An Improved Stop for Vehicle Wheels.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Feb., 1898-Accepted, 26th Mar., 1898
An Improved Stop for Vehicle Wheels.
I, FREDERIC HUGHES, of 20, Paget Road, West Dulwich, 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:-
My invention relates to an improved stop for vehicle wheels, the object of which
is to effectually lock the wheels of all kinds of vehicles, which are temporarily left
unattended by their drivers, and thus to prevent accidents being caused by the
bolting of restive or frightened horses or other animals. The apparatus can be
instantly applied and removed; it securely locks the wheel; can be used as a skid;
obviates the use of the usual skid chain, and by slight modification is applicable to the
locking of cycles, perambulators and trucks.
In carrying my invention into practice, I proceed in or in about the following
manner making reference to the accompanying sheet of drawings in which, Fig. 1,
shows an end view, and Fig. 2, a side view of a two wheeled cart furnished with my
invention. Fig. 3, being an isometrical view of a modified method of applying the
stop. Similar letters denote similar parts wherever occurring.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, attached to the underside of the bottom a of the
vehicle b is a hanger c in which is a slot d. In the slot d is free to move to and
fro the arm e having at one end the fork feach "prong" of which is surrounded
by a roller 9 covered with rubber or other suitable material. The other end of e
is pivotted at h to the free end of the shorter arm of the bell crank lever i
fulcrummed at j to the bracket k. The louger arm of the lever i is weighted at l.
A chain m is attached to the weighted end of i for the purpose of putting the stop
in and out of action, provision being made by a hook n or other means for
shortening the amount of chain in use. The fork f has attached to it one end of
a comparatively slack chain o, the other end of which is attached to a suitable part
of the vehicle and preferably to one end of the spring p. Another chain q has its
opposite ends attached to f and to the lower end of the hanger c. The arrangement
of parts are as follows:- When the weighted end of i is raised as shown by the full
lines in the drawing, the arm e will be drawn inwards through the slot d and keep the
fork f clear of the wheel r, but when the weighted end of i is allowed to fall, the
arm e is thrust outwards and the fork f pushed through the wheel either so as to
have both "prongs" within a space between two spokes, or so as to have a spoke
between the two prongs. The modification shown in Fig. 3, consists in surrounding
a portion of the hanger c (made cylindrical) with a sleeves from which projects
the arm t carrying the fork fl. From s also projects the arm u, on the pin v of
which is free to move the link w pivotted to the outer end of the arm e (which in
this case is of course not provided with the fork ƒ shown in Figs. 1 and 2). The
relative positions of t and u are such, that when the weighted end of i is let fall
and drives e outwards, the link w will push u in the direction of the arrow x, and
cause 8 to turn in the direction of arrow y and thrust the fork through the

page_text: wheel and lock it in the way already mentioned. A spiral spring might be
provided within the sleeve so as to keep the fork normally through the wheel, its
withdrawal from which position could be effected by drawing on the end of the arm
in any suitable manner. The arm é might also be moved to and fro by a toothed
wheel gearing into teeth provided in the edge of the rod e, the said wheel being
operated in any suitable manner from the vehicle, or there might be two hangers c
and a spiral spring between them and encircling the rod e so as to keep the fork
normally thrust through the wheel from which position it could be withdrawn by a
chain attached to the end of e, and passing over suitably situated pulleys, the end
of such chain being under control of the person in the vehicle.
I do not confine myself to the precise shapes or configuration or to the relative
proportions or disposition of parts as described in the above specification, or
exemplified in the accompanying drawing, as any or all of them may be
considerably varied without departure from the essential features of the
invention.
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 —
CLAIMS.
1. An improved stop for vehicle wheels, the said stop consisting essentially of a
bell crank lever attached below the vehicle, one end of the said bell crank lever
being weighted, and the other end pivotted to an arm free to move to and fro
through a hanger attached to the bottom of the vehicle, the said arm terminating
in a fork having "prongs" surrounded by rollers, the said fork being pushed
outwards when the weighted end of the bell crank lever is allowed to fall by
releasing a chain or by other means whereupon the "prongs" will be thrust
through the wheel either into the space between two adjacent spokes or so that a
spoke shall be between the "prongs," the whole substantially as described in the
above specification and exemplified in Figs. 1 and 2, of the accompanying
drawings.
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2. A modification of the arrangement which is the subject matter of the above
Claim 1, whereby the forked arm is moved to and fro by a toothed wheel gearing
into a rack provided on the edge of the arm, the whole substantially as described in
the above specification.
3. A modification of the arrangement which is the subject matter of the above
Claim 1, whereby the forked arm is kept normally with its prongs through the
wheel by the action of a spiral spring operating between two hangers from which
position it is removed by drawing on the arm by a chain passing over suitable
situated pulleys or by other means, the whole substantially as described.
4. A modification of the arrangement which is the subject matter of the preceding
Claim 1, by which modification the fork is thrust through the wheel by the
rotation of a sleeve operated by a spiral spring or by the outward movement of an
arm and link moved by the lowering of the weighted end of the bell crank lever or
by other means, the whole substantially as described in the above specification,
. and exemplified as regards the link arrangement by Fig. 3, of the accompanying
drawings.