Improvements in Cycle Brake Mechanism.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 30th June, 1899
Complete Specification Left, 31st Jan., 1900-Accepted, 3rd Mar.,
1900
Improvements in Cycle Brake Mechanism.
I, CHARLES AUGUSTUS HYDE, Managing Director of The James Cycle Company,
Limited, of Sampson Road North, in the City of Birmingham, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:
This invention has relation principaily to rim brakes for cycles and has for
one of its objects, to conceal brake-operating means, for another object, to pro-
vide for the actuation of the brake by means of one of the handles or grips, and
for another object, to simply the construction of rim brakes.
In carrying out one form of my invention, I locate between the blades of the
front forks of the machine and underneath the fork-crown, a stirrup or horse-shoe
shaped frame, working vertically within suitable guides, and having at the lower
ends of the opposite sides, shoes fitted with brake blocks adapted to make contact
within the inner periphery of a wheel rim when the said brake is drawn up by
the operating means, which may consist of a rod, jointed to the upper end of the
stirrup (which may be made of two sections jointed together at the top) and
passing upwardly through the crown plates into the interior of the steering post,
where the inner end of the said rod is suitably connected to a long sleeve or box
having a sliding fit within the said post and has located within it, a coiled take-
off or pressure relief spring, whose lower end abuts against the bottom or other
part of the movable casing and its upper end against a collar or other impinge-
ment provided in the inside of the handle bar stem, which is telescopically ad-
justable within the steering post as usual.
The end of the rod connecting the brake frame to the casing of the take-off
spring is screwed to admit of the adjustment of the brake blocks relative to the
wheel rim.
Connected to the sliding brake-spring casing, is one end of a flexible power-
transmitting cord, passing upwardly through the steering column and handle
bar stem, over a concealed pulley or roller arranged inside the handle bar at its
function with the stem, and then along the inside of the said bar and terminating
in an attachment secured to the inside of one of the handles or grips, which is
loosely mounted upon the end of the said bar so as to admit of both rotatory
and sliding movements thereon.
The concealed runner or pulley is mounted in a bracket depending from a
removable plate arranged to conceal a hole made in the lap-joint of the handle
bar stem.
The end of the handle bar is slotted with a quickly running helix, with which
a pin, carried upon the inside of the loosely mounted handle engages, so that
when the handle is rotated its pin travels outwardly along the helix and the
flexible cord is drawn or pulled, thereby operating the brake and compressing
the take-off spring, which is thereby made active, so that when the handle is
released, the spring causes the whole of the parts, including the said handle, to
return to their normal positions.
Dotad this 20th day of June 1899.
CHARLES AUGUSTUS HYDE,
By Henry Skerrett,
Agent for Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Cycle Brake Mechanism.
I, CHARLES AUGUSTUS HYDE, Managing Director of The James Cycle Company
Limited, of Sampson Road North, in the City of Birmingham, 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 relation principally to rim brakes for cycles, and has for
one of its objects, to conceal the brake-operating mechanism, for another object,
to provide for the actuation of the brake by means of one of the handles or grips,
and for another object, to simplify the construction of rim brakes.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents a front elevation of portions
of the steering head of a safety bicycle, fitted with concealed means for actuating
a front wheel rim brake through the medium of one of the handles or grips, the
several parts of the said brake mechanism being constructed and arranged in
accordance with one form of my invention.
Figure represents the said steering head and cognate parts in vertical section
upon the dotted line, Figure 1, whilst the actuating handle or grip is similarly
shown in section upon the dotted line 2. The disposition and arrangement of
the several parts is clearly shown in this view.
Figure is another vertical section, but taken in a direction at right angles to
that of Figure 2, viz, upon the dotted line of the said Figure 2.
Figure 4 represents the handle bar, and the brake actuating grip in horizontal
section, showing how motion is communicated from the said grip (which is
capable of being rotated and traversed outwardly) to the brake through the
medium of a flexible metallic or other cord, as hereinafter fully described.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the said Figure 1
to 4.
In carrying out the form of my invention represented by the said figures,
I locate between the blades ', of the front steering, forks of the machine
and underneath the fork-crown, ², a stirrup or horse-shoe shaped brake
frame b, which may be suitably guided to work vertically, and has at
the lower ends of the opposite sides, shoes 2, fitted with brake blocks b³,
adapted to make contact with the inner periphery of a wheel rim c when the
said brake is drawn up by the operating means, which may consist of a rod d
jointed at d, to the top of the stirrup (which, in the arrangement shown, is made
of two sections jointed together at the top) and passing upwardly through the
crown plates into the interior of the steering post e, where the inner end of the said
rod is adjustably connected by means of its screw-threaded upper part, to a
long sleeve or box ³, having a sliding fit within the lower end of the handle bar
stem f, which telescopes the said post and is adjustable therein as usual. A coiled
take-off or brake pressure relief spring is located within the said stem, with its
lower end abutting against the sliding sleeve and its upper end against an abut-
ment impingement f2, provided in the inside of the said handle bar stem.
The end of the rod connecting the brake frame to the said sliding sleeve against
which the take off spring acts, is screwed as aforesaid to admit of the adjustment
of the brake blocks relative to the wheel rim.
Connected to a cross pin 4, carried by the sliding part d³ is one end h¹ of a
flexible power-transmitting cord h, passing upwardly through the steering column
and handle bar stem, over a concealed pulley or roller h², arranged inside the
handle bar f. at its junction with the stem fi, and then along the inside of the
said bar and terminating at h³, in an attachment h, adjustably secured to the
inside of one of the handles or grips i, which is loosely mounted upon the end f³,
of the said bar f so as to admit of both rotatory and sliding movements thereon.

page_text: For convenience in fitting, the concealed runner or pulley is mounted in a
bracket, depending from a removable plate 46, arranged to conceal a hole f¹
made in the lap-joint f of the handle bar stem.
The end of the handle bar is slotted with a quickly running helix f, with
which a pin. carried upon the inside of the loosely mounted handle i engages,
so that when the handle is rotated its pin travels outwardly along the helix and
the flexible cord is drawn or pulled, thereby operating the brake and compress-
ing the take-off spring, which is made active, so that when the handle is released,
the spring causes the whole of the parts, including the said handle, to return to
their normal positions.
The attachment by which the end of the flexible power transmission cord is
attached to the actuating handle, consists of a stem. f. with an eye or loop f
at the inner end for the connection of the cord, whilst the outer end is wormed
and connected by screwing to a plug or closure 2, which itself screws into the
open outer end of the handle or grip i. This aarrangement provides a means
for regulating the amount of traverse in the handle required to apply the brake,
for taking up slack in the transmission cord and for altering the tension of the
relief spring. The grip or handle i may be detached by removing the pin
screwing the closure end, out of the handle and from off the stem f. The
brake frame or stirrup may be guided and prevented from twisting in its sliding
movement by the sides of same working between cars ¹ of clips k, attached to
the steering fork blades.
and
Instead of operating the brake mechanism herein described by means of a
loosely mounted rotating and transversing handle or grip as herein before de-
scribed, I may employ a lever arrangement such as shown in Figure 5, comprising
a lever, disposed so as to lie underneath or to the side of the grip i, within
convenient reach of the fingers, and fulcrumed at j', to a bracket, fitted by
screwing or otherwise to the handle bar f, with an arm or extension directed
upwards from the joint and to which the outer end of the stem 7, for the attach-
ment of the flexible transmission cord h, is screwed, so that when the lever is
raised, the arm is turned outwards, the cord pulled and the brake actuated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
;
the
First Concealed mechanism for operating front-wheel cycle rim brakes,
consisting of a brake frame, connected by an adjustable rod passing up
steering post of the ball head, and engaging with a spring-returned slide or
sleeve working within the stem of the handle bars, and to which one end of a
flexible cord, or equivalent, is attached, said cord passing over suitable guides
and along the inside of the handle bar, and terminating in a rotatable and travers-
ing handle or grip, or in a traversing attachment of the handle, by the operation
of which, the brake is drawn on, through the medium of the concealed cord, sub-
stantially as herein described and also as set forth in the accompanying drawings.
Secondly: front-wheel rim brake for cycles, operated by concealed mechan-
ism the parts of which are constructed, arranged and combined substantially as
herein described and also as set forth in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this the of L'anuar 1900
CHARLES AUGUSTUS HYDE.
By Henry Skerrett,
24, Temple Row, Birmingham,
Agent for Applicant.