Brake-operating Devices.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Nov., 1896-Accepted, 27th Mar., 1897
Brake-operating Devices.
I, EDWARD SPENCER HALL, a citizen of the United States of America,
residing at No. 553 West 156th Street, in the City of New York, County and State
of New York, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of this invention is to provide simple, efficient and convenient devices
for operating brakes of bicycles, tricycles or other vehicles from a handle bar or
movable part in reach of the rider. These devices are specially constructed and
arranged to first bring the acting surface of a brake device very quickly to an
opposing rotating contact surface of either a front or a rear wheel of the vehicle or
to its pedal crank shaft, and then give a slower and more powerful movement of
the brake to stop the vehicle in any emergency of travel. The intermediate
connection of the brake is specially arranged to permit vertical adjustment of the
vehicle handles from one of which the brake is preferably actuated. and the
arrangement of parts is such that this vertical adjustment of the handle bar may be
quickly made without removing or detaching any part of the vehicle or brake
devices. A further and important object of the invention is to make and combine
certain parts of the intermediate connection in such manner as shall avoid slotting
or cutting the steering wheel fork stem at or near the fork head where the breaking
strain on the fork is greatest, thereby maintaining the full strength of the steering
wheel fork while permitting operation of the brake by invisible parts located
mainly or wholly within the bicycle frame.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a sectional side view of the handle bar and parts of the steering head
and frame of a bicycle embodying certain features of the invention.
Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of parts shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section through the handle, taken on the line x, x, in
Fig. 2.
Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-section on the line y, y, in Fig. 2.
Fig. 5 is a rear sectional elevation of central parts of the handle bar, the
intermediate connection and the steering fork stem.
F
Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical section of a brake plunger and its operating
devices taken at right angles to the same parts in Fig. 1.
Fig. 7 is a plan view of this brake plunger.
Fig. 8 is a sectional side elevation of parts of a bicycle frame with the lower bar
centrally broken away, and illustrates intermediate connections between the
operating handle and the brake which provide for maintaining the full strength of
the steering wheel fork stem at and near the fork bead.
Fig. 9 is a sectional plan view, like Fig. 2, the same handle bar and adjusting
devices therefor being used with the intermediate connections to the front steering
wheel brake shown in Fig. 1, and to the rear wheel brake shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 10 is a rear sectional view quite like Fig. 5.
Fig. 11 is a broken rear view of the steering fork, its stem and the spring-pressed
swivel shown in Fig. 8.
Fig. 12 is a sectional plan view on the line ¹¹ in Fig. 8.

page_text: Fig. 13 is a sectional plan view on the line y', y' in Fig. 8.; and
Fig. 14 shows a spiral coil brake acting on the pedal crank shaft of a bicycle.
I first refer more specially to Figs. 1 to 7 inclusive of the drawings wherein the
brake operating device is shown as a handle 1, which may revolve on the transverse
head 2, of the handle bar, and is held thereto hy a screw 3. The handle 1
preferably has à metal interior lining 4, in which is formed a screw-thread 5, having
at its inner part a quick-pitch followed by a slow-pitch. The quick-pitch portion 5
of the screw preferably extends about one-quarter around the handle. Within the
handle tube 2 is placed a movable part or slide 6, having a projecting pin 7 which
passes through a guiding slot 8 in the tube and is adapted to the screw thread 5.
The handle has a leading-in slot 9, admitting the slide pin 7 as the handle is
slipped end wise upon the tube 2. This leading slot 9, also prevents backward
rotation of the handle on the tube by acting on the pin 7, but allows forward
rotation of the handle to cause pin 7 to enter the variably pitched screw-thread 5,
to operate the brake device. A latch 10, pivoted to tube 2, passes through a slot
in the tube and is normally pressed by a spring 11, into a notch 12, of the handle,
to prevent turning of the handle on the bar or tube 2, when the brake is not
in use.
A pull-wire 13 extends from a pin 14 fixed in the handle slide 6 and along
within the handle bar 2 to a pin 15, from which extends two chains 16, 17, which
pass over a guide pin 18, and down within the handle bar stem 2ª, and are attached
to a block 19 which may slide in the stem. This stem 2" enters the tubular
stem 20, of the steering wheel fork 21, which turns in the tubular head 22, of the
bicycle frame. The two chains 16, 17, give room between them for the upper
tubular part 23, of a telescoping coupling having a lower part 24, provided with a
screw head 25, which is adapted to an internal screw-thread 26, of the coupling
part 23.
The tube 23 has a shoulder 23, made preferably by reducing the
diameter of its lower end which passes freely through an aperture of the block 19.
The entire telescoping or extensible coupling thus is sustained entirely by its
shoulder 23, resting on the block 19, and as the coupling extends to or through a
guiding hole in the top of the handle bar 2, the coupling is always accessible and
its part 23 may be turned freely in either direction to shorten or lengthen the
coupling by means of its engaged screw threads. The part 23 may also be
uncoupled from part 24, and be lifted from the handle bar and at such time the
lower end 24 of part 24 rests upon a cross-pin 27 which is fixed to and across the
fork stem 20.
To the end 24 of coupling part 24 is attached one end of a pull-chain 28 which
passes in a bight under the fixed fork stem pin 27, and thence upward to a pin 29
fixed to the upper part of a plunger 30 which slides in the fork stem 20 and has
opposite side slots 31, which move along the fixed pin 27. A stem 32 on the
plunger 30 carries a spoon-brake device 33, adapted to act.on the tire of the front
steering wheel 34, partly shown in Fig. 1. A spring 35, on the stem 32, lifts or
helps lift the brake from the wheel.
To operate this brake 33, the rider while holding the handle 1, will press the
latch 10, forward from the handle notch 12, and he will then turn the handle on
the tube 2, forward toward the right hand. This at once causes the "quick-pitch"
portion 5, of the handle screw 5, to act on the pin 7, and quickly draws the
slide 6, the wire 13, the chains 16, 17, the block 10, the coupling 23, 24, and the
chain 28, whereby the plunger 30 is movel dowuward to quickly carry the brake 33
to the front steering wheel 34. The "slow-pitch" portion of the handle thread 5,
now begins to act and the brake is forced at less speed but with far greater power.
against the wheel tire to quickly stop the vehicle. When the handle 1 is turned
back to the left hand, its screw 5 draws the brake away from the wheel and
readjusts the intermediate pulling connections, aided by the expanding spring 35,
and as the slide pin 7 leaves the thread portion 5", said pin stops at the lateral
shoulder of the leading slot 9, and prevents further backward rotation of the handle,
and the latch 10, now enters the handle notch 12, to lock the handle until it is

page_text: again desired to operate the brake. The telescoped coupling 23, 24, rises with
the block 19, and its visible part 23 indicates proper working of the brake.
Obviously, the chain 28 may be connected with any form of brake device such as
a coil or band acting on the vehicle axle or on a drum fixed to the axle, with the
same effect of quickly taking up any slackness of the brake device or its
connections by action of the initial "quick-pitch" portion 5, of the handle screw
and thus bring the brake into position to be instantly pressed against the opposing
rotating contact surface with the greatly increased power and effect arising from
the slower movement of the brake connections by the following "slow-pitch
portion of the handle screw.
To raise or lower the handle bar 2, it is only necessary to loosen the clamp 36
and turn the coupling part 23 in cne direction or the other. This adjustment may
almost instantly be made without turning or removing the handle bar or detaching
or removing any part of the brake connections. As the handle rises or falls, the
coupling 23, 24, is lengthened or shortened correspondingly. When the handle is
properly adjusted the clanup 36 is again tightened on the split fork stem 201, to
clamp the adjusted handle thereto. As the upper part 23, of the coupling is turned
to adjust the handle, the lower coupling part 24, which enters the plunger 30 is
held against turning by its connection with the chain 28, which passes around the
plunger guide pin 27. Should the part 23 be detached from part 24 and be lifted
out of the handle bar for inspection of the parts, said part 24 would then be
sustained by the pin 27 until part 23 were again coupled with it. I am not aware
of any prior brake mechanism having between the operating device and the brake
device, a telescoping or expansible intermediate connection which is instantly
adjustable without requiring turning or removal of the handle bar or removal of
any portion of the brake connections or any part of the bicycle or vehicle.
I am aware that both brake and steering mechanisms have heretofore been
actuated from a uniformly-pitched screw or screw-thread in a handle bar. The
prior handle threads for brakes all have but one pitch of the screw not
giving the initial quick advance of the brake to the wheel or contact surface,
and the subsequent slower forcible pressing of the brake thereto as in my
invention.
The most efficient brake is that one which can be applied with greatest power
in the least time and with the least expenditure of force to stop a bicycle or
vehicle quickly in any emergency of travel. When a brake is applied by means
of a screw or screw-thread having a uniform quick-pitch, the brake may be quickly
brought to the wheel but when there the quick thread fails to exert sufficient
power on the brake to stop the vehicle quickly except when handled by persons of
more than ordinary strength and even in that case the too sudden hard pressure of
the brake on the wheel is liable to upset both rider and vehicle. On the other
hand, when a brake is applied by means of a screw or screw-thread having a
uniform slow-pitch, it consumes too much time to take up slackness of the brake or
its connections by action of the slow thread and the brake is not applied promptly
enough to prevent accidents which a brake is intended to obriate and should make
impossible.
The successively working quick and slow pitch screw in ay operating device
allows almost instant and danger-averting application of the brake whether the
brake mechanism be handled by strong adults or by weaker persons or children,
and my brake operating mechanism is, therefore, more complete and efficient than
any brake operating devices known to me.
1 will now refer more especially to Figs. 8 to 14 inclusive of the drawings,
which show a modified intermediate connection adapted for operating a brake at
the rear wheel or at a wheel other than the steering wheel of a bicycle, or at the
pedal crank shaft.
When a brake is operated at the rear wheel or at the pedal crank shaft by an
intermediate connection located mainly within the bicycle frame, it has heretofore
been the practice to run this connection down within the steering wheel fork stem

page_text: and then outward through an opening or slot made in said stem at or near the
steering fork head and thence into and along the lower bar of the frame to the
brake device. The opening thus made in the fork stem materially weakened it at
'the point where the breaking strain on it is greatest.
By my improvement I avoid making an opening or slot in the steering fork stem
at or near its point of junction with the fork head and I thus maintain the full
strength of the reinforced fork stem, thereby assuring large measure of security
against accidents to the rider or to the vehicle. I accomplish this very desirable
result by so arranging parts of the intermediate connection between the brake and
its operating handle or device that the draft strain is transferred from the inside
to the outside of the steering wheel fork stem at a point distant from the fork head
and where little or no breaking strain is brought on the fork stem and where an
opening through the stem is not objectionable.
This transfer of the draft strain may be effected in various ways, but as a
further improvement I so arrange the strain-transferring device that it does not
limit or prevent the freest rotation of the fork stem in the bicycle frame head and
also permits convenient removal of the entire steering wheel fork and the brake
and it's connections for access to any or all of the parts, and also permits any desired
vertical adjustment of the handle bar without removing any part of the brake
connections.
The preferred form of draft strain transferring device shown in the drawing,
comprises a skeleton swivel having an upper ring 37 and a lower ring 38 connected
by side bars 39, 40. The rings 37, 38, fit loosely on the fork stem 20ª, thus
permitting the stem to turn in the swivel and allowing the swivel to slide vertically
on the stem. The side bars 39, 40, are preferably made thinner than the rings 37, 38,
thus providing shoulders around the rings and giving clearance between the bars
and the fork stem. The shoulder 41 of the upper ring 37 receives under it a
lateral projection or pin 42, which is fixed in a head 43, on the lower part of the
extensible coupling above described and by means of which the handle bar is
adjusted to any desired height. The pin 42 of head 43 passes through a slot 44,
made through the side of the fork stem 20°, at such distance from the fork head as
prevents weakening of the steering wheel fork by the slot. At this slot 44, the
draft-strain is transferred from the inside to the outside of the fork stem, and
through the pin 42, to the brake device from any suitable operating device at the
handle or elsewhere on the vehicle which draws the block 19, and consequently
the head 43, upward.
Above the shoulder of the lower ring 38 of the swivel and in the side bar 40
thereof, is formed an opening 45, receiving a wire loop 46, having laterally bent
ends engaging the inside of bar 40. To the loop 46 is attached a suitable flexible
connection such as a chain 47, which also connects with a rod or wire 48, which
passes rearward through the lower frame tube 48", and through the crank hanger
bracket 48, and a dust proof guide 48°, on the bracket, and is coupled to the brake
device. An interior guide is provided for the chain 47 and is preferably formed as
a pulley 49, journaled at the intersection of the frame tubes 48" and 22, and having
opposite side flanges which retain the chain and prevent lateral disarrangement of
it when the steering wheel fork is turned in the swivel and frame head. An
expanding spring 51 on the fork stem 20", normally presses the swivel 37, 38, 39, 40,
downward and holds the pin 42 of head 43 at the bottom of the fork stem slot 44,
thereby also taking up or preventing slackness of the intermediate connections
leading downward from the operating device to the swivel.
The brake may either be a spoon-brake 52 held to a lever 53 and acting on the
rear wheel 54, of the bicycle and normally held from the wheel by a spring 50, as
will appear from Fig. 8, of the drawing; or the brake device may be a spiral
coil 55, acting frictionally on the pedal crank axle 56, or on a bushing placed
thereon, and as will be understood from Fig. 14, of the drawing.
The operation of the swivel-connection brake shown in Figs. 8 to 14, is as
follows: As the coupling 23, 24, is raised with the block 19, by the draft

page_text: devices connecting with the handle 1, the head 43, is also lifted and its pin 42, by
contact with the swivel shoulder 41 lifts the entire swivel 37, 38, 39, 40, on the fork
stem 20°, as the pin 42 rises in the fork stem slot 44. The rising swivel draws on
the loop 46, the chain 47, the rod 48, and the lever 53, to apply the spoon-brake 52
to the rear wheel 54; or the rod 48, may draw directly on the spiral coil brake 55,
to apply it to the pedal crank axle 56. The rising swivel further compresses the
spring 51, hence when the handle 1 is turned backward, said spring 51, expands and
forces the swivel 37, 38, 39, 40, downward again and takes up all possible slackness
of the upper draft connectious to the handle. The spring 50, of the brake 52, or
the expansive resiliency of the coil brake 55, draws the parts 48, 47, downward
and all the brake connections again have normal positions shown in Fig. 8 of the
drawings.
It will be specially noticed that with the preferred arrangement of draft-strain
transferring devices shown in Fig. 8 to 13, the entire handle bar, the fork stem
and fork and the front steering wheel may be turned freely either part-way or
entirely around in either direction without disarranging any part of the intermediate
connections of the brake and its operating means. When the fork is thus turned
in the frame head 22, the pin 42, while turning with the fork simply slips around
under the shoulder 41, of the swive! ring 37, while the entire swivel remains at
rest and in full operative connection with both the draft head 43, 42, and the
lower direct draft connections to the brake device. The swivel 37, 38, 39, 40,
fills the space between the fork stem and the frame head, and thus avoids lateral
looseness and rattling of the parts.
A further advantage of the intermediate connections shown in Figs. 8 to 13, is
that the steering fork 21, 20, may be entirely removed from the frame head 22
by first loosening the handle clamp 36, and then unscrewing the parts 23, 24, of
the coupling from each other and then drawing the fork downward; a notch 38",
in the lower ring 38 of the swivel permitting passage of the fork pin 42 from the
swivel. The swivel and the spring 51 are retained within the frame head 22 by
the flange 57 of the bottom ball-bearing cup 58. When the fork'stem is withdrawn,
the loop 46, the chain 47, and the flexible rod or wire 48, may be drawn from the
frame tube 48", through the swivel opening 45; the connection of part 48, with
the brake lever 53, permitting this operation. The swivel and the spring 51 may
also be removed from the frame head 22, by first removing the bottom ball-bearing
cup 58 from the head.
The intermediate connections shown in Figs. 7 to 13, thus permit free turning of
the handle bar and front steering fork and wheel; and also perinit quick and easy
adjustment of the handle bar at any time by simply loosening the clamp 36, and
turning the upper coupling part 23 to the right or left hand; and the invisible
draft connections of the brake are freely accessible for inspection and repair of the
parts.
It is not new to operate a plunger or spoon-brake directly on the rear wheel of
a bicycle or vehicle, but I am not aware that such a brake operated most desirably
on the rear wheel or on a wheel other than the steering wheel, has before been
combined with an intermediate draft connection having parts transferring the draft
strain from the inside to the outside of the steering fork stem at a safe distance
from the fork head to avoid weakening the fork.
I am not limited to the precise construction and arrangement of parts herein
shown and described, as the various novel features pointed out in the following
claims may be embodied in other forms by skilled mechanics without departing from
the spirit or substance of my invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what l
claim is:-
1. Brake operating devices comprising a revoluble handle provided with a screw
having an initial quick-pitch and a following slow-piten of thread, a movable part

page_text: actuated by the screw, and connections from said movable part to the brake
-device.
2. Combined steering and brake operating devices comprising a steering bar
coupled with the vehicle wheel, a handle fitted revolubly on the steering bar and
provided with a screw having an initial quick-pitch and a following slow-pitch of
thread, a movable part actuated by the screw, and connections from said movable
.part to the brake device.
3. Brake operating devices comprising a tube, a handle fitted revolubly thereon
and provided with an interior indented screw having an initial quick-pitch and a
following slow-pitch of thread, a movable part within the tube and having a
projection entering the indented screw of the handle, and connections from said
movable part to the brake device.
4. Combined steering and brake operating devices comprising a tubular steering
bar coupled with the vehicle wheel, a handle fitted revolubly on the steering bar
and provided with an indented screw having an initial quick-pitch and a following
slow-pitch of thread, a movable part within the steering bar and having a projection
entering the indented screw of the handle, and connections from said movable part
to the brake device.
5. Brake operating devices comprising a revoluble handle provided with an
interior indented screw and a slot leading from the end of the handle to said screw
and providing a lateral shoulder at the beginning of the screw, a movable part
having a projection adapted to both the leading slot and the screw, and connections
from said movable part to the brake device, substantially as described, whereby the
leading slut guides the projection of the movable part to the screw and permits
turning of the handle only in direction to cause said projection to enter the screw
and operate the brake.
6. Brake operating devices comprising a brake, and means actuating it from a
handle bar including an intermediate connection comprising draft devices leading
from the brake and its operating means and a telescoping screw coupling loosely
supported at its upper part by the draft devices of the operating means, and
-connected at its lower part to the brake actuating draft devices.
7. Brake operating devices comprising a brake, aud means actuating it from
a handle bar including an intermediate connection comprising draft devices leading
from the brake and its operating means and a telescoping screw coupling loosely
supported at its detachable upper part by the draft devices of the operating
means, and connected at its lower part to the brake actuating draft devices; said
upper part of the coupling being visible and thereby indicating the movement of
the brake device.
8. Brake operating devices comprising a brake, and means actuating it from
a handle bar consisting of flexible connections within the handle bar and the
vehicle frame, a sliding block within the handle bar stem and an extensible or
telescoping coupling within the handle bar stem and comprising a shouldered
upper part resting loosely by its shoulder on the sliding block and a lower part
adjustable on said shouldered upper part and coupled to the brake operating
-draft device.
9. In brake operating devices, the combination, with the brake device and its
slide or plunger, of a fixed part in the plunger guide, and a flexible connection
leading from the brake operating device and passing in bight under or around
said fixed part and connected to the plunger, substantially as described, whereby
as the main draft portion of the flexible connection moves in one direction the
plunger and the brake will be moved in the other direction to apply and release
the brake.
10. Brake operating devices comprising operating means on a handle bar,
a flexible connection to said operating means and having two branches 16, 17,
entering the handle bar stem, a sliding block 19 in the stem and connected to the
parts 16, 17; a coupling comprising an interiorly threaded upper tube 23 having
a lower end loosely passing through the block 19, and a shoulder 23" resting on

page_text: the block, and a lower rod 24 having screw threads adapted to the threads of the-
tube 23, and a draft connection between the rod 24 and the brake device, substan-
tially as described.
11. Brake operating devices having an intermediate connection between the
brake and its operating means which includes draft connections having parts
transferring the draft-strain from the inside to the outside of the steering
wheel fork stem at a point distant from the fork head, substantially as described.
12. Combined brake-operating and steering devices having an intermediate-
connection between the brake and its operating means which includes draft
connections partly within and partly outside the fork stem, anl parts transferring
the draft strain from the inside to the outside of the fork stem through an.
opening in the stem at a point removed from the fork head thereby avoiding
weakening of the fork.
13. The combination, with a véhicle frame, a steering wheel, and a brake acting.
on another wheel of the vehicle, of. means operating the brake-including draft
connections having parts within the steering wheel fork stem and other parts.
transferring the draft strain from the inside to the outside of the fork stem at
a point distant from the fork head.
14. Brake operating devices having an intermediate connection between the
brake and its operating means which includes draft connections within and without
the steering wheel fork stem and a swivel loose outside the fork stem and having-
an annular shoulder resting on a projection of the upper draft devices which passes
through the fork stem at a point distant from the fork head, the lower draft devices
being coupled to the swivel and to the brake.
15. Brake operating devices having an intermediate connection between the
brake and its operating means which includes draft connections within and without
the steering wheel fork stem and a swivel loose outside the fork stem and having-
an annular shoulder resting on a projection of the upper draft devices which.
passes through the fork stem at a point distant from the fork head, the lower draft
devices being coupled to the swivel and to the brake, and a spring normally moving.
the swivel downward.
16. The combination, with the vehicle frame, a steering wheel, a handle bar-
thereon, and a brake device, of draft connections operating the brake from the
handle bar and including intermediate parts comprising an extensible coupling
adapted to vertically adjust. the handle bar and loosely supported by the upper
draft connections and having at its lower part a projection passing through a slot
in the fork stem, a swivel outside the fork stem and having an annular shoulder
resting on said projection, and lower draft connections from the swivel to the
brake device.
17. The combination, with the vehicle frame, a steering wheel, a handle bar
thereon, and a brake device, of draft connections operating the brake from the-
handle bar and including intermediate parts comprising an extensible coupling
adapted to vertically adjust the handle bar and loosely supported by the upper-
draft connections and having at its lower part a projection passing through a slot
in the fork stem, a swivel outside the fork stem and having an annular shoulder-
resting on said projection, a spring normally moving the swivel downward, and
lower draft connections from the swivel to the brake device.
18. The combination, with the tubular parts 22, 48", of a vehicle frame, a brake
device and means operating the brake, of the steering wheel fork 21, having
a stem 20" entering part 22, a swivel 37, 38, 39, 40, on the stem 20", a part 43.
coupled with the brake operating device and having a projection 42, passing
through a slot 44, of the fork stem and engaging below a shoulder 41 of the swivel,
a spring 51, on the fork stem above the swivel, and connections from the swivel to
the brake device, substantially as described.
19. The combination, with the tubular frame parts 22, 48, a brake acting on
the rear wheel of a vehicle, a handle bar, and means operating the brake from the
handle bar, of the front steering wheel fork 21, having a stem 20", entering the

page_text: frame tube 22, a swivel on the stem 20°, a sliding block 19, upper draft connections
from said block to the brake operating means, an adjustable coupling 23, 24,
loosely sustained by the block 19, and carrying a pin 42 passing through a slot 44,
of the fork stein and engaging below a shoulder 41 of the swivel, and lower draft
connections passing through the frame bar 48", from the swivel to the rear wheel
brake, substantially as described.
Dated this 13th day of November 1896.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.