Improvements in Springs as Applied for Reducing Vibration or Jolting in Cycle Saddles, Spring Frame Cycles and other Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in Springs as Applied for Reducing Vibration or
Jolting in Cycle Saddles, Spring Frame Cycles and other Vehicles.
I, DENIS DOYLE, Youghal, Co. Cork, Workhouse Master, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In fitting on easier springs by making them longer than those hitherto in
use & checking their play within the required limits by attaching a hard short
spring that acts contrariwise.
For example in the saddle of a cycle I fit very long springs & thus make
the saddle more comfortable. Then to prevent the disadvantage to the pedalling
resulting from such easier springs I connect by means of a leather strap & buckle
the seat & base of the saddle & then tighten the spring by this strap to the
degree of compression to which they are naturally brought by the weight of the
rider. To prevent the slight shock felt when after compression the spring regains
its normal state the loops at either end of the strap may be padded with india
rubber, thus forming the short hard spring above referred to.
By a very long spring I mean one (whether of compressed air, steel, or other.
elastic material) which would be two three or more times the size of the present
springs in use, in fact as if so many of the present springs were connected. But
then it will not be necessary to increase the present height from the base to the
seat (about 2 inches) of saddle for the said longer springs are made to play
partly beneath the base, as it is not the greater height that gives ease to the
rider but the greater quantity of elastic material brought into play in jolting or
vibration.
I attain my object also by mounting the springs so that their force in the
upward direction may not rapidly increase as at present under compression.
For instance I mount the springs in pairs, each pair standing on the base of the
saddle like an isosceles triangle the apex (an acute angle) of which sustains the
seat. Now when the rider sits on the saddle the springs close, and so the sides
of the triangle get shorter forming say an equilateral triangle. When he meets
with a bump on the road. the springs or sides of the triangle get still shorter
(subtending now at an obtuse angle). But though more compressed their
pressure or force upwards in the perpendicular line is very little increased for
the increased resistance of the springs is counteracted by the greater obliquity of
their direction of force. When a rider, say of 200 lbs. weight, sitting on the
saddles hetherto in use meets with a stone or bumb, causing the springs to close
half an inch, the pressure of the seat upwards against the rider is doubled, that
is equal to 400 lbs. but by mounting them A (or V) shaped as shown above, the
pressure upward in the same event would increase only to 250 lbs. or less or more
according to the adjustment of the springs. Adjustment is effected by screws
that make the base of the triangle longer or shorter. Obviating this sudden
increase of spring force is the secret of my improvement.

page_text: I accomplish this also by mechanism that by diminishing leverage counteracts
the increasing force of the spring. For instance I suspend the seat of the saddle
hammock fashion, either end being connected with a strong cord or chain that
winds round a fusee mounted on the saddle frame (as in a watch but stronger).
When the cord is drawn out by pressure on the seat, the spring resists, but the
radii or imaginary levers decreasing in the groove of the fusee, the increasing force
of the spring is moderated thereby. This makes the saddle easier.
I apply similarly improved springs to other vehicles.
Improvements in Springs as Applied for Reducing Vibration or
Jolting in Cycle Saddles, Spring Frame Cycles and other Vehicles.
I, DENIS DOYLE, of The Workhouse, Youghal, County Cork, Ireland, 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:
These improvements consist in fitting on easier springs by making them
longer than those hitherto in use and checking their play within the required
limits by attaching a hard short spring that acts contrariwise. For example
in the saddle of a cycle. I fit very long springs and these make the saddle more
comfortable. Then to revent the disadvantage to pedalling resulting from
such easier springs I connect by means of a leather strap and buckle the seat
and base of the saddle and tighten the springs by this strap to the degree of
compression to which they are naturally brought by the weight of the rider.
To prevent the slight shock felt after compression the spring regains its normal
state the loop at either end of the strap may be padded with india rubber thus
forming the short hard spring above referred to. By a very long spring I mean
one (whether of compressed air steel or other elastic material) which would
be equal to two three or more times the size of the present spring in use, in fact
as if so many of the present springs were connected but then it will not be
necessary to increase their present height from the base to the seat (about two
inches) of saddle, for the said longer springs are made to play partly beneath the
base as it is not the greater height of the spring that gives ease to the rider but
the greater quantity of elastic material brought into play in jolting or vibration.
I attain my object also by mounting the springs so that their force in the upward
direction may not rapidly increase as at present under compression. For instance
I mount the springs in pairs each pair standing on the base of the saddle like
an isosceles triangle, the apex and acute angle of which sustains the seat. Now
when the rider sits on the saddle the springs close and so the sides of the triangle
get shorter forming an equilateral triangle. When he meets with a bump on
The road the springs or sides of the triangle get still shorter subtending now at
an obtuse angle but though more compressed their pressure or force upwards in
the perpendicular line is very little increased for the increased resistance is counter-
acted by the greater obliquity of their direction of force. When the rider say
of 200 lbs. weight sitting on the saddles hitherto in use meets with a stone or
bump causing the springs to close half an inch the pressure of the seat upwards
against the rider is doubled, that is equal to 400 lbs., but by mounting a or
V shaped, springs as shown above the pressure upwards in the event would
increase only to 250 lbs., more or less according to the adjustment of the springs.

page_text: Adjustment is effected by screws that make the base of the triangle longer or
shorter. Obviating the sudden increase of the springs force is the secret of my
improvement.
The object of this invention is to reduce vibration by improving the springs.
The defect of springs in cycle saddles and wheeled vehicles is that their resistance
increases too rapidly when being compressed or distended. For instance in an
ordinary roadster cycle saddle the resistance increases about 14 lbs. for every
16th part of an inch of compression. Thus when a rider 12 stones weight
sits on the saddle the springs close three quarters of an inch.
Now when he in riding meets a stone or bump on the road it closes more:
suppose then the stone or bump to be so high as to cause the springs to close half
an inch more, the resistance increases from 12 stones to 20 stones, and for the
instant the seat of the saddle presses up against the rider with as much force
as if he suddenly increased his weight to 20 stones. Hence the unpleasant
shock. Besides the rider is thrown up and there is a corresponding loss of speed,
and vice versa when the machine rides over a hollow of sufficient depth to cause
the spring to distend ths an inch the upward resistance diminishes from
12 stones to 2 stones the result being the rider drops down and to be again thrown
up when he reaches the rise at the other end. This would not be the case if the
resistance did not diminish by 10 stones in distending. The remedy for this
defect is to so mount the spring that the resistance increases only at a much
reduced rate. That is to say in the case cited so that it would increase only to
say 13 stones in meeting the same obstacle or reduces only to 11 stones in
encountering the hollow. Here I may observe that a slight increase is necessary
for though it is quite possible to so regulate the spring so that the resistance
would be equal at all points of the range of the spring, yet this would have the
defect that when brought to the lowest point it would remain there, so that in
meeting another obstacle there would be no spring at all in the saddle: it is
necessary then, to regulate it so that it will have a slight increase of resistance
so when compressed or distended it will always regain the central point of the
range, or for racing sadilles the uppermost point.
By the range of the spring I mean the extent of its play up and down which
in roadster saddles is about one or one and a half inches. There are a great
variety of devices for thus almost equalizing the spring force. I give here what
I consider the simplest and most effective.
And in order that my invention may be thoroughly understood I now proceed
to describe the accompanying drawing thereof, reference being had to letters
and figures marked thereof.
Figs. 1, 2, and 3 respectively represent a side view; a view from underneath;
and a view from behind of a saddle. As shown the seat is mounted on three ordinary
coil springs. The front one is mounted as usual perpendicularly. The two hind
springs are mounted in a line with it right over the backbone of the bicycle but
placed not perpendicularly but A shaped as shown. The lower ends of the
springs are hinged to the cross bars b br.
These are also hinged at the apex to the upper frame at u so that they can
freely work up and down within certain limits. These limits are the rabber..
cushions o on which the cross bars rests when the lowest point is reached (as
would happen when the rider encounters a great bump) and the upper limit is
determined by the length of two leather straps aa which connect the rubber
cushions to both ends of the cross bars which is suspended by the link to the
pin that passes through the upper hinges. Instead of a cushion and a strap at
either side, one cushion and one strap may be placed at the centre behind. The
cushion must be sufficiently high to prevent the springs to fall or subtend more
closely than about 30 degrees to the plane of the frame f.h.
Instead of hinges the ends of the springs could with less friction be made to
rock on fulcrums made like those in an ordinary beam and scales. By this
arrangement it will be found that when the resistance of the springs increases

page_text: their upward direction becomes more oblique, and their greater obliquity
counteracts their greater force.
Fig. 4, represents another device for producing the like effect of causing the
resistance to increase less rapidly than in those hitherto in use. P, n, represents
a pneumatic saddle whose air chamber is enlarged by connecting it with another
chamber fixed in any convenient part of the frame of the machine by the tube T.
The larger the lower chamber the less rapid will be the increase of resistance and
the easier the saddle. The lower chamber may be a two inch rubber tube
enclosed and coiled up and concealed within a sack.
Fig. 6, represents an air vacuum saddle also effecting a more uniform resistance
by the longer spring of the external atmosphere. a, a, is a steel plate formed
like the ground plan of the saddle seat but smaller and fixed rigidly to the pillar P
which is mounted in the usual way on the saddle pin. From the pate a, a, is
suspended the plate b, b. Fig. 7, is of like pattern except that it has a hole h
for the pillar P' to work freely in. It is suspended by a vacuum chamber m, m.
which is formed like a bellows by a cover of leather or other suitable material
fastened all round the edges of the plates and also round the hole and a
corresponding circle under the upper plate.
The lower plate thus suspended supports the seat of the saddle on three
pillars r. r. b. Now when liv a suitable pump the chamber is partially
exhausted of air the weight of the atmosphere lifts the lower plate and so lifts
the seat of the saddle. The extent of the exhaustion is to be according to the
weight of the rider and the saddle may be regarded as properly adjusted for him
when the lower plate stands half way between the upper and the lower limits
as in the plate.
Fig. 9. shows how the springs are attached to carriages and other vehicles.
Coil springs of suitable strength g, g, are hinged to the shaft s, s, at h, hb, and
at the axle of the, wheel A. The check c fastened to the shaft and tipped with
rubber cushion prevents the springs subtending at too close an angle as in the
case of the saddle.
The nut n is for adjusting the spring to the weight of the load by causing the
hinge to be put further or nearer to hinge as may be required. I make
this nut also a small cogged wheel worked by an endless screw or other suitable
gear to enable the driver without dismounting to adjust it by turning a handle.
Fig. 10, represents another device for attaining the same end by increasing
obliquity of direction of force counteracting increasing resistance of spring under
compression. The spring L which as shown is the ordinary carriage wheel spring
but more bent, is mounted at one end on the joint or moveable arm J hinged on
to the shaft T as shown, and hinged on to the lug g at other end which has
an adjusting nut and with connecting gear if desired as described in Fig. 9.
Instead of hinges fulcrums may be used thus causing less friction. To prevent
swaying the joints w, w, Fig. 6, and shown in Fig. 11, are to be inserted between
the plates.
In Fig. 1, the foremost spring may also be two springs mounted A form like
the hind ones, and instead of having the springs in a line right over the back
bone of the cycle three pairs of springs each pair mounted A form, may be
mounted to correspond with the three coils in the saddles now in use.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:--
:
1. Improving the springs of cycle saddles and of wheeled vehicles by mounting
them A and V form thus causing their resistance under pressure to increase
more slowly by reason of the increasing obliquity of their direction of force, than
when mounted in the manner hitherto used, substantially as above described
and according to the accompanying drawing.
2. Producing a like effect in ordinary carriage springs, by attaching a movable

page_text: joint or arm thus causing the upward resistance of the spring to be exerted with
increasing obliquity (of such joint or arm) on the shaft according as its force
under compression increases, thus counteracting such increasing force as in the
case of the springs mounted AV form, substantially as above explained.
3. The attachment of a handle with gear to the adjusting nut n (Figs. 9, and 10)
thus enabling the conductor or driver to suit the spring to any given load,
substantially as above described.
4. Producing a like effect in a pneumatic saddle, by lengthening its spring,
that is by adding another air chamber to it connected by an air passage,
substantially as above described.
Dated this 7th day of February 1899
J. P. BAYLY,
18, Fulham Place, London, W., Agent for the Applicant.