IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1884

page_text: We CHARLES MONTAGUE LINLEY and JOHN BIGGS both of 9 Melior Street,
Southwark in the County of Surrey, Engineers, and GEORGE GRAINGER TANDY
of 43 Cedars Road Clapham in the County of Surrey Surgeon do hereby
declare the nature of our invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES to be
as follows:-
In the manufacture of Tricycles it has hitherto been an object to make the
machine as rigid as possible and to overcome the vibration caused by such rigidity,
when passing over rough roads, and which is extremely unpleasant to the rider, by
mounting the saddle or seat on springs. This vibration has also the effect of
causing loss of power in propelling the machine.
Now the object of the present invention is so to construct the machine that
vibration will be practically entirely overcome and the use of spring seats or
saddles rendered unnecessary while the weight of the machine will be considerably
reduced.
In carrying out our invention we form the frame of the tricycle of rectangular
bar steel preferably square in cross section and in various places say where the
greatest amount of flexibility is required we bend the bar cold to form coils rings
or spirals so that it will spring or give without altering its permanent form thus
preventing all jerks being communicated to the handles seat or treadles in passing
over rough roads and thereby avoiding the vibration which is so unpleasant to the
rider.
The square bar we prefer to arrange on edge that is to say that one of the
diagonals of its section is placed vertical or in the direction in which the strain is
applied.
All the bearings and other parts of the machine are secured to the frame
by clips These clips consist of sockets or pieces of tube having taper threaded
ends onto which taper nuts are screwed.
The sockets when threaded are sawn in half longitudinally and are placed on the
frame so that when the nuts are screwed up the two halves will firmly grip the
frame between them. By this arrangement of clip, brazing, soldering or otherwise
heating and thereby destroying the temper of the steel will be avoided.

page_text: In certain parts of the machine where elasticity is not required we use solid
metal or tube and attach these portions to the flexible parts in the following
manner. To the solid parts or tube we, by means of brazing or other suitable
means, attach a socket having a square hole to receive the steel frame. This
socket bush is provided with a taper screw similar to those before described and is
split or cut through in one or more places so that when the taper nut which
embraces it is screwed on to it compresses the sides firmly against the steel and
grips it.

page_text: Wo, CHARLES MONTAGUE LINLEY and JOHN BIGGS both of 9 Melior Street;
Southwark in the County of Surrey, Engineers and GEORGE GRAINGER TANDY
of 43 Cedars Road Clapham in the County of Surrey, Surgeon do hereby declaro
the nature of our invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES 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 more particularly to that class of velocipedes known as
loop frame tricycles the object of the invention being to overcome the vibration of
the machine when running which is extremely unpleasant to the rider and has the
effect also of causing loss of power in propelling the machine.
In the manufacture of tricycles it has hitherto been the object to make the frame
of the machine as rigid as possible and with a view to overcome the enormous
amount of vibration thereby necessarily occasioned when running, springs of all
kinds and shapes have been applied to the seats or saddles and other parts of the
machine but the result has not been altogether satisfactory.
In our view, the idea of the rigid frame is altogether erroneous and our
invention consists in making the frame as flexible as possible whereby we not
only practically overcome all vibration and render the use of springs unnecessary
but we are enabled to considerably reduce the weight of the machine without
detracting from its strength.
To this end we construct the frame of rectangular bar steel preferably square in
cross section which we set on edge, that is to say, one of the diagonals of its
section is placed vertically or in the direction in which the strain is applied and at
various parts say where the greatest amount of flexibility is required we bend the
bar to form coils, rings or spirals so that the frame will give or spring as required
without altering is permanent shape. We secure the working parts of the machine
to the frame by means of tubular clips of special construction.
All the bending
operations are carried on cold so that the temper of the steel should not be
destroyed.
In the accompanying drawings we have shown at Fig. 1 a side elevation of
a loop frame tricycle constructed according to our invention, Fig. 2 being a plan
view of the same.
The frame is composed of two bars A, A¹ of rectangular bar steel square in cross
section and set on edge as will be clearly seen, the two bars being connected
together at the points X and Z by tubular clips as will be more particularly
explained hereafter. The parts a a¹ of these bars will form the horizontal part of
the frame to which the saddle is secured.
At b, b¹ the bars are bend downwards at right angles to the parts a a¹ while at
ccl they are formed into coils, rings or spirals. They are then horizontally curved
inwards until they meet where other coils, rings or spirals d d may be formed and
the two free ends are then connected at Z to the steering wheel bow or backbone
as will be presently explained,

page_text: Between the coils c c and d d we prefer to twist the to give at those parts
greater rigidity so that should the rider step upon the horizontal curved portion to
assist him in getting into the saddle, which he is extremely likely to do, such
horizontal curved portion shall not become bent or otherwise get out of shape. The
twisting of a portion of the frame and the coils d d or either of them may however
be dispensed with under certain circumstances.
The steering wheel bow or back bone we prefer to make either of solid or tubular
metal and in order to connect it with the free ends of the rectangular bars we braze
or otherwise secure to the end of the bow a socket clip having a square or other
suitably shaped hole into which we insert the ends of the frame. This socket is
tapered externally and is threaded to receive an internally taper nut, and saw
cuts are made in the outer edge of the socket which will permit of the outer part
thereof, when the taper nut is forcibly screwed home, being forced inwards and
caused to firmly grip the ends of the rectangular .bars.
All the bearings and other parts of the machine are secured to the frame by
means of tubular clips the said parts being brased, welded or otherwise secured to
the clips before they are applied to the frame.
These clips which are shown in the drawings at B consist of tubular sockets or
pieces of tube the ends of which are made taper externally and are threaded to
receive internally taper nuts. When threaded these sockets or tubes are divided
in two longitudinally and are then placed round the frame. The nuts which have
been strung onto the frame before it is put together will be then screwed up on the
sockets which will thereby be caused to firmly grip the frame between them.
By the use of the arrangement of clip just described brazing, soldering or
otherwise heating the bar steel frame and thereby destroying the temper of the
steel will be avoided. We may again remark that all the bending operations are
carried on cold for the same reason.
The bearings for the crank axle as well as the driving mechanism and steering
and brake gear may be of any suitable construction.
We would here remark that we are aware that the frames of tricycles have been
made of solid iron but the amount of metal requisite for strength made them so
heavy that they have been practically entirely superseded by the hollow tubular
frames which although actually much lighter have the appearance of greater weight
from the fact that the sectional area of the tubes must be greater than the area of
the solid metal for an equal strength but in our improved construction of frame we
gain a considerable reduction in weight over a tubular frame of equal strength with
a much lighter appearance.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
1st Constructing the frames of velocipedes of rectangular bar steel in the manner
and for the purpose herein set forth.
2nd A frame for velocipedes composed of solid metal bent to form coils, rings or
spirals at various parts to give elasticity as herein set forth.
3rd The means berein shown and described for securing the bearings and other
parts of the machine to the frame of bar steel as set forth.
C
Dated this 13th day of February 1885