Year: 1898

page_text: I, EDWARD EUGENE TRYON, of East Hartford, in the County of Hartford and
State of Connecticut, United States of America, Gentleman, 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 relates to improvements in bicycle-locks, and it has for its
object the provision of a simple device of this character so constructed as to lock
the steering-head of a bicycle securely to the steering-tube, said lock consisting of
a minimum number of parts, which can be quickly assembled in working position
on the steering-head tube.
The main feature of my invention resides, in connection with a steering-head and
a tube, in a locking-bolt carrier having screw-receiving openings, a series of screws
passing through said openings and in threaded engagement with the steering-head
tube, a casing fitting around said carrier, and a bolt passing through a bore in a
carrier and adapted to be shot into the recess in the steering-head, said bolt having
a cap or guard at its outer end of such size as to prevent access to the heads of the
carrier-holding screws, thereby thwarting the removal of the lock from the steering-
head tube from the bicycle by unauthorized persons.
In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification, Figure 1
is a side elevation of the front part of a bicycle, showing my improved lock on the
steering-head. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the steering-head, its tube,
and the lock, on an enlarged scale, the bolt being illustrated in its protracted or
working position to lock the steering-head against turning. Fig. 3 is a sub-
stantially similar view, the bolt being represented in its retracted position. Fig. 4
is a sectional plan view, the section being taken through the steering-head and
steering-head tube in a line slightly above the lock in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a horizontal
central section of the lock. Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken in a line passing
through the center of the lock-cylinder; and Fig. 7 is an elevation of a simple
form of key for actuating the lock.
Similar characters designate like parts in all the figures of the drawings.
The steering-head tube of the bicycle is designated by T and the steering-head
by S, and both of these may be of any suitable or usual type
The steering-head tube in the present case carries the lock proper, which is
designated by L, and the steering-head forms a keeper for the lock-bolt, said
steering-head having a plurality of bolt-receiving recesses, as 2 and 3, into either
one of which the inner end of the lock-bolt may be inserted to secure the head to
the steering-head tube so as to prevent the head from turning.
My improved lock embodies as a part thereof a bolt-carrier, which may be
secured to the steering-head in any suitable manner, but which is preferably fixed

page_text: thereto by holding-screws, as and 5, respectively, in threaded engagement with
the steering-head tube T and passing through openings near the inner end of the
carrier, (designated by H,) that portion of the latter which fits against the steering-
head being of a shape to correspond with said head.
The lock-bolt carrier H has in diametrically opposite sides thereof the grooves
or channels 6 and 7, respectively, to admit a suitable instrument for driving the
two screws 4 and 5, respectively into their seats in the tube T when the lock is
placed on a machine.
The lock-bolt is designated by B, and it is longitudinally reciprocative in the
bore 8, extending entirely through the carrier, the inner end of said bolt being
adapted to be projected into one or the other of the recesses 2 and 3 in the steering-
head S and also passing through an opening or slot 9 in the tube T.
The bolt-carrier H is surrounded by the casing or collar 10, which, when the
parts are assembled, is adapted to fit against the abutment or shoulder 12 near
the inner end of said bolt-carrier.
The outer end of the bolt B is provided with a cap or guard, which serves to
prevent access to the heads of the carrier-holding screws 4 and 5, when the parts
are assembled in working position on the machine. This cap or guard is designated
by 13, and it consists in the present case of a disk, which may be formed integral
with the bolt B, and its diameter is approximately equal to that of the casing or
sleeve 10; and it will be apparent on an inspection of the drawings that when the
lock parts are assembled it is impossible to introduce a screw-driver or other tool
in the grooves 6 and 7 for the purpose of removing the screws.
The lock-bolt B is preferably thrown into or out of the steering-head recesses
2 and 3 by a key-operated cylinder, as C, situated for rotation in a transverse
opening 14 in the bolt-carrier H, and said cylinder is connected with the bolt by a
joint eccentric to the axis of rotation of the cylinder, so that when the cylinder
is manipulated by a key the bolt may be shot into or out of the keeper-recesses in
the steering-head, in accordance with the direction in which said cylinder may be
turned.
The lock-operating cylinder C consists in the present case of two superposed parts
15 and 16, respectively, independently rotative and secured to each other by the
pivot 17, consisting of a rivet, whose lower end may be headed to prevent the
separation of the two cylinder parts.
The cylinder passes through the recess 18 in the casing 10, and it is constructed
of different sizes, the under section 15 being of greater diameter than the upper,
by reason of which a stop or shoulder 19 is produced near the middle of the cylinder
and bears against the sleeve 10 to prevent the removal of the said cylinder.
The two parts of the cylinder Care longitudinally grooved or notched in their
opposite sides, as at 20 and 21, respectively; and when the notches of the upper
section are in alinement or registration with the corresponding notches the cylinder
may be turned by a key, such as K, adapted to straddle the cylinder, the bits or
branches 22 and 23 of which are adapted to enter the aligned notches or grooves
in the opposite sides of the cylinders.
The cylinder-section 15 has thereon an eccentric pin 30 adapted to fit into a
transverse groove or notch in the lock-bolt 13, which groove should extend at least
half way across the bolt in order that the pin may work freely and shift the bolt
properly in turning through a half circle from the position shown in Figure 2 to
that indicated in Figure 3 and vice versa. It will be evident that when the pin 30
"is turned in this manner it will shift from one end of such groove to the other and
back again in turning through a half circle, and when thus operated by means of
the key, which will of course, be inserted into the cylinder-section 16 to turn the
cylinder and pin 30, the lock-bolt may be thrown into, or out of, one of the recesses
2 and 3 in the steering-head S.
The tumbler for locking the bolt in its two positions is 'in the present case a
curved substantially U-shaped spring 25 fixed at one end to the casing or sleeve 10

page_text: and lying in a peripheral groove 26 in the carrier H, as is clearly illustrated in
Figure 6. The free end of the spring is adapted to engage in either one of the
notches 20 and 21 in the lower cylinder section 15, according as the cylinder is in
the position shown in Figure 2 or that illustrated in Figure 3. When engaged
in either of such notches, the spring-tumbler 25 will lock the cylinder-section in
the manner shown in Figure 6, and consequently will hold the bolt B in its locking
or unlocked position, as the case may be. To release the cylinder from the spring-
tumbler, the key is introduced, and when one of the bits 22 or 23 thereof strikes
the free end of the tumbler said end is forced out of the notch in the cylinder-
section, and the latter may then be turned and the bolt operated. When the key
is withdrawn, the spring-tumbler 25 will seat itself again in the other notch in the
cylinder-section 15.
To attach the lock to a cycle, the carrier H is first placed against the tube T with
its bolt-receiving bore 8 in alinement with the opening 9 in the tube, after which
the holding-screws 4 and 5 are inserted into their openings in the carrier and
turned into the tube T by a screw-driver or other tool. The casing or ring 10 is
then placed over the bolt until the inner end of the ring abuts against the inside
of the disk or guard 13; then the ring is placed over the carrier until the socket 201
in the bolt B is visible through the aperture 16, at which time the cylinder is
inserted into the said aperture, and the eccentric-pin thereon will drop into the
socket; the spring 25 is then lowered below the inside face of the ring 10, so that the
latter can be pressed against the shoulder 12 on the bolt-carrier H.
When the ring has reached the head or shoulder 12 of the carrier, it serves to
press the working end of the spring 25 into one of the notches of the bolt-operating
cylinder C to lock the latter and consequently the bolt B, the release of the bolt
being effected by forcing the spring-tumbler out of the notch by a key-bit.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is:
1. The combination, with a bicycle-frame embodying a steering-head and a tube
thereon, of a carrier having screw-receiving openings; a series of screws passing
through said openings and in threaded engagement with the stering-head tube; a
casing fitting around the carrier outside of the screw-receiving openings to
externally guard the screws; a holt passing through a bore of the carrier and
adapted to be projected into an opening in the steering-head; and means serving
to prevent access to the heads of the carrier-holding screws.
2. The combination, with a bicycle-frame embodying a steering-head and a tube
thereon, of a carrier having screw-receiving openings; a series of screws passing
through said openings and in threaded engagement with the steering-head tube;
a casing fitting around the carrier outside of the screw-receiving opening to
externally guard the screws; a bolt passing through a bore in the carrier and
adapted to be projected into an opening in the steering-head, said bolt having a
cap or guard at its outer end constructed to prevent access to the heads of the
carrier-holding screws.
3. The combination, with a bicycle-frame embodying a steering-head and a tube
thereon, of a carrier having screw-receiving openings; a series of screws passing
through said openings and in threaded engagement with the steering-head tube;
a casing fitting around the carrier outside of the serew-receiving opening to exter-
nally guard the screws; a bolt passing through a bore in the carrier and adapted
to be projected into an opening in the steering-head, said bolt having a disk at its
outer end, which serves to prevent access to the heads of the carrier-holding screws.
4. The combination, with a bicycle-frame embodying a steering-head and a tube
thereon, of a substantially-cylindrical carrier having screw-receiving openings and
diametrically opposite screw-receiving channels communicating with said openings;
a series of screws passing through said openings and in threaded engagenient with
the steering-head tube; a casing fitting around the carrier outside of the screw-

page_text: receiving opening to externally guard the screws; a bolt passing through a bore
in the carrier and adapted to be projected into an opening in the steering-head;
means serving to prevent access to the carrier-holding screws and a bolt-operating
cylinder adapted to be passed through a slot in the casing.
EDWARD EUGENE TRYON
By Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.