Improvements in Bicycles for Use on Water or on Land.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 29th Sept.,
1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bicycles for Use on Water or on Land.
I, HENRY CHAPMAN BAGOT, of 28, Regent Street, Belfast, in the County of
Antrim, Ireland, Mechanician, 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 refers to bicycles for use on water or on land, its primary object
being to impart stability to a machine in contact with the surface of the water or
of the ground at two points only, one behind the other, thus ensuring safety and
enabling the machine to be of lighter construction than would otherwise be
the case.
In carrying out my invention, I arrange the points of contact of the spheres or
wheels with the water or ground so that, instead of one sphere or wheel following
in the track of the other, as is the case in the machines of this class at present in
use, the spheres or wheels make separate tracks, the distance between the two
tracks being predetermined before the manufacture of the machine to suit the
particular circumstances under which the machine is to be used.
In the accompanying drawings, which show the way in which I prefer to carry
out my invention,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a water bicycle with the cycles or spheres mounted
one behind the other to move in paths which do not coincide.
Fig. 2 is a corresponding plan of the machine without the deck and driving
appliances.
Fig. 3 is a plan of the deck on which the engine for driving the cycles or spheres
is placed.
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of a land bicycle embodying the principle of the present
invention. Fig. 5 is a corresponding plan.
Figs. 6 and 7 show a modified form of construction.
The water bicycle or navigable vessel shown in Figs. 1 to 3 bears some
resemblance to the vessel described in the Specification to my Letters Patent
No. 2997, A.D. 1880, but is an improvement on that vessel in so far that only two
instead of a number of cycles or spheres are employed.
A A' are two cycles or spheres making different tracks. The direction in which
the water bicycle travels is indicated by the arrow a in Fig. 2. B is the deck and
C the boiler. D are the steam engines for driving the cycles A A'. It is preferred
to drive the cycles by means of rope gearing, in order to avoid the possibility of
any breakdown occurring through the shock resulting from the impact of waves in
stormy weather. The spheres may, however, be driven directly when rotary steam
When
engines are employed, as the steam in the cylinders would act as a cushion.
the spheres are rotated at a high speed, they may be filled with compressed air.
Explosion engines or electric motors may, however, be used instead of steam engines,
if preferred. Sails may also be provided if desired. Or the bicycle or vessel may
be propelled by manual or animal power. Either cycle A or A¹ may travel first,
the other cycle making a track parallel with the track made by the leading cycle.
The vessel may be steered by an oar or by air-jets at either end. The spheres may
be of aluminium, aluminium alloy or paper, or when comparatively small of inflated
india-rubber. They turn on trunnions & supported in the framework B¹ beneath
the deck. The trunnions are lighter than through shafts would be, and are
therefore preferred to the latter.
When compressed air is pumped into the spheres, a jet of compressed air may Le

page_text: allowed to impinge on the circumference of each sphere in a direction corresponding
with that in which the sphere is going, such jet creating a partial vacuum in front
and causing atmospheric air to rush against the rear part of the sphere and thus
increase the speed of the vessel. The use of jets of compressed air is particularly
advantageous in a calm or when the wind is abaft the spheres. At such times, the
ordinary driving gear could be disconnected.
It will be observed that, owing to the spheres being arranged in the manner
shown, the improved water bicycle or vessel has no tendency to fall to either side,
but on the contrary is as stable as if there were three or more spheres instead of
two only. It is, therefore, self-evident that many advantages accrue from the use
of this invention; increased lightness, which is conducive to greater speed, and
lessened cost of manufacture, owing to the fewer parts required, being among the
more prominent.
The navigable vessel above described is well adapted for use as a cart on roads,
or for travelling over marshy or soft ground. It is especially suitable for military
purposes, and can be employed with advantage in crossing rivers. The spheres
may be furnished with rims which in the water would act as keels and on the roads
as tyres.
In the land bicycle illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, the wheel base has been widened
to the extent requisite to give stability to the machine. The driving wheel E and
the steering wheel E' are secured to spindles rotating in adjustable ball-bearings e
and e. The steering wheel El can be turned by the handle-bar Ex in the ordinary
manner. The smaller chain-wheel is on one end of the spindle pertaining to the
driving wheel E; the larger chain-wheel f¹ being on the pedal-shaft. is the
driving chain. It is, however, obvious that the principle on which this machine is
built, when applied to land bicycles, is not confined to chain-driven machines.
A modified form of land bicycle is represented in Figs. 6 and 7; the driving and
steering wheels being mounted in forks instead of being secured to spindles
projecting from the frame. This alteration makes little if any difference to the
running of the machine.
A brake can be advantageously employed on any two-wheeled vehicle constructed
on the principle above described.
Old cycles can be cheaply converted to the new system.
A land bicycle built on my improved principle, whilst retaining the speed of the
ordinary bicycle, possesses the stability and freedom from side-slip of the tricycle,
thus rendering it of the highest value as a machine for tourists' use.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim :-
:-
1. The improved water bicycle or navigable vessel constructed substantially as
described with reference to Figs. 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings, the same
having two cycles or spheres one of which follows the other but in a different
track.
2. The improved land bicycle constructed substantially as described with
reference to Figs. 4 to 7 of the accompanying drawings, the same having a driving
wheel which does not run in the track of the steering wheel, whereby stability is
imparted to the machine and freedom from side-slip ensured.
Dated the 17th day of February 1894.
HENRY CHAPMAN BAGOT,
Per G. G. M. H.

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 8th Sept., 1894
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Pneumatic Tyres and Rims for Bicycles and other
Vehicles.
I, HENRY CHAPMAN BAGOT, of 28, Regent Street, Belfast, in the County of
Antrim, Ireland, Mechanician, 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 :-
33
This invention relates to pneumatic tyres and rims for bicycles and other vehicles ;
its primary object being to prevent "creeping or circumferential displacement of
the parts relatively to one another.
The accompanying drawing is a transverse section of a pneumatic tyre and rim.
constructed according to my invention.
"
"
""
The tyre comprises two concentric tubes A and B; A being the outer tube and
B the inner tube. C is the rim. The inner tube fits easily in the outer one; the
inflation of the former distending the latter and imparting the desired amount of
resilience to the tyre, whilst the outer tube affords ample protection against
puncture of the inner tube. It is well known that one of the main objections to
the ordinary pneumatic tyre is its liability to creep or move circumferentially
in the rim. In my new tyre, this "creeping or circumferential movement is.
prevented by providing in the rim C a hollow space D wherein a vacuum is
produced with the aid of an exhaust pump. The vacuum sucks the tyre into close
contact with that part of the rim against which it seats and which is perforated,
thereby effectually holding the tyre in position. The space D and the air-tube B
are provided with inwardly and outwardly closing valves respectively for enabling
the desired vacuum or pressure to be established and maintained.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention.
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim :-
In pneumatic tyred wheels for cycles and other vehicles, forming the rim with a
vacuum chamber and bedding the pneumatic tyre thereon, substantially as herein
described; the vacuum serving to hold the tyre to the rim and to prevent
'creeping."
"
Dated the 17th day of February 1894.
HENRY CHAPMAN BAGOT,
Per G. G. M. H.