in
Year: 1898

page_text: I, FREDERIC WILLIAM MILLIS, of 16, Overton Road, Brixton, Ventriloquist, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention for improvements in cycle brakes has for its object an arrange-
ment whereby the brake is operated by pressure of the feet of the rider upon the
foot rests, this being either in the place of, or combined with, or additional to, the
usual hand operating mechanism.
According to this invention, the foot rests are not attached directly to the front
forks of the cycle, but are mounted on rods attached at their upper ends to the
brake block and at their lower ends received into suitable cylindrical or other
casings attached to the front forks of the cycle by clips or the like. These rods
can slide to a certain extent within the said cylindrical casings and springs are
fitted by which the rods are normally held in their uppermost position. It will
therefore be seen that when the foot rests are pressed downwardly by the feet of
the rider the brake block is lowered into contact with the wheel tyre to retard
the motion of the cycle. On raising the feet from the foot rests, the brake is
released.
In order to support and guide the brake block upon the cycle, an upward exten-
sion is provided upon it which is adapted to slide within a fitting attached to the
lower end of the steering post of the cycle, and this fitting is attached thereto by
means of two side lugs through which screws or studs are passed thus preventing
any sideways movement of the fitting which might interfere with the action of
the brake.
When fitted with a brake apparatus according to this invention the usual hand
operated brake mechanism can be dispensed with, or the two may be combined
to act upon the one brake block, the guiding extension upon the brake block being
then attached to the usual brake rod, so that the brake can be applied either by
hand from the handle bar or by means of the fect from the foot rests. Instead of
combining the two mechanisms, they may be arranged independently if desired.
By means of this invention it will be seen that the action of placing the feet
upon the foot rests causes a braking action upon the cycle and this mechanism
can be used for ordinary brake applications.
The springs should preferably be of such strength that the brake is not applied
when merely placing the feet upon the foot rests but only when a certain amount
of pressure is applied thereto.
The brake block is composed of a metal framing within which a pad of india-
rubber or other material is held in the ordinary manner, the edges of this framing
are, instead of being simply turned over to retain the pad in place, turned over
through nearly three quarters of a circle so as to enclose the edges of the pad
which are preferably slightly beaded and hold the pad more securely in place."
Dated this 6th day of August 1898.
GEO. H. RAYNER,
37, Chancery Lane, London, Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: .I, FREDERIC WILLIAM MILLIS, of 16, Overton Road, Brixton, Ventriloquist, 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 for improvements in cycle brakes has for its object an arrange-
ment whereby the brake is operated by pressure of the feet of the rider upon the
foot rests, this being either in the place of or combined with or additional to, the
usual hand operating mechanism.
In order that this invention may be more clearly described reference is had to
the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings on which Fig. 1 is a side view
showing a brake apparatus according to this invention fitted to a bicycle and ar-
ranged to be operated by the foot alone.
Fig. 2 is a front view of the same but showing mechanism whereby the brake
may be operated by hand.
Fig. 3 is a detail view showing an improved holder for the rubber block form-
ing the brake block.
The foot rests a a are not attached directly to the front forks B B of the bicycle,
but are formed by bending the rods A A. as shown. These rods A A are extended
upwardly and bent so as to pass just inside the forks B B and are attached at their
upper ends to the brake block C. At their lower ends the rods A A are received
into the hollow casings dd. The hollow casings dd are attached to the front
forks BB by means of the clips ee. The rods A A can slide to a certain extent
within the hollow casings dd and springs ff (indicated in dotted lines) are fitted
within the said casings dd so that the rods AA are normally held in their upper-
most position.
When the brake is to be applied, the feet are placed upon the foot rests a a and
pressed down against the force of the springs ff and, as will be readily seen the
brake block C is lowered into contact with the wheel tyre to retard the motion of
the bicycle. On removing the feet from the foot rests aa the brake is released
by means of the springs ff.
The springs ff should preferably be of such strength that the brake is not
applied when merely placing the feet upon the foot rests A A but only when a
certain amount of pressure is applied thereto
In order to support and guide the brake block C an upward extension 9 prefer-
ably square in section is provided upon it which is adapted to slide within a fit-
ting attached to the lower end of the steering post D of the bicycle. This fitting h
is attached by means of two side lugs h¹¹ through which screws h² ² are passed
thus preventing any sideways movement of the fitting which might interfere
with the action of the brake.
In order that the brake may be also operated by hand when it is not thought
desirable to dispense altogether with the usual hand operating mechanism the
arrangement shown in Fig. 2 is employed. The upper end g¹ of the extension 9 is
screwed and a hollow connecting rod jis attached thereto. A rod k connected to
the hand lever / is adapted to slide in the hollow rod j and a nut m is fitted upon
it so that its position on the rod can be regulated by screwing it up or down.
It will therefore be seen that on operating the hand lever the nut m presses
the hollow rod j downwardly and therefore presses the brake block C on to the
tyre. The brake block C can therefore be operated either by means of the feet
or by hand.

page_text: The springs ff and the hand lever spring serve to return the parts to their
normal position.
The extent of motion of the brake block C is preferably such that in the event
of the tyre being deflated through puncture or otherwise the brake can be caused
to press on the wheel itself.
Instead of combining the two mechanisms they may be arranged independently
if desired.
By means of this invention it will be seen that when placing the feet upon the
foot rests as when going downhill, a braking action upon the cycle may be caused
and the same method may be employed for ordinary brake applications.
The brake block C is composed of a metal framing c within which a pad c¹ of
india-rubber or other material is held in the ordinary manner. The edges c²² of
this framing care, instead of being simply turned over to retain the pad e in place,
turned over through nearly three quarters of a circle as shown separately in Fig. 3
so as to enclose the edges of the pad c which are preferably slightly beaded and
hold the pad more securely in place.
If found more desirable the hollow casings dd may be attached at the front of
the forks B B and the length and weight of the rods A A is therefore somewhat
reduced. Also to obviate any tendency of the extension g to bind in the fitting h
there may be two extensions and a double fitting. The rod in this case will
therefore be provided with a cross piece to which the two extensions can be attached.
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) An improved cycle brake comprising foot rests aa on the rods AA cas-
ings dd attached by clips ee to the front forks BB of the cycle, springs ff
arranged within said hollow casings dd, brake block C, upward extension g, and
fitting all arranged and operating substantially as described with reference to
the drawings.
(2) An improved cycle brake comprising foot rests a a on the rods AA, cas-
ings dd, clips cc, springs ff, brake block C, upward extension g, fitting h, hollow
rod attached to the end g of the upward extension g, rod k, and hand operating
lever so arranged that the brake block C can be operated either by means of the
foot rests a a or by hand substantially as described with reference to Fig. 2 of the
drawings.
(3) An improved construction of brake block comprising the metal framing c
the edges cc of which are turned through nearly three quarters of a circle, and
a pad having beaded edges under which the edges 2, engages substantially as
described with reference to Fig. 3 of the drawings and for the purposes specified.
Dated this 6th day of May 1899.
GEO. H. RAYNER,
37, Chancery Lane, London, Agent for the Applicant.