Improvements in Bicycles and similar Vehicles or Machines.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Oct., 1897-Accepted, 8th Jan.,
1898.
[Communicated from abroad by WILLIAM WILSON LEE, of Northampton, Massa-
chusetts, United States of America, Hardware Manufacturer.]
Improvements in Bicycles and similar Vehicles or Machines.
1, DAVID YOUNG, Patent Agent, of the firm of D. Young & Co., of 11 and 12
Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., 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 invention pertains to the construction of parts of bicycles and analogous
vehicles or machines. The object of my said invention is to produce important
parts of these vehicles at materially less cost than heretofore, and at the same
me to make such parts stronger than heretofore, and, consequently, better adapted
to withstand the strains both of use and abuse. The principle of my invention
is here shown embodied (1) in the fork-crown; (2) in the head; (3) in the crank-
hanger or bottom bracket, and (4) in the wheel-hub, and my said invention
consists, generically, in a hollow part having integral concaved projections, the
part and its integral concaved projections (one or more) being made up of com-
plementary dished, cupped or concaved shells of sheet metal welded together edge
to edge.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of one form of bicycle frame.
Figure 2 is a plan view of a sheet metal blank from which complementary
shells of the fork-crown are shaped.
Figure 3 is an inner plan view of a fork-crown shell shaped from the blank
shown in Figure 2.
Figure 4 is an elevation (edge view) showing the fork-crown shells assembled
preparatory to welding.
Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the hollow, welded fork-crown completed.
Figure 6 is a plan view of a sheet metal blank from which the complementary
shells of the "head are shaped.
"
Figure 7 is an inner plan view of one of the complementary shells shaped
from the blank shown in Figure 6.
Figure 8 is a rear elevation of the head forming shells assembled preparatory
to welding.
Figure 9 is a plan view of a sheet metal blank from which the complementary
shells of the crank-hanger are shaped.
Figure 10 is a plan view of one of the complementary shells of the crank-
hanger, this shell being shaped from the blank shown in Figure 9.
Figure 11 is an elevation of the crank-hanger shells assembled preparatory to
welding.
Figure 12 is a plan view of a sheet metal blank from which the hub-forming
shells are shaped.
Figure 13 is an inner plan view of one of the hub forming shells shaped from
the blank shown in Figure 12.
Figure 14 is a view partly in section on line 14-14 of Figure 13.

page_text: Figure 15 is an inner plan view of the shell shown in Figure 13 after that
shell has been shortened by forcing the opposed walls of the circumferentially
extending grooves, one towards the other.
Figure 16 is a side elevation of hub forming shells such as shown in Figure 15,
assembled preparatory to welding.
Figure 17 is an end view of the assembled blanks shown in Figure 16.
Figure 18 is a side view of the hollow,-welded hub completed.
Figure 19 is a perspective view of the hollow welded crank-hanger completed.
Figure 20 is a perspective view of the hollow, welded head completed.
In these drawings, which illustrate the principle of my invention, and the best
mode now known to me of applying that principle, A is a common form of bicycle-
frame. The fork-crown D is made up from two blanks d of sheet steel, these
blanks being cupped up or dished in dies (the. blanks being cold or heated,
depending on the thickness, and molecular condition of the metal) to form the
complementary shells dd. These two shells are then assembled edge to edge as
shown in Figure 4, being secured together in this position by any suitable binder,
such, for example, as the pin d². A plug d³ is preferably inserted in the open
end of each leg d of the fork-crown to keep the leg forming portions of the crown
from displacement during the heating to which they are subjected after assem-
blage. When raised to a welding heat, the assembled shells are placed between
appropriate welding dies, the recesses of which are slightly shallower than the
assembled shells, and the edges of the shells are welded together. Each shell
contains a part of both projections or legs d of the crown and of its extension
top d to which the steering post a is usually attached. The fork-crown may be
formed with a horizontal shoulder to support the fork-cone a¹ if a support
therefor is desired. The legs are preferably formed with exterior horizontal
shoulders d, a short distance from their ends, to form abutments for the upper
ends of the fork-sides a² which are secured on the end portions 8 of the fork-crown.
This crown thus constructed is cheaper and stronger than any other known to me,
and is a radical novelty in bicycle and analogous construction. Shoulders are
omitted in some cases.
The hollow welded head F is similarly made up by the welding together of a
pair of shells f (formed by striking up the blanks f¹) each shell being formed
with a concaved portion f of the rearward projections f3 with which the upper
and lower tubes a³ a are respectively connected. Head F is made either with
or without the shoulders f*, as preferred.
The crank-hanger H is made by welding together edge to edge the hanger
shells struck up from blanks in suitably shaped dies and formed preferably
with the shoulders, but these shoulders may be omitted. Each shell his
formed with a complementary part of the hollow arms of the completed
hanger and also with a tubular lateral projection 45. The arms are for con-
nection with the frame pieces a, a6 and at and the tubular projections h are to
support the ball cups. When the blank is shaped into the form shown in
Figure 10, the tubular projections are formed with integral heads 6 which
are subsequently cut out.
The hub M for the wheel is made up from two shells m, each formed from a
blank m. There are different ways of forming the hubs, but I now describe the
better way. Each shell m is dished with an outwardly projecting and circum-
ferentially extending rib, m³, the inner opposed walls m³ m of which are necessarily
formed some distance apart as shown in Figure 13, in order to permit the use
of a force or male die of sufficient rigidity to do its work in bending the metal
into the recesses of the female die. Therefore I apply end pressure to each shell,
after removal thereof from the forming dies, and thereby shorten the hub forming
shell by crowding the opposed walls m³ m towards or against each other. By so
doing the ribs m² are made narrow enough to properly receive the spoke ends.
Of course, if it is desired to have a greater length of spoke end held in the spoke-
holes m³ of the ribs m², it will not be necessary to crowd the inner walls of the

page_text: ribs together; but by so doing a strong rib is obtained and the spoke ends are
readily secured in the crosswise extending spoke holes m³. The shells m are
welded together edge to edge, the line of weld extending lengthwise the hub, and
the ends me of the ribs m² of each shell are also welded together.
In respect of all the shells referred to, I may say that a great variety of binders,
as pins d, f, plugs &³ or pins m², may be used, according to shape of the parts
to be welded together. The recesses of the welding dies employed should be
slightly restricted in area so as to bring the requisite pressure on the edges to be
welded together to produce intimate union of the molecules of the metal and
complete the part as a homogeneous structure. I ordinarily use welding dies,
but the shells may be electrically welded if desired.
The principle of construction referred to is a radical novelty in bicycle and
analogous construction and the parts referred to are far stronger than the castings
or stampings heretofore employed and are obtained without the great waste and
labor heretofore encountered in turning and drilling or boring the castings or
stampings heretofore used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
First. In or for a bicycle or similar vehicle or machine, a hollow member made
up of a plurality of complementary shells having integral concaved projections
and welded together edge to edge.
Second. As a new article of manufacture, a hollow welded fork-crown com-
prising a plurality of complementary shells welded together edge to edge, each
shell having a pair of concaved leg-pieces and an integral concaved top projection.
Third. As a new article of manufacture, a hollow, welded bicycle or analogous
head-piece comprising a plurality of complementary shells welded together edge
to edge, each shell having a pair of integral concaved lateral projections.
Fourth. As a new article of manufacture, a hollow, welded bicycle or analogous
crank-hanger or bottom-bracket, comprising a plurality of complementary shells
welded together edge to edge, each shell having a plurality of concaved projections.
Fifth. As a new article of manufacture, a hollow welded bicycle or analogous
wheel-hub, comprising a plurality of complementary shells welded together edge
to edge, the hollow welded hub having between its ends a pair of circumferentially
projecting spoke-receiving ribs.
Sixth. As a new article of manufacture, a hollow, welded bicycle or analogous
wheel-hub, comprising a plurality of complementary shells welded together edge
to edge, each shell having between its ends a pair of circumferentially projecting,
integral spoke-receiving ribs formed by a fold in the metal.
Seventh. As a new article of manufacture, a tubular, metallic bicycle or
analogous wheel-hub formed with spoke-receiving, circumferentially projecting ribs,
between its ends, the projecting ribs being formed by integral folds of the metal.
Toad the 15th day of October 1807
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.