Improvements in Velocipedes and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 22nd May, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Velocipedes and the like.
We, WILLIAM Dunn, Engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and
FREDERICK HAROLD NIES and JAMES BUCHANAN NIES, Gentlemen, both
citizens of the United States, and all of Number 114 William Street, in the City
of Brocklyn, in the State of New York, United States of America, 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:-
This invention relates in the main to a gear case for a bicycle, or other
velocipede where a chain is employed for transmitting the power from the pedals
or treadles thereof to a wheel or wheels thereof, the said gear-case serving, in
whole or in part, as a member of the frame of the velocipede, thereby permitting a
part of the usual frame to be dispensed with.
In the accompanying drawings the invention is represented as applied to an
ordinary bicycle frame, this adaptation serving best to illustrate the use and
purpose of the invention.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of that part of a bicycle where the gear-case is
situated. The view shews the cover of the case in place as when the bicycle is
in use.
Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1, but shewing the gear-case with the cover
omitted.
Figure 3 is a plan of the device.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 are detail views, on a larger scale than the principal views,
illustrating means for securing the cover of the gear-case when it is placed.
Figures 7 and 8 are, respectively, a horizontal sectional view and a side view,
on a larger scale than the principal views, of the rear end of the gear-case.
Ordinarily, in a bicycle-frame, there are two tubular members extending from
the crank-shaft hanger, a, back to the spindle, b, on which the hub, c, of the rear
wheel turns; and in Figure 3, one of these members, d, is shown. The other
member is replaced by the gear-case, A. This gear-case consists of two chain-
troughs or channels, e, e, connected integrally at their respective ends with
substantially semi-circular casings, g and g*, which house the larger sprocket-
wheel, B, and the lesser sprocket-wheel, C. The chain, D, connecting the two
sprocket-wheels, plays in the troughs e, e, but without contact therewith, necessarily.
The troughs e and the semicircular casing g, are open at the front so as to expose
the chain when the cover, A¹, is removed. The cover is shaped to fit over and
close the open front of the gear-case. It has in its wider end a slot, terminating
in a circular opening to fit snugly about the crank-shaft, h, the slot being closed,
normally by a slide, as seen in Figure 1. In placing and securing the cover A¹,
the slide i is removed and the crank, j, passed through the central opening in the
cover, the crank-shaft being then made to pass along the slot. The narrower end
of the cover is inserted under the cover-plate of the semicircular casing 9*, and the
cover brought down on the casing A. The cover may be secured when in place
by any known means; that shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5 will serve. This device
consists of slightly raised lugs, k, on the margins of the troughs or channels e, and
notches or recesses, m, in the margins of the cover A', to receive said lugs. In the
front edge of the lug k is a slight recess, k*, (Figure 4) and when the cover is
down in place, it is moved to the rear sufficiently to cause the end-margins of the

page_text: recesses m to take into the respective recesses * in the lugs. Thus the cover.
which may be of flat sheet-metal, is held down firmly in place. A short screw, n
is now passed through an ear at the front end of the cover and screwed into a
suitable lug on casing A. This screw, in conjunction with the devices described,
will hold the cover firmly in place so as to exclude dust from the casing.
Figure 6 illustrates another means of securing the cover. It consists of a hinged
hasp, o, on the cover, adapted to engage a notched lug, p, on the case A. There
may be any desired number of these fastening devices arranged about the margins
of the cover A'.
At the rear end of the gear-case provision is made, in connection with the
semi-circular case g*, for taking up slack in the driving chain. The ordinary
device for this purpose is seen in Figure 3. The member d of the frame has a
fork at the end, and the spindle engages this fork and passes through an
eye in an eyebolt, q, which latter passes through a bridge-piece, q', adapted
to bear on the end of the fork, and has on it a nut. This is a common device,
and it serves to draw back the spindle b at that side. At the other side the
end of the wheel-hub is adapted to enter a circular aperture in a broad slide-
plate, r, mounted in guides on the inner face of the gear-case A.
On the outer
face of the gear-case is a fixed or integral plate, s, on which is applied a plate, t,
which takes under an overlapping part of a curved movable plate, u, which closes
the otherwise open, rear end of the gear-case A. A screw, v, fixed to the inner
face of the plate t, extends out through a hole in the curved plate u, and has on
it an adjusting nut, v. The spindle 6 passes out through a hole in the plate t.
The plates and t each cover a slot in the integral part of the gear-case, said slots
opening out at the rear end of the case.
In assembling the parts the broad slide-plate is passed over the hub of the
wheel and the plate t, over the outer end of the spindle b at that side of the bicycle.
The spindle is passed sidewise into the slots in the gear-case A, care being taken
to make the plater enter the guides at the inner face of the latter. This brings
the curved plate u into place over the open end of the gear-case. When the chain
is on the sprockets, the nut v may be tightened up so as to draw the spindle b
toward the rear, as usual in tightening the chain. The nut bears on the plate u,
and presses it up firmly against the end of the gear-case A, and it has lugs, u¹,
which take over on the latter and prevent the plate u from slipping sidewise.
The gear-case A, as before stated, forms a part of the frame of the bicycle, it
being fixed at its front end, by brazing or otherwise, to the crank-hanger, and at
its rear end to a member, w, of the frame.
If desired, an oil-cup, y, of any approved kind, may be mounted on the gear-case,
and preferably over the crank-axle, to lubricate the chain.
The gear-case may also, if desired, be lined with felt, leather, or other soft
material, to avoid noise 'should the chain strike it.
It is desirable that the gear-case shall be no deeper than the thickness of the
chain at the points where it encloses the sprocket-wheels, and in the full lines of
the drawings (Figure 3) it is shown of uniform depth throughout its entire length;
but in order to allow a little lateral sway of the chain, the portion of the gear-
case between the end-casings for the sprocket-wheels may be made a little deeper,
as indicated by dotted lines at a in Figure 3. This construction is preferred,
especially where the chain is run slack. When the gear-case is constructed in this
manner that is, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3, the cover A¹ will be
shaped or bent to fit.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
:-
1. The improvement in velocipedes wherein a chain is employed for transmitting
the power, which consists in a gear-case for the sprockets and chain which forms a

page_text: part of the frame of the velocipede and which has a removable cover or face-plate
which exposes the chain when removed, substantially as set forth.
g
2. The improvement in velocipedes wherein a chain is employed for transmitting
the power, which consists in a gear-case A, having sprocket casings 9 and g* at its
ends, and open channels or troughs e, e, connecting said sprocket casings, said gear-
case forming a part of the frame of the velocipede and having a removable cover A',
provided with suitable fastenings, substantially as set forth.
3. In a gear-case A, as described in Claim 2, the slot in the cover A¹ provided
with a slide i, whereby the cover may be placed without the removal of the crank
or pedal, substantially as set forth.
4. In a gear-case as described in Claim 2, the end-casing g*, for the smaller
sprocket-wheel C, having fixed or integral front and rear plates, provided
respectively with slots and slide-plates t and r, the curved movable, end-plate u,
the screw v. fixed to the plate t, and the nut v on said screw, whereby the chain
may be drawn tight, substantially as set forth.
5. In a gear-case as described in Claim 2, the means for securing the cover A'
in place removably, which consists in the recessed lugs k, on the case adapted to
receive and hold the cover as described, and the screw n, to hold the cover against
disengagement from said lugs, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 5th day of April 1897.
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicants.