IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDE CARRIAGES AND VEHICLES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sidney Johnson, of West Croydon, in the County
of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDE CARRIAGES
AND VEHICLES."
Sealed the 23rd May 1871, and dated the 24th November 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sidney Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th November 1870.
I, SIDNEY JOHNSON, of West Croydon, in the County of Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN
VELOCIPEDE CARRIAGES AND VEHICLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to velocipedes used on land and water, and
consists in constructing the same in the following manner :——
First. As regards velocipedes to be used on land I form the same with
three wheels connected to and supporting the body of the carriage, the
seat whereof comes over the axle of the two running wheels, which are
made very much larger in diameter than the third or front wheel, which
is placed at the front of the body of the carriage, and employed to steer

page_text: or direct the same as required. Within the aforesaid body and about
midway between the axles of the front and back wheels a two-throw
crank shaft is mounted and revolves in bearings. A pulley or stud
wheel is fixed on cach end of this crank shaft, and other pulleys or
stud wheels are fixed on the axle of the running wheels within the
body of the carriage. Over each pair of these pulleys or stud wheels an
endless band passes, the said bands being perforated with holes fitted
with eyelets placed at equal distances asunder, and corresponding with
the studs or pins on the peripheries of the aforesaid stud wheels, so that
when rotary motion is imparted to the aforesaid cranks by the feet of
the person seated in the carriage rotatory motion will be imparted to the
running wheels through the medium of the stud wheels and perforated
bands, thereby propelling the carriage with a velocity equal to the
difference between the diameters of the pulleys on the crank shaft and
those on the axle of the running wheels. For example, suppose the
pulleys on the crank shaft to be twice the diameter of those on the axle,
it follows that one revolution of the crank shaft will produce two revo-
lutions of the running wheels, which if three feet in diameter would
move over nine feet of ground at each revolution.
To steer a velocipede thus constructed I employ reins, the ends
whereof are fixed to a lever bar fixed on the upper end of the forked bar
which carries the steering wheel, so that the steering may be effected
after the manner of driving a horse. I also fix to each end of the afore-
said lever bar a strong spring of vulcanized india-rubber to assist in
bringing the steering wheel straight after it has been moved to the right
or left in the act of steering the velocipede. I employ a brake lever and
brake block suitably placed for retarding or stopping the motion when
required.
. And I would here remark that if preferred I employ toothed wheels
instead of the pulleys and bands above described for propelling the
vehicle, and I propose to form or cover the teeth of the said wheels with
some material that shall render their movement noiseless.
And as regards velocipedes to be used on water the only difference
in their construction from the land velocipede above described consists
in substituting paddle wheels in the place of the running wheels, and an
ordinary rudder in lieu of the steering wheel.

page_text: SPECÍFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Sidney Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th May 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SIDNEY
JOHNSON, of West Croydon, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Sidney Johnson, Her special licence that I,
the said Sidney Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Sidney Johnson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDE CARRIAGES
AND VEHICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Sidney Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Sidney Johnson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, that is to say: :-
This Invention relates to velocipedes used on land and water, and
consists in constructing the same in the following manner :-
First. As regards velocipedes to be used on land I form the same with
three wheels connected to and supporting the body of the carriage, the
seat whereof comes over the axle of the two running wheels, which are
made very much larger in diameter than the third or front wheel, which

page_text: is placed at the front of the body of the carriage, and employed to steer
or direct the same as required. Within the aforesaid body and about
midway between the axles of the front and back wheels a two-throw
crank shaft is mounted and revolves in bearings: A pulley or stud
wheel is fixed on each end of this crank shaft, and other pulleys or
stud wheels are fixed on the axle of the running wheels within the
body of the carriage. Over each pair of these pulleys or stud wheels an
endless band passes, the said bands being perforated with holes fitted
with eyelets placed at equal distances asunder, and corresponding with
the studs or pins on the peripheries of the aforesaid stud wheels, so that
when rotatory motion is imparted to the aforesaid cranks by the feet of
the person seated in the carriage rotatory motion will be imparted to the
running wheels through the medium of the stud wheels and perforated
bands, thereby propelling the carriage with a velocity equal to the
difference between the diameters of the pulleys on the crank shaft and
those on the axle of the running wheels. For example, suppose the
pulleys on the crank shaft to be twice the diameter of those on the axle,
it follows that one revolution of the crank shaft will produce two revo-
lutions of the running wheels, which if three feet in diameter would
move over nine feet of ground at each revolution.
To steer a velocipede thus constructed I employ reins, the ends
whereof are fixed to a lever bar fixed on the upper end of the forked bar
which carries the steering wheel, so that the steering may be effected
after the manner of driving a horse. I also fix to each end of the afore-
said lever bar a strong spring of vulcanized india-rubber to assist in
bringing the steering wheel straight after it has been moved to the right
or left in the act of steering the the velocipede. I employ a brake lever
and brake block suitably placed for retarding or stopping the motion
when required.
And I would here remark that if preferred I employ toothed wheels
instead of the pulleys and bands above described for propelling the
vehicle, and I propose to form or cover the teeth of the said wheels with
some material that shall render their movement noiseless.
And as regards velocipedes to be used on water the only difference
in their construction from the land velocipede above described consists
in substituting paddle wheels in the place of the running wheels, and an
ordinary rudder in lieu of the steering wheel.

page_text: And in order to explain my said Invention as completely as possible
I will now proceed to describe the means by which it may be carried
into practical effect, reference being had to the illustrative Sheet of
Drawings accompanying these Presents, and to the numeral figures and
letters of reference marked thercon as follows:-.
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation of my improved velocipede adapted
for common roads; Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a trans-
verse and vertical section through the line A, B, at Fig. 2; Fig. 4, a
back elevation of the body of the carriage shewing the weight spring for
giving ease to the rider. At each of the above Figures the same letters
of reference are employed to denote corresponding parts.
A, A, mark the running wheels, and B the steering wheel supporting
the following parts:-C, a framing of wood, and D an iron fork fixed
thereto. The framing A supports the body E of the carriage; G is the
seat for the rider, and H a back board or rail for the person's back to
rest against. The piece D is connected by a fork-shaped piece I to the
steering wheel B, the axle whereof it embraces at each side of the said
wheel. The piece I is pivotted in D, and has a lever K fixed thereon,
to which the ends of the reins L are fixed for guiding the steering wheel
in the required direction. M, M, and N, N, are pulley wheels respec-
tively fixed on the axles O and P. The wheels A, A, are fixed on the
axle O and move therewith, and the axle P is supported by brackets a, a,
fixed to the body of the carriage. The axle P is also formed cranked
at b, b, to which parts the feet of the rider are to be applied for imparting
rotatory motion to the wheels A, A, through the medium of the endless
straps or bands Q, which are prevented from slipping by forming eyelet
holes in the said bands, which take over pins or studs fixed around the
wheels M, M, and N, N.
Having now fully described and set forth the nature and object of my
said Invention for improvements in velocipede carriages and vehicles,
together with the means by which it may be effected, I would remark in
conclusion that what I claim as my Invention is, imparting rotatory
motion to the running wheels of velocipede carriages by means of
endless bands passed over pullies fixed on axles near to the inner sides

page_text: of the framing of the carriage, or by toothed wheels similarly placed, the
foremost axle being cranked and worked by the feet of the rider.
I also claim guiding the steering wheel of a velocipede carriage by
means of reins, substantially as above described with reference to the
accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sidney Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.