An Improved Spring Attachment for the Front Fork of Cycles and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Feb., 1897-Accepted, 8th May, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Spring Attachment for the Front Fork of Cycles
and the like.
1, SIDNEY PILE, of 14 Merton Street, Stanmore, Sydney in the Colony of New
South Wales, 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 has been devised for the purpose of minimising the shock and jar
that is transmitted to the handles of a cycle, and consequently to the arms and seat.
of the rider, by reason of the front wheel of the machine striking or running over
any small obstruction that may lie in its path, or while running over rough or
bumpy roads.
The invention consists in attaching in any suitable manner, to the two ends of the
front fork of the cycle, plate springs that may be bent into any form that will give
extra resilience, the other ends of these springs being connected together by the
axle bar which passes through the ball or roller bearings that are carried by the
wheel.
But in order that the invention may be thoroughly understood, reference will be
made to the accompanying sheet of drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the front wheel of a cycle, shewing my invention.
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same, shewing the two prongs of the fork with
the springs attached thereto.
Figs. 3 and 34 are details on an enlarged scale, shewing the style of plate spring,
as a blank, that I prefer to adopt, and a mode of fastening it on to the fork.
A is the front wheel of the machine. B is the steering head, the lower end of
which is forked at C. In new machines the fork will not extend right down to the
axle of the wheel, as is usual at the present time, but will be shortened, as shewn
in the drawings, and the spring attachinent D will be added to it and be its
continuation. In old machines to which my invention may be adapted, it will be
generally convenient to slightly shorten the fork, and then attach the spring
attachment to the shortened fork in any suitable manner. It is not absolutely
necessary that the forks of old machines should be shortened, but it is considered
preferable that they should be. The spring attachment will be composed of a
piece of flat or plate steel, the upper end being constructed so that it can readily
be attached to the end of the fork. The spring is then bent into circular form, as
shewn in Fig. 1, and its end will be turned up so as to afford a hold to the axle bar,
by means of which axle bar it will be firmly secured to the end of the spring on the
other side of the wheel. In order to place the wheel in position the axle bar is
withdrawn, the wheel properly placed between the forks; the axle bar is then
threaded through the bearings on the wheel and is then secured in any approved
manner. The mode of attaching the spring to the fork shewn in Figs. 3 and 3* is
more particularly adapted to old machines; the sides of the blank spring are
provided with lugs D2 D2 which are turned up so as to form a kind of channel in
which the end of the fork C may rest. Bolts are then passed through the openings
in the lugs and secured by nuts, and the spring is thus fixed firmly on the end of
the fork. The method shewn in Figs. 1 and 2 is somewhat different, the side of the
spring is laid closely up against the side of the fork and is firmly secured thereto

page_text: It is not necessary to specify any precise mode of attachment of the spring to the
fork, but I have thought it as well to explain how this result may be effected. Nor
is it necessary that the spring D should be bent to the exact shape shewn in the
drawings, as the shape may be altered to suit different requirements, and the result
would be the same.
It is evident that when the wheel is running on a rough or bumpy road
series
of shocks or jars will be transmitted through the spokes to the axle. Owing,
however, to their resilience, the springs D will reduce the shock and consequently
but little or no vibratory effect will be felt.on.the handles and seat of the machine;
whereas, in the cycles at present in use in which the forks are made in one rigid
piece, the shock is transmitted through the fork, and frame, to the handles and
seat, and would consequently be felt throughout the body of the rider.
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 :-
In cycling machines, the introduction between the ends of the fork that carries
the front wheel of the machine, and the axle of the wheel, of bent springs, the
upper ends of which are rigidly connected to the fork, while the other ends of the
pair of springs required, are connected together by the axle bar upon which
the roller bearings of the wheel revolve, as and for the purposes herein set
forth.
Dated at London this 1st day of February 1897
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
Chartered Patent Agent,
For the Applicant.