Improvements in Bicycles and other similar Vehicles.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 25th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 2nd Nov., 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bicycles and other similar Vehicles.
communication from abroad by LEON BAUDREAU, residing in Chicopee Falls,
County of Hampden, State of Massachusetts, on Canterbury Avenue, Citizen of
the Dominion of Canada, Machinist.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S. M.I.M.E. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors 6, Lord Street Liverpool & 6, Bank Street Manchester both in
the County of Lancaster & 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
This invention relates to bicycles and similar vehicles, the object being to provide
improved spring fork connections between the wheel axle and the fork head whereby
an easy vertical spring motion of the parts of the machine whose weight is carried by
said axle is obtained, and the wheel is supported by and between the fork legs in its
proper plane of rotation, and the invention consists in the peculiar construction and
arrangement of said spring fork connections, all as hereinafter fully described.
In the drawing forming part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side and Figure 2
a front elevation of a vehicle wheel, and spring fork devices applied thereto, constructed
according to this invention. Figure 3, illustrates a modified construction of portions
of said devices.
In the drawing, 3 indicates the wheel of a bicycle or similar vehicle having the
usual hub, a, and 4, the axle on which said wheel rotates in the usual manner, and 5
indicates the lower portion of a fork head of said vehicle, which head may be of any
suitable construction, but it is to be provided with said part 5 which is of a suitable
form internally, to receive therethrough a fork head shaft 6 which has a position
therein substantially parallel with said axle 4 and is adapted to have a slight rocking
motion therein, the said lower portion 5 being of course a part of, or rigidly secured
to, the fork head proper.
The supporting devices for the fork head, including the spring features thereof
which are interposed between said head and the axle 4 are constructed and operate
as follows: .
.
Two curved fork legs 8 are hung by their upper ends on said shaft 6 at opposite ends
of the head part 5 and have a degree of vibratory motion thereon. Said legs 8 as
shown extend downward, first in a curved line towards the rear of the wheel 3 and
then in a reverse direction whereby the lower ends thereof are brought to a position
above and considerably forward of the wheel axle 4. The lower end of each of said
fork legs 8 is connected with the wheel axle 4 through the intermediary of an arm 9
whose lower end is rigidly clamped to said axle, and to the upper end of which is
rigidly attached one end of a coil spring 10 and the opposite end of said spring is
rigidly attached to the lower end of said leg. The upper ends of said legs 8 have a
connection with other coil springs 16 as below described, the last named springs and
said springs 10 constituting the spring resistance connected with said legs between
said fork head part 5 and the axle 4.
An arm 15 is rigidly clamped on each end of the shaft 6 and extends towards the
forward edge of the wheel 3 in a downwardly inclined direction, and a coil spring 16
has one end thereof attached as shown to the inner side of said arm and the opposite
end of said spring is connected to the upper end of the said fork leg 8 by inserting
the end of said spring in a suitable perforation in the end of said leg and there rigidly
securing it, or by other suitable means. To the lower end of each of said arms 15 is
rigidly secured one end of a coil spring 18, a cap 17, being secured on the upper
side of said arm 15 having its lower end extending partially over said spring 18
to form a suitable finish at the junction of said spring and the arm 15 and to

page_text: more or less strengthen the connection of said spring with said arm.
A post 12
has its upper end rigidly connected to the lower end of each of said springs 18
and the lower end of each of said posts 12 is connected by a tubular nut 14 with the
end of an arm 13 which is hung on the outer end of the axle 4 in such a way
that it may have a certain degree of vibratory motion thereon. A circular nut 7
(see Figure 3) is screwed onto each end of the shaft 6 outside of the upper ends
of the fork legs 8 to hold the latter in position against the ends of the head part 5
and the said coil springs 16 encircle said nuts. A washer 19 is placed on the axle 4
between each end of the wheel hub a and the adjoining ends of the arms 9 and a
washer 20 is placed on said axle between the latter named arms and the arms 13.
The above described spring fork connections or fork head supporting devices are
so constructed and applied between said head and the axle 4 that the spring
elements thereof 18 and 10 especially are mainly in positions forward of said axle,
and the application of weight on the fork head causes said springs 18 and 10 to
be thrown still farther forward, the consequence of which is that when the vehicle is
moving rapidly and the wheel encounters some obstacle upon the road whereby it is
suddenly thrown upward, the ends of the arms, the posts, and the legs 8 which are
connected with the springs 10 and 18 together with the latter are thrown still farther
forward beyond the axle 4, thereby producing such an action of the said supporting
devices between the axle and the fork head as obviates, in an important degree the
constantly present danger which exists in bicycles that the rider may be thrown
headlong over his wheel. In addition to the foregoing advantages arising from
the use of the above described construction, the interposition of the springs 16,
18 and 10 between the fork head and the axle 4 together with the peculiar
arrangement of the fork legs 8, the posts 12 and their connecting arms, as described,
constitute spring supporting devices possessing peculiar features which conduce
essentially to ease in riding a vehicle fitted with said devices and obviate entirely
the inconvenience pertaining to such vehicles in which the rider is constantly
subjected to the shaking and trembling motion of vehicles as ordinarily constructed.
The said springs 16 connected each between the arm 15 and the upper end of the
leg 8 offer resistance to the upward motion of the arm 15 and to the vibratory motion
of the leg. 8 when weight is applied to the fork head, said springs 16 thus supple-
menting the resistance which the springs 10 and 18 offer to said weight, and serving
to maintain the parts normally in the positions shown.
The above described construction of fork head and axle connections embodies
therein the said shaft 6 substantially parallel with the axle 4, which shaft is so nearly
of the same length as said axle that it constitutes such a lever connection between
said devices and the fork head as gives the rider of a vehicle great control over the
wheel in steering, and obviates the liability of the wheel to have what is termed a
twisting motion or movement when the rider attempts quickly to change the direction
of movement of the vehicle.
The above referred to modification of construction illustrated in Figure 3 consists
in dispensing with the springs 10 and 18, and uniting by suitable pivot or hinge
connections the ends of the arms 15 and posts 12 and the arms 9 and the legs 8,
whereby said arms, posts and legs are permitted to have substantially the same action,
as described, as they are capable of when said springs are employed and the springs 16,
under such conditions of construction, are made proportionately heavier to provide
for the weight they must alone resist.
The said leg 8, arm 9, and spring 10, and the post 12, the arm 15 and spring 18
constitute two sets of curved or angular arms (identical on each side of the wheel)
each intermediately jointed, whether by springs or pivot connections, and so arranged
in relation to each other and to said axle 4 and shaft 6 as to form substantially a
figure 8.
The nuts 14 connecting the lower ends of the posts 12 with the ends of the arms 13,
provide means for adjusting said posts longitudinally and the springs 18. Aside from
said adjusting feature, the post 12 and arın 13 may be made in one piece.
The above described spring fork devices may be advantageously applied to both the

page_text: front and the rear wheel of a bicycle, and when applied to the said rear wheel, the
rear end of the backbone is rigidly connected to the said part 5, in substantially the
position of the broken off post K.
In the drawing a mud-guard to overlie a rear and upper portion of the rim of the
front wheel is shown, the same consisting of the usual arc shaped shoe 25 supported
by its end which is about over the axis of the wheel on a bridge piece 26, which, by
clips 27 on its ends is attached to the posts 12, said shoe being further supported by
truss rods 28, connected thereto and to a disc 30 loosely supported on the wheel axle.
A supplemental portion 29 of said mud-guard shoe is pivotally connected to the main
portion of the shoe at its rear end and is to be held in the normal position shown by
any proper application of a spring, said portion 29 being rearwardly deflected from
the circular line of the wheel and said pivotally connected portion is capable of
swinging rearwardly and upwardly on occasion as by the contact therewith of a large
or high object at the time the bicycle is ridden over uneven places.
בד
"1 1000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bicycles and other similar Vehicles.
A communication from abroad by LEON BAUDREAU, residing in Chicopee Falls,
County of Hampden, State of Massachusetts, on Canterbury Avenue, Citizen of
the Dominion of Canada, Machinist.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both in
the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn in the County of Middlesex, Civil
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 bicycles and similar vehicles, the object being to provide
improved spring-fork connections between the wheel-axle and the fork-head, whereby
an easy, vertical spring-motion of the parts of the machine, whose weight is carried
by said axle, is obtained, and the wheel is supported by and between the fork-legs
in its proper plane of rotation, and the invention consists in the peculiar construction
and arrangement of said spring-fork connections, all as hereinafter fully described
and pointed out in the claims.
In the drawing accompanying the provisional specification:
Figure 1 is a side, and
--
Figure 2 a front elevation of a vehicle wheel, and spring fork-devices applied
thereto, constructed according to the invention.
Figure 3 illustrates a modified construction of portions of said devices.
In the drawing:
3, indicates the wheel of a bicycle or similar vehicle, having the usual hub, a, and 4
the axle on which said wheel rotates in the usual manner, and 5 indicates the lower
portion of a fork-head of said vehicle, which head may be of any suitable construction,
but is to be provided with said part 5, which is of a suitable form, internally, to
receive therethrough a fork-head shaft 6, which has a position therein substantially
parallel with said axle 4, and is adapted to have a slight rocking motion therein, the
said lower portion 5 being, of course, a part of or rigidly secured to the fork-head
proper.
The supporting-devices for the fork-head, including the spring-features thereof,
which are interposed between said head and the axle 4, are constructed and operate
as follows:-
Two curved fork-legs 8 are hung by their upper ends on said shaft 6, at opposite
ends of the head part 5, and have a degree of vibratory motion thereon. Said legs 8,
as shown, extend downward, first in a curved line towards the rear of the wheel 3,

page_text: and then in a reverse direction, whereby the lower ends thereof are brought to a
position above and considerably forward of the wheel axle 4. The lower end of each
of said fork-legs 8 is connected with the wheel-axle 4 through the intermediary of an
arm 9, whose lower end is rigidly clamped to said axle, and to the upper end of which
is rigidly attached one end of a coil-spring 10, and the opposite end of said spring is
rigidly attached to the lower end of said leg. The upper ends of said legs 8 have a
connection with other coil-springs 16, as below described, the last-named springs and
said springs 10 constituting the spring-resistance connected with said legs, between said
fork-head part 5 and the axle 4.
An arm 15 is rigidly clamped on each end of the shaft 6, and extends towards the
forward edge of the wheel 3, in a downwardly inclined direction, and a coil-spring 16
has one end thereof attached, as shown, to the inner side of said arm, and the opposite
end of said spring is connected to the upper end of the said fork-leg 8, by inserting
the end of said spring in a suitable perforation in the end of said leg and there
rigidly securing it, or by other suitable means. To the lower end of each of said
arms, 15, is rigidly secured one end of a coil spring, 18, a cap, 17, being secured on
the upper side of said, arm, 15, having its lower end extending partially over said
spring, 18, to form a suitable finish at the junction of said spring and the arm, 15,
and to more or less strengthen the connection of said spring with said arm. A post, 12,
has its upper end rigidly connected to the lower end of each of said springs, 18, and the
lower end of each of said posts, 12, is connected by a tubular nut, 14, with the
end of an arm, 13, which is hung on the outer end of the axle, 4, in such a way
that it may have a certain degree of vibratory motion thereon. A circular nut, 7,
(see Figure 3) is screwed onto each end of the shaft, 6, outside of the upper ends
of the fork-legs, 8, to hold the latter in position against the ends of the head-part, 5,
and the said coil-springs, 16, encircle said nuts. A washer, 19, is placed on the
axle, 4, between each end of the wheel-hub, a, and the adjoining ends of the arms, 9,
and a washer, 20, is placed on said axle between the latter-named arms and the
arms, 13.
The above-described spring fork-connections or fork-head supporting devices are so
constructed and applied between said head and the axle, 4, that the spring elements
thereof, 18 and 10, especially, are mainly in positions forward of said axle, and the
application of weight on the fork-head causes said springs, 18 and 10, to be thrown still
farther forward, the consequence of which is that when the vehicle is moving rapidly and
the wheel encounters some obstacle upon the road whereby it is suddenly thrown upward,
the ends of the arms, the posts, and the legs, 8, which are connected, with the springs, 10
and 18, together with the latter, are thrown still farther forward beyond the axle, 4, thereby
producing such an action of the said supporting devices between the axle and the
fork-head, as obviates, in an important degree, the constantly present danger which
exists in bicycles that the rider may be thrown headlong over his wheel. In addition
to the foregoing advantages arising from the use of the above-described construction,
the interposition of the springs, 16, 18 and 10, between the fork-head and the axle 4
together with the peculiar arrangement of the fork-legs, 8, the posts, 12, and their
connecting arms, as described, constitute spring supporting devices possessing peculiar
features which conduce essentially to ease in riding a vehicle fitted with said devices
and obviate entirely the inconvenience pertaining to such vehicles in which the rider
is constantly subjected to the shaking and trembling motion of vehicles as ordinarily
constructed.
The said springs, 16, connected each between the arm, 15, and the upper end of
the leg, 8, offer resistance to the upward motion of the arm, 15, and to the
vibratory motion of the leg, 8, when weight is applied to the fork-head, said
springs, 16, thus supplementing the resistance which the springs, 10 and 18, offer to
said weight, and serving to maintain the parts normally in the positions shown.
The above-described construction of fork-head, and axle connections embodies
therein the said shaft, 6, substantially parallel with the axle, 4, which shaft is so
nearly of the same length as said axle that it constitutes such a lever connection
between said devices and the fork-head as gives the rider of a vehicle great control

page_text: over the wheel in steering, and obviates the liability of the wheel to have what is
termed a twisting motion or movement when the rider attempts quickly to change the
direction of movement of the vehicle.
The above referred to modification of construction illustrated in Figure 3, consists
in dispensing with the springs, 10 and 18, and uniting by suitable pivot or hinge
connections the ends of the arms, 15, and posts, 12, and the arms, 9; and the legs, 8,
whereby said arms, posts, and legs, are permitted to have substantially the same
action, as described, as they are capable of when said springs are employed, and the
springs, 16, under such conditions of construction, are made proportionately heavier
to provide for the weight they must alone resist.
The said leg, 8, arm 9, and spring, 10, and the post, 12, the arm, 15, and spring, 18,
constitute two sets of curved or angular arms (identical on each side of the wheel)
each intermediately jointed, whether by springs or pivot connections, and so arranged
in relation to each other and to said axle, 4, and shaft, 6, as to form substantially a
figure 8.
The nuts, 14, connecting the lower ends of the posts, 12, with the ends of the
arms, 13, provide means for adjusting said posts longitudinally and the springs 18.
Aside from said adjusting feature, the post, 12, and arm 13 may be made in one
piece.
The above-described spring-fork devices may be advantageously applied to both the
front and the rear wheel of a bicycle, and when applied to the said rear wheel, the
rear end of the backbone is rigidly connected to the said part 5 in substantially
the position of the broken off post K.
In the drawing, a mud-guard to overlie a rear and upper portion of the rim of the
front wheel is shown the same consisting of the usual are-shaped shoe 25, supported
by its end which is about over the axis of the wheel on a bridge piece 26, which, by
clips 27 on its ends, is attached to the posts 12, said shoe being further supported
by truss-rods 28, connected thereto and to a disc 30, loosely supported on the wheel-
axle. A supplemental portion 29 of said mud-guard shoe is pivotally connected to the
main portion of the shoe at its rear end and is to be held in the normal position shown
by any proper application of a spring, said portion 29 being rearwardly deflected from
the circular line of the wheel; and said pivotally connected portion is capable of
swinging rearwardly and upwardly on occasion as by the contact therewith of a large
or high object at the time the bicycle is ridden over uneven places.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, 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 :-
1. The combination with the axle and the shaft above and paralled thereto, of two
sets of curved or angular arms each intermediately jointed, and connected by their
ends to the said shaft and axle, arranged in relation to each other to form in substance
a figure 8, and a spring applied to exert a pressure between said angular arms to
maintain them in their relations described and to yield under pressure applied sub-
stantially in the direction of their lengths, substantially as described.
2. The combination with the axle and the shaft above and parallel thereto, of two
sets of curved or angular arms each consisting of two members united by a coil-spring,
and the said so formed angular arms connected by their ends to the shaft and axle,
and arranged in relation to each other to form in substance a figure 8, and a coil
surrounding said shaft loosely and connected by its ends to the upper members of each
of said arms, substantially as set forth.
3. Spring-fork devices for bicycles and similar vehicles, consisting of the axle 4, the
shaft 6, parallel with said axle, a support for said shaft, substantially as described, the
fork-legs 8, hung on said shaft, the arms 9 secured on said axle, the springs 10
aniting said legs and arms, the posts 12, connected to the axle, the arms 15, secured
on said shaft, the springs 18 uniting said posts and arms 15, and the springs 16
having an engagement with said legs and the arms 15, combined and operating
substantially as set forth.

page_text: 4. Spring-fork devices for bicycles and similar vehicles consisting of the axle 4, the
shaft 6, parallel with said axle, a support for said shaft, substantially as described,
the fork-legs & hung on said shaft, the arms 9 secured on said axle, the springs 10
uniting said legs and arms, the posts 12, the arms 13 on said axle, the nuts 14 uniting
arms 13 and said posts, the arms 15 secured on said shaft, the springs 18 uniting said
posts and arms 15 and the springs 16 having an engagement with said legs and said
arms 15, combined and operating substantially as set forth.
5. Spring-fork devices for bicycles and similar vehicles, consisting of the axle 4,
the shaft 6 parallel with said axle, a support for said shaft, substantially as described,
the legs 8 hung on said shaft and curving first towards one side of said axle and then
in the opposite direction and terminating above and to one side of said axle, the
arms 9 secured on said axle, the springs 10, uniting said legs and arms, the posts 12
connected to the axle, the arms 15 secured on said shaft, the springs 18 uniting said
posts and arms 15 and the springs 16 having an engagement with said legs and the
arms 15 combined and operating substantially as set forth.
6. Spring-fork devices for bicycles and similar vehicles, consisting of the axle 4,
the shaft 6 parallel with said axle, a support for said shaft, substantially as described,
the fork-legs 8 hung on said shaft, the arms 9 secured on said axle, the springs 10
uniting said legs and arms, the posts 12 connected to the axle and crossing said legs 8,
the arms 15 secured on said shaft, the springs 18 uniting said posts and arms 15,
and the springs 16, having an engagement with said legs and the arms 15 combined
and operating substantially as set forth.
7. The combination with the spring fork-head substantially as herein described, of a
mud guard shoe supported therefrom to overlie a suitable portion of the rim of the
wheel, substantially as described.
Dated this 24th day of Santambar 1880
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.