Improvements in Handle-bars for Velocipedes and like Vehicles."
Year: 1897

page_text: "Improvements in Handle-bars for Velocipedes and like Vehicles."
I, ALBERT AUGUSTUS POPE, of Cohasset, in the county of Norfolk, state of
Massachusetts, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
articularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement: -
The object of my invention is to provide a handle-bar for a velocipede or like
vehicle which shall possess all needed rigidity for withstanding bending and
twisting strains in use and yet shall be sufficiently flexible to absorb to a great
degree the vibration of the wheel in use on a rough surface.
To this end my invention consists in a handle-bar as an article of manufac-
ture, made of wood with a covering layer of celluloid or like material firmly and
intimately united to the whole or greater part of the surface of the handle-bar
by the application of heat and pressure, as hereinafter described and more par-
ticularly pointed out in the claims.
Referring to the drawings:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a handle-bar.
Figure 2 is a side view of a core of bent shape on which the blank is formed. .
Figure 3 is a view in 'cross section through the core, a covering film and the
two parts of a former.
Figure 4 is a view in cross section through the core the covering layer and
the two sections of the former shown closed down upon the parts.
Figure 5 is a view of the core showing the manner of strapping a film upon it
in the operation of shaping the film.
Figure 6 is a detail perspective view showing a piece of the handle-bar the
blank cover in place and the shield in place outside the covering layer in readi-
ness for the final operation.
Figure is a view, on enlarged scale, in section through the handle-bar, the
covering layer, the shield, and the rubber bag from which air has been exhausted.
In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes a handle-bar of ordinary
form tipped with two handles or grips 6 in the usual manner. Such a handle-
bar, preferably of wood bent to shape, is provided with a covering layer of celluloid
or like material by the following described means and process.
A core e is used for forming the thin covering to shape, and it is usually made
of some flexible material such as india-rubber, of the same size and form as the
bar to be covered, or capable of being bent to such shape.
A strip of the material forming a blank d is cut from a sheet and placed against
the former c and wrapped about it in such manner that when the two sections c¹ c³
of the former are closed down upon the core c, which also operates to some
extent as a former, and as illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawings, the blank d
is wrapped completely about the core with its edges over-lapping.
It is subjected to heat while thus held and roughly shaped to form. It is then
placed upon the bar a or a former of the same shape and tightly bound by the
elastic tape e.
When thus arranged and held, the film is again subjected to
heat, as of warm water, and closely formed to final shape. The strip of tape e

page_text: is unwound, the film removed and placed upon the handle-bar which it is to
finally cover, and a flexible shield preferably of india-rubber wrapped about the
bar and completely enclosing it and the covering layer. This shield of may be
made upon a bar and vulcanized thereon and afterwards removed by cutting
through and along one side.
When thus covered with the shield f, the handle-bar is placed within a bag g,
the air exhausted, and the whole subjected to heat and pressure. In both of the
steps where the covering layer is subjected to heat and pressure, it is subsequently
cooled preferably by means of cold water, and thus fixed in its then shape."
The handle-bar thus covered may have the surface smoothed with any abrasive
material and then polished. This improved handle-bar is strong, flexible and
possesses all of the advantages of a metallic bar and of a wooden bar with none
of the defects. The covering layer may be made of any desired color or combina-
tion of colors, or may be transparent without altering at all the physical properties
of the material or its capability as a protection against the weather. The covering
layer is moulded upon and firmly and intimately united with the surface of the
wood, from which it cannot be stripped, chipped or broken off.
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. As an improved article of manufacture, a handle-bar of wood having a thin
covering layer of celluloid or like material formed upon and moulded to the
bar and intimately united to its surface by the application of heat and pressure,
all substantially as described.
2. As an improved article of manufacture, a handle-bar of wood having a thin
Covering layer of celluloid or like material formed upon and moulded to the
bar and intimately united to its surface by the application of cement, heat and
pressure, all substantially as described.
3. As an improved article of manufacture, a handle-bar of bent wood having
a thin covering layer of celluloid or like material formed upon, cemented and
moulded to the bar and intimately united to its surface by the application of heat
and pressure, all substantially as described.
Dated. Hartford Conn USA Sont 8th 1807
ALBERT AUGUSTUS POPE..
D. Young & Co.
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings London, W.C. Agents for the Applicant.