Improvements in Bicycle Supports.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Feb., 1890-Accepted, 8th Mar., 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bicycle Supports.
I, GEORGE MORTSON, of 100 Cottage Street, Bridgeport, Fairfield County, Connecticut,
U.S.A., Machinist, 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:-
My invention has for its object to provide a support for bicycles which may be
readily attached to any machine and will retain it in an upright position when not in
use. It is of course well understood that in everything relating to bicycles there are
several essential requirements, the lack of any of which will prevent the machine or
attachment from going into general use. To begin with, strength, lightness, durability,
compactness, and ease of operation are absolutely essential. In the case of attachments,
those which remain upon the machine are required to be easy of attachment, to be
entirely out of the way, and concealed as much as possible when not in use. The one
important requirement at the present time to adapt the Safety bicyclo to general and
business uses, is an easily operated support which may be readily attached to any
machine to hold the machine upright when the rider leaves it temporarily, and which
may be retracted out of the way and preferably out of sight when tho machine is in
use, thereby avoiding all danger of marring the machine by leaning it against stone-
work, all danger of marring wood-work by leaning the machine against it, the breaking
of windows in stores and places of business by the handles, and all danger to the
machine by leaving it in the street with a pedal engaging the curbing.
With these requirements in view, and in order to produce a simple and inexpensive
bicycle support adapted to meet the general want, I have devised the novel construction
of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,
is a specification, numbers being used to denote the several parts.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a Safety bicycle, showing the application thereto of one
form of my novel support; said support being in the retracted position, the concealed
portion thereof being indicated by dotted lines;
Fig. 2, an elevation of a Safety bicycle, showing the manner in which my novel
device supports the machine when not in use;
Fig. 3, a section on an enlarged scale of the mud guard for the front wheel, my
novel support being in operative position;
Fig. 4, a view of the rest and operating rod detached;
Fig. 5, a view showing in plan and in elevation, a guide for the rest detached; and
Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 are views of a front wheel, fork, mud guard, etc.,
illustrating slight changes in the details of construction of my novel support.
As my novel device is equally adapted for use upon all classes of Safety bicycles, I
have deemed it wholly unnecessary to number and describe the parts of the machine
with the exception of the wheels and the mud guard of the front wheel to which my
novel support is attached. 1 denotes the front wheel; 1ª, the rear wheel; and 2,
the mud guard of the front wheel which is rigidly secured at the back of the wheel in
the usual or any preferred manner, and is curved hoth longitudinally and transversely
to correspond with the curvature of the wheel. My novel support consists essentially
of a rest 3, carried by the mud guard of the front wheel and adapted to swing out
backward therefrom in the operative position, the lower end of the rest engaging the
ground or floor and acting when the wheel is turned in either direction as indicated in
Fig. 2, and the bicycle inclined in the opposite direction to support and retain it in an
upright position. In Fig. 2, the front wheel is shown as turned towards the left,
that is, toward the point of view, the bicycle being at the same time, in practice

page_text: inclined toward the right, that is away from the point of view. The bicycle is thus
given three points of support, the rest, the front wheel, and the rear wheel forming a
tripod with two points of support in front, so that the bicycle is effectually held
against tilting in either direction, and also against forward or backward movement.
In the forms shown in Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive, and in Fig. 9, the rest is thrown from
the retracted to the operative position by an operating rod 4 which is connected to the
mud guard in such a manner as to slide freely, but without looseness or rattling. In
the preferred form, that is the one illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, 5 denotes a
guide at the lower end of the guard upon the inner side thereof, through which the
rest slides, the rest being hinged or pivoted to the lower end of the operating rod as
clearly shown in Fig. 4. 6 denotes a slot in the back of the guard through which the
operating rod passes. In practice the guide is preferably attached to a plate 7, which
in turn is firmly screwed to the guard. The position of the rest in the retracted
position is clearly shown in Fig. 1, and in the operative position in Figs. 2 and 3.
The operating rod is preferably made of heavy spring wire and, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4,
is curved more or less as may be required so as to throw the rest outward when the
rod is forced down. The pivotal point of the operating rod to the rest is near the
upper end of the latter as indicated at 8; the upper end of the rest being in this form
curved inward slightly as indicated in Fig. 3, so as to correspond with the curvature
of the tire of the wheel.
The operation of this form is as follows: Suppose the rest to be in the position
shown in Fig. 1, that is, the retracted position. Should it be required to leave the
wheel for a moment, the rider forces down the operating rod from the position shown
in Fig. 1 to that shown in Figs. 2 and 3. As the rod is forced downward, the
inward curvature of the rod acts to force the upper end of the rest inward against
the guide, consequently, as the operator forces the rod and rest downward, the lower
end of the rest must be thrown outward as shown in Fig. 3. The guide itself, and
the plate by which it is carried, act as stops to limit the movement of the rest in both
directions, the enlargement of the rest at the pivotal point preventing the upper end
from being forced through the guide. It follows therefore, that the rest will be
forced downward, and at the same time swung outward until the limit of move-
ment is reached, the downward movement being limited by the guide and the
outward movement by plate 7, or by the guard itself if no plate is used. As already
stated, the upper end of the rest is preferably curved inward so as to partially
embrace the rubber tire, although the bicycle might be supported without any
engagement of the rest with the tire as in Figs. 9 and 10. When the rider is ready
to mount again, he takes hold of the upper end of the operating rod and draws the
latter and the rest upward, the upward movement of the rest acting to swing the
upper end of the rest outward away from the wheel, and the lower end inward so that
the rest will be drawn upward to its normal position as shown in Fig. 1.
Slot 6 in
the back of the guard is made of just sufficient length to permit the operating rod
to pass freely but, at the same time, the curvature of the rod causes it to engage the
slot at top and bottom, thereby holding it in position and preventing rattling. When
the rest is drawn upward to its highest point, the lower end thereof, which is
preferably curved inward slightly as shown, is drawn up into contact with the guide
so that it is wholly out of sight within the mud guard, a large portion of the operating
rod lying outside of the mud guard as shown in Fig. 1, the curvature acting to hold
it closely in contact therewith." At the upper end of the operating rod, I preferably
place a ring for convenience in operation, and at a convenient place near the upper
end of the mud guard on the outer side thereof, 1 place a suitable catch 9 under
which the upper end of the operating rod is passed when in the retracted position
as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thereby holding all the parts snugly in position and
preventing any rattling.
In the form shown in Figs. 6 and 7, the construction is substantially the same as
in the preferred form, the only difference being that the rest is made straight instead

page_text: of being slightly curved as in the other form, and the guide 5 and plate 7, 'are
dispensed with, the rest in this form being passed outward through a slot. 10 in 'the
guard near the lower end thereof.
The
In the form shown in Fig. 8, the operating rod is wholly dispensed with.
rest in this form is pivoted to a lug 11 which is riveted or otherwise secured, to the
lower end of the mud guard upon one side thereof, the left side as shown in
the drawing. This lug is provided with a stop 12, to limit the backward movement
of the rest. 13 denotes a catch upon the side brace 14.
When the rest is not in
use, it is merely swung upward on the left side of the wheel and side brace and
engaged with catch 13 as is clearly shown in dotted lines in Fig. 8.
In the form shown in Fig. 9, both the operating rod and the rest in the retracted
position are wholly within the mud guard, the retracted position not being shown as
it is not deemed necessary. A guide is used at the bottom of the mud guard as in
In this
the first form, and also an eye, 15, through which the operating rod slides.
form the operating rod is curved outward either to the right or left, the left as shown
in the drawing, between the inud guard and the wheel, and the outer end thereof is
curved over the mud guard to form a hand-piece 16, for convenience in moving the
It will be observed
operating rod up and down in setting or retracting the rest.
that, in this form, the contact of the upper end of the rest with the rubber tire is
dispensed with, the entire strain of the rest in supporting the wheel being upon the
guide at the lower end of the mud guard.
In the form shown in Figs. 10 and 11, no operating rod is used and the rest is
pivoted between the opposite sides of the mud guard, at the lower end thereof, a
slot 17, being provided at the lower end of the mud guard, through which the rest
passes. 18 denotes a slide upon the outer side of the mud guard, the rivets 19, by
which it is held in place, passing through a slot 20, just above slot 17, and being
headed upon the inner side thereof so as to permit the slide to be moved up and down,
The lower
but at the same time to retain it in any position in which it is placed.
end of this slide is adapted to engage a notch 20 in the rest to lock the latter in
operative position. At the upper end of the slide is a catch 22, similar to catch 9
in the first form, with which the free end of the rest is engaged when in the retracted
position. The operation in this form is as follows: If the rider desires to leave the
machine, he disengages the rest from catch 22, allows it to swing down to the
operative position and locks it there by forcing the lower end of the slide into
engagement with notch 21. When he is ready to mount again, he raises the slide
out of engagement with the notch, and then swings the rest upward on the outside
of the mud guard and engages the free end thereof with catch 22.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The combination with the wheels of a Safety bicycle, and the mud guard for
the front wheel, of a pivoted rest carried by said mud guard and adapted to
swing backward therefrom when in operative position, so that when the wheel is
turned in either direction, and the bicycle inclined in the opposite direction, three
points of support are provided and the machine is retained in the upright
position.
2. The combination with the front wheels of a Safety bicycle, and the mud guard
therefor having a guide at the lower end, of a rest adapted to swing backward from
the mud guard when in operative position, and a curved operating rod pivoted to the
upper end of the rest and passing through a slot in the guard so that when the
operating rod is lifted, the rest is drawn upward within the guard, and when
the operating rod is forced down, the rest is forced below the guard and the lower
end swung outward, as and for the purpose set forth.
3. The combination with the front wheel of a Safety bicycle, and the mud guard
therefor having a guide at its lower end, of a rest adapted to slide in said guard,

page_text: the upper end of which is inwardly curved to engage the tire of the wheel, and which
is pivoted near its upper end to a curved operating rod which passes outward through
the guard, as and for the purpose set forth.
HERBERT G. ALLISON,
Agent for the Applicant.