IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE SPRINGS FOR CARRYING THE SADDLES OR SEATS OF BICYCLES, TRICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1884

page_text: I JOHN HARRINGTON of the "Enamel and Cradle Springs Works Coventry in
the county of Warwick Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of said
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE SPRINGS FOR CARRYING
THE SADDLES OR SEATS OF BICYCLES, TRICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES to be
as follows:-
The Invention has for its object improvements in and connected with the springs
for carrying the saddles or seats of bicycles, tricycles and other velocipedes whereby
I obtain ease of action, compactness of parts and durability combined or not with
adjustability in the strength of the spring.
In carrying my present Invention into effect I employ a spring formed of a rod
of metal bent and coiled into the shape of part of that class of spring shown and
described in the specification of Letters Patent granted to me dated September 24th
1879, N° 3849 and consisting of two upper and two lower limbs connected together
at one end by coils all of which parts are preferably formed of one length of rod
metal so that the two upper limbs of the spring, to which the saddle or seat is
fixed, are connected together rigidly at the front end thereof by a cross piece.
This cross piece I mount in a leather or other loop or eye fixed to a plate con-
nected with the neck of the back bone or with other suitable part of the machine
and I provide the lower limbs of the spring with trunnions which work in eyes or
bearings carried by a clip or other suitably shaped part fixed to the back bone or
other convenient part of the machine. These trunnions may be formed directly
upon the lower limbs of the spring or on separate sockets or holding parts formed
to receive and securely hold such lower limbs in which latter case I am enabled to
adjust the sockets or other holding parts longitudinally of such lower limbs. If
desired the spring may be formed of two pieces of rod metal and the forward ends
of the upper limbs may be fixed directly to the neck or other suitable part of the
machine.

page_text: As a modification of the above I form the spring with shorter arms than in the
arrangements above described and preferably I reverse said spring end for end
whilst I form the plate to which the spring is fixed large enough to act as a support
for the saddle or seat and instead of connecting such plate by a loop to the cross
piece connecting together the two upper limbs of the spring I connect such plate
to the spring by a leather or other loop or eye working on a cross rod which is
adjustably fixed to the upper limbs of the spring.
In this last described arrangement the lower limbs of the spring are fixed rigidly
to the back bone or other suitable part of the machine as heretofore.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I JOHN HARRINGTON of the Enamel and Cradle Spring Works, Coventry in
the County of Warwick, Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH THE SPRINGS FOR CARRYING
THE SADDLES OR SEATS OF BICYCLES, TRICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The invention has for its object improvements in and connected with the springs
for carrying the saddles or seats of bicycles; tricycles and other velocipedes whereby
I obtain ease of action, compactness of parts and durability combined or not with
adjustability in the strength of the spring.
In carrying my present invention into effect I employ a spring formed of a rod
of metal bent and coiled into the shape of part of that class of spring shown and
described in the specification of Letters Patent granted to me dated September 24;
1879 No 3849 and consisting of two upper and two lower limbs connected
together at one end by coils, all of which parts are preferably formed of one length
of rod metal, so that the two upper limbs of the spring to which the saddle or
seat is fixed, are connected together rigidly at the front end thereof by a cross
piece.
This cross-piece I mount in a leather or other loop or eye fixed to a plate con-
nected with the neck of the back-bone or with other suitable part of the machine
and I provide the lower limbs of the spring with trunions which work in eyes or
bearings carried by a clip or other suitably shaped part fixed to the back bone or
other convenient part of the machine.
These trunnions may be formed directly upon the lower limbs of the spring, or
on separate sockets or holding parts formed to receive and securely hold sucli lower
limbs, in which latter case I am enabled to adjust the sockets or other holding
parts longitudinally of such lower limbs.
If desired the spring may be formed of two pieces of rod metal and the forward.
ends of the upper limbs may be fixed directly to the neck or other suitable part of-
the machine.
As a modification of the above I form the spring with shorter arms than in the
arrangements above described and I preferably reverse said spring; end for end,
whilst I form the plate to which the spring is fixed large enough to act as a support.
for the saddle or seat and instead of connecting such plate by a loop to the cross-
piece, connecting together the two upper limbs of the spring, I connect such plate
to the spring by a leather or other loop or eye working on a cross rod which is
adjustably fixed to the upper limbs of the spring.
In this last described arrangement the lower limbs of the spring are fixed rigidly!
to the back bone or other suitable part of the machine as heretofore.

page_text: I
carried into effect, I will proceed aided by the accompanying drawings more rumy
to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS,
Figure 1 is a side elevation;. Figure 2 is a plan; and Figure 3 is an end view of
a spring and connected parts constructed according to my invention for carrying
the saddles or seats of bicycles, tricycles and other velocipedes and Figures 4 to 23
are various views of different modifications of my invention. In all the figures
like parts are marked with similar letters of reference.
I will first describe the arrangement shown at Figures 1, 2, 3. In this arrange-
ment I employ a spring formed of a rod of metal bent and coiled into the shape of
part of that class of spring shown and described in the specification of the before
mentioned Letters Patent and consisting of two upper limbs a and two lower
limbs a connected together at one end by coils al all of which parts are preferably
formed of one length of rod metal, so that the two upper limbs a of the spring. to
which the saddle or seat is fixed are connected together rigidly at the front end
thereof by a cross piece a³.
.
This cross-piece a³ I mount in a leather or other loop or eye b fixed to a plate c
formed with bearings c¹, by which it is connected with the neck of the back bone
or with other suitable part of the machine, and I provide the lower limbs of the
spring with trunnions & which work in eyes or bearings e¹.
These eyes or bearings are formed with screws at their lower parts by which
aided by nuts e² they are fixed to a clip e or to other suitably shaped part fixed to
the back bone or other convenient part of the machine. In this arrangement the
trunnions d are each formed with a sleeve d¹ which can be fixed on the lower
limbs a of the spring at any desired part thereof by means of the set screws d²
thereby enabling the strength of the spring to be adjusted between certain limits
as may be desired, or if desired the lower limbs a² may be connected rigidly to the
back bone or other suitable part of the machine.
A modification of the above is represented at Figures 4 and 5 which are
respectively a side view and a plan. In this modification I form the spring with
shorter arms a a² than in the arrangement above described and I preferably reverse
said spring end for end whilst I form the plate c to which the spring is fixed large
enough to act as a support for the saddle or seat and I connect said plate c to the
cross piece a³ by a leather or other loop b in a similar manner to the arrangement
first described whilst the lower limbs a2 of the spring may be fitted with the
adjustable trunnion arrangement represented at Figures 1, 2 and 3 or they may be
rigidly connected to the back-bone or other suitable part of the machine by the
ordinary clip or fastening hitherto employed.
Another modification is represented at Figures 6, 7 and 8 which are respectively
a side elevation, a plan, and an end view; this modification is of similar construc-
tion to that shown at Figures 4 and 5 except that instead of the plate c being
connected by a non-adjustable loop b to the cross piece a³ of the spring such loop
is adjustably fixed to the plate c which latter is connected by said loop b to a cross
rod f which is adjustably fixed to the upper limbs a of the spring by means of
clips f¹ and nuts f2 whilst the lower limbs a² of the spring are fixed rigidly to the
back bone or other suitable part of the machine as heretofore.
Another modification is represented at Figures 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13-Figures 9,
10 and 11 being respectively a side view a plan and an end view whilst Figures 12
and 13 are respectively a cross section and a side view of the trunnion arrange-
ment separately. In this modification I dispense with the plate c and prolong the
upper limbs a of the spring and bend the metal of which the same is made, back
upon itself in such manner as to form the bearings c' by which the spring is con-
nected at its forward end to the head or to other suitable part of the machine and
I provide the lower limbs a² of the spring with trunnions & mounted in bearings el

page_text: fixed to the clip e or other convenient part by means of nuts e² in a similar manner
to the arrangement shown and described with respect to Figures 1, 2, and 3 except
that the trunnions d are formed of plain cylinders with a transverse hole bored
through the same to receive the limbs a² of the spring and the bearings e¹ in which
such trunnions & work are formed with slots ea to permit of the passage there-
through and the free action of the limbs a² of the spring.
Another modification is represented at Figures 14 and 15 which are respectively
a side view and a plan of the same. In this case the spring is formed in a similar
manner to that shown and described with respect to Figures 1, 2 and 3 so far as
regards the upper limbs a coils a¹ lower limbs u² and connecting cross-piece a³ but'
instead of mounting the cross-piece a³ in a leather or other loop b fixed to the
plate c I in this modification connect the plate c rigidly to the cross-piece a³ and
to the upper limbs a of the spring by means of a plate c² and a clip c³ rivetted to
such plate c; the parts c c² c³ being formed to clip tightly the. cross-piece a³ and
upper limbs a. The lower limbs a' may be provided with either of the trunnion
arrangements herein before described or they may be fixed rigidly to the back bone
or other suitable part of the machine.
Another modification is represented at Figures 16 and 17 which are respectively
a side view and a plan. In this case the spring is constructed in precisely the same
manner as that represented at Figures 14 and 15 except that the outer ends of the
lower limbs a are bent outwards at right angles so as to form trunnions & which
are carried in bearings e' fixed to the clip e in a similar manner to that represented
at Figures 1, 2 and 3.
In this case however as the trunnions & form part of the lower limbs a² of the
spring there is no adjustability in the strength of the spring.
Another modification is represented at Figures 18, 19 and 20 which are respec-
tively a side view, a plan and a cross section. In this case the spring is formed of
two pieces of rod metal, each piece being employed to form one side of the spring
consisting of upper limb a coil a' lower limb a² and bearing c¹ the two sides of
the spring being.fixed rigidly together by a clip piece c³ brazed or otherwise fixed
to such parts. In this case the lower limbs a² may be fixed rigidly to the back
bone or other suitable part of the machine or they may be provided with either of
the trunnion arrangements herein-before described.
Another modification is shown at Figures 21, 22, and 23 which are respectively
a side view, an end view, and a plan. In this case the spring and the bearings c¹,
are formed of one piece of rod metal, but the cross piece a³, connects the limbs a
instead of the limbs a and such cross piece a³ is curved whilst the coils a¹ and the
limbs a² are sufficiently wide apart to enable the back bone of the machine to pass
between, thereby enabling the spring and consequently the saddle or seat to be
brought closer down to the backbone.
The limbs a are provided with adjustable bearings d¹ carrying trunnions d.
The trunnions work in bearings e¹, carried by the clip e, which is fixed to the back-
bone or other part of the machine, thus by shifting the clip along the backbone
or other suitable part of the machine, the bearings d¹ will be caused to support the
limbs a nearer to or further from the coils a¹ thereby regulating the strength of
the spring. I have not shown in these figures the trunnions and other connected
parts as such are of a like character to those shown at Figures 1, 2, and 3.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A spring formed with upper and lower limbs a, a² connecting coils a¹, cross
piece as, loop or eye b, plate c formed with bearings c¹ with or without adjustable
or non-adjustable trunnions d and bearings e¹ constructed and arranged sub-
stantially as herein shown and described and for the purpose stated.
2. A spring formed with upper and lower limbs a a³ connecting coils a¹ cross
bar as fixed plate c and bearings cl with or without trunnions d and bearings e¹

page_text: constructed and arranged substantially as herein shown and described and for the
purpose stated.
:
3. A spring formed with upper and lower limbs a a² connecting coils a¹, cross
bar a³ loop or eye b adjustably fixed to a plate c formed with bearings c¹, and
carrying a cross barf which by clips f¹ and nuts f' is adjustably fixed to the
upper limbs a all constructed and arranged substantially as herein shown and
described and for the purpose stated.
4. A spring formed with upper and lower limbs &, a², connecting coils a¹ cross
bar a³ or c³ and bearings c' with or without trunnions & all constructed and
arranged substantially as herein shown and described and for the purpose stated.
JOHN HARRINGTON.
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings,
Agents.