IMPROVEMENTS IN VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Martin Diederich Rucker Junior and
Herbert Soames Jackson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on
the 1st December 1882.
MARTIN DIEDERICH RUCKER Junior and HERBERT SOAMES JACKSON both of
Letchford's Buildings Bethnal Green in the County of Middlesex IMPROVEMENTS
IN VELOCIPEDES
"
Our Invention consists of a driving arrangement for "three wheeled " velocipedes
the driving wheels of which are from various causes mounted on stud axles. Our
object is to obtain the same results with a Machine of this class as are obtained
with Machines which have through axles and which allow of their being fitted
with what is known as "balance gear."
This "balance gear" consists of an
arrangement whereby the chain wheel is mounted loosely on the axle of the
driving wheels, but is connected with each driving wheel by a train of gearing, so
that when the vehicle is set to travel in a straight line, by the steering wheel,
motion is transmitted to each of the driving wheels immediately and equally; but
when by reason of the movement of the steering wheel the Machine deviates from
a straight line, for turning corners et cetera, the driving wheels are synchronally
driven at a speed inversely proportionate to one another, while the speed of the
treadle shaft, and therefore of the chain wheel on the driving axle remains constant;
by this arrangement the motion imparted to the driving wheels is entirely
controlled by the steering wheel, so that when running in a straight line, motion is
imparted to them equally, and when running in a curve proportionately.
In order to obtain these same results with a machine without a through axle
the driving wheels of which are mounted on stud axles it is necessary to fit
this "balance gear" to the treadle axle and to effect this we proceed as follows;
we build up the treadle axle so that it consists of mainly three parts, two of these
parts are identical and alike each consisting of the short piece of the axle which
takes a bearing in the frame, the crank, and the treadle pin, which in this case is
hollow; the other part is the connecting arm between the two treadle pins which
keeps them opposite to one another; this connecting arm consists of a light frame
the reason of which will presently be made clear. Instead of fixing the chain
wheels onto the ends of the axle we mount them on short sleeves which are loose
on the ends of the axle, and which take a bearing in the frame, so that the axle
Paine 27

page_text: takes a bearing in the sleeves and the sleeves in the frame, on the inner side of
the frame and on the ends of sleeves opposite to the chain wheels we mount
small spur wheels, these spur wheels are therefore each practically in one with one
chain wheel. In each of the treadle pins, which as before stated are hollow, we
Mounted on the
place a small spindle carrying on each end a small spur wheel.
outer sides of the cranks are intermediate spur wheels which connect the small
spur wheels on the outer ends of the treadle pins with the spur wheels connected
to the chain wheels. In the light frame which constitutes the connecting arm
between the two treadle pins, we mount a train of spur wheels to connect the small
spur wheels on the inner ends of the treadle pins one with another, this train of
gearing consists of an equal number of small spur wheels so that the motion of the
small spur wheel mounted on one of the treadle pins is opposite to that mounted
on the other treadle pin.
We have now a "balance gear" fitted to the treadle shaft, so as to produce in
the driving wheels, which are connected to it by driving chains in the usual way,
results entirely identical with those fitted to machines with through axles as before
described.
We sometimes connect the spur wheels on each side of the Machine in connection
with the chain wheels, one with another by substituting for the train of spur
wheels either vertical shafts and bevel gear or chain wheels and chains or their
equivalent