Improvements in Wire Rope Gear for Cycles and other purposes.
Year: 1893

page_text: Late of Application, 24th Apr., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Jan., 1894-Accepted, 24th Feb., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wire Rope Gear for Cycles and other purposes.
I HARRY BURNHAM of 18 Hildreth Street Balham in the County of Surrey
Civil and Mechanical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
Instead of the usual chain gear and sprocket wheels-I make a special kind of
wire rope belt cable or band of steel or iron which 1 manufacture in one piece or
endless ring,, twisted, plaited, or woven in a special manner, so as to avoid the
unevenness of splicing-That is to say I make the said endless rope from one
more lengths of wire and finish off by working in, soldering, or braizing.
I also make special sheave pulleys of such a form as to nip or grip the rope and
I make one or both of stamped sheet steel or other metal in two parts bolted
rivetted or otherwise secured together and adjustable with packings or screws or [
put tension on by an elastic coil spring or discs of india rubber.
I make these pulleys with corrugations or ribs alternating in the grooved
periphery of the wheel.
I sometimes make the said pulleys solid but divided across the diameter for
convenience and adaptability. In either case my said improvements can be applied
to existing cycles.
The said wire ropes and pulleys can be applied and specially arranged or modified
to suit the driving of all kinds of machinery.
Dated this 22nd day of April 1893
H. BURNHAM
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wire Rope Gear for Cycles and other purposes.
I HARRY BURNHAM of 18 Hildreth Street Balham in the County of Surrey
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 :-
For the transmission of power in "cycles" and instead of the usual pitch chain
and sprocket wheels, I substitute specially constructed sheave pulleys with ribs or
corrugations alternating round the periphery of a V shaped groove."
These pulleys may be either cast, forged, or stamped, and made in one or more
parts to suit manufacture, lightness, and fixing, and of such a form that the wire
rope is compelled to take a serpentine path round the pulleys, which prevents
slipping.
The boss may be screwed keyed or of any other form for facility of fixing and
to suit the axles or hub of "cycle" wheel as the case may be.
The endless wire rope belt cable or band I manufacture in a special manner and
of steel, iron, or other suitable material which I make in one piece or endless ring,
twisted, plaited, or woven, so as to avoid the unevenness of ordinary splicing, for
example I take one-length of wire and loop it into several rings of the required
circumference and with the remaining end 1 wind all round, binding the strands
together and making up a sufficient substance and finish off the ends by working in
or braizing

page_text: In the case of plaiting, after the second strand has been laid or wound I
interlace the remainder over and under each warp until sufficient substance is
obtained.
In the case when woven I cast two or more loops and work the rest backwards
and forwards, under and over each warp.
Similar sheave pulleys or a number of them placed side by side, with wire
ropes of similar construction may also be used for transmitting power to
machinery.
In the accompanying drawing the same letters refer to like parts in each figure.
Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are two views and a section shewing one form of pulleys cast in
one or more parts. The ribs A, A, are not opposite each other but alternately
placed. B is a one sided wheel with a half rim C.secured to it by rivets or
screws D, D.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 show another form of pulleys, where the two parts are alike and
secured together with rivets, or screws at D, D.
Figs. 7, 8 and 9 show the small pulley in one or more parts with the boss screwed
or otherwise fixed to the hub of the "cycle" wheel.
E, E, is the wire rope.
I prefer to make the pulleys in two or more parts, so as to be able to adjust and
vary them by packings of wood, india rubber or other suitable material, by this
means the endless rope can be tightened or loosened if desired, but my endless rope
will run and drive however slack it may happen to be.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
The corrugated sheave pulleys and endless and spliceless wire rope or flexible
cable for the transmission of power in "cycles" and for other purposes substantially
as described and set forth.
Dated this 20th day of January 1894.
HARRY BURNHAM.