Year: 1897

page_text: I, JOHANNES THEODOR PEDERSEN, residing at corner of Second Street and Woodside
Avenue, Woodside, in the State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
Bicycles, ordinarily known as "Safety" bicycles, have usually been propelled by
sprocket wheels and a chain from a crank shaft, but in consequence of the wear upon
the chain, the accumulation of dust and the exposure of the parts, chain driven cycles
are objectionable in many particulars.
The present invention is for giving motion to the back wheel of the cycle by levers
and gearing so as to dispense with the chain, and, at the same time, allow for the
cycle being driven by a substantially vertically rise and fall movement of the feet,
instead of the circular movement heretofore required in propelling the cranks.
With the aforesaid object in view, a pinion is provided upon the hub of the rear
wheel, and a larger wheel gears into the same, the proportionate size of the gearing
being regulated according to the leverage required in propelling the cycle, The foot
levers are pivotted and provided with pedals or foot pieces at their front ends, and at
their rear ends are connected with slotted arms, there being a crank pin upon the gear
wheel and a roller in the slotted arm, so that the gear wheel is rotated and the pinion
and driving gear of the cycle propelled by the alternate upward and downward move-
ments of the foot levers, the parts being coinpact and easily protected from dust, and
of but little weight.
I prefer to employ ball bearings for the various parts of the mechanism to reduce
the friction, and to pivot the short slotted arm upon the axle of the rear or driving
wheel, also to employ a toothed sector connected upon the face of the short slotted
arm, and to make the end of the connector, that extends backwards from the foot
lever, as a toothed sector to mesh with the toothed sector upon the short slotted arm,
and said parts are compact and are preferably enclosed in a protecting dust-proof
case.
In one form, the pivot of the lever is at the corner of the box or case, the lever
being outside the case and the connector inside, and in another form, the lever is
pivotted independent of the case, and the connector extends through the case to the
slotted arm.
These parts are duplicated upon the opposite side of the cycle.
The pedals connected upon the forward ends of the levers may be of any desired
construction, and either supported by adjustable devices above the levers, or connected
to swinging links below the ends of the levers.
Dated this 18th day of May 1897

page_text: Improvements in S
I, JOHANNES THEODOR PEDERSEN, residing at corner of Second Street and Woodside
Avenue, Woodside, in the State of New York, United States of America, Manufacturer,
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:-
Bicycles, ordinarily known as "Safety" bicycles, have usually been propelled by
sprocket wheels and a chain from a crank shaft, but in consequence of the wear upon
the chain, the accumulation of dust and the exposure of the parts, chain driven
cycles are objectionable in many particulars. The present invention is for giving
motion to the back wheel of the cycle by levers and gearing so as to dispense with
the chain, and at the same time allow for the cycle being driven by a substantially
vertical rise and fall movement of the feet instead of the circular movement heretofore
required in propelling the cranks.
With the aforesaid object in view, a pinion is provided upon the hub of the rear
wheel and a larger wheel gears into the same, the proportionate size of the gearing
being regulated according to the leverage required in propelling the cycle, and the
foot levers are pivoted and provided with pedals or foot pieces at their front ends and
at their rear ends are connected with slotted arms, there being a crank pin upon the
gear wheel and a roller in the slotted arm so that the gear wheel is rotated and the
pinion and driving gear of the cycle propelled by the alternate upward and downward
movements of the foot levers, the parts being compact and easily protected from dust
and of but little weight.
I prefer to employ ball bearings for the various parts of the mechanism to reduce
the friction and to pivot the short slotted arm upon the axle of the rear or driving
wheel, and to employ a toothed sector connected upon the face of the short slotted
arm and to make the end of the connector that extends backward from the foot lever
as a toothed sector to mesh with the toothed sector upon the short slotted arm, and
said parts are compact and are preferably enclosed in a protecting dust-proof case.
In one form the pivot of the lever is at the corner of the box or case, the lever
being outside the case and the eonnector inside, and in another form the lever is
pivoted independent of the case and the connector extends through the case to the
slotted arm. These parts are duplicated upon the opposite side of the cycle.
The pedals connected upon the forward ends of the levers may be of any desired
construction and either supported by adjustable devices above the levers or connected
to swinging links below the ends of the levers.
In the drawing, Figure is a general elevation illustrating the positions of the
parts. Fig. 2 is sectional plan view in larger size showing the mechanism at one
side of the wheel. Fig. 3 is an elevation in larger size of the mechanism with the
cap removed, and the auxiliary cap and end piece in section, and Fig. 4 is a diagram-
matic elevation illustrating a modification in the positions of the parts.
A portion of the cycle frame represented at A, and a portion of the back wheel
at B. These parts may be of any desired character, and there is a pinion I upon the
hub of the wheel B engaging a gear wheel H which is larger than the pinion so as
to obtain the necessary speed, and there is a slotted arm G pivoted at 6 and a crank
pin and roller 7 are within the slot of the arm G and the slot is of sufficient length
for the crank pin to revolve with the gear H and move backward and forward in the
slot of the arin as such arm swings upon its pivot 6. The parts named are in any
suitable box or enclosure E, the same being preferably constructed as hereafter more
fully described.

page_text: It will now be understood that if a rocking movement is given to the slotted arm G,
the gear H will be rotated by the arm acting upon the crank pin and roller that are
within the slot, and the pinion will be revolved and the back wheel propelled at the
proper speed, the same depending upon the proportionate sizes of the gear H and
pinion I.
Any suitable mechanism may be employed for giving motion to the slotted arm G ;
I, however, prefer to employ the devices hereafter described, and I remark that where
two pinions are made use of near the respective ends of the hub of the wheel B, two
gears H and two slotted arms G will be required, and the box for containing the
gears and other parts is to be provided at each side of the frame, and the parts are
put together in such a manner that the slotted arm G on one side will be in the
reverse position to the slotted arm on the other side, so that one pedal lever giving
notion to the slotted arm may be depressed while the other is elevated, and one will
be descending as the other ascends.
I prefer and use levers C C¹ with pedals or foot pieces D at their front ends, and
the lever C is pivoted at 4 within the gear box E and provided with a toothed sector F
at its rear end engaging the toothed sector G¹ upon the slotted arm G, there being
similar devices at each side of the frame and wheel but only one is represented in the
drawing and it will now be apparent that the slotted arm G receives its motion from
the toothed sector F at the rear end of the lever C, and in so doing the movements
given to the toothed sectors are communicated to the slotted arm and from the same
by the crank pin, roller and gear H to the pinion on the hub of the driving wheel.
In carrying out the details of construction, it is advantageous to provide an arbor 8
projecting from the gear wheel H, such arbor running in the ball bearings K which
are made upon the back portion of the gear box E, the inner portion 9 of the ball
bearing being passed through the side of the gear box from the inside, and
receiving upon the outside the screw cap 10 by which the parts are held firmly in
place and the balls are between the inner bearing 9 and the arbor 8 adjacent to the
gear wheel H and also between the arbor 8, the bearing 9 and the bearing ring 11
that is secured to the back end of the arbor 8 by a screw. This allows the parts to
be separated, and at the same time forms a very reliable bearing for the arbor of the
gear H.
It is also advantageous to provide ball bearings for the hub of the wheel B. I have
shown the said hub tubular as at 12, and the sleeve 13 of the pinion I extends to
and is firmly connected with the hub 12, and in the pinion I there is advantageously
a hardened steel bushing 14 for the balls 15, and there is a bearing 16 upon the cross
shaft L, said annular bearing 16 acting with the balls 15 and bushing 14 to form the
ball bearing at one side of the back wheel, the other end of the back wheel hub being
similarly supported, and this cross shaft L is sustained at its outer ends in the gear
boxes E as hereafter described.
In Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the slotted arm G is represented as having an eye passing
around the cross axle L, which forms a pivot for the same, and in this case the
annular bushing 16 may be provided with a sleeve to receive the eye of the slotted
arm G, and there are nuts for adjusting the ball bearing and for holding the eye of
the slotted lever upon the bearing, it usually being preferable to screw the annular
bearing 16 directly upon the cross shaft L and hold the same by a lock nut or cross
pin, and the sleeve around this annular bearing 16 and within the eye of the slotted
arm G forms the pivot 6 for said arm G.
In cases where the slotted arms G are pivoted below the gear H, as seen in the
diagram, Fig. 4, there will be only the annular bearing 16 and lock nut directly upon
the cross axle L at the ball bearing.
It is advantageous to make the gear box E with upper and lower flanges and to
connect the back portion of the box firmly with the frame of the machine and to
provide a movable cap E¹ to close the outer side of the box. This cap may be
of any desired character and should be secured by bolts which are shown at 17.
necessary to properly support the cross shaft L, and with this object in view, the auxiliary
cap 18 is made with a hole through which the end of the axle L passes, and this auxiliary
It is

page_text: cap is within the end piece 19 and the cap also has a flange adjacent to the edge
of the pinion I to aid in excluding dust, and the end piece 19 has flanges that
pass above and below the upper and lower sides of the gear box E, and it also has a
flange extending down behind the pinion I and terminating closely adjacent to the
tubular sleeve of the pinion, and this end piece 19 is rigidly fastened to the end of
the gear box E by the bolt 20 that passes vertically through the end piece and
through the top and bottom portions of the gear box and is provided with a nut at
the bottom. The auxiliary cap 18 is capable of being adjusted horizontally within
the gear box, and it carries with it the shaft L and the pinion I, and the and the
screw at 21 is used to press against the auxiliary cap and adjust and hold the same
with the pinion I properly in gear with wheel H. This provides a sufficient
adjustment to compensate wear in the gear teeth, and it is advantageous to employ
nuts 22 on the ends of the cross axle L to clamp the same and the sleeve at 6 firmly
to the auxiliary caps.
The pivots 4 of the levers C C¹ may be of any desired kind. I have represented in
Fig. 2 the pivot as projecting from the sector F and passing into a steel bushing 23
that passes through the back portions of the gear box and is driven in tightly. If
desired, the lever C (or C¹) may be made as a forward extension of the sector Fas
indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 2, such lever projecting from the end of the gear
box E; but to aid in excluding dust, I prefer to have the lever C outside the box E,
and with this object in view, the pivot 4 is extended through the cover E¹ of the box
and receives upon it the eye of the lever C, the parts being suitably connected, as for
instance, the eye of the lever setting upon a squared portion of the pivot and being
held in place by a nut, as shown in the drawing; and I remark that the pedal D
upon the outer end of each lever C or C¹ may be of any desired character adapted to
being acted upon by the foot, and hence such pedal rises and falls approximately
vertical, and the feet, in acting upon the respective foot levers, are alternately raised
and forced down and the propelling movement is given to the cycle through the
slotted arms, crank pin and gear, as aforesaid.
The pivot 4 carrying the sector F and lever C may, if desired, be made with ball
bearings of any suitable construction for the purpose of reducing friction.
The pedal D may also be of any desired character and connected to the levers in
any suitable and convenient manner, such, for instance, as by links pivoted to and
depending from the ends of the levers and to the lower free end of which links the
pedals are connected, see dotted lines, Fig. 1.
If the slotted arm G is pivoted either above or below the gear H, as illustrated in
the diagram Fig. 4, such slotted arm may receive motion in any desired manner, and
I have shown a connecting rod 24 pivoted at the rear end to the slotted arm, and at
the front end to a crank 25 upon the foot lever 26, and with this construction there
will be two foot levers 26, one at each side of the frame upon the cross shaft 27, and
the connections will be made as before mentioned so that one foot lever 26 will be
down when the other is up, and one will be moving downward as the other is moving
upward in giving motion through the rods 24 to the slotted arm, as aforesaid.
It will be understood that in putting the parts together, the pinion, ball bearing
at each side and the cross shaft are put together upon the tubular hub of the wheel,
and then the parts are slipped into the frame, the rear end of the box E being open,
or formed as a jaw to allow for the insertion of such parts, after which the auxiliary
cap, the end piece and the bolt are put into position at the rear end of each box.
It will be observed by the diagram Fig. 4, that there are no dead centres, as in
crank movements, because when the radius to the crank pin on one side is
perpendicular to the slot of the link and hence at the dead point, the radius to the
crank pin on the opposite side is not at right angles to the slot of the link, hence
one of the foot levers is always in a position to be acted upon in giving motion to the
wheels.

page_text: First. The combination with the wheel and frame in a cycle, of a pinion upon the
hub of the wheel, a gear directly engaging such pinion and a crank pin upon
the gear, a short arm pivoted upon the axle of the wheel and having a straight slot
therein receiving the crank pin upon the gear, a pivotal support and a foot lever
thereon and extending forward of such support, and a connecting device between
the back end of the foot lever and the short slotted arın, substantially as set forth.
Second. The combination with the wheel and frame in a cycle, of a pinion upon
the hub of the wheel, a gear directly engaging such pinion and a crank pin upon the
gear, a short arm pivoted upon the axle of the wheel and having a straight slot
therein receiving the crank pin upon the gear, a case enclosing the gears, slotted
arm and crank pin, a pivotal support and a foot lever thereon and extending forward
of such support, and a connecting device between the back end of the foot lever and
the short slotted arm, substantially as set forth.
Third. The combination with the wheel and frame in a cycle, of a pinion upon the
hub of the wheel, a gear directly engaging such pinion and a crank pin upon
the gear, a short arm pivotted at one end and having a straight slot therein receiving
the crank pin upon the gear, a case enclosing the gear, pinion and slotted arm,
a pivotal support and a foot lever thereon and extending forward of such support and
a connecting device between the back end of the foot lever and the short slotted arm,
substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The combination with a wheel and frame in a cycle, of a pinion connected
with the hub of the wheel, a gear engaging such pinion, a crank pin for the gear,
a slotted arm pivoted at one end, a sector upon the slotted arm, a foot lever and
sector upon its rear end engaging the sector upon the slotted arm for giving motion
to the same, and to the crank pin, gearing and cycle wheel, substantially as set
forth.
Fifth. The combination in a driving mechanism for cycles, of a pinion upon the
hub of the cycle wheel a gear wheel engaging such pinion, a box for enclosing the
gearing and ball bearings for the hub of the cycle and for the arbor of the gear wheel,
a crank pin and roller upon the gear wheel, a slotted arm and a pivot at one end and
receiving the roller and crank pin into its slot, a sector connected with the slotted
arm, a foot lever pivoted at its rear end outside the box and a sector within the box
connected to the foot lever and engaging the sector on the slotted arm for giving
motion to the respective parts in propelling the cycle, substantially as set forth.
Sixth. The combination with the cycle wheel having a tubular hub, of a pinion
connected to such hub, a box receiving the pinion and supported by the frame of the
cycle, the rear end of the box being open for the reception of the hub of the wheel,
a cross axle passing through the tubular hub of the cycle wheel and ball bearings
between the pinion and the cross axle, an auxiliary cap receiving through it the end
of the cross axle, an end piece and cross bolt by which the end piece is rigidly
connected to the box for the gearing and a screw acting to adjust the auxiliary cap,
the cross axle, the ball bearings and the pinion in relation to the box and gearing for
driving the pinion, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 8th day of July 1897.
ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, and 5A, Market Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicant.