Improvements in Driving Gear for Cycles.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 27th July, 1894
Complete Specification Left, 28th Jan., 1895-Accepted, 27th July, 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Driving Gear for Cycles.
We, CECIL WAGENER HOLMES, Cycle Manufacturer, of Friday Street,
Leicester, in the County of Leicester, and SAMUEL BEECH of 16 Shaftesbury
Avenue Belgrave, Leicester aforesaid, Cycle and Mechanical Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to driving gear for cycles especially for safety bicycles
and when applied to a safety bicycle may be carried out in the following
manner :-
The cranks, crank axle bearing, and driving chain wheel may be of ordinary or
suitable construction, the new gear being connected with the road wheel of the
machine. A chain wheel may be driven by a chain in the usual way from a larger
or smaller chain wheel on the crank axle, this driven chain wheel being arranged
eccentrically to the axle of the road wheel and carried by ball bearings suitably
arranged preferably in a fork or jaw in one limb of the chain stays or fork of the
bicycle. The road wheel axle carries the road wheel in ball bearings arranged
substantially in the usual manner one end of the hub carrying a spur or toothed
pinion which fits inside the driven chain wheel and engages with a corresponding
internal toothed ring therein so that as the chain wheel is revolved the hub of the
road wheel is also revolved but at a greater speed. Both bearings may be
tightened up by adjustable cones in the well known manner. The driven chain
wheel may be provided with a boss or collar extending outwardly and having the
ball bearings inside it either by means of independent hardened cups or an inde
pendent hardened interior or the whole boss or collar may be hardened or the
whole wheel including the boss and both sets of teeth may be hardened.
The adjustment of the toothed gearing may be effected by slots in the ends of
the back stays and the chain adjustment by sliding the whole of the gear in the
fork or jaw of the chain stay for which provision may be made the whole being
fixed by suitable bolts, nuts etc. or an eccentric or other chain tightening arrange-
ment may be employed.
The outside of the collar may be used as a brake drum to be controlled by a
band or other brake if required, the brake bearing directly on to the drum or on to
an outer surface prepared for the purpose.
Dated this 24th day of July 1894.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicants.

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by, the following
statement :-
This invention relates to driving gear for cycles especially for safety bicycles
and when applied to a safety bicycle, may be carried out in the following
manner.
The cranks, crank-axle bearing, and driving chain wheel, may be of ordinary or
suitable construction, the new gear being connected with the road wheel of the
machine. A chain-wheel may be driven by a chain in the usual way from a larger
or smaller chain-wheel on the crank axle, this driven chain-wheel being arranged
eccentrically to the axle of the road wheel, and carried by ball-bearings suitably
arranged preferably in a fork or jaw in one limb of the chain-stays or fork of the
bicycle. The road-wheel axle carries the road-wheel in ball bearings arranged
substantially in the usual manner, one end of the hub carrying a spur or toothed
pinion which fits inside the driven chain-wheel and engages with a corresponding
internal toothed ring therein so that as the chain-wheel is revolved the hub of the
road-wheel is also revolved, but at a greater speed. Both bearings may be
tightened up by adjustable cones in the well known manner. The driven chain-
wheel may be provided with a boss or collar extending outwardly and having the
ball-bearings inside it, either by means of independent hardened cups or an
independent hardened interior, or the whole boss or collar may be hardened, or the
whole wheel including the boss and both sets of teeth may be hardened.
The adjustment of the toothed gearing may be effected by slots in the ends of
the back stays and the chain adjustment by sliding the whole of the gear in the
fork or jaw of the chain-stay for which provision may be made the whole being
fixed by suitable bolts nuts etc., or an eccentric or other chain-tightening arrange-
ment may be employed.
The outside of the collar may be used as a brake-drum to be controlled by a
band or other brake if required, the brake bearing directly on to the drum or
on to an outer surface prepared for the purpose.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 represents a sectional plan of the gear constructed according to this
invention, and
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the mechanism and fork ends.
Like letters represent like parts in these figures.
A represents the ordinary chain-stays or back fork of a safety bicycle, one of
which is forked or divided at the end into the arms A'A². B is an axle of sub-
stantially ordinary construction screwed at each end to receive the nuts B¹ by
which it is fixed in the ends of the fork A, by which it is secured itself, and at
the same time tends to fix and support the stays A. The axle B has one loose
adjustable cone C which may be provided with a milled head or flattened to receive
a spanner or otherwise arranged so that it can be turned upon the axle B for the
purpose of adjusting the bearing of the road-wheel, the hub of which D is shown
carried upon two rings of balls D₁ in the usual manner. The end of the fork A
is locked between the cone C and the nut B¹ when the latter is screwed up thus
preventing the cone C from turning after it has been adjusted. The cone E at
the other end of the axle may either be screwed on to the axle B or may be a
portion thereof; in the drawing it is shown screwed up against a collar B upon
the axle B. In any case it is not necessary that the cone E should be adjustable
as one adjustable collar is sufficient and in fact preferable. The hub D of the
road-wheel carries a toothed wheel F securely fixed to or forming part of the hub
and this toothed wheel engages with the interual toothed ring G¹ of the chain-
wheel G so that as the chain-wheel rotates, the axis of which is eccentric to that
of the wheel F, the latter is rotated in the same direction as the chain-wheel G
but being smaller, it rotates at a faster speed. The chain-wheel G has a boss G*
extending sideways from it and carried upon one or preferably two rings of
balls G, the balls in their turn being carried upon a preferably hollow block H.
which is bolted to the arms A¹A2 by the bolt H' and the axle B, the nut B' at this

page_text: end of the axle forcing the fork-arm A' against the block H, the inner face of
which is jammed against the cone E upon the axle B; thus fixing the block H and
also the cone E should that not be a fixture upon the axle. The block His pro-
vided with a circular path or ball-race H upon which one set of the balls G³
rotate, while the block itself is externally screwed upon its cylindrical portion H*
and upon this screws the cone H which provides the ball-race for the second set of
balls G. The other half of each ball-race is provided by a circular groove or ball-
race G formed upon the interior of the extended boss G³ of the chain-wheel G.
The chain-wheel G is carried upon the rings or sets of balls G³ and can therefore
freely rotate, the adjustment of these sets of balls being effected by the cone H*
which may be locked upon the block H by the ring I which also screws upon the
screwed portion H³ of the block H.
Where only one ring of balls G³ is employed the width can be reduced and the
block H would become a solid disc or a ring with the ball-race upon its periphery
the adjusting cone or cones screwing on to it or into the boss G² of the chain-
wheel G, and it being bolted to A' as before. In this case the width would be so
much reduced that the forked arm A2 would not be required and the arm A'might
be in the centre line of the tube A.
The chain-wheel G is driven by a chain passing over the teeth G³ of this chain-
wheel and also around another chain-wheel upon the crank-axle of the machine,
and, as already explained, as the chain-wheel G is rotated it carries round with it,
the toothed wheel F and consequently the hub D and the road-wheel of which it
forms part.
The chain-tightening arrangement is illustrated in Figure 2, from which and
from Figure 1 it will be seen that the bolt H' moves in slots A³ in the fork-
arms A'A' and the axle B moves in slots A' in the fork-end A' upon one side, and
the fork-end K' of the fork K upon the other. To tighten the chain therefore it
is necessary to slack the nuts B' upon the axle B and the nut H' upon the bolt H¹
when the whole device can be moved by turning the nuts L' upon the screwed drag-
links L through which the ends of the axle B pass. After the chain is sufficiently
tight the nuts B' and H' may be screwed up again and the whole of the mechanism
rigidly secured in the forks A and K.
The block H is provided with a boss or projection H to enable it to serve as a
distance piece between the fork-arms A¹ A² so that the nut H³ upon the bolt H¹ can
be screwed tight up without drawing these arms together.
The cone H has a projecting annular flange or lip H³ which fits outside the
chain-wheel boss G' and thus makes the bearing dust-tight; this is not of much
importance where a gear-case is used but where a gear-case is not used it is very
important.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the driving gear for
cycles substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. In a driving gear for cycles the combination with the axle such as B which
carries the two bearing cones for the road wheel hub of a block such as H placed
upon the axle and providing a portion of the ball-race for the balls upon which the
chain-wheel rotates substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
3. In a driving gear for cycles the combination with a chain-wheel such as G G
of a block such as H bolted or secured to the fork end A' substantially as described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. In a driving gear for cycles a chain-wheel- such as G having an extended
boss G providing ball-race or races for the balls G³ in combination with an axle
such as B block such as H cone such as H locking nut I and nut B' substantially
as described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 5. In a driving gear for cycles the combination with a chain-wheel such as G.G'
block and axle B of a forked tube-end such as A' A' substantially as described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
6. In a driving gear for cycles the combination of axle B bolt H¹ block H
forked and slotted tube-end AAª A³ and drag. links and nuts
whereby
the whole gear can be moved bodily for tightening up the chain by turning
the nuts L substantially as described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 26th day of Jannar 1895