Improvements in Driving Mechanism, chiefly designed for Velocipedes and similar Vehicles.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Aug., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 5th May, 1896-Accepted, 4th July, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Driving Mechanism, chiefly designed for
Velocipedes and similar Vehicles.
I, CARL HEINRICH OTTO HAMANN of 20 Schlebuschweg, in the Town of
Bergedorf near Hamburg, in the Empire of Germany, Gentleman, do hereby.
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in driving mechanism for propulsion
wheels, particularly applicable for velocipedes, in which latter case the invention is
designed to advantageously replace the commonly employed chain-gear for
uniformly transmitting the motion of the pedal shaft to the driving or propulsion
wheel.
The improved driving mechanism as applied for instance to a bicycle of the well
known safety type mainly consists of an intermediate shaft arranged between the
commonly employed pedal crank shaft and the axle of the propulsion wheel and
suitably journalled in the frame of the vehicle. The said intermediate shaft is
provided at each end with a crank or crank dise the pins of which being arranged
at right angles to each other. This intermediate crank shaft moreover, may be
provided with a toothed wheel meshing with the teeth of a pinion keyed on the
pedal crank shaft or fastened thereon in any suitable manner so that power applied
to the pedals to rotate their shaft is transmitted to the intermediate shaft by means
of the said wheels and according to the proportion of their diameter.
The axle or shaft of the propulsion wheel is also provided at each end with a
crank or crank disc the pins of which are also placed at right angles to each
other.
At each side of the bicycle the corresponding cranks or crank pins of the pro-
pulsion wheel shaft and of the said intermediate shaft are connected with each
other by means of horizontally reciprocated guide-rods having at their extremities
suitable shaped loops arranged at right angles to the race of the said guide-rod,
and into which loops engage the respective crank pins of the intermediate shaft
and of the axle of the propulsion wheel. The guide-rods being preferably guided
by means of suitable guide rollers attached to the frame of the vehicle and adapted
to slide within suitable longitudinal slots of the guide rods to which latter on
rotation of the intermediate shaft horizontally reciprocating motion is imparted.
The operation of the described driving mechanisin will be as follows.
If, for instance, on actuating the pedals the pedal shaft is turned in one direction
the intermediate shaft will be rotated in the other or opposite direction. Thereby
either of the crank pins of the intermediate shaft moving in a circle imparts
reciprocating motion to the corresponding guide-rod in such a manner that the
to-and-fro motion of either guide rod takes place in a direction opposite to that of
the other guide rod. Thus both guide-rods uniformly transmit the motion of the
cranks of the intermediate shaft to the cranks of the propulsion wheel shaft in the
opposite direction, that is to say, the direction of rotation of the latter shaft will be
reversed in relation to the rotation of the intermediate shaft, as is required when
employing the customary pedal mechanism in bicycles in order to rotate the
propulsion wheel in the prescribed direction.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the mechanism above described may be
used in several kinds of machinery employing crank gearing whenever it is required

page_text: to uniformly transmit the motion of one crank to the other and to reverse the
direction of rotation of the driven shaft in relation to the driving shaft.
Dated this 6th day of August 1895.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in Driving Mechanism, chiefly designed for
Velocipedes and similar Vehicles.
I, CARL HEINRICH OTTO HAMANN of 20 Schlebuschweg, in the Town of
Bergedorf near Hamburg, in the Empire of Germany, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to improvements in driving mechanism for propulsion
wheels, particularly applicable for velocipedes, in which latter case the invention is
designed to advantageously replace the commonly employed chain-gear for uniformly
transmitting the motion of the pedal shaft to the driving or propulsion wheel.
In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated the invention by way of example
in connection with a velocipede, in which drawing
Figure 1 is a side elevation showing parts of a bicycle of the well-known safety
type, with the improvements applied thereto, and
Figure 2 is a top view of Figure 1 partly in section.
Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout both the views.
The letter F designates the frame of the bicycle, which may be of any suitable
form or construction; A the rear driving or propulsion wheel; P the pedals and
the pedal crank shaft, provided with the usual cranks p¹ and a pinion p³.
P
The axle or shaft a of the propulsion wheel A is journalled between the rear
fork of the frame and provided at each extremity with a suitable crank or crank
disc a¹ having a crank-pin a'; the pins a' of the cranks a¹ being placed at right
angles to each other.
Between the pedal crank shaft p and the axle a is arranged a second shaft b
suitably journalled in the frame and provided at each end with a crank or crank
disc the pins 63 of which are also arranged at right angles to each other. This
crank shaft moreover is provided with a toothed wheel 63 meshing with the teeth
of the pinion p³ of the pedal crank shaft p so that power applied to the pedals P to
rotate the shaft p is transmitted to the shaft b by means of the said wheels p² b³
and according to the proportion of their diameters.
The corresponding cranks a' and 61 at each side of the bicycle are connected
with each other by means of horizontally reciprocated guide-rods c having at their
extremities suitably shaped loops c¹ c¹ arranged at right angles to the race of the
rod c and into which engage the respective crank pins a 6. The rods c being
preferably guided by means of guide-rollers d attached to the frame and adapted
to slide within suitable longitudinal slots c2 of the guide rods c to which latter on
rotation of the shaft b horizontally reciprocating motion is imparted. The pins a³
and at each side are so arranged that when one is at the top of its loop c' the
other is at the bottom of the corresponding loop.
The operation of the described driving mechanism will be as follows:
If, for instance, on actuating the pedals P the shaft p is turned in the direction
of the arrow, 1 (Figure 1) the crank shaft bis rotated in the direction indicated
by the arrow 2. Thereby either of the crank pins & moving in a circle imparts
reciprocating motion to the corresponding rod c in such a manner that the
to-and-fro motion of the rods are in different phases. Thus both rods c uniformly

page_text: transmit the motion of the cranks to the cranks a' in the opposite sense, that is
to say, the direction of rotation of the shaft a will be reversed in relation to the
motion of the shaft b as indicated by the arrow 3, as is required when employing
the customary pedal mechanism in bicycles, in order to rotate the propulsion wheel
in the proper direction.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the mechanism above described
may be used in several kinds of machinery employing crank gearing whenever
it is required to uniformly transmit the motion of one crank to the other and to
reverse the direction of rotation of the driven shaft in relation to the driving
shaft.
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 hereindescribed improvements in driving mechanism for propulsion wheels,
velocipedes and similar vehicles characterized by connecting rods for transmitting
the motion to the driven wheel which connecting rods are provided with slotted
heads at each end and guided by suitable guides in such a manner that the said
connecting rods can reciprocate only in their longitudinal direction in order to
reduce the moving masses and to revolve the respective cranks in opposite direction
whereby the application of a simple transmitting device is possible.
Dated this 5th day of May 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.