Year: 1897

page_text: I, GEORGE WILLIAM RICE, of No. 6, Victoria Pavement, Brighton Road,
Surbiton, in the County of Surrey, Cycle Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has reference to brake mechanism for cycles and road vehicles,
the object being to obtain a more powerful brake on the wheels for the same
amount of initial pressure as ordinarily applied to the brake handle, and also
one which will brake all the wheels simultaneously and thus afford the rider or
driver as the case may be, more perfect control of his machine or vehicle, and,
by distributing the brake power over two or more wheels the wear and tear caused
by the friction of the brake on the wheels is less for each wheel and equal on all
the wheels.
I create the extra brake power mentioned above by employing a portion of the
energy developed in the wheels due to the momentum of the machine, and this,
in conjunction with the practical means for carrying it out, forms the essence or
fundamental principle of my invention.
For convenience of description I will now describe my invention as applied to
a bicycle. As regards its application to road vehicles, the essence of the invention
will of course be exactly the same and the same or equivalent mechanism employed
to carry it into effect: minor details however may be somewhat varied as they
would be adapted to suit the particular kind of machine or vehicle to which the
arrangement is to be fitted.
According to my invention: a hole is made through the lower end of the head
of the bicycle through which hole a pin slides freely: one end of the said pin
is attached to the ordinary brake lever in front of the head and the other end to a
band, chain, or other suitable connecting piece preferably flexible and under tension.
Supported by, and preferably between, the back-stays near to the bottom-bracket,
is a cranked or swan-neck-like curved lever loosely pivoted at or about its centre
so as to be capable of free movement in the vertical plane only. To the said
pivoted lever at one. preferably its upper, end is attached the other end of the
connecting piece whose front end is connected to the sliding pin as aforesaid.
To the other end of the pivoted lever is attached the brake-block. A tension
spring attached at one end to the lever in question between its pivot and the said
brake-block, and at the other end to the bottom bracket or other handy fixed
point serves to draw the brake-block normally away from the rear wheel, and
this completes the essential features of my improved brake mechanism.

page_text: The operation is as follows:-
On applying the ordinary brake to the front wheel by the usual hand lever
and in the usual manner, the said lever being connected to the sliding pin in
the lower end of the head, the friction of the brake upon the periphery of the
wheel acting in conjunction with the forward movement of the said wheel exert
a forward pull upon the sliding pin pulling it forward, which movement is simul-
taneously transmitted to the pivoted lever in the rear through the medium of the
connecting piece, which lever being pivoted becomes pulled forward at one end
which of course throws its other end, on which is the brake-block backwards
against the rear wheel, thus applying the brake to that wheel simultaneously with
its application to the front wheel.
Similar mechanism in duplicate, triplicate or any number might be joined up
or connected together either in line or parallel or both according to the number
of wheels following one behind the other in the same track or tracks, but in all
cases the initial brake would only be applied to one, preferably the foremost,
of wheels in the same track, or two wheels if abreast or parallel, the others being
automatically applied by the power developed by the momentum of the machine
as above described.
P
1000
PHILLIPS & LEIGH.
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Brake Mechanism for Cycles and Road Vehicles.
T. GEORGE WILLIAM RICE, of No. G, Victoria Pavement, Brighton Road,
Surbiton, in the County of Surrey, Cycle Manufacturer, 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 has reference to brake mechanism for cycles and road vehicles,
the object being to obtain a more powerful brake on the wheels for the same
amount of initial pressure as ordinarily applied to the brake handle, and
one which will brake all the wheels simultaneously and thus afford the rider or
driver as the case may be, more perfect control of his machine or vehicle, and,
by distributing the brake power over two or more wheels, the wear and tear caused
by the friction of the brake on the wheels is less for each wheel and equal on all
the wheels.
I create or obtain the extra brake power mentioned above by employing a portion
of the energy developed in the wheels due to the momentum of the machine, and
this, in conjunction with the practical means for carrying it out, forms the essence
or fundamental principle of my invention.
For convenience of description I will now describe my invention as applied to
a bicycle with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bicycle fitted with my improved brake mechan-
ism, the latter shewn in its normal or released position.
Figure is a sectional plan taken on the line 22 of Figure 1, shewing more
particularly the connecting link between the slidable pin and the flexible band,
and
Figure 3 illustrates a modified form of the connecting link.

page_text: According to my invention: -a hole a is made through the lower end of the
head of the bicycle through which hole a a pin c slides freely; one end of the
said pin c is attached to the ordinary brake lever d in front of the head b, and
the other end to a band, chain, or other suitable connecting piece e preferably
flexible and under tension. Supported by the seat pillar tube and preferably
between, the back-stays near to the bottom-bracket g, is a cranked or bent lever h
loosely pivoted at or about its top end so as to be capable of free movement
about that centre in the vertical plane only. To the said pivoted lever h, at one,
preferably its lower end k is attached the other end of the connecting piece e
the front end of which is connected to the sliding pin e as aforesaid. At a point
between the ends of the pivoted bent lever his pivoted an arm to which is
attached the brake-block 7. A tension spring (not shewn in the drawings) may
be attached at one end to the lever h between its pivot i and the said brake-block 7,
and at the other end to the bottom bracket g or other handy fixed point, serves
to draw and hold the brake-block normally away from the rim of the rear wheel,
and this completes the essential features of my improved brake mechanism.
The operation of the brake is as follows:-
On applying the ordinary brake to the front wheel by the usual hand
lever d and in the usual manner, the said lever d being connected to the sliding
pinc in the lower end of the head b, the friction of the brake upon the periphery
of the said wheel acting in conjunction with the forward movement of the said
wheel exert a forward pull upon the sliding pin c pulling it forward, which move-
ment is simultaneously transmitted to the pivoted lever in the rear, through
the medium of the connecting piece or wire e. which lever being pivoted becomes
pulled forward at one end which of course pulls the brake block against the
rear wheel, thus applying the brake to that wheel simultaneously with its applica-
tion to the front wheel.
As regards its application to road vehicles, the essence of the invention will
of course be exactly the same and the same or equivalent mechanism employed
to carry it into effect, minor details however may be somewhat varied as they
would be adapted to suit the particular kind of machine or vehicle to which the
arrangement is to be fitted.
Similar mechanism in duplicate, triplicate or any number might be joined up
or connected together either in line, or parallel, or both, according to the number
of wheels following one behind the other in the same track or tracks, but in all
cases the initial brake would only be applied to one, preferably the foremost,
of wheels in the same track, or two wheels, if abreast or parallel, the others being
automatically applied by the power developed by the momentum of the machine
as above described.
G
In order to permit of the front wheel being turned for steering purposes without
straining the connecting wire or rod e, I provide a curved wire loop o, as shewn
in the detached view Figure 2, at one end of the sliding pin and the extremity
of the connecting wire e is formed into an eye so that when the wheel is turned
the loop o on the pin e will ride through the said eye in the extremity of the
wire c, or, instead thereof, I may provide the end of the pine with a piece of
chain 0, attaching one end of it to the pin c and the other to the wire e, as
shewn in Figure 3.
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:-
1. A brake or brake mechanism for velocipedes or road vehicles, consisting
essentially of the combination of the ordinary brake lever and block or band
operated by hand, with one or more brake blocks or hands automatically operated
or applied to the remaining wheel or wheels, through connecting mechanism
consisting of a flexible wire, hand, or jointed rods connecting the initial brake
with one end of a pivoted lever to the other end or another point in which lever

page_text: is connected the automatic brake block or band blocks or bands, by the pull on
the said pivoted lever caused by the checking of the momentum of the initially
braked wheel, substantially as described and illustrated.
2. A brake or brake mechanism for velocipedes or road vehicles, constructed
and operated substantially as described and set forth.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.