Improvements in or relating to Stands for Bicycles.
Year: 1893

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION,
Improvements in or relating to Stands for Bicycles.
A communication from ALPHONSE THEYSKENS of Testelt, Belgium,
Manufacturer.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent 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 for its object to provide a stand for bicycles by causing the
weight of the bicycle to act as the forces applied to the ends of the arms of a
lever, and one of the parts of the bicycle, for instance the pedal, crank &c. to act
as the point of support. By selecting the pedal as the fulcrum of the lever two
constructional arrangements have been evolved, both based on the same principle,
but differing from each other in the manner in which the weight of the bicycle
distributed on the ends of the arms of the lever.
Figs. 1 to 3. illustrate the first constructional arrangement.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus; the part ab is a foot of sufficient
area to form a firm base; a rod C passes through a slotted guide piece or sleeve D
in which is a set-screw for fixing the apparatus at the height required. E is a
small plate arranged vertically against the rod C and serving as the fulcrum of
one of the forces applied to the ends of the arms of the lever to be formed. The
pedal is to be applied thereto as shown in Fig. 2 in which F is a small plate
capable of being fixed horizontally, or inclined and movable about pivot of which
the upper portion serves as a fulcrum for the other force, whilst the edge constitutes
the fulcrum of the lever.
By allowing the bicycle to rest with one of its pedals on the plate F, the weight
becomes distributed over the entire plate in a uniform manner when said plate is
capable of following freely about an axis the inclination of the pedal perpendicularly
to the axis of the pedal. In this case the resultant of the forces representing the
total weight supported by the plate, passes through the centre of the latter. In
Fig. 2 this is shown by P passing through the point a' which point is one of the
ends of the lever.
When the plate is arranged so as to be capable of turning about a horizontal
axis O, the edge situated nearest to said axis (and indicated here by a³) forms the
fulcrum of the lever.
In theory the point a' should also be the centre of the axis of rotation. If
therefore a part of the weight of the bicycle is carried by the plate F and the
latter is capable of becoming inclined according to the position of the pedal, then,
when the bicycle is placed upon the plate at the moment when the latter is in an
inclined position as shown in Fig. 1 the weight of the bicycle must necessarily
first cause the plate to swing into a horizontal or other suitable position, after which
the crank presses at B against the vertical plate E with a pressure equal to the
resultant of the forces which is in direct ratio to the difference of the lever arins
and which is indicated by P' in Fig. 2. The side-piece A which exists in most
bicycle pedals in the shape of a projection of some sort or other, is caused by the
weight of the bicycle to abut against the plate as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in such
a manner as to prevent the pedal from shifting on the plate. In some cases the
pedal, instead of engaging at A by means of its own projection, may engage by
means of a beak A¹ provided to the plate F, see Fig. 1.
To move the plate back into the normal position, Fig. 1, and to facilitate the
engagement and the placing of the pedal upon its stand a helical spring K is

page_text: provided on the axle of rotation, see Fig. 3 which illustrates the stand in back
elevation.
As bicycles are not all of the same construction, the plate E is made of sufficient
length to receive all cranks, and the plate F may be shifted in a horizontal direction
along rods M, Figs. 1, 2 & 3 by means of screws N in such a manner as to bring
the fulcrum of the lever serving for securing the pedal, into the position required
in relation to the vertical line passing through the fulcrum B of the resultant of
the forces P².
The pedal and the crank having thus the positions shown in Fig. 2 and the
weight of the bicycle being distributed on the two plates E F the latter of which
is movable about the axis O the whole will thus form a lever in which the
resistance P will act at a¹ and the force P at B; the action of the force P³ at B
|---being equal to that of P¹ at a³. ·
In lifting the bicycle, either by the saddle, or by any other part, in such a
manner as to leave one of the wheels resting on the ground, the crank will leave
its point of support, the pedal will rise and leave the plate F and the latter will
resume its former position.
It should be noted that in order to place the bicycle upon as also to remove it
from its stand, it is sufficient to slightly raise one of the two wheels, and that (in
the position it occupies) the bicycle may rest slightly on its two wheels, or on one
wheel, or it may be wholly suspended.
The contact surfaces of the two points A and B may be covered with a material
of soft texture.
The foot or base ab of the stand being arranged in such a manner that the
centre of gravity of the bicycle supported by the two plates, and also of the weight
of the stand itself, shall pass through the base a b, the consequence is that the
stand is not in need of being fixed to the floor, but will remain upright without any
other attachment. The base is wider towards 6 than towards a in order to render
the preceding more clear.
This stand may be generally used in all cases where it is desired to employ a
movable stand.
When the stand can be fixed to the floor by means of screws for instance, the
arrangement before described may be simplified in the sense that use is made of
the floor itself as a fulcrum or point of action of one of the forces acting on
'the lever.
Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate this modification. Instead of allowing the plate F to
adjust its position by turning about a horizontal axis, my correspondent allows it
to move in a vertical direction whilst maintaining its horizontal position.
When the bicycle is placed with one pedal on the plate F¹ (Fig. 4) the latter
descends under the action of part of the weight which becomes uniformly
distributed over the entire surface of the plate, with a resulting force P. The
plate will descend until the wheels rest upon the floor. From this moment the
forces are in equilibrium, on one hand by means of the reaction of the spring K¹
and on the other hand by means of the reaction of the floor.
The whole thus also forms a lever fulcrummed at a³, Figure 5 with the
resistance P acting at a¹, and the force P¹ acting at a³.
The spring K pushes the plate in an upward direction, and whilst excluding all
lateral movement, allows it a certain amount of liberty to adjust itself to the
height of the different pedals it is designed to take; said pedals being taken at
their greatest height. This descending movement of the horizontal plate (for
supporting the pedal) may take place either in a vertical or inclined straight line,
or along a curve, which would be the case if for instance the point of support of
the pedal were attached to the vertical support or upright through the medium of
a lever arm being pushed upwardly by the action of a counterweight or by the
torsional force of a spring, in such a manner as to produce a constant pressure of
the support against the pedal. An apparatus of this kind may be constructed and
employed as follows ;-`

page_text: Sis a base which may fixed to the ground. D¹ is a tube containing a compressible
coiled spring K¹.
C' is a rod adapted to slide into the tube D' against the action of the coiled
spring K. This rod is incapable of motion about its own axis. Fl is a plate
fixed horizontally on the rod C¹. The two wheels occupying a suitable position,
the bicycle will be in a stable and upright position. In fact, on the one hand the
two wheels will keep their relative positions through the weight of the bicycle and
will form one point of support whilst the pressure of the spring K₁ pressing the
plate against the pedal will form at the same time a force and a resistance of the
lever.
The push of the spring will oppose any tendency the bicycle may have to fall
over on that side. This push will rather cause the bicycle to fall over on the
other side if the plate F1 were able to follow the movement of the pedal about the
point of contact of the wheels with the ground; but this is impossible. On
the other hand the pedal cannot leave the plate by a sliding or slipping move-
ment by reason of its shape or by reason of the friction and of the push of
the spring.
So that if an attempt were made by a side push in one direction to cause the
bicycle to fall on the side of its stand, the spring K' might be compressed to a
greater or less extent by the pressure of the push, but when said pressure ceased,
the elasticity of the spring will cause the bicycle to resume its former position.
And if on the contrary the push were caused to act in the opposite direction, it
would not succeed in detaching the pedal from the plate.
The advantages of this second modification consist in rendering the apparatus
capable of receiving the bicycle without reference to the height of the pedals, to
their width, and to render the same accessible from all sides.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what manner the
same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is ;—
1. The use of a part of the bicycle such as the pedal for instance to form the
fulcrum or point of support of a lever at the ends of which there acts the weight
of the bicycle divided into two forces one of said forces acting against a plate
which may be fixed horizontally or may be inclined and movable about an axis
or pivot or may be capable of moving in a vertical direction according to the
relative position and arrangement of the bicycle and re-acting against the latter
by means of a spring whilst the other force acts against a vertical plate either fixed
or adjustable as to height or acts directly against the floor without other means
substantially as described.
2. In combination with a bicycle stand as specified in Claim 1 the arrangement
of its foot or base or bearing plate in such a manner that the centre of gravity
of the bicycle and stand together shall pass through such a point of the foot
that the stand will not require to be attached to the floor substantially as
described.
3. Supporting a bicycle by one of its pedals substantially in the manner
described.
4. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete bicycle
stand substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 12 and 3 of the
accompanying drawings.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete bicycle
stand substantially as described and illustrated in Figure 4 of the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 18th day of December 1893.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.