Improvements in Brakes for Cycles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Aug., 1893-Accepted, 15th Oct., 1898
Improvements in Brakes for Cycles.
We, THOMAS HENRY LEWIS, of 17, Elm Grove Road, Barnes, in the County
of Surrey, Cycle Depot Manager, and CHARLES Fox, of 17, Elm Grove Road,
Barnes, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, 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 brakes for cycles and particularly bicycles, and has
for its objects, firstly, to provide an arrangement of band-brake on the crank
axle, and secondly, to provide a duplex arrangement of combined band and tire
brake which will afford a double safeguard against accidents and will not be
liable to become inoperative and wholly fail under any circumstances likely to
be met with in use.
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Ordinary spoon-brakes acting on pneumatic tyres become useless in cases of
puncture and deflation of the tyre and there has always been a difficulty in
arranging a band-brake on the crank axle of bicycles owing to the difficulty of
fixing its drum thereon without increasing the width of the tread," which
should be kept as narrow as possible. By our invention the disc of the drum
of the band-brake is made as thin as is consistent with strength and while it
does revolve synchronously with the crank shaft, it is not fixed thereto but is
rigidly fixed to or indeed may be made in one with one of the cranks, and there-
fore takes the smallest possible space on or about the axle and does not appreciably
lengthen the "tread"; around the periphery of the said disc is formed a flange
or rim of suitable width which receives the band as hereinafter explained.
Further, according to our improvements we have devised a combined duplex
or compound brake consisting of a band-brake acting on a drum fixed as abovo
explained to the crank and revolving therewith, and a friction brake of tho
spoon type acting directly on the tyre of one of the wheels, usually the driving
wheel, and the arrangement is such that both brakes are or may be simultaneously
applied by one set of simple hand-operated mechanism, so that in case of failure
of one or either of them the other remains capable of acting, and we also provide
adjusting devices by which if desired only one of the brakes may be selected
for use and adjusted to act without the aid of the other; and our invention
further comprises certain constructional details hereinafter fully set forth.
We will fully describe our invention with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved combined duplex
brake arrangement adapted to a bicycle of which however only so much is shown
as is required for illustrating the invention. Fig. 2 is a plan partly in section
of the arrangement shown in the previous figure. Fig. 3 shows on a reduced
scale the duplex brake arrangement and operating mechanism complete and
adapted to a safety machine, and Fig. 4 is a rear elevation of the handle-bar
showing one operating connection. Fig. 5 is a detail hereinafter referred to.
In all the figures like letters of reference denote the same parts.
In carrying out our invention we employ a band-brake consisting of a thin

page_text: metal disc a having a peripheral flange a' and such disc a is rigidly connected
at p by brazing or otherwise with the inner surface of one of the cranks P,
preferably the one at the opposite side of the machine to the chain-wheel. We
are thus enabled to securely fix the drum aa¹ to the crank without appreciably
lengthening the "tread" of the machine. The flange a is provided with a
flexible steel band lined with leather or equivalent at and adapted to be
tightened into the peripheral flange-surface of the disc a for the purpose
of producing and applying the brake power to the crank axle. This is accom-
plished by means of a bell-crank lever having one of its arms c¹ connected
to the end 62 of the brake-band b and the other arm c² connected to and operated
by a flexible wire such as d, the other end of which is attached to a brake-
lever L mounted in the usual way on the handle-bar H of the machine. The
bell-crank lever c is pivotted at to a bracket e securely fixed and held by a
clip which latter is firmly secured close to the crank-bracket on the rear fork B
of the machine, and in our improved duplex brake the arm c² of the bell-crank
levere carries the arm gl of a spoon-brake g of ordinary construction and arranged
to be pressed against the tyre T of the driving wheel. The two brakes are
normally retained in their inoperative positions by means of a spring such as h
connected at one end to the bell-crank lever c and at the other end to the lug
or clip i set on the diagonal C of the cycle frame, or such spring may be attached
to one of the bottom bracket bolts or otherwise conveniently. The connections
between the bell-crank lever and the spoon-brake are adjustable, and the adjust-
ment may be effected either by means of a screw bolt working in a slot in
the arm as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or by arranging the arm g' of the brake
with a telescopic joint, the arrangement being strengthened by a collar and
adjustment being effected by a screw c7 in such a way as is shown in Fig. 5.
The object of this adjustment is to allow of the operative position of the spoon-
brake being regulated relatively to the band-brake, and so to enable both brakes
to be applied simultaneously. Again by readjusting the relative positions of
the bell-crank lever and the arm g', one of the brakes may be caused to act
without the other. Thus for instance, by sufficiently lowering the arm g¹ the
band-brake would act without the spoon-brake, while by raising arm g¹, the
spoon-brake would act without the co-operation of the band-brake, and either
or both arrangements can be selected at will.
As already mentioned we use a flexible connection such as the wire d for
operating the bell-crank lever in order to apply the brake (one or both simul-
taneously as the case may be), the end of this wire or connection is secured to
the bell-crank lever in any convenient way, for example, by nipping it in a groove
formed at one side of the end c2 of said bell-crank lever as shown, or by an eye
or in any other convenient manner, and such wire or equivalent is preferably
connected to the brake hand-lever L by being passed through a hole drilled in a
suitable position either in the rear fork as shown, or in the bracket A and is
thence led up the interior of the diagonal C from which it passes through another
hole near the head of the machine to the brake handle L. To minimise friction,
rollers or equivalent anti-friction surfaces may be used at points of change of
direction such as ; or instead of a wire or entirely flexible connection, we
may employ an arrangement of rods or a connection composed partly of rigid
rods and partly of flexible parts. Its precise arrangement is immaterial and
forms no separate part of our invention.
Whatever the connection may be it is led up to the brake handle L and on the
latter being operated in the usual way the pull on the connection causes the
arm of the bell-crank lever c to be raised and thereby to move the other arm c¹
and so tighten the band b attached thereto, thus bringing the band-brake on
the disc a into operation, while at the same time the raising of the arm c² lifts
the arm g and presses the spoon-brake g against the tyre of the driving wheel,
both brakes being thus simultaneously applied.
It is obvious in case of the tyre becoming punctured and thus preventing the

page_text: spoon-brake acting, that the band-brake will still be operated effectively inde-
pendently of the spoon-brake.
Again, if the band-brake fails to act through any cause whatever, there is
still left the spoon-brake to act on the tyre, and hence a double safeguard is
effected.
The advantage of our improved brake arrangement, besides the interacting
combination of the spoon-brake with a band-brake, is that the parts are all
located in the most convenient manner at the side and below the bracket A,
and do not therefore interfere with the comfort of the rider, while also compli-
cated rod and lever mechanisms for operating the brake may be avoided.
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 band-brake for cycles in which the band acts on a flanged disc connected
to one of the cranks and is operated by a bell-crank lever pivotted in a bracket
mounted on the rear forks of the machine, the said bell-crank lever being actuated
by a wire or equivalent connected to a hand-lever, substantially as herein
described and shown.
2. A combined duplex brake for cycles consisting of the combination with a
band-brake as above claimed of a friction brake of the spoon type acting on the
tyre, both brakes being adapted to be operated simultaneously with and by the
same means, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. In a combined band and spoon-brake such as above referred to, means for
adjusting the relative positions of the two brakes, with the object of causing
them to act together or to enable either one or the other of them to be rendered
inoperative, substantially as herein before described.
4. The improved arrangement for applying brake power to cycles having its
component parts constructed and combined, substantially as and for the purposes
herein described and illustrated in the drawings.
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