New or Improved Foot Cycles or Apparatus to be Attached to the Feet and Legs for Expediting the Travelling of Persons on Ordinary Roads, Skating Rinks, or elsewhere.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Oct., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 7th July, 1892-Accepted, 13th Aug., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Foot Cycles or Apparatus to be Attached to the
Feet and Legs for Expediting the Travelling of Persons on
Ordinary Roads, Skating Rinks, or elsewhere.
I THOMAS MATTHEWS WIGLEY of No. 93 Hill Street, Birmingham in the
County of Warwick Pawnbroker do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
My invention consists of new or improved foot cycles or apparatus to be attached
to the feet and legs for expediting the travelling of persons on ordinary roads
skating rinks or elsewhere the parts of the said foot cycles or apparatus being
constructed and arranged and used substantially as hereinafter described.
The new or improved foot cycles or apparatus constructed according to my
invention are attached to the feet of the user somewhat after the manner of ordinary
ice skates and roller skates and are attached to the legs in the manner hereinafter
described and the user propels or advances himself on ordinary roads skating rinks
or elsewhere in the same way as the user of ice or rink skates propels himself on
ice or on a skating rink.
The body of a foot cycle constructed according to my invention consists of a
rectangular frame made of two light arch like parallel bars preferably of steel
supporting at either end a wire spoked wheel having an india rubber tyre similar
to the wheels of velocipedes, the said wheels working between the two parallel bars
of the frame. The lower vertical ends of the frame are connected together by
fixed axles on which the hubs of the wire spoked wheels turn and the horizontal
parts of the frame, support at about 10 or 11 inches from the ground a light
metal foot plate on which the foot of the user rests and to which the foot is
strapped by straps and buckles or other fastenings secured to the said foot plate.
The foot plate is not rigidly connected to the frame but is supported thereon by
coiled springs so that the said foot plate is capable of slightly yielding, and the jar
or vibration communicated to the foot cycle when travelling over uneven roads is
wholly or in part prevented from being transmitted to the user of the foot cycle.
In addition to connecting the foot cycle to the foot of the user by the foot plate
and straps described, it is connected to the leg of the user at a short distance below
the knee. For this purpose
use a side vertical arm jointed to the projecting end
of a cross rod on the frame, the said vertical arm being made preferably capable of
ready attachment to and detachment from the said cross rod. The upper end of
the vertical arm carries a strap for passing round the leg near the knee.
By means of the double connection described namely at the foot and leg, the foot
cycle is readily lifted and propelled by the user, and the vertical arm or support
preserves the wheels in a vertical plane and thereby prevents the risk of injury to
the ankles of the user by the turning aside of the foot cycles.
By the use of foot cycles of the kind described the user can readily propel
himself on ordinary roads at all seasons of the year and at the same time obtain a
pleasure similar to that obtained on skating on ice or on skating rinks. Foot
cycles constructed according to my invention are also applicable for use on skating
rinks or elsewhere.
Dated this 24th date of Octaban 1901
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Foot Cycles or Apparatus to be Attached to the
Feet and Legs for Expediting the Travelling of Persons on
Ordinary Roads, Skating Rinks, or elsewhere.
I, THOMAS MATTHEWS WIGLEY of No. 93 Hill Street, Birmingham in the
County of Warwick, Pawnbroker do hereby declare the nature of my invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention consists of new or improved foot cycles or apparatus to be attached
to the feet and legs for expediting the travelling of persons on ordinary roads,
skating rinks or elsewhere, the parts of the said foot cycles or apparatus being
constructed and arranged and used substantially as hereinafter described.
The new or improved foot cycles or apparatus constructed according to my
invention are attached to the feet of the user somewhat after the manner of ordinary
ice skates and roller skates and are attached to the legs in the manner hereinafter
described and the user propels or advances himself on ordinary roads, skating rinks
or elsewhere in the same way as the user of ice or rink skates propels himself on
ice or on a skating rink.
The body of a foot cycle constructed according to my invention consists of a
rectangular frame made of two light arch like parallel bars preferably of steel,
supporting at either end a wire spoked wheel, having an india rubber tyre similar to
the wheels of velocipedes, the said wheels working between the two parallel bars
of the frame. The lower vertical ends of the frame are connected together by
fixed axles on which the hubs of the wire spoked wheels turn and the horizontal
parts of the frame, support at about ten or eleven inches or other required
distance from the ground a light metal foot plate on which the foot of the
user rests and to which the foot is strapped by straps and buckles or other
fastenings secured to the said foot plate. The foot plate is not rigidly connected
to the frame but is supported thereon by coiled springs so that the said foot plate
is capable of slightly yielding and the jar or vibration communicated to the foot
cycle when travelling over uneven roads is wholly or in part prevented from being
transmitted to the user of the foot cycle. In addition to connecting the foot cycle
to the foot of the user by the foot plate and straps described it is connected to the
leg of the user at a short distance below the knee. For this purpose I use a side
vertical arm jointed to the projecting end of a cross rod on the frame, the said
vertical arm being made preferably capable of ready attachment to and detachment
from the said cross rod. The upper end of the vertical arm carries a strap for
passing round the leg near the knee.
By means of the double connection described namely at the foot and leg, the
foot cycle is readily lifted and propelled by the user and the vertical arm or
support preserves the wheels in a vertical plane and thereby prevents the risk of
injury to the ankles of the user by the turning aside of the foot cycles.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in side elevation and Figure 2
in end elevation a foot cycle the parts of which are constructed and combined
according to my invention;
Figure 3 represents in plan of upper side and Figure 4 in plan of underside a
portion of the foot cycle;
Figure 5 represents in vertical section, one of the wire spoked wheels, the frame
and foot plate of the foot cycle, and
Figure 6 represents an end elevation of the same (partly in section) drawn to a
larger scale than Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4.

page_text: The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawings.
of
a, a are the arch like parallel bars of the frame, made preferably of drawn steel
tubes the said frame supporting at its ends the wire spoked wheels b, b the said
wheels working between the parallel bars a, a. The horizontal parts of the bars a, a
are connected together by the cross stays cc and the lower vertical ends of the
said bars a a are connected together by the fixed axles on which the hubs,
the wire spoked wheels bb turn, the said hubs being provided as represented in
Figure 5 with ball bearings. One of the fixed axles of the hubs is marked d in
Figure 5. The lower ends of the tubes forming the bars a, a of the supporting
frame are flattened and forked for taking upon the ends of the fixed axles d and
the extreme ends of the flattened parts are bent at right angles, the flattened ends
of the said bars on the axles being secured between the bearing cones e, e and the
washers ff by screw nuts as represented in Figure 5. I prefer to construct the
rims of the wire spoked wheels b b of my improved foot cycles with deep grooves or
troughs, the india rubber tyres 68 fitting in the said deep troughed rims having a
corresponding figure as seen in the section Figure 5. By thus forming the rims
and tyres, the tendency in the tyres to escape from the rims by the lateral pressure
put upon them when the foot cycle is in use is reduced to a minimum.
g is the foot plate on which the foot of the user rests and to which the foot is
strapped by the buckled straps at h and i secured respectively to the heel strap plate y*
and adjustable sliding front strap plates g, g² on the foot plate. The said foot
plate g is supported by the coiled springs k, k bearing on ring lugs 1, 1 on the side
bars a, a the said coiled springs being situated around tubular guide pegs m, m
sliding when pressure is put on the foot plate in the said ring lugs l, 7 (see Figure 6).
By thus supporting the foot plate it is made capable of slightly yielding and
the jar or vibration communicated to the foot cycle when travelling over uneven
roads is wholly or in part prevented from being transmitted to the user of the foot
cycle.
In order to accommodate feet of different widths the front plates g³, g² to which
the straps i are secured are made capable of adjustment by means of the set screws
and slots at 93, 9³ as best seen in Figure 5.
n is the side vertical arm or support, tubular by preference, by which the foot
cycle is connected to the leg of the user at a short distance below the knee in
addition to being connected to the foot of the user by the foot plate g and straps h
and i.
The said side vertical arm or support n is jointed to the projecting end of the
cross rod c on the frame a, a conical bush n' at the bottom of the said arm n working
upon the said end as an axis so that the said arm n is capable of a free angular
motion on the said end or axis to follow the motion of the leg in using the foot
cycle. The upper end of the arm n is connected to the leg near the knee by a
buckled strap p. In order the better to secure the side arm or support n to the
leg of the person, the top of the arm or support n is provided with a curved plate
spring p', indicated in dotted lines, which is encased in the strap p and clips
the leg.
The side supporting arm is capable of ready connection to and disconnection
from the axis on which it turns by applying and removing the lock screw nuts at q.
The connection described of the foot cycle with the foot and leg permits the foot
cycle being readily lifted and propelled by the user; and the vertical side arm or
support n preserves the wheels b, b in a vertical plane and thereby prevents the risk
of injury to the ankles of the user by the turning aside of the foot cycle.
By the use of foot cycles of the kind described and represented, the user can
readily propel himself on ordinary roads at all seasons of the year and at the same
time obtain a pleasure similar to that obtained on skating on ice or skating rinks.
Foot cycles constructed according to my invention are also applicable for use on
skating rinks or elsewhere,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and the manner in which the same is to be performed I declare that I claim
as my invention :-
New or improved foot cycles or apparatus to be attached to the feet and legs for
expediting the travelling of persons on ordinary roads, skating rinks or elsewhere,
the parts of the said foot cycles or apparatus being constructed and arranged and
used substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated the Sixth day of July 1892