IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Richards, of No. 12, City Road, Manchester, in
the County of Lancashire, and Benjamin Chew Tilghman, of No. 80, Gray's
Inn Road, London, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Richards and
Benjamin Chew Tilghman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on
the 17th August 1881.
•
GEORGE RICHARDS, of No. 12, City Road, Manchester, in the County of
Lancashire, and BENJAMIN CHEW TILGHMAN, of No. 80, Gray's Inn Road, London,
in the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES."
Our Invention relates to improvements in velocipedes by altering the usual
form of bicycles to avoid its dangerous elements, which are, 1st, the falling of the
rider forward and over the large wheel in meeting an obstruction on the road;
2nd, the almost useless attempt to check the impetus of the machine by brakes ;
3rd, the necessary skill to maintain an equilibrium when not in motion.
Owing to the construction and arrangement of our improved velocipedes other
desired features are attained in its operation. 1st, the rider can be placed directly
over the pedals of the driving wheel; 2nd, the strain upon the arms in bicycles
from both steering and overcoming the alternate pressure of the feet upon the
centre of the large wheel is avoided.
The construction and operation of our improved form of machine is as follows,
viz:-
We place in front of a bicycle of usual construction one or more small wheels of
suitable diameter. We prefer using only one wheel, the primary object being to
give an extended wheel base to the machine to insure the safety of the rider. In
one form of the machine we combine with this main object the additional object of
steering and guiding the machine. In other forms this small wheel partakes only
of the object of safety, and it is operated so as not to impede or retard the action
of the large wheel for steering the machine. As however the method of steering

page_text: the machine is most easily accomplished by the former method, I will proceed to
describe the method of construction.
The machine consists essentially of two frames joined together by a swivelling
joint placed over the large wheel. The rider's saddle is placed upon the back
frame, which carries a forked bearing, and the small wheel behind in the usual
manner. The front framo commences at this swivel joint and extends forward to
carry and support the front wheel, and downward to the bearings of the large or
middle wheel. The bearings of the large wheel are then connected by tie rods on
both sides to the front frame, just above where the frame or fork carrying the
front wheel is attached.
From this it will be seen that the back wheel and the large one can be altered
in their relative positions, as in a bicycle.
The forward or "safety" wheels or wheel has an independent swivelling motion
distinct from the middle and back wheel. The wheel is mounted in a fork with
an extended vertical bearing in the end of the front frame, and is made to swivel
by handles placed forward of the rider, as is usual in a bicycle. To further enable
the steering of the machine to be effectual in turning circles or going over uneven
ground, an elastic support or spring is placed over the vertical swivelling bearing
of the fork carrying the front wheel or wheels.
Various methods of connecting the motion of the handles for diflecting the
front wheel may be employed, either by shafts and levers, cords, or a flexible shaft
placed inside of the hollow front framing, or by any other known mechanical
equivalent. To render the action of steering our improved machine as familiar as
possible to the rider of a bicycle we place behind the handle bars on both sides
rubber or steel springs with adjusting set-screws or stops in a small frame attached
rigidly to the front frame. One object of this is to produce a steadying effect on
the hands in steering, but the main object is to enable the rider to diflect the
middle wheel by the handles in case of emergency when a circle of a sufficient
short radius cannot be accomplished as quickly as desired by the turning of the
guiding wheel or wheels. The said set screws are placed behind the bandle bar on
both sides of the machine, and are made adjustable for different requiremonts.
In the construction of our improved velocipede we employ parts similar to those
used in constructing a bicycle, viz., frictionless bearings, hollow forks, springs
under the saddle. The spring carrying the saddle is made long, and the saddle
can be placed at pleasure directly over the centre of the middle wheel, or forward
or backward.
a
We attach also to the handle bar levers for applying a brake to the large
wheel. This brake we make of larger and stronger dimensions than are usual on
bicycles, as in some cases we stop the machine from a fast speed to a standstill in
travelling a few feet forward.
Another feature of safety by using three wheels in a velocipede placed as described,
namely, a large driving wheel and a small one back and front. We can by one
method diflect both the front and back simultaneously to steer the machine, when
the three wheels are resting upon the ground; or by another plan we diflect the
small wheels back and front, but so arrange the framing that the large wheel and
one of the small ones rest upon the ground, it being either the back or forward
wheel, which is determined by the rider throwing his body out of the perpendicular
over the centre of the large wheel.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Richards and Benjamin Chew Tilghman in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 16th February 1882.
GEORGE RICHARDS, of No. 12, City Road, Manchester, in the County of
Lancashire, and BENJAMIN CHEW TILGHMAN, of No. 80, Gray's Inn Road, London,
in the County of Middlesex. " IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES."
Our Invention relates to improvements in velocipedes, by altering the usual form
of bicycles to avoid its dangerous elements, which are, 1st, the falling of the
rider forward and over the large wheel in meeting an obstruction on the road;
2nd, the almost useless attempt to check the impetus of the machine by brakes
3rd, the necessary skill to maintain an equilibrium when not in motion.
Owing to the construction and arrangement of our improved velocipede other
desired features are attained in its operation. 1st, the rider can be placed directly
over the pedals of the driving wheel; 2nd, the strain upon the arms in bicycles from
both steering and overcoming the alternate pressure of the feet upon the centre of
the large wheel is avoided.
The construction and operation of our improved machine is as follows, viz. :—
We place in front of a bicycle of usual construction one or more small wheels of
suitable diameter, we prefer using only one wheel, the primary object being to give
an extended wheel base to the machine to insure the safety of the rider. In one
form of the machine we combine with this main object the additional object of
steering and guiding the machine; in other forms this small wheel partakes only of
the object of safety, and it is operated so as not to impede or retard the action of
the large wheel for steering the machine. As, however, the method of steering the
machine is most easily accomplished by the former method I will proceed to
describe its method of construction:-
The machine consists essentially of two frames joined together by a swivelling
joint placed over the large wheel. The rider's saddle is placed upon the back
frame which carries a forked bearing and the small wheel behind in the usual
manner. The front frame commences at this swivel joint and extends forward to
carry and support the front wheel, and downward to the bearings of the large or
middle wheel. The bearings of the large wheel are then connected by tie rods on
both sides to the front frame, just above where the frame or fork carrying the front
wheel is attached.
From this it will be seen that the back wheel and the large one can be altered
in their relative positions as in a bicycle.
The forward or "safety" wheel or wheels have an independent swivelling
motion distinct from the middle and back wheel. The wheel is mounted in a
fork with an extended vertical bearing in the end of the front frame, and is made
to swivel by handles placed forward of the rider, as is usual in a bicycle. To
further enable the steering of the machine to be effectual in turning circles or
going over uneven ground an elastic support or spring is placed over the vertical
swivelling bearing of the fork carrying the front wheels or wheel.
Various methods of connecting the motion of the handles for deflecting the front
wheel may be employed, either by shafts and levers, cords, or a flexible shaft
placed inside the hollow front framing, or by any other known mechanical
equivalent. To render the action of steering our improved machine as familiar as
possible to the rider of a bicycle, we place behind the handle bars on both sides
rubber or steel springs with adjusting set screws or stops in a small frame attached
rigidly to the front frame. One object of this is to produce a steadying effect on
the hands in steering, but the main object is to enable the rider to deflect the

page_text: middle wheel by the handles in case of emergency. When a circle of a sufficiently
short radius cannot be accomplished as quickly as desired by the turning of the
guiding wheel or wheels the said set screws are placed behind the handle bar on
both sides of the machine, and are made adjustable for different requirements.
In the construction of our improved velocipedes we employ parts similar to those
used in constructing a bicycle, viz., frictionless bearings, hollow forks, springs under
the saddle. The spring carrying the saddle is made long enough, and the saddle
can be placed at pleasure directly over the centre of the middle wheel or forward
or backward.
•
We attach also to the handle bars levers for applying a break to the large wheel.
This break we make of larger and stronger dimensions than are usual on bicycles,
and in some cases we stop the machine from a fast speed to a standstill in travelling
a few feet forward.
Another feature of safety in using three wheels in a velociped placed as described,
namely, a large driving wheel and a small one back and front. We can by our
method deflect both the front and back wheel simultaneously to steer the machine
when the three wheels are resting upon the ground; or by another plan we deflect
the small wheels back and front, but so arrange the framing that the large wheel
and one of the small ones rest upon the ground, it being either the back or forward
wheel which is determined by the rider throwing his body out of the perpendicular
over the centre of the large wheel.
In order to give a fuller understanding of our said improvement reference is
made to the accompanying Drawings forming part of this Specification. Similar
letters refer to corresponding parts of the machine.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a velocipede with our improvements attached; Fig. 2
is a front elevation of the machine; Fig. 3 is a plan for showing the front and
bind wheels in different relative positions with the main wheel; Figs. 4 and 5 are
separate sectional views of parts of the machine drawn to an enlarged scale for
more fully showing their structural arrangement..
The following is a description af portions of our machine which are known and
used in the ordinary bicycle, consisting of the main wheel A, crank B, pedals C
for the rider's feet, and bearings D; the earings may be made in various forms,
either with ball rollers or plain journals. The rider's saddle E is placed upon the
back bone F in any suitable known manner.
The backbone F extends downward
and carries the back wheel G revolving on the spindle H. The top end of the
backbone has a pivotted joint and bearing I enclosed as represented; this joint is
regulated by the set screw K; to this bearing or joint I are attached the side
forks or frame pieces L supporting the bearings D.
So far we have described portions of our machine common to ordinary bicycles,
and the following description relates to parts of the machine and its action
embracing our improvement:-The main feature of our improvements in bicycles,
as hereinbefore stated, consists in placing the forward wheel M in front of the
main wheel A; this wheel is carried by side forks or frames N, N, attached to a
bead O swivelling on a centre P similar to that at the top of the back bone F ;
this centre P is formed in a pillar or socket, as represented, having a vertical
adjustment to enable the machine to mount over slight obstacles or to pass over
uneven surfaces. In order to keep the three wheels in contact with the ground at
all times a spring R is placed over it, as represented.
This spring R is enclosed in the tube S, as more fully represented in Fig. 5, and
the tube is firmly attached to the head I, as represented, and is further kept in
position by the side rods T, T, pivotted at each end to permit of vertical adjust-
ment at p. The swivel head supporting the front wheel has a short arm U
extending out from one of its sides; this is connected by means of a rod V to the
vertical steering shaft X, to which is attached the handle bar and handles D in
the usual manner.
The steering of the machine is effected by deflecting the small wheel M at the
front, as may be required, whose vertical axis is at all times kept in line with the

page_text: plane of the large wheel A. The upright position of the rider is maintained, as in
an ordinary bicycle, by deflecting the large wheel, but instead of the steering
handles D' being attached to the bearings and forks of the large wheel, as in a
bicycle, it acts on the guiding wheel M in front; the hind wheel & then trails after
the large wheel A.
To cause the action of the steering to resemble that of an ordinary bicycle we
place a resistance to the oscillation of the handle D, so that if it is diflected either
way the action of a spring tends to bring it back to its normal position for steering
the machine straight. The device for doing this is more fully represented in
Fig. 4, and consists of a double cam Y, one attached to the vertical steering rod X
and the other is fixed to the tube or bearing Z, when the handle D' is turned out
of its normal position in either direction for steering the machine, the spring Q is
compressed by the end movement of the shaft X, which tends to force back the
handle D' to its normal position for steering the machine on a straight course.
Fig. 3 shows the relative position of the three wheels when the machine is steered
to the right or left.
Instead of using the rigid tube S for connecting and steering, or forward wheel M
to the swivel N and intermediate parts hereinbefore described, a spring may be
used instead of the tube S, with sufficient flexibility to allow the forward wheel M
to have sufficient vertical oscillation for passing over obstructables or uneven
surfaces so as to permit the three wheels to have a bearing on the ground at all
times.
This structural arrangement of the parts of our improvement may be changed to
suit circumstances without departing from the principal of our Invention.
Having now described the manner of constructing and working our improvement,
what we claim is,-
1. In a velocipede the forward or steering wheel M placed so that the centre of
the swivel N or other mechanism to which it is attached will always be in plane
or line with the main wheel A, and this when the wheel M is turned in either
position to steer the machine to the right or left.
2. The swivel N attached to the wheel M and connected with frame S, said
frame being provided with a spring R and made to act in the swivel for the
purpose of giving the steering wheel M. a vertical oscillating motion for permitting
each of the three wheels of the machine to have a bearing in passing over uneven
ground, all as fully described.
3. The steering device composed of handle bar D', the rod X, levers T, α¹, V,
and U combined, and attached to the swivel N, as represented in Figs. 1 and 2, or
their known mechanical equivalents, for the purposes herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Richards, on my own behalf, and
on behalf of the said Benjamin Chew Tilghman, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 14th day of February, in the year of our Lord 1882.
CRODan DICHIDD