Improvements in and relating to the Steering Heads and Forks of Velocipedes and other Road Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 10th Dec., 1898
COMPLETE DI FUIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to the Steering Heads and Forks of
Velocipedes and other Road Vehicles.
I, JAMES MALCOLM HAMILTON VENOUR, of 149, New Kent Road, London, S.E.,
Cycle Manufacturer, 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 the construction of the steering head
and the front or steering fork of safety bicycles, tricycles, motor driven and
other velocipedes and front steering road vehicles, and has for its object to so
strengthen the said head and fork so as to prevent the breaking of same when
in use, and so obviate the many fatal or otherwise serious accidents that have been
known to occur from such breakages.
The cycle industry has exercised much study in endeavouring to find means
for strengthening the front fork of such machines, and many devices have been
introduced with a view to this end, all of which have been attended with some
technical objection, such for instance as adding too much to the weight of the
vehicle, or by enlargening the crown for carrying larger or extra members of
the said fork, to so extend the width of the said fork as to unduly limit the area
or are through which the same was allowed to oscillate in steering the machine,
but according to my invention I am enabled to materially strengthen the said
fork without increasing its weight to any appreciable extent, or decreasing the
area through which the steering wheel may oscillate.
In order that my said invention may be fully understood reference is herein-
after made to the accompanying drawings, of which,
Figs. 1 and 2 are side and front elevation respectively of the front fork and
steering head of a bicycle or tricycle according to my invention.
Fig. 3 is a much enlarged plan view of the upper end of the said steering head,
while Figs. 4 and 5 are like enlarged but sectional views upon the lines A B and
CD respectively of Figs. 1 and 2, Fig. 6 being a diagram illustrating the arc
through which the said steering wheel of such a fork is free to oscillate.
In carrying my invention into effect I prefer to employ two or more parallel
plates such as A and B in the construction of the fork crown, these being alike
in shape and configuration, and approximately that shewn by the enlarged views
Figs. 4 and 5, in the lower one or ones of which I provide four holes C C¹
and 1 D all formed in the shape of an elongated ellipse, and so arranged in
position in the said plate or plates B, that those CC are one behind the other
at the right, while those D D are one behind the other at the left hand sides of
the said plates, and through the holes C C¹, I pass a pair of tubes E and E¹, of
the same shape in cross section as the said holes, and brazed or otherwise con-
nected to the plate or plates B and the plate A, or suitable liners thereon, the
said tubes being so formed longitudinally as to be brazed or otherwise connected
together at their lower ends to form the right hand half of the front or steering
fork, and collectively adapted at a to receive and be connected to the right hand
end of the spindle of the steering wheel in the usual manner, and in precisely

page_text: the same way a pair of tubes F and F1 pass through, and are connected to the
holes D and D¹ in the plate or plates B and the plate A, and are connected at
their lower ends to form the left hand half of the same fork, and collectively
adapted at b to receive and be connected to the left hand end of the spindle of
the said wheel.
As previously stated, the said plate or plates B and the plate A are of approxi-
mately the same shape, and I provide in the front of these holes cand d
respectively for the passage of the brake rod, and in the centre of the back of A
a circular hole, through which passes the lower end of a preferably tubular
standard G, brazed or otherwise connected thereto and the plate or the uppermost
plate B, with or without passing through the latter, and over or partly over the
holes C C and D D' in the plate or plates B, I mount and fix upon, and braze or
otherwise connect to the plate A the lower ends of a pair of tubular pillars H
and H, the position of the said tubes being such as to form the base of an
imaginary isosceles triangle, the apex of which is the axial centre of the tube G,
while the sides are at an angle of sixty degrees or thereabouts with the said base.
The said tubular pillars H and H' are open at their upper ends for the reception
of the handle-bar J, having upon its under surface two lugs or projections K
and K', which dip into H and H¹ and are therein secured by set screws or their
equivalents L, the upper ends of H and H¹ being connected together and to the
tube G by a tie plate M or by any other suitable means, by which the rigidity
of the upper end of these may be secured.
The standard G fits within the steering tube 0 of the frame of the machine P
(shewn in dotted outline in Fig. 2) and is secured in position thereon by the
means of a split ring or cap R, having lugs R1 and R2 brought together by a
through bolt S, the said ring or cap R having connected thereto or formed
therewith a shoulder T, which normally rests upon the top of the steering tube 0),
when the said ring or can is fixed upon the upper end of G.
It will therefore be understood that the front or steering fork, according to my
invention, is composed of four tubes or rods arranged in pairs E E and F F¹
with the tubes in each pair placed one behind the other, each pair being ulti-
mately connected together at their lower ends, and at their upper ends or fork
crown by two or more plates B, and the plate A, and by these means each side
of the fork is strengthened in the direction in which the breaking strain occurs,
namely, fore and aft, or in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 2, in addition to
which the steering head is further strengthened by the triangular position of the
three tubes G and H and H¹, upon the former of which the oscillation of the
steering wheel is centred, and by reason of such formation of the steering head
the are through which this is allowed to oscillate in the steering of the vehicle, is
that shewn by dotted outline in Fig. 6, or substantially from X to X.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is―
1st. In bicycles, tricycles, and all manumotive or mechanically propelled
velocipedes having a front steering wheel, the application thereto and use in
connection therewith of the improved steering head and fork for the said wheel
substantially as herein set forth and shewn.
2nd. In velocipedes having a front steering wheel the combination of two pairs
of tubes or rods, each pair forming one side of the said fork of the said wheel,
with the rods of either pair placed one behind the other, and connected by a
suitable crown with a triple-head composed of three tubes arranged in triangular
form substantially as herein described and shewn.
3rd. In an improved front or steering fork and head therefor for the front
steering wheels of velocipedes and other vehicles, the combination of two pairs
of tubes or rods such as E E and F F¹ the members of each pair being placed
one behind the other, with each pair joined at their lower ends to form a spindle

page_text: attachment such as a and b, and connected at their upper ends or crown, by
plates such as B and A, the said plates forming guides c and d for the brake rod,
and arranged to carry tubes H and H and G, placed in the form of a triangle,
and connected at their upper ends by a plate or the like, the said tube G in
combination with the steering tube of the machine forming the fulcrum of the
said steering wheel, the said tubes H and H¹ receiving and holding the handle
bar J, having extensions K and K' for engaging with the said tubes substantially
as herein described and shewn by the appended drawings.
Dated this 14th day of October 1898.
GEO. THOS. HYDE,
No. 1, Broad Street Buildings, Liverpool Street, E.C.,
Agent for the Applicant.