Improvements in Bicycle Alarm-bells.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Nov., 1897-Accepted. 29th Jan., 1898
Improvements in Bicycle Alarm-bells.
We, GEORGE PHILIP MCDONNELL, of 23, South 20th Street, and WILLIAM MCCALL
STEELE, of 3885, Washington Boulevard, St. Louis, Missouri, United States of
America, Gentlemen, 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 :-
Our invention has relation to improvements in bicycle alarm-bells, and consists in
the novel arrangement and combination of parts more fully set forth in the
specification and pointed out in the claims.
In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of one side of the device as applied to the
wheel;
Fig. 2 is an elevation of the opposite side with the roller, however, disengaged
from the tire of the wheel;
Fig. 3 is a section on line x--x of Fig. 1;
Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the device, the bell being partly broken away;
Fig. 5 is a detail view of the controlling spring for the hammer-lever and the roller-
carrying arm; and
Fig. 6 is a detail of the roller-carrying arm.
The present invention is an improvement on that class of bells which sound an
alarm during the travel of the bicycle, the object being to simplify the construction
and improve the working of the bell.
Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the bell, which is secured to the lower
fork of the steering rod by means of an arm 2, the lower end of which terminates
in a clamp 3 adapted to be carried by one of the members of the fork. The upper
end of the arm is passed over the terminal screw-threaded end of the stem 4 by which
the bell is directly carried, a nut 5 serving to secure the parts, and a slot 6 being
formed at the upper end of the arm 2, whereby any desirable adjustment in the
securing of the parts is possible. Also secured to the screw-threaded end of the
stem 4 is a bar 7, projecting a suitable distance beyond the peripheral edge of the bell,
the said projecting end of the bar having secured thereto or formed therewith, a
(preferably) rectangular or oblong frame 8 projecting forwardly of the bell, and
substantially at right angles to the plane of the free peripheral edge of the bell.
Along the inner surface of one of the lateral walls of the frame, and at a point
adjacent to the upper edge of said wall, and in proximity to the outer terminal
wall of the frame, is pivoted a lever 9 whose inner arm is confined within the
limits of the frame and which carries a hammer 10 adapted to operate upon the
bell, and whose outer upwardly curved arm is provided with an expanded
terminal portion having a basal outwardly inclined straight edge 11 for a purpose
to be presently described. The lever 9 operates upon the bell by being caused to
oscillate in a vertical plane about its pivotal point or fulcrum, being guided in its
oscillations by the walls of a slit 12 formed in the outer terminal wall of the frame 8.
Pivoted along the inner surface of the opposite lateral wall of the frame, near the
lower edge thereto and adjacent to the inner terminal wall of the frame, is a roller-
carrying arm 13, the free outer projecting end of which carries a contact roller 14
normally bearing against the tire 15 of the front wheel of the bicycle. The side of

page_text: the roller adjacent to the hammer-lever 9 is provided with a pin 16 which, as the
roller revolves in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1, intermittently rides
over the straight edge 11 of the enlarged end of the curved arm of the lever 9,
raising said end, and depressing the inner end carrying the hammer, thus tilting the
hammer out of contact with the bell. After the pin 16 has passed off the edge 11
the hammer is again returned suddenly against the bell by a spring, the construction
of which we shall now proceed to describe:
Projecting from the inner surface of the hammer-lever 9 at a point adjacent to the
pivotal point of said lever, and between said pivotal point and the hammer 10, is a
pin 17 over which is coiled the terminal loop 18 of a spring arm 19 forming the
continuation of a medial resilient spring coil 20 formed at the juncture of said arm 19
and a second arm 21 terminating in a loop 22. The latter is coiled about a pin 23
projecting from the inner surface of the roller-carrying arm 13 at a point adjacent the
outer terminal wall of the frame 8. The resiliency or tension of the middle coil 20
tends to keep the arms 19 and 21 separated as best seen in Fig. 5, by which
tendency the arm 19 keeps the hammer 10 against the bell, and the edge 11 of
the hammer-lever is kept in the path of the pin 16 carried by the side of the
roller 14; and the arm 21 tends to keep the roller 14 normally in contact with the
tire of the wheel. The arms 19 and 21 and the basal coil 20 thus form a single
spring whose arms simultaneously control the roller-carrying arm, and the hammer-
lever.
=.
The operation now becomes apparent. As the tire 15 revolves as indicated by the
arrow, the roller 14. will revolve as indicated, the pin 16 thereof with each revolution
riding over the inclined edge 11, tripping the hammer lever against the resiliency of
the spring arm 19 and the coil 20, the latter in turn bringing the hammer
forcibly against the bell the moment the pin 16 has passed off the edge 11, and
so on indefinitely, the bell ringing all the time that the machine is in motion. On
the other hand, the roller 14 is kept normally in engagement with the tire by the
resiliency of the coil 20 and arm 21, the direction of action of the said arm being
indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5.
To disengage the roller from the tire, we provide a disengaging lever 25, the same
being pivoted along the outside of the lateral wall of the frame carrying the roller-
carrying arm, and at a point near the outer terminal wall of the frame 8 the said
lever being provided with an elongated slot 26 through which passes the lateral
outwardly projecting pin 27 carried by the arm 13, the free end of the disengaging
lever being connected to the lower end of a cord 28 whose opposite end can be
controlled or pulled by the rider in any mechanical manner. The pin 27 projects
from a lug 29 forming part of the arm 13, this arrangement being resorted to, to
enable the pin 27 to rest at the base of a concave depression 30 formed in the
adjacent side wall of the frame when the free end of the arm 13 is in its lowest 4
position; that is, when the roller 14 is in engagement with the tire of the wheel.
As the free end of the disengaging lever is raised (see Fig. 2) by cord 28 to
release the roller, the connecting pin 27 is free to slide within the limits of the
slot 26 of said lever. In its movements the forward end of the arm 13 is guided
by the walls of the slit 31 cut for its reception in the outer terminal wall of the 4
frame 8.
It is apparent that the construction might be varied in a few details without
departing from the spirit of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what 5
we claim is :-
1. In a bicycle alarm-bell, a suitable bell, means for securing the same to the
frame of the machine, a roller-carrying arm, a frame to which said arm is pivoted, a
hammer-lever carried by the frame, a spring for simultaneously keeping the roller
normally in engagement with the tire of the wheel, and the hammer normally in 5
contact with the bell, a pin projecting from the side of the roller and adapted during

page_text: the travel of the machine to intermittently trip the hammer lever, whereby the
spring controlling the same successively rings the hammer forcibly against the bell,
thus sounding an alarm, substantially as set forth.
2. In a bicycle alarm-bell, a suitable bell, means for securing the same to the
frame of the machine, a roller-carrying arm, a frame to which said arm is pivoted, a
hammer-lever carried by the frame, a spring for simultaneously keeping the contact
roller normally in engagement with the tire of the wheel, and the hammer normally
in engagement or contact with the bell, means carried by the roller for intermittently
tripping the hammer lever during the travel of the machine, whereby the spring
controlling the same successively brings the hammer forcibly against the bell,
and means for disengaging the roller from the tire, substantially as set forth.
3. In a bicycle alarm-bell, a suitable bell, means for securing the same to the
frame of the machine, a roller-carrying arm, a frame to which said arm is pivoted a
hammer-lever carried by the frame, a spring for simultaneously keeping the contact
roller normally in engagement with the tire of the wheel, and the hammer in contact
with the bell, means carried by the roller for intermittently tripping the hammer-
lever during the travel of the machine, means for disengaging the roller from the
tire, and suitable guide-ways or slits formed in the frame for the guiding of the
hammer-lever and roller-carrying arm in their movements, substantially as set
forth.
4. In a bicycle alarm-bell, a suitable bell, means for securing the same to the machine
frame, a frame located in proximity to the bell, a hammer-lever pivoted to one of
the lateral walls of the frame along the inner surface of said wall and adjacent to the
outer terminal wall of said frame, a hammer-carried by the inner arm of the lever, a
roller-carrying arm pivoted along the inner surface of the opposite lateral wall of
the frame and adjacent to the inner terminal wall of said frame, a pin carried by the
hammer lever and located at a point between the pivotal point of the lever and the *
hammer, a pin located on the roller-carrying arm at a point removed from
the pivotal point of said roller-carrying arm, a spring having a medial coil and
oppositely extending arms, the free ends of the arms being respectively secured to
the pin carried by the roller-carrying arm and the pin carried by the hammer-lever
whereby the hammer is normally kept in engagement with the bell, and the roller
carried by the roller-carrying arm in engagement with the tire of the wheel, and
means carried by the roller for intermittently tripping or oscillating the hammer-
lever, the parts operating substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. In a bicycle alarm-bell, a suitable bell, means for securing the same to the
frame of the machine, a roller-carrying arm, a frame to which said arm is pivoted, a
hammer-lever carried by the frame, a spring for simultaneously keeping the contact
roller normally in engagement with the tire of the wheel, and the hammer in con-
tact with the bell, a pin carried by the roller along the side thereof, a straight edge
forming one end of the hammer-lever along which the pin intermittently rides
during the travel of the machine, a disengaging lever pivoted to the frame, means
for controlling the end of the lever, a slot formed in the disengaging lever and a pin
carried by the roller-carrying arm and operating within the slot whereby upon
movement of the free end of the disengaging lever the roller is disengaged from the
tire, substantially as set forth.
F. WISE HOWORTH,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.