CONSTRUCTION OF TRICYCLES, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS ALSO APPLICABLE FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION ON OTHER MACHINES."
Year: 1881

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LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Banister and Samuel Lees, both of Rochdale,
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
in the County of Lancaster, for an Invention of
CONSTRUCTION OF TRICYCLES, PART OF WHICH INVENTION IS ALSO APPLICABLE
FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION ON OTHER MACHINES."
You by reason of
pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent.)
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Banister and Samuel
Lees at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th April 1881.
THOMAS BANISTER and SAMUEL LEES, both of Rochdale, in the County of
Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF TRICYCLES, PART OF
WHICH INVENTION IS ALSO APPLICABLE FOR TRANSMITTING MOTION ON OTHER
MACHINES."
This Invention is applicable to that class of tricycle wherein the steering wheel
is at the front and the driving wheel at one side, the object of the first part of the
Invention being to obtain an accelerated movement of the driving wheel without
the use of chains and chain pulleys.
The crank shaft (which is in a line with the axis of the driving wheel) is
actuated by means of two connecting rods, the forward ends of which are jointed
to the upper ends of two rocking levers which work on a fulcrum fixed to the
frame of the machine, and are provided with pedals at their upper ends, having
shoes or straps to support the heels of the feet, so that the forward impetus is given
by a forward thrust of the feet, the seat for the rider being comparatively low, so
that his legs will lie at an angle of about from twenty to thirty degrees below the
line of his seat. If preferred, swinging levers may be substituted for the rocking
levers, in which case the pedals will be at the lower end instead of at the upper
end thereof, or the forward ends of the connecting rods may work on inclined
slides."
The accelerated movement of the driving wheel is obtained by a reversed
modification of what is known as the "sun-and-planet" motion. To the backward

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end of one connecting rod a toothed wheel is fixed so as not to be capable of
revolving, the crank pin passing freely through its centre; the outer portion of the
crank shaft is made tubular and carries an inner shaft or axis, and on one end of
the latter is keyed a spur wheel in gear with the toothed wheel above named. It
will thus be evident that as the fixed toothed wheel is carried round by the crank
it will drive the spur wheel on the inner shaft or axis at an accelerated speed.
The driving wheel is mounted loosely on the outer end of the tubular part of the
crank shaft, but is fixed by means of a plate onto the squared end of the inner
shaft or axis. The result of this arrangement is that if the two toothed wheels
are of the same diameter the driving wheel will make two revolutions to every one
of the crank shaft, but as such an increase of speed is not necessary (excepting on the
racing path), we prefer to make the fixed wheel smaller than the other (say, about
two-thirds or three-fourths of the diameter), which will give sufficient acceleration
for ordinary travelling purposes. This reversed modification of the "sun-and-
planet" motion having the "sun or central wheel loose and the outer or "planet'
wheel fixed, is also applicable for transmitting an accelerated motion in various
other kinds of machines.
"
The brake is formed of a band or strap of steel lined with leather or other
suitable material and applied to the tubular part of the crank shaft by means of a
lever, the band being so arranged that the revolution of the axis has a tendency to
tighten the grip of the brake. We also fix on this part of the crank shaft a
ratchet wheel, in gear with which is a ratchet attached to a lover, by means of
which the rider can assist with the hand when ascending an incline, and also to
afford means of pulling the cranks forward if they should be on the dead centre
when starting.