A Folding Stowaway Luggage Bracket for Cycles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 2nd Apr., 1898- Accepted, 28th May, 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Folding Stowaway Luggage Bracket for Cycles.
WYNDHAM WILLIAM LEWIS, of Wood End Road, Erdington, Birmingham,
Mechanical Engineer, and THOMAS HENRY LEWIS, of 149, Oxford Street,
London, W., Cycle Agents Manager, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows: :-
The main feature of this invention consists in the construction of a cycle bracket
capable of being adjusted so as to carry & grip any ordinary parcel & which
bracket when not required for use may be folded & slid into the two tubes which
form the front fork in a cycle of ordinary construction: the said tubes forming a
sheath for a luggage bracket.
Generally the method we propose is as follows:-
may
we attach
To a short socket piece of similar section to the fork tubing we hinge an arm
which may be moved in line with the socket piece or may be dropped until at right
angles to the socket piece. On this main arm and near the socket piece we pivot
another arm which is capable of being folded over or alongside the main arm
To the main arm
or may be raised until at right angles to it.
another moveable arm, that is an arm which when at right angles
main
be slid along the
arm; this moveable
arm being also
arm
or alongside the main
capable of being folded over
& the other
arm; the arms thus pivoted and attached being capable of being folded compactly
so that when folded their cross section in any part is less than the diameter of the
fork tubing. We propose giving a toothed edge to the inner side of the respective
arms and also to provide on the moveable arm a means so that when this arm is
pushed forward on the main arm to grip the parcel it will be prevented from
slipping back until desired. Such an arrangement as this we slip into each of the
fork tubes having first provided & inserted a suitable bush in each tube top so that
when the bracket is drawn out the socket piece is prevented from rising clear of
the tube; the said socket piece taking a firm seating in the bushed top of tube when
the main arm is pulled down at right angles to it.
Dated this 17th day of August One thousand eight hundred and ninety-seven.
We, WYNDHAM WILLIAM LEWIS, of Woodend Road, Erdington, in the County
of Warwick, Mechanical Engineer, and THOMAS HENRY LEWIS, of 149, Oxford
Street, London, Manager Cycle Depot, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
Generally described this invention consists of a pair of arms pivotted to a socket

page_text: set in the crown of the front fork of a bicycle; each of the said arms being provided
with two uprights which are adapted to fold compactly alongside, underneath, or
over each other and their respective arms. When open the two arms lie in front
of the machine at right angles to the pillar and afford a support for luggage: when
the uprights are folded into or alongside the arms the whole may be slid into the
fork, thus providing a bundle or parcel carrier which when not required is entirely
out of the way and not even in sight.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1. Shows the front fork of a bicycle fitted with a bracket, shown open.
Figure 2.. Shows the bracket folded and passed through the special crown plate
with fork removed.
The arm a is formed of a suitable strip of sheet steel, bent double, and has a
slot 6 and a crosspiece c fixed to the end.
The blade d is a strip of metal doubled similar to the arm a but provided with
teeth; it is pivoted within the arm a, and is adapted to fold forward into the
arm a.
The blade e, also provided with teeth is set within the arm a, but is pivoted
through the slot 6 to the loop n, and adapted to be slid towards or away from the
blade d, and is also adapted to fold into the arm a, being of such thickness as to
allow of the blade d being folded over it.
The plate g is adapted for setting on top of the usual crown plate, the sockets
forming bushes in the tops of the fork blades.
The socket piece p is made to fit snugly into the tubular sockets of plate g; the
flange o being made too large to pass through the sockets of plate g.
The socket piece p being put into plate g the arm a is pivotted thereto.
9
The plate having the pair of arms attached in the manner indicated is passed
over the stem q, the tubular sockets are set into the tops of the fork blades: the
plate g with the tubular sockets containing socket pieces p, to which are pivotted
the arms a containing blades d d and e e, is bound and held against crown of fork
by the usual ball-head.
It is assumed that the bundle or parcel carried is bound with string or cord in
the usual manner.
The bundle or parcel being laid across the arms a, a, between the blades, the
outer blades e, e, are slid against the parcel and the horizontal cord which binds
the parcel is drawn down into the lowest tooth in the blades that may be reached,
when it will be found that the parcel or bundle will be held sufficiently secure to
prevent the vibration or swing of the wheel dislodging it.
To prevent rattle when the bracket is folded and sheathed in the fork, a round
rubber ring is sprung into the groove in each of the socket pieces p.
We do not confine ourselves to the exact details of folding here shown and we
may omit one or both pair of upright blades d and e without departing from the
nature of our invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is:
-
1. A bracket or carrier which when not required for use may be folded and
sheathed in the front fork of a bicycle.
2. The luggage bracket or carrier substantially as shown and described.
Dated the 28th day of March 1900
4
WYNDHAM WILLIAM LEWIS.
THOMAS HENRY LEWIS.