Improvements in and connected with Brake and Propelling Mechanism of Velocipedes.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 29th July, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 28th May, 1900-Accepted, 21st July, 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Brake and Propelling
Mechanism of Velocipedes.
We, PHILIP LOUIS RENOUF, Consulting Engineer, and JANE RENOUF, both of
Chester Road, Erdington, in the Co. of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows: -
By our invention brake power, being applicable by reversal of the motion of
the propelling gear, is transmitted to the brake mechanism, sometimes by a clutch
in or by the hub pinion, sometimes by a pivoting or sliding rod in connection
with the pinion, the driving chain or gear wheel or equivalent transmitter; some-
times by a pawl arrangement in direct contact with the teeth of one of the gear
wheels and thus dispensing with the studs, ratchets, teeth or other devices other-
wise required. In this latter case, where a gear wheel mounted on the crank axle
is employed practically as a ratchet wheel, it is most desirable that it should be
very true circumferentially and not thrown out of truth by an eccentrically acting
key device as is usually the case. We therefore prefer to key this wheel on the
shaft by driving a cottaring rod crank through the centre of an enlarged axle end,
allowing the wedging end of this crank to embed itself in a keyway cut diametri-
cally in the nave of the gear wheel and thereby driving it laterally against a
shoulder or thread concentric with the axle. A hinged lever or sliding piece is
furnished with a pawl to engage with the teeth of this gear wheel or the hub
pinion, so that a reversal of the driving movement will set the brake gear in
motion. Sometimes however the pawl is replaced by a roller or similar grip
capable of locking itself to a shroud on the gearwheel or pinion on reversal of
the driving motion; the lever or rod may be made adjustable to varying sizes of
wheels and may conveniently be mounted on a projecting part of one of the
bottom-bracket" cups or on an extension of the hub axle. The device of using
a projecting bracket cup as the seating for a reverse drive mechanism is equally
applicable in connection with the crank or axle end most remote from the gear
wheel.
**
The brake itself may be of any of the usual types: but as band, tyre or rim
brakes are subject to irregular action we sometimes use a large supplementary
cylindrical flange on the hub, preferably covered by rubber vulcanised or cemented
on, in connection with a hinged brake shoe. This flange may serve to take one
set of spokes at the same time, and if made out of a separate pressing or pair of
pressings may lend itself to economical manufacture very readily.
Sometimes we use a pressure plate sliding laterally on the hub end or one of
the bearing cups of the hub; this plate may be moved by a sleeve on the axle
connecting it by clutch mechanism with the hub pinion, and the hub being
mounted over this sleeve may have to be adjustable by a self adjusting cup or by
a laterally movable cup.
T7 dore of T.1., 1800
PHILIP LOUIS RENOUF.
JANE RENOUF.

page_text: Improvements in and connected with Brake and Propelling
Mechanism of Velocipedes.
We, PHILIP LOUIS RENOUF, Consulting Engineer, and JANE RENOUF, both of
Chester Road, Erdington, in the Co. of Warwick, 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:—
Our improvements relate to the construction or mounting of parts through
which the braking or the propelling power is transmitted. Where the brake is
operated by the reversal of the pedal motion on a so called "free-wheel" veloci-
pede, we sometimes instead of using a complete set of clutch parts of the usual
construction, simplify the same by mounting a brake operating rod or lever near
the axis of the hub pinion and letting one end of the lever engage with this
pinion by means of a pawl or a roller which will lock the lever to the pinion when
the motion of the same is reversed. Sometimes by using a pivoting or sliding
part in connection with the pinion, the driving chain or a gear wheel or equiva-
lent transmitter (such as a bevel wheel on a chainless bicycle) we can dispense
with separate studs, ratchets or similar parts. Where the large chain or gear
wheel on the pedal shaft is so used, it is advisable to mount it truly concentric to
the shaft. As the usual cottar lying in the side of the axle tends to throw the
wheel out of truth we prefer to drive the cottar through the centre of both the
boss of the wheel and the axle in such a manner that the wedging action takes
place along the axis of both and concentricity is not disturbed, a method that is
of course of advantage when applied to other propelling parts. Sometimes we fur-
nish the hub of a velocipede with a large brake drum; this can be so mounted
and shaped that it may also serve as one of the spoke flanges; it can be con-
veniently made out of one or two light sheet metal pressings and used in con-
nection with a hinged brake shoe. The surface may be covered with rubber
vulcanised or otherwise fixed or other suitable material. We find the combination
of a sleeve lying loosely between a hub and the axle very convenient for carrying
the braking or the propelling clutch parts, especially in connection with laterally
moving brakes; the difficulty of adjusting the bearings we remedy by adapting
the device to accomodate a self-adjusting bearing of the “Dunlop type, described
in the Patent Specification 5519/97.
Referring to the drawings in Figs. 1 to 7 the same letters refer to identical or
corresponding parts. In Figs. 1 to 4 B is a lever hinging on axle A or rather
on the collar of the fixed bearing cone on axle A; the upper end of this lever
carries a rod D communicating with the brake; E is a catchpiece hinged to B
and in contact with part of the hub pinion C. In Fig. 1 E engages in notches
in G the shroud of the pinion when the latter is reversed, but jumps over them
when C moves forwards; spring F ensures the contact so that any reversal of C
entails the locking of E and B to C and therefore motion of the brake rod D.
In Fig. 2 E is a roller eccentric to its pivot and will therefore slip when C moves
forwards but grip the shroud of C and lock it to B when C reverses. The action
of cam E in Fig. 4 is similar: rod D is here attached to a second hinge on E so
that as the brake resistance increases the grip of E on C will also increase. In
Fig. 3 the pawl E engages directly with the teeth of the pinion C on that part
of its circumference which lies between the chain. A similar construction is
shewn in Fig. 5 where C is the chainwheel on the bottom bracket, the lever B
having an adjustable arm B¹ so as to accommodate itself to various sizes of chain-
wheels, B² being the nut locking this adjustment.

page_text: In Fig. 6 lever B is hinged on a plain bearing on the ball cup K the collar
nut B forming the pivot for the brake rod (not shewn in this figure) and also
uniting the adjustable parts B and B. Pawl E is here shewn as engaging in
notches on the inside of the shroud G of the chain wheel C. The latter is
screwed over the enlarged end of axle A which is pierced transversely; the boss
of wheel C is milled or slotted with a deep groove across its face in shape and
taper corresponding to the end of crank I the end view of which is shewn separ-
ately; M is a washer covering the slot in the boss of the wheel and N is a screw
entering the crank end and tightening and locking the crank. It will be seen
that the cottaring action is in a direction axial with the axle A and that there
is no tendency to throw the wheel out of truth by this method of keying. In
Fig. 7 lever B is hinged from A an attachment to the stays of the velocipede
and the pawl E rests on the chain C: when the rider pedals forward C will skip
over the links, but when he pedals backwards the rollers or blocks of the chain
will push E and thereby move B and brake rod B.
Figs. S and 9 represent a hub H with an enlarged and built up flange F, F,
F1 serving for spoking and part of F being formed into a drum and covered with
a frictional surface G. E is a spoon brake hinged from the frame and operated
according to one of the before described devices. F, I are shewn in section in
Fig. 8 illustrating the strength and lightness of this construction where two such
flanges are riveted or otherwise joined together, a desirable feature where hub
brakes are used. They may be fixed to the hub shell by being locked against a
shoulder with a tubular distance piece interposed between them.
In Fig. 10 the freewheel hub D does not rest directly on the fixed inner axle A
but through ballbearings on the loose sleeve B; this latter is fixed to the chain
pinion G and drives the hub through the clutch N, but for braking purposes
is furnished with face cams and balls or rollers lying in a groove in brake
block K; K and the pressure plate L are loose longitudinally or along the
direction of the axle but fixed transversely by grooves and keys on the stationary
cone ; the fibre disk I rotates with the hub but is free sideways on keys inside
the drum on the hub, so that a reversal of the motion of B will force K towards L
and thereby nip I and retard the motion of the hub. Cup C is fixed to the hub
but cup D is self-adjusting according to the wellknown design of J. B. Dunlop,
so that the inner bearings need not be accessible and the constant state of adjust-
ment keeps the hub and the free-wheel clutches perfectly concentric; the con-
struction of the self-adjusting cup is described in the Letters Patent No. 5519 of
1897 granted to J. B. Dunlop.
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:-
1. The combination of a hinged lever B, a catch piece E impinging on a
pinion or gearwheel C with a brake rod D and for the purpose of actuating a
brake by reversal of the motion of C.
2. The compound lever B B adjustable for the purpose described.
3. The roller E Fig. 2 and the equivalent clutching cam E Fig. 4 locking
themselves in one direction on a circular shroud and actuating a brake, but freeing
themselves in another direction as described.
4. A combination of hinged parts B and E Fig. 7 resting on the chain of a
velocipede and capable of actuating a brake on reversal of the motion of the chain.
5. The combination of a pierced axle A Fig. 6 with a chain or gear wheel C
having a transversely slotted boss with a cottaring crank I the taper on which is
so formed that the wheel C is forced against shoulders or threads on the axle in a
concentric manner as described.
6. On freewheel and brake hubs the combination of a hub shell H Fig. 8 with
a brake drum F for the purpose and in the manner described.

page_text: 7. On freewheel hubs the combination of the brake block E Fig. 9 with the
enlarged hub-drum F operated substantially as described.
8. In a freewheel hub the combination of a hub D resting on ball bearings on a
loose sleeve B with the self adjusting cup D as described.
9. The combination of a brake-operating sleeve with a superimposed freewheel
hub containing self-adjusting bearings for the purpose described."
Data thin 27th dox of Max 1900
PHILIP LOUIS RENOUF.
JANE RENOUF.