MENTS IN VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1884

page_text: I, WILLIAM RUFFELL WARNER, of Alexandria Villa, Hickman Road, Sparkbrook,
Birmingham, Teacher, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VELOCIPEDES to be as follows:-
My invention is to increase the speed of certain kinds of velocipedes by using
an adjustable arrangement which permits any desired proportion of the weight of
the rider or riders to be kept upon the driving wheels without danger of tho non-
driving wheels icaving the ground. The machine is to run on four wheels and the
position of one of the wheels is to be adjustable by means of one or more bolts, rods
or screws acting, if desired, in connection with a spring (to give sufficient elasticity)..
This arrangement will allow the weight of the rider or riders to be poised over the
centre of gravity of the driving wheels and the pressure on the non-driving wheels
to be increased or diminished, so that there is just sufficient weight on them to
permit the machine to be steered with accuracy.
The invention is applicable to all velocipedes having two driving and one or
more non-driving wheels.
دو
Take for example the case of the "Coventry Convertible Tricycle '—a machine
for two riders which has two non-driving wheels running in a line midway between
the two driving wheels and is furnished with a joint in the bar in connection with
one of the wheels which permits the bar to bend so that all the four wheels reach
the ground. The saddles are necessarily so placed that at least half of the riders'
weight is upon the non-driving wheels and the speed of the machine is in
consequence seriously retarded.
To remedy this defect I throw a greater proportion of the riders' weight upon
the driving wheels-in the following manner:- Parts of the machine on opposite
sides of the above mentioned joint, at a convenient distance from it, are connected
by means of one or more bolts, rods or screws acting, if desired, in connection with
a spring. By adjusting bolts, rods or screws the bending of the joint may be so
regulated that one of the non-driving wheels rises slightly out of the tangential
plane of the other three wheels and may be so adjusted as to just touch the ground
D
1

page_text: -no matter what the weight of the riders may be; that is to say, the weight on
the non-driving wheels may be reduced to any desired extent and consequently the
weight on the driving wheels increased.
In the case of a double driving machine made with one non-driving wheel a
second is to be added on the opposite side of the machine & the position of one of
the wheels is to be made adjustable by means of a similar arrangement (i.e. by
means of one or more bolts, rods or screws acting, if desired, in connection with a
spring) so that the non-driving wheels may just touch the ground under rider or
riders of any given weight.

page_text: I, WILLIAM RUFFELL WARNER, Alexandria Villa, Hickman Road, Sparkbrook,
Birmingham, Teacher, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN VELOCIPEDES and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The invention is applicable to all velocipedes which have (or may have) two
Dondriving wheels the rising of either of which is (or may be) resisted by contact
of the other with the ground. It consists of the adjustment of the angle through
which part or parts of a flexible portion of the framework carrying opposite wheels
may move in a vertical or nearly vertical angle, so as to regulate as desired the
relative positions of the wheels; and its purpose is to secure any or all of the
following advantages:-(a) Diminution of the weight on the nondriving wheels
while preventing danger arising from tilting; (b) diminution of jolting or vibration;
(c) strengthening the framework carrying opposite wheels, while permitting
flexibility.
Parts of the flexible framework on opposite sides of the bending point or points
are made by means of one or more adjustable screws, bolts, rods, washers, wedges
or other similar appliances (if desired, in conjunction with one or more springs) to
react on each other with sufficient leverage to regulate the bending of the frame.
Take, for example, the case of the "Coventry Convertible Tricycle," which has
two rudder wheels running midway between the two driving wheels, and is
furnished with a joint in the framework carrying the two driving wheels which
permits the four wheels to reach the ground simultaneously. The saddles are
necessarily so placed that at least half of the riders' weight is upon the non-driving
wheels. Consequently the speed of the machine is seriously retarded and con-
siderable jolting is experienced. My invention remedies these defects in a manner
similar to the following:-To a crank-arm on one side of the abovementioned joint
a spring is fixed and the free end of the spring is then connected with the crank-
arin on the other side of the joint by a screw-bolt. By adjusting the spring the
crank-arms are made to act as levers and the frame is so bent at the joint that one
wheel is forced slightly out of the tangential plane of the other three wheels. The
bending of the frame may be so regulated that there is just sufficient pressure on
the non-driving wheels to permit the machine, when mounted, to be steered with
accuracy. The invention may also be applied to this machine by making the frame-
work connecting the non-driving wheels flexible and then regulating the bending
in a similar manner, by means of one or more springs, screws, bolts, rods, washers,
wedges or other similar appliances.
"
As an additional example, take the case of the "Humber Tricycle, which is
similar to a bicycle with a "backbone" carrying a trailing wheel, but with two
driving wheels. This machine runs most easily when the weight of the rider or
riders is poised almost over the middle of the axle of the two driving wheels; but
in this position the machine is liable to tilt, so that the trailing wheel for a time
does not "bite" the ground and consequently the direction of the machine is not

page_text: under control. Considerable vibration is also felt by the rider when he throws a
greater part of his weight on the trailing wheel. My invention remedies these
defects in the following manner :-
A front wheel is added by means of a flexible, hinged or jointed support or
framework to some part of the frame of the machine that may move in a vertical
or nearly vertical plane about the axle of the driving wheels. By means of one or
more adjustable springs, screws, bolts, rods, washers, wedges or other similar
appliances, these parts of the united framework carrying opposite wheels may be
so bent as to react on each other with sufficient force to just make the trailing
wheel bite the ground, while elasticity is also given to diminish vibration or
jolting.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. The regulation, by means of adjustable appliances, of the bending of a flexible
part of the framework carrying opposite wheels.
Dat his fifteenth day of April 1885.