in driving gear for velocipedes
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Aug., 1887
Complete Left, 1st May, 1888
Complete Accepted, 1st June, 1888
1, PAUL ARSENE LAURENT, of 2 Quai Jemmapes, Paris, France, Metallurgist do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in driving gear for velocipedes.
Heretofore rotary motion has generally been imparted to velocipedes such as
bicycles, tricycles and the like by means of cranks or treadles secured upon the
driving shaft.
This mode of driving causes some inconvenience both from the treadles being
carried away from the feet of the rider, and the crank motion always presenting,
despite the angle at which it may be keyed a certain dead point, without counting the
loss of force from the variations of the lever arm of the crank.
To obviate these inconveniences I have devised a driving gear operating by friction,
which renders the treadles independent of the motion of the velocipede directly after
the feet have left them, and the said driving gear is also arranged in such a
manner that the rider can act with the whole of his muscular force upon each
treadle without any loss by reason of the lever-arm upon which he acts always
remaining invariable.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a side view of my improved driving gear.
Figure 2 is a sectional plan thereof on the line 1-2 of Figure 1.
The driving wheel a presents upon each of its cheeks or hubs a cavity b upon the
inner surface of which acts by friction a wedge or gripping piece counted
upon an excentric d, formed on or attached to the treadle lever e.
This wedge or
gripping piece acts upon the wheel only when the action of the feet has caused
sufficient friction between it and the surface of the cavity. This operation is assisted
by a contact spring ƒ which can be of any kind and arranged in any suitable
manner.

page_text: To regulate the to and fro motion of the treadles e e I arrange a guide-pulley g
fixed upon the frame of the velocipede over which passes a belt or chain / connected
at each end to a treadle.
It is evident that what I have described is susceptible of various modifications
especially in the arrangement of the lever; I also reserve the right to apply them
according to the form or system of velocipede, without in any way changing the
nature of my invention.
Dated this 13th day of August 1887.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Driving Gear for Velocipedes.
I, PAUL ARSÈNE LAURENT, of 2 Quai Jemmapes, Paris, France, Metallurgist, 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:
My invention relates to improvements in driving gear for velocipedes. Heretofore
rotary motion has generally been imparted to velocipedes such as bicycles tricycles
and the like by means of cranks or treadles secured upon the driving shaft.
This mode of driving causes some inconvenience both from the treadles being
carried away from the feet of the rider, and the crank motion always presenting,
despite the angle at which it may be keyed, a certain dead point, without counting
the loss of force from the variations of the lever arm of the crank. To obviate these
inconveniences I have devised a driving gear operating by friction, which renders the
treadles independent of the motion of the velocipede directly after the feet have left
them, and the said driving gear is also arranged in such a manner that the rider can
act with the whole of his muscular force upon each treadle without any loss, by reason
of the lever arm upon which he acts always remaining invariable.
In order to make my invention well understood I have represented it by way of
example in the drawing left with the provisional specification in which ⚫
Figure 1 is a side view of my driving gear.
Figure 2 is a sectional plan thereof on the line 1, 2 of Figure 1.
As will be seen on the drawing which represents the driving gear of a tricycle, the
driving wheel a presents upon each of its cheeks or hubs cavities b, b, upon the
surface of which a wedge or gripping piece c mounted upon an excentric d formed on
or attached to the treadle lever e acts by friction. This wedge or gripping piece acts
upon the wheel only when the action of the feet has caused sufficient friction between
it and the surface of the cavity. This operation is assisted by a'contact spring f which
can be of any kind and arranged in any suitable manner.
To regulate the to and fro motion of the treadles e, e, I arrange a guide pulley g
fixed upon the frame of the velocipede over which passes a belt or chain connected
at each end to a treadle.
It is evident that what I have described is susceptible of various modifications
especially in the arrangement of the lever; I also reserve the right to apply them
according to the form or system of velocipede, without in any way changing the
nature of my invention.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
:-
The arrangement of driving gear for velocipedes, characterized particularly by a
kind of slide or excentric causing motion by friction, acting direct upon the shaft of
the driving wheel, and which liberates the pedals directly after the pressure of the
feet has been discontinued, this arrangement suppressing any dead point and always
providing for a lever arm of equal length in all the positions of the pedals, as above
described and represented in the drawings.