IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Alfred Lamplugh, of the Firm of Lamplugh and
Brown, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers, for an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN BICYCLES,"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Alfred Lamplugh at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 4th October 1881.
JAMES ALFRED LAMPLUGH, of the Firm of Lamplugh and Brown, of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers. “IMPROVEMENTS IN
BICYCLES."
In bicycles as ordinarily constructed the travelling of the vehicle is accompanied
by a tremulous motion, which is transmitted to the seat or saddle, and is a source
of discomfort to the rider. This tremulous motion of the vehicle is communicated.
to the saddle or seat in consequence of the method by which the saddle is connected
to the backbone of the bicycle. The object of my Invention is so to connect the
seat or saddle to the backbone of the bicycle as to prevent wholly or in part any
tremulous motion in the saddle or seat.
In connecting the saddle or seat of a bicycle to the backbone, of the bicycle I
proceed as follows:-I dispense with the steel spring by which the saddle or seat
is ordinarily connected to the backbone, and substitute therefor a strong band of
leather or webbing or other strong flexible band of somewhat greater length than
the saddle or seat. The fore end of this band is secured a short distance above the
fore end of the backbone by being fixed to a bracket near the axis on which the
guiding handle turns. The rear end of the said band is supported by a bracket
fixed on the backbone at the rear of the saddle or seat, the rear end of the band
being fixed to a roller carried by the said bracket. By turning the said roller the
rear end of the band is coiled upon it, and any required tension can be given to the
band. A pawl and ratchet wheel maintain the roller in the position to which it
has been brought. The saddle or seat is fixed to the upperside of the band by
screw bolts on the underside of the saddle and about its middle, passing through
the band. Screw nuts on the screws fix the saddlo to the band. By the same

page_text: screws and screw nuts two short leather bands are fixed by one end to the underside
of the band described at opposite edges. These short bands are connected at their
other ends to the backbone. These short bands permit the saddle to be depressed
on either side without the elevation of the opposite side.
By the improvements described in connecting the saddle or sent to the backbone
of the bicycle tremulous motion in the saddle or seat is wholly or in great part
prevented, and the saddle or seat readily yields under pressure.
As the band stretches and slackens by the use of the bicycle it may from time
to time be tightened to the required degree by means of the roller and pawl and
ratchet wheel described.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Alfred Lamplugh in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th March 1882.
JAMES ALFRED LAMPLUGH, of the Firm of Lamplugh and Brown, of
Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturers. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BICYCLES."
In bicycles as ordinarily constructed the travelling of the vehicle is accompanied
by a tremulous motion, which is transmitted to the seat or saddle, and is a source
of discomfort to the rider. This tremulous motion of the vehicle is communicated
to the saddle or scat in consequence of the method by which the saddle is connected
to the backbone of the bicycle. The object of my Invention is so to connect the
scat or saddle to the backbone of the bicycle as to prevent wholly or in part any
tremulous motion in the saddle or seat.
.
In connecting the saddle or seat of a bicycle to the backbone of the bicycle I
proceed as follows:-I dispense with the steel spring by which the saddle or seat
is ordinarily connected to the backbone, and substitute therefor a strong band of
leather or webbing or other strong flexible band of somewhat greater length than
the saddle or seat. The fore end of this band is secured a short distance above the
fore end of the backbone by being fixed to a bracket near the axis on which the
guiding handle turns. The rear end of the said band is supported by a bracket
fixed on the back bone at the rear of the saddle or seat, the rear end of the band
being fixed to a roller carried by the said bracket. By turning the said roller tho
rear end of the band is coiled upon it, and any required tension can be given to
the band. A pawl and ratchet wheel maintain the roller in the position to which
it has been brought. The saddle or seat is fixed to the upperside of this band by
screw bolts on the underside of the saddle and about its middle, passing through
the band. Screw nuts on the screws fix the saddle to the band. By the same
screws and screw nuts two short leather bands are fixed by one end to the under-
side of the band described at opposite edges. These short bands are connected at
their other ends to the back bone. These short bands perinit the saddle to be
depressed on either side without the elevation of the opposite side.

page_text: By the improvements described in connecting the saddle or seat to the backbone
of the bicycle tremulous motion in the saddle or seat is wholly or in great part
prevented, and the saddle or seat readily yields under pressure.
As the band stretches and slackens by the use of the bicycle, it may from time
to time be tightened to the required degree by means of the roller and pawl and
ratchet wheel described.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to tho accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation a portion of the back bone of a bicycle to
which the seat or saddle is connected according to my Invention; Figure 2 repre-
sents an outsido elevation of the rear bracket and the band of leather and the parts
for adjusting the band; Figure 3 represents an inside elevation of the said rear
bracket; Figure 4 is an end elevation of the front bracket, to which the fore end
of the leather band is connected; Figure 5 represents a plan of Figure 1, with the
Eaddle or seat removed; Figure 6 represents an end elevation of the seat or saddle,
partly in section, exhibiting the arrangement for fixing it to the leather band and
backbone; and Figure 7 represents an elevation of the roller separately.
The same letters of referenco indicate the same parts in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 0,
and 7.
a is the backbone of the bicycle, to which the strong band b of leather, or
webbing, or other strong flexible band is connected for carrying the seat or saddle c.
The fore end of the band bis fixed to the back bone a by means of the bracket d
near the axis e, in which the guiding handle of the bicycle turns. The said bracket d
is forked (see Figure 4), and is connected to the back bono a by means of a screw
pin passed through the fork of the bracket, and fixed by a screw nut. The foro
end of the band b is secured to the bracket d by screws at g, g, passing through
the band and taking into the head of the bracket d, a plate or washer & being
interposed between the heads of the screws and the leather band b. The rear end
of the band bis fixed to the roller i (shown separately in Figure 7), which roller is
supported and turns in the bearings at h, k, on the rear bracket fixed to the back-
bone a by the screw clamp m. On the said roller i, and working between the
bearings at k, k, is a ratchet wheel n, with the teeth of which a pawl n³ jointed to
the bracket engages. The rear part of the band 6 passes over and is supported
by the head or cross bar 12 of the bracket, and the said rear part of the band is
divided at 62, 63, the said parts 62, 63, passing respectively on each side of the
bearings k, k, the bracket (see Figures 2 and 5), and being fixed to the roller i.
The fixing of the divided rear part b², 62, of the band b to the roller i is offected by
means of the metal strips p, p, the ends of which are screwed to the roller i and to
the divided part 6, 62, of the band; or the rear end of the band may be fixed
directly to the roller i by screwing or in any other convenient way. Those parts
of the roller i on which the divided part b², 63, of the band is coiled may be toothed
or roughened, so as to bite the band and thereby diminish the strain on the fixing
screws of the metal strips p, p. The end of the roller i is made square or
angular for turning it by means of a spanner. By turning the said roller i by means
of its angular end the divided part 62, 63, of the band is coiled upon the said
roller, and any required tension may bo given to the band, the pawl n³ and ratchet
wheel n maintaining the roller i in the position to which it has been brought. As
the band b stretches and slackens by the use of the bicycle, it may from time to
time be tightened by turning the roller i by its end i².
The saddle or seat c is fixed to the upper side of the band b by screw bolts q, q,
passed through one of the pairs of holes r, r, made in the leather band 6 (see
Figure 5), the said bolts q, q, being fastened on the underside of the band by screw
nuts as represented. By means of the series of pairs of holes r, r, made in the
band b the position of the seat c may be adjusted with great nicety. Fixed by the
screw bolts 9, 9, is a short leather strap or band a, and buckled to the ends of
the said bands is an under band t, the middle of the said underband being rivetted
at u to the clip w fixed on the backbone a. These short straps or bands s, t, are

page_text: best seen in Figure 6, and by their use the seat or saddle may be depressed on
either side without the elevation of the opposite side.
By connecting the seat or saddlo c to the backbone a by supporting it upon the
flexible band b, as described and represented, the tremulous motion of the bicycle
is not communicated to the rider, and the seat or saddle readily yields under
pressure.
The parts for connecting and adjusting the flexible band on which the seat is
supported may be modified in the manner represented in side elevation in Figure 8,
and plan in Figure 9.
In this modification the band b consists of an endless piece of leather or other
strong flexible material, the ends of the said band being connected together by
sewing or otherwise, or by buckling. The fore end of the endless band 6 passes
around the fixed pin carried by the shackle z on the front bracket d, which is
bolted on the backbone a. The rear end of the endless band b passes around a
similar pin y carried by the rear shackle y³. The said rear shackle y³ has at its
back an adjusting screw pin y³, which passes through the hollow or tubular head 7³
of the rear bracket Z fixed to the backbone a.
"
By means of the screw nut y' screwed on the projecting end of the adjusting
screw pin the required tension may be given to the band b, and the said. band
tightened from time to time as may be required. The seat c is fixed to the band
in the manner before described and illustrated.
Or, instead of using an endless band, the ends of the band may be made into
loops, through which loops the shackle pins x, y, are passed.
Although I prefer to adjust the band b by an arrangement of parts at the back
of the seat, as described and represented, yet the said band may be adjusted at the
fore part instead of at the rear part, or both at the fore and rear parts.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention
of "Improvements in Bicycles,"
-
The construction and combination of parts herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings, for connecting the saddle or seat to the backbone
of the bicycle, that is to say, supporting the said saddle or scat upon and
fixing it to a strong band of leather or webbing, or a strong flexible band of
other material stretched between two brackets fixed on the backbone of the bicycle,
the said band being mado capable of adjustment as it stretches and slackens by use,
the several parts being constructed and arranged for the purposes and substantially
as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Alfred Lamplugh, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
JAMES ALFRED LAMPLUGH. (L.S.)