An Improved Machine for Making Spokes with Enlarged Ends for Bicycle Wheels and the like.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Nov., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 3rd Aug., 1894-Accepted, 8th Sept., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Making Spokes with Enlarged Ends for
Bicycle Wheels and the like.
I, NICOLAUS DÜRKOPP of 8 Neumarkt, Bielefeld in the Empire of Germany
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Spokes with enlarged ends have hitherto been made by turning down steel rods,
which caused a considerable waste of both time and material.
This invention has for its object to enable these to be produced without loss of
material, and it consists of a wire drawing bench with a carriage moving
automatically to and fro, by means of which the piece of material, which is clamped
between two tension jaws, is stretched and reduced in diameter up to the ends
which are held in the tension jaws.
An arm,
A bed plate supported on a suitable frame is provided, and on this bed plate
there are two brackets or supports, a fixed one and an adjustable one, also an
automatically moving carriage. The two brackets are provided with tension jaws
by means of which the continuous piece of wire which serves for forming the spokes
is held firm. In the carriage a cage, which is on ball bearings, arranged, and
this cage has ratchet teeth on its periphery in which a pawl engages, the latter
being arranged on a sliding piece supported by means of a spring. Two or more
levers are pivoted in the cage. These levers have each a roller at one end, whilst
the other end of the levers rests on a cone which is connected with a nut.
on which an adjustable piece with a bevelled end is retained, is attached to the bed
plate, and the carriage is moved to and fro on the former together with the cage
and the sliding piece, in the manner hereinafter described. At each backward and
forward movement, the sliding piece rubs with its inclined face on the inclined face
of the fixed piece of the arm aforementioned, by which means the sliding piece is
pushed further into the carriage and the pawl engages the ratchet teeth of the cage
in order to turn the same. By this rotation of the cage, the cone aforementioned is
screwed by means of the nut further into the cage and the levers aforementioned
are forced apart, and by this means the rollers carried by the other end of the
levers are pressed against the wire.
The ratchet wheel has, however, a blank space so that, after one revolution, any
further pressing of the rollers is prevented. In the carriage there is arranged a
shaft having a cog wheel, two loose belt pulleys and a fixed belt pulley for driving
the machine, and also a second shaft on which is mounted a large cog wheel which
engages with a small cog wheel on the first shaft as well as a pinion which engages
with a rack fixed in the bed plate. A straight and a crossed belt run from the two
The two belts have a
belt pulleys to gearing which drives the machine.
common belt shifting device with a belt fork which is automatically adjusted. For
this object, a rod, having two arms arranged at the point where it passes over the
belt shifting bar, is provided, each of which arms comes in contact with a catch or
projection on the belt shifting bar, and the shifting takes place as soon as the
carriage has moved so far to one side that the said rod encounters one of the
brackets or supports when the arm presses the belt shifting bar to one side or
the other.
The mode of working of this machine is as follows
The wire which is to be employed is passed from a reel through the tension jaws
of the fixed bracket or support through the centre of the cage and between the
rollers up to the tension jaws of the adjustable bracket and is held fast at both ends
in these tension jaws. The nut is screwed so far forward on the cage that the cone

page_text: is forced between the levers, by which means the rollers carried by the levers firmly
grip the wire. If the machine be then set in motion, the carriage moves to and fro
automatically on the bed plate and the course of the carriage is extended with each
movement in proportion as the wire is lengthened; the cage together with the
rollers is also turned the distance of one or two teeth at each movement to and fro,
according to the position of the sliding piece, by which rotation an automatic
closing of the rollers is also brought about. The adjustable bracket is always
drawn tight by means of a chain and weight, so that the wire is always maintained
at a constant tension.
After one revolution of the cage, the right thickness of the spoke is obtained and
the separation of the rollers is rendered possible owing to the blank space between
the ratchet wheel teeth.
Dated this 28th day of November 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Machine for Making Spokes with Enlarged Ends for
Bicycle Wheels and the like.
I, NICOLAUS DÜRKOPP, of 8, Neumarkt, Bielefeld, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, 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 :-
Spokes with enlarged ends have hitherto been made by turning down steel rods,
which caused a considerable waste of both time and material.
This invention has for its object to enable these to be produced without loss of
material, and it consists of a wire drawing bench with a carriage moving
automatically to and fro, by means of which the piece of material, which is clamped
between two tension jaws, is stretched and reduced in diameter up to the ends which
are held in the tension jaws.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 shows a front view:
Figure 2, a side view: and
Figure 3 a plan view of a machine for accomplishing this object.
Figures 4, 5 and 6 show the internal arrangement of the roller carriage; whilst
Figure 7 shows a spoke made in this machine.
A bed plate d, supported on a suitable frame consisting of the legs a and a², the
plate and the two small feet c c', is provided, and on this bed plate there are two
brackets or supports, a fixed one d' and an adjustable one d', also an automatically
moving carriage e. The two brackets d¹ d² are provided with tension jaws by means
of which the continuous piece of wire, which serves for forming the spokes, is held
firm. In the carriage e, a cage e', which is on ball bearings, is arranged, see
Figure 4, and this cage has ratchet teeth 8 on its periphery, Figures 4 and 5, in
which a pawlf engages, the latter being arranged on a sliding piece e² and
supported by means of a spring f'. Two or more levers fare pivoted on
bolts in the cage e¹. These levers have each a roller g at one end, whilst the
other end of the levers rests on a cone g' which is connected with a nut g
An arm h, on which an adjustable piece with a bevelled end is retained,
Figures 2 and 5, is attached to the bed plate d and the carriage e is moved to and
fro ou the former, together with the cage e¹ and the sliding piece e, in the manner
hereinafter described. At each backward and forward movement, the sliding
piece e rubs with its inclined face on the inclined face of the fixed piece h¹ of the
arm afore mentioned, by which means the sliding piece is pushed further into the

page_text: carriage and the pawlf engages the ratchet teeth of the cage in order to turn
the same. By this rotation of the cage, the cone g' afore mentioned is screwed by
means of the nut 9 further into the cage e' and the levers f afore mentioned are
forced apart, and by this means the rollers g, carried by the other end of the levers,
are pressed against the wire.
The ratchet wheel has, however, at one point a blank space, so that, after one
revolution, any further pressing of the rollers y is prevented. In the carriage e,
there is arranged a shaft & having a cog wheel k³, two loose belt pulleys land and
a fixed belt pulley for driving the machine, and also a second shaft m on which is
mounted a large cog wheel m which engages with the small cog wheel ¹ on the
first shaft, as well as a pinion m³, which engages with a rack n fixed in the bed
plate d. A straight and a crossed belt run from the two belt pulleys and to
gearing which drives the machine. The two belts have a common belt shifting
device n' with a belt fork (Figure 2) which is automatically adjusted. For this
object a rod n³, (Figures 1 and 2) having two arms arranged at the point where it
passes over the belt shifting bar, is provided, each of which arms comes in contact
with a catch or projection on the belt shifting bar, and the shifting takes place as
soon as the carriage e has moved so far to one side that the said rod n' encounters
one of the brackets or supports d'or d', when the arm presses the belt shifting bar
to one side or the other.
The mode of working of this machine is as follows:-
The steel wire which is to be employed is passed from a reel o through the
tension jaws of the fixed bracket or support through the centre of the cage el
and between the rollers g up to the tension jaws of the adjustable bracket d² and is
held fast at both ends in these tension jaws. The nut g³ is screwed so far forward
on the cage e' that the cone y' is forced between the levers f, by which means the
rollers g, carried by the levers, firmly grip the wire. If the machine be then set in
motion, the carriage e moves to and fro automatically on the bed plate d and the
course of the carriage is extended with each movement in proportion as the wire is
lengthened; the cage e', together with the rollers g, is also turned the distance of
one or two teeth at each movement to and fro, according to the position of the
sliding piece, by which rotation an automatic closing of the rollers is also
brought about. The adjustable bracket d' is always drawn tight by means of a
chain and weight, so that the wire is always maintained at a constant tension.
g
After one revolution of the cage e', the right thickness of the spoke is obtained,
and the separation of the rollers g is rendered possible owing to the blank space
between the ratchet wheel teeth s.
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. A machine for making spokes with enlarged ends for bicycle wheels and the like,
characterised by a carriage e having an automatic movement to and fro whereby the
article to be treated, which is held between two tension jaws, is drawn and rolled
between rollers which automatically approach one another on the movement to and
fro of the carriage; substantially as hereinbefore described and shown on the
accompanying drawing.
2. A machine of the kind described in Claim 1, characterised by a pawl f
(arranged in a sliding piece e², and moved from the latter, on the movement of the
carriage, by encountering an adjustable contact piece ¹) engaging in a ratchet
tooth sarranged on a cage, e', and turning the latter in order to produce a
progressive approaching of rollers g at each to and fro movement of the carriage e,
by which turning of the cage e' a nut g² is screwed up on the cage e', and a cone g
is forced between the levers f2 of the rollers g, substantially as and for the purpose
described and shown.
3. In a machine of the kind described in Claim 1, a device by means of which
the carriage is adapted for making a to and fro movement extended in proportion

page_text: as the wire is lengthened, characterised in that a shifting rod n³, acting upon a
shifting device n¹, encounters, in the to and fro motion of the carriage, a fixed
support d' and a movable support d, which latter, by means of a chain and weight,
is drawn tight in proportion to the lengthened wire end.
Dated this 2nd day of August 1894.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.