IMPROVEMENTS: IN VELOCIPEDES AND OTHER WHEEL VEHICLES
Year: 1869

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Thomas Rickett at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th.
March 1869.
I, THOMAS RICKETT, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS:
IN VELOCIPEDES AND OTHER WHEEL VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
Heretofore it has been proposed to make velocipedes with two wheels
on one axle, the axle being split or made in the form of a ring between
the wheels, and the body of the operater being placed erect within the
ring, which is provided with a pair of crutches for the partial support of
the body. Now my improvements consist in constructing velocipedes
with two large very light wheels, which run loose on one plain axle, and
from the axle between the wheels I suspend a seat and attach a
cushion on or immediately above the axle. The height of the seat is
adjustable and is made so that when the operator sets upon it he may
lean upon the axle cushion with his arms, the seat slings are
attached to the axle by a hook or button, so that the operator having
detached one side of the seat places himself when erect between the
axle and the seat, he then reattaches the sling to the axle, and sits upon
the scat. The carriage, therefore, in its simplest form consists of a pair.
of wheels, an axle with a seat slung from it, proportioned so that the

page_text: entire weight of the body may be balanced on the seat, or the feet may
be used for propelling, and the weight of the body. be carried partly by
the seat and partly by the arms resting on the axle, or under certain
circumstances wholly by the axle; but I prefer to construct these car-
riages also with a brake, a rest for the feet, and a provision for carrying
small articles. For this purpose I construct a pair of light triangular but
curved frames, the apex or top of each frame being connected to the
axle and the under side or base forming in the front a foot rest by a stay
connecting the two frames together within the radius of the wheels, and
at the back each frame terminating in a brake block which projects
beyond the radius of the wheels and bears upon the ground when desired,.
these frames being free to swing may in some cases carry the seat. A
pair of rails or handles are attached to the hinder parts of the frames con-
venient for the hands, so that in descending an incline, or whenever it is
desired to retard or arrest the motion of the carriage, the upper part of
the body is thrown back and the hands are placed upon the framing
rails behind, the effect of which is that a considerable portion of the
weight is thrown upon the brake blocks, which coming in contact with
the road retard or stop the carriage at pleasure.
In some cases I make the frames of metal tubes bent into a semi-
circular form attached to the axle, and terminating in a foot rest in
front and brake blocks behind, such frames being convenient for the
hands to rest upon when applying the brakes and for carrying in front.
The seat may be a plain cushioned board, or in some cases I prefer to
form it with a protection at the back and sides like a basket chair, and
connect it to the swing frames, so that the effect of falling back would
be simply to apply the brakes, and it is evident that although the
carriage proper consists of only two wheels, two or more of such
carriages may be connected together, for which provision is made on the
axle. The carriages are coupled by each having a pair of light curved
stretchers or links which embrace the axle immediately within the
wheels; these stretchers are made to meet at a point beyond the
radius of the wheels where they terminate in a vertical joint of con-
siderable depth.
The Invention also consists in constructing wheels for velocipedes and
other vehicles so that instead of carrying the load by a series of props
between the axle and the road, as heretofore, it is suspended from the
rim of the wheel by small wire tension rods in the following manner :-

page_text: I form a complete circle for the rim of the wheel (when of wood) by
steaming and bending one or more strips of hard wood (ash by pre-
ference), tapering their ends, and then jointing them into a circle. I
form the wheel centres of a pair of metal discs or plates provided on
their outer sides with a number of studs, and I connect the rim to the
wheel centres by a similar or double number of tension rods. These discs
have on the inside short tubes or cylinders sliding one within the other,
they are fitted to the axle and provided with screws for the purpose of
forcing them apart. I form the tension rods by preference of steel wire,
and I connect one end of each wire to the centre of the rim of the wheel
either by a small hook screwed into the rim or by letting the loop pass
through the rim and inserting a wire keep through the loop. The other
ends of the wires are attached to the studs on the wheel centres before
mentioned. I use two sets of rods to each wheel and attach one set to
each of the two discs forming the wheel centres, the discs are then forced
apart by the screws, which increasing the angle at the base tightens the
wires, and tends to compress the rim of the wheel, making it a perpetual
arch. For velocipedes I prefer to make the rim of such dimensions that
it will yield slightly on the under side, or when in contact with the road.
I prefer wood hoops for tyres, and, if desired, they may be protected by
creosote or other substance. In some cases I prefer to use double
tension rods, attaching one to each side of the wheel rim from both sides
of the wheel centres. The rods are so arranged that in case of one being
damaged it can readily be taken out by slacking the screws and another
can be inserted. In making metal rims to such wheels I prefer to use
thin tubes of steel or other metal bent and jointed into complete circles.
I employ a pair of tubular rings thus formed, placed side by side and
brazed or soldered together, being kept a little distance apart by packing
pieces or a small tube. Outside the pair of rings I bed on to them a
wooden hoop to which the tyre is attached, and inside I also bed a small
strip or hoop of wood. The outer and inner hoops are fastened together
by screws passing between the tubes, and the wire fastenings are also
screwed through the inner to the outer hoop. One tubular ring may be
used; but I prefer the two as being more convenient for attachments
and giving greater lateral stability.