IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Crompton Fletcher of Tarleton Rectory near
Preston in the County of Lancaster Clerk in Holy Orders, for an Invention
of IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH VELOCIPEDES"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Crompton Fletcher
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st December 1882.
ROBERT CROMPTON FLETCHER of Tarleton Rectory near Preston in the
County of Lancaster Clerk in Holy Orders. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED
WITH VELOCIPEDES
"
My improvements in velocipedes concern the mode of driving and illuminating
the vehicle
In my first method of double driving I attach upon the hub or shaft of each
driving wheel a bevel wheel, these two bevel wheels facing one another and but
a short distance asunder and between them I place three or more bevel pinions
which gear into both bevel wheels the said pinions being free to revolve when
required these pinions are fitted on studs or axes which are attached radially to
a ring in such a manner that the intergearing of the pinions and bevel wheels may
serve to support the studs and the ring to which they are attached. Motion
communicated to this ring by the power of the rider or by any other agency will
be transmitted through the bevel gear to the driving wheels and a perfect balance
gear will be secured, with this advantage over other balance gears that the power
is more directly communicated and that the usual friction upon the shaft caused
by the revolving boss of a loose wheel is dispensed with by using simply a ring
which never comes in contact with the shaft at all.
In my second method of double driving I employ the following contrivance :-
A circular disc carries a flange around it fitted with ratchet teeth which are set
at a little distance from one another, this disc is mounted by a boss in its centre
upon a shaft through which passes a short stout pin or bar so pointed as to gear
with the ratchet teeth and of such length as to just miss the teeth at one side when
in full gear on the opposite side.

page_text: The teeth and spaces between them are so arranged that on reversing the driving
motion this bar is driven backward and forward alternately through the shaft,
each tooth that passes under one end of it raising the other end into gear and
vice versa, until the forward motion is again resumed by the operator when the
bar at once gears with the ratchet without that delay which occurs in many so-
called "gravity" clutches
This contrivance may be attached to either the shaft of the treadles or driving
wheels or any other part as may be found convenient and if desired two or more
of the above described shifting pawls may be put in cach box in various positions
to diminish the distance between the gripping points of the apparatus. The
addition of a second pawl working at an angle to the first would give a smaller
backlash and by adding a second ring of ratchet teeth cut in the reverse direction
with means of sliding either the ratchet wheels or the pawls sideways the clutch is
made reversible. Any number of these clutches may be placed on each velocipede,―
two will be the usual number.
My third method of double driving in somewhat similar to the second but in
place of the pawls I use balls which are sunk into orifices in the edge of a metal
disc but which are free to fall about half their diameter (when opportunity occurs)
into cavities made for their reception in the surrounding ring, these cavities being
somewhat of the shape of a hemispherical hole from the bottom of which an
inclined plane rises (on one side only) to the inner surface of the ring, so that in
turning forward the balls enter the cavities in the ring to about half their depth
while the other half remains in the disc and the motion of the disc is conveyed
to the ring or vice versa, but on reversing the application of power, the balls
running up the inclines in the ring retreat into the holes in the disc and no power
is communicated. Here as in the previous method it is possible by the addition
of a reversed set of inclined planes and cavities to make this into a reversible clutch
by a sliding arrangement which changes the balls from one circle of cavities to the
other. The chief advantages of this clutch will be found in its silence, wear and
above all in this, that by properly adjusting the ball chambers it can be made to
give almost no backlash. It might be applied to the velocipede in the same way
and in the same positions as other clutches.
In my fourth method of double driving I place one or more circular discs upon
the treadle shaft and others to correspond upon the hub or shaft of the driving
wheel or wheels, the motion being carried from the treadle shaft to the driving
wheel by one or more spindles with rollera fixed on them at each end the motion
being communicated by friction. An arrangement for raising and lowering the
said spindles makes a change of speed easy and a system of this description
attached to each driving wheel will give a vory safe and certain method of steering
the vehicle, as the rider accelerates or checks the speed of either driving wheel
and in this case the third wheel of a tricycle would be made merely as a castor
to carry part of the weight, not as a steering wheel which is it's usual purpose.
My next improvement relates to a spring arm or bracket for carrying the lainp.
I propose to attach to the frame a spring bracket of such strength that the lamp
when hung upon it may be preserved from all violent shocks encountered by the
machine. The bracket may be formed with one or more springs and the lamp
may be attached in any convenient way.
My next improvement relates to the lamp itself my object being to prevent
matches and lamps being blown out in vain attempts to light it.
To an orifice in the case of the velocipede lamp a small tubo is attached of a
breadth and length convenient to form a guide for a match, the inner surface of
this tube is roughened and the tube is closed by a spring or otherwise in such
a way that the match can be readily thrust in and pressed (either by the spring
or otherwise) upon the roughened surface of the tube: the match is thus lighted
and can then be pushed forward to ignite the wick, after which it is withdrawn
and the orifice simultaneously closed, so that at no part of the operation can the

page_text: wind effect an entrance to extinguish either the match or the wick. If a rect-
angular tube be employed and one side of it be removed and replaced by a spring
which presses down upon the opposite side and at the same time fills the space
between the other two remaining sides, the action of the lamp-lighter becomes
automatic so far as concerns the opening and closing of the tube and the lighting
of the match.
And inasmuch as lamps ventilated by unprotected openings in the usual manner
are liable to be easily extinguished by the wind I propose as a further improvement
to exclude draughts from the lamp by means of wire gauze or perforated sheet
metal used (so far as necessary) for covering the ventilation holes and the foul air
escapes at the top of the lamp, due caro being taken to insure a good circulation
of air for the maintenance of the flame while the gauze serves so to break up
the air current as to prevent it from blowing to any great degree after entering
the lamp.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Robert Crompton Fletcher in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 21st June 1883.
ROBERT CROMPTON FLETCHER of Tarleton Rectory, near Preston in the County
of Lancaster, Clerk in Holy Orders. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND CONNECTED WITH
VELOCIPEDES
»
My improvements in velocipedes concern the mode of driving and illuminating
the vehicle.
In my first method of double driving I attach upon the hub or shaft of each
driving wheel a bevel wheel, these two bevel wheels facing one another and but a
short distance asunder and between them I place three or more bevel pinions
which gear into both bevel wheels, the said pinions being free to revolve when
required; these pinions are fitted on studs or axes which are attached radially to
a ring in such a manner that the intergearing of the pinions and bevel-wheels may
serve to support the studs and the ring to which they are attached. Motion,
communicated to this ring by the power of the rider or by any other agency will
be transmitted through the bevel gear to the driving wheels and a perfect balanco
gear will be secured, with this advantage over other balance gears that the power
is more directly communicatod and that the usual friction upon the shaft caused
by the revolving boss of a loose wheel is dispensed with by using simply a ring
which never comes in contact with the shaft at all.
In my second method of double driving I employ the following contrivance :—
A circular disc carries a flange around it fitted with ratchet teeth which are set at
a little distance from one another, this disc is mounted by a boss in its centre upon
a shaft through which passes a short stout pin or bar so pointed as to gear with
the ratchet teeth and of such length as to just miss the teeth at one side when in
full gear on the opposite side.
The teeth and spaces between them are so arranged that on reversing the driving
motion, this bar is driven backward and forward alternately through the shaft,
each tooth that passes under one end of it raising the other end into gear and
vice versa, until the forward motion is again resumed by the operator when the
bar at once gears with the ratchet without that delay which occurs in many so
called "gravity" clutches.
This contrivance may be attached to either the shaft of the treadles or driving
wheels or any other part as may be found convenient, and if desired, two or more
of the above described shifting pawls may be put in each box in various positions
to diminish the distance between the gripping points of the apparatus. The
addition of a second pawl working at an angle to the first would give a smaller
backlash and by adding a second ring of ratchet teeth cut in the reverse direction
with means of sliding either the ratchet wheels or the pawls sideways the clutch is
made reversible. Any number of these clutches may be placed on each velocipede:
two will be the usual number.
My third method of double driving is somewhat similar to the second, but in
place of the pawls I use balls which are sunk into orifices in the edge of a metal
disc but which are free to fall about half their diameter (when opportunity occurs)
into cavities made for their reception in the surrounding ring, these cavities being
somewhat of the shape of a hemispherical hole from the bottom of which an inclined
plane rises (on one side only) to the inner surface of the ring. So that in turning
forward the balls enter the cavities in the ring to about half their depth while the
other half remains in the disc and the motion of the disc is conveyed to the ring or
vice versa; but on reversing the application of power, the balls running up the

page_text: inclines in the ring retreat into the holes in the disc and no power is communi-
cated. Here, as in the previous method, it is possible by the addition of a reversed
set of inclined planes and cavities to make this into a reversible clutch by a sliding
arrangement which changes the balls from one circle of cavities to the other.
The chief advantages of this clutch will be found in its silence, wear, and above
all in this that by properly adjusting the ball chambers it can be made to give
almost no backlash. It might be applied to the velocipede in the same way and in
the same positions as other clutches.
In my fourth method of double driving I place one or more circular discs upon
the treadle shaft and others to correspond upon the hub or shaft of the driving
wheel or wheels, the motion being carried from the treadle shaft to the driving
wheel by one or more spindles with rollers fixed on them at each end, the motion
being communicated by friction. An arrangement for raising and lowering the
said spindles makes a change of speed easy and a system of this description
attached to each driving wheel will give a very safe and certain method of steering
the vehicle as the rider accelerates or checks the speed of either driving wheel and
in this case the third wheel of a tricycle would be made merely as a castor to
carry part of the weight not as a steering wheel which is its usual purpose.
My next improvement relates to a spring arm or bracket for carrying the lamp.
I propose to attach to the frame a spring bracket of such strength that the lamp
when hung upon it may be preserved from all violent shocks encountered by the
machine. The bracket may be formed with one or more springs and the lamp may
be attached in any convenient way.
My next improvement relates to the lamp itself my object being to prevent
matches and lamps being blown out in vain attempts to light it. To an orifice in
the case of the velocipede lamp a small tube is attached of a breadth and length
convenient to form a guide for a match: the inner surface of this tube is roughened
and the tube is closed by a spring or otherwise in such a way that the match can
be readily thrust in and pressed (either by the spring or otherwise) upon the
roughened surface of the tube: the match is thus lighted and can then be pushed
forward to ignite the wick after which it is withdrawn and the orifice simul-
taneously closed so that at no part of the operation can the wind effect an entrance
to extinguish either the match or the wick. If a rectangular tube be employed
and one side of it be removed and replaced by a spring which presses down upon
the opposite side and at the same time fills the space between the other two
remaining sides, the action of the lamp-lighter becomes automatic so far as concerns
the opening and closing of the tube and the lighting of the match.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the accompanying two sheets of drawings
reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation and Fig. 2 is an edge view partly in section of my
first improved method of double driving. Fig. 3 is an edge view partly in section
of my second method of double driving. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the outer ring
with ratchet teeth and Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly in section, through the
line A. B. Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a front elevation and Fig. 7 is an edge elevation partly
in section of my third method of double driving. Fig. 8 is a side elevation and
Fig. 9 is an end elevation partly in section of my fourth method of double driving.
Fig. 10 is a plan of the bracket which forms bearings for the spindles and screw.
Figs. 11 and 12 are detached views of the spring arm for carrying the lamp.
Fig. 13 is an elevation of a lamp with my improved lighting appliance attached.
Fig. 14 is an end view of the appliance. Figs. 15 and 16 are views showing a
modification of my improved lighting appliance
In Figs. 1 and 2. a is the driving shaft to which is keyed or secured the bevel
wheel a loose upon the shaft a and facing the bevel wheel a' is a second bevel
wheel b which forms part of the hub of one of the driving wheels: four bevel
pinions c are placed between and gear into both the bevel wheels a' and b: the
bevel pinions c are fitted on studs c¹ upon which they are free to revolve: the

page_text: studs c¹ are attached radially to an inner ring c² and are secured at the other end
between the two flanges of an outer casing. This casing forms the chain wheel d
and the brake wheel d¹ which are fastened together by the screws d². Motion
communicated to the chain wheel d by the power of the rider or by any other
agency will be transmitted through the bevel pinions c and the bevel wheels a' and b
to both driving wheels.
In Figs. 3, 4 and 5.- is a metal disc with a boss by which it is mounted
loosely upon the shaft b in which is cut the slot b'. Two metal rings a¹ and a² are
secured to the metal disc a by screws a³. The ring a¹ forms the chain wheel
and on the inner surfaces of the chain wheel a' and ring a³ and cut in opposite 1
directions are two rows of ratchet teeth a' and a³ with an annular space a
between them. Two bars c and c² acting as pawls pass through the slot b¹ in the
shaft b and are held in position by slots through two metal discs d and d'
fastened together by set screws d: the pawls prevent the metal discs d and d from
revolving independently of the shaft b, but permit them to traverse the shaft to 1
the extent of the slot 61: the ends of these pawls c and c¹ are bevelled in opposite
directions so as to gear with either set of ratchet teeth and are of such length as
to just miss the teeth on one side when in full gear on the opposite side and when
one pawl is in gear the other runs free in the annular space a: a clutch (not shown
in the drawing) which takes into an annular groove d³ in the boss of the disc d is
employed to shift the pawls from one set of ratchet teeth to the other. By sliding
the discs d and d' as far as possible in the direction of a³ the pawl c' gears with
the ratchet teeth a³ and by sliding the discs as far as possible in the other
direction the pawl c gears with the ratchet teeth at. If the annular space be made
sufficiently wide, by placing the discs midway between a and a³ both the pawls
are thrown out of gear and can revolve in the blank space aº. The metal disc a
and rings a¹ and a³ may be made in one piece and the discs d and d may also be
in one piece, if preferred. When motion is communicated from the shaft b to the
pawls c and c that pawl which is in gear with the ratchet teeth will transmit the
motion through the chain wheel a' and drive the machine in one direction. By
sliding the discs the other pawl gears with the other row of ratchet teeth and
drives the machine in the reverse direction.
In Figs. 6 and 7-a is a metal disc which is mounted upon and revolves with
the shaft a' but is free to slide upon the shaft and feather key a³: a³ is an annular
groove formed on the boss of the disc a; a clutch, not shown in the drawing, is
fitted into the groove a³ and by it the position of the disc upon the shaft a¹ may
bo moved when desired: the balls are sunk into orifices a formed in the
periphery of the metal disc a and free to fall about half their diameter into ratchet
cavities c' and c² made for their reception in the surrounding metal ring c which
forms the chain wheel: the cavities c' are somewhat the shape of a hemispherical 4
hole from the bottom of which an inclined plane rises (on one side only) to the
inner surface of the ring c: the cavities and inclined planes c² are formed in
exactly the same manner as the cavities and inclined planes c' but are cut in the
reverse direction as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6. When driving forward the
balls b enter the ratchet cavities c¹ to about half their depth while the other half
remains in the disc and the motion of the disc is thus conveyed to the chain
wheel c or vice versa but on reversing the application of power the balls b runnung
up the inclined planes retreat into the holes a' and no power is communicated.
The clutch is made reversible by sliding the disc a along the shaft a¹ and thus
changing the balls b from the circle of cavities c' to the circle of cavities c.
Instead of balls, short loose studs may be used and ordinary ratchet teeth
employed either of the two reversible clutches described with reference to
Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 may be made to act in one direction only by dispensing with
one row of ratchet teeth and one pawl in the first instance and one row of cavities
in the second case.
In Figs. 8, 9 and 10.-a is the frame of the velocipedo and b is the driving
wheel shaft to which arc secured the friction discs b': similar friction discs c¹ are

page_text: secured to the treadle shaft c: d d are two spindles on which are fixed the two
friction rollers d placed between the discs b'; and the two friction rollers d³
placed between the discs c': the spindles d are carried in bearings formed in the
brackets ce¹: the bosses of these brackets e and e¹ are drilled and tapped to receive
the screw secured by washers and nuts or in other convenient manner to the
frame a: a¹ and a² are bearings in the frame a for the screw to turn in. When
motion is given to the treadle shaft c and discs c' it is transmitted by moans of the
rollers d² spindles & and rollers d' to the discs b¹ and driving wheel shaft b: a
handle at the top of ƒ enables the rider to screw it so as to raiso or lower the
friction rollers d and d² and thus regulate the rate of speed transmitted from the
discs c' to the discs b. By applying this mechanism to both driving wheels hill
climbing and steering are both provided for, the third wheel simply acting as a
castor: k¹ and k² are nuts for tightening the grip of the discs on the rollers.
In Figs. 11 and 12-a a¹ are two springs which form the spring arm or bracket
for carrying the lamp. The bracket is secured at one end to the frame of the
velocipede by means of two slots a² and a set screw a³ and at the other end to the
lamp by means of a hook or projection a* and a set screw a³.
In Figs 13 and 14.-a is the lamp and b is a rectangular tube with the inner
surface roughened at the end nearest the wick and one side removed and replaced
by a spring 6. When a match is thrust into the lamp a through the tube b tho
spring 6' presses it against the roughened surface: the match is thus lighted and
can be pushed forward to ignite the wick and afterwards withdrawn without
necessitating the opening of the lamp.
In Figs. 15 and 16-a is the lamp and b is a tube to guide the match through
the springs c c: these springs c c' have roughened surfaces, which ignite the match
as previously described.
Having stated the nature of my Invention and described the manner of
performing the same
I declare that I claim
1. The improved method of double driving by a chain wheel in which a
central bearing for the chain wheel is dispensed with and three or moro bevel
pinions are employed substantially as described and as shown with reference to
Figs 1 and 2.
2. The improved method of double driving by ratchet teeth and a sliding pawl
or pawls substantially as shown and described.
3. The improved method of double driving by balls and a row or rows of ratchet
cavities substantially as shown and described.
4. The improved method of driving by means of friction discs and rollers
substantially as herein shown and described.
5. The improved parallel springs forming a bracket for carrying the lamp,
substantially as shown and described.
6. The improved appliances for lighting the lamp of a velocipede without
opening the door substantially as described and as shown with reference to Figs. 13
to 16.
In witness whereof I the said Robert Crompton Fletcher have hereunto set
my hand and seal this nineteenth day of June One thousand eight hundred
and eighty three.
ROBERT C. FLETCHER. (L.S.)