Year: 1897

page_text: I, JACOB HANS PETERSON of 718 East North Street, Des Moines, in the County
of Polk and State of Iowa United States of America Mechanician 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:—
The object of this invention is to provide a vehicle-wheel of strong and durable
construction having a substantially solid tire, with means whereby the vibrations
attendant upon the passage of the wheel over rough and uneven roads will not be
transmitted to the axle of the wheel, and my object is, further, to provide a driving
wheel for bicycles and the like in which power is stored in the cushioning-springs
of the wheel upon the downward stroke of the pedals, so that the springs will actuate
to advance the vehicle wheels a slight distance after the pedals have finisher their
effective stroke to thereby facilitate hill-climbing and the attainment of great
speed.
My invention consists in certain details in the construction, arrangement, and
combination of the various parts of the wheel, and particularly in the arrangement
within a solid wheel of a rim rotable relative to the wheel, and a series of springs
for connecting the rim with the axle to thereby limit the movement of the rotatable
rim and to cushion the wheel, as hereinafter more fully and particularly set forth,
pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which
Fig. 1 shews a side elevation of the complete wheel.
Fig. 2 shews a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the line 22 of
fig. 1.
Fig. 3 shews a detail sectional view through the line 3-3 of fig. 2.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, the reference numeral 10 is used to
indicate a rim having a tire 11 secured therein.
The reference numeral 12 indicates a double rim made of L-shape metal bars
and connected at equal distances by means of the U-shaped cross-pieces 13. Spokes
14 serve to connect the rims 12 with the rim 10. In addition to these spokes I
have provided a series of guide-rods 15, extended from the rim 10 to the cross-
pieces 13 and running in parallel planes close to each other. I employ screw-
nipples 16 for connecting the said spokes and guide-rods with the said rim and
cross-pieces thereof.
The reference numeral 17 is used to indicate a hub having flanges 18 at its ends
and a flanze 19 at its central portion.

page_text: The reference numeral 20 indicates a rim of smaller diameter than the rim 10,
designed to pass between the guides 15 and to be capable of a slight rotary move-
ment relative to the rim 10 and also a slight up-and-down movement within the
guides 15. A series of spokes 21 connect the flanges 18 of the hub with the said
rim 20. I have fixed to the flange 19 of the hub two arms 22 to project outwardly
therefrom, and the reference numeral 23 indicates contractile springs having hooks
formed on their ends and connected with the central portions of the cross-pieces
13 and also with the flange 19. The aforesaid arms 22 on the hub are extended
part way through two of these springs.
Power is applied to rotate the wheel through the means of a sprocket-wheel 24,
connected with one of the flanges 18 by means of the bolts 25, or in any suitable
way..
In practical operation it is obvious that when a weight is applied to the hub the
spring below the central line will be compressed and the hub may move down-
wardly a slight distance relative to the rims 12, and when the wheel is in motion
in passing over a raised obstruction on the surface the rim 10 may be elevated
and the wheel passed over the obstruction before the hub is elevated. Hence the
vibrations caused by running over an uneven ground or surface will not be trans-
mitted to the hub of the wheel. However, the hub is held rigidly in line with the
rim of the wheel by means of the guides 15 and the rim 20.
Furthermore, in transmitting power to the sprocket wheel 24 it is obvious
that a hard pull upon the sprocket wheel in one direction will tend to rotate the
axle a slight distance against the pressure of all the springs. This pressure will
be. particularly applied to those springs into which the arms 22 are inserted. How-
ever, the, sprocket wheel may rotate a limited distance within the wheel proper
when a strong power is applied thereto, and then the springs will tend to return
the sprocket to its normal position and will thereby aid in advancing the wheel
even though the sprocket is only held stationary. Hence in climbing hills the
rider may store a certain amount of power in the springs upon the downward
movement of the pedals, and this power will tend to rotate the wheels when the
pedal has reached the limit of its effective stroke.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. A vehicle-wheel, comprising an outer rim, a second double rim arranged with-
in and concentrically of the first, spokes connecting the outer rim and the double
rim, a hub, a third rim mounted within the spokes of the other rims and capable
of a rotary movement relative theroto, and springs for connecting the said hub
and the double rim, for the purposes stated.
2. A vehicle-wheel, comprising an outer rim, a double rim arranged within and
concentrically of the first, and having cross-pieces for connecting them, spokes for
connecting the outer rim and the double rims, guides fixed to the outer rim and to
the cross-pieces of the double rims, a hub having two or more outwardly-project-
ing arms at its central portion, a third rim arranged for rotation within the said
guides, spokes for connecting the third rim with the hub, and a series of contractile
springs connected with the said cross pieces of the double rim and also with the
said hub, and having the said extensions on the hub admitted into the central
portion of two or more of the springs, substantially as and for the purposes stated.
Dated this Ninth day of October 1897
JENSEN & SON
77 Chancery Lane London W.C. Patent Agents.