A New or Improved Method or Means of Constructing Velocipede Frames and the like.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd May, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 24th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 11th Apr., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Method or Means of Constructing Velocipede
Frames and the like.
We, GEORGE SANDERS, Manager of Works and CLARA SANDERS, Spinster
both of No. 1 Providence Place, Hob Moor Road, Small Heath, Birmingham
in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be
as follows:-
Our invention relates to the construction of velocipede frames and the like, and
has for its objects the saving of expense in the said construction and the saving of
weight in the said frames. The members of velocipede frames and the like
commonly consist of seamless steel tubes or the like which are united by being
brazed into or on to suitable lugs. These lugs are usually stamped or cast in
forms approximately more or less nearly to their finished condition, which
condition is arrived at by machinery and filing. The ends of the tubes are thrust
into sockets or on to bosses on the lugs, are pinned in position and then brazed,
after which the joints are cleaned by pickling and filling or sand blasting.
According to our invention, we construct chills or moulds with interior con-
figurations corresponding more or less nearly to the external configurations of the
desired finished lugs. We arrange the tubular or solid members of the frame,
united in any one lug, in their correct relative positions with respect to such lug
and then pour a quantity of suitable inolten metal into the chill or mould and
allow it to set. The metal may be allowed to run into the ends of the members if
tubular, as well as round the exterior thereof; and suitable steps may be taken to
prevent the metal from filling spaces that require to be left free, for examples the
part of the saddle pillar lug through which the saddle pillar passes, in the type of
velocipede commonly known as the rear driving safety bicycle. In setting, the
metal contracts on to the ends of the frame members and secures them together.
For greater security and to prevent the members from withdrawing from the lugs,
they, the said members, may be roughened, enlarged or otherwise treated, besides
being thoroughly cleaned, at the end parts engaging with the said lugs. The
members may be circular or of any other convenient form in transverse section.
The moulds or chills may be formed to produce any particular style of lug
according to its purpose and the fashion of the times, and the lugs may be
machined or otherwise finished on the exterior, if required when free from the
moulds, but the machining or other preparation of the interior of the sockets or
exterior of the bosses of the lugs, will, of course, be saved.
We prefer to use aluminium or an alloy of aluminium with copper, tin, antimony
or other suitable metal or metals so as to secure lightness in the lugs and con-
sequently minimise the weight of the whole frame. We prefer to employ metals
which will contract and harden to a high degree on cooling from the molten state.
Dated this 22nd day of May 1895.
W. BESTWICK MAXFIELD,
Applicants' Agent.

page_text: A New or Improved Method or Means of Constructing Velocipede
Frames and the like.
We, GEORGE SANDERS, Manager of Works, and CLARA SANDERS, Spinster,
both of No. 1 Providence Place, Hob Moor Road, Small Heath, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
Our invention relates to the construction of velocipede frames and the like and
has for its objects the saving of expense in the said construction and the saving of
weight in the said frames.
The members of velocipede frames and the like commonly consist of seamless
steel tubes or the like which are united by being brazed into or onto suitable lugs.
These lugs are usually stamped or cast in forms approximating more or less nearly
to their finished condition, which condition is arrived at by machining and filing.
The ends of the tubes are thrust into sockets or onto bosses on the lugs, are
pinned in position, and then brazed, after which the joints are cleaned by pickling
or sand blasting and filing.
According to our invention we construct chills or preferably moulds with interior
configurations corresponding more or less nearly to the external configurations of
the desired finished lugs. We arrange the tubular or solid members of the frame,
united in any one lug, in their correct relative positions with respect to such lug
and then pour a quantity of suitable molten metal into the chill or mould and
allow it to set. The metal may be allowed to run into the ends of the members if
tubular, as well as round the exterior thereof and suitable steps (such as coring)
may be taken to prevent the metal from filling any spaces that may require to be
left free, for example, the part of the saddle pillar lug through which the saddle
pillar passes in the type of velocipede commonly known as the rear driving safety
bicycle. In setting the metal contracts on to the ends of the frame members and
secures them together. For greater security and to prevent the members from
withdrawing from the lugs, they, the said members may be roughened, enlarged or
otherwise treated, at the parts engaging with the said lugs. The members may be
circular or of any other convenient form in transverse section. The moulds or
chills may be formed to produce any particular style of lug according to its
purpose and the fashion of the times and the lugs may be machined or otherwise
finished on the exterior if required when freed from the moulds, but the machining
or other preparation of the interior of the sockets or exterior of the bosses of the
dugs will, of course, be saved. We prefer to use aluminium or an alloy of
aluminium with copper, tin, antimony, or other suitable metal or metals so as to
secure lightness in the lugs and consequently minimise the weight of the whole
frame. We prefer to employ metals which will contract and harden on cooling
from the molten state.
In testing our invention we have found that much more satisfactory results are
obtained with moulds than with chills; and in using the moulds we prefer to work
on the system commonly employed in casting brass, using loam sand.
And in order that our invention may be fully understood we will describe the
same, by way of example, as applied to the steering- or fork-stem and fork crown
of a direct steering velocipede, such as a rear driving safety bicycle, and wil
refer to the accompanying drawings in which,―
Figure I is a front view in elevation of a pattern hereinafter referred to. The
same figure minus the prints may be regarded as representing the finished sten
and crown, the dotted lines indicating the parts of the stem buried in the crown.

page_text: Figures II and III are general views of the stem showing its end slotted and
fashioned as hereinafter described.
Figure IV is a plan of one half of a mould prepared for casting the forkcrown
on to the stem and with the stem lying in position therein.
Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views.
We first make a pattern (Fig. 1) in wood, brass or other suitable material, of
the stem and crown in one piece, and the two parts of the mould' 1 are prepared
from this pattern and dusted over with powdered brick dust, plumbago or the like,
but we find powdered red brick dust most suitable when employing the alloy
hereinafter mentioned.
The stem itself 2 is preferably made of a length of weldless steel tube. Four
equidistant slots 3 are cut to the depth of say " down one end of this tube 2,
forming four tongues 4; this end of the tube is then graduated by heating and
hammering or by other suitable means to a square section having a slot at each
angle. The four short flat tongues 4 are then bent out so as to project, preferably
at right angles from the tube 2. We prefer to insert a stiffener 5 in the same end
of the stem and braze it in position. The stiffener preferably consists of sheet
metal of suitable quality and dimensions, the width corresponding to the internal
diameter of the tube. The tube 2 is then laid in the mould 1 so that the tongues 4
lic in the space to be filled by the lower part of the middle of the fork-crown 6
and so that the stiffener 5 (if any) lies at right angles to the surface of the mould.
If the fork-crown is to be of the double plate pattern, as shown, the tube is
preferably so placed in the mould that the tongues 4 will be buried in the lower
plate 7 of the crown, and the pattern and mould are preferably prepared so that
a sleeve 9 shall connect the two plates 7, 8 and enclose the squared end of the tube.
The tube may be plugged with sand or otherwise, either at the end to entirely
exclude the molten metal, or at a convenient distance from the end, so that the
metal may flow in and obtain a hold on the inside, as well as on the outside, of the
tube. The mould is closed and the metal poured and allowed to set in the usual
way. When the mould is opened the steering stem 2 will be found to be firmly
embedded in the fork-crown which has been cast onto it.
If metal tubular forksides be employed they may be readily secured at the same
time by casting the crown onto them, their upper ends having preferably been
previously treated in a manner similar to that hereinbefore described with reference
to the steering stem; the ends of the forksides would preferably be buried in the
upper part of the crown. By these means the stem and the two forksides may be
united in the one joint, namely, the forkcrown.
The alloy which we prefer to employ consists of a mixture of aluminium and
phosphor bronze in the following proportions :—

page_text: prepared mould and pouring a quantity of suitable molten metal or alloy into such
mould and allowing it to set, substantially as herein described.
2. Uniting two or more members of a velocipede frame or the like in one lug,
by roughening, enlarging or otherwise similarly treating parts of the said members
and arranging the said members in their correct relative positions with respect to
such lug and pouring a quantity of suitable molten metal or alloy into such mould
and allowing it to set, substantially as herein described.
3. A velocipede frame or the like in which one or more of the joints is or are
constructed by the method or means referred to in the preceeding claims.
4. Constructing and uniting the fork-crown and stem of a velocipede or the
like substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 22nd day of February 1896.
G. DOUGLAS LEECHMAN,
18 Hertford Street, Coventry, Agent for the Applicants.
G. DOUGLAS LEECHMAN,
18 Hertford Street, Coventry, Agent for the Applicants.