Improvements in Variable-speed or Speed and Power Driving Mechanism for Velocipedes.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 13th Jan., 1890-Accepted, 15th Feb., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Variable-speed or Speed and Power Driving
Mechanism for Velocipedes.
We JOHN CLOUGH, of 4, Rose Bank, Manningham in the County. of York,
Manager, and GEORGE CARTER, of 22, Chesham Street, Bradford, aforesaid, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in variable-speed or speed. and power
driving mechanism for velocipedes, and its object is to provide a simple and compact
gear particularly adapted to be employed for driving safety bicycles, and tricycles
without excessively increasing the weight or bulk of the driving mechanism.
The said improvements consist in the arrangement of mechanism hereinafter
described whereby the chain wheel is driven direct for speed, and for power the speed
of such wheel is reduced in relation to the crank shaft, through the medium of a. sun
and planet motion.
For this purpose the chain wheel is recessed on one side and provided..with.cog
teeth round the periphery of such recess. Said wheel is loosely mounted upon the
boss of an arm or disc lying within said recess and rigidly keyed to the crank or
driving shaft of the velocipede. The said arm or disc carries an intermediate wheel
engaging the said cog teeth and also a second wheel mounted on said arm and herein-
after termed the planet wheel which engages a central wheel hereinafter termed the
sun wheel. This sun wheel is loosely mounted upon the crank shaft and is provided
with a catch arm or other device by which it is controlled so as to either rotate with
the crank shaft or be held stationary whilst said shaft and mechanism thereon is
rotated according to whether it is desired to increase the speed or power of the
driving mechanism.
When the driving mechanism requires to be run at a high speed the said: arm
controlling the motion of the sun wheel is arranged to engage a projection or its
equivalent upon a convenient part of the chain wheel or axle.so.as. to be rotated
therewith thus rotating the driving wheel at the same speed. as the axle. But to
reduce the speed and increase the driving power, the controlling arm of the sun
wheel is disengaged from the chain wheel or axle and simultaneously held, stationary
by engaging a fixed projection or its equivalent upon the velocipede and so preventing
the rotation of the sun wheel.
Therefore as the chain wheel is coupled to the said arm..or disc by means of the
intermediate wheel carried by such disc and as the intermediate wheel is rotated. in
the reverse direction to the chain wheel by means of the planet wheel it will..be
readily seen that the chain wheel will not be rotated at the same speed as the
driving shaft and that the size of the toothed recess in the chain wheel in relation
to the size of said sun wheel determines the difference between the speed of such chain
wheel and the driving axle.
The controlling arm of the sun wheel is arranged to be, disengaged and engaged
for the purpose of varying the speed or power, by means of a catch on the end of a
lever or rod operated by the hand or foot of the rider.
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DRACUP & NOWELL,
Bradford, Agents.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Variable-speed or Speed and Power Driving
Mechanism for Velocipedes.
We, JOHN CLOUGH, of 4, Rose Bank, Manningham in the County of York,
Manager, and GEORGE CARTER, of Howard Street, Bradford, aforesaid, 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
This invention relates to improvements in variable-speed or speed and power
driving mechanism for velocipedes, and its object is to provide a simple and compact
gear particularly adapted for driving safety bicycles or tricycles without materially
increasing the weight or bulk of the driving mechanism.
The said improvements consist in the arrangement of mechanism hereinafter
described whereby the chain wheel is driven direct for speed, and for power the
speed of such wheel is reduced in relation to the crank shaft through the medium of
a sun and planet motion.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of the chain wheel with
the side plate removed to disclose the internal mechanism. Figure 2, is a diametrical
section of a complete wheel and Figure 3, is a plan view of such wheel.
Figures 4, 5, 6 and 8 are views of detail hereinafter referred to.
Figure 7, is a side elevation of a portion of the frame work of a safety bicycle
illustrating a convenient method of changing the gear from speed to power or the
reverse.
The crank shaft A has a plate B formed with or rigidly secured thereto, and provided
with studs upon which are mounted the two pairs of cog wheels D, D and E, E
arranged in a recess in the face of the wheel G. Internal teeth H round the periphery
of such recess engage the wheels E, E and a pinion or sun wheel F loosely mounted
upon the shaft A engages the planet wheels D, D. The wheels D, D and E, E are
simply provided in pairs to balance the chain wheel and increase the strength of the
gearing.
When running at speed the sun wheel F is locked to the shaft A or wheel G so as
to revolve therewith, thus the chain wheel revolves at the same speed as the shaft A
and the above described internal mechanisin has no independent motion. But to
increase the power the speed of the chain wheel G in relation to the crank shaft is
reduced by locking the sun wheel F to a fixed point of the machine so as to hold it
stationary whilst the crank shaft A is operated. In this case as well as in the former
case the chain wheel is driven from the crank shaft by the plate B and wheels E, E,
but in the former case such wheels are prevented from independent rotation by the
sun wheel Flocked to the driving shaft, whilst in the latter case a retrogressive
motion is imparted to the intermediate wheels E, E through the medium of the planet
wheels D, D from the stationary sun wheel F during each revolution of the shaft
which retrogressive motion taking place in the wheels E, E, the chain wheel G driven
thereby revolves at a slower speed than the crank shaft. This is more clearly shown
in figure 1, where assuming the wheel F to be held stationary and the shaft A to be
rotated in the direction of its arrow the wheels D, D and E, E are independently
rotated upon their studs C in the direction shown by the arrows.
To effect the locking and unlocking of the sun wheel F so as to hold it stationary
or cause it to revolve with the crank shaft A, we provide such wheel with a boss J
screwed into the central boss K of the plate I, and keyed thereto by a snall key or
screw a. The plate L. is separately represented in section by figure 4, and Figure 5,
is an interior view of such plate with its attachments. An arm may be employed
instead of such plate but we prefer a plate as it helps to exclude dust and dirt. The
boss K of the plate L extends through the central opening M of the plate or cover N
(an outer view of which is separately shown by figure 6) which cover is fixed so as
to enclose the recess in the chain wheel G by the rivets 6 passed through the

page_text: periphery of such chain wheel and plate. The plate L is provided with radial
guides between which the bolt P fits having a projection Q extending through the
slot R in such plate and across the annular flange S formed on the outer face of said
plate, and the spring T fixed inside said plate is connected by its free end to said
bolt and tends to press the latter to its outward limit. In this position the end of
the bolt P lies between two of the projections U on the face of the cover N and thus
locks the plate L and sun wheel F fixed thereto to the cover N causing them to
revolve at the same speed as the crank shaft A and prevent the above mentioned
retrogressive motion of the wheels D, D and E, E. With the bolt P in this position
it will be seen that the whole of the mechanism is locked to the chain wheel and
revolves with the latter at the same speed as the crank shaft. If however the bolt P
is pressed inwards so that its outer end disengages the projections U and such bolt
and plate in which it is mounted held stationary the sun wheel F is locked fast and
a slower motion is communicated to the chain wheel from the crank shaft through the
medium of the wheels D, D and E, E.
The reduction in speed of the chain wheel in relation to the speed of the crank
shaft is directly in proportion to, the relative sizes of the sun wheel F and the wheel
formed by the interior teeth H of the chain wheel G.
We operate the bolt P by means of the lever W mounted on the bracket Y fixed
to the frame e. The lower end d of such lever is held clear of the projection Q by
means of the projection upon the frame e engaging the top of such lever when the
wheel is running at speed, but to reduce the speed the top h of such lever is moved
towards the projection j and as soon as the projection Q is felt to engage the end d
of such lever the top h is pushed behind the projection ; into the position represented
by the broken lines. In this manner the lower end d of the lever presses the
projection Q towards the centre of the wheel, as shown in figure 8, and releases the
bolt P from the projections U. At the same time the ratchet teeth m formed on d
engage the projection Q and allow such projection to continue revolving with the
wheel until the bolt P is disengaged but check the tendency of the plate L and sun
wheel F to revolve backwards as soon as P is disengaged. The rounded nose n of
the lever W prevents the projection Q from passing the end of such lever in back
pedalling when such lever is held by ; but is adapted to allow such projection to pass
if caught thereby previous to the bolt P being disengaged.
It is obvious that the catch lever W may be arranged to be operated by the foot
or by a lever mounted upon the handle bar and frame.
We have also invented an improved arrangement for locking and unlocking the
sun wheel F, for which we have made application for Letters Patent No. 13,407,
dated the 26th August 1889.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare what we
claim is:
In speed and power driving mechanism for velocipedes, the combination with a
sun wheel capable of being locked so as to revolve with the crank shaft or to be held
stationary, of a planet wheel engaging said sun wheel and mounted npon an arm or
plate rigidly secured to the crank shaft, an intermediate wheel also mounted upon
said arm or plate and engaging said planet wheel, and a chain wheel provided with
teeth to engage said intermediate wheel, substantially as herein shown and described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 11th day of January 1890
DRACUP & NOWELL,
Bradford, Agents.