Improved Driving anu drake mechanism
Year: 1898

page_text: Improved Driving anu drake mechanism
I, IVOR REES, of Sully House, Sully, near Cardiff, in the County of Glamorgan,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows;-
-
According to this invention the main driving wheel or disc on the crank axle or
spindle of bottom bracket of the velocipede consists of a wheel with a continuous
annular recess on one face thereof at the circumference, or with the inner side of
rim grooved or channelled out. Within and entirely around this annular channel
are supported, on pins spaced at a suitable pitch, a number of small hardened steel
rollers. The said rollers are free to revolve around the said pins. Thus forming
practically an internally toothed wheel with anti-friction teeth.
A pinion adjustably mounted in an arm springing from the bottom bracket
gears with this wheel. And to the said pinion is attached a sprocket wheel.
The power of the rider through the medium of the crank and pedal is com-
municated to the main driving wheel and the pinion gearing therewith and is
then conveyed by a chain from the sprocket wheel attached to said pinion, to a
similar sprocket wheel on the rear wheel of the velocipede.
Thus this invention enables the use of small chain or sprocket wheels of the same,
or nearly the same, size and any further increase of speed may be obtained by
eimply changing the sprocket wheel on the rear wheel of the machine.
Upon the intermediate spindle which carries the small pinion and chain or
sprocket wheel, but on the opposite end thereof, is fixed a brake sheave and a
strap of iron, wood or other suitable material encircling the same, the other end
of brake strap being attached to the frame work near the bottom bracket and.
capable of movement for applying the brake. This brake is operated by suitable
lever mechanism leading to the handle bars.
The intermediate hub and spindle with its sprocket wheel may be affixed as
above described to the back forks or to the seat-pillar tube, or the hub may be
formed in one piece with the bottom brackets.
It is important that the centre of the spindle of the gearing pinion shall be
situated some distance above a horizontal line drawn through the centre of the
bottom bracket; the actual distance and position to be fixed according to the
amount of extra leverage desired.
A casing is or may be provided upon the inner side of the gear wheel and
extended backwards so as to cover the whole chain if necessary.
If the dise or
main driving wheel is cut through upon its face to form spokes, the apertures
between may be filled in with any convenient light material such for instance as
celluloid or the like.
1109t day at Tuna 1898
PHILLIPS & LEIGH.
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: E
I, IVOR REES, of Sully House, Sully, near Cardiff, in the County of Glamorgan,
Engineer, 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 relates to an improved driving and brake mechanism for
velocipedes, and the object of it is to enable such machines or vehicles to be pro-
pelled, and the speed controlled, with less exertion on the part of the rider than
is necessary with the ordinary construction.
At present it is customary for the driving mechanism to consist of two sprocket
wheels of unequal size connected together by means of a chain, the larger of the
two wheels being attached to the pedal-crank or crank spindle and the other to
the hub of the back road wheel, so that on revolving the crank the motion is com-
municated through the said intermediate mechanism, to the back road wheel, which
propels the machine.
It is found however in practice that such arrangement of driving mechanism
requires considerable exertion on the part of the rider to drive and the more so
the higher the gear or greater the difference between the diameters of the two chain
or sprocket wheels, and it is this exertion that the present invention more particu-
larly aims at reducing.
The following is a description of my invention reference being had to the
accompanying drawings in which:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the crank and the rest of the driving mechanism.
Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1.
Figure 3 shews in side elevation an alternative or modified arrangement for
carrying the intermediate gear pinion.
Figure 4 is another side elevation of the crank and driving mechanism, detached.
Figure 5 is a sectional plan taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.
Figure 6 represents a bicycle fitted with my improved driving and brake
mechanism shewn in Figure 1.
Figure 7 is a plan view of Figure 6.
Figure 8 represents a bicycle fitted with the modification of driving mechanism
shewn in Figure 3.
Figure 9 is a section of the rim of the flanged driving gear wheel shewing one
method of securing the roller teeth therein, and
Figure 10 is a similar section to Figure 9, but illustrating a different method of
securing the roller teeth in the flange.
According to my invention the usual driving sprocket wheel on the pedal-crank
or crank spindle is replaced by a wheel a having an upright overhanging flange
or rim forming on one face of the said wheel at the circumference thereof a con-
tinuous annular recess such as b. Within and entirely around this annular recess
or channel and spaced regularly at intervals of a suitable pitch, are small rollers c
preferably of hardened steel. These rollers are mounted on pins or pintles d fixed
in the walls of the recess b; or, the driving wheel consists of a disc, with holes
drilled round the periphery to which, one end of the pin is rivetted, the other
ends being rivetted to a ring, thus keeping all the pins tight, and in position, the
rollers working freely upon the rivetted pins and being free and open upon the
outside, so that it is impossible for dirt to lodge therein. Figures 9 and 10 illus-
trate two different methods of fixing these pins or mounting the rollers.
Figure 9 the pin ₫ carrying the roller c is shouldered and rivetted to the top and
bottom walls or plates of the annular recess b, but in such a manner as to allow
the roller to revolve freely. In Figure 10 the pin is passed through from the
In

page_text: outside; it has no shoulders but is provided with a bush f slightly longer than
the roller c, a provision which also permits of the free movement of the latter.
Thus this initial driving gear-wheel is practically an internally-toothed wheel
with roller teeth, and it is mounted fast on the crank side of the crank spindle, or,
in other words, on the same side of the machine as the driving chain. The advan-
tage gained by the revoluble teeth is that friction is reduced and they cannot
become clogged with dust or dirt like stationary ones, as their continual movement
when the machine is running causes the immediate dislodgment of any foreign
matter that may find its way between or around them; and the advantage gained
by locating the said wheel upon the same side of the machine as the chain, is that
the pull on the latter is more direct and the spindle of the chain wheel is not sub-
ject to such tortional strain as it would be if the chain were driven from a wheel
on its end furthest from the driving power. Consequently I locate the front chain
wheel as near to this driving wheel as possible and as described hereinafter.
Gearing with the above described roller-toothed driving wheel is a toothed
pinion g which is mounted fast upon a spindle g¹ running in a bearing which may
be provided in a special arm branching out laterally at any angle from the bottom-
bracket, or this bearing may be made at the end of the bottom-stay as shewn in
detail in Figure 1, or at the junction of the two tubes as shewn in detail in
Figure 3, the bottom-stay i being specially raised at that end and its extremity
secured to the front down-tube i at a higher point than usual; an extra stay k
being provided in order to compensate for the support lost by reason of the raising
of the bottom-tube i as above stated.
The essential feature regarding the location of this pinion is that its centre
should be above the centre of the bore in the bottom-bracket and the further above
it (within practical limits) the better, and also as near as possible to the seat pillar
tube. By reason of the raising up of this pinion it follows that the top teeth are
the ones that are receiving the entire thrusts from the large driving wheel and that
the power is transmitted to the chain direct, and with comparatively little strain
and friction upon the spindle.
Fast on the same spindle namely g' and at the same end thereof as the pinion g
as close to the latter as possible, is mounted a sprocket wheel m the size of which
may vary but is kept as small as possible; or this sprocket wheel m may be
integral with the boss on one side of the intermediate gear pinion is preferred.
This sprocket wheel m is connected by means of a chain n to another sprocket
wheel ordinarily of the same or approximately the same size which is secured to
or made integral with the hub of the rear road wheel of the machine.
On the opposite end of the spindle g¹ is fixed a disc p or small brake wheel the
periphery of which may be plain but is preferably grooved to receive a strap or
cord q
The cord is passed around the disc pone end r being secured to the
bottom bracket by means of a screw-stud or other like device and the other end s
To the other end of
is connected to a link pivoted to the bottom-bracket at u.
the said link is attached one end of a wire or rod r the other end of which is con-
nected to the ordinary brake lever at the head and handle-bar of the machine.
The spindle carrying the small gear pinion g, front sprocket wheel m and brake
sheave, is preferably provided with ball bearings and the usual adjustment fitt-
ing for same as shewn in the drawings.
A casing is or may be provided upon the inner side of the gear wheel and
extended backward so as to cover the whole chain if necessary.
If the disc with roller teeth or main driving wheel a is pierced to form spokes
the apertures between such spokes may be filled or covered in with any convenient
light material such for instance as celluloid or the like.
I am aware that it is not novel to employ an internally-toothed driving wheel
upon the pedal-crank spindle to drive a pinion on a spindle situated laterally at
a short distance from the said driving wheel, and to fix the front sprocket-wheel
on the said lateral spindle, but as this invention aims at minimising the friction
of the gearing and so reducing the amount of exertion or effort on the part of the

page_text: rider, I attach great importance to the exact construction and arrangement of my
driving and brake mechanism as a whole in combination as described and shewn,
and this remark has special reference to the roller teeth of the main driving gear-
wheel, the close proximity of the front sprocket wheel to the said main driving
gear wheel and its pinion, and the distance of the centre of the chain sprocket
spindle above that of the pedal crank spindle and the closeness of it to the seat
pillar tube.
The power of the rider through the medium of the pedal-crank is communi-
cated to the main driving wheel a and the pinion g gearing therewith and is thenee
conveyed by the chain n from the sprocket wheel m on the spindle gl to the sprocket
wheel o on the hub of the back road wheel, thus propelling the machine.
It will be seen that the employment of a driving wheel such as a enables the
use of a larger sprocket wheel than usual on the hub of the back road wheel, with-
out having an abnormally large sprocket wheel on the pedal crank axle such as
would be necessary with the ordinary mechanism to obtain the necessary speed,
because through the medium of the pinion g it rotates the spindle g' on which the
sprocket wheel m is fixed, at a greater speed than it, the said sprocket wheel,
would have if it were fixed on the pedal-crank or crank axle as usual. And, more-
over, by this invention both sprocket wheels may be of the same size and conse-
quently are driven with far less effort than is required to drive the usual sprocket
wheels of different sizes; and also by having a larger sprocket wheel than usual
on the hub of rear road wheel, a lighter chain can be used, as the tension and also
the friction on said chain will be thereby considerably reduced.
Any further increase of speed that may be desired may be obtained by either
simply exchanging the sprocket wheel on the rear road wheel for one of smaller
size, or by increasing the size of the main driving wheel a, and shifting the centre
of the pinion, which latter may be arranged for by slotting the arm or member
containing its bearing or by providing a clip to carry the bearing and embrace
the said member, or by changing the front sprocket wheel m on intermediate
spindle g for a larger one.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The combination driving and brake mechanism for velocipedes, consisting
of the combination with the pedal crank spindle of a driving wheel fixed thereon
having internal roller teeth, a pinion with fixed teeth gearing with said driving
wheel fixed upon a second spindle which is rotatably mounted in bearings provided in
or upon the framing at a point above the bottom-bracket, a sprocket wheel attached
to said pinion, a band connecting said sprocket wheel with another sprocket wheel
of same or approximately same size fixed to the hub of the rear road wheel, a
brake sheave fixed on said second spindle and the brake band secured to each end
of a link pivoted to the bottom bracket of the machine, as and for the purposes
described and set forth.
2. In a combination driving and brake mechanism for velocipedes the com-
bination with the spindle carrying the initial driving wheel of a brake sheave
fixed on the said spindle.
3. In a combination driving and brake mechanism for velocipedes, the com-
bination with the spindle bearing the front sprocket wheel of a brake sheave fixed
on the said spindle.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.