Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Nov., 1897-Accepted, 18th Feb., 1898
I, PAUL HELB WHITE, of The Chalfant, Corner Michigan and Pennsylvania
Streets, in the City of Indianapolis, in Marion County, in the State of Indiana,
United States of America, Mechanical 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;-
The object of my said invention is to provide an automatic brake for vehicles,
especially that class of light vehicles which are operated by foot power of the rider,
such as bicycles, tricycles and the like. It consists in a series of eccentrically-
related parts, located within the hub of the vehicle and which are operated to act
as a clamp or brake by a reverse or retarding operation of the driving means.
invention will first be fully described and the novel features thereof then pointed
out in the claims.
Said
Referring to the accompanying drawings, which are made a part hereof, and on
which similar letters of reference indicate similar parts, Figure 1 is an exterior
viow of a
bicycle hub embodying my said invention; Fig. 2 a central sectional
view of the same on the dotted line 22 in Figs. 1 and 4; Fig. 3 a view similar to a
portion of Fig. 2 but on the dotted line 33 in Fig. 4; Fig. 4 a sectional view through
the sprocket wheel or driver on the dotted line 44 in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 a
trausverse sectional view on the dotted line 55 in Fig. 2, and Fig. 6 a view similar
to Fig. 4 except that the position of the eccentric parts is shown as changed to that
which they occupy during the clamping or braking operation; or, in other words,
said parts are here shown in their braking or clamping position.
In said drawings the portions marked A represent the axle of the vehicle; B
and C two eccentrically-formed cylinders, one of which immediately surrounds the
axle, and the other of which surrounds the first; D a curved cam wedge located
in a corresponding space in the tube or cylinder B; E the cylinder or shell of the
vehicle traction-wheel hub; F a driving wheel (shown as an ordinary sprocket
wheel) mounted on said hub; G the caps constituting the outer ball-race halves,
and H fragments of the vehicle frame.
In the construction shown, the axle, as is common in vehicles, is stationary, while
the traction-wheel hub rovolves thereon, and said wheel may be understood as being
driven by a sprocket chain or belt engaging with the sprocket wheel F', although I
do not desire to be understood as confining myself to this means, as any suitable
means of driving may be employed. It may be further said that several of the
foregoing parts are or may be, in general form, similar to corresponding parts in
bicycles as usually constructed, and so need not be described in detail. I will,
therefore, only refer to such parts incidentally in describing the invention.
The axle bears the usual cones forming the inner ball-race halves, and its outer
ends may also be otherwise of the usual or any desired approved construction.
Centrally, I prefer to make the axle substantially square in cross section so far as
its inner portion or core is concerned, and to place thereon a sleeve or outer por-
tion A circular in cross section, and composed of some material well adapted to
the purpose of a clutch or brake. I have used vulcanized fiber as such a material,

page_text: and find it answers the purpose admirably, but, of course, I may use any other
suitable material, or may make the axle integral, and all of metal, instead of using
a metal core and a different sleeve, without departing from my invention. In other
words, this part is an axle meroly, having a suitable surface to which to apply the
clumps in the braking operation, whether is is made of two parts, as shown, or of
a single part only.
The cylinder B, as already stated, is eccentrically formed, or, in other words,
the axis of the bore through the center is to one side of the axis of the complete
structure. One side of this cylinder is cut away leaving an opening of a size
preferably about equal to one-half its entire peripheral surface, said opening being
for the purpose of receiving the cam wedge ), as will be presently described. At
one end this cylinder is connected to the driving wheel F', preferably by means
of a projecting lug which engages in a notch formed to receive it in the side of
the axial opening through said driving wheel, as shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 6. A
shifting of the position of said driving wheel thus causes a similar shifting in
position of this cylinder, and a consequent applying of the braking or clamping
parts by means of the sleeve A', as will be presently more fully described.
The cylinder C is similar in form, generally speaking, to the cylinder B, but is
large enough to receive the latter, and is somewhat shorter than said cylinder 1,
so that the lug b may move freely past its end. Said cylinder C is held rigidly to
the hub E, in operation, and might be constructed integrally therewith except
for the mechanical difficulty of so constructing it. The parts are so arranged as
that the axis of the wheel is central to the combined structure. Screws c are
shown as the means of securing said cylinder in position, and said screws are also
shown as entering and holding the cam wedge D, and as being carried from the
hub E.
The cam wedge D is exactly similar in form to the opening in the side of the
cylinder B, except that a portion of what would be the thinner edge of such cut-
away portion is omitted altogether, leaving an opening space between the thinner
edge of said cylinder, within the cut, and the thinner edge of said
cam wedge, as shown most plainly in Fig. 5. As also shown in said
Fig. 5, and in Fig. 2, said cam wedge is held rigidly to the eccentric cylinder C
and to the hub E, so that in operation it has no movement relatively to said parts.
The shell or hub proper, E, is or may be, generally speaking, of any usual or
desired form, except that an opening is provided therein through which the projec-
tion b may pass to and be enabled to engage with the driving wheel F, said opening
being somewhat wider, circumferentially of the hub, than the width of said
projection in order to permit the movement required in the operation of braking
or clamping.
The driving wheel F is shown as the usual sprocket chain wheel placed on the
hub of a bicycle, (although it may be any other form of driver so far as my inven-
tion is concerned), except that it is provided with the notch to receive the pro-
jection b. Instead, however, of being rigidly mounted on the hub, it is, in itself,
loosely mounted thereon, but is held from any except a very limited rotary motion
in respect to said hub by its engagement with said projection-the limit of move-
ment being not greater than the excess of width of the opening through the hub
over the width of said projection.
The operation of this invention may be stated as follows: When the parts are
in their normal position, as shown in all the figures of drawing except Fig. 6, there
is an open space between the axle (or its shell) and the surrounding parts, and the
wheel hub revolves freely around said axle, being driven in the usual manner by
power applied to the driving wheol F. When, however, it is desired to apply the
brako and stop the forward motion of the vehicle, it is done by reversing the motion
of or holding back upon said driving wheel F, which operation throws the parts
from the position shown in Fig. 4 to the position shown in Fig. 6, driving the thin
edge of the cylinder B around toward the thin edge of the cam wedge D, thus
reducing the orifice and clamping the sides of the sleeve A', or other braking or

page_text: friction surface provided on or carried by the axle. In the riding of bicycles this
is effected by what is known as "back pedaling," and the result is that the rider
has under convenient and absolute control what amounts to an automatic brake,
without in any way changing his position or being required to manipulate any
additional parts. As will be readily seen, the rider neither changes position nor
moves in any different manner than where no such appliance is provided.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. The combination, in a vehicle, of an axle having a suitable friction surface, a
traction wheel thereon, a driver loosely mounted on the hub of said traction wheel,
two eccentrically-shaped cylinders within the hub and surrounding the axle, one of
which surrounds the other, one of said cylinders being also movable circumferen-
tially in respect to the other, and one having a portion of its substance cut away
leaving an opening in its side, a cani wedge secured to the hub and fitting within
said opening, and a connection within said movable cylinder and said driver.
2. The combination, in a vehicle, of the axle A having friction sleeve A¹, the two
eccentrically-formed cylinders B and C, the cam wedge D positioned in an opening
in the side of the cylinder B, the shell-like vehicle hub within which said parts are
contained, the driving wheel F, and a connection between the inner cylinder and
the driving wheel, said parts being so arranged that the axis of the wheel is central
te the combined structure when in normal position, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 19th day of November 1897
PAUL HELB WHITE.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
46, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.