Improvements in Bicycle Stands.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 6th Nov., 1897
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Improvements in Bicycle Stands.
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I, NEVIN BUFFINGTON LE FEVRE, residing in the Town of Littlestown, in the
County of Adams, and State of Pennsylvania, United States of America, Gentle-
man, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the samo
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
My invention relates to improvements in bicycle stands, and contemplates the
provision of means for raising and lowering the bicycle, when mounted in the stand,
to any desired distance from the floor, means for securing the bicycle upon the
stand, means for moving the bicycle into any desired position and angle to facilitate
work thereon, and means for securing the bicycle at any angle, all as hereinafter
fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved bicycle stand, and shows in dotted
lines a bicycle thereon.
Figure 2 is an enlarged view of parts of the mechanism shown by Fig. 1.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of parts shown by Fig. 2.
Figure 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 3.
Figure 5 is a vertical section taken on the line ac of Fig. 3.
Figure 6 is a vertical section taken on the line yy of Fig. 2.
Figure 7 is a top plan view of the cross arm and its connected bicycle holding
stirrup detached from the machine.
Figure 8 shows a modified form of the connecting cross head to the stand.
Figures 9 and 10 represent the stirrup holding rods shown in Fig. 7 detached
from the cross arm.
Figures 11 to 13 inclusive illustrate modified forms of securing the stirrup
holding rods to the cross arm.
Figure 13 illustrates a modified form of stirrup.
Figure 14 is a perspective view of a portion of the swinging arm or lever and
shows a movable clamp upon said arm to assist in holding the bicycle in position.
Figure 15 is a perspective view of the lower part of the standard together with
its supporting legs and feet.
Figure 16 shows in perspective a floor block or clamp to be used in connection
with recesses in the feet of the stand, to secure the same in fixed condition to a
floor.
Figure 17 shows an adaptation of the ball and socket joint to a bicycle stand.
Figure 18 is a view showing the cross arm connected to the stand above the
universal joint thereof.
Figure 19 is a front elevation of a modified construction of my stand, showing in
dotted lines a bicycle frame thereon.
Figure 20 is a side elevation of a part of the stand shown by Fig. 19.
Figure 21 is a vertical section through the upper part of the stand shown by
Fig. 19, taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 20.

page_text: Figure 22 is a detail perspective view of the upper part of the swinging arm
detached from the stand, and shows the upper fixed cross arm or clamp for holding
the bicycle in position.
Figure 23 is a similar detail perspective view of the lower part of the swinging
arm and shows the lower movable clamps for holding the bicycle in position.
Figure 24 is a detail sectional view of the upper part of the tubular standard
and shows the means employed to hold the vertically movable shaft therein at any
desired elevation.
Figure 25 is a detached detail view of the upper part of the swinging arm and
clamp thereon, and shows a removable cross arm held by said clamp and provided
with stirrups to hold bicycles which do not have the upper brace bar shown by
Fig. 19.
Figure 26 is a top plan view of the parts shown by Fig. 25.
Figure 27 is a detached detail through the lower part of the swinging arm and
its attached bicycle holding clamp, to more clearly show the construction of said
parts.
Figure 28 is a detail view of the upper part of the swinging arm.
Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in all the figures of the
drawing.
A designates a tubular standard provided at its lower end with outwardly
extending legs, A', the outer ends, a, of which are thickened to form feet and are
provided, upon their lower surfaces, with dovetailed grooves, a', to engage with
blocks, A2, which are screwed to the floor.
I provide the tubular standard, 'A, with a shaft, B, which freely moves in said
standard and is provided, at its upper end, with a bifurcated portion to receive
one of the disks, C, of the universal joint, C, a pivotal pin or screw b holding the
disc C in proper position between the legs, 61, 61, formed by the bifurcation of the
shaft, B.
I provide the disk C at its edge with a series of detents, c, which engage a
pawl, C, pivoted to the shaft, B, within a recess, c¹, formed in said shaft and
normally held in engagement with the detents by a spring, ².
Rigidly connected to, or formed integral with, the disc C is a disc, D, which
extends at right angles to said disc, C, and is provided at its outer edge with a
series of detents, d, which are engaged by a pawl, D¹, that is connected to and
operated by a spring pressed arm, D2, journaled between lugs, d', which project
from an arm E, which arm is pivoted at e to the disc, D, at the centre thereof.
I preferably extend the arm E above the upper edge of the disc D and provide
said arm with hooks e¹, e³, which bear upon the rear surface of said disk as shown
by Fig. 3.
I preferably bifurcate the arm, E, at its lower end and between the legs e³ thus
formed I secure the upper end of a further extension E of said arm which extends
downward to serve in holding the bicycle frame in position, see Fig. 1. To this
end, I provide the extension, E', with a sliding clamp E having a spring claspe
swivelled thereto, to catch upon the frame of the bicycle. A thumb screw holds
the clamp at any desired position on the arm E.
In lieu of the notches in the peripheries of the two disks I may provide the disks
with transverse openings within the edges thereof to receive fastening pins or
pawls.
I provide the arm E, either at a point immediately below the disk D as shown
by Figs. 1, 2 and 3, or above said disk, as shown by Fig. 18, and upon opposite
sides of said arm, with bosses F, and provide said bosses, as also that portion of the
arm E therebetween, with a cylindrical aperture or hore, f, to receive a tubular
cross arm which is held against movement in said bosses by a thumb screw,
If desired, the cross arm F¹ may be made in two sections and connected to the
fl.
bosses F by a screw connection, as shown by Fig. 8.
I provide the opposite ends of the cross arm with stirrup holding rods or
arms, G, G¹, having forwardly bent outer ends, see Figs. 7 to 11, to which I connect

page_text: stirrups or c'asps H, which, if desired, may be movably connected to said rods G, G¹
as shown by Fig. 11.
I provide one of the stirrup holding rods, G, with a series of apertures g, see
Fig. 10, to receive a pin, g', which passes through an aperture formed in the cross
arm F, whereby said rod may be fixed at different degrees of projection from said
arm, to suit different widths of bicycles. In lieu of the pin g¹ and apertures, the
rod G may have a screw thread cut thereon to engage a screw thread cut in the
end of the cross arm, see Fig. 11, or the said cross arm may have a slot cut in one
side thereof, and be provided with a clamping band to tighten the arm on said
rod G, see Figs. 12 and 13.
The remaining stirrup holding rod or arm G¹ is provided, for a portion of its
length, with a part of less diameter than the remaining part of said rod, about
which is a coiled spring g³ which extends into a cross arm F¹ and abuts against a
ping that passes through said cross arm, see Fig. 1. A pin, g, which projects
from the rod or arm G¹ and moves in a slot, 96, in the cross arm F¹, operates to
hold said arm G¹ from turning in said cross arm.
I preferably pad the stirrups H which engage with the bicycle frame with
leather, or other suitable material, to prevent damage to the said frame by said
stirrups.
In lieu of the open form of stirrups in which the bicycle frame is adapted to be
simply seated, I may provide the stirrups with notches or recesses cut in the upper
edges of the stirrups, and use in connection therewith short curved bolts which fit
in said notches or recesses and span the bicycle frame bars, in order to bind or
clamp the bicycle in the stirrups. Said bolts may be covered with rubber tube
to prevent injury to the enamel or finish of the bicycle.
In Fig. 13 I show a stirrup made in hook form to more securely hold the bicycle
frame in position upon the stand.
I provide my improved stand with a tool rest or table I which is connected with
a collar, I, that is placed upon the shaft B and rests upon the tubular standard A.
A thumb screw in said collar serves to hold it in different adjustments upon the
shaft B and consequently to hold said shaft at any degree of elevation in the
standard A. To hold the shaft B from turning in the standard, I provide a thumb
Screw, j, which passes through upon one side of said standard, near its head, and
bears upon the shaft.
By reference to the drawings, it will be readily understood that the swinging
arm E, E and its contained bicycle may be swung into any position or angle with
the standard A, see Figs. 2 and 3, from the former of which it will be seen that said
arm may be swung from side to side, as indicated by arrows n and m, and held at
any desired degree of elevation by the ongagement of the pawl D¹ with the
detents of the disk D, while from Fig. 3 it will be equally apparent that said
arm E, E may be swung outward from the standard, as indicated by the arrow o,
and held at any desired angle with said standard by the engagement of the pawl Cli
with the detents, c, of the disk C. It is thus apparent that a bicycle on the stand
may be easily and quickly swung into any desired position to facilitate repairs
thereon.
In Fig. 17 I show a ball and socket joint consisting of a shaft K with a swinging
arm K. This latter described form of joint may be used if desired in lieu of the
discs C, D, although inferior in action to said discs.
Other forms of a universal joint between the standard and swinging arm may be
employed and fall within the spirit of my invention.
I will now proceed to a detailed description of the embodiment of my bicycle
stand illustrated by Figures 19 to 28 inclusive.
In this embodiment of my invention, the vertically movable shaft B which is
itted freely in the standard A is provided with the encircling grooves, m, to
eceive the projecting end, m', of a spring pressed pawl, M which is journaled
between lugs m at or near the upper end of the standard A by which the shaft B
s held at any degree of elevation in the standard A. A thumb screw M¹ in the

page_text: standard, opposite to the pawl M, operates to hold the shaft B firmly in position in
said standard.
I provide the shaft B, at its upper end, with a socket, N, having a section n¹
integral with said shaft B and a movable socket n which is connected to said fixed
socket-section n¹ by a thumb screw N¹.
I provide the socket N with cut away portions n³ to receive a stud o that projects
from the swinging arm 0 and is provided at its outer end with a ball, R2, which is
placed and works in the socket N, as shown by Figs. 19 and 20.
Q designates the cross arm that is rigidly connected to the swinging arm 0 at
the upper end thereof and is provided at its ends with the upwardly turned hooks, q,
see Figs. 19, 20, and 22, to receive the upper brace bar of a bicycle, as shown by
dotted lines in Fig. 19.
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I provide the swinging arm O, at or near its middle, with a slot r, through which
a screw threaded bolt r extends from the cross arm R which is placed and slides
upon the swinging arm 0 and is provided at its ends with the downwardly turned 1
hooks to receive the lower brace bar of the bicycle as shown by Fig. 19, a
thumb screw R₁ operating to hold the cross arm R at any point of adjustment on
said swinging arm 0.
In Figs. 25 and 26, I show a hollow shaft S in position on the hooks 11 of the
cross arm R and provided with stirrups S similar to those shown in the embodiment 2
of my invention first hereinbefore described. This last described arrangement of
the hollow shaft S and cross arm R is employed to hold bicycle frames which have
no upper brace bar as has that shown by Figs. 1 and 19.
When using the last described stand, the upper brace bar of the bicycle is placed
in e hooks of the cross arm Q as shown in Fig. 19. The lower cross arm is now
moved downward and its hooks are brought into contact with, and to embrace, the
lower part or brace bar of the bicycle, as shown by Fig. 19, and secured in such
position by means of the thumb screw.
It will be readily apparent that the bicycle thus secured to the swinging arm
may, through the ball and socket connection of said arm with the shaft B, be
readily swung to any angle with said standard A and securely held at such angle
by means of the thumb screw, to facilitate repairs to a bicycle thereon.
If desired, a stationary shelf, T, see Fig. 20, may be connected to the upper end
of the tubular standard to hold tools, etc. within easy reach of a workman.
From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the device shown in the
drawings will operate effectually to hold a bicycle rigidly fixed at any angle
required to facilitate repairs thereon, or when set in the position shown by Figs. 1,
19 and 20 will operate in an equally satisfactory manner as an ordinary rest to
hold a bicycle in an upright position.
My improved stand may also be used to hold the frame work of a bicycle in a
stationary or fixed condition while the wheels, one or both, of the bicycle may rest
upon a roller support, whereby the bicycle may be used indoors for exercising
purposes.
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:-
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1. In a bicycle stand, a tubular standard, a shaft movable freely in said standard,
an arm having connections to hold a bicycle frame, and discs rigidly connected
to each other at right angles and hung to said shaft and said arm, whereby the
latter may move in any direction on the former, substantially as described."
2. In a bicycle stand, a tubular standard, a shaft therein, an arm having a cross
head to receive a bicycle frame, discs rigidly connected at right angles to each
other and provided with peripheral detents, hinged connections between said discs,
shaft and arms, and spring-pressed pawls upon said shaft and said arm to engage
the detents in said discs, substantially as described.
3. The combination with a bicycle stand of circular disks rigidly connected

page_text: together at right angles to each other and provided with peripheral detents, with a
fixed standard, and an arm having a cross head provided with stirrups to hold a
bicycle frame, and spring-pressed pawls connected to said standard and to said arm
to engage the detents in said discs, substantially as described.
4. In a bicycle stand, the combination of a standard having feet provided with
dovetailed grooves to engage floor plates, a shaft within said standard, a collar upon
said shaft having a tool rest or table connected thereto, and a set screw therein to
engage said shaft, an arm having a cross head provided with stirrups and with a
sliding hook to hold a bicycle frame, a universal joint having hinged connections
to said standard and said arm, and means to hold said arm at any angle with said
standard, substantially as described.
5. In a bicycle stand, a standard having a two part socket connected by a screw,
a swinging arm to hold a bicycle, said arm having a cross head rigid therewith
and provided with hooks, and a cross head movably connected thereto and provided
with hooks, a ball rigidly connected to said arm to engage the socket upon the
standard and hold said arm at different angles with said standard, substantially as
described.
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