Year: 1886

page_text: I, NELSON MERRILL, of New York City, New York, United States of America,
Lawyer, 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 the pedals for velocipedes of all descriptions and other
foot inotors, and has for its object to increase the leverage of the crank carrying
the pedal without increasing the length of stroke or movement of the foot required
to maintain it upon the crank; and to supply means whereby the length of this
stroke or stretch of the foot may be lessened by the use of shorter cranks, affording
greater ease to the rider than in the present construction of cranks and pedals,
without any loss of power.
It consists in combining with the crank of a velocipede or motor, a pedal
pivotted upon the end of the pedal crank so as to be free to turn backward but
which may not turn forward thereon, whereby the length of the crank is increased
by the length of the pedal from its pivotal connection with the crank to its outer
end, during so much of the time of its revolution as the foot bears effectively
thereon.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1, is a side elevation in section of one of
the cranks of a bicycle having my invention applied thereto; Figure 2 being a
transverse section on an enlarged scale of the pivotal connection of the pedal with
the crank.
Figure 3, is a side elevation, partly in section, of the crank of a bicycle illus-
trating a modification in the form of the pedal and of its pivotal connection with
the crank; Figure 4 being a transverse section on an enlarged scale of the end of
the crank, with the pedal pivotted thereto shown in elevation.
1, represents in said drawings the axle of a bicycle or velocipede of any
description; 2, one of its crank arms; 3, the crank or wrist-pin; and 4,-Figures 1,
and 2,-a pedal of the form commonly used in bicycles and tricycles, pivotted upon
the wrist-pin.
Instead however of connecting the pedal 4, with the wrist-pin 3, by a simple.
pivotal connection, as has heretofore been done, whereby the pedal is left perfectly
free to revolve loosely in either direction upon the wrist-pin, I interpose a
restraining device in the pivotal joint so as to leave the pedal free to turn in one

page_text: direction only. Preferably, I use friction-balls, 5 5, for the purpose. The balls 5 5,
are placed loosely in angular recesses 6 6, (see Figure 2) formed in the periphery
of the wrist-pin 3, or in a collar fitted thereon under the encircling sleeve 7,
carrying the pedal; these recesses being created by means of a series of flat or
slightly curved faces on the periphery of the wrist-pin or collar at such an
inclination as to leave at their inner ends an abrupt shoulder 8, of a height slightly
greater than the diameter of the ball to be confined in the recess.
These balls, so enclosed, will permit a revolution of the pedal 4, about its axial
wrist-pin 3, in the direction which will carry the ball against the shoulder 8, at
the inner, deeper end of the recess, but will prevent a reverse movement by reason
of the wedging of the ball between the inclined bottom face of the recess and the
inner periphery of the encircling sleeve carrying the pedal when it is moved in the
opposite direction.
In the use of the pedal 4, thus fitted to the wrist-pin 3, the rider will, as in
the revolution of the crank it approaches its highest position, by a slight movement
of the ankle, (such as habitually occurs in walking as the body is thrown forward
upon the foot which for the moment supports it,) bear upon the rear bar of the
pedal upon which the foot rests, (see dotted lines D, Fig. 1) and thereby turn it
until the front bar of the pedal which is under his toe will be brought into a right
line or nearly so with the arm 2, of the crank, (see positive lines Figure 1). As the
pedal cannot turn from the toe but firmly engages the crank in that direction, it
becomes in effect an extension of the crank, and the leverage of the rider's foot as
he bears upon this outer, front bar of the pedal is increased by the distance from
the wrist-pin 3, to the point at which the toe bears upon the pedal (see Figure 1).
The increased leverage due to this automatic increase in the length of the crank
at the moment the crank is brought into position for an effective pressure thereon,
continues effective until, as the foot begins to pass below the level of the axis of
the crank, (see dotted lines at B, in Figure 1) the pedal begins to turn. As the
pedal will turn freely under the pressure of the foot upon the rear bar of the pedal
whilst the crank is completing its revolution, the foot remains over the wrist-
pin 3, when the latter reaches its lowest point, (see dotted lines at C, Fig. 1) so that,
notwithstanding the length of the crank is virtually increased at the moment it
comes into effective play, the length of foot movement is in no wise extended.
In the modification of my invention illustrated in Figures 3, and 4, an extended
pedal, consisting of a plate of about the length of the foot, is pivotted by means of
ears 10, projecting from the under side thereof a heel's length or about two or three
inches, from its rear end, to the wrist-pin 3, of the crank 2. One or more
notches 11, (see Figure 4) are formed in the periphery of the wrist-pin and a
plate-spring 12, is made fast to the under side of the front end of the plate 9, to
extend back thence over the wrist-pin 3, where it is bent and curved so as to bring
its extremity into contact with the periphery of the wrist-pin, as shown in
Figure 4, and is provided with a terminal hook 13, adapted to engage the notch or
notches 11. The notch 11 is so formed, and the hook 13, so bent as that the hook
will only engage the notch when the pedal plate 9 is turned forward, leaving the
pedal-plate free to turn uninterruptedly in the opposite direction (as shown by the
arrows).
The position of the notch 11 is so fixed in relation to the spring hook as that
the book will engage the notch when the pedal is in a right line or nearly so
with the crank-arm 2.
In the use of this extended pedal, the leverage is very greatly increased because
of the increase of the distance between the wrist-pin at 3, and the point at which
the rider's toe is brought to bear upon the pedal, as shown in positive lines in
Figure 3. The engagement of the hook 13, with the notch 11, serves to com-
municate the power exerted upon the end of the pedal to the crank-arm as
effectively as if the two were integral, until, when the rider's foot passes below the
level of the crank-axle 1, (see dotted lines at B Fig. 3) and assumes a horizontal
position, the hook 13, and notch 11, will in the revolution of the crank, turn in

page_text: opposite directions away from each other, as illustrated by the dotted lines at C
and D in Figure 3.
When however, the foot. begins to rise above the level of the axle as seen at D,
Figure 3, the rider, by a natural movement of the ankle joint, will turn his toe
upward in readiness for a new thrust upon the crank, and in so doing will turn the
pedal-plate into a right line or nearly so with the crank-arm, in which position the
spring hook will again engage the notch on the wrist-pin as hereinbefore described,
and as illustrated in positive lines in Figures 3 and 4.
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 with the wrist-pin of a crank for velocipedes and motors, of
a pedal pivotted thereto with freedom to revolve thereon in one direction only,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
2. The combination with the wrist-pin of a crank for velocipedes and motors,
of a pedal pivotted thereto to revolve freely thereon in one direction, and means
substantially as herein described, for automatically preventing its reverse movement.
3. The combination with the wrist-pin of a crank for velocipedes and motors, of
an extended pedal-plate pivotted to the wrist-pin, and a spring-actuated hook
attached to the pedal to engage a notch in the periphery of the wrist-pin when
it is rotated in one direction and prevent thereby a reversal of its movement,
substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
D1 1...
1000