Improvements in Friction Clutches, principally for use in Cycles.
Year: 1899

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Friction Clutches, principally for use in Cycles.
I, CHARLES AUGUSTUS HYDE, Managing Director of The James Cycle Company,
of Sampson Road North, Sparkbrook, in the City of Birmingham, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to friction clutches, principally for use in cycles in
connection with the hubs of "free" wheels, and in connection with the crank
axles when applied to the purpose of back pedalling brakes, and has for its
object, to obviate the bursting or distortion of the inner discs or outer rings,
such as is liable to occur in clutches where rollers work upon the inclined
bottoms of outer peripheral recesses of the inner disc and take their thrust
against the inner periphery of the outer ring, which, in the case of a hub clutch
is toothed and constitutes the "free" chain or sprocket wheel.
In carrying out my invention as applied to a hub clutch, I take an ordinary
hub, having outwards of one of the spoke flanges, an annular collar, with a
plain part outwards of it upon which the loose toothed ring or sprocket may
freely run. The outer side of the said sprocket ring is sunken with a plain-
faced recess, within which a clutch check or disc, screwed upon a stepped and
wormed end of the hub, is located and may be retained by a lock nut taking
onto a further stepped and oppositely wormed end of the hub. The inward
face of the clutch dise is presented to the outer plain face of the loose toothed
ring, and has sunken within it a series of inclined-bottomed and radially-
disposed recesses with the inclines all raking in the same direction and each
fitted with a loose clutching roller disposed in a direction at right angles to
the axis of the hub, the arrangement being such that when the toothed ring is
held stationary by the chain, the rollers fall to the bottoms of the recesses out
of clutching contact with the said ring and allow the hub to freely rotate, but
on forward pedalling being resumed the friction of the rotating toothed ring
causes the rollers to travel up the inclines until they become jambed between
the opposed surfaces of the hub cheek and toothed ring, and thereby lock the
two parts together as long as forward pedalling is continued.
In order to ensure more positive clutching of the rollers, springs tending to
take them into their clutching positions may be located between them and the
ends of the slots, and pressure blocks may be interposed the springs and rollers
or the springs may be arranged to encircle stalks or pins with headed ends to
receive the spring thrust and transmit the same to the rollers.
The application of my invention to clutches for use in connection with crank
axles in back pedalling brake mechanism differs in no essential respect from
its application to a free wheel hub clutch as herein described.
Dated the 10th day of August 1899.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Friction Clutches, principally for use in Cycles.
I, CHARLES AUGUSTUS HYDE, Managing Director of The James Cycle Company
Limited, residing at Rose Villa, Warwick Road, Elton, near the City of
Birmingham, 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 friction clutches, principally for use in cycles in
connection with the hubs of "free" driving wheels and also in connection with
the crank axles of cycles, when applied for the purpose of operating back-pedalling
brake mechanism.
The particular type of clutch to which my said invention has reference is that
in which a series of spring-pressed rollers are located across inclined recesses
formed in the periphery of the inner disc of the clutch, which is surrounded by
an outer ring, this latter being (in the case of a free wheel hub clutch) toothed
to form the chain wheel and constitutes the driving member by which drive is
transmitted through the rollers to the inner disc or member connected with the
hub. In a back pedal brake clutch the inner member or disc is secured to the
crank axle and acts as the driver, and, on the rider back-pedalling, its motion is
communicated through the rollers to the outer encircling ring, which is suitably
connected with the brake mechanism. Such clutches, however, have several
serious defects; for instance it has been found that the thrust set up by the
friction rollers in transmitting the driving power tends to stretch or distort,
and even burst, the outer ring and owing to the increase of circumference due
to such stretching, the rollers are apt to miss their grip and so fail to drive.
Further, in the event of a spring breaking, the roller is very liable to get out of
position and jamb the clutch, whilst the whole mechanism is apt to be clogged
by grit or dirt entering the same.
Now the objects of my invention are to overcome or obviate these defects, and
to construct a simple and efficient form of roller clutch which shall be positive
in its action and not liable to be deranged by the stretching or wearing at the
outer ring or jambing of a roller in the event of a spring breaking, whilst the
lodgement of dirt or grit within the interior of the mechanism is prevented.
To attain these objects, instead of locating the friction rollers within inclined
recesses formed or cut within the periphery or edge of the disc or inner member
of the clutch, I propose to form the recesses with inclined faces, in a radial series
or in the direction of a diameter across the flat inner side of the said disc and
to dispose the rollers also radially within these recesses to take their thrust
against an opposed flat surface of the outer member or chain ring.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents an elevation of a cycle
free-wheel hub fitted or provided with a clutch constructed in accordance with
my invention.
Figure 2 is an elevation of the clutch end of the said hub.
Figure 3 represents a cross section of the said clutch upon the dotted line,
Figure 2, showing the same applied to the wheel hub.
Figure 4 represents an elevation of the inner side or face of the fixed member
or disc of the clutch, showing the arrangement of the recesses formed therein,
together with the rollers and their springs in position.
Figure 5 shows an edge view of the said disc, with the loose toothed ring (which
is represented in section) encircling it.

page_text: Figure 6 represents the said loose ring and fast disc, with their carrier sleeve,
in complete cross section and separately from the body of the hub.
Figure is a view showing the inner side of the clutch, with portions of the
carrier sleeve and toothed ring broken away to show one of the rollers lying in
the deepest part of its recess, which has an inclined face, or is shallower at
one end than the other.
Figure S represents a similar view of the two parts of the clutch as Figure 5,
but with the fixed disc shown in a different position to better exemplify the shape
and arrangement of the roller recesses.
Figure 9 shows the recessed disc, the loose toothed ring, the carrier onto which
the clutch members are secured and the body of the hub, separated from one
another.
Figure 10 is an elevation of the recessed face of the disc separately whilst
Figure 11 shows one of the rollers and Figure 12 one of the springs.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the said Figures 1
to 12.
In carrying out this form of my invention, I take an ordinary hub, having,
outwards of one of the spoke flanges a wormed collar, adapted to receive a
screwed-on sleeve or carrier b, upon which the clutch is mounted in such a manner
as to be bodily removable from the hub when required. The said sleeve has an
abutment or stop flange b', at its inner end, contiguous to a plain part 6, upon
which the loose toothed ring or sprocket member c, may freely run, with its
inner face abutting against the stop flange b', which, retains it in position in one
direction. The outer side cl, of the said sprocket ring is sunken with an annular
recess, having a plain face and within which, the fixed clutch member
or disc is fitted, by being screwed onto the wormed outer part 63, of the sleeve
which, as before mentioned, is itself screwed upon the wormed collar of the
hub and retained either by the action of driving tending to keep the sleeve
screwed home against the outer face of the spoke flange, or equivalent abutment,
or by means of a supplementary lock nut threaded onto a stepped and oppositely-
wormed extension of the hub, or in any other suitable way, so long as the clutch
dise is secured to the said hub in such a manner as to rotate therewith.
A stop collar 6, is formed upon the sleeve or bush b', up to which the clutch
disc, is screwed and there retained by the action of driving, which tends to
screw the said disc constantly against the said collar, by the provision of which,
the jambing or binding of the rollers between the face of the clutch disc and
the opposed face of the toothed driving ring is prevented. The inner face d',
of the clutch disc is presented to the outer plain face 3, of the loose toothed
ring c, and has sunken within it, a series of inclined-bottomed and radially-
disposed recesses e, with the inclines el, all raking in the same direction and
each fitted with a loose clutching roller f, disposed in a radial direction relative
to the face of the disc, and at right angles relative to the axis of the hub, and
at the back of each roller is a small coiled spring y disposed in a curved sinking g'
so as to be clear of the face of the toothed ring with its rear end bearing
against a cross pin g², or equivalent stop. These several parts are so arranged
that when the toothed ring is held stationary by the chain, the rollers are
forced to the bottoms of the recesses, out of clutching contact with the said ring,
thus leaving the hub free to rotate, but on forward pedalling being resumed,
the friction of the rotating toothed ring causes the rollers to travel up the
inclines until they become jambed between the opposed surfaces of the hub
dise and toothed ring, and thereby lock the two parts together as long as forward
pedalling is continued.
This lifting of the rollers is assisted, and the positive clutching of the rollers
ensured by the expansion of the springs, which are compressed or made active
when the rollers are forced to the deepest parts of their several recesses by the
friction set up by the disc when running free within the sunken face of the chain
ring, and if necessary, pressure blocks may be interposed between the said

page_text: springs and the rollers, or the springs may be arranged to encircle stalks or
pins with headed ends to receive the spring thrust and transmit the same to the
rollers.
Figure 13 shows a modification in which the pressure springs of the rollers
are disposed in such a manner as to obviate the necessity of forming a channel
around the recessed face of the fixed disc for their reception.
Thus, in this arrangement, the springs g, are located in holes g', bored tan-
gentially within the disc from the outer periphery to the deeper end of the
roller recesses, and after the springs have been inserted, the outer ends of the
holes are closed by small screw plugs g², or similar closures forming also abut-
ments for the outer ends of the springs.
The application of my invention to clutches for use in connection with crank
axles in back-pedalling brake mechanism differs in no essential respect from its
application to a free wheel hub clutch as herein described.
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
In friction clutches of that type in which rollers are employed, forming the
inclined recesses for the reception of the rollers in the direction of a diameter
across the flat side or face of one member of the clutch, with the rollers being
disposed in the same direction and taking their thrust against the opposed flat
face or side of the other member of the clutch, substantially as and for the
purpose described and set forth.
Dated this 26th day of October 1899
CHARLES AUGUSTUS HYDE.
By Henry Skerrett,
24, Temple Row, Birmingham, Agent for Applicant.