Improvements in the Construction of Velocipedes.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Aug. 1896
Complete Specification Left, 31st May, 1897-Accepted, 17th July, 1897
[Communicated from abroad by HENRY RICHARDSON ROGERS, of 318 West 116th
Street, New York, United States of America, Physician.]
Improvements in the Construction of Velocipedes.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co. Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
According to my invention the framing of the velocipede is made wholly of wood
bent or otherwise formed to suitable shape by any appropriate means.
The main frame is continuous, that is to say it has no sectional joint and is
practically endless, this being attained by laminating together any suitable number
of strips about 1/8th inch thick and of a length equal to the circumference of the
frame. These strips are individually lap-joined at different points. The angles of
the frame are produced by bending the wood in any suitable manner. The bearing for
the crank-shaft is produced by bending some of the laminated strips at this part, into
circular or cylindrical form and lining the bearing, thus produced, with a metal
bushing. The head of the framing is made hollow for the reception of a seamless
steel casing which receives the steering post.
Each of the rear forks is of laminated wood and is provided with an eye which is
adapted to encircle the bearing case and is cemented and bound to the main frame
by casing clamps.
The front forks consist of wooden strips laminated together to form one continuous
piece bent to suitable form.
At each frame-bend or angle or at. other desirable parts, ornamental stoel clamps
are provided for imparting extra strength to the frame.
Improvements in the Construction of Velocipedes.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, 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:-
This invention relates to improvements in the construction of velocipedes having
their framing or parts of their framing made of wood,

page_text: According to this invention the fmming of the velocipede is made wholly of wood
bent to the requisite shape by any appropriate means. For this purpose it is
preferable that the various parts of the framing i.e. the main frame, the forks, and
the chain stays or certain of them, are formed of laminated wood, that is to say of
bars or rods built up of several strips or lamine of wood.
An important feature of the invention consists in making the main frame
continuous, that is to say without a joint such as there would be if instead of being
laminated, it were made of a single bar or tube whose ends were connected together
by ordinary ineans.
In order that the said invention may be clearly understood and readily carried into
effect. I will proceed to describe the same more fully by aid of the accompanying
drawings in which :-
Figure 1 is a side view of a bicycle constructed in accordance with my invention.
Figures 2 and 3 are detail views showing in longitudinal and transverse section a
portion of the main frame thereof.
Figures 4 and 5 are detail sectional elevations at right angles to each other
showing the bottom bracket or emnk hanger, Figure 4 being a section on the line xx
Figure 6.
Figure 6 is n side view of the steering head and upper part of the front forks,
and
Figure 7 is a front view of the said steering head and forks.
Figure 8 is a detail view to a larger scale of the part of the main frame shewn in
Figure 6.
A is the continuous laminated wooden main frame of the velocipede, integrally with
which are formed the bottom bracket or crank hanger B and the steering head C.
D is the chain stay and E and F are respectively the front and rear forks.
The said main frame and the other parts of the framing of the velocipede are built
up as shown more clearly in Figures 2 and 3, of a suitable number of thoroughly
seasoned wooden strips or laminie which are bent to the required shape to form the
portion of the framing they are intended for. They are then secured together
prefembly by a water-proof glue or cement and may be subjected to hydraulic
pressure to ensure the, intimate contact of all their adjacent surfaces. Where the
shape of the part to be formed permits of it, the bending may be performed after the
lamine have been placed together, by subjecting them to the ordinary wood bending
processes.
The construction of the various parts of the framing of laminated wood in this
manner, permits of the detection and elimination of any material of an inferior
character as it is practically impossible that there can be any flaws in the wood which
would not, at once be observable when the same was cut up into the thin strips or
lumine. After a sufficient number of strips have been thus united together to form
a single solid rod or bar, the latter is turned in a lathe or otherwise acted upon to
bring it to the desired shape in cross-section.
The kind of wood it is preferred to employ is Rock Elm or Hickory on account of
its great strength and durability, and the strips or lamina are advantageously about
1/8 of an inch in thickness are cut from the heart of the wood to get the closest
grain possible and so prevent any chance of warping.
In the case of the inain frame, the strips are made of a length equal to the
circumference of the said frame and each strip has its ends (see a Figure 2) lap-jointed
or spliced at a different part to that of any of the other strips; in other words the
strips break joint so that there is no place where more than a single strip is joined,
the main frame being thus as a whole practically endless.
The bottom bracket B is formed by bending some of the strips or lamina at the
lower angle of the main frame, say half of them, to form a loop or eye b, the remaining
strips or lamino being simply curved or bent as at b' to the amount required by the
relative inclination of the adjacent members of the main frame A. The approximately
circular space or cavity thus left between the two sets of strips or lamina is provided
with a metal bushing in the ends of which the ball bearings for the crank axle are

page_text: arranged., are wooden filling pieces inserted between the two sets of lamina
and the bushing b².
The steering head C which, as stated is integral with the main frame A, is formed
as shown in Figure 4 by inserting short strips of wood c between certain of the strips
of the main frame as seen more clearly in Figure 8 the diameter of the frame where
such strips are inserted being thereby increased. The head is then formed with a
longitudinal passage for the reception of a seamless steel casing through which the
steering post passes.
.
The chain stays D are connected to the bottom bracket by enlarging their ends and
providing the same each with an opening or aperture so as to form eyes or loops d,
Figure 5 which can be passed over the ends of the bushing b. In this position they
are secured between a pair of flanged rings or collars & screwed on the ends of the
said hushing.
The front fork E is formed of a continuous piece of laminated wood bent to the
required shape. At the upper part of the said fork, it is connected by a metal clip or
socket e to the steering post, the socket being secured to the fork by ornamental
inetal stampings e¹.
The rear fork F has its members formed separately and in the example shown in
the drawings the lower ends of these members and the adjacent ends of the chain
stays are connected to an ornamental metal stamping having formed integrally
therewith a slotted plate f through which the rear axle passes.
In some cases however the members of the rear fork may be provided at their
lower ends with eyes similar to the eyes d hereinbefore referred to. At their upper
ends the members of the rear fork are connected to the main frame by suitable
ornainental metal clamps f¹.
Suitable metal clamps may also be if necessary provided at the various bends or
angles of the main frame for the purpose of strengthening it at such parts.
I wish it to be understood that I do not wish to confine myself to the shape of the
framing shewn in the drawings, as it will be obvions that such shape may be varied
in accordance with the taste or sex of the rider.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. A velocipede having all or any of the parts composing the framing thereof
formed of laminated wood, substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. A velocipede having a continuous main frame formed of strips or lamina of
wood, bent and formed substantially as described.
3. The construction of the bottoin bracket or crank hanger in a piece with the
laminated wooden main frame substantially as described.
4. The construction of the steering head integrally with the laminated wooden
main frame substantially as described.
5. A bicycle constructed substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 21st day of May 1907
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.