provements in the Manufacture of the Lugs or Jointing Sockets and certain other parts of the Tubular Frames of Bicycles and other Velocipedes and Motor Carriages.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Improvements in the Manufacture of the Lugs or Jointing Sockets
and certain other parts of the Tubular Frames of Bicycles and
other Velocipedes and Motor Carriages.
We, FRANK IORNS GIBBS, and WILLIAM WRIGHT, trading together as Gibbs &
Wright, of 70, Lower Hurst Street, in the City of Birmingham, Tinplate Workers
and Metal Workers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows;-
This invention has reference to the manufacture of the lugs or jointing sockets
which connect together the tubular parts of the frames of bicycles and other
velocipedes and motor carriages and also to the manufacture of the steering heads
of cycles combined with the said lugs and also to the manufacture of what are
known as the ball head adjusting collars for the steering heads and this invention
consists in making the said parts from sheet metal in the several ways herein
described whereby the cost of the manufacture of the sanie is considerably reduced.
We will first describe this invention as applied to the manufacture of a bicycle
or the like steering handle lug which is made of T-shape and secures the steering
handle to the steering pillar and has a vertical socket which fits on the top of the
steering pillar and a horizontal socket through which the steering handle passes
and in which the said steering handle is fixed.
In carrying out this invention we make the said T-shaped lug of two sheet
imetal stampings each of which constitutes one half of the lug as if the same were
divided in a vertical plane across the handle bar and through the vertical socket
which fits on the steering tube, so that each half or stamping of the lug constitutes
one half of the socket which fits on the steering tube and a continuous socket
which is half the length of the cross socket in which the steering handle fits.
These two stampings can readily be raised by suitable dies from sheet metal and
when so raised and the end of the circular socket is pierced out they are fixed
together by being sweated or otherwise fixed on the handle bar or a liner thereon
and by a tubular ferrule or liner being inserted in the inside or on the outside of
the divided vertical socket which fits on the steering tube, this ferrule being
soldered or sweated or otherwise fixed in place on the divided socket of the lug.
We make the other lugs or jointing sockets of the cycle frame similarly as
above described. For instance in making one of the front top lugs which in a
safety bicycle secures the top tube of the frame to the top of the head we make
the said lug in two parts as if the same were divided right on the centre line of
the said top tube thus dividing in halves the socket in which the said top tube fits
and also passing right across the head so that each half of the lug will form a
complete eye or socket to fit on the tubular part of the head and also half a socket
for the top tube to fit in. The said two half sockets of the lug are' secured
together by external or internal liners or ferrules sweated or otherwise fixed therein
of thereon as above described. The upper half of the lug or the tube within the
same has or may have fixed on it at the top a collar forming the ball race this.

page_text: •
collar having an annular groove turned in its bottom edge to fit on to the top of
the tube or lug.
We form the bottom front lug of the cycle head in two parts similarly as above
described with reference to the top lug. We also form other lugs of the cycle
frame in a similar manner.
According to another part of this invention we make a cheap and strong cycle head
as follows: We employ a top and bottom lug made in halves from sheet metal
as above described and these are threaded on to a piece of tube one at the top and
one at the bottom of the same at the proper distance apart as required by the
cycle frame and between these two lugs there is threaded on the said inside tube
an outside tube which forms a distance piece for the top and bottom lugs. The
said parts are sweated or otherwise secured together.
We make a ball head adjusting collar by raising a sheet metal blank into a
cup shape with the rim flanged outwardly in a curved section to form the ball
race or the seating for a separate ball race collar. The bottom of the cup is
pierced out so that when the cup is inverted it will fit on the steering pillar and
the said flanged rim will form the ball race. The cup is partly sawn through
as usual and fixed round the said cup there is a sheet metal band the ends of which
form the ears through which the usual cross bolt passes to contract the cup and
secure the same on the steering tube.
Dated this 25th day of May 1807
CHARLES BOSWORTH KETLEY,
Agent for the Applicants.
Improvements in the Manufacture of the Lugs or Jointing Sockets
and certain other parts of the Tubular Frames of Bicycles and
other Velocipedes and Motor Carriages.
We, FRANK TORNS GIBBS, and WILLIAM WRIGHT, trading together as Gibbs &
Wright, of 70, Lower Hurst Street, in the City of Birmingham, Tinplate Workers
and Metal Workers, 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 has reference to the manufacture of the lugs or jointing sockets
which connect together the tubular parts of the frames of bicycles and other
velocipedes and motor carriages and also to the manufacture of the steering heads
of cycles combined with the said lugs and also to the manufacture of what are
known as the ball head adjusting collars for the steering heads and this invention
consists in making the said parts from sheet metal in the several ways herein
described whereby the cost of the manufacture of the same is considerably reduced.
We will describe this invention by referring to the accompanying drawings
on which Fig. 1 is a front view of a T-shaped lug constructed according to this
invention for securing a bicycle or like steering handle to the steering pillar;
Fig. 2 shews one of the parts of the said lug separately and Fig. 3 is a perspective
view and a plan of a stamping for forming the part shewn by Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is
a bicycle head front top lug constructed according to this invention and Fig. 5
shews two separate parts of the lug illustrated by Fig. 4; Fig. 6 shews a bicycle
head front bottom lug constructed according to this invention and Fig. 7 shews
separately two parts of the lug illustrated by Fig. 6; Fig. 8 represents in side
elevation and in plan a sheet metal stamping for forming the top part of the top

page_text: lug illustrated by Fig. 4; Fig. 9 shews a sheet metal stamping for forming the
bottom part of the said lug; Fig. 10 illustrates a sheet metal stamping for forming
the top part of the bottom lug shewn by Fig. 6; Fig. 11 shews a sheet metal
stamping for forming the bottom part of said lug illustrated by Figs. 6 and 7;
Fig. 12 is a side elevation and Fig. 13 is a sectional elevation of a cycle head
constructed according to this invention; Fig. 14 is a sectional side elevation and
Fig. 15 is a plan of a ball head adjusting collar constructed according to this
invention and Figs. 16 and 17 illustrate two stages in the manufacture of the main
portion of the adjusting collar represented by Figs. 14 and 15.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts where they occur in the
different figures of the drawings.
We will first refer to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 and describe this invention as applied to the
manufacture of a bicycle or like steering handle lug which is made of tee-shape
and secures the steering handle to the top of the steering pillar and has a vertical
socket which fits on or in the top of the steering pillar and a horizontal socket
through which the steering handle passes and in which the steering handle is
fixed. Neither the steering handle nor the steering pillar are shewn upon our
drawings.
In carrying out this invention we make the said T-shaped lug of two sheet
metal stampings marked respectively A and B (one of which is shewn by Fig. 3)
each of which constitutes one half of the lug as if the same were divided longitu-
dinally at the line X X of Fig. 1 in a vertical plane across the handle bar and
through the vertical socket which fits on or in the steering tube so that as shewn
in Figs. 2 and 3 each half or stamping of the lug is shaped so as to form one half a²
or 63 of the socket which fits on the steering tube and a continuous socket a¹ or b¹
which is half the length of the complete cross socket a¹ b¹ in which the steering
handle fits. These two stampings A and B can readily be raised by suitable dies
from sheet metal and when so raised and the end 3 of the circular socket b₁ and
the corresponding end of the socket a¹ have been pierced out they are fixed together
as shewn in Fig. 1 by being sweated or otherwise fixed on the handle bar or on a
liner thereon and by a tubular ferrule or liner C being fixed on the outside (or on
the inside) of the divided vertical socket a² 62 which fits on the steering tube this
ferrule C being soldered or sweated or otherwise fixed in place on
divided socket a³ 63 of the lug. The said stampings are as shewn by Fig. 3 pre-
ferably each made with rounded end as 64 as shewn in Fig. 3 which is afterwards
cut off leaving the end of the socket a² 12 as represented in Figs. 1 and 2.
or in the
We make other lugs or jointing sockets of a cycle frame similarly as above
described.
For instance in making one of the front top lugs which in a safety bicycle
secures the top tube of the frame to the top of the head we make the said top lug
in two parts marked respectively A and B as if the same were divided at the
line X X of Fig. 4 that is on the centre line of the top tube of the cycle frame
thus dividing into two halves a² 2 the socket in which the said top tube fits and
also passing right across the head so that the upper half of the lug will form a
complete eye or socket a¹ to fit on the tubular part of the head and also a half
socket a² for the top tube to fit in and similarly the lower half B of the socket will
form a complete eye or socket b¹ to fit on the tubular part of the head and also a
half socket 62 for the top tube to fit in. The two halves A and B of the lug are
shewn separately by Fig. 5 and the sheet metal stampings from which the halves A
and B are formed are shewn by Figs. 8 and 9. The said half sockets a² 62 of the
lug are secured together by an external ferrule C sweated or otherwise fixed
thereon as shewn in Fig. 4, or there may be an internal tubular liner fixed in one
or both of the sockets. The upper half A of the lug (or the tubular liner within
the same) has or may have fixed on it at the top a collar such as D forming a
ball race this collar having an annular groove turned in its bottom edge to
fit on to the top of the lug A or on the top of the tubular liner therein.
We form the bottom front lug of the cycle head in two parts E and F similarly,

page_text: as above described with reference to Figs. 4 and 5, that is to say, the upper part E
of the bottom lug consists of a stamping such as represented by Fig: 10 forming
a half socket e² for the bottom tube of the cycle frame and a complète eye or
socket e¹ to fit on the tubular part of the head. The bottom part F of the bottom
lug forms the other half f² of the socket for the bottom tube and a complete 'eye
or socket f to fit on to the tubular part of the head these two half' lugs meeting
together at the line X X and being secured together in manner similar to that
above described with reference to Fig. 4. The bottom of the eye f¹ is also similarly
provided with a collar :D forming the ball race.
We also form the other lugs of the cycle frame in a similar manner to that
above described with reference to the preceding figures.
According to another part of this invention we make a cheap and strong cycle
head as we will now describe with reference to Figs. 12 and 13 by employing the
top lug of the kind represented by Fig. 4 and the bottom lug of the kind repre-
sented by Fig. 6 and these are threaded on to a piece of tube G one at the top
and the other at the bottom of the sanie at the proper distance apart as required
by the cycle frame and between the bottom part B of the top lug and the top part E
of the bottom lug there is threaded on the said inside tube. G an outside tube H
which forms a distance piece between the top and bottom' lug. The said parts
are sweated or otherwise secured together so as to make a cycle lead such as repre-
sented by Figs. 12 and 13. The tube H may be dispensed with.
We make a ball head adjusting collar in accordance with this invention by
raising a sheet metal blank into a cup shape such as marked, I shewn by Fig. 16
with the rim flanged outwardly in a curved section to form the ball race, or the
said rim may form a seating for a separate ball race collar. The bottom 2
of the cup I is pierced out as shewn in Fig. 17 so that when the cup I is inverted
as shewn in Figs. 14 and 15 it will fit on the steering pillar and the flanged rim i¹.
will form the ball race.
i
The cup I is partly sawn through at 3 as usual, and fixed round the said cup I
there is a sheet metal band J the ends of which form the ears j¹ through which
the usual cross bolt passes to contract the cup I and secure the same on the steering
tube.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-.
1. A tee-shaped lug or jointing socket for connecting a cycle handle bar to
the top of the steering pillar or for other like uses in the construction of the tubular
frames of bicycles and other velocipedes and motor carriages, said jointing socket
consisting essentially of the two sheet metal stampings A B each forming a semi-
circular socket such as a 62 to be connected to one tube and a complete circular
socket such as a b¹ to receive another tube at an angle therewith, said two parts A
and B being fixed together so as to form a complete tee-shaped lug, substantially
as herein before described with reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying
drawings.
2. A cycle head top lug consisting essentially of the two sheet metal stamp-
ings A B each forming a semi-circular socket such as a 3 to connect to the top
tube of the cycle frame and a complete circular socket such as a b₁ to receive the
tubular part of the bicycle head at an angle to said top tube, said two parts A B
being formed and fixed together so as to form a cycle head top lug substantially
as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 4, 5, 8 and 9 of the accompany-
ing drawings.
3. A cycle head bottom lug consisting essentially of the two sheet metal stamp-
ings E Feach forming a semi-circular socket such as e2f2 to connect to the bottom
tube of the cycle frame and a complete circular socket, such as e¹ f¹ to receive the
tubular part of the bicycle head at an angle to the said bottom tube said two
parts E F being formed and fixed together so as to form a cycle head bottom lug

page_text: substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 6, 7, 10 and 11
of the accompanying drawings.
4. In a cycle head top lug the combination of the stampings or half sockets A B
the ferrule C and the ball race D all arranged and fixed together in the manner sub-
stantially as herein before described and illustrated by Fig. 4 of the accompanying
drawings.
5. In a cycle head bottom lug the combination of stampings or half sockets E F
and the ferrule C and the ball race collar I all arranged and fixed together in the
manner substantially as herein before described and illustrated by Fig. 6 of the
accompanying drawings.
6. A cycle head consisting essentially of the internal main tube G extending
from end to end and provided with end cups for the ball bearings, the two-stamped
sheet metal half sockets A B threaded on said tube to form the top lug, the two
stamped sheet metal half sockets E F threaded on said internal tube to form the
bottom lug, the said parts being fixed together with or without the distance tube H
so as to form a cycle head substantially as herein before described and illustrated
by Figs. 12 and 13 of the accompanying drawings.
7. A ball head adjusting collar consisting of the stamped sheet metal divided
cup I with the bottom pierced out and provided with a rim ¹ forming a ball race,
in combination with the encircling band J fixed round said cup and provided
with lugs for the cross bolt, the whole forming a ball head adjusting collar
substantially as herein before described and illustrated by Figs. 14 and 15 of the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 26th day of Fahwa 1000