provements in or connected with Auxiliary Driving Mechanism for Bicycles and other Velocipedes.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL DI ECIFICATION
Improvements in or connected with Auxiliary Driving Mechanism
for Bicycles and other Velocipedes.
I, THEODORE JOHNS PSIMENOs, of 4, Cullum Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object to enable the front steering wheel of a bicycle
or other velocipede to be driven by hand by the rider at the same time that he
drives the back wheel or wheels by the usual pedal action and chain or other
gear, thus enabling him to propel the cycle with increased power when going up
hill or with increased speed when running on a level road.
The essential feature of the invention consists in providing upon the axle cr
hub of the steering wheel a small pinion, with which can be put in gear a spur
wheel whose axis is mounted on a bracket or block carried by the one limb of the
steering fork in such manner that it can be slid up and down thereon to a sufficient
extent for moving the spur wheel into or out of gear with the pinion. The said
spur wheel is connected either by a crank and connecting rod motion, or by chain
gear to a lever or crank handle carried by the handle bar or by the steering fork-
pillar, so that when the wheel is moved in gear and the said lever is actuated by
the rider, the front wheel will be driven by the said mechanism and thus assist
in propelling the cycle as above stated.
The mechanism by which the hand motion of the rider is transmitted to the
spur wheel can be variously arranged.
According to one construction, which I employ by preference, the spur wheel
carries a crank pin to which pivotted a connecting rod leading up to the short
end of a double ended lever suitably pivotted to the handle bar and arranged in a
similar manner to an ordinary brake lever, so that the long arm thereof can be
grasped with the hand while this holds the handle.
Thus assuming the spur wheel to have been moved into engagement with the
pinion on the steering wheel, it will be seen that on grasping the said lever so to
bring it close up to the handle, its short arm will effect the partial rotation of the
spur wheel by the crank pin and connecting rod, and consequently the steering
wheel will be driven as described.
Instead of providing a separate lever for effecting the said motion I may con-
struct the handle bar with a suitable hinge-joint so that one part of it may be
used as a lever for the above purpose when required.
For raising and lowering the spur wheel as described, the sliding block has a
rod connected to it, that passes up along the fork and at its upper end is either
formed with a screw thread on which is screwed a wheel-nut suitably carried by
the handle bar, so that on turning the nut in one direction or the other the rod
and sliding block are either raised or lowered.
Or the upper end of the rod is formed with a loop, in which works an excentric
or cam on an axis carried by the handle bar or fork pillar, and having a catch
lever that can be moved into either of two opposite positions, in one of which

page_text: the cam holds the rod in the raised position while in the other it holds it in the
lowered position.
According to another modification, instead of providing the above described
device for raising and lowering the spur wheel out of and into gear with the
pinion, these are left permanently in engagement, and consequently the connecting
rod and lever move continually up and down while the machine is running. In
this case, in order to reduce the frictional resistance caused by this motion, I
prefer to arrange the upper end of the connecting rod to slide freely up and
down in a block carried in trunnions in the forked end of the lever, and I provide
the block with a suitable device such as a spring catch or gab piece, by moving
which in one position or the other the rod either works loose up and down in
the block of the lever, so as not to actuate this, or it is fixed in the block when it
is desired to rotate the spur wheel by the lever.
In either of the above arrangements it will be seen that after having grasped
the lever so as to bring it up to the handle bar in partially rotating the spur
wheel, the lever will be moved away from the handle bar again by the continued
revolution of the wheel which is effected by the impetus imparted if then during
this return motion of the lever the rider, in still grasping it, resists such return
motion, he will retard or stop the rotation of the spur wheel and consequently
also of the steering wheel, and thus the device can be made to operate as a brake.
In place of toothed gearing, frictional gearing may be used in the above con-
struction.
In the above constructions I prefer to make the connecting rods with telescopic
adjustments so as to enable their length to be capable of exact regulation.
According to another modification, instead of imparting the motion to the steer-
ing wheel as described, I replace the toothed pinion and spur wheel by two chain
wheels, and pitch chain. In this case the driving chain wheel may have its
axis mounted on the pillar of the steering fork and be driven either by a crank
pin and lever operated in a similar manner to that above described, or the chain
wheel is provided with a crank handle which is directly rotated by hand.
The pitch chain passing up from the chain wheel on the steering wheel hub
to the wheel on the fork pillar may be enclosed in a suitable casing. Also in
place of a pitch chain and chain wheels, grooved pullies and cord or band may be
used; in this case the band may be loose when the auxiliary driving gear is
not required, and be tightened by a tightening pulley actuated by a lever, when
the gear is to be used.
Although I have spoken of a single lever provided on one side of the handle
bar for working the driving gear, it will be evident that if it be desired to obtain
greater power of rotation, a hand lever may be provided on each side of the handle
bar so as to be able to work with both hands.
Dated this 25th day of November 1808
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in or connected with Auxiliary Driving Mechanism
for Bicycles and other Velocipedes.
I, THEODORE JOHNS PSIMENOS, of 4, Cullum Street, in the City of London,
Merchant, 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:-
My invention relates to improved mechanism, whereby the front steering wheel

page_text: of a bicycle or other velocipede can be driven by hand by the rider at the same time
that he drives the back wheel or wheels by the usual pedal action.
Various arrangements have heretofore been proposed for this purpose, all of which
however are open to the objection that they require a greater or less alteration in
the construction of the bicycle, in order to adapt it to the above named purpose.
My invention has for its object to obviate this disadvantage and it consists in so
constructing the mechanism required for the above named purpose that it can be
applied to a bicycle or other velocipede without any alteration of the existing
construction, beyond the fixing of a toothed pinion upon the hub of the steering
wheel, so that the propelling apparatus can be applied without difficulty to all
existing machines. I will describe the construction which I employ for this
purpose with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 shews a
front view of the steering wheel and fork of a bicycle with my invention applied
thereto, Fig. 2 shews a side view of the same, Fig. 3 shews a plan, Fig. 4 shews a
section at X X Fig. 2 to an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 shews a modified construction.
The hub of the steering wheel has fixed upon it a toothed pinion with which
can be put in gear a toothed wheel b the axis c of which is carried by a block
can slide up and down to a slight extent in the loop e of a bracket f that is
secured by a clamping screw to the one limb of the steering fork. To the
block dis fixed a rod ½ preferably made telescopic for adjustment, as shown, and
having its upper end connected as will be presently described. The wheel b
carries a crank pin on which is pivotted a telescopically adjustable connecting
rod whose upper end is connected by a ball and socket joint at k to a hand
lever. This lever is pivotted at m to a bracket n which is formed with a clamp-
ing ring that is secured upon the stem of the steering handle by a clamping
screw. To the bracket is pivotted at p a second hand lever g to which is pivotted
at the upper end of the before mentioned rod fixed to the sliding block carry-
ing the spur wheel b. The lever g ordinarily has its free end pressed downwards
by a spring s fixed to the handle bar, whereby the other end is raised so as to
keep the spur wheel braised out of gear with the pinion a.
that
When it is desired to drive the steering wheel, the lever is first grasped by
the one hand while holding the handle bar, so as to lower the spur wheel b into
gear with the pinion a, after which lever is grasped by the other hand holding
the handle bar, so as to bring it close up to the latter thereby raising the rod
and causing it to turn the wheel b in the direction of the arrow Fig. 1, so as to
propel the steering wheel.
When the lever 7 has been drawn up to the full extent, the crank pin will
be at the top of the crank circle, so that on now releasing lever 1, wheel b in
continuing to be rotated by the impetus imparted to the steering wheel, will
carry the crank pin down through the other half of the circle, carrying the
lever down with it, and when this has arrived at the lowest position it is again
grasped by the hand as before, to continue the propulsion.
In the modified construction shewn at Fig. 5, the rod for raising and lowering
the toothed wheel, instead of being worked by a lever as described, has its upper end
formed with a screw thread, screwing through a nutt rotatably held in a socket u
on the bracket n, so that by turning the nut by hand the rod is raised or lowered.
It will be seen from the above description that the application of the propelling
mechanism to a bicycle or other velocipede involves no alteration of the machine
beyond the fixing on of the pinion a, and that the entire mechanism is secured
in position by the two clamping attachments t and o.
It will also be seen that the above described mechanism will also serve as an efficient
brake, by putting the wheel b in gear with a and resisting the forward rotation
of the latter and consequently of the steering wheel by grasping lever / so as to
impede its descending motion.
Thus the additional expense of the propelling mechanism is partly compensated
for by dispensing with the ordinary brake gear.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is:-
1. Mechanism for driving the steering wheel of a bicycle or other velocipede
by hand, consisting of the combination of a toothed wheel b adapted to gear with
a toothed pinion on the steering wheel hub and mounted on a sliding block d in a
looped bracket f clamped on to the steering fork, a rod connected at one end
to the sliding block d and at the other end to a hand lever pivotted to a
bracket clamped on to the handle bar stem, and a rod j connected at one end to
a crank pin on the toothed wheel b and at the other end to a hand lever
pivotted to the said bracket », the said parts being arranged and operated sub-
stantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
2. In mechanism for driving the steering wheel of a bicycle or other velocipede,
a bracket such as n adapted to be secured by a clamping ring on the handle bar
stem, and having pivotted thereto firstly a hand lever to which is pivotted a
connecting rod j connected to a crank pin on the toothed wheel that drives the
steering wheel, and secondly a hand lever q to which is pivotted a rod h connected
to and serving to raise or lower the bearing of the said toothed driving wheel,
substantially as described.
3. The modified construction of the mechanism referred to in the preceding
claims wherein the rod has its upper end formed with a screw thread screwing
through a rotatable nut carried by the bracket substantially as described with
reference to Fig. 5.
T419.1
1000