Improvements in Positive Driving Bands for Bicycles, Tricycles, Autocars and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Positive Driving Bands for Bicycles, Tricycles,
Autocars and the like.
We, SEBASTIAN ZIANI DE FERRANTI, of Broomhurst, Werneth in the County
of Lancaster, Engineer, and CLAUDE WILLIAM ATKINSON, of Werneth in the
County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
Our invention has reference to improvements in belts or bands suitable for
driving bicycles, tricycles, autocars and the like, being entirely made of metal,
and has for its object to produce a driving band of lighter construction than
those now in use but having as great or greater strength. It has the further
object of decreasing the wear and doing away with the necessity of all pivoted
joints.
Our invention relates firstly to the provision and use of an endless flexible
band formed of a single length of wire by winding it round a suitable former
until a band of the desired width is formed, and secondly to the method of
attaching driving blocks to an endless metallic belting made of wire in such a
manner as to avoid injury to the material forming the band or belt.
In order to obtain these objects we construct the band of the strongest known
material, namely, hard steel pianoforte wire; this material having in its smaller
sizes a far greater tensile strength than any other material that has ever been
made, but wire of other material may be used if preferred.
We are aware that driving bands for transmitting power have been previously
made of parallel wires or thin bands of metal to which driving blocks have been
attached but in all these previous devices the method of attaching these driving
blocks has resulted in injury to the material forming the belt or band. In some
cases driving blocks of somewhat similar form to those which we adopt have been
attached to thin metallic bands either by cutting pieces out of the edge of the
bands to engage with projections on the driving blocks or by passing rivets
through the driving block and flexible band. In either of these cases the
material is liable to an unequally distributed stress, while the material is not of
equal strength throughout the band. In other cases, driving blocks have been
attached to wires or flexible cables by means of screws which have cut into the
wires, or by pinching the driving blocks on to the wires in such a way as to cut
into them, in either of which cases the material is seriously weakened, or the
driving blocks have been threaded on to a single wire or cable which has then
been joined to form an endless band by means of one or more end joining blocks
the wire being held in these blocks by means of screws or clamps cutting into
the material or by bending wire sharply and gripping the end. In these cases the
whole of the driving strain is taken by these end blocks and is not distributed
over the chain.
With our invention we attach driving blocks to the band, at suitable intervals,
in various manners, but the essential point is the same in every case, namely

page_text: that the necessary adhesion to the band is obtained by the formation of corruga-
tions or waves in the wire. In this way, the adhesion is entirely produced by
relying on the rigidity of the wire. The wire is not clipped between the sur-
faces, and care is taken to avoid in any way cutting into or injuring the wire.
The necessary adhesion being in all cases obtained by increasing the number of
waves or corrugations if it is found that one is not sufficient, taking care all the
time that the radius of the curve of the wave is sufficient to prevent physical
damage to the wire.
In order that our invention may be better understood and more readily carried
into effect, we will more particularly describe it with reference to the accompanying
drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a plan of a length of the band showing the general method of
construction.
Figure 2 is a section through one of the driving blocks showing the manner
in which the wire is corrugated.
Figure 3 is a plan of the driving block showing how the wires pass through it.
Figure 4 is a section through the driving block showing a double corrugation.
Figure 5 is a section through a driving block showing a triple corrugation.
Figure 6 is a plan of a driving block showing another method of holding the
two portions together.
Figure 7 is a section through a tubular driving block showing the method of
putting the corrugation into the wire.
Figure 8 is a side elevation of same.
Figure 9 is a cross section through the driving block showing a different method
of producing the corrugations in the tubular block.
Figure 10 is a diagrammatic plan of a length of the band showing the method
of finishing off the ends of the continuous wire.
Figure 11 is a section through the tubular driving block showing another
method of forming corrugations in the wire said corrugations being formed in a
plane at right angles to those illustrated in the previous figures.
Figure 12 is a plan of same.
Figure 13 shows a side elevation of a gear or driving wheel suitable for use
with this form of band.
Figure 14 is a section through the gear wheel.
In Figure 1 we show a general view of a portion of the band constructed in
accordance with our invention. A sufficient length of the wire is wound on to a
drum in a single flat layer, a sufficient number of turns being wound on to give
the necessary width to the band. The driving blocks are then attached to the
band by one of the means described hereafter; the two ends of the wire
finishing at one of the blocks as shown at a and h in Figure 1. The diameter
of the wire is so small in comparison with the width of the band and the distance
between the centres of the driving blocks that the effect is to produce a practically
straight band. If, however, the diameter of the wire is not sufficiently small
in comparison with the width of the band, the wires in the finishing block may be
twisted out of line as shown at c and d in Figure 1.
The method of attaching the driving block to the band and of obtaining the
necessary adhesion is shown in Figures 2 and 3.
The driving block is made of two pieces a and b suitable shaped, the part a
having a male corrugation, and the part 6 having a female corrugation. The wire c
is laid into this corrugation and the two parts are held together and fixed in this
position by means of rivets d.
In Figure 4 the driving block is shown having a double corrugation, both
parts a and b being exactly alike.
This method gives a greater adhesion and at the same time is cheaper to make
as the two portions of the block are exactly alike.
Figure 5 shows another form of driving block in which a triple corrugation is
used for obtaining greater adhesion. In Figures 5 and 6 we show another method

page_text: of holding the two portions a and b of the driving block together by means of
the rings e e, which are put on while the blocks are being held together and
serve to replace the rivets d.
In some cases we find it convenient to make the driving blocks tubular as
shown at f, in Fig. 7, and in this case we drill a series of holes g right through
the tube, and having threaded the wire c through these holes we insert a wedge
piece from one end, which deflects the wire c from its straight direction and
forms the corrugation as shown in Figure 7.
When it is desired to have a sharper corrugation or more than one corrugation,
we sometimes prefer to use two wedged pieces h and i, Figure 9, in which case
the piece is inserted before the wires are threaded through the holes, and the
wedge piece being subsequently driven in from one end deflects the wire and
forms the corrugation shown in the Figure.
In some cases we prefer to use double and triple corrugations of a similar
description to those shown in Figures 4 and 5 forming these corrugations on the
wedge pieces which are subsequently driven into the tubular driving block from
one end.
In Figure 10, we show diagramatically how the ends of the continuous wire
are dealt with, the starting end A and the finishing end B, being both in the
driving block C and the wires being deflected from a straight curve by the
position of one hole in passing through this block.
In the band illustrated in Figures 11 and 12, the corrugations are formed in
the wires in a plane at right angles to those illustrated in the other figures
by the insertion of pins or rivets j which pass between the wires e said pins forming
the corrugations in the same horizontal plane as the axis of the tubular
block f.
с
In Figures 13 and 14 we show a side elevation and cross section of a suitable
gear or driving wheel for use with this form of band.
'
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is
1. A flexible metal band composed of a series of parallel wires to which are
attached metallic driving blocks, the slipping of the driving blocks being prevented
by suitable corrugations being formed in the wires substantially as described and
illustrated and for the purposes specified.
2. In flexible metallic bands consisting of a series of parallel wires the use of
driving blocks attached to the said band of wires in such a manner as to produce
one or more corrugations in the said band substantially as described and illustrated
in Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 and for the purposes specified.
3. In flexible metallic bands formed of a series of parallel wires, the method
of attaching driving blocks, producing corrugations in the said band, by rings
put on to the two ends of the driving blocks substantially as described and
illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, for the purposes specified.
4. In flexible driving bands, a single length of wire formed as a series of parallel
wires in combination with a series of driving blocks forming corrugations in the
said band and held together by rivets or rings substantially as described and
illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, of the accompanying drawings, for the
purposes specified.
5. A flexible metallic driving band consisting of a series of parallel wires formed
from a single length of wire by winding, in combination with tubular driving
blocks attached to the said band by means of a corrugation formed in the wire
by a wedge piece or block, or pins or rivets, substantially as described and illus-
trated in Figures 7, 8, 11 and 12, of the accompanying drawings and for the
purposes specified.
6. A flexible metallic driving band consisting of a series of parallel wires
formed from an unbroken length of wire in combination with tubular driving

page_text: blocks attached to the wires by means of one or more corrugations formed in
the band by two wedge pieces substantially as described herein and as illustrated
in Figure 9 of the accompanying drawings and for the purposes specified.
1
1004
JOHN P. O'DONNELL, Fel. Chart. Inst. P.A.,
70 and 71 Palace Chambers, Westminster, S.W.,
Agent for the said Applicant.