Improvements in and relating to the Joining of Tubes, and to the Manufacture of Velocipede Frames and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Oct., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 29th Aug., 1898-Accepted, 22nd Oct., 1898
Improvements in and relating to the Joining of Tubes, and to the
Manufacture of Velocipede Frames and the like.
I, TIMOTHY SHEPHERD, of Kenilworth, Oakfield Road, Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention has for its object to join up the various parts of a velocipede frame
or other similar structure without brazing, soldering, or heating the joints, so that
the tubes used in the construction will not be liable to be softened, scaled, or
weakened by filing at the vital parts as has hitherto been usual; and to build the
frame in such a manner that the whole of the members thereof can be tapped with
right-handed threads and screwed up to a dead shoulder.
To effect this purpose I make the lugs or brackets in the usual manner but with.
the projections for the reception of the tubes longer so that they may form liners.
On the base of each projection on these lugs or brackets is a shoulder the size of the
outside diameter of the tube to be attached thereto. Beyond this shoulder I cut a
fine thread so as not to weaken the tube more than necessary, whilst the remaining
part of the projection is left plain or smooth, but with the end notched or serrated
as usual in the case of liners. The diameter of the smooth part of these projections
is exactly that of the inside diameter of the tubes to be attached to the same, so that
on a great bending strain being applied, the bearing, instead of taking on the tube
threads, takes upon the smooth part of the tubes and against the liners, neither of
which are screw-cut at those parts on which most of the strain comes.
Each tube is cut to the required length and screw-cut with a fine thread to suit
that on the projections, but only so far as is necessary for engagement with the
thread on the projection to which it is to be secured.
With members so formed I may build a velocipede frame in the following
manner :-Commencing at the bottom bracket I screw the four tubes into their
respective positions tight up to the shoulders hereinbefore mentioned, the tubes
that require bending being first formed to the required shape. The bottom head
lug is then screwed home into the main stay tube, care being taken to get such
head lug into its correct upright position just when it is screwed right up to the
shoulder. When necessary this may be accomplished by slightly filling the tube end.
Then the seat pillar joint is screwed into the seat pillar tube proceeding from the
bottom bracket. The top stay or tube is then screwed into the seat pillar joint and the
top head lug screwed into the top stay tube, the same care being taken, as with
the bottom head, to get it home on the shoulder when it is in its upright position.
The top stay and main stay are joined together as follows:-The top head is made
to receive a head tube which may or may not be tapped or may have a shoulder at
A hole is made on the bottom head
the requisite position preferably on the inside.
lug large enough for the head tube to pass through, one end of which tube is then
screwed into the top head lug, or the ball race may be made with a flange which
flange may be screwed into the said head tube end, and so firmly fix it in its
proper position. The other end which has passed clear through the bottom head

page_text: lug is then secured by screwing the bottom ball race into this end or by pinning
the same on after drilling through both lug and tube when in the correct position.
It will be obvious that I may use the method of fastening the top end of the head
tube for the bottom and vice-versa. Thus this part of the frame is completed.
Into the bottom stays which are screwed into the bottom bracket I then screw the
fork ends and the seat pillar stays are screwed into suitable projections on the said
fork ends, the upper ends of which may be flattened and fastened with the ordinary
nut and bolt. Each joint may then be bored through and a pin or screw inserted
so as to keep the tubes locked in their respective positions.
Where very thin tubes are employed I put an outside liner over each joint, which
can be made of a tightly fitting tube, and the locking pin or screw in this case goes
through this liner also, thus holding it in position.
Suitable stays, clips, or mudguard supports can then be clamped on in the usual
manner.
To fasten the seat pillar, I prefer using a split circular cone-shaped screw, which
is tapped into the seat pillar joint, so that the further such cone-shaped screw is
screwed into the joint the more it will grip the seat pillar as it lessens in diameter.
Dated this 28th day of October 1897.
A. F. SPOONER,
323, High Holborn, London, Agent for the Applicant.-
Improvements in and relating to the Joining of Tubes and to the
Manufacture of Velocipede Frames and the like.
I, TIMOTHY SHEPHERD, of Kenilworth, Oakfield Road, Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, 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 :-
My invention has for its object to join up the various parts of a velocipede frame or
other similar structure without brazing, soldering, or heating the joints, so that the
tubes used in the construction will not be liable to be softened, scaled, or weakened
by filing at the vital parts as has hitherto been usual; and to build the frame in
such a manner that the whole of the members thereof can be tapped with right-
handed threads, or threads all in the one direction, and screwed up to a dead
shoulder.
In the accompanying drawings, which are illustrative of my invention,
Figure 1 is a bicycle bottom bracket.
Figure 2 shows a bicycle frame in side elevation, and
Figures 3 and 4 show alternative methods of making the final joint in the
frame.
According to my invention I make the lugs or brackets either with sockets in the
usual manner as shown in Figure 2 or they may, as shown in Figure 1, be formed
with projections somewhat longer than usual to pass within the tubes so as to form
liners. At the base of each lug or projection is a shoulder a which is equal in size
to the outside diameter of the tube to be attached thereto. Beyond this shoulder a
I cut a fine screw-thread b so as not to weaken the tube more than necessary, whilst the
remaining part of the lug or projection is left plain or smooth, as shown at c, and
with its end c split as is usual in the case of liners. The diameter of the smooth
part c is exactly that of the inside diameter of the tube to be attached thereto so
that on a great bending strain being applied, the stress, instead of taking on the
screw threads, takes upon that part of the tube beyond its screw-thread and upon

page_text: the smooth part of the liner, neither of which parts are screw-cut at the point
where most of the strain comes.
Each tube is cut to the required length and screw-cut with a fine thread to suit
the one 6 on the lug or projection and either internally as would be the case with
Figure 1 or externally as indicated at d in Figure 2. These threads extend only so
far as is necessary for engagement with the threads on or in the lugs or projections
to which respectively they are to be secured.
With members so formed I may build a velocipede frame in the following manner:―
Commencing at the bottom bracket A I screw the four tubes 1, 2, 3 and 4 into their
respective positions tight up to the external shoulders a if the bottom bracket be as
shown in Figure 1 or to similar internal shoulders as indicated in Figure 2, the tubes
that require bending being first formed to the required shape. The bottom head.
lug B is then screwed home upon the main stay tube 4, care being taken to get such
head lug into its correct position just when it is screwed right up to its shoulder.
When necessary this may be accomplished by slightly filing the tube end. Then the
seat pillar lug C is screwed into the seat pillar tube 1; the top stay tube 5 is next
screwed into the said seat pillar lug C, and the top head lug D screwed into the said
top stay tube 5, the same care being taken, as with the bottom head lug B, to get it
home on the shoulder when they are in line. The top stay 5 and main stay 4 are
joined together as follows:-The top head lug D is made to receive a head tube 6
which may or may not be tapped or may have a shoulder at the requisite position
preferably on the inside. The bottom head lug B has an opening large enough for
the head tube 6 to pass through, one end of which tube 6 is then screwed into the top
head lug D, or the ball race may be made with a flange, which flange may be screwed
into the said head tube end, and so firmly fix it in its proper position. The other end
which has passed clear through the bottom head lug B is then secured firmly to such
bottom head lug B. Figures 3 and 4 illustrate alternative means of effecting this.
In Figure 3 the ball race e is provided with a sleeve e¹ reduced in thickness at its
extremity so as to form a shoulder e² for the head tube 6 to butt against. The larger
portion of the sleeve e¹ is screw-threaded externally as shown at es to engage with a
correspondingly screwed end in the bottom bend lug B. All the parts are then pinned
together with one or more screw-pins e. In Figure 4 the end of the head tube 6 is
screw-threaded internally as shown and into such tube a stopper f is screwed into
position by means of a key which engages with the two apertures f¹. This stopper
is formed with two shoulders f and ³, the one f2 forming an abutment for the end
of the head tube 6, the other one jambing against a similar shoulder within the
bottom head lug B. The ball race e is then screwed into the lug B as before and one
or more screw pins e passed through the parts. It will be obvious that I may use
the method of fastening the top end of the head tube for the bottom and vice-versû,
Thus this part of the frame is completed.
Into the bottom stays 2, and 3 I then screw the fork ends g and the seat pillar
stays 7 and 8 are screwed into suitable lugs or projections g¹ on the said fork ends.
The upper ends of the stays 7 and 8 may be flattened and fastened on to the seat
pillar lug C with the ordinary nut and bolt h or othewise. Each joint may then be
bored through and a pin or screw e inserted so as to keep the tubes locked in their
respective positions.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The method, substantially as set forth, of so building up a velocipede or like
frame that all its joints are screwed ones.
2. The method, substantially as set forth, of building up a velocipede or like frame
solely with joints screwed in a right-handed or the one direction and with a locking
or key tube to form the last junction.
3. The combination, in a lug or bottom bracket of a velocipede or like frame, of a

page_text: shoulder, a screw-threaded portion and a plain extension substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.
4. In a velocipede or like frame having screwed joints, the final joint constructed
substantially as described with reference to Figure 3 or to Figure 4 of the accompany
ing drawings.
5. A velocipede or like frame constructed substantially as described and as
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20.
A. F. SPOONER,
323, High Holborn, London, Agent for the Applicant.