Improvements in Bicycle Guides or Steering Devices.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 16th Apr., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bicycle Guides or Steering Devices.
I, EDWIN JAMES AUSTIN, Mechanical Engineer, corner of Pratt and Trumbull
Streets, Hartford, in the County of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, one of the United
States of America, 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 :-
This invention has reference to an attachment for bicycles by means of which the
front wheel can be held under tension which will prevent it from wabbling or
turning to one side and will not interfere with the turning of the front wheel in
ordinary riding.
The invention consists in the features of construction hereinafter described and
specifically claimed.
In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification :
Figure 1 is a side elevation.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on an enlarged scale and taken on the line 3-3 of
Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a perspective view of the device detached.
Figure 4 is a view of a modified form of cross arm.
In accordance with the principle involved in this invention, I employ a spring
pressed head that is secured to the frame of a bicycle and in the rear of the fork of the
steering wheel and which engages the rear edges of the prongs of the fork so as to hold
said fork normally under tension and in the position it will assume when the bicycle is
running in a straight line. The tension of the spring is not sufficient to prevent the
fork from being turned by the handle bars as necessary in riding under ordinary
circumstances, but it is sufficient to hold the fork in the desired position under all
ordinary circumstances and when it is desired to ride in a straight line.
In this way,
it is seen that the danger of falling or losing control of the bicycle due to the wabbling
of the wheel, for instance, in riding through mud and the like is entirely avoided,
since the spring pressed cross arın serves as auxiliary means for holding the front
wheel in the desired position.
As
This device is termed a guide and in said drawings is indicated as a whole by 1.
The guide is composed of two telescopic sections and is attached to the lower forward
bar 2 of the frame by means of a clamp 3 designed to be attached to the bar. The
axes of the clamp 3 and guide 1 are at an angle to each other so that the movable
member of the guide is brought to the correct position with relation to the fork.
a further means for accomplishing this, the clamp 3 and guide 1 are adjustably
connected whereby the relative positions of the parts can be changed so that the
cross arm at the front end of the guide can be raised or lowered according to the
make and design of the fork. To accomplish this there is a pivotal construction
between the clamp and one member of the guide, comprising the interfitting parts 5
through which extends a bolt having an adjusting nut 6, as will be obvious. The said
guide comprises a socket 7 to which the clamp is directly pivotally connected and a
plunger 8 that passes into the front end of the socket, it being noted that the front
end of the socket and the rear end of the plunger are open. The rear end of the
socket is provided with a small opening 9, while a pin 10 is fastened to the front or
closed end of the plunger and extends rearwardly and through the opening 9 and is
provided with a nut 11 in the rear of the socket. Situated within the socket and
CD 071