An Adjustable Support or Rest for Bicycles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Aug., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 26th May, 1892-Accepted, 2nd July, 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Adjustable Support or Rest for Bicycles.
I, JOSIAH ERNEST HARPER, of 303 Southampton Street, Camberwell, in the
County of Surrey, Clerk in Guardians Offices, do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows :-
This invention has for object an adjustable support or rest by the aid of which
a bicycle may be supported in a vertical attitude when not in motion, whether the
rider be in the saddle or not.
This support or rest (hereinafter called a rest) may have one point of contact
with the ground or more than one. An expert rider will find a rest having one
point of contact sufficient to enable him to maintain the equilibrium of himself and
the machine when not in motion. Such a rest may be connected to the fixed guard
of the front wheel, and be fitted to slide thereon, so that it may be readily lowered
or depressed when the machine is coming to a standstill. It may be of such a
section as to slide upon or overlap the guard, or it may be a rod or bar or tube
running in guides. The portion which comes in contact with the ground should not
follow the curvature of the wheel so as to be liablo to catch or dig into the ground.
It is advantageous that it should curve backward, or should terminate in a small
wheel or castor. If the rest be in the plane of the front wheel then, when the
wheel is turned somewhat sideways, there will be three points of support not in one
straight line.
For those riders who have not sufficient skill or agility to keep their seats with
a rest of this description the bottom is made wider so as to give an extended
support. Or it may be bifurcated, and caused to expand or open as it is depressed.
Another modification comprises cross bars on a central pivot, expanded by side
rods and depressed by a sliding bolt. These bars may be attached to the guard
or to the frame.
The rest may be brought into action in various ways according to its construction.
For instance when attached to the guard of the front wheel it may be actuated by
a rod standing parallel to the front fork and connected by a link or links. Greater
steadiness is secured by connecting the rest to the wheel centre by radius rods.
According to another arrangement it may be actuated by a lever pivoted on the
wheel centre. When the rest is attached to the frame it may be conveniently
actuated by a sliding bolt.
It will be evident that a rest according to my invention may be constructed and
operated in various ways without departure from the principle of the invention..
Dated this 26th day of August 1891.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Adjustable Support or Rest for Bicycles.
1, JOSIAH ERNEST HARPER, of 303 Southampton Street Camberwell in the
County of Surrey, Clerk in Guardians Offices, 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 has reference to an improved construction and arrangement of
adjustable support or rest by the aid of which a bicycle may be supported in a
vertical attitude when not in motion, whether the rider be in the saddle or not,

page_text: And in order that the nature of my invention may be readily understood 1
will proceed to more particularly explain the same by aid of the accompanying
drawings, in which
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of so much of a safety bicycle as is necessary to
illustrate the application thereto of an adjustable rest according to this invention.
Figs. 2 and 3 are side and front views of the rest, drawn to a larger scale.
The rest comprises a vertical rod 1 adjustably fixed by suitable means such as
a.set screw 2 within a tubular holder 2 that is provided at its upper end with a
sleeve by which the rod and holder can be fixed to the frame 5 so as to be at
or near the centre of the machine, in front of the pedal cranks 6 and pedals 7
and so as to be in the same vertical plane as the said frame. To the lower end
of the rod 1 is fixed a fork 8 by means of a nut 9. The free ends of this fork
are formed to serve as, or are provided with split bearings 10 within which is
journalled the straight portion 11 of a rod, the end portions 11 of which are bent
and are provided each with a small wheel or roller 12, that may be provided with
an india rubber tyre. The form and arrangement of the fork 8 and bent
rod 11-11, and the distance apart of the wheels or rollers 12, can be varied to
suit requirement, care being taken that these parts are not in the path of the
rider's foot when working the pedals, and will not interfere with the lateral or
steering motion of the front wheel of the machine.
To the central portion 11 of the bent rod are fixed two arms, 13 and 14, one of
which, 13, is connected by a rod 15 to a handle 16 by raising which the bent
rod 11-11 and wheels 12 can be moved into the inoperative position indicated
in dotted lines in Fig. 1. The other arm 14 is fixed at an angle to the arm 13
and so arranged that it will come into contact with the lower end 1ª of the rod 1',
or other fixed part of the machine, so as to prevent backward movement of the
bent rod and wheels to the left of the vertical position shown in full lines in Fig. 1.
The handle 16 should be so arranged as to be easily accessible, and in the example
shown is pivoted to the frame 3, means being provided for retaining it in either of
the two positions corresponding respectively to the raised and lowered positions of
the bent rod 11-11" and wheels 12. For this purpose the pivoted end of the
handle may be formed with two flat surfaces 17, 17ª against one or other of which
bears a flat spring 17 as shown in the detail view Fig. 4,. the arrangement some-
what resembling that ordinarily adopted for retaining the blade of a pocket knife
in its opened and closed attitudes. As will be obvious the construction and
position of the handle 16 can be varied to suit requirement and the special design
of machine to which my improved adjustable rest is applied. The sleeve 4 may be
brazed to the frame 5, in which case it may be formed with a socket 3 withio
which the tube 2 is secured in such a manner, as for example by screwing as shown
in Fig. 5, that it and the parts carried thereby can be readily removed when
uecessary from the machine. Or the sleeve may be made in two parts as shown
in Fig. 6, adapted to be clamped in place on the frame 3 in such a manner that it
_and the attached parts can, if desired, be readily removed from one machine and
applied to another.
As will be obvious adjustable rests constructed and arranged as described can
be applied to bicycles of various designs.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An adjustable support or rest for a bicycle comprising a fixed rod or holder
secured or adapted to be secured to the frame of the bicycle at or near the centre
thereof so as to be in the same vertical plane as the said frame, and in front of
the pedal cranks and pedals, and a movable part carried by the said fixed rod or
holder and capable of being raised and lowered at will, this movable part having
two points of contact with the ground substantially as herein described for the
purpose specified,

page_text: 2. My improved adjustable support or rest for bicycles, constructed and
arranged substantially in the manner hereinbefore described with reference to and
shown in Figs. 1 to 3 inclusive of the drawings annexed, or modified according to
Fig. 5, or according to Fig. 6.
•
DL 8th day of Mo 1000