New or Improved Driving Gear for Cycles and other Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 26th June, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Driving Gear for Cycles and other Vehicles.
I, CARL THEODOR GOTTLIEB SCHNEIDEWIND, of 81 Ankelmanstrasse,
Hamburg, in the Empire of Germany, 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:―
This invention relates to a driving apparatus for cycles and other vehicles of all
kinds which can be so arranged that it may be operated either by hand or by
foot, this object being materially facilitated by the fact that the apparatus is
set in motion by the mere up and down or to and fro movement of one or more
levers.
In the accompanying sheet of drawings,
Figure 1 is a front view of a driving apparatus constructed in accordance with
my invention. Figure 2 is a side view of same, and
Figures 3 to 8 detail views of various parts.
On the driving axle a is mounted a toothed wheel b, see Figures 3 and 4, which
are respectively a side view and a sectional elevation.
This wheel b turns loosely on the said axle and is furnished with a flange c the
internal periphery of which is bored out or turned concentric with the axle a. The
boss d of the wheel 6 is also smoothly turned. On this boss d is placed, so as to be
free to oscillate thereon, a cross-piece e, seen in elevation in Figure 5. This cross-
piece carries the pins fand 11, standing at right angles thereto. On these pins are
mounted gripping pieces g g', see Figures 2, 3 and 6, which are rounded at their
upper and lower ends, and are a little longer than the distance between the boss d
and the inside surface of the flange c.
A lever is likewise mounted on the boss d of the wheel b so as to be free to
oscillate thereon, and is furnished with two pins i and standing at right angles
thereto, over which is placed a disc k through which the said pins pass and
project beyond the outer surface thereof. These pins i and take into corre-
sponding holes and in the gripping pieces g and g', so that as the lever h is moved
up or down, or to and fro, the said gripping pieces are caused to oscillate on their
pins fand f¹.
g
As already explained the gripping pieces 9 9¹ are somewhat longer than the
distance between the outer periphery of the boss d and the inner periphery of the
flange c, and the said gripping pieces are so hung on their pins and f¹ that they
become clamped or jammed between the boss d and the flange c when the
lever is moved in one direction, downwards, for example, whereby the toothed
wheel b is forced to rotate in the same direction.
On moving the lever in the opposite direction, upwards for example, the
gripping pieces 9 9' are freed from their clamped or jammed position, and slip
freely backwards on the inner periphery of the flange and the outer periphery of
the boss ready to become clamped or jammed again at the next movement of the
lever in the reverse or downward direction.
Instead of forming the flange c on the wheel b it may be formed on an
independent disc / shown in Figure 1, the said disc being rigidly connected to
the toothed wheel 6 by means of the long boss . Or the flange c may be applied
to both the wheel 6 and the disc 1, gripping pieces g gl and discs k being in
that case employed in connection with both flanges c so that both the levers h and h¹
will be effective in producing rotation of the shaft a.

page_text: It is obvious that in this arrangement the alternate downward movements of the
levers produce continuous rotation of the toothed wheel b.
To enable the movement of one lever in one direction to cause the movement
of the other in the opposite direction, each lever is provided with a slot m through
which is passed one end of a bar n mounted by means of a boss o on a shaft p so as
to be free to oscillate thereon. It will be understood that as one end of the bar n
is pressed downwards for example by one lever, its other end is raised and with it
the other lever ready for the next downward stroke.
•
The rotation of the toothed wheel b is transmitted to the road wheel of a cycle or
other vehicle by any suitable means as, for example, by means of another toothed
wheels, Figures 1 and 2, which gears with the toothed wheel 6 and is connected
with a chain wheel t from which motion is transmitted to the road wheel of the
cycle or other vehicle by means of a chain u.
The above described arrangement enables the speed to be arranged as may
be required by properly proportioning the sizes of the wheel 6 and s to each
other.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is --
First. Driving gear for cycles and other vehicles which consists of a gripping
apparatus operated by a lever or levers in such manner as to cause the rotation of
a friction disc and of a wheel connected therewith, from which wheel rotatory motion
can be transmitted to the road wheel of the cycle or other vehicle by means of
toothed gearing or otherwise, substantially as described.
Second. In driving gear of the kind forming the subject matter of the first-
claiming clause hereof the arrangement which consists of the gripping pieces g
and g mounted on the pins fand f¹ of a crosspiece e mounted on the boss d of a
wheel 6 or dise provided with a friction surface c, of a lever provided with pins i
and which take into corresponding holes and of the said gripping pieces, and
of gearing b, s,
or other suitable mechanism for transmitting motion from the
driving gear to the road wheel of the cycle or other vehicle, combined and operating
substantially as described.
Dated this 27th day of April 1807