IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES."
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Woolley, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Saddler, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES AND
OTHER VELOCIPEDES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Woolley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th January 1881.
WILLIAM WOOLLEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Saddler.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES."
My Invention has reference principally to bicycles, but is also applicable wholly
or in part to other velocipedes.
I will describe my Invention in connection with a bicycle.
My improvements consist, first, in the following methods of connecting the
saddle or seat of the bicycle with the body or back bone of the bicycle.
I affix to the back-bone of the bicycle, by screws or otherwise, an undercut or
dovetail seat at the part where the saddle is to be fixed, and to the underside of
the saddle I affix a dovetail bar of a size and shape suitable for sliding in the
dovetail seat described. The said dovetail bar is inserted or engaged in the said
dovetail seat. In one or both sides of the undercut seat I introduce screws, which
when driven home bear upon the edges of the dovetail bar and fix its position in
the said seat. By this arrangement the position of the saddle on the backbone can
be changed at pleasure. In order to change the position of the saddle on the
backbone, the fixing screws in the dovetail seat are relaxed, when by a sliding
motion the saddle can be moved backward or forward into the required position,
and fixed by driving home or tightening the fixing screws.
Or instead of affixing the dovetail seat rigidly to the backbone, the said dove-
tail seat may be hinged at its fore end to the back bone, its rear end having a
prolongation which has in cross section the figure of an inverted trough. Between
the said inverted trough and the part of the backbone on which it is situated a
strong india rubber or other spring is placed. The range of motion of the hinged
part described is limited by pins on the backbone taking into slots in the inverted
trough. The position of the sliding bar or plate carrying the saddle may be fixed
by screws, as before described with respect to the first described method of con-
necting the saddle to the backbone. Or in both methods of attachment the position

page_text: of the saddle may be fixed without screws, a set of teeth being made on one or
both edges of the dovetail bar, and a spring tooth or teeth on the backbone or
trough shape prolongation of the dovetail seat. By disengaging the spring tooth
or teeth from the set or sets of teeth on the edge or edges of the bar, the position
of the bar may be changed. By then allowing the spring tooth or teeth to engage
with the set or sets of teeth on the dovetail bar the position of the saddle is
fixed.
My improvements consist, secondly, in constructing the saddle or seat in the
following manner :-I form the foundation or base of the saddle or seat of a steel
or other elastic plate. The said plate has a middle bar by which the saddle is
fixed to the bicycle. The rear end of this bar carries a curved plate, having the
figure of the rear of the saddle. From this curved plate arms or branches extend
towards the fore part of the saddle. The foundation of the saddle thus consists of
a series of semi-detached elastic arms, which give to the finished saddle great
elasticity, especially at those parts where the thighs of the rider bear.
My improvements are applicable to all kinds of velocipedes having saddles
similar to the saddles of bicycles.
My improvements in the adjusting and fixing of the saddle and my method of
constructing the saddle may either be used separately or conjointly.

page_text: "
by the said William Woolley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 24th
June 1881.
WILLIAM WOOLLEY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Saddler.
IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES AND OTHER VELOCIPEDES."
I
;
My Invention has reference principally to bicycles, but is also applicable wholly
or in part to other velocipedes.
1
I will describe my Invention in connection with a bicycle.
My improvements consist, first, in the following methods of connecting the saddle
or seat of the bicycle with the body or back-bone of the bicycle.
I affix to the back-bone of the bicycle by screws or otherwise an undercut or
dovetail seat at the part where the saddle is to be fixed, and to the underside of the
saddle I affix a bar of a size and shape suitable for sliding in the undercut or
dovetail seat described.
The said bar is inserted or engaged in the said seat. In one or both sides of the
undercut seat I introduce screws, which when driven home bear upon the edges of
the bar and fix its position in the said seat. By this arrangement the position of
the saddle on the back-bone can be changed at pleasure. In order to change the
position of the saddle on the back-bone the fixing screws in the undercut or dove-
tail seat are relaxed, when, by a sliding motion, the saddle can be moved backward
or forward into the required position, and fixed by driving home or tightening the
fixing screwe.
Or instead of affixing the seat rigidly to the back-bone the said seat may be
hinged at its fore end to the back-bone, its rear end having a prolongation which
has in cross section the figure of an inverted trough.
1
Between the said inverted trough and the part of the back bone on which it is
situated a strong india rubber or other spring is placed. The range of motion of
the hinged part described is limited by pins on the back bone taking into slots in
the inverted trough.
The position of the sliding bar or plate carrying the saddle may be fixed by
screws as before described with respect to the first described method of connecting
the saddle to the back bone. Or in both methods. of attachment the position of the
saddle may be fixed without screws, a set of teeth being made on one or both edges
of the sliding bar and a spring tooth or teeth on the back bone or trough shaped
prolongation of the seat.
By disengaging the spring tooth or teeth from the set or sets of teeth on the edge
or edges of the bar, the position of the bar may be changed. By then allowing the
spring tooth or teeth to engage with the set or sets of teeth on the bar the position
of the saddle is fixed.
My improvements_consist, secondly, in constructing the saddle or seat in the
following manner :-I form the foundation or base of the saddle or seat of a steel or
other elastic plate. The said plate has a middle bar by which the saddle is fixed to
the bicycle.
The rear end of this bar carries a curved plate having the figure of the rear of the
saddle. From this curved plate arms or branches extend towards the fore part of
the saddle. The foundation of the saddle thus consists of a series of semi-detached
elastic arms, which give to the finished saddle great elasticity, especially at those
parts where the thighs of the rider bear.
My improvements are applicable to all kinds of velocipedes having saddles similar
to the saddles of bicyles.
My improvements in the adjusting and fixing of the saddle, and my method of
constructing the saddle may either be used canarately or coniointly

page_text: I will now proceed to describe, with reference to the accompanying Drawings, the
manner in which my Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation and Figure 2 in plan my improvements in
connecting the saddle or seat with the backbone or body of the bicycle; Figure 3 is
a cross section taken on the line a, b, Figure 1. The said Figures 1 and 2 also
exhibit my improvements in constructing the foundation or seat of the saddle, the
leather covering of the saddle being omitted. The same letters of reference indicate
the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawings.
c is a portion of the backbone of the bicycle to which an undercut or dovetail
seat d is connected. The shape of the said seat d is best seen in the cross section,
Figure 3. The front end of the seat d is jointed at d² to the back bone c by the
curved strap e secured by the screws f. f. The rear end of the seat d is prolonged,
and has an inverted trough form marked d³. I prefer to make the seat part d, d², ds,
from one piece of sheet iron. The trough shaped rear end d³ of the seat d is con-
nected to the back bone c by the cross pin g working in the slots h, the said slots
permitting of a limited rising and falling motion of the trough and seat. The
pin g passes through the ends of the curved strap i bent around the back bone c.
Between the inverted trough d³ and the back bone c is a strong coiled spring kc,
which tends by its elasticity to raise the trough and parts connected with it into
the position represented in Figure 1.
By jointing one end of the seat d to which the saddle is to be affixed to the
backbone, and supporting the other and rear end by a spring, as described and
illustrated, the support carrying the saddle is capable of yielding more or less
according to the weight of the rider, and great comfort to the rider results.
Z is a bar to which the saddle is affixed. The bar is of a size and shape proper
for sliding in the undercut or dovetail seat d, d, connected with the backbone c of
the bicycle.
By sliding the bar 7 more or less into the seat & the position of the saddle may
be adjusted.
The position of the adjusted saddle may be fixed in either of the following
ways-One arrangement is represented in Figures 1 and 2. In this arrangement
a series of holes m is made in the side or edge of the sliding bar 1, and at one side
of the undercut or dovetail seat d is a screw n working through the seat d, and
capable of taking into one of the holes m in the bar l. By driving the screw n
into one of the holes m, the position of the saddle on the yielding support of the
back bone may be fixed as represented in the Drawing, and by withdrawing the
end of the screw n from the hole m in the bar 7, the saddle can be moved backward
or forward into the required position, and be again fixed by driving home the
screw n.
Instead of fixing the position of the bar 7 by a screw and holes, as last described,
the arrangement represented in side elevation in Figure 4, plan in Figure 5, and
cross section in Figure 6, taken on the line y, y, Figure 4, may be used. In this
arrangement I fix a spring arm p carrying a tooth q on the side of the inverted
trough d³ of the saddle support, and I make a series of notches or teeth r in the edge
of the bar l. The spring tooth q is V shaped, and the notches or teeth r in the bar
have a corresponding shape. By pressing outwards the spring arm p by its head,
the tooth q may be disengaged from the teeth on the bar l, and the position of the
bar may be changed by sliding it backward or forward in the seat d. By then
loosing the spring arm p, its tooth q engages with the teeth ŕ in the bar l, and the
position of the saddle is fixed.
The arrangements described and illustrated for connecting the saddle with the
back-bone of the bicycle, and for fixing the position of the saddle, may be applied
to a rigid seat or support, instead of one capable of yielding, as before described and
illustrated.
The mechanism for fixing the position of the saddle may be applied to both sides 5
of the sliding bar 7 and undercut or dovetail seat d.
I will now describe my improvements in constructing the saddle. The said

page_text: saddle is represented in side elevation in Figure 1, side elevation, partly in section,
in Figure 4, and plan in Figures 2 and 5. The foundation or base of the saddle
consists of a curved steel or other elastic plate a connected at its ends to the sliding
bar 7 of the saddle. The front end of the said plate s is rivetted to the raised
part 12 or to a cranked part of the saddle bar l, and the other end is hooked or bent
inwards at 82, and is made to engage with a slot t in the inclined end of the
sliding bar (see Figure 4). The said plate s carries a curved plate of steel
marked u, u, u², the rear part u of the said plate being rivetted at u³ to the
supporting plate 8. The rear part u of the said steel plate is curved to the figure
of the rear of the saddle, and from the curved rear part u curved arms ог
branches u, u², extend towards the fore end of the saddle and meet over the fore
end of the supporting plate 8. The curved plate u, u², has a slightly arched or
bow figure in cross section, as seen in the side elevations.
When pressure is put upon the saddle by the rider the free ends of the elastic
arms or branches u², u², separate, and the parts u, u, where the thighs of the rider
bear, yield downwards and inwards. Besides the power of yielding at the thigh
parts, the construction described gives great elasticity to the saddle. The
foundation described and illustrated is finished by being covered with a leather
covering stuffed or padded as usual.
Figure 7 represents in side elevation the foundation or base of a saddle
constructed according to my Invention, applied to the ordinary connecting bar w
fixed to the backbone by the screw x.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention
of "Improvements in Bicycles and other Velocipedes,"-
First. The construction and combination of parts, herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, for connecting the saddles to and
adjusting its position on the back bone or body of the bicycle or velocipede, that is
to say, supporting on a rigid or elastic support, an undercut or dovetail seat in
which a bar carrying the saddle slides; also the arrangements described and
illustrated for fixing the position of the sliding bar of the saddle in the seat on the
back bone or body.
Secondly. The construction of the jointed and yielding support for carrying the
under cut or dovetail seat in which the bar of the saddle slides, herein before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Thirdly. The improvements in the construction of the foundation or base of the
saddle, hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say, making the foundation of an under plate of steel or other elastic metal, on
which a nearly elliptical plate of steel or other elastic metal of the kind described
is supported and connected at its rear end, whereby great elasticity is given to the
saddle, especially at those parts where the thighs of the rider bear, as described and
illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Woolley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sicht" one
Witness,
RICHARD SKERRETT,
37, Temple Street,
Birmingham.
WILLIAM WOOLLEY. (L.S.)