Improvements in and relating to Driving Gear for Cycles.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Driving Gear for Cycles.
I, HERMANN VOIGT, of 9; Adlerstrasse, Karlsruhe i/B, in the Empire of Germany,
Mechanician, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to driving gear for cycles, and has for its object to provide
a gear in which the driving effort shall be effectively utilized, and which may be
simply and cheaply constructed.
The invention consists of a gear for cycles in which pedal levers are employed,
such levers being longitudinally movable within carrying brackets to permit of
the longitudinal movement necessary in effecting the rotation of the wheel to
which motion is communicated so that the pedal levers when commencing the
downward effective stroke have their forward arms relatively long while on
further rotation the levers are longitudinally retracted and the forward arms
are of less length.
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which,
Figure 1 illustrates a front elevation of the driving wheel of a safety bicycle
applied with driving gear according to the invention, while,
Figure 2 is a geometric figure representing the path of the pedal lever during
one complete to and fro movement.
In carrying the invention into effect as illustrated in the accompanying drawings
carrying brackets c are pivoted to the respective lower horizontal members of the
frame so as to be capable of partial rotary movement, such carriers having
grooved rollers & pivoted thereupon in alignment one with the other so as to carry
within their grooves the pedal levers f. Upon an extension a of the respective
lower horizontal members of the frame spur wheels d are mounted and to such
spur wheels the extremities of the respective pedal levers f are secured. The spur
wheels engage with the pinions e mounted upon the hubs of the wheel.
It will be understood that upon the depression of the pedal levers in the direction
of the arrow (Figure 1) the opposite extremities of the levers are forced upwardly
and in this motion the pedal levers travel forward to a slight extent and on
reaching the lower part of this stroke the pedal Tevers are drawn backward. It
will be understood that the pedal levers f are supported and guided by means of
the rollers b. The pedals on operation describe an ellipse as indicated in Figure 2
and travel over during the effective stroke the larger curve ay during which
time the pedal levers are extended and during the upward ineffective movement of
the pedals the small curvey is described while the pedal levers are retracted,
thus it will be seen that the driving effort is utilized to the best advantage.
The invention is not limited to the actual combination of elements as herein-
before described for it is obvious that, the means for effecting the rotation of
the gear wheels consisting of the pedal levers f mounted within the carrying
brackets may be applied to gear mounted upon one side only of the frame and

page_text: that other modifications in construction may be employed without departing from
the essential feature of the invention
Dated this 21st day of February 1899.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.;
13, Temple Street, Birmingham and 25, Cross Street, Manchester,
Agents,
Improvements in and relating to Driving Gear for Cycles.
I, HERMANN VOIGT, of 9, Adlerstrasse, Karlsruhe i/B, in the Empire of Germany,
Mechanician, 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:-
This invention relates to driving gear for cycles, and has for its object to provide
a gear in which the driving effort shall be effectively utilized and which may he
simply and cheaply constructed.
The invention consists in a gear for cycles, in which pedal levers are employed,
such levers being longitudinally movable within carrying brackets to permit of
the longitudinal movement necessary in effecting the rotation of the wheel to
which motion is communicated-so-that-the-pedal levers when commencing the
downward effective stroke have their forward arms relatively long while on
further rotation the levers are longitudinally retracted and the forward arms
are of less length. The invention is illustrated in the drawing filed with my
Provisional Specification, in which
Figure 1 illustrates a front elevation of the driving wheel of a safety bicycle
applied with driving gear according to the invention, while
Figure 2 is a geometric figure representing the path of the pedal lever during
one complete to and fro movement.
In carrying the invention into effect as illustrated in the drawings filed with
my Provisional Specification carrying brackets c are pivoted to the respective lower
horizontal members of the frame g so as to be capable of partial rotary move-
ment, such carriers & having grooved rollers & pivoted thereupon in alignment one
with the other so as to carry within their grooves the pedal levers f. Upon an
extension a of the respective lower horizontal members of the frame spur wheels d
are mounted and to such spur wheels the extremities of the respective pedal levers f
are secured. The spur wheels d engage with the pinions e mounted upon the hubs
of the wheel.
It will be understood that upon the depression of the pedal levers in the direction
of the arrow (Figure 1) the opposite extremities of the levers are forced upwardly
and in this motion the pedal levers travel forward to a slight extent and on
reaching the lower part of this stroke the pedal levers are drawn backward. It
will be understood that the pedal levers f are supported and guided by means of
the rollers b. The pedals on operation describe an ellipse as indicated in Figure 2
and travel over during the effective stroke the larger curvery during which
time the pedal levers are extended and during the upward ineffective movement of
the pedals the small curve y is described while the pedal levers are retracted,
thus it will be seen that the driving effort is utilized to the best advantage.
The invention is not limited to the actual combination of elements as herein-
before described for it is obvious that the means for effecting the rotation of
the gear wheels consisting of the pedal levers f mounted within the carrying

page_text: brackets may be applied to gear mounted upon one side only of the frame and
that other modifications in construction may be employed without departing from
the essential feature of the invention.
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. An improved driving gear for cycles in which a pedal lever is connected at
one end to the driven spindle and carried by rollers attached to the frame so that
the travel of the foot treadle and the length of its effective lever arm vary during
the revolution and provide a longer path while work is being done by the foot and
a shorter path during the free return, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The improved driving gear for cycles having varying leverage, substantially
as hereinbefore described and as illustrated in the drawings.
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham and 25, Cross Street, Manchester,
Agents.