Improved Adjustable Handle for Handle Bars for Bicycles and like..
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Feb., 1896-Accepted, 21st Mar., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Adjustable Handle for Handle Bars for Bicycles and like.
Machines.
I, GEORGE ALFRED WHEELER, of No. 328 Franklin Avenue, Mt. Vernon,
Westchester County, State of New York, U.S.A., Civil Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what inanner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The invention relates to handle bars having adjustable handles, and the object of
the invention is to provide a simple, durable and economic construction, whereby
the handles of a handle bar may be given vertical adjustment or lateral adjustment
to any desired degree, and fastened in their adjusted position, the loosening of the
handle upon the bar and the clamping of the same to the bar being accomplished by
a rotation of the handle.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this
Specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts
in all the figures.
Figure 1, is a longitudinal vertical section through an end of a handle bar and
a handle applied thereto;
Figure 2 is a section similar to that shown in Figure 1, illustrating a slight
modification in the construction of the adjustable connection between the handle and
the handle bar; and
Figure 3 is a perspective view of one end of a handle bar and a vertical section
through major portion of a handle, illustrating a further modification in the
construction of the attaching medium between the handle bar and handle, parts
being broken away.
In carrying ont the invention in the form of the handle bar shown in Figures 1
and 2, the handle bar A is made to terminate at each of its extremities in a tubular
spherical end or head A', and each head of the handle bar is provided at its end
portion with a slot 10 which may be round, or oval admitting of larger play
vertically than laterally. A screw 13 is adapted for use in connection with a head
of the handle bar, and the screw is provided at its inner end with a segmental head
section 12, adapted for engagement with the inner face of the spherical head of the
handle bar, covering the opening 10 therein. The body 14 of the handle B is
preferably constructed of cork, although other suitable material may be employed;
and the handle is bored longitudinally to receive a tube 15, which in the construction
of the handle illustrated in Figure 1, extends from end to end thereof; but in the
construction of the handle as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, the said tube extends
from the inner end of the body of the handle and terminates a suitable distance from
the outer end of the handle. The tube 15 is also usually provided with feathers 16,
or the equivalents thereof, whereby the tube will be prevented from turning in the
body of the handle; and in both of the constructions illustrated in Figures 1 and 2,
the tube 15 terminates at its inner end in a segmental shoe 17, and this shoe
constitutes a binding for the inner end of the body of the handle.
In the form of handle shown in Figure 1, a nut 18 is secured in any suitable
or approved manner within the tube 15 at a suitable point between its ends; and
the said nut is adapted to receive the threaded end of the screw 13 connected with
the handle bar. What may be termed an inner tube 20 is made to surround the
unthreaded portion of the screw 13, and extends practically to an engagement with
the nut 18, being loosely located within the outer tube 15 of the handle; and the

page_text: aforesaid inner tube 20 is provided at the inner end of the handle with a clamping
shoe 19 of segmental fora, engaging with the binding shoe 17 of the handle and
with the outer end surface of the spherical surface or extremity A' of the handle
bar, covering the outer portion of the slot 10 in the handle bar.
A plug 21 of any approved construction is adapted to close the outer end of the
outer handle tube 15, and preferably a finishing cap 22 is secured to the said plug,
serving to complete the outer end of the handle.
In the operation of the improved handle, by turning the handle in one direction
said handle will travel on the screw 13, and the screw will move in the nut 18, their
movements being in opposite directions and in a manner to relieve the spherical
extremity A' of the handle bar from clamping engagement with the head of the
screw and the clamping shoe of the inner sleeve 20. The handle inay now be
adjusted either upward or downward, or in direction of either side, and may be
secured in its adjusted position by revolving the handle in an opposite direction to
that in which it was first turned.
The material difference between the constructions shown in Figures 1 and 2,
relates to the outer tube 15, in which the nut 24 is made integral with the said
tube 15, forming a shoulder 23 against which the inner end of the inner tube 20
has bearing. Under the construction shown in Figure 3 the nut of the handle is
integral with the inner tube 15, as shown in Figure 2. The inner tube 20 is
likewise the same, and the outer tube is provided with a binding shoe 17, which
is however not shown in Figure 3; but the clamping shoe 19 of the inner tube
differs slightly in construction from that shown in the other views, being provided
with a concaved inner face, as is likewise the clamping shoe 19, the shoe not being
shown in Figure 3;. but the shoo 19ª instead of having its length in a vertical
direction is longest horizontally, and is adapted for engagement with a cylindrical
head C, located at the outer end of the handle bar A. This cylindrical head C is
provided with a circumferential slot 25, across which the binding shoe 19" is passed,
and the screw 26, corresponding to the screw. 13 in the form shown in Figures 1
and 2, is provided with a segmental head 27, engaging with the inner face of the
cylindrical head C of the handle bar at the slotted portion of the same.
Under the construction shown in Figure 3, the handle B can be moved in a
vertical direction only, and the loosening and tightening of the handle are
accomplished in the same manner as heretofore described. Under the form of
handle shown in Figures 2 and 3, the finishing cap 22 is secured directly to the
body of the handle. Inner tubes in Figures 2 and 3 may be carried through the
handle as in Figure 1 with plug in end.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
what I claim is :
1. The combination, with the handle bar of a bicycle or like machine having a
circularly formed end and an opening in the same, of a handle provided with an
interiorly located nut fixed thereto, a clamping sleeve located at one end of the
handle, for engagement with the outer extremity of the circular end of the handle
bar, and a screw entering the nut of the handle and provided with a head engaging
the interior portion of the circular end of the handle bar, the screw being passed
through the opening in the latter, substantially as shown and described, whereby the
handle may be loosened from or tightened upon the handle bar by turning the
handle, as and for the purpose specified.
2. The combination, with the handle bar of a bicycle or like machine, the said
handle bar being provided with a circular extremity having a slot in its end portion,
of a handle provided with a tube secured within the same and extending to the
inner end of the handle, a nut secured to the inner portion of the said tube between
its ends, a second tube contained within the nut bearing tube, being provided at
the inner end of the handle with a clamping shoe adapted to extend over the slot
in the extremity of the handle bar and conform to the contour of the end surface

page_text: of the said extremity, and a screw entering the said nut, extending through the
inner tube to the inner end of the handle through the slot in the extremity of the
handle bar, the screw being provided with a head engaging with and conforming
to the inner surface of the handle bar extremity at its slotted portion, as and for the
purpose specified.
3. The combination, with a handle bar provided with a cylindrical extremity, the
said extremity having a circumferential slot, and a screw passed through the slot
and provided with a segmental head engaging with the inner surface of the
cylindrical end of the handle bar adjacent to the slot, of a handle, a tube located
within the said handle, having a segmental inner end binding the body of the
handle at its inner end, the said tube being provided with a nut at a point in its
length and a second tube mounted to revolve around the screw and within the
outer tube of the handle, the said inner tube being provided with a clamping shoe,
conforming to the exterior surface of the cylindrical surface of the handle bar,
and crossing the slot in the said cylindrical surface, as and for the purpose specified.
4. The improved organization herein described, whereby the adjustment of the
bhandle and the fixing of it in its adjusted position is permitted by the rotation of
the handle.
5. The adjustable handle for bicycle handle bars, substantially as herein described.
Dated this 17th day of January 1896.
Witnesses :-
EDWARD C. DAVIDSON.
C. D. LADLEY.
GEORGE ALFRED WHEELER.