IMPROVEMENTS IN TRICYCLES OF THE KIND COMMONLY CALLED CONVERTIBLE SOCIABLES 13
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Cornforth of Birmingham in the County of
Warwick Manufacturer for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TRICYCLES
OF THE KIND COMMONLY CALLED CONVERTIBLE SOCIABLES
13
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Cornforth at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th July 1883.
JOHN CORNFORTH of Birmingham in the County of Warwick Manufacturer
IMPROVEMENTS IN TRICYCLES OF THE KIND COMMONLY CALLED CONVERTIBLE
SOCIABLES
1
My improvements have for their object to facilitate the conversion of a sociable
tricycle or a tricycle suited to carry and to be worked by two persons into a single
tricycle suited for one person and to reconvert at pleasure the said single tricycle
into a double one.
I construct and arrange the parts of the tricycle in a way suitable for use by two
persons. I fit to one side of the machine preferably the left hand side that is the
side where the gentleman usually sits when accompanying a lady gearing which
will permit the travelling wheels to rotate at different velocities. The body of the
tricycle and the crank shaft are divisible so that when the tricycle is to be used by
one person one seat and one half of the framing as well as one half of the crank
shaft have to be removed. These parts are connected and disconnected by means
of couplings preferably of the kind described and represented in the specification of
Letters Patent granted to Edward Marshall of Birmingham in the County of
Warwick dated the 19th of May 1881 N° 2202 of which patent I am the proprietor
but I do not limit myself to this particular kind of coupling.
I employ a continuous solid driving shaft extending across the vehicle and made
fast to the right hand travelling wheel and driven by means of a screw nut
engaging on its screwed end. The shaft is supported preferably by ball bearings
but other kinds of bearings may be employed.
The shaft is fixed in position by a gib and collar near the left hand bearing the
said gib and collar being constructed as follows. In the collar is a taper opening

page_text: which opening crosses the hole in the collar in which the shaft enters. A gib or
taper cotter is inserted in this opening. This gib has a concavity on one edge and
when the gib is in such a position that this concavity coincides with the hole in
which the shaft fits the shaft can be inserted and removed from the said hole. The
shaft has a cross recess in which when the gib is forced home the said gib engages
and thereby fixes the shaft so as to prevent its rotation and withdrawal from the
collar. The gib is provided with screw nut and lock nut for determining its
required positions.
When the double tricycle is to be converted into a single one the removable
parts of the framing one of the seats and one half of the crank shaft are removed
by uncoupling them from the other parts. The shaft and the right hand or
removable wheel are removed and another shorter shaft of a length suitable for a
single tricycle is substituted the said shorter shaft having the removed wheel fixed
to it and being itself fixed in the vehicle by means of the gib mechanism
described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Cornforth in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th December 1883.
.
"
JOHN CORNFORTH of Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer
"IMPROVEMENTS IN TRICYCLES OF THE KIND COMMONLY CALLED
CONVERTIBLE
SOCIABLES
3935
My improvements have for their object to facilitate the conversion of a sociable
tricycle or a tricycle suited to carry and to be worked by two persons into a single
tricycle suited for one person and to reconvert at pleasure the said single tricycle
into a double one.
I construct and arrange the parts of the tricycle in a way suitable for use by
two persons. I fit to one side of the machine, preferably the left hand side, that
is, the side where the gentleman usually sits when accompanying a lady, gearing
which will permit the travelling wheels to rotate at different velocities. The body
of the tricycle and the crank shaft are divisible so that when the tricycle is to be
used by one person one seat and one half of the framing as well as one half of the
crank shaft have to be removed. These parts are connected and disconnected by
means of couplings preferably of the kind described and represented in the specifi-
cation of Letters Patent granted to Edward Marshall of Birmingham in the county
of Warwick dated 19th May 1881, N° 2202, of which patent I am the proprietor,
but I do not limit myself to this particular kind of coupling.
I employ a continuous solid driving shaft extending across the vehicle and made
fast to the right hand travelling wheel and driver by means of a screw nut
engaging on its screwed end. The shaft is supported preferably by ball bearings
but other kinds of bearings may be employed.
The shaft is fixed in position by a gib and collar near the left hand bearing, the
said gib and collar being constructed as follows. In the collar is a taper opening
which opening crosses the hole in the collar in which the shaft enters. A gib or
taper cotter is inserted in this opening. This gib has a concavity. on one edge and
when the gib is in such a position that this concavity coincides with the hole, in
which the shaft fits the shaft can be inserted and removed from the said hole.
The shaft has a cross recess in which when the gib is forced home the said gib
engages and thereby fixes the shaft so as to prevent its rotation and withdrawal
from the collar. The gib is provided with screw nut and lock nut for determining
its required positions.
When the double tricycle is to be converted into a single one the removeable
parts of the framing one of the seats and one half of the crank shaft are removed
by uncoupling them from the other parts. The shaft and the right hand or
removeable wheel are removed and another shorter shaft of a length suitable for a
single tricycle is substituted, the said shorter shaft having the removed wheel fixed
to it and being itself fixed in the vehicle by means of the gib mechanism
described.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawing the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in cross section, partly in elevation, a portion of a convertible
sociable tricycle containing my improvements the said tricycle being arranged for
the use of two persons; Figure 2 represents in side elevation and Figure 3 in end
elevation a portion of the solid continuous driving shaft of the travelling wheels,
the said Figures 2 and 3 exhibiting the driver for the right hand or removeable
travelling wheel; Figure 4 represents in front elevation and Figure 5 in longi-
tudinal section, a portion of the hub of the said light hand or removeable

page_text: travelling wheel; Figures 6 and 7 represent, sections taken at right angles to one
another of the fixing gib or taper cotter and collar used at the left hand side of the
tricycle and Figure 8 represents the same view as Figure 7 with the solid.
continuous driving shaft fixed by the gib or taper cotter; Figure 9 represents the
solid continuous driving shaft of the travelling wheels drawn to a smaller scale to
be used with a double tricycle and Figure 10 represents a solid continuous driving
shaft to be used with a single tricycle drawn to the same scale as Figure 9.
of
The same letters indicate the same parts in the several Figures of the Drawing.
a is the continuous solid driving shaft of the travelling wheels b and c of the
double tricycle and d and 2 are portions of the divisible body or framing of the
double tricycle, the said divisible body or framing being used with a crank shaft
(not represented) which is also divisible. The said divisible body or framing d, d²
and crank shaft are connected and disconnected by the patented couplings herein-
The ball (or other)
before referred to or by other convenient couplings.
bearings e, in which the solid shaft a turns are respectively carried by the
divisible parts d, d² of the body or frame. The right hand travelling wheel c and
the right hand half d² of the frame are removeable but the left hand travelling
wheel band the change or speed gear at g (which gear constitutes no part of the
present invention) are carried by and are not detachable from the other half
the frame and crank shaft. On the sleeve h, near the left hand ball bearing e, a
collar i is fixed carrying a gib or taper cotter k for fixing the shaft a in position.
The construction of this collar and its gib or cotter will be best seen by referring
to the separate views Figures 6. 7 and 8. In the collar i is a taper opening
which crosses the central hole in the collar and sleeve h into which the shaft a
enters. In this taper opening the gib or taper cotter works and is prevented
In the edge
from being removed from the collar i by the screw nut m and head n.
of the gib k is a concavity p which when the said gib is pushed into the position
represented in Figures 6 and 7 coincides with the central hole in the collar i in
which the shaft fits. The position to which the gib can be pushed inwards for
unfastening the shaft is determined by the head n. When the gib k is in the
position Figures 6 and 7, the shaft a can be inserted in and removed from the hole
in the collar and sleeve. In the shaft a is a cross recess q which when the said
shaft has been put in its place comes opposite the taper opening in the collar i
and by forcing home the gib & it engages in the said hole q as illustrated in
Figures 1 and 8 and fixes the said shaft and prevents its rotation and withdrawal
from the collar 2. The gib is fixed in its fastening position by driving
home the screw nut m on the said gib against the collar i as seen in Figure 8.
The shaft a
A lock nut may be employed in addition to the screw nut m.
has near its right hand end, a driver for connecting the right hand or remove-
able travelling wheel c to the said shaft. This driver consists of equi distant
lugs r,, (see Figures 2 and 3) which take into corresponding depressions
8, 8, 8 in the face of the inner disc of the hub of the travelling wheel c (see Figures
4 and 5). After the solid continuous driving shaft a has been fixed by the driving
home of the gib or cotter and the removeable travelling wheel c has been
engaged with the driver r, r, the said travelling wheel c is made fast to the
shaft a by screwing the screw nut t on the end of the shaft. A screw nut u is also
screwed on the opposite end of the shaft a at the left hand travelling wheel b.
The parts being arranged as represented in Figure 1 the tricycle is fitted to
carry and to be worked by two persons, a scat being secured to cach half of the
framing d and ².
In order to convert the double tricycle Figure 1 into a single tricycle the
removeable half d² of the framing and the right hand half of the divided crank
shaft are removed by uncoupling them from the left hand or unremoveable halves
of the framing and crank shaft. The gib or cotter being withdrawn into the
position Figures 6 and 7, the shaft a is unfastened from the collar i carried by the
unremoveable half framing & and by unscrewing the screw nuts t, u the solid
shaft a with the reinoveable travelling wheel c upon it may be removed from the

page_text: tricycle. The shorter solid shaft a² represented in Figure 10 having in it a cross
recess and provided with a driver as described with respect to the longer
shaft a.being substituted for the said longer shaft is inserted and fixed in the
vehicle in the manner herein before described. The removeable wheel c having
been removed from the longer shaft a is fixed by the driver and screw nut t on
the shorter shaft a² and the tricycle is. converted into a single tricycle. By the
construction and combination of the parts described and illustrated the convertible
sociable tricycle can readily be converted into a single tricycle and the single
tricycle reconverted into a double tricycle.
Having now described the nature of my invention and the manner in which the
the same is to be performed I wish it to be understood that I claim as my
invention of "Improvements in tricycles of the kind commonly called " convertible
sociables""
First-The use with tricycles of the kind described of solid continuous driving
shafts for the travelling wheels the said shafts having the respective lengths
required for the double tricycle and for the single tricycle and constructing each of
the said solid continuous shafts with a cross depression q or its equivalent and a
driver r for the purposes and substantially as herein before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawing.
Secondly-Fixing the solid continuous shaft of the travelling wheels in its position
in the vehicle by means of the gib or taper cotter k engaging with the cross
depression q in the said shaft, the said gib or cotter being carried by a collar
secured to the unremoveable half of the body or framing of the vehicle substantially
as herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
Thirdly Constructing the inner face of the removeable travelling wheel of the
vehicle so as to make it capable of being engaged with the fixed driver on the
solid continuous shaft of the travelling wheels substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof I the said John Cornforth have hereunto set my hand and
seal this Twenty second day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and eighty-three
TAUNT
מתמחזות6
rתמזזות6
CONTRI
Witness, RICHARD SKERRETT
37 Temple Street
Birmingham.
JOHN CO
(U.S.)