Improvements in Bioyoles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Apr., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 14th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 21st Apr., 1897
BASIL BENTLEY BRIDGEWATER of 13 Victoria Street Hereford, Sanitary
Inspector, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows, viz. :-
An invention for the improvement of bioyoles in accordance with the following
specifications.
1st. To enable the handles of a bicycle to be turned parallel with the wheels in
two seconds and replaced in working position in two seconds without alteration or
displacement of any part of the bioyole except the handles, and a small alteration
of the brake rod (if any).
2nd. One of the mechanical appliances being a small slide bolt with or without
a apring.
3rd. Its simplicity and rapidity of action, and its applicability to any bicyclo
new or old.
The mechanical means used is a cap or short piece of pipe made fast to the T
in the centre of the handles. This short piece of pipe partly revolving round the
top end of the steerage bar and being locked by a small slide bolt, with or without
a spring.
Dated this 9th day of May 1896.
BASIL BENTLEY BRIDGEWATER.
Improvements in Bioyoles.
I BASIL BENTLEY BRIDGEWATER 13 Victoria Street Hereford Sanitary
Inspector, 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 :-
The invention consists of the application of the following mechanical appliances
to the handle bars and steering head of bicycles.
The upright portion of the handle bar is severed about one inch below the
horizontal bar, and to the inch left on a piece of tubo about three inches long is
secured. This fits accurately the top of the longer upright portion and allows the
handles to revolve. By means of a stud and slot the movement of the handle bar
is limited to a quarter of a revolution and the handle bar is firmly secured either
parallel with the wheels or at right angles to same, by means of a locking bolt
either with or without a spring.
With such an arrangement of parts in combination with the handles, the latter can
be readily secured in such a position that the horizontal bar shall be at right angles
to its normal position or parallel with the wheels, giving greater convenience in
storage and in the supporting of the machine when not in use. I am also enabled
to unlock and reuder the handles incapable of guiding the bicycle.

page_text: In order that my invention may be the more readily understood I append here-
unto two sheets of explanatory drawings to be hereinafter referred to:-
Figure 1 on Sheet 1 is a front elevation of a portion of the steering heal of a
bicycle having my invention applied thereto.
Figure 2 is a part clovation and part section of my attachment tube or so :ket.
Figure 1 is a sectional plan on the line ab Figure 1.
Figure 1 is a sectional plan on the line cd Figure 1.
Figure 3 on Sheet 2 is a side elevation of my locking mechanism, showing also
the ball and socket joint in the brake rod.
Figure 4 is a front elevation showing the locking bolt lifted and spring
compressed, as it would appear when the handles were being turned to a position
parallel with the wheels or vice-versa.
Figure 44 is a sectional plan on the line of Figure 4.
The same referenco letters in the different views indicate the same parts.
On the attachment tube or socket A. secured to the handle bar B, I mount the
sliding bolt C, which is kept in its lower or locked position by the spring D, as
illustrated at Figures 1, 2, and 3. When the bolt is in this locked' position, 'the
horizontal portion B' of the handle bar is at its normal or working position at
right angles to the wheels, and the complete handle bar can be turned in either
direction with the steering tube in the ordinary manner, as may be required for
guiding the machine. But upon raising the bolt C, ngainst the action of the
spring D, to the position indicated at Figure 4, the upper part of the handle bar
together with the socket A can be turned independently of the lower part of the
bar until the bolt C drops, under the action of the spring D, upon the opposite side
of the stud E which is screwed into the lower part of the handle bar; the upper
and lower parts of the handle bar will then be again locked or secured together.
The length of the slot A' around the socket A is sufficient and the position of the
stud E is such that the two locked positions of the handle bar shall be at right angles
to each other, and thus the horizontal or like part B of the complete handle bar
can be secured in a position either at right angles or parallel with the wheels.
The sliding bolt C is mounted or retained or guarded at its lower end by a slot
or aperture in the projection A' forming a part of, or brazed or otherwise secured
to, the socket A. Figure 1B illustrates the bolt in such guiding or retaining slot.
The upper part of the bolt C is provided with a slot C' (Figure 4) to nut the stem
of the top guard or retaining lug C' which is screwed into the facing A brazed or
otherwise secured to the socket A. The spring guiding stem C' attached to the
sliding bolt C passes through the hole C (Figure 1A) in the top guard C.
To more effectually secure or lock tho parts of the complete handle bar together,
I insert a pin or cotter through an aperture as F in the projection A³ from the
socket A and cause it to enter a corresponding aperturo F (see Figure 4) in the
bolt C when the latter.is in its locked position as indicated at Figures 1, 2, and 3.
I also employ the same pin and aperture F for the purpose of securing the bolt in
its unlocked position (or the position shown at Figure 4), as in such position the
lower aperture Fin the bolt C (see Figure 1) will coincide with the aperture Fin
the socket. When thus secured in the unlocked position the handles are rendered
incapable for service in guiding or steering and thus the machine cannot be ridden
away.
The ball and socket joint G' in the brake rod G is provided for the purpose of
enabling the rod to adjust itself to the handle bar when the latter is turned to its
position parallel with the wheels.
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 means by which bicycle handles can be set and secured in a position
parallel with the wheels, substantially as described.
2. The combination with a bicycle handle bar having its upper and lower parts

page_text: detached, of a connecting piece such as A with looking or securing appliances,
substantially as described and as illustrated.
3. The improved combination aud arrangement of parts whereby bicycle handles
can be set and secured in a position either parallel or at right angles with the
wheels when in their normal running position, and also set and secured in such a
position as to render them incapable of guiding the machine, substantially as
described,