Improvements in Driving Gear for Cycles and Motor Road Vehicles.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Nov., 1898-Accepted, 28th Jan., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Driving Gear for Cycles and Motor Road Vehicles.
We, HENRI CABLANC, Engineer, and LOUIS BURLE, Merchant, both of 33,
Boulevard des Batignolles, Paris, in the Republic of France, 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:-
Our invention relates to driving gear for bicycles and other velocipedes and is
also applicable for driving motor road vehicles, and it consists in the employment
of connecting rods which are actuated by cranks placed at an angle of 90° to
one another upon the driving pedal or other axle, and which actuates the axle
of the driving wheel or wheels by means of eccentrics and multiplying or reducing
gear symmetrically arranged on each side of the machine, this arrangement having
for object to prevent the flexion and torsion of the hub or of the axle, to reduce
the wear of the bearings and to decrease the resistance occasioned by friction.
In its application to a bicycle this mechanism comprises two connecting rods
placed one on the right hand and the other on the left hand of the medium plane
of the cycle, cach connecting rod being actuated by one of the cranks on a crank
shaft placed in the pedal bracket in place of the ordinary pedal axle.
The two cranks are arranged at an angle of 90° to each other, and their
respective connecting rods operate eccentrics, each of which is formed integral with a
wheel having internal teeth, which actuates a pinion fixed upon the hub of the
driving wheel at the rear of the cycle.
According to the degree of force to be transmitted and the nature of the
vehicles, the toothed wheels serving to increase or to reduce the speed of rotation
between the eccentrics and the axle of the driving wheels, can be replaced by
bevel wheels or friction wheels with interior or exterior contact etc.
The symmetrical arrangement of the connecting rods and of the axle of the
vehicle, whatever it may be, has for object to prevent any flexional strain
upon the hub or upon the axle, and to equalize the wear of the bearings, which will
consequently become very much less impaired and have a much longer life than
in cases where the driving takes place on one side only. Ease in travelling is
besides increased to a considerable extent by the continuity of transmission result-
ing from the position of the two cranks at 90° on the driving axle.
We have shewn in the accompanying drawing the application of our invention,
by way of example, to driving a bicycle.
Figures 1, 2 and 3 are respectively a vertical transverse section through the back
axle, a longitudinal section illustrating the operation of one of the connecting
rods, and a horizontal section of the mechanism.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of a bicycle made according to our invention.
The axle a placed in the pedal bracket and carrying the usual cranks cat
its ends is mounted upon two ball bearings arranged in the end plates or
covers d, d.
This axle a is formed with two cranks e, e at right angles to one another, upon
each of which is jointed one of the connecting rods f, f by means of a ring

page_text: provided with a ball bearing. These connecting rods are located in tubes h, h,
on the rear fork of the cycle frame, which tubes, to this end, are made larger in
vertical than in horizontal cross section. These tubes are connected at their
rear ends with cases i, i containing the multiplying gear.
In each of the said cases a wheel k having internal helical or angular teeth
rotates upon a fixed axle j; this wheel has on its side an eccentric disc m on which
works an eccentric collar fixed to the rear end of the corresponding connecting
rod.
The movement of the toothed wheel & is communicated by an internal pinion »
within the said wheel and fixed to the hub r of the driving wheel of the bicycle.
Ball bearings are provided between the eccentrics m and their axles j, between
the eccentrics and their collars n and, as usual, between the hub of the wheel and
its axle. In the back of each of the cases i an aperture closed by a cover s is
provided for inspection, oiling, and repair or adjustment of the bearings. The
changing of the gear can be easily effected by replacing the toothed wheel k by
another of a different diameter, also provided with an eccentric disc, and at the
same time changing the corresponding pinion p.
The toothed wheels and p can be replaced by bevel pinions or by friction
wheels, suitably arranged, without departing from the principle of our invention.
Owing to the position at an angle of 90° to one another of the cranks on the
axle a, the transmission of motion from the said axle to the driving wheel takes
place in a continuous manner without shocks or jerks and without dead points,
while at the same time the strain, owing to the improved gear, is evenly dis-
tributed on both sides of the axle of the machine, so that the bearings have no
tendency to become worn more on one side than on the other, and the axles
remaining parallel, always retain the same smoothness in rolling.
In the application of our system of driving gear to motor cars the general
arrangement of the mechanism is the same as that herein before described: the
crank axle a is directly driven by a suitable two-cylinder motor; each of the
two connecting rods f operates the hub of a driving wheel loosely mounted unon
a fixed axle; this driving can be effected in any suitable known manner by means
of the eccentrics m; it will be obvious that, in this case, it will be necessary
instead of employing multiplying gear such as k, p, Figures 1 and 3, to make use
of speed reducing mechanism; for this purpose we can, for example, fix the
external gear wheels upon the hub and the internal gear wheels upon the fixed
axle, or employ two externally gearing pinions of suitable diameters.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:
1. Driving gear for cycles comprising on each side of the axle of the machine,
between the pedals and the hub of the driving wheel, a transmission gear con-
sisting of a connecting rod actuated by a crank on the axle carrying the usual
pedal cranks, of an eccentric fixed upon a wheel, having internal teeth, which
rotates loose upon a fixed axle and which is operated by an eccentric collar fixed
to the connecting rod, and of a pinion fixed to the hub of the driving wheel,
the two cranks on the pedal axle being placed at an angle of 90° to one another,
substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawing.
2. In driving gear of the kind described in Claim 1, the use of tubes on the
rear fork of the cycle frame serving to enclose the connecting rods, the said
tubes being made larger in vertical than in horizontal cross section, substantially
as set forth.
3. In driving gear of the kind described in Claim 1, the use in combination
with connecting rods actuated by a crank-axle having its cranks arranged at
an angle of 90° to one another, of bevel pinions, or of friction wheels, placed on
either side of the axle of the machine, at the rear, in such a manner as to receive

page_text: the motion of the connecting rods and to transmit a multiplied movement to the
hub of the rear wheel, substantially as herein before described.
4. The application of the driving gear described in Claim 1 to motor cycles and
motor cars, the connecting rods placed on each side of the axle of the vehicle
being directly driven by the motor pistons by means of cranks placed at an angle
of 90° to one another, in combination with speed reducing gear or friction wheels
for transmitting the movement to the axle of the driving wheels, substantially as
herein before described.
Uated this 30th day of November 1898
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicarts.