Improvements in Cycle Brakes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd May, 1897-Accepted, 19th June, 1897
.
Improvements in Cycle Brakes.
I, JOHN THOMAS of Summer Hill, Sydney in the Colony of New South Wales,
Australia, Builder, 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 :-
This invention has for its object to provide a cycle brake of simple construction
which can be quickly and easily applied and which is so perfectly under the control
of the rider that it can, if necessary, be caused to stop the cycle instantly, or be
applied with such gentle force as to form an efficient speed regulator.
Referring to the acccompanying two sheets of illustrative drawings :-
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a cycle head having a brake constructed according
to this invention attached thereto; Fig. 2 is a front elevation, Fig. 3 a back
elevation, and Fig. 4 a plan of the same.
Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are respectively side elevation, end elevation and sectional plan
of the brake rollers and connections to an enlarged scale.
Figs. 8 and 9 are back elevation and transverse sectional elevation of the central
part of the handle bar and pillar also to an enlarged scale and
:
Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a modified arrangement according to this
invention.
Referring to Figs. 1 to 9 inclusive of the drawings a pair of rollers a are
mounted on pins & secured in links c jointed to the fork end d of a brake rod e sliding
in a guide bracket / secured to the fork head socket g the other end of the said
rod being connected to the end of a crank arm whose opposite or tail end i
passes through and is secured to the centre of the handle bar which is free to
rotate or rock within the pillar head m, the angle of rotation being limited by the
slots n in the pillar head m in which the tail end i of the arm h works. It will
thus be seen that when the handles o are raised the rod e descends, the rollers a
making contact with the tyre p, the further descent of the rod e causing the links c
to rotate about the axis of their common joint g until their peripheries are in
contact.
"
Normally the projecting end i of the arm h engages in a corresponding hole in a
spring secured to the pillar head m, thereby locking the handles in their lowered
position and the rollers in their off position. In order to bring the apparatus into
an operative position it is therefore necessary to disengage the end i of the
arm from the spring which is effected by means of a lever st one arms of
which presses against the spring while the other end t is connected by a wire v,
passing through the handle bar, with a trigger lever to pivotted inside the bar as
shown. On pressing the trigger w with the thumb the spring r is pressed outwardly
by the lever st when the handles are free to be raised to operate the brake. The
dotted lines Fig. 1 show the brake in its operative position.
In the modified arrangement shown in Fig. 5, the handle bar is pivotted on the
lug which is secured to the pillar head m, the wire or rod e¹ being passed
through the pillar and fork head and connected to the handle bar at the top and
to the lever y at the bottom, and the said lever y being pivotted on the bracket z
and provided with the brake roller a.
The locking arrangement is similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 9.

page_text: The locking device and the mode of operating the brake are similar to those
bereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 1 to 9.
The brake may be operated by forcing the handles downwards, but in this case
the connecting rod passes through the post and has a brake shoe on the bottom of
the connecting rod.
Obviously the brake roller or rollers herein before described and shown may be
replaced by a shoe or any other form of rubber device.
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. The combination, in a bicycle brake, of a revoluble handle bar, in which is the
pin which pin passes through a slot in a pillar head such as m with the connecting
rode and brake rollers or shoe a substantially as herein set forth and shown in
Figs. 1 to 9 of the drawings.
2. In a cycle brake, a pair of rollers connected together and to an operative part
of the brake such as the connecting rod substantially as described and for the
purpose set forth.
3. In a cycle brake, a lock consisting of a spring such as r, rigidly secured to the
pillar head in which engages with a pin i in the handle bar, a bell crank lever such
as s, t, the wire and the trigger w substantially as herein set forth and shown
in Figs. 1 to 9 of the drawings.
4. In a cycle brake, the combination of the revoluble handle bar, with the lock,
substantially as described and shown on the drawings.
5. In a cycle brake, a revoluble handle bar, which, when the handles are raised,
operates the brake, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
a,
6. In a cycle brake, a handle bar pivotted on the lug & in combination with the
wire or rod e' passing through the pillar g, the lever y, the bracket and the roller
or shoe
substantially as herein set forth and shown in Fig. 10 of the drawings.
7. In a cycle brake, the combination of a handle bar pivotted on a lug such as x,
and connected to the lever y by means of the wire or rod e¹ with the lock as
described substantially as herein set forth.
8. In a cycle brake, a handle bar which when raised by the handles operates
the brake, substantially and as for the purpose herein set forth.
9. In a cycle brake, a handle bar, which, when depressed, by the handles,
operates the brake, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.
Dated this Third day of May 1897.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.