Improvements in or connected with Velocipedes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 8th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 8th Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Velocipedes.
I, ROBERT WALKER SMITH, of the Butts, Coventry, in the County of Warwick,
Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with velocipedes, and
consists in a simple means of gearing up or increasing the speed of the driving
wheel or wheels in relation to the crank axle.
For this purpose, I mount the hub of the driving wheel loosely upon the crank
axle and form coned surfaces upon the hub and an adjustable coned surface or
coned surfaces upon the axle, and I interpose loose balls between those parts; so as
to furnish the necessary ball bearings to the hub of the driving wheel.
Upon the hub of the driving wheel, I form a chain wheel, and upon the crank
axle I fix a chain wheel of larger diameter which is by a chain geared with a chain
wheel of smaller diameter mounted loosely upon a stud upon the inside of the fork
and located above the crank axle, and I form upon the boss of this smaller toothed
wheel a larger chain wheel which is by means of a chain geared with the smaller
chain wheel upon the hub of the driving wheel and thus the revolutions of the
crank axle will be multiplied in transmission to the driving wheel.
The boss of the compound wheel is formed with coned surfaces and the stud upon
which it is mounted is similarly formed and such surfaces or one of them is
rendered adjustable in order to compensate for wear.
The stud is mounted in a vertical slot formed in the fork and the outer end
thereof is threaded and provided with a nut by means of which the position of the
compound wheel may be varied in order to regulate or adjust the chains.
In order to securely lock the stud and compound wheel in the position to which
it may be adjusted the face of the fork is serrated or formed with horizontally cut
teeth upon the side of the slot and a washer fitting upon the stud is similarly
formed to engage the serrations or teeth, so that when the parts are adjusted, the
stud will be securely held in position against accidental movement.
By these means, I obtain a simple and convenient driving gear which is adapted
to various classes of velocipedes, but principally to that kind in which a front driving
wheel is employed.
Dated this 18th day of November 1891.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Velocipedes.
I, ROBERT WALKER SMITH, of the Butts, Coventry, in the County of
Warwick, Machinist, 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 :-
My said invention relates to improvements in or connected with velocipedes and
consists in a simple means of gearing up or increasing the speed of the driving
wheel or wheels in relation to the crank axle.
For this purpose, I mount the hub of the driving wheel loosely upon the crank
axle and I form coned surfaces upon the hub and an adjustable coned surface
or coned surfaces upon the axle, and I interpose loose balls between those parts
so as to furnish the necessary ball bearings to the hub of the driving wheel.

page_text: Upon the hub of the driving wheel I form a chain wheel, and upon the crank
axle I fix a chain wheel of larger diameter which is geared with a chain wheel of
smaller diameter mounted loosely upon a stud upon the inside of the fork and
located above the crank axle and I form upon the boss of the last mentioned chain
wheel a larger chain wheel which is by means of a chain geared with the smaller
chain wheel upon the hub of the driving wheel and thus the revolutions of the
crank axle will be multiplied in transmission to the driving wheel, or, in some cases,
in lieu of the chain wheels I may employ toothed wheels and arrange the stud so
that they gear together.
The boss of the compound wheel is formed with coned surfaces and the stud upon
which it is mounted is similarly formed and such surfaces or one of them is rendered
adjustable in order to compensate for wear.
The stud is mounted in a vertical slot formed in the fork and the outer end
thereof is threaded and provided with a nut by means of which the position of the
compound wheel may be varied in order to regulate or adjust the chain or toothed
gearing.
In order to securely lock the stud and compound wheel in the position to which
it may be adjusted, the face of the fork is serrated or formed with horizontally cut
teeth upon the side of the slot and a washer fitting upon the stud is similarly formed
to engage the serrations or teeth so that when the parts are adjusted the stud will
be securely held in position against accidental movement.
And in order that the said invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect I will proceed aided by the accompanying drawings more fully
to describe the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1. is a sectional elevation of the fork and adjacent parts of a front steering
velocipede having my invention applied thereto, and
Figure 2. is a side elevation thereof.
In both figures of the drawings like parts are indicated by similar letters of
reference.
a. represents the fork of the machine, b. represents the crank axle, o* represents
the cranks, c. represents the hub of the driving wheel, and c* represents the spokes
thereof.
The crank axle, b. is mounted in the usual adjustable ball bearings a* carried by
the lower ends of the fork, as is well understood.
The lower end a. of one branch of the fork a. is formed separate from the part a.
and is connected therewith by a stud or bolt. a* fixed to the part a' and passing
through a boss a³, formed upon the lower end of the fork a, and provided with a
nut and washer a¹** by which a¹ is firmly secured to the fork a.
By this arrangement of parts I render the lower end at of the fork readily
detachable therefrom and thus facilitate the dismounting of the crank axle b. and
driving wheel.
The hub c. of the driving wheel is mounted loosely upon the crank axle b. and
coned surfaces c' are formed upon the ends of the hub c. and upon the axle b. are
provided hardened steel cones 1, *, the one b', of which is formed or fixed upon
the axle b. and the other 6* of which is threaded to screw upon a corresponding thread
formed upon the axle b. in order to give the necessary adjustment, a lock nut b**
being employed to secure the cone in the position, whilst a number of loose
balls are interposed between the coned surface and the cones 61, 61*, in order to
form together therewith the necessary ball bearings for the hub c. of the driving
wheel.
Upon the hub . of the driving wheel is formed a chain wheel e², and upon the
crank axle b. is fixed a chain wheel 62 of larger diameter which is by a chain 6**
geared with a chain wheel d' of smaller diameter formed upon a boss d. mounted
loosely upon a stud or short axle e. adjustably fixed as hereinafter described upon the
inside of the fork a. and located above the crank axle b. and the boss d. of the chain

page_text: wheel is threaded to receive a chain wheel d² of larger diameter which is formed.
with a threaded central aperture to screw upon the boss d, and is there fixed by
means of a nut 2*, screwing upon a reversed thread formed upon a smaller diameter
of the boss d.
The chain wheel d² is by means of a chain ***, geared with the smaller chain
wheel of the hub c. of the driving wheel and thus the revolutions of the crank
axleb will be increased in transmission to the driving wheel.
The boss d. of the compound wheel d', d², is formed with coned surfaces d*; and the
stud or short axle e. upon which it is mounted is formed with a cone el at one end
thereof and at the other end thereof is threaded to receive an adjustable cone e**
screwing thereon and which is secured in its adjusted position by means of a nut e**,
whilst a number of loose balls * are employed in connection with the cone
surfaces d* and cones e¹, e¹* in order to constitute an adjustable ball bearing.
The stud or short axle e. is mounted in a vertical slot a³, formed in an enlargement a³*
of the fork a. and the outer end of the stud or short axle e. is threaded and
provided with a nut e* screwing thereon by means of which the position of the
compound wheel d¹, d³, may be varied in order to regulate or adjust the tension of the
chains *, **, and in order to securely lock the stud or short axle e. and compound
wheel dd in the position to which they may be adjusted the face of the
enlargement a* of the fork a. is serrated or formed with horizontally cut teeth
around the slot a³, and a washer e** fitting upon the outer end of the stud or short
axle e. is similarly formed to engage the serrations or teeth upon the face a³** of
the enlargement a* so that when the parts are adjusted the stud or short axle e.
will be securely held in position against accidental movement.
In order to hold the stud or short axle e. parallel with the crank axle b. and thus
bring the chain wheels and d¹ and 2 and 2 into the required vertical planes, the
lower end of that branch of the fork carrying the stud or short axle e. is formed
parallel with such vertical planes and in order to attain this end it is cranked at a',
whilst in order to form the necessary sensitive adjustment of the stud or short axle e.
and to obtain the necessary power to strain the chains 6* and ** a screw tension
device is employed which at its lower end is shaped in the form of a thin disc f*,
which is formed with an aperture therein to enable it to be fitted upon the stud or
short axle e, and the upper end of this device takes the form of a spindle f, which is
threaded and passes through a plain hole a* formed in the cranked portion a* of
the fork a, and is provided with a nut by the aid of which the necessary straining
force may be applied to the stud or short axle e, and with a jamb nut fi* for locking
the parts in position.
If desired, I may employ toothed gearing in lieu of the chain gearing, that is to
say, I dispense with the chains and substitute toothed wheels for the chain wheels,
and, in that case, I arrange the stud e. nearer the crank axle so that the toothed
wheels will gear together, as will be readily understood.
By these means, I obtain a simple and convenient driving gear which is adapted
to various classes of velocipedes but primarily to that kind in which a front driving
wheel is employed and by reason of the peculiar method of arranging the toothed
or chain wheels, and their bearings upon the inside of the fork of the machine the
length of the crank axle and width of the machine are not increased but are of the
ordinary dimensions.
Having now practically 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 :-
1. In a velocipede, the combination of a crank axle mounted on bearings carried
by the fork, a driving wheel by its hub mounted loosely upon the crank axle,
adjustable ball bearings between the hub and the crank axle and gearing located
within the fork for communicating motion from the crank axle to the hub of the
driving wheel, substantially as herein shown and described.
2. In a velocipede, the combination of a crank axle mounted in bearings carried

page_text: by the fork, a driving wheel by its hub mounted loosely upon the crank axle, a
toothed or chain wheel formed upon the hub, a toothed or chain wheel fixed upon
the crank axle within the fork, and a compound toothed or chain wheel mounted
upon a stud within the fork, substantially as herein shown and described and for the
purpose stated.
3. In a velocipede, the combination of a crank axle mounted in bearings carried
by the fork, a driving wheel by its hub mounted loosely upon the crank axle,
gearing located within the fork for communicating motion from the crank axle to
the hub of the driving wheel and a stud or short axle adjustably mounted upon the
fork for carrying a portion of the gearing, substantially as herein shown and
described.
4. In a velocipede, the combination of a crank axle mounted in bearings carried
by the fork, a driving wheel by its hub mounted loosely upon the crank axle,
gearing located within the fork for communicating motion from the crank axle to
the hub of the driving wheel, a vertical slot formed in the fork, a stud or short axle
mounted in the slot and carrying a portion of the gearing, a fixing nut screwing
upon the end of the stud and serrations upon the nut and fork, substantially as
herein shown and described.
Dated this 8th day of September 1892.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.