a sprocket wheel k and a friction wheel k¹ which are both keyed to the shaft. L is a
pitch chain running round the sprocket wheels D, K.¨M is a brake lever fulcrumed
at M² to the member a¹ and N is a lever also fulcrumed to the. frame. N¹ is a rod
jointed at its lower end near the middle of the lever M, the upper end of said rod
being jointed to the outer end of the lever N.. The lever M.is provided with a lug
or projection n which engages with a segmental rack N. n¹ is the brake shoe
carried by the lover N and adapted to act on the periphery of the wheel I. O is a
rod whose upper end is secured to the movable block J and whose lower end is
jointed to a lever P fulcrumed to a¹. Q is a segmental rack fixed to a¹ and P
is a lever provided with a lug or projection which engages with said rack.
In driving the machine, the motion is transmitted from the crank shaft to the
wheels by the pitch chains L. The sprocket wheel K rotates the shaft J, and the
wheel by frictional contact rotates the wheel 1 and the axlos F F¹. The wheels G
and the axles, being rigidly united, turn together.
If it is desired to incline the whools so as to run on a narrow track, the blocks G
are forced down by turning the screws G³ by their landles G in one direction and
they are restored to their normal position by turning the screws in the other direction
and thereby allowing the blocks to rise which they do owing to the weight between
the wheels.
The machine is steered by raising one of the friction wheels k¹ out of contact with
its corresponding wheel I. This is done by raising the hand lever P, thus raising
rod and the bearing J' with the shaft J, the sprocket wheel k and the friction
wheel k. When the parts are so elevated, the bearing J¹ for the shaft J is slightly
turned on its pivot. When the frictional wheels on one side of the machine are out
of contact, that side of the machine will advance less rapidly than the other side
and thus enable the machine to be steered. The same result may be practically
attained by applying one of the brakes N.
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. In a bicycle of the kind described, the combination with each wheel of a
universally jointed axle and of mechanism, substantially as described, for inclining
the wheel, substantially as shewn and described.
2. In a bicycle of the kind described, the combination with a frame having an arc
slot of a slide block movable in said slot a universally jointed wheel axle, the part
to which the wheel is fixed being mounted in the block aforesaid, and mechanism,
substantially as described, for inclining the said wheel, substantially as shewn and
described.
3. In a bicycle of the kind described, a frame having an arc slot, a slide block
movable in said slot, a universally jointed axle, the part to which the wheel is fixed
being mounted in the said block, in combination with a screw adjustment, substantially
as shewn and described.
4. In a bicycle of the kind described, the shaft and axle J, F1 geared together by
friction gear and provided with means, substantially as specified, for disengaging the
frictional gear, substantially as shewn and described.
5. In a bicycle of the kind described, the combination of the shaft and axle J F¹,

page_text: one end of the shaft J being mounted in a pivoted bearing and the other end in a
sliding bearing and geared with the axle by frictional wheels and of means, sub-
stantially as specified, for elevating the sliding bearing and connected parts aforesaid,
substantially as shewn and described.
6. In a bicycle of the kind described, the combination of the shaft and axle J, F¹,
geared together by frictional gearing, one end of the shaft J being mounted in a
pivoted bearing and the other end in a sliding bearing, the shaft J being also provided
with a sprocket wheel, a rod for lifting the sliding bearing and connected parts, and
a sprocket chain, substantially as shewn and described.
7. In a bicycle of the kind described, the shaft and axle J, F1, geared by friction
wheels, the shaft J being mounted in pivoted and sliding bearings, as specified, in
combination with a segmental rack, lever P, and rod O, one end of said rod being
connected to the sliding bearing aforesaid, substantially as shewn and described.
8. In-a bicycle of the kind described, the shaft and axle J, F¹, geared together by
frictional gear, the shaft J having a sprocket wheel, a treadle crank, a sprocket wheel
fixed to said crank, and a sprocket chain connecting the two sprocket wheels
aforesaid, in combination with the levers M N, connecting rod N₁, and segmental
rack N, substantially as shewn and described.
9. In a bicycle of the kind herein described, a frame consisting of the top piece A,
arms B supporting the seat, a looped or bottom part a² and a bar B, the upper end
of said bar being fixed to the arms B¹ the lower part thereof being fixed to the looped
part aforesaid, and the extreme lower end of said bar being provided with a step,
substantially as shewn and described.
R. E. BOWEN.
By A. M. & Wm. Clark,
53, Chancery Lane, London,
Patent Agents.