IMPROVEMENTS My
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Patrick Adie at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th November 1883,
PATRICK ADIE of 15 Pall Mall in the County of Middlesex
IN VELOCIPEDES
»
"IMPROVEMENTS
My Improvements relate to the construction of Bicycles and Tricycles to make
that which generally comes under the latter name, safer, faster, and more simple
The most important improvement in my invention is the lowering of the centre
of gravity of the rider so that his position should produce stable or nearly stable
instead of ticklish equilibrium I thus place his seat underneath the axle of the
machine his legs going in front of the axle in a nearly vertical position and his
body behind the axle which acts as a safety against his being pitched forward
while he can easily jump off behind
I use two driving wheels of equal size attached to either end of a double crank
having the throws as usual opposite one another, these are worked either by
suspended rods with treads fixed on them or by stirrups attached by straps or
otherwise hanging from them, that is from the cranks. I also propose when using
rods to extend these rods upwards so as at times by laying hold of them with
the hands to add the weight of the arms and upper part of the body to the driving
power.
The seat is suspended from a tube working loosely on the straight portion of the
axle with friction balls or wheels or otherwise I add also two metal discs to shield
the cranks
I propose also where greater power and so less velocity is wanted to divide so
as to bend the axle forwards, thus to introduce the use of two gearing wheels
of different diameters, the crank arms being in this case attached to the smaller
outside gearing wheels and working between said wheels and the driving wheels.
I propose to adapt this machine so as to carry one two or three riders and to do
this one or two horizontal rods are passed through the saddle or fixed to the axle

page_text: carrying a saddle or saddles on either end so that two, one at each end can ride, or
three, with the third in the middle, and then two horizontal rods with one two or
three treads on each are added for driving.
For the use of ladies one or more longitudinal bar saddles are attached with loose
hooks or straps at either end.
To steer or check the machine I use a double spoon brake pulled downwards
on either wheel as needed, or both for braking I also propose to break by means
of friction on the main axle if needed, and further for steering I sometimes
employ a third wheel, I also use the continuous tread board for a larger number
of riders than three in that case using also four equal sized wheels with an axle
to each pair and in this case as usual in four wheel carriages I seat the riders
above the axles.

page_text: pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Patrick Adie in the Patent Office on the 29th May 1884.
PATRICK ADIE of 15 Pall Mall in the county of Middlesex
IN VELOCIPEDES
IMPROVEMENTS
My improvements relate to the construction of velocipedes propelled by two
wheels and to render this arrangement safe I suspend my saddle underneath the
axle from a tube through which the axle passes and on either end of which axle
the two driving wheels are fitted The wheels revolve on these axle fittings but
are held fast by means of a clutch, thus the axle drives both wheels or they are
detachable by means of a wedge and lever releasing the clutch enabling one wheel
to revolve while the other is driven for steering I use a band break actuated by a
lever working in the opposite direction from the clutch lever so that these can be
either worked independantly by pushing one back or up and the other forward or
down or together by closing the the hand upon them The cranks and hanging
stirrups may either be separate or the former in one piece and attached by rods
and actuated by gearing wheels and band or chain Thus I have the saddle and
crank and stirrups all swinging together so as to take any position preferred by the
rider and from the fact of the saddle being below the axle great stability and safety
is given and a steady seat obtained for the rider his legs coming in front of the
axle underneath sufficiently to balance his body which is behind and above the axle
The axle prevents his being being pitched out of the saddle forwards and the position
of the saddle giving stable equilibrium no third wheel or stay of any kind is needed.
The pedals may either be on the cranks or by preference hanging therefrom as this
gives great advantage in passing the dead points in the crank these hanging
stirrups are made with chain sides and the stirrup itself may be like that on a
ladies saddle so as to be used as a skid if wanted when in a vertical position By
means of the chain sides to the hanging stirrups I can also keep the driving wheels
smaller than if these were rigid The saddle may be either suspended by one arm
in the middle or by two arms one at each side or if it is desired to ride tandem a
double saddle is made to drop over the axle tube one before and the other behind
but still underneath the axle or it may be made to carry three persons by having
one saddle in front and one behind the single saddle, and the two or three riders
may contribute to the driving by means of separate cranks and gearing or by foot
boards attached to the pedals or stirrups on which the riders can tread together
But that these improvements may be better understood I will describe the
drawings annexed in which the same letters are used to indicate like parts wherein
they occur Fig. I is a front view partly in section Fig II a side view of single
saddle Fig III a front view of saddle suspended by two arms A. A. is the axle
generally of steel either solid or a tube B B the wheels in which for the sake of
strength the wires are not inserted in the middle of the rim but so as to form a
radial line with the tyre on each side respectively The wheel hubs S. S. are fitted
to either end of A. A. so that they can revolve or they can be fixed to the axle A A
by means of clutches keyed on to A. A. CC is the tube through which the axle
passes which rests on friction balls at P. P. P. P. and to which all the non revolving
portions of the work are attached HH are two rods which carry the crank
axle E E, g. g gearing wheels connected by a chain or band F, for changing the
speed or power E E the crank axle to the cranked parts of which the stirrups QQ
are attached I in figures I and II is the saddle suspended by one rod from cc in
this case the rod being bent forward as at K having a spring inserted at L to
reduce vibration Fig III shews the saddle when arranged with double suspension.

page_text: this is made to pivot off at one end a so as to mount or dismount easily
2222 shews adjustable handles fixed either to H H or QQ at E E by which the
muscular force of the arms can be utilized m m are two levers actuating band
breaks which work on rings o o attached to the wheels n n two levers which work
wedge formed rings or parts of rings which detach the wheels from the clutches each
pair of these may be worked separately by the fingers for breaking only or together
for breaking and steering by squeezing the hand upon them.
Having thus described the nature of my invention and the manner in which I
carry the same into effect I would have it understood that. I do not confine myself
to the precise details as these may be varied but what I claim is first the com-
bination of hanging seat treadle and stirrups all swinging together Second
combination of hanging seat with lateral driving wheels and attitude obtained for
rider. Third the general combination as described and drawn
In witness whereof I the said Patrick Adie have hereunto set my hand and
seal this Twenty ninth day of May in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and eighty four.
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