IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY BICYCLES AND WHEELED CARRIAGES ON ROADS, TRAMWAYS, AND RAILWAYS."
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Sherar, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Accountant Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE DISTANCE TRAVELLED BY BICYCLES AND
WHEELED CARRIAGES ON ROADS, TRAMWAYS, AND RAILWAYS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Sherar at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th June 1879.
WILLIAM SHERAR, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Accountant Clerk. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE DISTANCE
TRAVELLED BY BICYCLES AND WHEELED CARRIAGES ON ROADS, TRAMWAYS, AND
RAILWAYS."
My Invention consists of the combination or arrangement of parts of apparatus
hereinafter described for indicating the distance travelled by bicycles and wheeled
carriages on roads, tramways, and railways.
In apparatus constructed according to my Invention the parts are simple in
construction, efficient in action, inexpensive, and not liable to get out of order.
For convenience of description I will describe my Invention as applied to a
bicycle.
I support in bearings in a frame or case having by preference a circular figure
and resembling the case of a watch, a driving wheel from which the motions of the
other parts of the apparatus are taken. This driving wheel has teeth resembling
those of the escapement wheel of clock mechanism.
Jointed to the case of the apparatus is a hanging lever, the axis of which carries
a pallet for driving and locking the driving-wheel described. The said hanging
lever is worked by the bicycle wheel, the said lever being lifted at each rotation of
the said bicycle wheel. The motion of the said lever causes the upper tooth of the
pallet or driver on its axis to engage with the driving wheel and move it through
a distance equal to the distance between two of its teeth. The distance travelled
by the bicycle wheel is indicated in the manner hereinafter described.
I prefer to effect the lifting of the hanging lever carrying the pallet or driver by
means of a pin or stud on the side of the travelling wheel of the bicycle, the said

page_text: pin or stud by the rotation of the said wheel striking against the lower end of the
hanging lever and raising it out of its perpendicular position.
On the pin or stud escaping from the said hanging lever the latter returns to its
normal position by its own weight, and the driving wheel is locked by the lower
tooth of the pallet. Or a spring may act upon the hanging lever and assist in
returning it to its normal position. Instead of working the hanging lever by means
of a pin or stud on the travelling wheel of the bicycle, the said lever may be
worked by a cam or eccentric on the said travelling wheel or by other gearing.
For the purpose of indicating or registering the distance travelled by the bicycle
in miles and fractional parts of a mile, I combine with the driving wheel of the
apparatus the following registering apparatus:-On the axis of the driving wheel
described I place a pinion which gears with a spur wheel on a parallel axis. The
axis of the said spur wheel carries a finger which traverses a dial on the face of the
apparatus, the suid dial being graduated to indicato one mile and fractional parts
of a mile. The axis of the said spur wheel carries a pinion which gears with a
second toothed or spur wheel, and the axis of the latter carries a finger which
traverses a dial near the first mentioned dial, the second dial being graduated to
indicate one to any number of miles. Thus the lifting of the hanging lever at each
rotation of the travelling wheel moves the driving wheel of the apparatus through
one tooth, and by means of the gearing dials and fingers described the disiance
travelled by the bicycle is indicated in miles and fractional parts of a mile.
The fingers of the graduated dials are fixed frictionally on their axes so that they
may be moved to zero or to a starting point on the dials without rotating the axes
on which they turn.
The hanging lever may work on the edge of the case instead of at the side. In
this modification the driving wheel is situated at right angles to the indicating
wheels, and the driving wheel is geared to the first indicating wheel by bevil
gearing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Sherar in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
December 1879.
WILLIAM SHERAR, of Aston, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Accountant Clerk. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE DISTANCE
TRAVELLED BY BICYCLES AND WHEELED CARRIAGES ON ROADS, TRAMWAYS, AND
RAILWAYS."
My Invention consists of the combination or arrangement of parts of apparatus,
herein after described, for indicating the distance travelled by bicycles and wheeled
carriages on roads, tramways, and railways.
In apparatus constructed according to my Invention, the parts are simple in
construction, efficient in action, inexpensive, and not liable to get out of order.
For convenience of description I will describe my Invention as applied to a
bicycle.
I support in bearings in a frame or case, having by preference a circular figure,
and resembling the case of a watch, a driving wheel, from which the motions of the
other parts of the apparatus are taken. This driving wheel has teeth resembling
those of the escapement wheel of clock mechanism. Jointed to the case of the
apparatus is a hanging lever, to which a pallet is connected by a slot and pin for
driving and locking the driving or escapement wheel described. The said hanging
lever is worked by the bicycle wheel, the said lever being lifted at cach rotation of
the said bicycle wheel. The motion of the said lever causes one of the teeth of the
pallet or driver to engage with the driving wheel and move it through a distance
equal to the distance between two of its teeth. The distance travelled by the
bicycle wheel is indicated in the manner hereinafter described.
I effect the lifting of the hanging lever carrying the pallet or driver by means of a
pin or stud on the side of the travelling wheel of the bicycle, the said pin or stud,
by the rotation of the said wheel, striking against the lower end of the hanging
lever and raising it out of its perpendicular position.
On the pin or stud escaping from the said hanging lever the latter returns to its
normal position by its own weight, and the driving wheel is locked by the lower
tooth of the pallet; or a spring may act upon the hanging lever and assist in
returning it to its normal position.
Instead of working the hanging lever by means of a pin or stud on the travelling
wheel of the bicycle, the said lever may be worked by a cam or eccentric on the hub
of the said travelling wheel.
For the purpose of indicating or registering the distance travelled by the bicycle
in miles and fractional parts of a mile, I combine with the driving wheel of the
apparatus the following indicating apparatus. On the axis of the driving wheel
described I place a pinion, which gears with a spur wheel on a parallel axis. The
Axis of the said spur wheel carries a finger which traverses a dial on the face of the
apparatus, the said dial being graduated to indicate one mile and parts of a mile.
The said spur wheel carries a pin or stud which moves a lever, and catches and
gives motion to a catch wheel, and the latter carries a finger which traverses a dial
outside the first mentioned dial, the second dial being graduated to indicate one to
any number of miles. Thus the lifting of the hanging lever at each rotation of the
travelling wheel moves the driving or escapement wheel through one tooth, and by
means of the gearing, dials, and fingers described the distance travelled by the
bicycle is indicated in miles and fractional parts of a mile.
The fingers of the graduated dials are fixed frictionally on their axes so that they
may be moved to zero or to a starting point on the dials without rotating the axes
on which they turn,

page_text: I will now describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the manner in
which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents a plan of upper side and Figures 2 and 3 elevations taken at
right angles to one another of a distance indicating apparatus constructed according
to my Invention, applied to a bicycle, the driving wheel of which has a diameter of
50 inches. In Figure 3 the case and dial of the apparatus are omitted. Figure 4
represents a plan of upperside of the apparatus represented in Figure 3; Figures 5,
6, 7, 8, and 9, represent parts of the apparatus as herein after particularly
explained.
The saine letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several Figures of
the Drawing.
a is the circular case containing the distance indicating apparatus, the said case
being supported by and secured to the bicycle by the circular clamp b, clamped to
the head of the bicycle. The top of the case a has a glazed removeable cover c,
and on the upper face of the apparatus is a dial plate d, e, (see Figure 1,) the outer
circle d of the dial being divided into 100 parts (more or less), representing miles,
and the inner circle e being divided into eight parts, each division representing 1/th
of a mile. A hand or pointer fis used for indicating the miles on the 100 mile
dial d, and a shorter hand or pointer g for indicating one mile, or part of a mile, on
the dial e.
is the hanging lever, centred at i to the indicating apparatus, and
worked from the driving wheel k of the bicycle by the pin or stud k² on one of the
spokes of the said driving wheel. On each rotation of the driving wheel & the pin
or stud² strikes against the lower end of the hanging lever h and raises it out of
its perpendicular position. As the pin or stud 2 escapes from the hanging lever
the latter returns by its own weight, or by a spring, to the vertical position repre-
sented. The lower half of the hanging lever is jointed at 2 to the upper half,
and is furnished with a stop, so that on the back motion of the driving wheel kits
stud k² bears against and pushes back the lower jointed half, but does not operate
upon the upper half. The indicating apparatus can thus only be worked by the
advance motion of the bicycle.
The pin or stud ², or that part of the hanging lever h against which the pin or
stud strikes, may be covered with india rubber or leather to prevent or lessen the
noise so as to make the indicating mechanism work noiselessly, or nearly so.
The rocking notion of the hanging lever is made to indicate the distance
travelled by the bicycle by the following mechanism :-
Z is an escapement or driving wheel (see Figures 3 and 4) with the teeth of which
a pallet or driver m having a horizontal motion on the pin or centre m³ engages.
A pivot or short arm m³ on the pallet m works in a slot ³ (see Figure 2) in the
upper end, and near the centre of the hanging lever h. When the hanging lever h
is moved in the direction of the arrow 5, Figure 2, by the stud k on the bicycle
wheel the upper end of the lever moves in the direction of the arrow h®,
Figure 2. The pallet or driver m is thereby moved on its axis m³, and its tooth m*
made to engage with the escapement wheel or driver and move it through a
distance equal to the distance between two of its teeth. On the hanging lever h
returning to its normal position the pallet makes its back novement and its other
tooth locks the escapement wheel (sec Figure 4). The notion thus given to the
escapement or driving wheel is transmitted to the fingers f, g, and indicated by
the following combination of parts:-The escapement wheel is furnished with
fifty teeth (more or less, to suit the diameter of the bicycle wheel used), and on the
axis or spindle of the said escapement wheel is a spur wheel n, having about double
the number of teeth the wheel has. The spur wheel n gears with a second spur
wheel p, having one tooth, more or less, than the spur wheel n. On the axis or
spindle of the spur wheel p is a pinion p², which gears with the toothed wheel 7,
which I will herein after call the one mile wheel. On the axis of the one mile wheel g
the hand or pointer g which traverses the one mile dial e is fixed, the said pointer g
indicating one mile for every rotation of the one mile wheel q. The motion of the one

page_text: 1'
mile wheel g is transmitted to the finger f and indicated on the 100 mile dial d in the
following way:-Above the one mile wheel q is a toothed wheel r having 50 catch
or ratchet teeth made upon its edge. I will call the wheel r the 100 mile wheel.
The said wheel is furnished with a hollow axis or spindle which turns on the axis
or spindle of the one mile wheel q, and on the external end of the said hollow axis
the long hand or pointer f traversing the 100 mile dial d is fixed. The 100 mile
wheel works in a circular opening in the top plates (shown separately in Figure 8)
and two pawls or catches t, 2, carried by the catch bar u engage with the catch
teeth on opposite sides of the 100 mile wheel, the said catch-bar u turning loosely
on the axis of the said 100 mile wheel. Springs t³, t³, press the catches t, ³, into
gear with the catch teeth of the 100 mile wheel. The top plate 8, 100 mile wheel r,
catch bar u, and its catches t, t2, are represented in plan of upperside in Figure 5,
and in plan of underside in conjunction with the one mile wheel 7 in Figure 6. The
catch bar u is represented separately in Figure 9. On the catch bar u is a small
lever turning on the centre 2. The said lever v has at one end a stud " which
bears against the top plates and its end is pointed at . The catches t, t*, aro so
arranged on the catch bar u that they cannot both be in gear at one time with the
catch teeth of the 100 mile wheel r, but when one catch (say t) is fully engaged
with the tooth which has been brought opposite to it, the other catch (say) is
engaged half way with the tooth which has been brought opposite it, see Figure 5.
The catch bar u carrying the catches has a slight angular motion upon its axis
given to it by the stud on the upper face of the one mile wheel 7 striking the
pointed end of the lever v jointed to the catch bar u. As the catch bar is moved
through a small angle it causes that (t) which is in gear with the 100 mile wheel to
move the said wheel through a distance equal to half a tooth. On the stud q²
escaping from the lever v the catch bar u is returned to its normal position (the
catches slipping over the catch teeth) by the spring w, shewn separately in Figure 9.
The other catch (²) is now fully engaged with one of the teeth of the 100 mile
wheel ready on the next movement of the catch bar u to move the 100 mile wheel
through another half tooth. The 100 mile wheel having 50 teeth is thus moved
through half a tooth at each rotation of the one mile wheel q, the catches t, t³,
acting alternately upon the said 100 mile wheel in the manner described. The
motion of the one mile wheel is thus transmitted to the 100 mile wheel by the
gearing described and represented, and the motion of the said 100 mile wheel is
indicated on the 100 mile dial d by the long finger or pointer f fixed on the end of
the hollow axis or spindle of the said 100 mile wheel r.
When the dinmeter of the driving wheel of the bicycle permits of it, or by
changing the number of teeth in the escapement wheel the gearing is modified
in the following way-On the axis of the escapement wheel a pinion is fixed,
which pinion gears with the one mile wheel q, thus transmitting the motion of the
said escapeinent wheel direct to the one mile wheel instead of by the gearing n, p, p³,
as described and represented.
a is the bottom plate of the mechanism shown separately in Figure 7, through a
hole in which the hanging lever / passes. The axis or centre i of the hanging lever h
passes through the block y which also serves as a distance piece between the top
and bottom plate 2, 8. I apply my Invention to the indicating of the distance
travelled by wheeled carriages on roads, tramways, and railways, substantially in
the manner described and illustrated with respect to a bicycle.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention,
the improvements in apparatus for indicating the distance travelled by bicycles and
wheeled carriages on roads, tramways, and railways herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, the combination of a
hanging lever (worked from the driving wheel of the bicycle or wheel of the
wheeled carriage), the motion of which hanging lever works a pallet or driver and
the latter an escapement or driving wheel with the transmitting and indicating
gearing and parts described and illustrated for indicating the distance travelled by

page_text: the bicycle or wheeled carriage, the several parts of the apparatus being constructed,
arranged, and worked, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Sherar, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of December, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.