New or Improved Driving Gear, especially applicable for Propelling Cycles, Motor Cars, and like Vehicles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Dec,
1897
Complete Specification Left, 12th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 10th Dec.,
1393
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A New or Improved Driving Gear, especially applicable for Propelling
Cycles, Motor Cars, and like Vehicles.
JOHN REBBLA, 39, Haddon Avenue, Burley, Leeds, Yorks, Power Loom Tuner,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My improvement, or novelty, consists of driving cycle with two chains, one at
each side, underneath where the rider sits, the novelty consists of placing the
ordinary two chain wheels now in use with an addition of flanges being attached
to sides to keep chains in position, the two chain wheels being placed one above
the other in a vertical position, or slightly angled to suit riders fancy, the chain
thus running in a vertical position, the pedals on which the foot rests, for pro-
pelling cycle going round in the same circuit as the chain runs, say if I had two
six inch chain wheels as above stated the length of stroke of the foot when on
pedals, would be twelve inches from top centre to the bottom, I get driving power
as soon as the foot or pedal leaves the top centre, and when the pedal has travelled
the first quarter round the top wheel then the pedal travels in a straight line till
it reaches the first quarter of the outer centre of the bottom wheel, the foot or
pedal still continues to have driving power until the bottom centre is reached, my
novelty, or improvement consists in keeping at one length of leverage, from the
top wheel outer quarter centre till it reaches the bottom wheel outer quarter
centre, thus gaining a great amount of driving power, that is done when the
pedal is travelling from centre to centre as before stated. My improvement of
driving cycles, or motor cars direct from the chains in place of the ordinary
cranks now in use, the chains being fixed in a vertical position instead of hori-
zontal, the pedals being attached to the chain by means of a lever, the top part of
the lever being attached to a loose V by means of a swivel or ball bearings, the
loose V to work in a fixture V slide which is arranged above the vertical chain,
or same angle as chain, the loose V to work up and down the fixture V slide,
according to the amount of treading power required, the pedals is attached to
outer side of the bottom part of the lever, the pin or stud, which the pedal is
fixed on goes through the bottom part of the upright lever and is connected to the
chain and is secured by a nut the loose V which is attached to top part of the
lever which keeps it in a firm position with the exeption of allowing the bottom
part of the lever to work backwards and forwards by means of the swivel joint,
the slide being to allow the lever to work up and down in a vertical position the
swivel allowing the bottom part of the lever with pedal attached to run round the
top half circle, the loose V slide allows the pedal to continue in a straight course
until it reaches the bottom wheel outer centre, the swivel then continues to allow
the pedal to go round the bottom half circle while the foot is resting going up
the back part of the chain there is a repetition of the same mechanical movements
taking place with the other foot on the opposite side of cycle, I want it to be
thoroughly understood, that what I do realy claim for my improvement or novelty
is the arrangement of chain and lever as before described, the arrangement can

page_text: be attached direct to the axle or shaft of back or front wheel and can be arranged
to suit ordinary cycles now in use.
With regards to the propelling of sewing machines say if I had a 2 inch chain
wheel with flanges at the sides put in the same place of the ordinary crank now
in use & another chain wheel placed underneath or at any angle as in cycle I
should then place a chain round the 2 wheels & attach the top part of the lever
to the chain the bottom part of the lever been attached to the ordinary foot pedal
now in use & would therefore gain the same amount of extra power & speed as I
do in the cycle.
T
.
T
A New or Improved Driving Gear, especially applicable for Propelling
Cycles, Motor Cars, and like Vehicles.
I, JOHN REBBLA, of 39, Haddon Avenue, Burley, Leeds, in the County of York,
Power Loom Tuner, 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 object of this invention is to construct driving gear for velocipedes in such
a manner that the maximum effect shall be obtained from the power exerted by
the rider; the usual waste of power hitherto expended at or near the dead points
in the crank motion at present in use, being reduced to a minimum.
In order that my invention may be clearly understood, I will proceed to
describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which similar
letters refer to like parts in all the figures.
Figure 1 illustrates my invention as applied to a front driving bicycle, a portion
of the casing being removed in order to illustrate the mechanism more clearly;
and Figure 2 shews a complete external view of the same apparatus. Figure 3
shews the improvement applied to a rear driving bicycle, and Figures 4 and 5 are
detail views of a slight modification.
According to my invention, A is the fork of the bicycle frame, which carries in
bearings, the axle of a wheel B, the said axle having a spur wheel C fixed thereto
carried outside the fork, and the fork A is continued at D, so as to carry a loose
wheel E on its lower end. The spur wheel C carries a chain F which passes round
the loose wheel E, and a pin G carrying a pedal H is attached to one of the rivets
of the chain F so as to enable the chain to be operated by the pedal H. In order
to give a firm support to the pedal H, I provide an arm K the upper end of which is
carried on a sliding piece L working in a slide M situated on the fork A, and
the pin G is confined to its proper path by means of the slot N in the casing P.
A set of mechanism similar to that above described is situated on the opposite
side of the machine, and the pedal on the other side is set in a suitable position
relatively to the pedal on this side.
The pedals are actuated in the ordinary manner, the chains F being depressed
alternately on opposite sides, the spur wheels C thus driving the wheel B; and it
will be readily seen, that though for a quarter of a revolution on the spur wheels C
and for a quarter of a revolution on the loose wheels E the action is similar to that
of an ordinary crank motion, the maximum leverage is obtained and maintained
throughout the entire straight portion of the stroke. It will also be seen that
not only does this straight portion of the stroke secure an uniform length of lever-
age, but the gear of the wheel B may be increased or diminished, according to

page_text: the amount of straight chain employed in proportion to the size of the spur
wheels C, thus making the gear above described especially applicable to bicycles
of the so-called "bantam" type.
With particular reference to Figure 3, the pin G is shewn fastened to a lever R
whose inner end is carried on the slide L whilst the pedal H is carried on the
outer end of the said lever R. It will be readily seen that by altering the pro-
portion of the inner and outer portions of the lever R, any amount of leverage
may be given to the pin G, thus allowing the size of the gearing to be reduced to
a minimum, and so economising to any requisite degree in weight.
With particular reference to Figures 4 and 5, the slide L is dispensed with,
and the lever R is connected by means of a long bearing R¹ with a link S, which
in its turn is connected by means of a long bearing S₁ with an arm attached to
the frame of the machine. The link S allows of free play to be given to the
lever R, and the long bearings R and S¹ effectually prevent any twist or side
play, thus effecting the same result to that obtained by the slide L and enabling
all the wearing parts to be mounted in ball bearings.
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 spur wheel C carrying a chain F, in combination with the loose wheel E
and the pedal H, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
2. The combination of the spur wheel C, chain F, continuation of fork D, loose
wheel E, pin G and pedal H, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
3. The combination of the spur wheel C, chain F, continuation of fork D, loose
wheel E, pin G, pedal H, arm K, sliding piece L, and slide M, substantially as
described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
4. The combination of the spur wheel C, chain F, loose wheel E, pin G, lever R,
pedal H, sliding piece L, and slide M, substantially as described with particular
reference to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.
5. The combination of the spur wheel C, chain F, loose wheel E, pin G, lever R,
pedal H, link S, arm T, and bearings S₁ and R', substantially as and for the
purposes set forth.
Dated this 19th dow of Sentember AD 1898