IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED FOR DRIVING AND STEERING MACHINERY AND IN THE BEARINGS FOR AXLES OR REVOLVING SHAFTS
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Truman at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 17th May 1882.
CHARLES TRUMAN of Birmingham in the County of Warwick Bicycle and
Tricycle Manufacturer "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MEANS EMPLOYED FOR DRIVING
AND STEERING MACHINERY AND IN THE BEARINGS FOR AXLES OR REVOLVING
SHAFTS"
My Invention relates to the means employed for Driving Bicycles, Tricycles,
Sewing machines, or such other machines as are propelled by human force. Also
for steering Bicycles-and in the Bearings for Axles or revolving shafts.
The first part of my invention relates principally to the Driving parts of Bicycles.
A great want in the ordinary Bicycle is to rest the feet while descending a hill.
To effect this I employ the ordinary noiseless tangential incline and roller clutch in
combination with the following driving parts:-'
+
A disc having on its outer edge a number of tangential inclines is secured to a
Driving pulley which runs loosely on the spindle or shaft or on spheres or rollers.
The one end of a gut is fastened to the pulley and the other end of the gut is
secured to the pedal lever, which lever is jointed to a fixed bearing or link to the
frame of the machine. The said disc loosely fills a' recess in the hub of the wheel
to be driven which wheel is firmly secured to the spindle-between the tangential
inclines on the disc and the inner periphery of the said recess in the bub are the
same number of rollers as inclines. This clutch is between the wheel to be driven
and the fork ball or roller bearing. When the fork bearing is between the clutch
and the wheel to be driven the recess in lieu of that in the hub of the wheel is
formed in a flanged disc secured to the spindle and a boss on the inner side of this
disc may form the inner part of the fork ball or roller bearing.
By this arrangement when the foot of the rider presses down the pedal the gut
moves the driving pulley with the tangential inclines and the rollers run from the
inner ends of the inclines and become wedged between them and the inner periphery
of the recess of the hub or recessed disc and the pulley spindle and which being
locked together the machine is driven forward. A spring keeps the pedal to the
foot during its upward movement, or a gut connects the two levers, so that by

page_text: pressing down one lever the other lever is raised to the foot, and when the feet
are at rest, the driven wheel is free to run on down a hill, because the wheel over
runs the rollers and conducts them to the inner ends of the inclines.
The second part of my invention relates to the means employed for driving
machinery which consists of a clutch in which are hardened steel spheres instead
of rollers. To construct this clutch so as to insert the spheres I make the disc with
its tangential incline grooves in two parts each part containing an equal share of
the incline grooves, the inner surfaces of these discs, when face to face, are in a line
with the centre of the tangential incline grooves. An annular groove being made
in the inner periphery of the recess in the hub, or disc in lieu of the hub, and the
inner half of the disc of inclines being placed in the recess, and the spheres being
placed against the inclines of the inner half of the disc, the outer half of the disc
is then placed against the inner half of the disc and both parts of the disc are
bolted together and the spheres are enclosed between the two parts of the disc by
the projecting flanges of the curved tangential grooves. One advantage of the
spheres over the cylindrical rollers is that there is less friction against the groove
of the inner periphery of the recess because the tangential grooves are considerably
deeper than the annular groove in the recess so that when the spheres are not
gripped as is the case when the wheel is running down a hill while the pedals are
at rest as the sides of the deep grooves clip the spheres, beyond their centres and
hold them from contact with the annular groove in the recess.
It will be perceived that when the two discs are bolted together they form one
disc. I make the tangential grooves in this disc by means of a suitable drill. The
disc is nicely fitted into a recess in a casting and secured thereto by a bolt and
through a case hardened bush in a boss of the casting the drill is conducted in a
tangential direction-when one tangential groove is drilled to the proper distance
the drill is withdrawn and the disc is moved to the proper divisional distance
and again secured by the bolt and another groove is drilled and so on the process is
repeated until all the grooves are drilled.
In the third part of my invention I dispense with the driving pulley and apply
the crank to the spindle in combination with the clutch with spheres either with
the pedal to the crank pin, or the pedal to the lever as herein before described in
connection with the driving pulley.
The fourth part of my invention relates to the means employed for steering
Bicycles.
When levers are applied to drive the clutch motions, the rider will be at
a considerable distance from the centre of the front wheel, therefore I prefer to
steer by means of the hind wheel. In this case the handle bar is secured to an
upright shaft on which is a small pulley and on the pivot of the fork of the hind
wheel is a similar pulley to which the middle of a gut is secured and the two ends
of the gut may be conducted by small grooved pulleys to the pulley on the handle
bar shaft and secured thereto by means of fly nuts by which the two ends of the
gut are tightened. Or instead of the handle bar being secured to the upright shaft
it may pass through a hole in the frame of the machine and the two ends of the
gut may be coiled round the handle bar each in opposite directions and the two
ends of the gut fastened to the handle bar by means of the fly nuts so that by
turning the handle bar in the direction required the machine will be steered.
frame of the machine may have two sides or forked at each end to receive the
wheels. In all cases where the driving clutches are applied a powerful break
is required for Bicycles. I prefer the break to have a grooved roller, to clip
the rubber, on the end of an upright shaft, and a lever to press the roller to the
wheel.
The
The fifth part of my invention relates to the means employed for Driving
Tricycles or Sewing machines or such other machines as this part of my invention
is applicable-and consists in enclosing the two clutches, as herein before described,
between the two driving pulleys and the central disc having an overhanging flange.
on each side forming a recess on each side for the reception of the inclines for the

page_text: rollers or spheres. This central disc has a long boss on each side on which its
respective driving pulley runs or each pulley may run on spheres or rollers.
The sixth part of my invention relates to ball bearings for axles or revolving
shafts.
In the ordinary ball bearings it is considered important that all the spheres
should be the same size in each bearing. When the spheres are all exactly of equal
size they all roll in the same direction but there is a considerable amount of friction
caused by the back of each sphere rubbing in an opposite direction against the front
of the adjacent sphere-and the ordinary cage which separates the spheres does not
prevent or remove the objection.
My improvement in bearings for axles or revolving shafts consists in separating
the spheres which support the weight or pressure by introducing a smaller size
sphere between the larger spheres. By this arrangement the large spheres which
sustain the pressure advance in one direction and the smaller spheres in the
opposite direction-like a train of spur wheels in gear the large spheres which
support the weight become the drivers and the small spheres the intermediate or
driven. The small spheres having no weight to support, but are merely pressed
against the large spheres such pressure causes them to rotate in the contrary
direction to the large spheres and the friction is reduced to a minimum.
The seventh part of my invention relates to roller bearings for axles or revolving
shafts and consists in separating the rollers which support the weight by intro-
ducing smaller rollers between the large rollers for the purpose of reducing the
back and front friction of the roller bearings.
The eighth part of my invention relates to bearings for axles or revolving shafts
and consists in making the bearings without the means for adjustment. The ring
or case of the bearing is solid with an annular groove of either curved, angular, or
flat surface and on the side of the ring or case is a boss through which the spheres
or rollers are fed into the inner annular groove in the ring or case. The hole in the
side boss of the ring or case of the bearing is plugged and secured by means of a
screw prior to the inner groove being turned or cut therein there is also a bush
containing a corresponding annular groove to that in the ring. In this ring or case
I secure a cap by means of screwing for the purpose of making the bearing dust
proof and there is a knuckle joint or an arm to attach the bearing to the fork.
When this bearing is case hardened and lapped perfectly true and the larger
spheres or rollers made to thoroughly fit the groove, without shake, I consider it
quite sufficient for the purpose, for Bicycles, without the expensive means ordinarily
used for adjustment.
In some cases I use a band for driving but in other cases I prefer to use the gut
or a suitable cord.