Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Mar., 1898
Complete Specification Left; 10th Dec., 1898-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1899
I, ROOKES EVELYN BELL CROMPTON, Engineer, of Thriplands, Kensington Court,
London, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object an improved means of enabling a cyclist to exert
more force than has hitherto been possible during the upstroke by enabling him
to draw his pedal upwards through a considerable arc of the upward stroke.
I am aware that various forms of toe clips and other devices have already been
proposed for this purpose but my present invention takes the form of providing
a special form of clip attached to the shoe and in modifying the form of the surface
of the pedal on which the shoe rests so that the one engages with or hooks into
the other to an extent sufficient to enable the cyclist to draw the pedal upwards
with the full force of his muscles and at the same time to enable him in case of
necessity to instantly and readily detach his foot from the pedal. My shoe attach-
ment takes the form of a plate or plates made preferably of metal or other material
of sufficient strength and springiness for the purpose. I prefer to attach the plate
at its front edge i.e. the edge nearest to the shoe toe either by screwing it or
rivetting it direct to the shoe sole Ꭴ by providing side clips or
other equivalent devices by which the front end of the plate is
securely attached to the shoe sole leaving the back end of the plate
free to rise and fall through a certain small angle in order
that when the cyclist is walking on the ground so that his weight rests on the
plate it will then be pressed up against the curvature of the shoe sole but when the
shoe is in its required position on the pedal of the cycle the back end of the plate
springs downwards so as to be some distance below the shoe sole and as this back
edge is suitably formed to engage with or hook into a corresponding edge formed
on the pedal any drawing or lifting action of the leg made by the cyclist is com-
municated direct through the shoe and plate to the pedal and there is no tendency
for this drawing action to disengage or unhook the plate from the pedal until the
cyclist intentionally wishes to free his foot; this he does by making a sudden
forward movement of the foot at the same time raising his toe; this double action
has the effect of freeing the foot sole and plate from the pedal. Several forms of
plates can be used which will fulfil the desired conditions.
They must be divided into two classes, first, those intended to be more or less
permanently attached to the shoe sole either by screwing, rivetting or cementing,
and second, those which can be readily detached from the shoe. The efficient
action however of both form of plates mainly depends on the desired conditions
of combined springiness and rigidity being complied with as indicated above.
In some cases I divide the plate into several longitudinal fingers by making
longitudinal saw cuts from the back end and in some cases I cut away one or more
of these fingers and in place of the fingers provide projections made of suitable
material firmly attached to the shoe sole and of sufficient size and width to carry

page_text: the weight when walking. I have several methods of forming the upper surface
of the pedal so as to engage with the plate.
One method of doing this is to take a well known form of pedal which consists
of two cross bars and two side bars rivetted together so as to form a rectangular
frame as in the case of the well known "rat trap pedal" model and to substitute
for the vertical cross bars of this pattern, inclined cross bars; these consist of plates
having turned projections or trunnions at their ends so that they can be slightly
revolved on these projections and then secured at any desired angle so as to engage
with or hook into the shoe plate to any desired extent or these same cross bars
may be made of suitable form of cross section similar to that of I, L or channel
girder section these being so placed or fixed that the lip or edge of either of these
forms of cross section will serve to engage with the back edge of the shoe plate. In
some cases as it is of considerable importance that the cyclists foot should be held
firmly and truly in position on the pedal by the plates I make the front plate of
the pedal of sufficient width to extend right across the sole of the shoe and I provide
at its two ends or on the front ends of the side plates ears or pieces of metal pro-
jecting upwards of a springy nature into which the toe of the shoe can be pressed
and so held sufficiently firmly in position sideways and at the same time give the
rider the power of freeing his foot when he desires to do so by the action herein
above described. In order to provide against slipping or the disagreeable noise
made by metal plates when a cyclist fitted with these plates is walking over pave-
ment or tiled or similar flooring I can if so desired cover the lower surface of the
plate with a soft material such as leather, rubber or equivalent material so as to
prevent such slipping and noise, such attachment being carried out by cementing
vulcanizing or rivetting or equivalent means. In the case of detachable shoe
plates I sometimes provide them with side clips at the front end which are narrower
at the front than the back so that the shoe can be pushed into them from the back
and the plate would be then held in position from slipping forward by straps or
bands or hooked attachments fixed to the sides of the shoe or passing right round
the heel.
Dated the 10th day of March 1808
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Pedals of Cycles, and Cyclists' Shoe Clips.
I, ROOKES EVELYN BELL CROMPTON, Engineer, of Thriplands, Kensington Court,
London, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention has for its object an improved means of enabling a cyclist to exert
more force than has hitherto been possible during the upstroke by enabling him
to draw his pedal upwards through a considerable arc of the upward stroke.
I am aware that various forms of toe clips and other devices have already been
proposed for this purpose but my present invention takes the form of providing
a special form of clip attached to the shoe and in modifying the form of the surface
of the pedal on which the shoe rests so that the one engages with or hooks into
the other to an extent sufficient to enable the cyclist to draw the pedal upwards
with the full force of his muscles and at the same time to enable him in case of
necessity to instantly and readily detach his foot from the pedal. My shoe attach-

page_text: ment takes the form of a plate or plates made preferably of metal or other material
of sufficient strength and springiness for the purpose. I prefer to attach the plate
at its front edge i.e. the edge nearest to the shoe toe either by screwing it or
rivetting it direct to the shoe sole or by providing side clips or
other equivalent devices by which the front end of the plate is
securely attached to the shoe sole leaving the back end of the plate
free to rise and fall through a certain small angle in order
that when the cyclist is walking on the ground so that his weight rests on the
plate it will then be pressed up against the curvature of the shoe sole but when the
shoe is in its required position on the pedal of the cycle the back end of the plate
springs downwards so as to be some distance below the shoe sole and as this back
edge is suitably formed to engage with or hook into a corresponding edge formed
on the pedal any drawing or lifting action of the leg made by the cyclist is com-
municated direct through the shoe and plate to the pedal and there is no tendency
for this drawing action to disengage or unhook the plate from the pedal until the
cyclist intentionally wishes to free his foot; this he does by making a sudden
forward movement of the foot at the same time raising his toe; this double action
has the effect of freeing the foot sole and plate from the pedal. Several forms of
plates can be used which will fulfil the desired conditions.
They must be divided into two classes, first, those intended to be more or less
permanently attached to the shoe sole either by screwing, rivetting or cementing,
and second, those which can be readily detached from the shoe. The efficient
action however of both forms of plates mainly depends on the desired conditions
of combined springiness and rigidity being complied with as indicated above.
In some cases I divide the plate into several longitudinal fingers by making
longitudinal saw cuts from the back end and in some cases I cut away one or more
of these fingers and in place of the fingers provide projections made of suitable
material firmly attached to the shoe sole and of sufficient size and width to carry
the weight when walking. I have several methods of forming the upper surface
of the pedal so as to engage with the plate.
One method of doing this is to take a well known form of pedal which consists
of two cross bars and two side bars rivetted together so as to form a rectangular
frame as in the case of the well known "rat trap pedal" model and to substitute
for the vertical cross bars of this pattern, inclined cross bars; these consist of plates
having turned projections or trunnions at their ends so that they can be slightly
revolved on these projections and then secured at any desired angle so as to engage
with or hook into the shoe plate to any desired extent or these same cross bars
may be made of suitable form of cross section similar to that of I, L or channel
girder section these being so placed or fixed that the lip or edge of either of these
forms of cross section will serve to engage with the back edge of the shoe plate. In
some cases, as it is of considerable importance that the cyclist's foot should be held
firmly and truly in position on the pedal by the plates, I make the front plate of
the pedal of sufficient width to extend right across the sole of the shoe and I provide
at its two ends or on the front ends of the side plates ears or pieces of metal pro-
jecting upwards of a springy nature into which the toe of the shoe can be pressed
and so held sufficiently firmly in position sideways and at the same time give the
rider the power of freeing his foot when he desires to do so by the action herein
ai ove described. In order to provide against slipping or the disagreeable noise
made by metal plates when a cyclist fitted with these plates is walking over pave-
ment or tiled or similar flooring I can if so desired cover the lower surface of the
plate with a soft material such as leather, rubber or equivalent material so as to
prevent such slipping and noise, such attachment being carried out by cementing
vulcanizing or rivetting or equivalent means. In the case of detachable shoe
plates I sometimes provide them with side clips at the front end which are narrower
at the front than the back so that the shoe can be pushed into them from the back
and the plate would be then held in position from slipping forward by straps or

page_text: bands or hooked attachments fixed to the sides of the shoe or passing right round
the heel.
Figs. 1 and 2 show in side view and Fig. 3 shows in plan view a form of shoe
plate which I hereafter call a pulling plate."
A is a shoe and B the pulling plate attached by three screws c, c, c. d, d¹ are
the pedal plates of an ordinary rat trap pedal seen in side view cross section, it
will be seen that these plates d, d' instead of being perpendicular to the foot are
slightly inclined forward in such a manner that the backward edge of the pulling
plate B engages with the plate and so enables the foot when drawn in the
direction of the arrow to hook into the plate and hence draw the pedal upwards
in the direction of the arrow. Figs. 4 and 5 show in side view a pulling plate B
provided with lugs near its backward edge e. In some cases it is found advan-
tageous to use these lugs as a means of transmitting the pulling force exerted,
more directly from the sole of the shoe to the back pedal plate d¹.
e are
Fig. 4 shows that when the plate is pressed flat to the sole in the act of walking
the lug e rises to a short distance above the upper edge of the sole, the lugs
brought over the edge of the sole and turned slightly inwards so that the back
edge of the plate is by this means attached sufficiently firmly to the sole. The
plates shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are all fixed to the shoe sole by screws but
in some cases I provide detachable plates which are substantially of the same form
except that they are not fixed to the sole by screws.
Figs. 6 and 7 show in plan view two methods of attachment of these detachable
plates, in Figure 6 the plate B is attached by a long projecting tongue F which
has a hooked end passing underneath the head of a screw placed close to the heel
in the manner shown in Fig. 6.
When it is desired to remove the plate this tongue must be sprung sideways.
For greater ease of removal in Fig. 7 it is shown hinged at H. With these
removable plates it is sometimes advantageous to place the lugs e e near the centre
of the length of the plate, and in this case the lugs should be made larger than
in the case of Figs. 4 and 5 as the whole pulling force has to be exerted through
them.
Figs. 8 and 10 show in side view and plan respectively another form of pulling
plate arranged to engage with a pedal of which the plates are of Z form as seen
in cross section, and Fig. 10 also shows a plan view of a pedal to be used with this
form of plate. These plates are also shown with a leather filling so as to make
them noiseless when the user is walking over pavement or similar surfaces. The
Z form of cross section of the pedal plates d, d' shown in this fig. has many
advantages as it is far stiffer than the plain flat form shown in Figs. 2 and 5 and
is therefore not so likely to be distorted or bent by heavy pressures or pulls made
by the pedallist.
Fig. 9 shows a further modification of the same form of pulling plate the back-
ward edge of the plate B being brought down to a sufficient distance below the
sole of the shoe to enable the front edge of the pedal plate d¹ to slide underneath
it and hence to enable the foot to be kept engaged with the pedal with a minimum
of muscular effort or attention on the part of the user.
In all these forms of pull plates and pedals it will be seen that the user can
free his foot from the pedal whenever he desires to do so by making a forward
movement at the same time lifting his toe.
Figs. 11 and 12 show in side view and plan view an arrangement of clips J J
attached to the back plate d of an ordinary rat trap pedal these clips as can be
seen from the plan view are so shaped that they embrace and hold firmly a portion
of the shoe sole at the points K K and as the sole at this point is narrower at the
back than at the clips J, J, the pulling stroke exerted in the direction of the arrow
causes the scle to butt against the taper clips and so draw the pedal with it.
In order to prevent the shoe sole from sliding forward and disengaging from the
clips during part of the stroke I provide a block or transverse har L fixed to the

page_text: sole by screwing, cementing or other means, this takes the place of the front
edge of the pulling plates B and keeps the foot in position at the same time allowing
the foot to be freed by an upward and forward movement as in the other form of
pulling attachments.
In some cases the arrangements shown in Figs. 11 and 12 may be reversed the
taper pulling clips J, J, being attached to the front plate d instead of the back
plate ; in this case the foot can be made to gear with the pedal by pressing it
in from behind.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
In pedals of cycles and shoe clips for use by cyclists therewith.
1. The construction, application and use of sole plates or attachments to shoes
in combination with pedal plates formed so that the user can readily connect shoe
and pedal so as to exert a greater pulling force during the upward stroke, and yet
be able to instantly free the sole or attachment from the pedal by a simple move-
ment of the foot, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. The construction, application and use of sole plates or attachments B in com-
bination with pedal plates, as d, d¹, substantially as and for the purpose set forth
and shown by the drawings with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
3. The construction, application and use of plates or attachments for detachable
connection to shoe soles, so as to facilitate the exercise of greater pulling force on
pedals, substantially as and for the purpose set forth and shown by the drawings
with reference to Figs. 6 and 7.
4. The construction, application and use of sole plates or attachments to shoes,
in combination with pedal plates of the kind indicated, so as to facilitate the
exercise of greater pulling force thereon, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth and shown by the drawings with reference to Figs. 8, 9 and 10.
5. The construction and use of sole clips or means of attachment of shoes to
pedals, substantially as and for the purpose set forth with reference to Figures 11
and 12.
6. The various constructions of shoe sole attachments and pedal plates adapted
to cooperate therewith, so that whilst the pedallist is enabled at will to temporarily
securely connect shoe and pedal in order the better to exercise pulling force on the
pedal in an upward direction, he yet can instantly free shoe and pedal from each
other by a simple movement of the foot, substantially as and for the purpose set
forth.
Dotal 10+1
1000
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 and 56, Chancery Lane, London,
Agents for the Applicant.