Improved Driving-gear for Cycles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Improved Driving-gear for Cycles.
I, HERMAN SNOWMAN, of No. 102, West G1 Street, New York, United States
of America, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention to be as
follows:-
All attempts hitherto made in the manufacture of cycles for increasing speed by the
employment of a plurality of gearings have not met with success because it has not
been possible to secure the desired result without the latter being accompanied with
numerous drawbacks. The main condition to be fulfilled, eiz.: devising a mechanism
which shall be strong and yet not increase onesided the weight of the cycle, could not
be complied with in a satisfactory manner; on the other hand, such mechanisms were
not applied economically.
The object I have in view to accomplish is more particularly to secure a high
multiplying gear for tandems, triplets used by pacemakers and in other cases generally
where a high speed is desirable, while obtaining such result by an arrangement which
at the same tinie shall be simple, light, practical, durable and easy as well as cheap of
manufacture.
The essential feature of my improved gearing resides in the fact that the main
parts constituting the same are fitted on the axis from which initial motion is imparted,
i.e. the crank-shaft; furthermore, with a view of accomplishing the desired result, the
said improved gearing distinguishes itself, moreover, by a peculiar construction as
regards the arrangements of the ball bearings and the means for keeping dust and dirt
out of the same and, finally, the said gearing offers all desirable advantages as regards
adjustment and regulation.
Broadly speaking, my invention consists in loosely fitting over the crank-shaft of
the cycle a cap carrying two chain-wheels rotating therewith and receiving motion
from a countershaft which is fitted in the frame of the cycle and is itself driven from
a chain passing over a chain-wheel fast on the crank shaft. The latter chain-wheel
thus transmits motion from the crank-shaft to the counter-shaft and the said motion,
duly increased, is in turn transmitted from the counter-shaft, to one of the two wheels
on the loose cap, whereby the cap and the two wheels carried thereby are loosely
rotated. The motion is then further conveyed to the driving wheel of the cycle by
means of a chain passing over the second of the aforementioned wheels on the cap and
a chain-wheel on the axle of the cycle-wheel.
The ball bearing cones are adjustably arranged on the counter-shaft, the crank-shaft
and the crank-shaft-bearing-box, being screwed thereon, and are secured in their
adjusted position by check-nuts. These check-nuts are adapted to serve as covers
closing tightly the ball-bearings and preserving them from dust and dirt.
Dated this 24th day of July 1896.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improved Driving-gear for Cycles.
I, HERMAN SNOWMAN, of No. 102, West 61 Street, New York, United States
of America, Engineer, 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:-
All attempts hitherto made in the manufacture of cycles for increasing spoed by the
employment of a plurality of gearings have not met with success because it has not
been possible to secure the desired result without the latter being accompanied with
numerous drawhacks. The main condition to be fulfilled, eis.: devising a mechanism
which shall be strong and yet not increase onesided the weight of the cycle, could not
le complied with in a satisfactory manner; on the other hand, such mechanisius were
not applied economically.
The object I have in view to accomplish is more particularly to secure a high
multiplying gear for tandems, triplets used by pacemakers and in other cases generally
where a high speed is desirable, while obtaining such result by an arrangement which
at the same time shall be simple, light, practical, durable and easy as well as cheap of
manufacture.
The essential feature of my improved gearing resides in the fact that the main parts
constituting the same are fitted on the axis from which initial motion is imparted,
i.e. the crank-shaft, and on the axis to which final motion is imparted, i.e. the driving
wheel axle. Therefore the two intermediate shafts, that is to say, the second and third
shaft of the treble gear, which serve to transfer the power from the crank axle to the
driving wheel are shaped as sleeves and journalled concentrically to the wheel hub and
crank-shaft respectively, one sleeve being arranged laterally and the other extending
from one side of the crank axle or wheel hub to the other.
A cycle of this description, although having two intermediate shafts, makes the
same esthetic impression as the common cycle, because it has the same number of
axes, and for this reason its frame is much more simple, than in the case where the
intermediate shafts are separately journalled.
And in order that this invention may be fully understood I shall now proceed more
particularly to describe the same and for that purpose refer to the accompanying
drawings.
Figs. 1 and 2 are diagrams representing two modifications of the treble gear. The
consecutive chain wheels are lettered ', u, u³, ut, u³, u° respectively. In Fig. 1 the
second shaft W is laterally journalled on the driving wheel hub W (or on the driving
wheel axle) and the third shaft W³ is journalled on the crank shaft W and extends
from one end of the same to the other. In Fig. 2 the second shaft W' is journalled
within and extends through the driving wheel hub W and the third shaft W³ is
laterally journalled on the crank shaft or on the crank shaft bearing box or on both.
In both modifications the cycle carries two chains at one side and the third at
the other.
Figure 3 shows a cycle gear corresponding to the diagram in Figure 1, Figure +
another cycle gear corresponding to the diagram in Figure 2. In Figure 3 the
lateral sleeve W turns on the driving wheel hub W and the long sleeve W
surrounds the crank shaft W and is surrounded by the crank shaft bearing box N.
In Figure 4 the lateral sleeve W is journalled on the box N and the long sleeve W
is placed between the hub W and the fixed axle of the driving wheel.

page_text: 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 I
claim is :-
1. A treble driving gear for cycles consisting of three chain gearings, the second
shaft (W) of which is journalled concentrically to the driving wheel axle and the
third (W) concentrically to the crank shaft, one of these shafts being a narrow lateral
sleeve and the other a sleeve, which reaches from one side of the cycle to the other,
essentially as described and shown in Figures 1 and 2.
2. The general arrangement of parts forming in their combination a treble driving
gear as shown in Fig. 3.
3. The general arrangement of parts forming in their combination a treble driving
gear as shown in Figure 4.
Dated this 23rd day of April 1897
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.