Year: 1897

page_text: I, PHILIP LOUIS RENOUF, of 19 and 20, Holborn Viaduct, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
My improvements relate principally to parts of the forks of velocipedes and
parts directly connected with such forks. The front forks are usually connected
by a pair of bridges or crowns; these are built up of independent plates of the
same or of about the same size one being above the other; where these plates are
provided with sockets which meet the joint is almost always visible when plated.
I therefore form my top bridge or crown out of a stamping or casting which covers
the top and part of the outer sides of the forks whereas the lower bridge is made
to fit the inside of the forks in such a way that together with the other bridge it
forms a pair of troughs ready to receive the forks. The joint between these parts
being on the inside is not visible and a neater whilst very strong construction is
obtained.
The fork can be locked at any angle to the main frame by means of a friction
device acting on the steering tube and attached inside one of the socket lugs; one
of the latter is provided with a nut or tapped hole which forms the seating of the
operating screw or cam; this by impinging against a reed formed out of the socket
tube or a separate reed laid inside the socket joint provides the requisite locking
friction.
The brake shoe is preferably formed out of a piece of tubing or sheet metal the
D or double trough section lying at a right angle across the wheel; the lower
and central part of this D or trough section holder is cut away so as to expose
a detachable filling of rubber.
When detachable stays are locked with the ends of the fork by clips traversed
by the axle end I have found that these clips either close too readily or else do
not afford a true surface for the nuts: I therefore do not let the edges of these
clips close completely and countersink or cup their outer faces so as to receive a
round faced nut. By this means all tendency to bend the axle is avoided, the
usual loose washer need be dispensed with and therefore all axles of one pattern
whether provided with mud guard stays or not can be made to one length. On
ladies machines these mud guards stay clips on the rear forks are made in the
same way but preferably provided with one or more holes to receive the dress
guard attachment, one piece thereby replacing three separate ones.
101
£ Nozombar 1897

page_text: Improvements in and connected with Velocipedes.
I, PHILIP LOUIS RENOUF, of 19 and 20, Holborn Viaduct, in the City of London,
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:.
My improvements relate principally to parts on the forks of velocipedes and
parts directly connected with such forks. The front forks are usually connected
by a pair of bridges or crowns; these are built up of independent plates of the
same or of about the same size, one being above the other: where these plates
are provided with sockets which meet the machining is very difficult and expen-
sive whilst the joints are almost always visible when plated. In my improved
crown this trouble is avoided as will be seen in Figs. 1, 3 and 4
of the drawings. The top of fork A is closed and partly covered
by B the top plate of the crown only, while C, the lower plate acts as a distance
piece only between the two fork sides. The lower part of Fig. 3 shows a rear
elevation of the crown plates, while Fig. 4 represents a section of this steering
tube, of the upper crown plate 3 and the lower crown plate C before they are
pressed into position; E is a tube of smaller diameter in the centre, but fitting
and brazed to D at one end and to D, or to c, a part of plate C at the other
end, thus forming a hollow inner girder or strengthening piece.
It will be seen that B is preferably provided with the usual collet b about which
the ball-bearing disc is to be seated, and has two semicircular wings b1, b2 which
are to cover the outer faces of the forks. Plate C has two perpendicular wings c¹,
c² so that when C is laid within B, e¹ and c² are overlapped by the edges of b1, b2
and a pair of complete troughs formed to receive the tops of the forks. By this
construction the plates can be accurately machined without difficulty and the
brazing of the joint, being inside the parts 61 and 6 is not exposed to view. The
design actually shewn in these drawings is that suitable for a D section fork, but
of course the construction is equally applicable to forks of oval or other sections.
In order to lock the forks at any desirable angle, I use a friction lock operated
by the thumbscrew L, Fig. 1 screwed through a small lug k on the lower frame
joint K; Fig. 3 shews the rear portion of this joint K broken away so as to
display more of the socket tube J to which K is brazed: before this tube J is
fitted and brazed it is sawn or slotted as shewn so as to be provided with the reed
or tongue care being taken not to braze up this reed, the latter will act as a
friction block on the steering tube when pressed by the screw L.
The brake shoe is preferably formed out of a piece of tubing or sheet
metal of D section lying at a right angle across the wheel; this is shewn
in side elevation in Fig. 1 and in front elevation in Fig. 2, G being the brake
plunger guided by the pierced lug F and riveted and brazed to the D section
shoe H, the centre of which is filed, presed or milled out on its lower
face; when I a brake block of D section of wood, indiarubber or leather is pressed
through the sides of the shoe H it will be free in the centre, to act on the wheel;
a block of this description is readily fitted when new and is easily replaced when
worn by a rider without his having necessarily to procure a specially manufactured
or expensive article. The lower ends of the forks are frequently connected with
the mudguard stays by small metal clips which encompass the stay rods and are
pierced by the wheel axle; the axle nuts close the ends of these clips and lock
the axle simultaneously; the stay rods are supposed to be thereby gripped and
held in position. Frequently however these clips are completely closed before
they grip the stay rods which are consequently loose; but if they are not closed,

page_text: they will afford oblique faces for the lock nuts which will have a tendency to
bend the axle ends.
To avoid these defects these clips are sometimes soldered to the stay rods, being
thereby rendered unadjustable and non-detachable, so that when the mudguards
are removed, the axles will project unless loose washers are used. I therefore
construct my clips as shewn in section Fig. 5; the lower end of Fig. 1 shews the
same parts in side elevation on a reduced scale, but the device is there
undistinguishable from the ordinary shape: the axle M passes through the ends
of clip N and through nut O, stay rod P being passed through the loop of clip N.
I form this clip N out of metal of sufficient thickness to be countersunk on it's
outer face to receive the conical or circular face of nut O as shewn; by this
construction plenty of margin is afforded to grip the stay rods, whilst when the
faces of the grip are out of parallelism, the nut still retains a true scating without
forcing the axle M out of truth.
The same device is applicable for holding the mudguard stays on the rear axles
of velocipedes, and on ladies machines the usual separate loop for holding the
dress guard lacing may be dispensed with, by providing a clip as shewn at N¹
Fig. 6 which has loops for holding the laces and for clipping the stay rod, P¹
simultaneously.
By the universal adoption of these clips instead of the usual loose washers a
manufacturer can finish all his hub axles to one standard size and plate the
ends, whereas hitherto the axles have been sawn to size by the fitters, or else two
sizes used for front hubs, and three for rear-hubs.
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) A fork crown for velocipedes consisting of two forged or cast bridges B
and C, Figs. 1, 3 and 4 being of unequal width, and so machined that the wider
one will cover the ends of the forks or stays, whilst the inner one will form an
inner distance piece in the manner and for the purpose described.
(2) On steering heads of velocipedes, cutting a reed j in a socket tube J, Figs. 1
and 3 and providing an impinging screw L or equivalent for the purpose of
forming a steering lock.
(3) The combination of an adjustable fingerpiece L passing through an angular
joint piece K with a reed j in or on the steering socket for the purpose of forming
a steering lock substantially as described.
(4) The combination of a D trough-sectioned brake shoe H with a detachable
brake-block I of corresponding shape for the purpose described.
(5) A countersunk rod clip N Fig. 5 to be used with a coned or rounded nut
or pressure plate in the manner and for the purpose described.
(6) A clip N¹ Fig. 6 forming a dressguard loop and stayrod holder simul-
taneously, as described.
(7) A combined rod clip and dressguard loop N¹ Fig. 6 countersunk in the
manner and for the purpose described.
Dated this 10th day of August 1898.
PHILIP LOUIS RENOUF.