Improvements in the Means of Protecting Cycles from Injury during Transport.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in the Means of Protecting Cycles from Injury
during Transport.
We, JOHN MARSTON, LIMITED, of l'aul Street Works, Wolverhampton, in the
County of Stafford, Cycle Manufacturers, and CHARLES MARSTON, of the same
address, a Director of the said Company, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
It has heretofore been customary to protect a gear case attached to a cycle, for
a thin
the purpose of preventing injury thereto during transport, by fastening
piece of board against the outer face of the case, and the forward end of the board
has been formed with a slot to receive the crank. The crank is, consequently,
Notwith-
prevented from turning, and the cycle cannot therefor be wheeled.
standing all precautions, such as a notice placed conspicuously upon the machines,
to warn carriers that the machines must not be wheeled, it frequently happens
that railway porters and others do attempt to wheel them, with the result that
the protecting boards are stripped off or other mischief done; and the need for
some better means of protecting the cases has become an urgent necessity when, as
is very commonly the case, machines are required to be sent by passenger train.
The problem to be solved has been to devise a protector which will completely
cover the outer face of the case and yet allow of the machine being wheeled; but
the difficulty has presented itself that there was no room to fasten a board, or
other adequate protector, between the crank and the case, and that if a fixed board
were brought outside the front of the crank, so as to allow the crank to revolve
behind it, there were no convenient and satisfactory means for fixing the forward
end of the board.
The difficulty heretofore experienced is overcome, according to this invention,
by fixing to the outer face of the case a piece of board, millboard, or the like, which
extends from the hinder end of the case such distance only towards the forward
end as will not interfere with the free revolution of the crank, and by fixing to
the crank itself, and conveniently to its outer face, a disc of board, mill-board, or
the like, which while it protects the portion of the outer face of the case which is
not protected by the other piece of board, mill-board, or the like, will itself revolve
freely with the crank.
A protecting disc of the character above described may be fixed to a cycle crank,
also, for the purpose of protecting the gear or other parts, in cases in which a chain
gear case is not attached to the machine: and such a disc may be fixed, also, to
the crank at the opposite side of a machine to that at which a gear case is attached.
Dated this 27th day of August 1897.

page_text: Improvements in the Means of Protecting Cycles from Injury
during Transport.
We, JOHN MARSTON, LIMITED, of Paul Street Works, Wolverhampton, in the
County of Stafford, Cycle Manufacturers, and CHARLES MARSTON, of the same
address, a Director of the said Company, 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:-
It has heretofore been customary to protect a gear case attached to a cycle, for
the purpose of preventing injury thereto during transport, by fastening
a thin
piece of board against the outer face of the case, and the forward end of the board
has been formed with a slot to receive the crank. The crank is consequently
prevented from turning, and the cycle, therefore cannot be wheeled. Notwith-
standing all precautions, such as a notice placed conspicuously upon the machines,
to warn carriers that the machines must not be wheeled, it frequently happens
that railway porters and others do attempt to wheel them, with the result that
the protecting boards are stripped off or other mischief done; and the need for
some better means of protecting the cases has become an urgent necessity when, as
is very commonly the case, machines are required to be sent by passenger train.
The problem to be solved has been to devise a protector which will completely
cover the outer face of the case and yet allow of the machine being wheeled; but
the difficulty has presented itself that in the case of most machines there was no
room to fasten a board, or other adequate protector, between the face of the case
at the forward end and the crank, and that if a fixed board were brought outside
the front of the crank so as to allow the crank to revolve behind it, there were no
convenient and satisfactory means for fixing the forward end of the board.
The difficulty heretofore experienced is overcome, according to this invention,
by fixing to the outer face of the case a piece of board, millboard, or the like which
extends from the hinder end of the case such distance only towards the forward
end as will not interfere with the free revolution of the crank, and by fixing to
the crank itself, and conveniently to its outer face, a disc of board, millboard, or
the like, which while it protects the portion of the outer face of the case which is
not protected by the other piece of board, millboard, or the like, will itself revolve
freely with the crank.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood, we will proceed to describe
an application of the same in which protecting pieces of millboard are employed,
by the aid of the accompanying drawings, of which Figure 1 is a side elevation of
the protecting device shewn with the two portions thereof fixed to the case and
crank, respectively, parts of the cycle being shewn also to make the illustration
quite clear. Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1.
To the outer face of the gear case A is fixed a piece of millboard «, which is
slightly wider than the case and which extends from a short distance to the rear
thereof to a point some distance back from its forward end, the millboard being
bent or cranked somewhat, as shewn, by Figure 2, to cause it to lie flat against
the face of the case at its forward end and ensure that the outer end of the crank
will pass clear in front of it as the crank revolves. The millboard is secured in
place by means of tapes, or strings b which are passed through holes in the board
and around the case, and of the nut c of the hind axle and a hole c¹ in the board
into which the nut enters. A disc of millboard d is fixed to the outer face of the
crank by means of tapes or strings e which are passed through holes f formed
through the board and around the crank; and this disc is of such diameter that it

page_text: completely protects that portion of the case which is not protected by the board a.
This disc, of course revolves with the crank.
The protector d and disc b may be fastened by means of wires in lieu of tapes or
strings, or in any convenient manner.
The portion a of the protector may, if desired, be stopped short at the broken
curved line 9, and in making it of such a substance as wood this will be found
convenient. In such case, it is desirable to make the disc d of a diameter which
will cause it to lap somewhat over the forward edge of the part a.
A disc-of-the.character above described may be fixed, for the purpose of protect-
ing the gear or other parts, to the crank at the opposite side of a machine to that
at which a gear case is attached; and such a disc may be fixed to a crank, or each
crank, of a cycle, in cases in which a chain gear case is not attached to the machine..
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. Means for use in protecting the gear case of a cycle from injury during trans-
port, which comprise a piece of board, millboard, or other suitable material, which
is fixed to the outer face of the case and which extends from the rear end thereof
such distance only towards the forward end that it will not interfere with the free
revolution of the crank, and a disc of board, millboard, or other suitable material,
which is fixed to the crank, and revolves therewith, substantially as described.
2. A protecting disc of board, millboard, or other suitable material, fixed to a
cycle crank so as to be capable of revolving therewith, substantially as described.
3. The improved means of protecting cycles from injury during transport, sub-
stantially as described and shewn, by way of example, by the drawings herewith.
Dated this 26th day of May 1898.
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicants.