Improvements in Luggage Carriers for Velocipedes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Mar., 1898-Accepted, 16th Apr., 1898
[Communicated from abroad by MARZY JAMES WARD, of Unadilla, County of Otsego,
State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer.]
Improvements in Luggage Carriers for Velocipedes.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
This invention relates to improvements in luggage-carriers which are adapted
to be attached to the handle-bars of a bicycle, and the invention consists of a
luggage-carrier comprising a stay with leashes secured thereto close to its ends, and
holding devices secured to the leashes, the stay and holding devices having
certain peculiarities of form and structure which are hereinafter fully described.
On the accompanying sheet of drawings,
Fig. 1 is a top view of the luggage-carrier;
Figs. 2 and 3 are views of the holding device in different positions;
Fig. 4 is another view of the holding device, and pieces of a leash held by it;
Fig. 5, a front view of parts of the handle-bars and handle-bar post of a bicycle,
and of the carrier attached thereto; and
Fig. 6, a view from one side of a bicycle of the carrier and an object held
by it.
Similar reference-numerals designate like parts in different views.
This luggage-carrier is represented in the drawings by full-size views. The
stay 1 is formed from a rod or bar of metal. Top and front views of the stay are
shown respectively in Figs. 1 and 5. It has at the middle the curved part 10, which
extends in front of the rest of the stay and conforms to the handle-bar post of a
bicycle, and at the ends the eyes 11 with horizontal passage-ways. It is coated
with tin, nickel, silver or gilt, according to the finish desired.
In each of the eyes 11 of the stay is secured one of the leashes 2. These are
either cotton or silk cords, and they are long enough to pass around a large bundle.
The holding devices 3 are secured to the leashes on the back of the stay, the backs
of these devices being downward when the leashes and stay are in the positions in
which they are shown in Fig. 1. Figs. 1 and 6 show clearly how the leashes are
secured to the stay and the holding devices to the leashes.
These holding devices are commonly made from wire, and their size and the
thickness of the wire depend upon the thickness of the leashes to be held by them.
These may be a fibrous, leather, or other string, a cord, a rope, or a tape. The
leash or cord being of the size of the cord 2 of the drawings, the holding device
should be of the size, and the wire of the thickness, shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4.
In Fig. 1 an edge view of the holding device is shown. This is the edge which
faces any object around which the leash passes, and is hereinafter termed the face.
The back or edge opposite the face is shown in Fig. 2. Fig. 3 shows the left
side of the device, or the side indicated by the arrow on the left of Fig. 2, and
Fig. 4 shows its opposite or right side. The wire is bent at 30, as shown in Figs. 1

page_text: and 2, the space between the two branches of the wire tapering like a slended V
from that bend. The branches of the wire adjacent to the bend 30 are curved on
the arcs of similar circles, the are 31 being thus formed on the left side and the
arc 32 on the right side of the device. From the arc 31 the left branch of the wire
extends to the right side of the device and forms the bend 33, and from this bend it
extends first backward a short distance beside the arc 31 as shown in Fig. 4, and then
away from the arcs 31 and 32 and towards the left side of the device as shown in
Fig. 1, forming the section 34, on which is an eye 35. The right branch of the
wire forms next to the arc 32 a section 36 which lies directly behind the section 34,
and on the section 36 is an eye 37 close to and face to face with the eye 35. The
leash 2 to which the holding device is secured passes through the eyes 35 and 37 as
represented in Fig. 4. To fasten the leash after it has been passed around a
bundle it is carried between the arcs 31 and 32 of the holding device and into the
bend 33, then it is pulled taut in this bend in which it slides freely, and finally it
is drawn towards the bend 30 until it is pinched between the arcs.
It will be observed from Figs. 1 and 2 that the middle of the bend 30, the middle
of the bend 33 and the centres of the eyes 35 and 37 lie in one plane. The device
is therefore held naturally by the leash in the best possible position to withstand a
severe strain.
This luggage-carrier is attached to a bicycle by holding the stay 1 against the
handle-bar post 4, in front of the post and underneath the handle-bars 40, as it
appears in Fig. 5, and winding each leash once or twice around the handle-bar
and stay, the leash being passed upward in front of the handle-bar and downward
behind it, and through the eye 11 of the stay. An object 5, that is to be carried,
is supported by the leashes 2, which are passed around the object as indicated by
Fig. 6 and fastened in the holding devices 3, and when the leashes are thus fastened
the carrier with its contents is securely fixed to the handle-bars.
When the carrier is removed from the bicycle the leashes may be wound upon the
stay, and the carrier can then easily be put into a person's pocket.
It is obvious that the leashes may consist of straps instead of cords, buckles being
secured to the straps and bearing relations to the straps similar to those which the
holding devices 3 bear to the cords 2, and a luggage-carrier thus constructed is
deemed to be within the scope of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A luggage-carrier comprising: a rigid stay 1, adapted to extend on opposite
sides of the handle-bar post of a bicycle underneath the handle-bars, and having the
curved part 10 conforming to the handle-bar post, and eyes 11 forming horizontal
passages; leashes secured in the eyes 11; and holding devices secured to the
leashes behind and near the stay, the face of each holding device, namely the edge
or side which faces the object encircled by the leash, being upward; substantially
as described.
2. A luggage-carrier comprising: a rigid stay 1, adapted to extend on opposite
sides of the handle-bar post of a bicycle underneath the handle-bars, and having
midway between its ends the curved part 10, and near its ends the eyes 11 forming
horizontal passages; leashes 2 secured in the eyes 11; and holding devices 3
secured to the leashes behind and near the stay, the face of each holding device,
comprising the bends 30 and 33, being upward; substantially as described.
3. A fastening for a luggage-carrier and bundle, or other objects, comprising a
cord or leash 2, and a holding device 3 made from wire and having the arcs 31 and
32 united at 30 and diverging gradually from each other from that point, the
bend 33 on the arc 31, the section 34 on the bend 33, the section 36 on the arc 32
and directly behind the section 34, and the eyes 35 and 37 on the sections 34
and 36 respectively and with their inner faces close together, substantially as 5
described.

page_text: 4. A fastening for a luggage carrier and bundle, or other objects, comprising a cord
or leash 2, and a holding device made from wire and having the arcs 31 and 32
united at 30 and diverging gradually from each other from that point, the bend 33
on the arc 31, and an eye connected with the bend 33 and adapted to hold a leash,
the centre of the eye and the point 30 and the middle of the bend 33 being in one
plane, substantially as described.
Davou suis rav uay of marc 1050.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.