Improvements in the Driving Gear of Cycles.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 6th Jan., 1892-Accepted, 20th Feb., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION,
Improvements in the Driving Gear of Cycles.
I, RUDOLPH MALDIFASSI, of No. 101, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Purveyor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in the driving gear of cycles and is
applicable to gear of the Facile type, that is to say, to all gears in which the
treadle makes a reciprocating motion through an arc as distinguished from moving
through a circle.
In carrying it into effect, the treadle lever or crank arm has a rack formed upon
it. A suitable frame or device adapted. to be moved by the rider's foot, to slide
along this lever and to automatically engage with any one of the teeth or in any
one of the depressions or notches in the said rack at the end of its travel, is
provided. A suitable projection is fixed to the said frame by means of which the
power of the rider's foot may be the more effectively brought to bear upon the
frame for the purpose of adjusting its position upon the lever. The object of this
adjustability is to place it in the rider's power to concentrate his driving power for
climbing or vice versa. Suitable springs are provided for the purpose of returning
the levers.
There is, if desired, a device by which the pulling power of the rider's hand can
be brought to bear usefully upon the crank arm. I do not confine myself in this
respect to any specific mechanisin, but one which is adapted to serve the purpose of
my invention is a pull-rod arranged or geared in such a way that the full energy of
the rider's hands and arms can be brought to bear upon the said crank arm in the
direction of pulling it up.
Each treadle is geared by a chain to a chain pulley loose on a special axis which
is, for the purpose of my invention, the equivalent of the ordinary first motion
axis. In a rear driving cycle this axis is conveniently journalled in front of the.
seat and between it and the treadles. Each of the said two chain wheels is placed
in gear with their common axis by a respective pawl and ratchet gear of the usual
or any convenient type. The depression of a treadle will therefore rotate the
axis, and its motion is transferred by a chain wheel and chain to the chain wheel
on the driving axle. Suitable returning springs are provided for winding up the
treadle chains.
There is also provided a spring-controlled releasing device which, when actuated
by hand or foot, will disconnect the chain wheel on the special axis from its
ratchet gear, for the purpose of allowing the cycle to be run backwards without
revolving the ratchet gears and their chain wheels.
Any suitable device may be, and preferably is, adopted to lock the special axis
to some fixed part of the cycle, e.g., a pin adapted to engage in a hole in the chain
wheel which is fast upon the said axis.
The foregoing is a specification of my invention as applied to a rear driving
crcle but I wish it to be distinctly understood that it is applicable to either front
or rear driving cycles of two three or more wheels, the relative positions of the
respective members of the mechanism being adjusted accordingly.
Dated this 23rd day of November 1891.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Driving Gear of Cycles.
1, RUDOLPH MALDIFASSI, of No. 101, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, in the
County of Middlesex, Purveyor, 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 relates to improvements in the driving gear of cycles, and is
applicable to gear of the Facile type that is to say, to any gear in which the treadle
is worked with a reciprocating motion through an arc, as distinguished from a
continuous circular one about the axis of the crank.
The objects of my invention are as follows:-
(a). To provide for the crank being shortened or lengthened by the rider
without his being obliged to dismount or even to stop.
(6). To allow of the rider treadling either alternately (ie. with one foot going
down as the other comes up), or with both feet moving in either direction together.
In order that my invention, and the means by which it is to be carried into
practical effect, may be thoroughly understood, I will now describe them in detail,
referring in so doing to the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as
part of this Specification and read therewith.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation illustrating the application of my invention to a rear
driving safety bicycle.
Fig. 2 is a plan on an enlarged scale of the improved cranks.
Fig. 3 is a detail side elevation of the same crank and the improved driving
gear.
Fig. 4 is a section of the improved driving gear taken on the line Y-Z of
Fig. 3.
Fig. 5 is a plan, partly in section, of the same gear and its unlocking device.
Fig. 6 is a section taken on the line W-X of Fig. 5.
The drawings illustrate the application of my invention to a rear driving
bicycle, but it must be distinctly understood that it is equally applicable to either
front or rear driving cycles of two or more wheels. The relative positions of the
respective members of the mechanism will be adjusted according to the special
requirements of any particular case.
a, a are the treadle levers or crank arms. They have their fulcra in 6 which
are provided by any suitable extension or extensions of the frame of the machine.
c, c are the treadles. As each treadle lever with its addenda is a duplicate of its
fellow, the specification of one is to be read as the specification of both.
A rack is formed upon one face of each lever. is a sliding carriage made of a
proper shape for the rider's foot to easily engage. therewith or therein. m is a
loop or other equivalent attachment of or to the said carriage by means of which
it is caused to grip the rack on the lever under the action of the returning spring,
as soon as the pressure of the rider's foot is taken off the carriage.
d is a driving chain. The lower end of it is fixed more or less directly to the
lever a.
If the first object of my invention is to be attained, the said end is to be
fixed to the sliding carriage.
f is a transverse shaft. It has its bearings upon, or in, the backboue of the
machine. e e are two chain wheels to which the driving chains d, d are,
respectively made fast, as shewn in Fig. 2.
is a ratchet wheel made fast to, or in one piece with, the chain wheel e, and
h¹ is a disc made fast to, or in one piece with, the chain wheel el. Both wheels e, e
are, with their respective ratchet wheel and disc, loose on the shaft is a
Second ratchet wheel corresponding in size and function, with the wheel h. It is,
however and necessarily, fast upon the shaft. is the ordinary driving chain
wheel. It is also fast upon the shaft. g, g, g', g' are pawls carried by the driving

page_text: wheel and the disc ', respectively. It is through them and their engagement
with their respective ratchet wheels that the power from the levers a is com-
municated to the shaft f
This
It will be noticed that the two ratchets are set in opposite directions.
is necessary, for, if they were not so set, the return motion of either pawl over
its ratchet wheel would be impracticable.
Further, it will be noticed that the two treadle levers can be worked either
alternately or together. If they are worked together, it will be possible for the
rider to bring his whole weight to bear upon the treadles. For he would then only
have to raise himself from the saddle, at the moment, for his full weight and force
to be brought to bear upon either or both treadles.
Each depression of a lever imparts motion to the machine through the
mechanism above described. A spring device is provided for the purpose of
returning the lever to the top of its stroke.
Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, the unlocking device therein illustrated is provided
for the purpose of freeing the chain wheel i from the shaft whenever it is desired
to back the machine. It consists of a lever-and-pin-device in combination with a
disc fast upon the said shaft through which disc the pin-device engages the driving
chain wheel i.
1
The application of this device to the driving gear specified above involves some
modification with respect to the said chain wheels. o is the lever of the lever-and-
pin-device above mentioned. It has its fulcrum in an axis supported by a
bifurcated bracket pupon the face of the disc. is the thumb piece by which the
pins hereafter mentioned are withdrawn from the wheel i. The lever is bifurcated
for two reasons, (a) because of the presence of the boss of the wheel e and
(b) to effect a duplicate engagement between disc and wheel. But my invention
does not confine me in respect of the shape of the lever. 7, 9, are a pair of levers
pivotted, like the lever o, in brackets upon the face of the disc. Each bifur-
cation is engaged with the respective lever 1. Each lever carries a pins which
works in a hole in the disc. is a ring fast on or to the wheel i, having holes
it at equal distances, any opposite two of which can be aligned with the holes in the
disc. The wheel is loose upon the boss of the disc. is a collar fast upon the boss
and is provided to keep the wheel in its plane. When the pins are engaged in
the wheel the latter is locked to the shaft, but if the thumb piece is pressed to
the disc, the pins are withdrawn from the wheel, whereupon the latter will be
unlocked, i.e., loose upon the wheel.
21
in
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 of treadle lever, chain, ratchet gear, and special axis, as set
forth.
2. The combination of treadle lever, chain, special axis and any self engaging
mechanism by which the downward motion of the said lever can be imparted to the
said axis, as set forth.
3. The combination of treadle lever and carriage adapted to be engaged by the
rider's foot and to be adjusted in respect of its position upon the said lever, as and
for the purpose set forth.
4. The combination of treadle lever, chain, ratchet gear, special axis, disc, chain
driving wheel, and unlocking device, as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 1st day of January 1805
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.