IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE DRIVING WHEELS OF VELOCIPEDES
Year: 1884

page_text: We, WILLIAM ALBERT ERNEST SACH of Bushey in the County of Hertfordshire
Doctor of Medicine and JOHN GILFILLAN of N° 3 Eaton Gardens West Brighton
in the County of Sussex Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of our Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE DRIVING WHEELS OF VELOCIPEDES
to be as follows:-
Our Velocipede is constructed with three wheels, two of which are the driving
wheels and are therefore of the same size, and the third wheel is a small one placed
in the rear of the driving wheels and is used for steering. The two driving wheels
are placed side by side in a fork from the top of which runs a rigid backbone
terminating in a neck which fits into the head of the fork carrying the small
steering wheel.
The rider sits over the two driving wheels.as in an ordinary Bicycle and steers
the small back wheel by any suitable arrangement of levers. It will be obvious
however that if the two driving wheels are far enough apart to give sufficient.
stability to the Machine that the rider would not be able to sit astride them, We
therefore place them in an oblique position so that they incline towards each other
at the top and have a base of from twelve to eighteen inches according to the
diameter of the wheels; by this arrangement the rider can sit well over the wheels
to drive them and the stability of the Machine is not decreased.
As the axles of the wheels are not in a line we mount the wheels loosely on an
axle fixed to the fork and bent to the necessary angle to produce the desired
inclination of the wheels.
Power is transmitted to the wheels by the rider through any suitable arrangement
of levers or spur wheels etc;
As our invention is confined entirely to the peculiar arrangement of the driving
wheels as before described we will not touch upon the construction of the other
parts of the Machine, as they are not novel and may be modified to suit various
requirements.
Dated this 20th day of January 1001

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
We WILLIAM ALBERT EARNEST SACK of Bushey in the County of Hertfordshire,
Doctor of Medicine & JOHN GILFILLAN of No. 3 Eaton Gardens West Brighton
in the County of Sussex, Gentleman do bereby declare the nature of our invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE DRIVING WHEELS OF VELOCIPEDES
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our Velocipede is constructed with three wheels, two of which are the driving
wheels & are therefore of the same size, & the third wheel is a small one placed
in the rear of the driving wheels, & is used for steering. The two driving wheels
are placed side by side in a fork from the top of which runs a rigid backbone
terminating in a neck which fits into the head of the fork carrying the small
steering wheel.
The rider sits over the two driving wheels as in an ordinary bicycle & steers
the small back wheel by any suitable arrangement of levers. It will be obvious
however that if the two driving wheels are far enough apart to give sufficient
stability to the machine, that the rider would not be able to sit astride them; we
therefore place them in an oblique position so that they incline towards each other
at the top & have a base of from twelve to eighteen inches according to the
diameter of the wheels; by this arrangement the rider can sit well over the wheels
to drive them & the stability of the machine is not decreased.
In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1. is a side elevation, and Fig. 2. a front
elevation of a Velocipede fitted with our improved arrangement of driving
wheels.
It will be seen that as the axles of the driving wheels are not in a line, we
mount the wheels loosely on an axle fixed to the frame & bent to the necessary
angle to produce the desired inclination of the wheels.
As our invention is confined entirely to the peculiar arrangement of the driving
wheels we do not bind ourselves to the particular construction of the frame or
other parts of the Velocipede as shown, as they are not novel and may be modified
to suit various requirements. For instance we sometimes make the machine to
steer with the two driving wheels a la' Humber, or we make it a front steerer
with the small wheel.
Although we do not bind ourselves to any particular methods of driving &
steering the Velocipede, the ones we prefer to use are shewn by the accompanying
drawing; the method of driving being that known as the "Merlin" principle, &
the steering is a la' bicycle; viz, by means of an horizontal handle bar. This
handle bar works a vertical rod to which is attached, in a suitable position a short
arm which is connected to the forward end of the steering rod, which manipulates
the small wheel in the usual manner.
Having now particularly described the nature of our said invention & in what
manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we claim is :—
The construction of Velocipedes with the driving wheels placed in an oblique
position, for the purpose herein before set forth, & arranged substantially as described
in this specification & shown by the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 13th day of March 1884