IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Winter Randell Pidgeon at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th December 1882.
WINTER RANDELL PIDGEON of Holmwood, Putney Hill in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES
In constructing a Tricycle according to my invention, I employ two large driving
wheels and one smaller steering wheel, placed by preference in advance of the
rider. The driving wheels are fast on an axle which is divided into two parts each
carrying two loose pullies, hereafter called "clutch pullies," fitted with frictional
clutches or ordinary ratchet pawls which, turning one way, grip the axle of the
machine, or, turning the other way, run back loose upon it.
For the sake of clearness in description I will name the four clutch pullies in
question A, B, C, D, it being understood that A and C ride on the left-hand half,
while B and D ride on the right-hand half of the, divided main axle-The treadles
of the machine are levers, pivotted to the frame at their rear ends, with foot pedals'
at their forward ends, and having each a sheave, or idle pulley, slung from a point
between their two extremities-Öne end of a strap, or its equivalent, is wrapped
around and made fast to the periphery of the clutch-pulley A, on the left hand half
of the main axle, and it's other end, after passing under the left-hand treadle sheave,
is wrapped around and fastened to the periphery of clutch-pulley C on the
right hand half of the axle-Another strap runs, in a similar manner, from the.
clutch-pulley B to D, passing on its way under the sheave of the right-hand
treadle By this arrangement the power derived from the depression of the
treadles by the rider is transmitted equally to each half of the main axle, and both
the drive wheels receive equal impulses, whether the Tricycle is travelling in a
straight or a curved path-A spring contained, by preference, in the clutch pullies
provides for the return of each treadle after it has been depressed-As, however,
some riders prefer that the depression of one treadle should raise the other, and
vice versa, I connect them together in such a manner that they can be returned
either by their mutual interaction or by the springs already described at will—I
have described my invention above as it would be carried into practice by the use
of pullies and straps, but it is evident that the same effect can be produced by
equivalent arrangements of rods and levers or racks and pinions and I do not
confine myself to any one of these plans

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Winter Randell Pidgeon in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th May 1883.
WINTER RANDELL PIDGEON of Holmwood Putney Hill in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES
1
In constructing a Tricycle according to my invention, I employ, as usual, two
large driving wheels, A. A. in the drawing, and one smaller steering wheel, A¹, the
latter placed by preference in advance of the rider. The driving wheels are fast
on a main axle which is divided into two parts, B, B¹, each of which carries two
loose pullies c, d, e, f, hereinafter called the " clutch pullies," fitted with frictional
clutches or ratchets and pawls which, turning one way, grip the main axle of the
machine, or, turning the other way, run back loose upon.it Of these pullies, c and d
are carried on one half of the divided axle, B, and e and f on the other half, B'-
Gand H are ratchet wheels, or their equivalents, of which G is fast to the half
axle B, and H is fast to the half axle B¹. Each of the clutch pullies c, d, e and fis
provided with a pawl, or it's equivalent, I Fig: 5, and is operated by a cord, K Fig: 5,
wrapped around its periphery, and attached to the treadle. The treadles, M M', are
levers, pivotted to the main frame of the Tricycle, preferably at their rear ends, and
having each a sheave, N N), slung from. a point between their two, extremities, by
means of the shackles 001. The treadles M M¹ are connected with the clutch
pullies c, d, e and f'by means of the cords, K K¹, whose ends are wrapped around
and fastened, each to a separate clutch pulley, while the bight of each cord is
occupied by the sheave N or N¹, as the case may be-When one of the treadles,
say.M, is depressed by the foot, the cord K revolves clutch pullies c and e which
turn loosely on the main axle as already described―The pawls with which these
pullies are furnished, one of which is shown at I, Fig 5, engage in the ratchet
wheels G and. H, of which G is shown in Fig: 5, and, as these are fast, one on each
half of the main axle B B; the machine is propelled forward. When the foot is
raised, the clutch pullies ce, together with the treadle M, are returned to their original
positions by springs, one of which is shown at P. Exactly the same thing takes place
when M is depressed, the cord K' now acting on clutch pullies d and f-Fig: 3 is a
diagram showing how the arrangement I have just described operates for the purpose'
of obtaining what is known as "differential driving" in Tricycles, or, in other
words, for the transmission of the power derived from the downward strokes of the
riders feet equally to each. driving wheel whether these wheels are revolving at the
same or at different velocities, that is, whether the machine is travelling in a straight
or a curved path-1 and 2 represent the main axle of a Tricycle divided into two
parts, while 3, 4, 5 and 6 represent pullies, of which 3 and 4 are fast to axle 1, and
and 6 are fast to axle 2-If, under these circumstances, one end of a cord be
wrapped around pulley 3, and its other end around pulley 5, while the weight, 6, is
hung in the bight of this cord by a suitable sheave, 7, then the power which the
weight, in falling, exerts to revolve 3 and 5 will be divided equally between axles 1
and 2, and this will be the case whether these axles are revolving at the same or
at different velocities-Similarly, the weight 8, hung from sheave 9, will impart
equal impulses to axles 1 and 2-Referring again to the drawings, and particularly
to Figs: 2 and 4, it will now be seen that when a treadle, say M, is depressed by the
rider's foot equal impulses are communicated to the clutch pullies c and e, and
thence, by means of the ratchets and pawls, or their equivalents, already described
to each half of the main' axle, B B', and, similarly, through the clutch pullies d and f
and their ratchets and pawls when M¹ depressed-It will be observed that the
clutch pullies cand e are shown of smaller diameter than d and f, and that the
treadle M, which is connected with the former pair of pullies, operates upon them
with a shorter leverage than does M' upon the larger pullies' d and f-But this
involves no change in the principle described above and illustrated by the diagram
1

page_text: Fig: 3, the arrangement being adopted in order that the sheaves, N N¹, may
clear one another at every part of the treadles' stroke, which they would not do if.
they were both placed at the same distance from the rocking centre of the treadles.
The diameters and leverages in question are, however, so proportioned to each
other that a vibration of the longer lever, M', gives the same amount of angular
movement to the larger clutch pullies, d, f, as that of the shorter lever M gives
to the smaller clutch pullies c, e. The clutch pullies and treadles are returned to
their original positions after every downward stroke of the feet by means of
springs, as already described, and each clutch pulley is provided with a stop, Q
Fig 5, which limits its movement in either direction by coming into contact with
the main frame of the Tricycle at two points-One of these is indicated by R,
Fig 5, against which the stop rests when the treadles are drawn up to their
fullest extent by the springs. But each pawl is furnished with a tail piece, S Fig: 5,
set slightly in advance of Q, and coming into contact with R a moment before it―
In this way all four pawls, of which I is one, are tripped, automatically, out of the
ratchets, G and H, whenever the rider takes his feet off the treadles, and are brought,
again automatically, into gear as soon as he begins pedalling. When, therefore, the
rider dismounts, his machine may be wheeled backwards as well as forwards
without his having to put the pawls out of gear by hand, and when he remounts,
the simple act of placing his feet on the treadles brings the pawls again into action
for the purpose of propelling the Tricycle-For the purpose of climbing hills easily
the leverage with which the treadles operate the clutch pullies is made variable at
the will of the rider in the following manner-XX' are links, pivotted to the
treadles at Y Y¹, and capable of swinging in the paths indicated by the dotted
lines ZZ-When travelling on level ground these links are allowed to occupy
the position shown by full lines on the drawing, but, when a greater leverage is
required for the purpose of hill-climbing, the rider kicks X X into the positions
shown by dotted lines, their paths, Z. Z³, being such that no alteration is made in
the position of the treadles whichever leverage is in use-There is, however, no
novelty about this arrangement which is substantially the same as that described
in the provisional specification of Thomas Townsend dated February 1st 1879
No 417. The external peripheries of the ratchet wheels G, H, form the break
wheels in my Tricycle and in order that the bands, a a¹ Figs: 1 and 2, which clasp
them should be applied with equal pressures to each, I attach such bands to the
either extremity of a short bar T, and equidistantly from its centre to which the
pull of the break handle U is applied by means of the rocking shaft W and lever V,
a method in common use for a similar purpose in other classes of machinery and
not, therefore, new-The Tricycle is steered by the handle U¹ which acts as shown
upon a system of cord and pullies for the purpose of turning the steering wheel, A¹,
this way or that, but there is no novelty again in this part of the arrangement.
Having now described the nature of my invention and the manner in which it is
reduced to practice, I wish it to be understood that what I claim as new therein is.
First The method of obtaining." differential driving," as this is herein defined, in
Tricycles, whether that method be carried out by means of cords and pullies, as
shown, or by any equivalent devices, such as rods and levers, or racks and pinions-
Second-The automatic engagement of the pawls, of which I Fig 5 is one, or their
equivalents with the ratchet wheels G and H or their equivalents, and their
automatic disengagement therefrom, substantially as set forth-In witness whereof
I the said Winter Randell Pidgeon have hereunto set my hand and seal this third
day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eighty
three
WINTER RANDELL PIDGEON (L.S.)