An Apparatus for Playing an Improved Cycle Race Game, such Apparatus being also Applicable as a Home Trainer.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Dec., 1897-Accepted, 12th Mar., 1898
An Apparatus for Playing an Improved Cycle Race Game, such
Apparatus being also Applicable as a Home Trainer.
I, AUGUSTE ELIE GROSSET, of 69, Rue Van Artevelde, Brussels, in the Kingdom
of Belgium, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of this invoution and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:
-
My present invention relates to improvements in apparatus for playing a cycle
race game of the kind described in the Specification of any former Application
No. 10638 of 1897, the object being mainly to provide an automaton cyclist travel-
ling over a track of given length, arranged in a straight line, with a speed propor-
tionate to the spoed with which a cyclist works, mounted on a stationary machine,
the said cyclist actuating the automaton with such precision that the movement of
the legs of the automaton exactly corresponds with the movement of the legs of the
cyclist who actuates it.
It has also for object to provide novel means allowing of producing to the cyclist
who actuates the jointed automaton from a stationary machine the illusion of the
effort which a cyclist makes when starting in a race, of bringing all the automatons
back to the starting point simultaneously whatever may be the position in which
each of them may have stopped, and of utilizing the apparatus, in certain cases, for
training or exercising purposes without causing any movement of the automatons
over the track.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by refer-
ence to the accompanying drawings, in which:.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation of apparatus constructed according to my
invention.
Figure 2 is a transverse section on the line A-B Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a detail view of the mechanism allowing of bringing back all the
automatons simultaneously, or each of them separately, to the starting point.
Figure 4 is a detail view of the mechanism allowing of stopping the working of
the automatons..
The apparatus comprises a frame formed of horizontal girders 1, united by cross
bars 2, and sustained on legs or supports 3.
Upon the horizontal girders are fixed, at distances apart, supports 4 on which rest
boards 5 (see Figure 2) having apertures or spaces 6 between them. Placed
vertically, beneath the aperture 6, is a U-shaped fron bar 7 arranged longitudinally
in the same direction as the aperture 6. This U-shaped iron bar can be fixed, for
example, at 8 to the bottom of the supports 4 and its ends to the supports 9.
At one of the ends of the apparatus is placed a bicycle frame B supported at its
base on a stand 10 fixed to a platform 11. This bicycle frame is provided with
a saddle 12 and a handle bar 13 and also with cranks and pedals 14.
The automaton 15 is a manikin, the feet 17 and legs 18 of which are jointed.

page_text: It is fixed on a bicycle G the wheels 20 and 21 of which rest on the edges of two
contiguous boards 5.
Below the crank axle 22 of the bicycle G is a rigid rod 23 which passes freely
through the aperture 6; from this rod is suspended a weight 24 which causes the
wheels of the bicycle to firmly grip the boards 5. The counterweight is provided
with two lugs 26 sliding in the U-shaped iron bar without touching the bottom
of it. At each end of the counterweight is fixed a chain 20 passing over pinions 27,
27, 28, 29, 30 all placed in the same vertical plane.
On the shaft 31 of the pinion 28 is keyed a larger pinion 32 arranged opposite a
small pinion 33 mounted upon the pedal axle 34 of the machine B; motion is
transmitted from one to the other of these pinions by a chain 35.
1.
On the axle 34 is also keyed, on the opposite sido, a pinion 36 arranged opposite
pinion 37 mounted upon a shaft 38 carrying a fly wheel 39. These two pinions are
connected by a chain 40.
The crank axle 22 of the bicycle G is driven by the wheel 21 which is provided
on its side with a ring of teeth, over which passes a small endless chain driving a
toothed wheel 43 placed on the axle of the pedal 42 which actuates the legs of the
automaton.
The automaton having been placed at the starting point a person takes his place
upon the bicycle B and sets the pinions 33 and 36 in motion, one of which pinious
operates the chain 26 by means of the pinion 28 fixed on the shaft 31 actuated by
the pinion 32 and chain 35, and the other the fly wheel 39 by means of the pinion 37
and chain 40.
Thus set in motion the chain 26 carries along the weight 24 which, by means
of the rigid rod 23 moves the bicycle G along, the wheel 21 of which actuates, by
means of the endless chain, the toothed wheel 43 which being fixed on the axle 22
moves the legs of the automaton.
The effort that the person is obliged to make in order to set the fly wheel 39
in motion corresponds with the offort which he would have to make to start a bicycle.
The fly wheel having been set in motion represents by its force of inertia a force
exactly equal to that represented by the weight of a cyclist and his machine when
the latter is in motion.
When the automaton reaches the end of its course, that is to say, whey it arrives
at the point E it stops automatically even though the person who actuates it may
continue to pedal. This stoppage is effected by the omission of several links in
the chain 26; when this portion without links comes over the driving pulley 28
the latter continues to turn without carrying the chain along with it.
To replace the automaton at the starting point the chain 26 is moved in the direc-
tion of the arrow 45 by means of a crank handle 46 fixed on the shaft of the
pinion 30. To this end and for making use of the bicycle frame B for training or
exercising purposes the driving pinion 28 can by means of the disengaging gear
hereinafter described be rendered independent of the shaft 31 and turn loose upon
the said shaft.
The automaton moves at a speed 100 times less than that at which the person
who actuates it would travel if the said person really moved along with a machine
mounted upon wheels over a real track. Consequently when the automaton has
covered a distance of 10 meters the person will have covered 1000 meters.
Owing also to the proportion between the wheel 21 and the toothed wheel 43 on
the pedal axle of the bicycle G the legs of the automaton reproduce stroke for
stroke the movement of the legs of the person.
In the preceding description I have only referred to a single automaton; it is,
however, obvious that with my invention several similar automatons can be arranged
side by side as shewn in Figure 2, each automaton corresponding in this case with
a person mounted upon a stationary bicycle frame B arranged in proximity to the
apparatus; each automaton will exactly reproduce the movements of the corres-
ponding person, and the whole of the apparatus will give an exact imitation of a
ruco taking place upon an actual ruco track.

page_text: As, in cases where several automatons are employed in one apparatus, provision
ought to be made for allowing each automaton to be brought back to the starting
point whatever may be its position I provide the following arrangement for
operating the automatons by means of the crank handle 46.
For this purpose each of the pinions 30 over which passes the chain 26 is mounted
loosely upon the shaft 47, as shewn in Figure 3, and is provided on one of its sides
with teeth 48. Facing this toothed side of each pinion 30 I arrange upon the
shaft 47 a toothed disc 49 adapted to slide longitudinally along a spline 50 with
which the shaft 47 is provided. Behind each disc 49 is arranged a spiral spring 51
bearing against the toothed disc and a stop 52. The result of this is that,
normally, each toothod disc 49 is pressed by its spring 51 against the adjacent gear
wheel 30 which will be thereby locked upon the shaft and that, when all the
automatons of the one apparatus stop at the same distance from the starting point,
it is only necessary to rotate the shaft 47 by means of the crank handle 46 in order
to simultaneously move them all back.
When the automatons stop at different distances from the starting point I
commence by simultaneously bringing them back in the same manner and as each
one comes back to the starting point I disengage the corresponding toothed disc 49
by causing it to slide along the spline 50 by means of levers 53, 54 one of which
levers (54) is jointed to a supporting bar 55 and to the toothed disc 49 by means
of a ring which does not impede the rotation of the said disc whilst the other
lever (53) serves to fix the clutch in its disengaged position. Each automaton can,
consequently, be withdrawn from the influence of the shaft 47 and be stopped in
turn.
When the automatons are to be brought back to the starting point it is necessary,
as already stated, to disengage the pinions 28 from the shaft 31 in order to isolate
the corresponding bicycle frame B. A similar disengagement must also be pro-
vided for when it is required to use the said bicycle frame for training or exercising
purposes. For this purpose each pinion 28 is mounted loose upon a shaft 31, as
shewn in elevation at Figure 4, and provided with a clutch mechanism of the kind
horeinbefore described comprising the pinion 28 provided with teeth on one of its
sides aud a toothed disc 56 inovcable longitudinally along a spline upon the shaft 31
and operated by a lever 57. As the separate disengagement of the pinions 28 is
never required all the levers 57 can be united by a single operating bar 58. In
the normal position, that is to say, when the automatons are to be actuated by the
persons or players, this bar 58 keeps all the pinions 28 locked upon the shaft 31;
when, on the contrary, the automatons are to be brought back to the starting point,
or when the bicycle frames B are to be used for training or exercising the players,
the bar 58 is drawn back so as to render the pinions 28 independent of the shaft 31.
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:-
1. For the purpose of causing an automaton cyclist to move over a straight race
track at a speed proportionate to that attained by a person mounted upon a bicycle
and in such a manner that the movement of the legs of the automaton exactly
corresponds with the movemont of the legs of the said persou, the combination
with the said automaton of a bicycle fixed to a weighted support serving to hold the
automaton upright upon the race track, a chain passing over a ring of teeth on the
reur wheel and a pinion on the pedal axle of the said bicycle for actuating the legs
of the automaton, a chain for actuating the said bicycle and passing over suitable
pious and a stationary bicycle frame in proximity to the race track over which
the automaton runs, the said frame being provided with ordinary pedals and oranks
driving, by means of chain gearing, the pinions over which runs the chain which
actuates the automaton's bicycle, substantially as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 2. In an apparatus comprising an automaton cyclist and an adjacent stationary
bioycle frame serving to actuate the said automaton, the combination with the
stationary bicycle frame of a fly wheel actuated by the person seated on the bicycle
frame for the purpose of producing the illusion of a cyclist when starting and of
creating a moment of inertia exactly like that of a cyclist when starting forward on
his machine, substantially as hereinbafore described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
3. In an apparatus comprising an automaton cyclist actuated by a person mounted
on a stationary bicycle frame, the combination with a movable bicycle upon which
the automaton is mounted of an endless chain passing over a toothed ring upon the
back wheel of the moveable bicycle and over a pinion upon the pedal axle of the
said bicycle for the purpose of actuating the pedals and causing the jointed legs
of the automaton to move, substantially as herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying drawings.
4. In an apparatus comprising au automaton cyclist actuated by a person mounted
on a stationary bicyclo frame, and in which the legs of the automaton are actuated
by the back wheel of the bicycle which carries the said automaton, the arrangement
upou the pedal axle of the said bicycle of a pinion over which passes the endless
chain actuating the legs of the automaton, the said pinion having a diameter such
that the motion of the legs of the automaton corresponds exactly with the motion
of the legs of the person who actuates it, substantially as herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
5. In an apparatus comprising an automaton cyclist actuated by a person
mounted upon a stationary bicycle frume, the combination with the said automaton,
of an endless chain for moving the automaton cyclist along and having a number
of links omitted therefrom in order to allow of the stoppage of the automaton
when it arrives at the end of the track, even if the person actuating it should
continue to pedal, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
6. In an apparatus comprising an automaton cyclist actuated by a person
mounted upon a stationary bicycle frame, the arrangement of the race track, over
which the automaton travels upon a frame carried upon legs or supports the said
race track consisting of a platform between the boards of which apertures are
left to give passage to the rod fixed to the pedal axle bracket of the automaton's
bicycle and to which is fixed the weight which keeps the automaton in equili-
brium, the said weight being guided in the trough of a suitably arranged U-iron
bar, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
7. The combination in one and the same apparatus of several race tracks of
the kind herein before described and of several automaton cyclists travelling over
the said race tracks and adapted to be actuated from stationary bicycle frames
through the medium of the mechanism described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
8. In an apparatus comprising several race tracks of the kind hereinbefore
described and several automaton cyclists travelling over the said tracks, disengaging
mechanism allowing of bringing back all the automatous simultaneously, or each
of them separately, to the starting point, and characterized by the pinions 30 over.
which разз the chains actuating the automatons being mounted loose upon a shaft
47 and adapted to engage with spring actuated discs moveable longitudinally
over a spline on the shaft 47 by means of levers acting upon the said disc by means
of rings allowing of their rotation with the shaft 47, substantially as set forth.
9. In an apparatus comprising several race tracks of the kind hereinbefore
described and several automaton cyclists running over the said tracks, the arrange-
ment consisting of a chain for driving each automaton passing over a toothed
pinion 28 provided with suitable disengaging mechanism allowing of simulta-
neously withdrawing all the automatons from the action of the cycle-frames

page_text: which serve to actuate them, substantially as hereinbefore described and illus-
trated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 2nd day of December 1897
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
Agents for the Applicant.