IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VELOCIPEDES AND IN SEATS OR SADDLES FOR THE SAME"
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph White of Coventry in the County of Warwick
"
Watch Manufacturer John Asbury of the same place. Mechanician and
Frederick George Francis of Folkestone in the County of Kent. Engineer for
an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF VELOCIPEDES
AND IN SEATS OR SADDLES FOR THE SAME"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph White, John Asbury,
and Frederick George Francis at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents
on the 4th July 1883.
JOSEPH WHITE of Coventry in the County of Warwick, Watch Manufacturer
JOHN ASBURY of the same place Mechanician, and FREDERICK GEORGE FRANCIS,
of Folkestone in the County of Kent, Engineer "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE'
CONSTRUCTION OF VELOCIPEDES AND IN SEATS OR SADDLES FOR THE SAME."
This invention relates firstly to means for retaining the back steering wheels of
velocipedes in contact with the ground and thereby ensuring their proper action as
steering wheels.
Secondly to the construction of a saddle which will afford a yielding elastic seat
to the rider, giving both to the vertical motions of the velocipede when passing
over an obstruction in the road, and to the lateral inclination of the body of the
rider, without permitting of any to-and-fro motion of the saddle on its supporting
springs
In carrying out the first of these objects we provide a means for shifting the
seat or saddle on its support and thereby adjusting the weight upon the steering
wheel to the circumstances of the case.
The seat or saddle of whatever construction we mount upon a slide which we fit
to a horizontal guide bar carried by the vertically adjustable stem of the velocipede,
and we provide mechanical means which may be varied at pleasure for shifting
the slide backwards or forwards upon its guide bar as may be desired. while the
machine is in motion, and locking it in position.

page_text: .
This movement of the seat the rider will effect while mounted; thus on
descending a hill, he will be enabled on the instant, to shift the seat to the rear,
and thereby throw his weight. upon the hind wheel, and similarly when about to
ascend a hill he will be enabled to shift the seat forward and bring his weight
nearer to the pedal axle.
One form of mechanism which we employ for shifting and locking the slide may
. be thus described.
Keyed to a lug projecting from the underside of the guide bar is a horizontal
axle for receiving a sleeve to which a hand lever is keyed. The inner end of this
sleeve carries an arm which is connected by a link to the slide on which the seat
is mounted.
To the outer end of the horizontal axle a disc with three or more notches is
keyed, and into these notches takes a spring bolt which is fitted to the handle of
the lever extending from the before mentioned sleeve.
'
This handle is loose on its lever to an extent that will allow of its moving freely
endwise thereon. When therefore the handle is pulled in the direction of its axis,
it will lift the spring bolt clear of the notched disc, and thus allow the hand lever
to be moved.
By moving the hand lever forward or backward, a corresponding movement will
be transmitted to the slide and seat which it carries, and the spring bolt as soon
as it is left free will fall into a notch of the disc and lock the seat in position.
Instead of giving the handle an endway motion on its lever to lift the spring
bolt out of its locking position, the .handle may be pivotted to its lever so as to
rock thereon, and the bolt may be connected to the rocking handle by a pair of
links so as to lift the bolt whether rocked to the right or left.
"
The adjustment of the seat while carrying the rider, may be effected by means
of a hand wheel pinion and rack in substitution for the hand lever arm and link
above mentioned. Thus instead of making the horizontal axle a fixture to the
guide bar, we mount it in bearings carried by the seat slide, and key to it a pinion
which gears into rack teeth formed on the upper face of the guide bar.
The hand wheel which performs the part of the hand lever we key to a sleeve
which is mounted on the horizontal axle and is secured thereto by a feather or its
equivalent, so that the axle and sleeve will rotate together while the sleeve is free
to move endwise.
This sleeve we connect by a swivel coupling with a spring bolt mounted on the
slide and intended to take into the teeth of the pinion before mentioned, so as to
effect the locking as in the first described arrangement.
In order to shift the saddle, the haud wheel must be caused first to disengage the
spring bolt from the pinion and being then free, to turn under the hand of the
driver, it will in turning rotate the pinion in gear with the rack, and thereby shift
the seat forward or backward as desired.
On relieving the hand wheel of the pressure of the rider's hand in the direction
of the axis of the wheel, the spring bolt will advance into its locking position and
secure the seat in place.
This adjustable seat we propose to adapt to velocipedes with forward steering
wheels, and also to the backbones of bicycles, the backbone in this case constituting
the guide bar for the slide which carries the saddle.
For securing the second object of our invention we mount the saddle iron on
helical springs, by preference three in' number, one at the pommel and two at the
back of the saddle. These springs are carried by a base plate which may constitute
the slide of the adjustable saddle above described. When, however, a slide is not
used, the base plate is formed with a socket on its underside to receive, à horizontal
portion of a supporting stem which socket permits of the usual horizontal
adjustment of the sad lle, it being made fast to the stem by a binding screw.
The seat is supported by preference on three helical springs which are secured
to the base plate or slide by clamping nuts,, and are similarly connected at their_
upper ends with the saddle iron.

page_text: To prevent the swaying of the springs, elastic or yielding stays are provided
which serve as struts for the saddle and check all tendency to a longitudinal or
side motion, while at the same time they offer no obstruction to the tipping of the
saddle in either direction under the weight of the rider.
These stays or struts we connect at one end either rigidly, or by a hinged joint,
to the base plate and at their other ends to the saddle iron.
When the stay is
made elastic it may be connected rigidly at its opposite ends to the base plate and
saddle iron respectively, but when non-elastic it may be hinged to the base plate
and connected by a ball-and-socket joint to the saddle iron; in either case it will
allow of the free play of the springs while preventing their receiving a to-and-fro
motion in the line of travel of the vehicle.
A convenient way of forming these stays is to fit the base plate or slide with a
vertical pin, and to mount thereon a cross-head to the opposite ends of which two
elastic strips are rivetted, the same crossing each other and being rivetted at their
opposite ends to the back part of the saddle iron. A third strip rivetted to the
supporting pin connects with the front part of the saddle iron, leaving the seat
free to yield to a vertical pressure, but preventing its swaying in the line of travel
of the vehicle.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joseph White, John Asbury, and Frederick George Francis in the
Patent Office on the 4th January 1884.
JOSEPH WHITE of Coventry in the County of Warwick Watch Manufacturer
JOHN ASBURY of the same place Mechanician and FREDERICK GEORGE FRANCIS
of Folkestone in the County of Kent, Engineer IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION OF VELOCIPEDES AND IN SEATS OR SADDLES FOR THE SAME
"
"
This Invention relates firstly to means for retaining the back steering wheels of
velocipedes in contact with the ground and thereby ensuring their proper action as
steering wheels.
Secondly to the construction of a saddle which will afford a yielding elastic seat
to the rider, giving both to the vertical motions of the velocipede when passing
over an obstruction in the road, and to the lateral inclination of the body of the
rider, without permitting of any to-and-fro motion of the saddle on its supporting
springs.
In carrying out the first of these objects, we provide a means for shifting the
seat or saddle on its support, and thereby adjusting the weight upon the steering
wheel to the circumstances of the case.
The seat or saddle, of whatever construction, we mount upon a slide which we
fit to a horizontal guide bar carried by the vertically adjustable stem of the
velocipede, and we provide mechanical means which may be varied at pleasure, for
shifting the slide backwards or forwards upon its guide bar as may be desired while
the machine is motion, and locking it in position.
This movement of the seat the rider will effect while mounted; thus on descending
a hill, he will be enabled, on the instant, to shift the seat to the rear, and thereby
throw his weight upon the hind wheel; and similarly, when about to ascend a hill
he will be enabled to shift the seat forward, and bring his weight nearer to the
pedal axle..
In sheet I of the accompanying drawings Fig: 1 shews in side elevation partly
in section, and Fig: 2 in plan view (the saddle being removed) our arrangement
for shifting the seat while the rider is seated. In these figures A is the adjustable
stem on which the saddle, B is mounted. Secured to the upper end of this stem is
a horizontal guide A¹ which is set in the line of travel of the vehicle and is intended
to receive a slide C. This slide embraces the edges of the guide bar and upon it is
mounted the saddle B of any approved construction.-Projecting laterally from the
stem A is a horizontal stud axle A2 which is intended to receive a sleeve D.-This
sleeve carries at its inner end an arm D¹ which is connected by a link D² to the
slide C. On the extremity of the axle A2 is keyed a disc having three notches, A³,
which are intended to receive a snap for locking the saddle or seat in one or other
of three positions.-Welded to the outer end of the sleeve D is a rod Ds upon
which is mounted loosely a hand lever E. This hand lever is slotted longitudinally
near its inner end to receive a screw stud e. which enters a tapped hole in the
rod Ds and serves to limit the longitudinal sliding motion of the. hand lever while
it prevents it from moving axially. Inserted in the hollow handle is a coiled
spring el. which is compressed between a shoulder formed within the handle E,
and a nut d. inserted into the handle E. and screwed on to the end of the rod D³.
e is a bolt carried by the handle and intended to rest in one or other of the
notches 1. 2. 3 of the disc A³,-a tendency being given to this bolt to enter the
notclics as it is presented to them by means of the downward pressure of the internal
spring e¹ upon the handle.

page_text: When the handle is pulled in the direction of its axis, it will lift the spring bolt
clear of the notched disc, and thus allow the lever to be moved.
By moving the hand lever forward or backward, a corresponding movement will
be transmitted through the sleeve D, arm D' and link D2 to the slide C and seat B,
which it carries; and the bolt e¹. as soon as it is left free, will fall into a notch of
the disc A³ and lock the seat in position-The advanced position of the parts is
indicated by dotted lines in Fig: 1.
Instead of giving the handle an endway motion to lift the spring bolt out of its
locking position, the handle may be pivotted to its lever so as to rock thereon and
the bolt may be connected to the rocking handle by a pair of links so as to lift the
bolt whether rocked to the right or the left.
1
This arrangement is illustrated at Figures 3 and 4 Sheet I, Fig: 3 being front
view and Fig: 4 an edge view of the modification. In these figures D is the sleeve
fitted with an arm D₁ as before, to connect through a link with the saddle slide,
and D3 is an arm in place of a rod in the first arrangement for carrying the handle
and spring bolt. The handle E is pivotted to the upper end of the arm D³, and
jointed to it is a pair of links D' which are jointed at their lower ends to the
spring bolt e. This bolt is slotted longitudinally to allow of a screw stud e³
passing through it and entering a tapped hole in the arm D³. The bolt is thus
secured to the arm while it is left free to slide thereon for the purpose of locking
the saddle in its adjusted position.-A. coiled spring connects this sliding bolt with
a fixed point, say the stud axle A2 of the stem A; a tendency is thus given to the
bolt to enter one or other of the notches to which it is presented. When pressure
is put upon the handle for the purpose of moving the saddle slide the handle will
by reason of its linked connection with the spring bolt first lift the bolt clear of
the notched disc and then operate upon the slide through the sleeve D and link D².
The removal of pressure from the handle will leave the spring free to act and
thrust the bolt into the notch to which it is presented.
The adjustment of the seat while carrying the rider may also be effected by
means of a hand wheel, pinion and rack in substitution for the hand lever, arm
and link above mentioned.
In Sheet II of the drawings this modification is illustrated Fig: 5 being a front
elevation partly in section, and Fig: 6 a side elevation of a sliding saldle shifted
by toothed gear. The stem A carries the guide bar A'. (as before) for the reception
of the slide C.-This slide is provided with bearings to receive a transverse axle C¹.
Between the bearings this axle is fitted with a spur pinion C2 which is keyed to
its axle and dips through an opening in the slide to gear with rack teeth formed
on the guide bar A¹. Fitted onto the end of the axle C is a sleeve E carrying
a hand wheel at its outer end. The sleeve E is slotted longitudinally to allow of
a screw stud C passing through it and entering a tapped hole in the axle C. This
connection of the sleeve with the axle ensures their rotating together when moved
by the hand wheel, while the sleeve is free to be moved endways for the purpose
to be presently explained.-Embracing a grooved collar formed on the inner end
of the sleeve E is a metal strap which carries a pair of locking fingers e². (see
detached view fig: 5a) which are intended to enter between the teeth and lock the
pinion C² when the adjustment of the seat is effected. These locking fingers pass
through guide holes formed in one of the bearings of the slide and are thus
sustained in horizontal position to ensure their proper action on the pinion.
A tendency is given for the locking fingers to engage with the teeth of the wheel
by means of a coiled spring contained within the sleeve and bearing against
a shoulder in that sleeve, and a retaining screw on the outer end of the axle.
In order to shift the saddle, the hand wheel must receive a lateral movement to
disengage the locking fingers e. from the pinion, and being then free to turn under
the band of the driver, it will in turning rotate the pinion and travel it over the
rack thereby shifting the seat forward or backward as desired.
On relieving the hand wheel of the pressure of the rider's hand the locking

page_text: ngers win advance under the action of a coiled spring into their locking position
and secure the seat in place.
This adjustable seat it will be obvious may with advantage be adapted to
velocipedes with forward steering wheels, and also to the back bones of bicycles,
the backbone in this case constituting the guide bar for the slide which carries the
saddle.
The seat must however be adjusted differently under like circumstances when
the position of the steering wheel is reversed.
-
For securing the second object of our invention, we mount the saddle iron on
springs, by preference three in number, one at the pommel, and two at the back
of the saddle. These springs are carried by a base plate which may constitute the
slide of the adjustable saddle above described.-When however a slide is not used,
the base plate is formed with a socket on its underside to receive a horizontal
portion of a supporting stem, which socket permits of the usual horizontal
adjustment of the saddle, it being made fast to the stem by a binding screw.―
The seat is supported by preference on helical springs which are secured to the
base plate or slide by clamping nuts, and are similarly connected at their upper
ends with the saddle iron.
To prevent the swaying of the springs, elastic or yielding stays are provided,
which serve as struts for the saddle, and check all tendency to a longitudinal or
side motion, while at the same time they offer no obstruction to the tipping of the
saddle in either direction under the weight of the rider.
These stays or struts we connect at one end either rigidly or by a hinged joint
to the base plate, and at their other ends to the saddle iron. When the stay is
made elastic, it may be connected rigidly at its opposite end to the base plate and
saddle iron respectively, but when non-elastic, it may be hinged to the base plate,
and connected by a ball-and-socket joint to the saddle iron, in either case it will
allow of the free play of the supporting springs while preventing their receiving
a to-and-fro motion in the line of travel of the vehicle.
In Sheet III of the accompanying Drawings the second head of our invention is
illustrated Fig: 7 shews in side view and Fig: 8 in inverted plan our improved
saddle support.-A is the base plate formed with a socket A¹ to receive the
horizontal portion of the stem which carries the saddle.
Upon this base springs B B. are set, the same being secured to the plate by
clamping nuts. In a similar manner the upper ends are secured to the saddle
iron C. Standing up from the base plate near the front end thereof (see Fig: 7) is a
stud D, to which is rivetted an elastic strut E which extends rearward and is made
fast at its rear end to the saddle iron. Thus while free play in a vertical direction
is given to the saddle, the tendency of the saddle to move forward or backward is
checked by means of the elastic strut E.-The like result it will understood would
be obtained by making this strut rigid and hinging it to the base plate.
The better to prevent the swaying of the saddle in any direction we sometimes
employ two struts arranged in the manner shewn in side view at Fig. 9, and in
inverted plan at Fig: 10. In these Figures E. E' are the two struts which cross
each other and are attached to points at the opposite sides of a central line drawn
through the saddle longitudinally.
The base plate or slide A is fitted with a vertical pin D'on which is fixed a cross-
head D-To the opposite ends of this cross head the two elastic strips E E'. are
rivetted, the same. crossing each other and being made fast at their opposite ends
to the back part of the saddle iron
A third strip D2 rivetted to the supporting pin connects with the front part of
the saddle iron, leaving the seat free to yield to a vertical pressure, but preventing
its swaying either laterally or in the linc of travel of the vehicle.
Having now set forth the nature of our Invention of "Improvements in the
construction of Velocipedes and in seats or saddles for the same," and explained the.

page_text: manner of carrying the same into effect, We wish it to be understood that under
the above in part recited Letters Patent we claim :
First Providing for the adjustment of the seats or saddles of Velocipedes in
the manner and for the purpose above explained with reference to Sheets I and II
of the drawings.
Secondly: The means above described for ensuring elasticity to the seats or
saddles of velocipedes, while the tendency for those seats to move otherwise than
vertically under their load is avoided.
In witness whereof we the said Joseph White and John Asbury have hereunto
set our hands and seals the third day of January in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty four.
JOSEPH WHITE (L.S.)
JOHN ASBURY
(LS)