Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 11th July, 1898
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Sept., 1898-Accepted, 11th July, 1899
I, JONATHAN EDGE, of 9, Churnet Street, Westminster Road, Liverpool,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
A brake according to this invention is applied to the rear wheel of the cycle,
and may be a spoon brake or an india rubber brake. Such spoon or india rubber
is attached to or forms part of a lever which is fulcrummed upon the cycle frame
and by preference beneath the bottom bracket. The longer end of the said lever
is led upwards underneath that tube of the frame which leads from the bottom
bracket to the cycle head, and is by preference of semi-tubular or trough cross-
section in order that it may lie close against such tube. The said long end of
the lever may extend to within about six or nine inches from the head, and its
extremity is formed with a provision upon which the rider may place his foot
and so apply the brake. Such provision for the foot may be a tee end, projecting
on both sides of the frame tube, or may be a loop or arch surrounding said tube.
A spring serves to keep the brake off the tyre, and this spring may be a piece
of india rubber disposed between the arch end of the lever and the frame tube.
It will be seen that a cycle brake according to my invention is applied by
the foot of the rider and comprises one piece or lever only. It is therefore per-
fectly reliable.
In some cases I continue the long end of the brake lever upwards as far as the
handle bar, so that the brake may be applied by foot or hand as may be deemed
expedient.
I, JONATHAN EDGE, of 9, Churnet Street, Westminster Road, Liverpool,
Engineer, 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:-
-
A brake according to my invention is applied to the rear wheel of a cycle.
Such brake is attached to and forms part of a lever which is fulcrumed on the

page_text: cycle frame, and by preference beneath the bottom bracket. The longer end
of said lever is led upwards underneath that tube of the frame which leads from
the bottom bracket to the cycle head, and is by preference of semi-tubular or
trough cross-section, in order that it may lie close against such tube. The said
long end of the lever may extend to within about six or nine inches of the cycle
head, and its extremity may be formed with a provision upon which the rider
may place his foot or feet and so apply the brake. Or the said long end of the
lever may be extended beyond the head of the cycle and its extremity coupled to
the rod upon which the present well known front wheel brake is carried, whereby
my improved rear-wheel brake may be applied by hand. If desired my improved
brake may be applied by either the hand or the foot, at will.
In the drawing hereto annexed Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cycle fitted
with my improved brake. Upon reference to the drawing it will be seen that
the brake block a is attached to the short end b of a lever which is fulcrumed in
a bracket c disposed beneath the bottom bracket of the cycle. The bracket c may
be conveniently attached to existing cycles by clamping it on the bottom stays of
the rear wheel, but in other cases a suitable socket for the reception of said lever
may be formed upon the bottom bracket when the latter is being forged. The
long end of the said lever consists of a semi-tubular or trough shaped piece
of thin sheet metal, whereby it may lie close against the tube e and thus be
practically hidden from view. It must be noted that the semi-tubular cross-
section of the long end d affords the latter great rigidity with a minimum thick-
ness and weight of metal. The solid end b and centre of the lever may be in one
piece with the semi-tubular long end d, or the portion & may be rivetted to the
solid portion as shewn in the drawing. The extremity of the long end d is
bifurcated, that is to say it is brought up each side of the tube e and then taken
forward on each side of the head f. In practice it may be found convenient to
form such bifurcation by rivetting to the extremity of the long end da strip of
metal shaped as shewn in the drawing. A swivel-pin connects the two
extremities of the piece g, and to this pin is attached, as shewn in Figure 2, the
rod h, which may be the brake rod of the present front wheel brake which is
operated by the lever i. In operation by raising the lever the brake rod and
long end are depressed whereby the brake block a is pressed against the tyre of
rear wheel.
I find in practice that the elasticity of the rod h allows the handle bar and
head to be turned a sufficient distance for the purpose of steering; and with
the object of allowing the rod ½ to turn on the pin g¹ the nuts ¹ are not sent
quite up to the latter.
In order that my improved brake may be applied by foot as well as hand, at
will, a collar having two projecting pins which project from one to two inches
on each side of the tube e is rivetted to the long end d at or near the point
marked . The rider may thus apply the brake by placing one or both of his
feet upon such pins. Instead of the above mentioned pins being used, a narrow
piece of sheet metal may be rivetted to the long end d, so as to form an arch
over the tube e such arch being sufficiently high to allow of the long end d being
depressed when the foot is placed upon said arch.
In other cases my improved brake is adapted to be applied by foot only, by
means of the pins or arch above mentioned.
The brake is withdrawn from the wheel by means of a spring which may be
arranged in any suitable manner. Thus for instance the spring may be applied
to the lever i as at present or may bear upon the short end b of the brake lever;
or where the long end d is arched over the tube e for the purpose of foot pressure,
as above described, a piece of india-rubber may be inserted between the arch and
the tube, whereby the long end d is brought close against the tube e.
One advantage attending the use of my improved brake when adapted to be
applied by foot only, is that the brake comprises on piece or lever, only. It is
therefore perfectly reliable,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
A rear whel brake for cycles wherein a single lever carrying the brake block a
is disposed and fulcrumed below the tube e and bottom bracket of the cycle, said
lever being arranged to be operated by the rider's feet, or hands, or both, sub-
stantially as herein described with reference to the drawing.
1000
J. A. COUBROUGH,
Chartered Patent Agent,
10, St. George's Crescent, Liverpool,
Agent for the Applicant.
J. A. COUBROUGH,
Chartered Patent Agent,
10, St. George's Crescent, Liverpool,
Agent for the Applicant.