Improvements in Multiple Speed Gearing for Bicycles and the like.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Jan., 1894-Accepted, 10th Feb., 1894
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Multiple Speed Gearing for Bicycles and the like.
We, IGNATIUS LOYOLA UNTERBRINK, of Fryburgh, in the County of
Auglaize, and State of Ohio, and CYRENIUS AUGUSTUS LAYTON, of Wapakoneta,
in the County of Auglaize, and State of Ohio, United States of America,
Gentlemen, 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 multiple speed gearing for bicycles, tricycles, and
similar vehicles, and it contemplates the provision of a compact and simple system
of co-acting gears capable of a plurality of relative adjustments to produce a
corresponding number of relative speeds, such gearing being so arranged as to
permit of its being housed, and thus protected and concealed to exclude dust and
avoid contact with the clothing of the rider.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will appear in the following
description and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the
appended claims.
In the drawing :-
Figure 1 is a side view of a safety-bicycle provided with a speed-gearing
attachment embodying my invention.
Figure 2 is a plan view of the speed-gearing attachment with the casing or housing
broken away.
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section, taken parallel with the axes of the parallel
crank-shaft and spindle.
Figure 4 is a view of the friction clutch employed for transmitting power from
the crank-shaft to the chain wheel.
Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of
the drawing.
1 designates a framework of a safety bicycle of any ordinary construction ;
2 the crank or pedal shaft; 3 the front or steering wheel and 4, the rear or
driving wheel which is connected by means of the chain 5 with the crank shaft.
6 represents the ordinary sprocket-wheel or chain wheel, which is carried by the
crank-shaft 2, for operating the chain 5, said wheel being loosely mounted for free
rotation upon the crank-shaft and being connected by means of an interposed
collar or sleeve 7, with a gear 8, which being carried by the loose chain-wheel is
freely rotatable upon the crank-shaft. The shaft is provided, within the hub of
the chain-wheel, with a disk 9, provided with the series of peripheral pockets
containing balls or spherical rollers 10. This disk fits snugly in the recess or
cavity formed in the chain-wheel, whereby the outer sides of said pockets are closed
by the walls of the cavity or recess, and a removable plate 10ª closes the outer side
of the cavity and thus conceals the disk.
The construction of this friction clutch is such that when the crank-shaft is
rotated forwardly, or in the direction necessary to propel the machine forward, the
clutch locks the crank-shaft to the chain-wheel and causes the latter to turn there-
with, as in those machines in which the chain-wheel is fixed to the crank shaft; but
the chain-wheel may be rotated at a higher rate of speed than the crank shaft
during which time the clutch will remain idle, for the reason that the spherical
rollers will drop back into the enlarged portions of the pockets out of contact with
the walls of the cavity in the chain-wheel.

page_text: 11 represents a rotatable auxiliary or clutch spindle, arranged parallel with the
crank-shaft, and fixed to this spindle is a gear 13 which meshes at all times with a
corresponding gear 14 fixed to the crank-shaft adjacent to the loose gear 8.
Rotatably mounted upon the spindle 11, adjacent to the gear 13, is a larger loose
gear 15, which meshes at all times with the gear 8.
A clutch 17 is provided for the connection of the loose gear 15 to the spindle 11,
one member 18 of such clutch being fixed permanently to and carried by the
gear 15, and the other member 19 thereof being slidably mounted upon the spindle
and capable of interlocking with the member 18 when brought in contact therewith.
Said slidable member of the clutch is feathered upon the spindle 11.
In connection with the above described mechanism we employ means for operating
the slidable member of the clutch, such means being under the control of the rider
to permit of easy engagement and disengagement of the members of the clutch.
This adjusting mechanism consists, preferably, of a bell-crank lever 20, fulcrumed
to a fixed portion of the framework of the bicycle, and having a bifurcated arm
provided with terminal inturned studs 22 which engage a peripheral groove 23 in
the movable member 19, an actuating spring 24 which is connected to an extension 21
of the bell-crank lever and is arranged to normally hold the said lever in position
to maintain the members of the clutch in engagement; and an operating lever 25
which is connected by means of rods 26 and 27 and an interposed bell-crank
lever 28 to the bell-crank lever 20, whereby when the free end of the operating
lever is elevated or drawn toward the handle-bar of the machine the bell-
crank lever 20 is operated against the tension of the actuating spring 24 and the
members of the clutch are disengaged. The connecting-rod 27 is provided with
spaced stops 29 and 30, which limit the movements of the clutch-operating devices
to prevent lateral friction of the studs 22 upon the sides of the groove 23 in the
movable clutch member. A clamp 31 is provided for the engagement of the
operating lever when the latter has been moved to disengage the members of
the clutch.
This being the construction of the improved gearing, the operation thereof is as
follows:-
When the members of the clutch are disengaged the rotation of the crank-shaft
will be communicated directly to the chain-wheel through the friction clutch
connection and the speed of the machine will be dependent solely upon the
relative sizes of the chain-carrying wheels, as in the ordinary direct forms of
chain gearing now in common use upon vehicles of this kind; and the fixed
gear 14 will turn the fixed gear 13 and the shaft 11 idly, inasmuch as there is no
connection between such shaft and the loose speed-gear 13. When the members
of the clutch are interlocked, as they are automatically upon the release of the
operating lever owing to the action of the spring 24, the rotation of the crank-
shaft will be communicated through the fixed gear 14 the fixed speed-gear 13 and
the spindle 11 to the loose speed-gear 15 and from thence through the loose gear 8
to the chain-gear, thus, by the relative sizes of said gears rotating the chain-wheel
at a greater speed than the crank-shaft, and causing said chain-wheel to rotate
loosely and independently of the crank-shaft, the friction clutch connection between
the crank-shaft and chain wheel being idle.
It will be seen that in adjusting the gearing for power or speed there is no
displacement of gears, such adjustment being accomplished simply by the
movement of the slidable member of the clutch 17.
The disposition of the members of the above described gear is such that a small
box or housing 32 may be arranged upon the crank-shaft to enclose the gears 13,
14, 15, and 8, and the clutch 17, thus excluding the dust from the co-operating
parts and prevent contact with the clothing of the rider.
In adapting the mechanism as described to machines of different makes, and
having frameworks of different constructions, it will become necessary to modify,
in some respects, the relative arrangement of the parts, especially with regard to
the adjusting mechanism for the movable member of the clutch, and therefore it

page_text: will be understood that various changes in the form, proportion and the minor
details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or
sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination with a driving shaft, of a chain-wheel loosely mounted upon
said shaft, a clutch connection between the chain-wheel and the shaft, a rotatable
spindle carrying a fixed gear which meshes with a fixed gear upon the driving
shaft, a loose gear mounted upon said spindle and meshing with a gear carried by
the chain-wheel, and means for locking said loose gear to the spindle, substantially
as specified.
2. The combination with a driving shaft, of a chain wheel loosely mounted upon
the shaft, a clutch connection between the chain-wheel and shaft, a spindle
carrying a fixed gear which meshes with a fixed gear upon the driving shaft, a
loose gear mounted upon said spindle and meshing with a gear carried by the
chain-wheel, a clutch one member of which is carried by said loose gear and the
other member of which is slidably mounted upon the spindle, and means for
operating said slidable member, substantially as specified.
3. The combination with a driving shaft, a chain wheel loosely mounted upon
said shaft, and a clutch connection between the chain-wheel and the shaft, of a
rotatable spindle carrying a fixed gear which meshes with a fixed gear upon the
driving shaft, a loose gear mounted upon said spindle and meshing with a gear
carried by the chain-wheel, a clutch having one member fixed to said loose gear
and the other member slidably mounted upon the spindle, an actuating spring
arranged to normally hold the members of the clutch in operative relation, and
means for disengaging the members of the clutch, substantially as specified.
4. The combination with a driving shaft, a chain wheel loosely mounted upon
said shaft, and a friction clutch connection between the chain wheel and the
shaft, of a gear 14 fixed to the shaft, a gear 8 carried by the chain-wheel and
connected thereto by an interposed collar, a spindle arranged parallel with the
driving shaft, a speed-gear fixed to said spindle and meshing with the fixed gear 14,
a loose speed-gear rotatably mounted upon the spindle and meshing with the
loose gear 8, a clutch having one member carried by the loose speed gear and the
other member slidably mounted upon the spindle, means for operating this slidable
member of the clutch, and a box or housing enclosing said gears and clutch,
substantially as specified.
Dated this 9th day of January 1894.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicants.