Chain Cleaning Appliance for Bicycles.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Chain Cleaning Appliance for Bicycles.
I, ANNA CAROLINE GRAFTON, (Married Woman), of West View, Westcombe
Hill, Blackheath, in the County of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows;-
.
My invention consists of a brush in the form of a sprocket wheel, each tooth
being a radial brush, these tooth-like brushes corresponding in pitch to the aper-
tures of the chain so as to enter them like such teeth and by so doing to remove
dirt from the cavities of the chain. The wheel brush may be mounted to rotate
on a handle and be run along the chain to clean the latter or it may be applied
between the members of the chain, with or without any other support so as to
clean both members of the chain at once by running the chain. or it may be
mounted on a supporting bracket attached to the frame of the bicycle.
In the case of running the brush between the members of the chain it may be
necessary to provide a movable segment of the brush body to be fixed to the main
portion of the brush after they are placed in position, or one or more of the
brush sprockets may be removable for the same purpose.
It is preferred to make the sprocket brushes of the tube cleaning type.
The circular sprocket brusli may serve to drive other brushes acting trans-
versely on the chain, or as an alternative means of brushing the chain transversely
I may place an ordinary circular brush with its axis fixed obliquely to the motion
of the chain its periphery being in contact with the chain so as to be driven by the
latter and to act upon it in a more or less transverse direction.
Dated this 23rd day of December 1897.
Chain Cleaning Appliance for Bicycles.
I, ANNA CAROLINE GRAFTON, of West View, Westcombe Hill, Blackheath, in the
County of Kent, 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:
1
My invention relates to rotary brushes for cleaning the driving chains of
bicycles, the said brushes being either temporarily applied to the chain by hand
or being mounted on the frame of the machine in position to act on the chain.
The brushes are of two different forms so as to be adapted :—
(a) To clean the chain internally, that is to say to remove dirt from the aper-
tures of the chain in which the teeth of the sprocket wheels engage;
CD077

page_text: (b) To clean the chain externally, that is to say to clean the sides, or the top
and bottom surfaces, of the chain links.
The two forms of brushes are illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein
Figures 1 and 2 are face and plan views of the brush for cleaning the apertures of
the chain and Figure 3 illustrates the mode of applying the brush to the chain.
Figure 4 is a plan view of a pair of brushes intended to be mounted on the frame
of the machine for keeping the outside of the chain clean.
The brush shewn in Figures 1, 2, and 3 is in the form of a sprocket wheel each
tooth of which is formed by a radial brush A, these tooth-like brushes being fixed
in the edge of a hub B and corresponding in pitch to the apertures of the chain
links in which the teeth of the sprocket wheels engage, so as to enter such aper-
Each such
tures like sprocket teeth and in so doing to remove dirt therefrom.
tooth-like brush A is of the tube-cleaning type, that is to say it is a brush whose
bristles radiate from a common core a formed preferably of two wires twisted
together, the core itself being planted radially in the hub B. As the bristles of
each of these tooth-like brushes are perpendicular to the length of the
brush and consequently to the direction in which each individual brush is thrust
through the aperture of the chain, the length of the bristles may be such that in
passing through the aperture the bristles will be bent backwards first in the one
and then in the other direction so that as the bristles on escaping spring back
quickly to their normal form, they will throw off the dirt they may have taken
up and so constantly clear themselves. The bristles may either be trimmed so as
to bring the brushes to a circular form as shewn, or to an oblong form correspond-
ing to the form of the chain aperture. The sprocket-like wheel brush thus formed
may be pivoted at c on a handle to be held in the hand in order that the brush
may be run along the chain when the latter is stationary, as shewn in Figure 3,
or the brush may be held in one position whilst the chain is driven round beneath
it, as will be readily understood. The brush instead of being pivoted to a handle,
might be mounted on a supporting bracket attached to the frame of the machine
so as to be temporarily rotated in gear with the chain whilst the machine is being
ridden for the purpose of cleaning the chain.
Figure 4 shews a pair of rotary brushes F of ordinary circular form with radial
bristles, two brushes of the pair being adapted to act on opposite sides of the
chain with a transverse brushing action due to the brushes being so mounted as
to rotate in planes oblique to the direction of the motion of the chain. That is to
say each brush is mounted with its plane at such an angle to the plane of the
chain that the rectilinear motion of the chain will be converted into a rotary motion
of the brush by frictional contact, at the same time that the bristles, which are
for the time being in contact with the chain, will move transversely thereon
and so sweep off the dirt. In order to avoid deflecting the chain from its true
path it is preferable that the two brushes which act similarly on opposite sides of
the chain should be set at equal and opposite angles thereto so that the lateral
tendency of the one will be neutralized by the equal and opposite tendency of the
other. Owing to the nature of the action of these brushes the pivots f on which
they revolve should be carried by a bracket mounted upon the frame of the
machine, and it is preferred that the one brush should not be applied directly over
the other but that the upper brush should be located somewhat beyond the lower
brush in the direction in which the chain is running (shewn by the arrow) in
order that the dirt swept off by the upper brush shall not fall on the lower one
It will be obvious that instead of applying the brushes to act on the top and bottom
surfaces of the chain member, they might be so applied as to act on the lateral
sides of the chain and that in either case only one such brush may be used.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1. A brush for cleaning the apertures of a bicycle driving chain, being a rotary

page_text: brush in the form of a sprocket-wheel each tooth of which is formed of a brush
having bristles radiating from the axis of the tooth, the tooth-like brushes being
adapted to enter and to remove dirt from the apertures of the chain substantially
as described.
2. A chain cleaning appliance consisting of a rotary circular brush applied
to act on the chain and to be driven by frictional contact therewith, the brush
being mounted to rotate in a plane oblique to the direction of the motion of
the chain so as by such obliquity to convert simple rolling contact into a trans-
verse brushing action as described.
3. A chain cleaning appliance consisting of a pair of rotary circular brushes
applied to act on opposite sides of the chain, the brushes being set in planes
making oppositely oblique angles with the direction of motion of the chain so
that each neutralizes the lateral tendency of the other,, whilst the rolling contact
of each with the chain is converted into a lateral brushing action as described.
Dated this 24th day of September 1898.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
Chartered Patent Agents, 53, Chancery Lane, London.