Improvements in Cycles.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 6th Feb., 1897
Improvements in Cycles.
A communication to me from THEODOR KÜHNE, of 8, Waisenhausplatz, Bernburg,
Anhalt, in the Empire of Germany, Watchmaker.
I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 65 and 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, 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, and accompanying drawings, that is to say :-
This invention has for its object, improvements in the driving gear of bicycles,
tricycles, and other velocipedes, by means of which the rider, by utilizing the
weight of his body is able to attain very great speed without great exertion.
The improved arrangement also possesses the advantage that the rider can ride
standing or sitting, in an upright position, so that the chest and indeed the whole
body of the rider are not injuriously affected.
The accompanying drawings, are in illustration of the invention,
Figures 1, 2, and 3, showing in side view a bicycle with three different
modifications of the improved driving gear.
Figure 4 is a section, on a larger scale, through the apparatus connected with
the rear driving wheel, shown in Figure 1.
Figure 5, a transverse section of the same, and
Figure 6 a transverse section of the pedal arrangement.
Figure 7 is a transverse section through the apparatus upon the rear driving
wheel shown in Figure 2.
Figure 8 is a side view of the same.
Figures 9 and 10 are transverse sections through the apparatus which drives the
rear driving wheel shown in Figure 3.
The improved apparatus in the bicycle illustrated in Figure 1, consists of the
following mechanism, arranged upon both sides of the wheel. Instead of the usual
chain wheel connected by a chain with the driving wheel and driven by the pedals,
a bar fixed to the frame and having a slit or groove a, is used, in which moves up
and down vertically a sliding piece b the lower end of which is bent out at c and
serves as a pedal.
In order to assist the pedal or sliding piece to rise automatically after it has been
pressed down, a spring d is arranged under the projecting part c.
To the sliding piece is pivotted a lever e, by the pin, having fitted upon it a
bush which works in a slot in the end of the lever e which turns upon the fixed
centre g.
h
In addition to the upward pressure of the spring d, the rising of the sliding piece
is also effected by the apparatus arranged upon the rear driving wheel axle.
This consists of a bar or plate firmly fixed upon the frame of the machine, and
provided with palls i and pressed down by springs k and k¹. The ratchet wheel
upon which these palls act, turns freely upon the axle of the driving wheel of the
machine, whilst a hollow wheel is firmly fixed upon the axle. In this hollow
wheel is fitted a spiral spring one end of which is fastened to the boss of the ratchet
wheel I, and the other end to the wheel m. Round the wheel m is wound a cord n,

page_text: which makes a single turn round it, the other end of the corl being connected to
the end of the lever e. When the sliding piece is pressed down, the cord n is
unwound from the wheel m, turning the latter and with it the driving wheel of the
machine, the spring (the ends of which are fastened to the wheel n and the boss of
the ratchet wheel respectively,) being thus wound up. When the sliding piece
rises, the elasticity of the spring causes a back movement of the wheel m and a
recoiling of the cord upon the latter as the spring uncoils.
The modified form of arrangement illustrated in Figure 2 is provided with
treadle mechanism similar to that shewn in Figure 1. The difference consists only
in the driving gear on the rear axle, there being substituted for the wheel m
a toothed wheel o and a ratchet wheel p fitted freely upon the axle. The palls q,
9, 9, 9, are carried upon a ring r which is fixed upon the axle. If the lever upon
the sliding piece is pressed down, the curved toothed rack s, which is fixed at the
back end of the lever, and gears with the toothed wheel o, is raised, and turns the
latter as well as the ratchet wheel p and (by means of the palls 2) the disc or ring r
which is fixed upon the driving wheel axle.
When the pedal sliding piece and lever rise, the palls no longer hold the toothed
wheel, and the loose ratchet wheel p and toothed wheel o cin turn backward,
whilst the driving wheel continues its revolution in the right direction.
The modified form of arrangement illustrated in Figure 3 is different from both
of those already described, except that the same principle remains by which the
weight of the rider is used to drive the machine.
The pedal mechanism is somewhat similar to those already described, but the
sliding piece which carries the pedal, has attached to it a cord t which operates
a gear similar to that described and shown on the rear driving wheel in Figure 1,
except that a chain wheel u is driven by it, which transmits the movement by a
chain to a corresponding chain wheel w upon the driving wheel axle.
Pedals and gear of the kind described are provided upon each side of the
machine.
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 I
clain is :-
1. Driving gear for bicycles, tricycles, or quadricycles, having pedal mechanism
upon each side of the machine, consisting of a slotted guide a, with a sliding piece
working in the slot and having a projecting pedal c, a spring d arranged under the
pedal, and a lever e connected to the sliding piece and driving the rear driving
wheel of the machine, substantially as described, and illustrated in Figures 1 and 6
of the accompanying drawings.
2. In a cycle of the kind described in Claim 1, mechanism arranged upon both
sides of the driving wheel and consisting of a support h fixed to the frame of the
machine, palls i, , ratchet wheel loose upon the driving wheel axle, hollow
wheel m fixed upon the said axle, lever e connected to the wheel m by a cord n, and
springs contained in the wheel m and fixed at one end to the wheel m and at the
other end to the boss of the ratchet wheel 1, substantially as described aud
illustrated in Figures 1, 4, 5, and 6, of the accompanying drawings.
p
3. In a cycle of the kind described in Claim 1, mechanism arranged upon both
sides of the driving wheel, and consisting of a toothed wheel o and ratchet wheel,
turning freely upon the axle of the driving wheel, ring or discr fixed upon the said
axle and carrying palls 9, 9, 92, 93, engaging with the teeth of the ratchet wheel p
and toothed rack s carried by the end e' of the lever, and gearing with the toothed
wheel o, which is attached to the ratchet wheel p, substantially as described, and
illustrated in Figures 2, 7, and 8.
4. In a cycle of the kind described in Claim 1, the arrangement of power-
transmitting mechanism consisting of a cord t attached to the sliding piece 6' and
operating a device similar to that described in Claim 2 consisting of a ratchet
wheel, palls, and hollow wheel containing spring, by which the power is transmitted

page_text: from a chain-wheel u through a chain v to a chain-wheel w upon the axle of the
driving wheel, substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 3, 9, and 10 of
the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 15th day of December 1896.
EDWARDS & Co.,
65 and 66, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.