Improvements in Bicycle Stands or Holders.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Aug., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 13th May, 1898-Accepted, 9th July, 1898
Improvements in Bicycle Stands or Holders.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
or
The aim of the invention is to provide practical and satisfactory supporting
devices suitable for service in holding bicycles while being either stored
transported; that is to say, capable of being employed in houses, store-rooms,
the vans or cars of railways, and elsewhere.
The invention provides in the first place for supporting a bicycle against a
wall or the like with one wheel thereof upraised above the other, and includes one
or more U-shaped wheel-rim receivers. These receivers are applied to a wall or
the like, and are constructed to press upon the sides of the tires as the wheels are
forced into the receivers. 'The receivers in some cases may have contracted.
mouths, so that the tires shall be compressed at first as they enter, and after fully
entering shall be permitted to expand again. Yielding or spring sides or jaws
may be provided in some cases. Separate receivers may be provided for each
wheel of a bicycle, or a single vertically arranged trough-like receiver long enough
to receive both wheels of a bicycle may be employed, or a receiver may be
employed in connection with merely the elevated wheel. In connection with the
elevated wheel is employed also a hinged or movable retainer fitting over such
wheel and engaging with the outer periphery thereof opposite the receiver. The
mouths or openings of the receivers, and the retainers, are inclined laterally,
so that the bicycles applied thereto are maintained in laterally oblique positions,
parallel with one another, but with the handle-bars and other projecting parts
disposed so as to overlap without interfering with one another, which enables the
bicycles to be set close together and a great economy of space to be effected,
it permitting a larger number of bicycles to be supported within a given length
than otherwise would be possible. The retainer may be in the form of a U-shaped
loop or bail fitting over the upraised bicycle-wheel, and having pivotal connections
on the free extremities of its arms, the said projections fitting in holes which are
provided in lips or lugs on the outer sides or jaws of the receiver for the upraised
wheel. When a wheel is not in the wheel-rim receiver, the retainer may drop
down against the wall and will be out of the way. If desired, the retainer may be
disengaged and removed. To effect the disengagement of the retainer, its sides
are bent or sprung so as to disengage the projections from the holes. The outer
ends of the jaws may be made slightly inclined so as to render it impossible te
bend the sides of the retainer, as required in effecting the disengagement aforesaid,
When the
until after the retainer has been dropped into a vertical position.

page_text: retainer is swung up into its operative position, its inner ends are deflected by the
said inclined outer ends of the jaws so that the journals or pivots cannot be
withdrawn from the holes in which they turn. The wheel-rim receivers in some
cases, are made in separable portions, one portion having a projection fitting in
a socket in the other portion so as to permit the projecting portions of the receivers
to be removed when not in use, a locking device of suitable character being pro-
vided to prevent accidental dislodgement.
A series of supporting devices is placed along the wall, preferably about eighteen
inches apart. The projecting portions of the bicycles which are applied to such
devices will overlap and not interfere with one another, in consequence of the
lateral obliquity of the recesses in the wheel-rim receivers and of the retainers.
A large number of bicycles may in this way be stored and securely held on the
wall of a room or the side of a van or car. To still further utilize the storage
space of the room, van or car, a series of ceiling hooks are provided, which hooks,
throughout the length of the bend of each of the same, preferably are covered
with rubber or similar covering to prevent injury or scratching of the rims of the
wheels. The tip or base of each hook is secured to the ceiling, and two hooks
are provided for each bicycle, they being placed at a sufficient distance from each
other to permit the rims of the wheels of a bicycle, when the latter has been
inverted and raised, to be engaged with the said hooks. The hooks of each pair
are set in line with each other, at an angle to the line of the vertical wall, so that
the bicycle hung thereon occupies a position at the same angle with the line of
the said wall as the bicycles which are applied to the wall devices. The said
hooks are so placed with reference to the wall devices that one of the wheels of
a bicycle hung on the hooks will project in between the upraised wheels of
adjoining bicycles held by the wall devices. It will be clear that by means of the
combined wall and ceiling supports the space at one side of a room or van may
be occupied with a practically solid mass of bicycles, each of which is securely
held wholly out of contact with adjoining ones.
The retainer pertaining to the wall devices may have the outer end thereof
depressed so as to engage with the exterior periphery of the bicycle wheel to
which it is applied at a point below the center of said wheel. This guards effec-
tually against accidental or undesired escape of the bicycle from the holding
devices, since an outward movement of the bicycle, such as would tend to withdraw
the upper wheel from the upper wheel-rim receiver, instead of operating to raise
the said retainer and disengage the upraised wheel therefrom by the tendency
of the wheel to rotate upwardly in consequence of strain applied to the periphery
above the center, will, on the other hand, have a tendency so to apply the strain
to the wheel itself as either to resist the tendency to outward movement without
tendency on the part of the wheel to rotate, or to operate to cause the wheel to
rotate in a direction to carry the retainer downward, and thereby operate to hold
the wheel all the more securely.
To obviate the tendency of the inverted and suspended bicycles. to swing or
oscillate, as in response to the jars or impulses which are received during the
movement of a luggage van, supplemental retaining devices are caused to engage
with a wheel or wheels of each of such bicycles. Thus a forked retainer may be
applied to the vertical wall and caused to engage with one of the wheels of an
inverted bicycle, or a swinging loop or bail may drop over one of the wheels.
This retainer may be wholly or in part removable.
On account of placing each pair of ceiling hooks in a diagonal line across the
ceiling, a special form of construction is required in order to enable the hooks
to be applied to a curved ceiling. To this end, the base of each hook is made
somewhat narrow and the length thereof projects at an angle relatively to the
lower hooked portion. In applying this construction of hook or hanger to the
transversely curved surface of a ceiling, the length of the base is caused to extend
parallel with the vertical wall or side of the room or van, which enables the

page_text: surface of the base to fit closely to the surface of the ceilin Should a base of
suitable length be applied crosswise of the curvature of the ceiling, it is obvious
that such base would touch the ceiling only at its extreme ends, while at mid-
length of the base there would be a space intervening between the ceiling and
the base, so that the hook or hanger could not be held securely in place.
Dated this 20th day of August 1897.
Improvements in Bicycle Stands or Holders.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 general aim of the invention is to provide practical and satisfactory support-
ing devices, suitable for receiving bicycles and supporting or holding them
while being either stored or transported; that is to say, capable of being employed
in dwellings, offices, salesrooms, storerooms, the vans or carriages of railways,
and elsewhere where it is desired to make provision for receiving and upholding
bicycles that are not actually in use.
The question of storing bicycles during the intervals when they are not in use
is at the present time one of very great importance, and so is the question of
storing bicycles within railway carriages or vans during transportation. In the
latter connection very serious difficulties are presented. Bicycles are awkward and
inconvenient things to store, and their size, shape, and proportions are such that
they obstruct very seriously the necessarily limited interior space of a carriage
or van when stacked or otherwise stored therein according to the methods which
have been in vogue heretofore. Bicycles take up a disproportionate amount of
space, so that when they are stored in a carriage or van they not only obstruct
but encroach upon the space which should be occupied by ordinary luggage or
baggage. As usually stored in a carriage or van, the most of the bicycles in the
latter are inaccessible until the others have been shifted out of the way. Great
care must be exercised in order to avoid injury to the bicycles while they are in
the carriages or vans, while it frequently happens that parts become broken and
the enamelled or other finished surfaces become scratched or otherwise marred.
The objects of the invention are to provide holders or supports to which
bicycles may be applied quickly and conveniently, and by means of which the
bicycles may be held securely, the said holders or supports being contrived and
arranged so that the bicycles shall be kept very completely out of the way and
so as to leave as much valuable space as possible available for other purposes.
The invention contemplates the combination of the said holders or supports with
the interior walls and ceiling of a room, carriage, or van in a manner which
enables a very large number of bicycles to be stored safely and compactly and to
be held securely, as, for instance, during transportation, while still leaving the
central space within the room, carriage, or van available for the movement of
persons or the storage of luggage and the like. Although in the following
description reference is made more especially to the employment of the invention
in connection with railway carriages or vans, in order to disclose the manner in
which the invention facilitates the storing of bicycles therein for the purpose of

page_text: being transported conveniently and safely, it will be obvious that the invention
in part or as a whole is equally applicable to a room, such for example as the
storeroom of a club house, or the like.
Fig. 1 of the drawings is a perspective view of a portion of the interior of the
luggage van or carriage of a railway, showing the invention as applied for
purposes of transportation. Fig. 2 is a view on the order of a plan illustrating
the diagonal or oblique position of the bicycles and their supporting devices with
reference to a wall or the like support. Fig. 3 shows in plan one of the U-shaped
wheel-rim receivers to which reference is made hereinafter, and Fig. 4 shows the
same in front elevation. Fig. 5 shows in plan, partly broken away, a modified
construction of wheel-rim receiver. Fig. 6 shows in perspective a separable
construction of wheel-rim receiver, and Fig. 7 shows detached and in elevation
one of the parts thereof. Fig. 8 shows in perspective one of the upper wheel-rim
receivers, the same being of separable construction as in Figs. 6 and 7, and also
having combined therewith a wheel-retainer for the purpose of preventing the
accidental dislodgement of a wheel from its receiver. Figs. 9 and 10 are views
of the ceiling hooks to which reference is made hereinafter. Fig. 11 shows a
bicycle suspended in an inverted position by means of a pair of ceiling hooks,
and also having in engagement therewith a restrainer to hold it from swinging
laterally. Fig. 12 shows in perspective a ceiling hook having a restrainer
combined therewith.
Having reference to Fig. 1, the floor of the carriage or van is shown at 1, the
sides or vertical walls thereof are shown at 2,2, and 39 designates the ceiling or
roof. The representation in this figure may be regarded as chiefly conventional
so far as the carriage or van is concerned. One part of the invention provides for
supporting a bicycle in up-ended position against a wall or other vertical support,
that is to say, with one wheel upraised above the other adjacent to the said wall
or other vertical support. In Fig. 1 is shown one bicycle in up-ended position
against one wall of the carriage or van, while two bicycles are shown in similar
position against the other side or wall. For each bicycle which is to be supported
in the up-ended position to which reference has just been made, one or more of the
U-shaped wheel-rim receivers will be provided. The receivers shown in the
drawings are designated 3 and 4, one form thereof being shown detached and on
an enlarged scale in Figs. 3 and 4. The receivers and 4 are applied to the
wall 2, or other vertical support, and are secured thereto in suitable manner, as
by means of screws (not shown) passed through holes 6, 6, in lugs forming part
of the base portions of the respective wheel-rim receivers. The jaws 5, 5, of each
wheel-rim receiver preferably flare or diverge slightly at their outer ends. as
shown, to facilitate the introduction of a wheel-rim and tire into the same. The
opening in each receiver between the jaws 5, 5, thereof is of such width as to cause
the sides of the receiver to press upon the sides of the tire of the wheel which
is applied to the same, while the inner portion of such opening is enlarged some-
what to permit expansion of the tire. The expansion of the tire after it has been
forced into the receiver effects the holding of the wheel in place. In some cases
the receivers are rigid and formed with contracted mouths, as in Figs. 3 and 4,
so that the tires shall be compressed at first as they enter, and after fully entering
shall be permitted to expand again slightly. In some cases the rigid jaws of a
receiver may have combined therewith a clamp constituted by a curved spring or
springs, as at 61 in Fig. 5, the bent free extremities of which curve toward each
other, so that in forcing a wheel into place the sides of the spring or springs are
forced apart until the tire has passed fully into place within the receiver. In
Fig. 6 the spring-clamp is held in place by means of a screw which is designated 7.
Separate receivers may be provided for each wheel of a bicycle, one of such
receivers being placed vertically above the other at suitable heights on the wall
or other vertical support, as in Fig. 1, or a single vertically arranged elongated
or trough-like receiver long enough to receive both wheels of a bicycle may be

page_text: employed, while if desired a receiver may be employed in connection with the
elevated wheel only. In connection with the elevated wheel is employed a
movable retainer 8, Figs. 1, 2, and 8, which engages with the outer periphery of
such wheel opposite the receiver, the said retainer being moved out of the way
to permit the elevated wheel to be introduced into the upper wheel-rim receiver,
and then being moved into engagement with said wheel. This prevents accidental
disengagement or dislodgement of the wheel from the receiver. In the drawings
the retainer is made of wire bent into the form of an elongated U-shaped loop or
bail, and it is shown, see more particularly Figs. 2 and 8, as connected pivotally
with the upper wheel-rim receiver 3 by means of outwardly bent projections 9, 9,
on the free extremities of its arms entering holes in lugs 38, 38, formed on the
receiver 3 at the sides of the jaws of the latter. The U-shaped bail or retainer
is made of a length sufficient to enable it, after the front wheel of a bicycle has
been upraised and the tire of the said wheel has been pushed into the receiver,
to drop over the said wheel, the bight 11 of the said bail or retainer engaging the
periphery of the wheel at a point almost directly opposite the receiver as shown
in Fig. 1. One side or portion of the U-shaped bail or retainer may be provided
with a U-shaped laterally bent or offset portion, as at 12, Figs. 2 and 8, when
desired, in order to accommodate a cyclometer when one is applied in the neigh-
borhood of the hub of the front wheel. When a wheel is not in the receiver the
bail or retainer 8 will drop down against the wall or other support to which the
receiver is secured, and will be out of the way. If desired the retainer may be
disconnected and removed. This is effected by bending or springing the sides
or arms of the bail or retainer together so as to withdraw the projections 9, 9,
at their ends out of the holes in the lugs 38, 38. In order to prevent accidental
and untimely disengagement of the bail or retainer from the receiver, the outer
ends of the jaws 5, 5, of the upper receiver 3 may be made slightly divergent as
shown in Fig. 8, so that when the bail or retainer 8 projects at substantially
right angles to the wall or other support for the receiver the inner ends of the
sides or arms of the bail or receiver are held spaced apart by the said divergent
ends, whereby it will be rendered impossible to bend or spring the arms or sides
toward each other as required in effecting the withdrawal of the projections
thereon from the holes in the lugs 38, 38, until after the retainer has been dropped
into a vertically depending position.
When it is desired to support a bicycle it is raised into a substantially vertical
position, its rear wheel resting upon the floor 1 and the elevated front wheel being
placed in the opening of the upper receiver 3, the bail or retainer 8 being allowed
to fall over the wheel so that the bight 11 thereof shall engage with the tire of the
said elevated wheel on the opposite side of the said wheel, and the lower or rear wheel
being placed in the opening of the lower receiver 5. The bicycle thus is secured
firmly in a vertical position against the wall or other support to which the devices
are applied.
Preferably, the retainer 8 has the outer end thereof depressed or bent down-
wardly as at 13, see Figs. 1 and 8, so that the bight 11 shall engage at a point on
the exterior periphery of the elevated bicycle wheel which is below the center
of such wheel. This guards effectually against accidental or undesired escape of
the bicycle from the holding devices, since an outward movement of the bicycle,
such as would tend to withdraw the elevated wheel from the upper wheel-rim
receiver, instead of operating to raise the said retainer and disengage the upraised
wheel therefrom by the tendency of the wheel to rotate upwardly in consequence
of strain applied to the periphery above the center, will, on the other hand,
have a tendency so to apply the strain to the wheel itself as either to resist the
tendency to outward movement without tendency on the part of the wheel to
rotate, or to cause the wheel to rotate in a direction which will carry the retainer
downward, and thereby operate to hold the wheel all the more securely.

page_text: It may be desirable in some cases to enable the projecting parts which engage
and hold the wheels to be disengaged and removed from the supports to which
they are applied. For instance, when such parts are not in use for holding
bicycles it may be preferred to disconnect them so as thereby to remove projections
which might injure or interfere with luggage or other objects. To this end the
receivers in some cases are made in separable portions; one portion having a
projection fitting in a socket in the other portion so as to permit the outstanding
portions of the receivers to be removed when not in use. Thus in Figs. 6, 7, and 8
the receivers 3 and 4 have the jaw portions thereof formed respectively with the
dove-tail projections 33, 43, and have the base portions 31, 41, respectively, thereof
formed with projecting ribs which are designated 34, 34, and 44, 44, respectively,
the opening between each pair of ribs receiving the dove-tail projection 33 or 43
as the case may be. In order to prevent accidental dislodgement of the detachable
jaw portion of a receiver, a detent or locking device is applied thereto, herein
shown as consisting of a weight arm mounted upon a pivot as 36 or 46 on the
base 31 or 41 and gravitating naturally into a position vertically above the opening
between the ribs 34, 34, or 44, 44. See more particularly Figs. 6, 7, and S. In
order to provide for releasing the jaw-carrying portion of the receiver the detent
or locking device 35 or 45 is pressed laterally by hand.
In order to receive and support a number of bicycles side by side, a series of
the supporting devices is placed along the wall preferably at a distance of about
eighteen inches apart horizontally. See Figs. 1 and 2. In order that the pro-
jecting portions of the bicycles may overlap and not interfere with one another,
the mouths or openings of the receivers are inclined laterally as shown, for
example, at an angle of forty-five degrees with respect to the wall, and the retainers
are caused to swing at a corresponding inclination, so that the bicycles shall be
maintained in laterally oblique positions, parallel with one another, but with the
handle bars and other projecting parts disposed so as to overlap. See Figs. 1
and 2. This enables the bicycles to be set close together and a great economy
of space to be effected, it permitting a larger number of bicycles to be supported
within a given length of wall than otherwise would be possible. It also lessens
the extent to which the bicycles project out from the wall or other support for
the devices. In order to utilize still further the storage space of a room, van, or
carriage, a series of pairs of ceiling hooks or hangers 14, 14, is provided, these
being attached by screws or the like passing through holes as 15, 15, Figs. 9
and 10, formed in the base portions 16, 16, thereof. in order to prevent injury
or scratching of the rims of the wheels, the said hooks or hangers throughout the.
length of the bend of each thereof preferably have applied thereto rubber or other
soft coverings, as at 17, 17. Two hooks or hangers are provided for each bicycle
which is to be suspended from the ceiling, such hooks or hangers being placed a
distance from each other which is sufficient to permit the rims of the wheels of
a bicycle, when. the latter has been inverted and raised, to be engaged with the
said hooks or hangers. The hooks or hangers of each pair are set in line with
each other, such line being at an angle with reference to the line of the vertical
wall which corresponds with the obliquity of the openings in the wheel-rim
receivers 3 and 4, so that the bicycle which is hung on such pair of hooks or
hangers occupies a position parallel with the bicycles which are applied to the
wall-devices, and at the same angle as the latter with respect to the line of the
wall. See Figs. 1 and 2. The said hooks or hangers are so placed with respect
to the wall devices, see Figs. 1 and 2, that one of the wheels of the bicycle which
is hung on the hooks or hangers will project in between the upraised wheels of
adjoining bicycles which are held by the wall-devices. It will be clear that by
means of the combined wall and ceiling supports the space at one side of a room,
carriage, or van may be occupied with a practically solid mass of bicycles, each
of which is held securely wholly out of contact with the adjacent ones.

page_text: .
In order to obviate the tendency of the inverted and suspended bicycles to
swing or oscillate, as in response to the jars or impulses which are received during
the movement of a carriage or van, supplemental retaining or restraining devices
are provided for engagement with a wheel or wheels of each of such bicycles.
Thus a forked retainer corresponding with one of the wheel-rim receivers may be
applied to the vertical wall, as at 18, Figs. 1 and 2, to engage with one of the
wheels of an inverted and suspended bicycle, or a swinging loop or bail 19, see
Figs. 11 and 12, may drop over one of the wheels. The swinging loop or bail 19
may be connected pivotally with the base of one of the hooks or hangers 14, as
shown in Figs. 11 and 12. The restrainer 18 or 19 may be made removable
wholly or in part.
On account of placing each pair of ceiling hooks or hangers in a diagonal line
across the ceiling, a special form of construction is required in order to enable
the hooks or hangers to be applied to a curved ceiling, as sometimes becomes
necessary in practice. To this end, the base 16 of each hook or hanger is made
somewhat narrow and the length thereof projects at an angle relatively to the
lower hooked portion. See Figs. 9 and 10, which shows hooks or bangers that are
right, and left, respectively. In applying this construction of hook or hanger
to the transversely curved surface of a ceiling, the length of the base is caused to
extend parallel with the length of the vertical wall or side of the room, carriage,
or van, which enables the surface of the base to fit closely to the surface of the
ceiling. Should a base of suitable length be applied crosswise of the curvature
of the ceiling, it is obvious that such base would touch the ceiling only at its
extreme ends, while at midlength of the base there would be a space intervening
between the ceiling and the base, so that the hook or hanger could not be held
securely in place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of, my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. The improved bicycle supporting device comprising the wheel-rim receiver
and the movable retainer.
2. The improved bicycle supporting devices comprising the pair of wheel-rim
receivers mounted vertically one above the other in position to sustain a bicycle
in up-ended position and each constructed to grasp one of the bicycle wheels.
3. The improved separable wheel-rim receiver.
4. The combined series of wall supporting devices and ceiling hooks or hangers.
5. The ceiling supports having the restrainer to hold a bicycle from lateral
movement.
6. The improved construction of ceiling hook or hanger.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.