Improvements in Tricycles.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Mar., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 30th Nov, 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 31st Dec, 1888
Improvements in Tricycles.
I EDWARD KEMP TAYLOR of 21 Royal Avenue Chelsea in the county of Middlesex,
trading as The Tricycle Letting Company at Fulham in the said county do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-—
Hitherto in all double driving Tricycles having the balance gear placed at any
part except at the side, the axle is divided transversely thereby requiring three or four
bearings to carry the seat and give the necessary rigidity to the axle and other parts
of the machine. To obviate this division I reduce the axle for about half its length
or to any desired point, about one third of its ordinary diameter. To its unreduced
end one of the driving wheels is rigidly fixed, the other driving wheel works loosely
on the reduced portion of the axle but is retained thereon by a nut or other suitable
fastening. Over the reduced portion I pass a tube or sleeve which at one end is
firmly fixed to the inner side of the hub of the loose driving wheel. To the other end
of the tube or sleeve is affixed one of the mitre wheels of the ordinary balance gear,
the other mitre wheel being fastened at the extreme end of the portion of the axle
having the larger diameter. By means of this arrangement I am able to dispense
with all but two of the before mentioned bearings thereby greatly reducing the friction
in using the machine, and the having of a through axle renders the machine more
rigid than any other machine having the balance gear placed in a central position.
Dated this 2nd day of March 1888.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Tricycles.
I EDWARD KEMP TAYLOR of 21. Royal Avenue Chelsea in the County of Middlesex
trading as The Tricycle Letting Company at Fulham in the said County 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 :--
Hitherto in all double driving Tricycles having the balance gear placed at any
point except at the end of the axle, the latter is divided transversely thereby requiring
three and even four bearings to give it the necessary rigidity. To obviate this
division I make an axle consisting of a bar of steel say an inch in diameter and
equal in length to the maximum wilth of the Tricycle, the said diameter having been
reduced about one eighth from one extremity of the axle to within a short distance of
its centre, the length of the reduction varying according to the position which the
gear-box is required to occupy to suit the frame work of the machine. On the larger
diameter of the axle about one inch and a quarter from the shoulder formed by the
aforesaid reduction is fixed one of the two vertical bevel-wheels of an ordinary balance
gear. Over the outer extremity of the unreduced portion of the axle one hub is
slipped and firmly secured. The other hub is attached in like manner to a tube or
sleeve the outer diameter of which is equal to the larger diameter of the axle and the
inner diameter is such as to allow the reduced portion of the axle, which the sleeve
equals in length to turn freely within it. To the other extremity of the sleeve the
second vertical bevel wheel is fixed, and this sleeve with hub and bevel wheel attached
being slipped into position, lateral movement is prevented by a nut or other suitable
contrivance. The unreduced portion of the axle between the two vertical bevel
wheels is occupied by the gear box which turns freely upon it and contains the two
horizontal bevel wheels of the halance gear this box also carries the chain wheel and
brake drum (when band brake required). Two axle bearings are placed one on either
side of the gear box at any convenient points between it and the hubs. By means of
this arrangement the friction is greatly reduced and the employment of a through
axle renders the machine more rigid than any other having the balance gear placed in
a central position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
The making of the axles of double driving Tricycles in one piece of metal in such
a manner as to enable me not only to drive the machine from a central point in the
axle but also to place the balance gear at such point and also to obtain the necessary
rigidity to the axle by the use of only two axle bearings.
Dated this Thirtieth day of November 1888.