Improvements in Springs for Supporting the Seats or Saddles of Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 23rd Jan., 1891-Accepted, 28th Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Springs for Supporting the Seats or Saddles of
Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes.
WC, GEORGE SALTER, of the firm of George Salter and Company, of West
Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturers, and JAMES ALFRED
LAMPLUGH, of the firm of Lamplugh and Brown, of Great Colmore Street,
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our said invention consists in making springs for supporting the seats of
bicycles, tricycles and other velocipedes from steel wire properly hardened and
tempered and bent and connected with the seat of the bicycle, tricycle or velocipede.
in the manner hereinafter described.
We will describe our said invention in connection with a safety bicycle.
In making a spring according to our invention we take a piece of strong steel
wire and bend it at its middle so as to form a nearly circular loop by which the
finished spring is attached to a vertical pin on the socket sliding on the horizontal,
part of the seat post. Each branch of the doubled wire is turned outwards from
the loop and bent into a flat spiral the bending proceeding from the middle of the
spiral. The said spirals are parallel and in vertical planes a short distance apart..
The branches of the doubled wire proceeding from the outer and upper edges of
the spirals diverge and incline upwards and are connected to the underside of the
curved plate supporting the rear of the leather of the seat. The front end of the
leather of the seat is connected to the steering post preferably by an elastic
nearly horizontal connection. It may however be connected by a flexible but
inelastic connection.
The application of our said invention to the supporting of seats or saddles of
velocipedes other than safety bicycles differs in no essential respect from its
application to the supporting of the seat or saddle of a safety bicycle as herein-
before described.
Dated this 28th day of Anvil 1890
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Springs for Supporting the Seats or Saddles of
Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes.
We, GEORGE SALTER, of the firm of George Salter and Company, of West.
Bromwich, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturers, and JAMES ALFRED
LAMPLUGH, of the firm of Lamplugh and Brown, of Great Colmore Street,
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of our invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be.
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Our said invention consists in making springs for supporting the seats of bicycles
tricycles and other velocipedes from steel wire properly hardened and tempered.
and bent and connected with the seat of the bicycle tricycle or velocipede in the
manner hereinafter described.
We will describe our said invention in connection with a safety bicycle.
In making a spring according to our invention we take a piece of strong steel.

page_text: wire and bend it at its middle so as to form a nearly circular loop by which the
finished spring is attached to a vertical pin, on the socket sliding on the horizontal
part of the seat post. Each branch of the doubled wire is turned outwards from
the loop and bent into a flat spiral the bending proceeding from the middle of the
spiral. The said spirals, are parallel and in vertical planes a short distance apart.
The branches of the doubled wire proceeding from the outer and upper edges of
the spirals diverge and incline upwards and are connected either to the wire frame
of the saddle or to the underside of the curved plate supporting the rear of the
leather of the seat. The front end of the leather of the seat is connected to the
sicering post preferably by an elastic nearly horizontal connection.
It may
however be connected by a flexible but inelastic connection.
The application of our said invention to. the supporting of seats or saddles of
velocipedes other than safety bicycles differs in no essential respect from its
application to the supporting of the seat or saddle of a safety bicycle as herein-
before described.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents in side elevation; Figure 2 in
plan of underside (with a part removed) and Figure 3 in rear end elevation a seat
or saddle for a safety bicycle or tricycle the said seat or saddle being supported
by means of a double spring constructed according to our invention; Figures 1
and 2 also represent an elastic connection constructed according to our invention
between the front of the saddle and the steering post.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawing.
a is the leather of the seat or saddle and b is the wire frame of the said seat or
saddle, the said wire frame carrying at its front the tension adjusting appliance at c
and at its rear the curved plate d which is fixed to the rear of the leather a. The
supporting spring of the seat or saddle constituting our invention consists of
the double parallel flat spiral e, e situated vertically the two parts e, e of the said
spiral being joined together by the horizontal loop which is situated in a plane
nearly on a level with the axis of the double parallel spiral e, e.
By means of the loop the supporting double spring e, e is attached to the seat
post of the safety bicycle or tricycle; that is to say, the said loop is supported on
the top of the sliding socket g on the L pin of the bicycle or tricycle and is gripped
between the face of the said socket and the gripping piece i, the said gripping
piece i being fixed in its place by 'a screw pin screwing into the said socket. Each
Hat vertical spiral e has a branche proceeding from its upper and outer edge (sce
Figure 1). The said branches e², e incline upwards and are nearly
parallel the
extreme ends of the said parallel branches being bent into eyes ee which are
connected to the cross bar 62 of the wire frame of the saddle or seat by means of
the clamping screw pins and screw nuts at k k.
Instead of connecting the branches e²e of the double flat parallel spiral e, e to the
wire frame of the saddle in the manner described and represented, the said
branches e²e may diverge and incline upwards and be connected to the curved.
supporting plate d at the rear of the saddle. When the branches e² e² of the double
spiral are carried to the rear of the saddle as last described the front of the saddle
must be supported by an elastic or inelastic connection passing to the steering post
as hereinafter described.
The double flat parallel spiral e e its loop fand branches e e² are made preferably
from a single steel rod or strong steel wire the wire or rod being first bent at its
middle to form the loop f and each of the two branches of the wire or rod being
afterwards turned outwards from the loop and bent into a flat spiral the bending
proceeding from the middle of the spiral (see Figure 1). The parallel inclined
branches (or diverging branches) at the outer and upper edges of the spirals ee
are finally bent to complete the double spring as will be understood by an examination
of the drawing.
Each flat spiral e its ends fand e² may be made from a single wire the two flat
spirals being connected together to form a double spring as described and represented.

page_text: We prefer however to make the double spring from one piece of steel wire or rod
bent as before described.
The front end of the leather a of the seat or saddle is connected to the steering
post by the elastic nearly horizontal connection represented in Figures 1 and 2.
The said clastic connection consists of the two strong parallel coiled springs m, m
(represented partly broken away in Figure 2) hooked at their ends to the swivelling
pieces p The rear swivelling piece p is capable of turning on the plain stem of
the fixed hook secured to the front of the saddle by the screw pin and nut at n
which fix the front of the wire frame to the tension adjusting appliance at c. The
middle of the front swivelling piece q is made into a screw box and is capable of
screwing upon the screwed stein of the hook s the latter being hooked to the eye t
on the clip fixed to the steering post . On rotating the screwed swivelling
piece the two springs m, m and rear swivelling piece p rotate with it and by
adjusting the said screwed swivelling piece on the screwed stem of the fixed hook s
the length of the elastic connection can be regulated to put the required tension on
the said connection.
q
Instead of the elastic connection represented between the front of the leather
seat and the steering post a flexible connection such as a leather strap may
be used.
The double flat spiral parallel spring described and represented may be used
to support the seat or saddle of a safety bicycle tricycle or other velocipede in
other ways than the way we have described and represented in the accompanying
drawing.
Having now described the nature of our invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as our invention of "Improve-
ments in springs for supporting the seats or saddles of bicycles tricycles and other
velocipedes"—
First-Supporting the seat or saddle by means of a double spring consisting
of two flat parallel spirals situated in vertical planes a short distance apart, the
double flat parallel spiral being provided with a loop or arms and branches by which
it is connected to the frame of the bicycle or other velocipede and to the seat or
saddle substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing.
Secondly-The combination with a seat or saddle supporting spring of the
kind referred to in Claim 1 of the elastic connection hereinbefore described and
illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 for connecting the front end of the leather of the seat
or saddle to the steering post of the velocipede.
Dated the 20th day of January 1891.
GEO. SALTER.
JAMES ALFRED LAMPLUGH.