Improvements in Foot Rests for Bicycles and Tricycles.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Feb., 1869
Complete Specification Left, 6th June, 1389-Accepted, 6th July, 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Foot Rests for Bicycles and Tricycles.
I, WILLIAM BLAKELY, of Dene House, Bournemouth, in the County of Hanto,
Estate Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in foot rests for bicycles and tricycles; and
it has for its object to deaden the shocks which are ordinarily transmitted to the legs
of the rider when these rests are used, more especially in going down steep hills at
bigh speeds.
According to my invention, the foot rests are attached to, or formed in one with,
plates which are independent of the frame of the bicycle or tricycle, but are secured
thereto so as to be capable of a limited up and down motion, and they are held in
their normal position by spiral or other springs which are secured to the frame of the
machine at a point either above or below the foot rest. When the spring is below the
foot rest, it may be attached to, or fixed in, a socket piece on the frame. The foot
rest itself is provided with a sleeve preferably of grooved india-rubber or other soft
material which will aid in deadening shocks and jars. These sleeves may be built up
of rings or washers having bevelled edges and provided with a screw adjustment by
means of which they may be held close together or separated more or less, as may be
desired, and having at the end a flange which prevents the rider's leg from slipping
off in passing over obstacles.
Dated this 5th day of Fahrno 1880
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Foot Rests for Bicycles and Tricycles.
I, WILLIAM BLAKELY, of Dene House, Bournemouth, in the County of Hants,
Estate Agent, 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:—
My Invention relates to improvements in foot rests for bicycles and tricycles, and it
has for its object to avoid the transmission of shocks to the legs of the rider when
descending steep hills at high speeds with the feet upon the rests.
According to my invention, the foot rests are so attached to the frame of the bicycle
or tricycle as to be capable of a limited up and down motion, and they are held in
their normal position by springs. The foot rest itself is provided with a sleeve
preferably of grooved india rubber or other soft material which will aid in deadening
shocks and jars. These sleeves may be built up of rubber rings having bevelled edges
and clamped together by a screw adjustment.
The Invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying drawings
forming part of this specification, in which figure 1 is a side elevation shewing my
improved foot rest applied to the steering fork of a safety bicycle; figure 2 is a
similar view of the foot rest, on a larger scale; and figure 3 is a longitudinal section
of the foot rest, drawn to about full size. The same letters of reference indicate like
parts in all the figures.
The foot rest has a central pin or spindle a fixed to a plate b fitted to slide up and
down in dovetailed guides c on the frame, from which the foot rest projects in the
usual position. In the example illustrated the foot rest is supported from above by a
| spiral spring d which is preferably of the flattened or obloug form in cross-section

page_text: represented in figure 3, said spring being fastened at its upper end to the fork or other
part of the frame to which the foot-rest may be applied and at the lower end to the
plate b. The spring may howovor, be situated below the foot rest, in which caso it
would be contained in a socket, or otherwise prevented from being displaced when
compressed. The central pin a is onelosed by an elastic covering composed of
V-edged rings a' of indin-rubber placed side by side upon the pin and clamped together
between end flanges by means of a nut screwing on the end of the pin. The
circularly corrugated form of the surface renders the elastic covering softer and
affords a better grip for the foot whilst the end flanges e prevent the foot slipping
off.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what 1
claim is :-
1. Mounting the foot rests of bicycles and tricycles to slide up and down in guides
and supporting the same by springs, as and for the purpose specified.
2. Constructing foot rests of bicycles and tricycles of V-edged rubber dises
clamped together upon a spindle mounted to slido up and down and spring supported,
as specified.
Dated this 5th day of June 1889.
WILLIAM BLAKELY.