Improvements in Cycle Mud Guards.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SP
Improvements in Cycle Mud Guards.
I ERNEST DIGBY HOPCROFT of 14 Chester Road Kidderminster in the
County of Worcester Boiler Inspector do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object improvements in cycle mud guards by which
I provide a collapsible mud guard which is capable of being quickly and easily
closed up when not required in use and which while always being attached to the
machine occupies little or no room when closed and when open follows the
curvature of the wheel. There is also no possibility of shake or rattle in
connection with my mud guard either when open or closed.
'
In carrying my invention into effect I provide a back bone of light oval tube
which follows the circumference of the wheel to be covered and is attached to the
frame or fork as the case may be. Upon this back bone I mount a series of cross
ribs in such a manner that they slide up and down the back bone the said ribs
being bent as desired so as to form a thorough support to a silk or other suitable
covering which is attached to the said ribs. As the ribs are moved up the silk is
collapsed and the whole slides into a suitable receptacle provided near or within
the fork where it is retained by any suitable sliding door. The back bone which
is fixed permanently in the one position is provided at its lower end with a fixed
rib to which the end of the silk is attached when extended for use an intermediate
length of elastic being provided between the end of the cover and the rib to allow
liberty of expansion and contraction.
In the case of the driving wheel of any ordinary safety the receptical is arranged
in the centre and the back bone and extends from it in both directions and has two
doors but in the case cf the front wheel the back bone extends in one direction
only and has one door. The back bone may be varied in section to suit various
requirements.
this tourth day of May 1896.
Improvements in Cycle Mud Guards.
I ERNEST DIGBY HOPCROFT of 14 Chester Road Kidderminster in the
County of Worcester Boiler Inspector 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 :-
My invention has for its object improvements in cycle mud guards by which
I provide a collapsible mud guard the great advantage of which is its capability

page_text: of being quickly and easily attached and detached from the machine while it can
be closed up into a sufficiently small compass, to be easily inserted in the tool bag
or pocket. When attached my mud guard follows the curve of the wheel and
being circular in cross section prevents the mud from flying from the sides, as is
the ease with other flexible guards and at the same time there is no possibility of
rattle or shake in connection with any part of it.
Figure 1 is a view of a machine with a set of mud guards attached thereto.
Figure 2 is a similar view to Figure 1 but shewing the mud guards detached.
Figure 3 is a view of one section of the cover detached and closed up.
Figure 4 is an enlarged section through Figure 1 on the line 1--2.
Figure 5 is a view shewing one mode of attaching the cover.
Figure 6 shews a section of the cover through a rib B.
Figure 7 shews the sections of covers packed in an ordinary saddle bag.
Figure 8 shews a modification in which the covers are arranged to be contained
by a receptacle X on the machine.
a'
In carrying my invention into effect I provide the back bones A. A' and A'
which consist of wire of suitable section or light oval tube of sufficient strength to
support the covers B1, B2 and B and which follow the circumference of that part
of the wheel to be covered. These wires or tubes are fixed to the machine at a,
and a, and remain permanently on the machine being supported at a by the
stays C. The covering of the mud guard is formed of india rubber silk or other
suitable material and stiffened crossways by a series of curved ribs B to which the
cover is attached. The ribs B thus give a lateral curve to the cover which makes
it most effective as a mud guard. The ribs attached to the ends of the cover are
formed as D Figure 5 with the projections d' in which slots d' are formed so that
the projection may fit the wire and the rib is thus kept central. Projections a are
also fixed upon the wire A and are provided with pins a" which enter the hole d
as the projection d' is slid along the wire A by which means the cover B is kept
rigidly in position. Similar projections to dare also formed on one or more of
the ribs B to ensure the covers B B and B being retained in a central position.
For detaching the mud guard the covers B¹ B2 and B3 have only to be unhooked
from the wire as shewn by Figure 5 then collapsed as shewn by Figure 3 in which
form they can be put in the saddle pouch and are just as easily attached again
at any time but as a modification the one end of each section may be secured
respectively at a and a and a metal case may be provided at X into which the
covers can be pressed, a suitable door being provided to the case to retain the
covers within, in which case the ribs D and B would be made to slide up the back
bone. It will be readily seen that the mud guards here described are equally
applicable to the covering of the chain the only provision necessary being a wire
such as F Figure 2 with studs for the attachment of the cover as described to the
main wheel.
In the case of the rear guard to a lady's machine the cross ribs B are permanently
fixed to the back bone A of the guard the said ribs being formed with hooks to
which the dress guard is attached in which case the covers B' and B' does not
contain any ribs except at the fastening ends and is therefore simply a plain cover
which can be instantly removed without in anyway interfering with the dress
guards. In case I desire to remove the back bone wires A. A' and A' I may
instead of having them curved to follow the wheel use springy channel wire without
being bent channel and have them of greater length than the distance between
which they have to fit so that when the straight length of wire is sprung into
sockets formed to receive them they take the correct circle of the wheel.
In such cases the stays C are hinged to a quadrant plate so that when the wires
are removed the stays C can be turned up against the frame of the machine and
retained in that position by a thumb screw.
The wires A. A' and A are then arranged to be clipped to one of the tubes of
the machine or placed in one of the tubes forming the frame of the machine.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
1st. A cycle mud guard consisting of the flexible detachable covers B¹ B' and B*
having cross circular stiffening ribs B or D in combination with a supporting frame
substantially as herein set forth and shewn.
2nd. A cycle mud guard consisting of flexible covers B' B³, and B3 having cross
circular stiffening ribs B in combination with the supporting frame A and a
recepticle X for containing the covers substantially as herein set forth and
shewn.
3rd. The improvements in cycle mud guards substantially as and for the purpose
herein set forth and shewn upon the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 4th day of February 1897.
ERNEST DIGBY HOPCROFT.