Improvements in Saddles for Bicycles, Tricycles, and other Velocipedes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Jan., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 12th Oct., 1895-Accepted, 23rd Nov., 1895
Improvements in Saddles for Bicycles, Tricycles, and other
Velocipedes.
I, HENRY ARTHUR LAMPLUGH of No 1 Charlotte Road, Birmingham in the
County of Warwick, Machinist do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
My invention has reference to the tension frame and spring underframe of
saddles for bicycles, tricycles and other velocipedes and consists of the construction
and arrangement or combination of parts hereinafter described constituting a new
or improved tension frame and spring underframe for a saddle.
In order that my invention may be the better understood 1 remark that tension
and spring under frames for velocipede saddles as at present constructed are
wholly or mainly composed of cold drawn cylindrical steel wire or rod bent into
the form of the tension and underframes and having the necessary elasticity given
to them by making one, two or more coils in the said wire between the point of
support on the L pin and the point of attachment to the leather seat of the saddle.
When a rider is seated on a saddle of this, the ordinary, construction the spring
wire frames are under considerable permanent strain and after a time, in conse-
quence of the sudden jerks or shocks to which the said strained frames are
subjected by the velocipede passing over asperities in the road, the said wires of
the underframe break thereby disabling the saddle.
My invention has for its object to dispense with the use of wire or rod in
velocipede saddles and to obviate the defects herein before pointed out of saddles
having tension and spring underframes of the ordinary construction.
In constructing a saddle according to my invention 1 make the tension frame of
the saddle from a cylindrical tube of a length about equal to that of the saddle to
be made and of a diameter a little greater than the diameter of the wire or rod
employed in the manufacture of the ordinary frames I divide the said tube
longitudinally through the greater part of its length and open out the divided
parts so as to give to the said tension frame a figure in plan resembling the
letter V. The semi-circular ends of the two branches of the said divided tube are
brazed or otherwise fixed to the cantle plate of the saddle at equi-distant points
on either side of the middle line of the said cantle plate. In the front or tubular
end of the tension frame a cylindrical pin works the head of the said pin taking
into and bearing against the cross or bridge piece connecting the two sides of the
pommel end of the leather of the saddle. At the front of the tubular end of the
tension frame a washer is placed and between the said washer and the head of
the pin hereinbefore referred to a coiled spring is situated. It will thus be
understood that as the middle of the saddle is depressed, by the weight and motion
of the rider, and the length of the saddle thereby virtually diminished the pin
slides in the tubular end of the tension frame the coiled spring being compressed
but when the rider dismounts the coiled spring assuming its normal length, the
saddle assumes its normal degree of tension."
The spring underframe of the saddle is constructed as follows.
I take two, preferably corrugated, concave plates of a length about three
fourths that of the saddle, the said plates being made by stamping from sheet metal
I arrange the said plates with the sides of the middle portions parallel, the front
ends converging and the rear ends diverging. The ends of the said plates are

page_text: connected by cross stay rods. To the front end of the said plates I attach a short
horizontal cylinder closed at its rear end and to the rear ends of each of the said
plates 1 attach similar cylinders closed at their front ends. The connection of the
front end of the underframe to the front tubular end of the tension frame of the
saddle is effected by means of a bell crank lever turning upon the stay rod joining
the front ends of the parallel plates of the underframe, one end of the said bell
crank lever being jointed to a depending piece on the front tubular end of the
tension frame and the other end of the bell crank lever bearing against a coiled
spring in the front cylinder hereinbefore referred to.
The rear end of the underframe is connected to the cantle plate by two bell
crank levers turning on the stay rod at the back of the underframe, the upper
ends of the said bell crank levers being jointed to depending arms on the cantle
plate and the lower ends bearing against coiled springs in the rear horizontal
cylinders of the underframe. The joints of the bell crank levers are preferably
provided with ball bearings.
The sides of the underframe are slotted for the clamping screw pins of the
Lpin clip to pass through.
In place of coiled springs the bell crank levers may bear against india rubber
buffers.
Dated this Twenty-eighth der of January 1805
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in Saddles for Bicycles, Tricycles, and other
Velocipedes.
I HENRY ARTHUR LAMPLUGH of No. 1 Charlotte Road, Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of my 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 reference to the tension frame and spring underframe of
saddles for bicycles, tricycles and other velocipedes and consists of the construction
and arrangement or combination of parts hereinafter described constituting a new
or improved tension frame and spring underframe for a saddle.
In order that my invention may be the better understood I remark that tension
and spring underframes for velocipede saddles as at present constructed are wholly
or mainly composed of cold drawn cylindrical steel wire or rod bent into the form
of the tension and underframes and having the necessary elasticity given to them
by making one, two or more coils in the said wire between the point of support on
the L pin and the point of attachment to the leather seat of the saddle. When a
rider is seated on a saddle of this, the ordinary, construction the spring wire frames
are under considerable permanent strain and after a time, in consequence of the
sudden jerks or shocks to which the said strained frames are subjected by the
velocipede passing over asperities in the road the said wires of the underframe
break, thereby disabling the saddle.
My invention has for its object to dispense with the use of wire or rod in
velocipede saddles and to obviate the defects herein before pointed out of saddles
having tension and spring underframes of the ordinary construction.
In constructing a saddle according to my invention I make the tension frame of
the saddle from a cylindrical tube of a length about equal to that of the saddle to
be made and of a diameter a little greater than the diameter of the wire or rod
employed in the manufacture of the ordinary frames. I divide the said tube
longitudinally through the greater part of its length and open out the divided parts

page_text: so as to give to the said tension frame a figure in plan resembling the letter V.
The semi-circular ends of the two branches of the said divided tube are brazed or
otherwise fixed to the cantle plate of the saddle at equi-distant points on either side
of the middle line of the said cantle plate. In the front or tubular end of the
tension frame a cylindrical pin works the head of the said pin taking into and
bearing against the cross or bridge piece connecting the two sides of the pommel
end of the leather of the saddle. At the front of the tubular end of the tension
frame a washer is placed and between the said washer and the head of the pin
hereinbefore referred to a coiled spring is situated. It will thus be understood
that as the middle of the saddle is depressed, by the weight and motion of the
rider, and the length of the saddle thereby virtually diminished the pin slides
in the tubular end of the tension frame the coiled spring being compressed but
when the rider dismounts the coiled spring assuming its normal length, the saddle
assumes its normal degree of tension.
The spring underframe of the saddle is constructed as follows;-
I take two preferably corrugated concave plates of a length about three fourths
that of the saddle, the said plates being made by stamping from sheet metal.
I arrange the said plates with the sides of the middle portions parallel the front
ends converging and the rear ends diverging. The ends of the said plates are
connected by cross stay rods. To the front end of the said plates I attach a short
horizontal cylinder closed at its rear end and to the rear ends of each of the said
plates I attach similar cylinders closed at their front ends. The connection of the
front end of the underframe to the front tubular end of the tension frame of
the saddle is effected by means of a bell crank lever turning upon the stay rod
joining the front ends of the parallel plates of the underframe, one end of the said
bell crank lever being jointed to a depending piece on the front tubular end of the
tension frame and the other end of the bell crank lever bearing against a coiled
spring in the front cylinder herein before referred to.
The rear end of the underframe is connected to the cantle plate by two bell
crank levers turning on the stay rod at the back of the underframe, the upper ends
of the said bell crank levers being jointed to depending arms on the cantle plate
and the lower ends bearing against coiled springs in the rear horizontal cylinders
of the underframe. The joints of the bell crank levers may be provided with ball
bearings.
The sides of the underframe are slotted for the clamping screw pins of the L pin
clip to pass through.
In place of coiled springs the bell crank levers may bear against india rubber
buffers.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents partly in side elevation and
partly in longitudinal section a velocipede saddle containing my new or improved
tension frame and spring underframe; Figure 2 represents the same in plan of
underside and Figure 3 a portion of the same in back elevation;
Figure 4 represents a cross section taken through the bridge piece at the pommel
end of the saddle;
Figure 5 is a plan of underside of the tension frame and cantle plate of the
saddle detached.
Figures 6 to 11 both inclusive represent modifications of the improvements
constituting my invention as hereinafter described.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawings.
a is the leather seat of the saddle, b, 62, 62 is the tension frame of the same
and c, c is the base or underframe on which the tension frame is supported in the
manner hereinafter described.
I will first describe in detail the tension frame and its connections to the
saddle.
The tension frame b, 62, 62 is made by slitting a tube through nearly the whole of
its length and opening out the branches 62, 62 thus formed so as to give to the said

page_text: tension frame a figure in plan somewhat resembling the letter V (see Figure 5).
The free ends of the two branches 62, 62 are secured to the cantle plate d of the
saddle by rivetting or otherwise.
The tubular end b of the tension frame is connected to the leather seat a and
the tension on the said leather seat maintained in the following manner.
Crossing the pommel end of the leather a is a cross bar or bridge piece e to the
middle of which a cylindrical rod 2 is fixed, the rear end of the said rod e²
occupying the tubular or fore part of the tension frame. On the rod e2 and
between two collars marked respectively f, f2 on the said rod e² is a strong coiled
spring the said coiled spring being in the normal position of the parts in a semi-
compressed state so that the collars f, f bearing respectively against the tubular
part b of the tension frame and the cross bar e are maintained at their greatest
distance apart.
g
The action of the tension frame and its mechanism is as follows ;-
On the rider seating himself on the saddle the leather seat a yields and becomes
concave, the distance between the pommel end and cantle end being thereby
shortened. The shortening of the saddle is permitted by the cylindrical rod e² of
the cross bare moving in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1 in the tubular
end of the tension frame, the coiled spring g being thereby further compressed.
On the rider dismounting the leather seat by the action of the strong coiled
spring g on the collars, resumes its normal or taut condition. In the same way
the motions of the rider when seated on the saddle are taken up by the coiled
spring of the yielding tension frame and an agreeable elasticity results not
obtained in saddles of the ordinary construction.
I will now describe my improved base or underframe and parts connected
therewith.
The base or underframe consists of two, preferably corrugated, plates c, c made
from sheet metal by stamping and piercing, the middle parts of the said plates being
parallel, the front ends turning inwards that is towards the middle line of the
saddle and the rear ends turning outwards or diverging from the middle line (see
the plan Figure 2).
The front ends of the plates c, c are connected together by the bolt i and the rear
ends are connected together by the stay rod or tube which bolt i and stay rod /
constitute axes for the bell crank levers l, k and k. The frame at the front end
carries a cylinder m closed at its rear end and open at its front end. The said
cylinder has a slot m² at top and bottom extending through about one half its length.
In the said cylinder is a coiled spring n. In the slot m² the nearly vertical arm of
the bell crank lever works and bears against the spring n. The nearly horizontal
arm of the said bell crank lever is jointed to a bracket p carried by the tubular
part of the tension frame.
Each of the plates c, of the underframe carries at its rear end a cylinder », similar
to the cylinder m at the front end of the frame excepting that the said cylinders r, r
are open at their rear ends and closed at their front ends. In each of the
cylinders is a coiled spring against which the vertical arm of the bell crank
lever bears. The nearly horizontal arms of the said levers k, k are jointed to
depending brackets s, s fixed to the cantle plate d.
By the construction and arrangement described any vibratory motion communi-
cated to the underframe by the passage of the velocipede over asperities or
irregularities in the road is taken up by the springs n, 272 of the underframe and
is not transmitted or only to a very limited extent to the leather seat on which the
rider is seated.
Figure 6 represents in side elevation partly in section, Figure 7 in plan of under-
side (a portion being in horizontal section) and Figure 8 in back elevation, partly
in vertical section a modification of the saddle frame hereinbefore described and
represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
The modified tension frame consists of two sheet metal plates t, t jointed at their
front ends to the pommel piece u through which the ordinary tension screw pin

page_text: passes and the said plates t, t are fixed at their rear ends to the cantle plate d. The
base or underframe c, c is jointed at its front end to the same axis u² as the tension
frame and the rear end of the said base frame is connected to the tension frame
near its rear end by the bell crank lever k pivotted to the stay rod or tube /
connecting the rear ends of the base frame to cach other. The pins 2 connecting
the horizontal arms of the bell crank levers k, k to the tension frame t work in short
slots t2 in the said tension frame. The vertical arms of the bell crank levers k, k
bear against springs 2, 2 on tubes or rods carried by the base or underframe c.
Figure 9 represents partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section a
modification of the saddle herein before described and Figure 10 represents the same
in plan of underside, part being in horizontal section, and Figure 11 represents the
frame partly in back elevation and partly in vertical section.
T
The modified saddle Figures 9, 10 and 11 differs from those bereinbefore described
and illustrated in Figures 1 to 8 both inclusive in the respect that an independent
tension frame is dispensed with, the underframe providing both for the tension
adjustment and elastic support of the saddle. In this case the horizontal or nearly
horizontal arms of the bell crank levers k, k at the rear end of the frame are
connected directly to the cantle plate d. Instead of connecting the horizontal arms
of the bell crank levers k, k rigidly to the cantle plate they may be pivotedly
connected thereto after the manner shown in Figures 1 to 4.
Instead of coiled springs 2, Figures 6 and 7 for taking the bearing of the
vertical arms of the bell crank levers k, k and absorbing the vibration communicated
to the underframe, vulcanised india rubber buffers w, w may be used in place of the
said springs.
In other respects the frame of the saddle Figures 9, 10 and 11 does not differ from
the underframe represented in Figures 6,.7 and 8 and corresponding parts are
marked with the same letters of reference.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I claim
as my invention of "Improvements in saddles for bicycles, tricycles and other
velocipedes
First. The new or improved tension frame and mechanism connected with the
said frame for velocipede saddles hereinbefore described and illustrated in
Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings; that is to say, a tension frame
consisting essentially of a tube, split or divided through nearly the whole of its
length and opened out so as to give to the said split tube a figure in plan some-
what resembling the letter V, the free ends of the opened out branches being fixed
or connected to the cantle plate of the saddle and the front tubular end being
connected to the pommel end of the leather seat of the saddle and being prefer-
ably provided with a yielding support substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated.
Secondly. The combination with sheet metal underframes of saddles of bell crank
levers on the horizontal arms of which levers the saddle proper is supported or
partially supported the vertical arms of the said levers bearing against springs or
buffers carried or supported by the plates or branches of the sheet metal under-
frames substantially as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
Dated the Tenth dar of October 1895.
HENRY ARTHUR LAMPLUGH.