IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Webb Thomas, of the Rectory, Southease,
near Lewes, in the County of Sussex, Clerk in Holy Orders, M.A.,
for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES."
Scaled the 19th July 1870, and dated the 8th February 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Webb Thomas
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th February 1870.
I, SAMUEL WEBB THOMAS, of the Rectory, Southcase, near Lewes, in
5 the County of Sussex, Olerk in Holy Orders, M.A., do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES," to be as
follows:-
The object of my Invention is to construct a bicycle with a bent or
curved beam, and with a double crank on one side of the driving wheel,
) so that ladies and nervous persons can sit upon and work them.
I
carry
I attach the front wheel to a forked bar, as in ordinary bicycles, and
the beam out of the straight line towards the back, and then
Lend or curve it inwards to form sufficient bearing for the seat. The
Leam is again bent or curved towards the rear and leads to the nave of

page_text: the hind wheel, the axle being at right angles to the beam, so that the
wheel is outside or inside. The axle of the driving wheel is formed with
a double crank on one side of the wheel, so that a person sitting upon
a scat upon the central part of the beam can work both cranks to
propel the vehicle forward.
I propose to fit one or more struts or legs to the beam to rest upon
the ground when the vehicle is tilted to prevent it turning or falling
completely over. The strut may be provided with a roller or small
wheel at its lower end.
E
The wheels are protected by wickerwork to prevent the garments of 1
the rider becoming entangled in them.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Webb Thomas in the Great Seal Patent.
Office on the 8th August 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
WEBB THOMAS, of the Rectory, Southcase, near Lewes, in the County of
Sussex, Clerk in Holy Orders, M.A., send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Webb Thomas, Her special
licence that I, the said Samuel Webb Thomas, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Webb Thomas,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Samuel Webb Thomas, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and
cause the same to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Webb Thomas, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement
This Invention relates to bicycles for the use of either sex, and
consists of the improvements herein-after described, which improvements
have for their object, primarily, to produce a bicycle that may be ridden
upon and worked by ladies or nervous persons; secondly, to incrcase
the stability of these vehicles, and thus render them more comfortable
for general use; and, thirdly, to obtain increased speed by means of a
larger driving wheel than is possible in the ordinary bicycles at present
in use..
In carrying out my said Invention instead of placing and causing
the two wheels to travel in the same plane, one behind the other, I
place them in different planes, parallel to each other, and bring the
hind wheel forward, so that its periphery in elevation intersects the
periphery of the fore wheel. I make the fore wheel the driving wheel, as
in the ordinary bicycle, but instead of using two single cranks, one on
cach side of the said wheel, I introduce a double crank on one side, by
preference on the left side of the driving wheel, on which side I. also
place the hind wheel. The plane of motion of the latter wheel bisects
the left pedal of the double crank. The seat, which is formed with a
back to give support to the body, is placed over or partly over the front
part of the hind wheel. The beam to which the wheels are fitted
instead of being straight, as in the ordinary bicycle, is made of an
angular or form; it follows the plane of the driving wheel for a
certain distance backward, is then carried to the left, where it passes
under the seat, and is then bent downwards at an angle of about forty-.
five degrees with the horizon, and terminating at the axis of the said
last-mentioned wheel either on the outside or inside by a single beam,.
or on both sides by a split or forked beam. The seat is mounted upon
two horizontal springs, one of which is supported at both ends, and
rests upon and is secured to the angle of the main beam in the front,
and rests upon and is secured to horn pieces in the usual way at the
back. The centre line of this spring coincides with the plane of rotation
of the hind wheel; the other and shorter horizontal spring scat support

page_text: is also secured to the angle of the main beam and is parallel to the long
spring. The seat is adjustable upon these springs, so that it can be
moved and fixed forwards and backwards as required. When the main
beam is made to terminate with a single limb on one side only of the
hind wheel one of the horns, to which the end of the long spring scat
support is secured, is fixed to an elongation of the axle of the wheel,
and this axle is fixed to the end of the limb of the beam, so that the
wheel turns upon and not with the said axle, while the fore wheel is
fixed to and turns with the axle in the usual way.
In order to cause the bicycle to maintain its vertical position when
not in use, and to prevent it from falling over on the off side when in
use I carry down a strut from the main beam, and in the lower portion
of this strut, which is divided longitudinally for the purpose, I fit a
small disc wheel or roller, upon which when sufficiently inclined the
'bicycle may run without its motion being suddenly impeded or materially
retarded thereby. A similar strut or leg may also, if thought desirable,
be carried down from the near side of the main beam. I fit a break to
the fore or driving wheel, which is actuated in the usual way by turning
the axis of the steering handles. This break is a small lever centered
upon a stud fixed on the side of the fork of the driving wheel standard,
or under the top of the fork upon a pin passing through both shoulders.
of the same. The steering handles are formed with branches from the
head of the standard, but instead of being equal, as in the ordinary
bicycle, I elongate the near handle to double the length, or nearly so,
of that of the off handle, in order to bring the same more immediately in
the front of the scat, and at the same time give greater leverage to the
left hand, that hand having to bear the greater strain. To assist in this
object a spring may be fitted to the end of the off or right-hand handlo
fastened to and pulling from the scrolled finial in front. For protecting
the dress of the rider I fit a light wickerwork in the form of a quadrant
on the near side of the driving wheel, and carry the same just over the
periphery (to that extent) and down a short distance on the off side.
This wicker guard I support by means of a light metal double or forked
rod, which branches out from the top of the fork immediately above the
wheel, is thence carried parallel or concentrically with the periphery of
the wheel down the same to a point about level with its axis. The said
rod is then bent round and carried along both the near and off sides of
the wheel and terminates and is fixed to the near and off limbs of the