Improvements in Brakes for Bicycles, Tricycles, or other Carriages.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brakes for Bicycles, Tricycles, or other
Carriages.
I, JOSEPH ROBERTS STONEY 22 Victoria Crescent, Dewsbury. Yorks Teazle
Merchant do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:--
The brakes of bicycles etc. are usually applied by means of a lever attached to
the handle bar of the machine which lever has to be held by the rider's hand at the
required pressure so long as such pressure may be needed. This involves
tremendous strain upon the rider's band and arm whilst descending long or steep
declines.
My apparatus is designed I to avoid this strain by holding the brake at any
desired pressure instead of the rider holding it II to prevent possible risks where
riders (from sheer exhaustion) are forced to let go the lever before reaching
dangerous curves in the road, obstacles, or the bottom of inclines.
My apparatus consists of fixtures or attachments to the handle bar and brake
lever forming or having a lip or lips such as a rack or screw or serrated face or
faces, so that as the brake lever is lifted or moved to apply the brake the lever or
the lip or catch or lips of one are brought into contact with a lip or tooth or lips
of the other and so is held until the brake lever is moved for it to be held in a
similar way at some other position or released as the rider desires. The play in
the joints or the elasticity of the brake lever may suffice to bring these lips or teeth
into contact, or to release them, or a lip, or a set of lips may be carried on or
moved by a spring with the same object, to be released by the thumb or fingers of
the rider.
A lip or catch or set of lips or both sets may be hinged or arranged to slide
or move on either handle bar or brake lever to avoid contact with the other
when desired.
L... of T.no 1806
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brakes for Bicycles, Tricycles, or other
Carriages.
I, JOSEPH ROBERTS STONEY Oak Lea, Stonefield Street, Dewsbury
Yorkshire, Teazle Merchant late of 22 Victoria Crescent Dewsbury 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:-
The brakes of bicycles etc. are usually applied by means of a lever attached
to the handle bar of the machine which lever has to be held by the rider's
hand at the required pressure so long as such pressure may be needed.

page_text: This involves tremendous strain upon the rider's hand and arm whilst descending
long or steep declines. I My apparatus is designed to avoid this strain by holding
the brake at any desired pressure instead of the rider holding it II to prevent
possible risks where riders-from sheer exhaustion-are forced t let go the
lever before reaching dangerous curves in the road, obstacles or the bottom of
inclines.
The arrangement and application of my invention is as follows and as shewn by
the accompanying drawings.
Figures 1, 1, 2, 2 are four views of one arrangement, the lettering of each
of these is alike in all of them. A is a section of the handle bar of a bicycle or
other like machine, B is a fixing attached to the handle bar of such machine by
suitable means, by preference in this case-by a hinged clamp C tightened on to
it by a winged nut, D is a spindle or part carrying a rack or holder with a serrated
edge or face, E is the brake lever bar, F is a lip or lips formed on or attached by
suitable means to the brake lever, G is-by preference-a lever or means fitted
to D to move, turn or revolve D on or in the fixing B, and H is a spring likewise
fitted to D to retain D in the position desired by acting against flats or suitable
stops on the fixing B as shewn at I.
The action of the invention then results for its use thus, the racked or toothed
spindle D is set with its serrated face towards the lip or teeth F on the brake
lever E and is held in that position by the spring H acting or a flat or stop I, the
brake lever E is then raised by the hand of the rider in the usual way, and as it
rises the lip F catches in or on, tooth after tooth of the rack or spindle D until
sufficient pressure is applied to the brake of the machine, in which position it is
. held and remains; and thus the rider is free to remove his or her hand from the
. brake lever until, if he wants more pressure on the brake he moves forward
the brake lever until it is held again by one or more cogs or teeth higher or
nearer.
To release the brake lever he turns or reverses the handle or means G to a right
angle or a position determined by the spring H acting on a flat or stop I and so
the racked or toothed face of the spindle D is removed from contact with the
lip or lips F, when the brake and its lever are instantly released.
In Figures 3 and 34, in place of a racked spindle as in Figure 1, a racked or
serrated lever D is hinged on the carrier or fixing B at an angle with the handle
bar A, one end of the lever D is formed at G for pressure by the thumb or fingers,
and is by preference-bent over the handle bar Á where a spring H acts to force
the lever D against a stop at a proper position for the rack D to receive the
lip or lips F, by pressing against G the lips of the rack D are removed from
contact with the lip or lips F and thus the brake and brake lever are released.
Figures 4 and 4 have a rack fixing D attached to the handle bar A, a lip F
is attached or is formed on the brake lever E, which is moved in or out of gear of
the teeth on D by the action of the rider's hand or the lip or lips F may be
formed on a spring as shewn on Figure 4 curved over or under the brake
lever E, or a spring lengthwise with the brake lever E to be pulled, or
pushed or moved by the rider's thumb or fingers out of gear with the
teeth on D.
Figure 5 acts like Figure 2 except that the hinge of the rack lever Dis
reversed to work in a line with the handle bar A.
In Figures 6 and 64 the rack D slides on the carrier or fixing B when pushed,
pulled or moved by the thumb and finger projection G to move the rack D in or
out of gear or contact with the lip F, with suitable stops to prevent its going too
far. The carrier B may have flanges to form a groove or may carry a pair of
slide rods or a socket in or on which a suitable part or parts of the rack D may
slide or move, or one or two slot holes on or in either the carrier B or the rack D
may also allow the rack D to slide the required space if suitably attached by bolts,
screws, studs or similar means moving in the slot holes. To the sliding part or
slide part of either B or D a spring may be attached to act on or against the face

page_text: or part of the other slide portion and so hold the rack D firmly in a desired
position when in or out of gear with the lip F.
The parts as shewn by the drawings attached to the handle bar A may, if
desired, be fitted instead to the brake lever E, and those shewn on the brake
lever E may be attached or fitted to the handle bar A where they will work
in like manner and with the same result as in the positions they are now
drawn in.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
I. Of arrangements of racks and parts to hold and secure brakes and brake
levers of bicycles and like machines in desired positions in combination with and
II. Of arrangements and methods for moving such parts in or out of gear.
.III. Of arrangements and methods for keeping such parts in positions when in
or out of gear as shewn by the drawings.
JOSEPH ROBERTS STONEY.