Certain Improvements in Gear Cases for Bicycles and other Veloci- pedes and the like, and in the Manufacture of the said Gear Cases.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 17th Mar., 1898
Certain Improvements in Gear Cases for Bicycles and other Veloci-
pedes and the like, and in the Manufacture of the said Gear Cases.
We, WALTER HENRY CORKER, of Vulcan Works, Wolverhampton, in the County
of Stafford, Manufacturer, and S. J. & E. FELLOWS LIMITED, of Vulcan Works,
aforesaid, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:
This invention has reference to gear cases which are made of sheet metal or
celluloid or other stiff and suitable sheet material and are used on safety bicycles
and other velocipedes and the like to enclose the driving chain and chain wheels.
This invention consists firstly of the herein described improved means for secur-
ing together the two main parts of the gear case; secondly of an improved method
of stamping or pressing the parts of the said gear case and thirdly improved means
for lubricating the chain and chain wheels within the gear case.
We will describe this invention by referring to the accompanying drawings on
which Fig. 1 is a side clevation of a gear case made in accordance with this inven-
tion and shewn as applied to a safety bicycle of which the crank axle and the
driving wheel axle and a part of the frame are shewn; Fig. 2 is a cross section of
the same on line V V of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross section of the same on line W W
of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a cross section of the same gear case on line XX of Fig. 1 ;
Fig. 5 shews the top and bottom halves of the said gear case and the connecting
slide of the same separately; Fig. 6 is a plan of the bottom die for use in stamping
the gear case shewn by the preceding Figs.; Fig. 7 is a cross section of the said
die on line Y Y of Fig. 6, and Fig. 8 is a cross section of the said die on line ZZ of
Fig. 6.
The same letters of reference indicate the same or corresponding parts in all the
figures.
The upper part of the gear case consists of two thin sheet metal or celluloid
stampings marked respectively A' A² scamed or soldered together along the outer
edge a¹, and the lower part of the gear case consists of two similar stampings
marked respectively B¹ 12 which are also seamed or soldered together along the
outer edge bl.
The top part A¹ A2 of the gear case is secured to the bottom part B1 B2 of the
gear case on a line passing through the crank axle C and driving wheel axle 1)
and there is a removable trough section sliding piece E which assists in connecting
together the parts A'B' of the gear case and can by a sliding movement be removed
when desired this piece E being rendered necessary (as in some other cases) to
enclose the bottom stay of the cycle frame.
According to the first part of this invention we secure the lower part B1 B2 to
the upper part A1 A2 and the slide E thereto as follows, so that the said upper and
lower parts and slide can readily be removed when required and readily replaced.
We form an outwardly projecting bead or rib a² along the lower edges of the
upper parts AA2 of the gear case this bead or rib extending round the two ends
of the gear case to or almost to the holes in the gear case where the axles D and C

page_text: pass through. The said bead or rib a² also extends as shewn from near the hole
for the axle C to where the slide E commences. We similarly form an outwardly
projecting bead or rib along the upper edges of the lower part B1 B2 of the gear
case this bead or rib corresponding with and being made of the proper size to
fit outside the said bead or rib a on the upper part A1 A2 when the upper and
lower parts of the gear case are pressed together as hereinafter described. The
hole in the front of the gear case where the crank axle C passes through is
strengthened by a collar made in halves, marked respectively L' L2 each of these
halves being formed with a flange by which it is rivetted or otherwise fixed
to the corresponding front part of the gear case. These half collars L¹ L2 are screw
threaded on the outside, and to screw on to them I provide a nut F (see
Figs. 1 and 3) which when screwed on holds the two parts A¹ B₁ of the gear case
securely together at the crank axle end. The two parts A'B' of the gear case are
also held together by the removable slide E which is shewn separately in Fig. 5
and is made of trough section so as to cover the bottom stay of the bicycle frame.
This slide E is as shewn made taper that is wider at that end nearer to the driving
wheel axle D, and the sides e' e² of the slide E are turned inwardly so as to form
channels which when the slide E is in place engage with the outwardly turned
edges a³ 63 of the front parts A'B' (see Fig. 5). At the wider end of the slide E
there is formed a loop or eye e³ which engages with the driving wheel axle D. The
back of the upper part A2 and of the lower part 1 of the gear case are cut away
at n' to clear the back stay at the latter's junction with the bottom bracket.
To fix the gear case above described in position on the cycle, the upper half A* A³
and the lower half B B2 of the gear case are placed in position enclosing the driv-
ing chain and chain wheels and these two parts are then pressed together so that
the projecting bead or rib 62 on the lower part B B will snap over the bead or
rib a² of the upper part A'A². The nut F is then secured on to the half
bosses L L and then the slide E is slid along the gear case in the direction of
the arrow shewn in Fig. 1 so that its turned edges e e engage with the edges a³ ³
at the front A B of the gear case, and the looped end e³ is placed over the driving
wheel axle D and the nut is then screwed thereon to hold the looped end e³ and
thus the gear case is firmly secured in position. The gear case can as readily be
removed by first removing the nut d'and sliding off the slide E and then removing
the nut F and separating the lower half B B2 from the upper half A¹ A².
We prefer to stamp the gear case with inclined corrugations ab as shewn so as
to stiffen the sides and enable the gear case to be made of thinner metal than if
the sides were not corrugated but it is to be understood that these corrugations may
if desired be dispensed with or other corrugations arranged in a different way
substituted therefor.
This
In order to lubricate the driving chain we provide, or we may provide, in the
top of the upper part A'B' a small oil chamber G which is provided with a filling
hole in a boss H which is soldered or otherwise fixed to the gear case.
filling hole is closed by a pointed screw I which passes through the chamber G
and enters the outlet hole g' in the bottom of the chamber G. The oil from the
chamber G drops through the hole g¹ on to the driving chain and by screwing down
the screw I the outlet hole can be closed or only slightly opened and thus the supply
of oil can be regulated. At the lower part of the gear case there may be an
outlet J through which the superfluous oil escapes.
In order to ensure the two parts A' B' of the gear case fitting together properly
where they overlap, and to prevent them from buckling after being stamped, and
also to ensure the back part A similarly fitting properly against the back part B2
of the gear case, we stamp the upper front part A¹ and the lower front part B¹
together from one blank and we similarly stamp and upper back part A2 and the
lower back part B2 together from another blank and then the blanks are cut
through so as to form the two parts A¹ B¹ and the two parts A² B2. Fig. 6 shews
the bottom die which, with a top die of corresponding form, we employ for stamp-
ing the sheet metal or celluloid or other blank into the shape to form the front of

page_text: The
the gear case shewn by Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. By an examination of Fig. 6 it will
be seen that the part of the die below the horizontal line TT corresponds with the
lower part B of the gear case and the part of the die above the horizontal line TT
The sunk grooves k
corresponds with the upper part A of the gear case.
correspond with the bead or rib 2 of the lower part B' and the sunk grooves cor-
respond with the projecting bead or rib a² of the upper front part A' of the
gear case. The sunk grooves correspond with the corrugations ab
blanks after being stamped are clipped so as to leave a small rim all round for
the purpose of seaming or soldering the parts together at ab' as will readily be
understood. After the blank has been stamped in the die shewn by Figs. 6, 7
and 8, the blank is cut through on the line TT so that one part of the stamping
as aforesaid will form the front part B of the gear case and the other part of the
stamping will form the upper part A' of the gear case and as both of these parts
have been stamped together it will be found that they will properly fit together
and will not be buckled. The recess in the bottom die K corresponds with the
opening in the front of the gear case where the bottom stay comes through.
It will be understood that in the die for stamping the back of the gear case this
recess is not required.
Instead of the upper edges of the lower part B1 B2 of the gear case being made
to take outside the lower edges of the upper part A' A² thereof this arrangement
may be reversed that is to say the upper edges of the lower part B1 B2 may be
arranged to come inside the lower edges of the upper part A¹ A².
When making our improved gear case for those velocipedes and the like which
are made without the bottom stay projecting through the gear case, the slide E
may be dispensed with and the beads a² 62 be continued all along between the
axles C and D. and the halves of the gear case be fixed together at the axle D by
a divided collar and nut such as the collar L', L2 and nut F above described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
-
1. In gear cases of the kind herein referred to the improved means herein
described for removably securing together the two halves of the gear case con-
sisting in forming outwardly projecting beads such as a² 63 along or partly along
the overlapping edges of the said upper and lower parts so arranged that when
placed together the beaded edges of the one part will spring within and be
embraced by the beaded edges of the other part substantially as herein before
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
2. In a gear case of the kind herein referred to the combination of the stamped
upper part A' A2 and the stamped lower part B1 B2 both parts having their over-
lapping edges beaded so as to spring one within the other and engage together as
set forth, the divided screwed collar L'L2 fixed respectively to the top and bottom
halves of the gear case round the crank axle, the nut F adapted to screw on to the
two halves L L of the collar, and the taper slide E made with inturned
edges el e adapted to engage with the outwardly turned edges a³ 63 of the upper
and lower parts of the gear case all substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
3. In a gear case of the kind herein referred to the combination of the stamped
upper part A' A2 and the stamped lower part B B both parts having their over-
ing edges beaded so as to spring one within the other and engage together as
forth, two divided collars such as L' L2 fixed respectively to the top or bottom
alves of the gear case round the two axles holes of the same and nuts adapted to
screw on to the halves of each of the collars all substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
4. In a gear case of the kind herein referred to the combination with the upper
and lower parts of the same of a divided screwed collar such as L'L³ fixed respec-
tively to the top and bottom halves of the gear case around the axle holes of the

page_text: same and a nut adapted to screw on to the two halves of the collar to hold or assist
in holding the two parts of the gear case together substantially as herein before
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
5. In a gear case of the kind herein referred to the combination with the upper
and lower parts of the same the two divided screwed collars such as L'L² fixed
respectively around the axle holes of the same and nuts adapted to screw on to the
two halves of the collars to hold or assist in holding the two parts of the gear case
together, substantially as herein before described with reference to the accompany-
ing drawings.
6. In a gear case of the kind herein referred to the combination with the upper
and lower parts of the same of an oil chamber G formed within the upper part of
the gear case and provided with a closing screw I the lower part of the gear case
having an outlet J through which the superfluous oil escapes, all substantially as
herein before described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
7. The herein described improved method of stamping gear cases of the kind
denoted under claim 1 consisting in stamping both halves of the front or back of
the gear case together corrugated and with their beaded edges a² 62 side by side
so that when the stamping is cut through longitudinally between the beads the
stamping will form the two halves of the back or front of the gear case with the
beaded edges adapted to fit together substantially as hereinbefore described.
8. Stamped gear cases for bicycles and other velocipedes and the like constructed
and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated by the accom-
panying drawings.
Dated this 4th day of March 1897.
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.