IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Gerard Wenzeslaus von Nawrocki, Proprietor of the firm
of J. Brandt & G. W. v. Nawrocki, Patent Solicitor and Civil Engineer of
124 Leipzigerstrasse, Berlin, Germany for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS
IN BICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES a communication to him from Louis
Schmetzer, of Rothenburg on the Tauber, in the German Empire.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Gerard Wenzeslaus von
Nawrocki at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th October
1882.
GERARD WENZESLAUS VON NAWROCKI, Proprietor of the firm of J. Brandt
and G. W. v. Nawrocki, Patent Solicitor and Civil-Engineer, of 124, Leipziger-
strasse, Berlin, Germany, IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES,
a communication to me from Louis Schmetzer, of Rothenburg on the Tauber, in the
German Empire
This invention relates chiefly to bicycles, but is also applicable to tricycles, and
has for its principal object, to adjust the height of the seat according to the length
of the legs of the person who drives the vehicle. For this purpose the spring
which supports the seat is made moveable with its two ends, the front end being
hinged to a metallic clamp or strap which surrounds an auxiliary post in front of
the seat, while the rear end forms a movable saddle on the main beam which
connects the front-wheel with the hind-wheel; or the front end of the spring may
form a fork while the front post is made flat and provided with a series of pins
right and left, one branch of said fork end being pivoted to the other, so that the
fork can be opened, hinged to any pair of pins of the front post and subsequently
closed and locked by means of a screw bolt passing through a slot of the fork
To reduce vibrations the moveable clamp (in the first modification) is lined with
india rubber, or the projecting pins (in the second modification) are provided with
india-rubber collars.
Instead of hinging the front end of the spring to the pin or bolt which connects
the ends of the clamp, it may be secured to one end of the clamp which is for this

page_text: purpose made to project over the other end. To adjust the seat to the proper
height, in the first modification, it is sufficient to loosen the screw bolt which
connects the clamp with the spring, shift the clamp along the front post and
tighten the bolt, and, in the second modification, to open the fork, attach it to the
proper pins and close the fork again.
The rear end of the supporting spring may be provided with a clamp like the
front end. The front post or auxiliary post mentioned above has the same
inclination as that part of the main beam which supports the rear end of the
spring; it is attached with its base to the front portion of the main beam, and
with its top to the vertical main spindle or fork which holds the front-wheel.
The invention consists further in making the seat of velocipedes from perforated
india rubber, which may be made hollow for the reception of air or water.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Gerard Wenzeslaus von Nawrocki in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th April 1883.
GERARD WENZESLAUS VON NAWROCKI, Proprietor of the firm of J. Brandt
and G. W. v. Nawrocki, Patent Solicitor and Civil-Engineer, of 124, Leipziger
strasse, Berlin, Germany "IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES,"
a communication to me from Louis Schmetzer, of Rothenburg on the Tauber, in the
German Empire,
This invention relates chiefly to improvements in bicycles and consists in an
arrangement for the vertical adjustment of the spring which supports the seat, so
as to enable persons of different age and consequently of different size to use the
same size of bicycles.
The invention further consists in an improved seat for bicycles, which may also
be applied to tricycles. For instead of covering the seat with leather the Inventor
covers the same with an indiarubber. plate provided with a series of perforations
for the purpose of keeping the seat cool and airy. Another modification of the
improved seat consists in a hollow india rubber plate filled with water or air,
forming a kind of pillow having the shape of a saddle which has the purpose to
provide the rider with a comfortable, cool and convenient seat, as well as to reduce
the vibration resulting from the rapid driving of the vehicle.
To obtain the first mentioned object, that is to say, for the vertical adjustment
of the seat, various arrangements have hitherto been made, all of which, however,
have the disadvantage of being too complicated and troublesome, the transformation
requires a great amount of time and work, and the adjustable parts are rendered
too weak owing to slots and perforations, and in consequence the whole arrange-
ment becomes shaky, fragile and even dangerous, whereby the principal condition
for a vehicle moving with such an extraordinary rapidity that is to say, simple and
solid construction, is wholly put aside.
In the accompanying drawing, embodying this invention, Fig. 1 represents the
principal parts of a bicycle provided with two beams a and b. The beam or post a
is somewhat inclined, and that part of the main beam b which supports the spring
carrying the seat, is inclined at the same angle as the beam a, in such a manner
that the spring remains horizontal whether fixed to the highest or to the lowest
point of the beam a, consequently, owing to the various distances between the
crank and the seat thus obtained, persons of different age and size are enabled to
use the same vehicle.
The spring d is fixed to the post a in the following manner. An iron clamp or
hoop (see Fig 2) encircles the round surface of the post a, while the ends g g
of the said clamp enclose the spring d which is bent at a right angle. One of the
ends g is provided with a smooth hole, while the other end has a tapped hole the
inside diameter of which is smaller than that of the smooth hole.
By means of a screw bolt i passing through the larger hole and screwed into the
tapped bole, the clamp f is secured to the post a. The screw is furthermore
secured by means of a nut h.
The spring & rests between the two ends g g on the screw bolt i, by which
simple and firm arrangement the elastic seat is not only firmly fastened but is also
allowed an elastic motion.
If the elastic seat is to be displaced, the screw i need only be slackened by
means of a screw-driver, and, after adjusting the seat in the desired position, the
screw is again tightened.

page_text: Instead of hinging the front end of the spring d on the screw bolt i between
the ends g of the clamp, the spring d may be hinged to one of the ends g, which is
for this purpose made to project over the other end, and the two ends g of the
clamp may be directly pressed together by means of a screw and nut. Instead of
a bolt with an ordinary nut, a thumb screw may be used.
To reduce still more the vibration of the spring d, the ring of the clamp ƒ which
encircles the post a is lined with a broad and strong indiarubber ring m.
Figs 3 and 4 represent a modification of this arrangement, where the post a is
made flat and provided on both sides with a series of pins o.
The shank r
The upper end of the spring d is forked and encloses the post a.
of the forked end is formed by bending the spring d at a right angle, while the
other shank 8 is pivoted to the spring d, and secured by means of a screw bolt t
reaching through a slot of the shank. Both shanks are provided with perforations
corresponding in size with the pin o.
After slackening the screw t, the movable shank s may be placed in the position
shown in dotted lines (see fig 4), and the spring may then be adjusted.
For the purpose of reducing the vibrations of the seat in this arrangement, the
pins o are provided with indiarubber collars.
In both the above described constructions the lower end of the spring d slides
freely on the main-beam b, it may, however, also be hinged to the main beam b
in the same manner as the upper end is hinged to the post a in the arrangement
shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and described above.