Improvements in Lubricating Cyoles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Apr., 1896-Accepted, 30th May, 1896
Improvements in Lubricating Cyoles.
We, SAMUEL CHANDLER, Junior, and JOSIAH CHANDLER, both of Central
Works, Kennington Oval, in the County of London, Gas Engineers, 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 improvements in the method of lubricating the bearings
of bicycles and tricycles forming the subject of our Application for Letters Patent
No. 8826 of the 3rd of May 1895.
In the said Application we described a method of lubricating the bearings of
cycles by forcing a lubricant through a hollow axle into the bearings from a.
lubricating box provided at one end of the said hollow axle, the flow of the
lubricant being obtained by turning the head or cover of the lubricating box so as
to compress the-lubricant."
Now according to our present invention, instead of the said lubricating box, we.
provide a reservoir for the lubricant, the said reservoir being in direct communi--
cation with one end of the hollow axle, and in connection with the said reservoir we
provide means, such as an inflated elastic ball, whereby the lubricant can be forced
from the reservoir into the hollow axle by pneumatic pressure.
To enable our invention to be fully understood we will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawing which represents a soctional elevation of the
hub and axle of the driving wheel of a chain-driven safety bicycle provided with
our improvements.
a is the hub of the driving wheel, b, b the ball bearings connected with the
same, c is the hollow axle passing through the hub, and d, d are the small holes
opening from the hollow axle into the ball bearings b, b.
e is the reservoir for the lubricant, the said reservoir being preferably of
cylindrical form and screwed on the hollow axle at its upper end as shewn clearly
in the drawing.
fis a dip tube passing from the open end of the hollow axle c down to the bottom.
of the reservoir e. g is an elastic ball in communication with the upper open end
of the reservoir e by means of flexible india-rubber tubing. It will be obvious that
the ball g can be placed in any suitable position on the bicycle or tricycle, for
instance on the handle-bar.
The reservoir is filled with lubricant and when it is desired to lubricato the
bearings the ball g is squeezed so as to force the lubricant in the reservoir e up-
the dip tube f into the hollow axle c and thence through the holes d into the
bearings b.
It will be obvious that our device can be also employed for cleaning the bearings
and in this case we fill the reservoir or elastic ball with any liquid suitable for this
purpose and squeeze the ball as above described so as to force the liquid into the
parts to be cleaned.
In some cases we may dispense with the elastic ball and the dip tube and
introduce the lubricant into the bearings by turning the reservoir e. Or we may
partly fill the elastic ball with oil, suspend it from, say, the handle-bar of the cycle-
and put it in direct communication with the hollow axle c.

page_text: Having now partionlarly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what wo
claim is :-
1. In a bicycle or other velocipede wherein a hollow axle, in communication
with the bearings, is used for lubricating the said bearings, the employment of a
reservoir in communication with the open end of the said hollow axle in such
a manner that by turning the said reservoir the lubricant contained in the same is
caused to flow into the bearings, substantially as described.
2. In a bicycle or other velocipede wherein a hollow axle, in communication
with the bearings, is used for lubricating the said bearings, the employment of a
reservoirin communication with the open end of tho said hollow axle and provided
with means such as an elastic ball for forcing the lubricant from the reservoir into
the hollow axle, substantially as described.
3. The manufacture and use of the improved lubricator for the bearings of
bicycles and tricycles hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing.
Dated the 24th day of April 1898.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicants.