Improvements in Velocipedes.
Year: 1896

page_text: Improvements in Velocipedes.
I, DIEGO PASCUAL-HERNANDEZ, of Granada, in the Kingdom of Spain, Manufacturer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be peformed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
Bicycles and other velocipedes, which have proved so serviceable in the army, the
postal service and other not less important official departments, while at the same
time being the means of indulging in a favourite sport, are adapted to travel in a
perfectly satisfactory manner on level roads, but frequently become causes of trouble
and difficulty when it is necessary to ascend and descend gradients, for not only are
the cyclists in those cases frequently obliged to alight from the machine and to walk
until they come to a level part of the road, but they are, in addition to this, under
the necessity of pushing along their machines, which adds to the fatigue and incon-
venience of the journey.
In order to avoid this serious drawback, which has hitherto prevented cycles from
being applied to many purposes for which they would otherwise be suited, I propose
to provide machines of that class with an attachment or apparatus capable of impart-
ing to them, at the rider's will, a greater or less speed, so that, when the rider happens
to come to a slope or incline, he may slow down the motion and reduce the effort to
be exerted, whereby he will be enabled to better, ascend the slope.
The improved apparatus enables the speed of motion to be considerably increased,
in fact, to be brought up to 12 kilometers and more per hour; and it also permits of
its being reduced to a minimum of, say, 6 kilometers or less per hour; the variations
of speed, both ways, being obtained by simply tightening or loosening a screw bolt.
The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings
in which Figure 1 is an enlarged longitudinal section of the apparatus, the parts being
in that position which they occupy when the cycle is travelling at the maximum
speed; and Figure 2 is an end elevation thereof drawn to a smaller scale.
E is what I term the large axle constructed in such manner that its two ends e e
have a larger diameter than the other parts of the axle and support the antifriction
steel balls B which roll between the ball races el el of the enlarged portions of the
axle E and the collars D connected with the tube or sleeve T forming part of the frame
of the vehicle. The said axle carries at one of its ends a chain wheel R with which
engages an endless pitch chain, and which is not fixed to the axle referred to, but
turns upon it by means of other steel balls B¹ working in corresponding grooves or
ball races e², the former being made in the axle E and the latter in the central
body of the chain wheel.
To the chain wheel is rigidly connected a gear wheel H which is provided with
internal teeth h and with external slots h¹. The axle E is perforated with a
longitudinal excentric aperture, and through this aperture passes another axle F
which is longer than the axle E and one end of which carries the pedal P, while the
other end supports a wheel H¹ with outside teeth engaging with the wheel fixed to
the chain wheel. From the part where the wheel H¹ is fixed to the axle F' to the end
of the latter, there is a portion left which is perforated and screw-threaded at right
angles to the axis. The crank P1 is placed on this perforated and screw-threaded
portion, but it is not fixed like the crank P by means of a key; but is coupled to the
axle F by means of a screw-bolt ( which serves to effect the change of speed. This

page_text: crank P is provided at its head with an aperture p of a width proportionate to
the axle F and of a length double the width. The screw-bolt G which couples the
crank P¹ to the axle F and is screwed on to the said axle traverses this aperture pin the
direction of its length. This crank is provided on its inner side with a pawl p¹ which
engages with the slots h¹ of the gear. wheel H. The screw bolt G moves inside the
head of the crank P' and by its motion causes the slotted part p of the crank P¹ to
slide over the axle F.
The operation is as follows: When the bicycle travels over level ground, the screw
bolt G must be tightened so as to cause the crank P¹ to rise or be decreased in length
and the pawl p² to be engaged in the slots of the gear H (Figure 1). In this
manner the chain wheel R and the excentric axle F being coupled together like one
piece, the cranks P P¹ impart their movement to the axle E to which the chain wheel R
is then fixed, and the maximum speed is obtained in consequence of the difference
in the diameter between the pulley controlled by the pedals and the pulley placed on
the axle of the hind wheel of the machine. While the vehicle is moving in this way,
the friction produced by the steel-balls upon the collars of the axle E by the endless
chain upon the chain wheel R, and by the wheels or pneumatic tyres against the
ground is the same as with the machines in use hitherto and can easily be overcome
by the rider. But when the cyclist comes to a more or less steep gradient, he must
loosen the screw bolt G and then by causing the crank P¹ of the excentric axle F to
be moved longitudinally in an opposite direction to that in which it was moved before
or to be increased in length the pawl pl will be disengaged from the slot and by
leaving the pulley R free on its steel balls B', the axle E will remain fixed, and set
free the axle F to which the gear wheel H' is attached, which by rotating with its
axle, will set in motion the gear wheel H and the chain wheel K, which, again, will
impart movement to the driving wheel. The friction produced by the balls B¹, by
the excentric axle F in revolving in the large axle E, by the endless chain on the
chain wheel R and by the pneumatic tyres on the ground represent only a surface of
friction equal to that which exists when the bicycle travels over plane ground and
with. the maximum of speed, and therefore the rider is not obliged to use more
energy than is required usually, to be able to ascend on his machine all kinds of
gradients in less time than would be possible on foot and with less fatigue than when
he is obliged to walk and push his machine with him, for what is lost in speed is
gained in power.
Bicycles provided with my apparatus fulfil all the conditions required to be of
great service. The apparatus referred to increases the weight of the machine by one
kilogram only, which practically is insignificant if the real advantages it offers be
taken into account, of which the following deserve to be mentioned.
1. It contains no complicated mechanism nor any levers which easily break and
frequently get out of order.
2. It is not affected by the dust or mud of the roads, because the teeth of the gear
wheels are strong and fixed in such a manner that an object of considerable size
would have to get between them to impede their progress or cause the breaking of a
tooth.
3. It softens to a great extent the sudden motions of the pedal at the dead
points, which may easily be noticed when going slowly.
4. It enables the change to be effected when the machine is at a standstill, by
means of a key provided for the purpose or a wrench or a nail capable of entering
into the apertures made in the head of the screw-bolt which causes the change.
As one of the slots of the gear coupled with the chain wheel always coincides with
the pawl of the crank whatever the position of the vehicle may be, nothing is easier
than to effect the change without the shocks which would be unavoidable if the
change took place while in motion. Moreover as the wheels are always engaged,
there are no fractures to fear owing to the sudden catching of one tooth into the
other.
The manner in which the change is effected having already been described, it
would seem at first sight that if the right crank is sometimes made longer and some-

page_text: times shorter according to the action of the screw bolt which causes it to rise or fall,
it would have the drawback of being longer or shorter than the left crank. However
such is not the case, for if the length of the right crank is decreased when the
machine travels at the maximum speed and increased when it goes more slowly, it is
precisely in order to adapt itself to the length of the left crank.
In fact as the two cranks are placed on the excentric or smaller axle in opposite
directions and as the axle which works when the bicycle travels at full speed, is the
larger or exterior axle, the smaller or excentric axle remaining still relatively thereto,
it is evident that the right crank which intersects the axis of rotation of the exterior
axle must be of shorter length than the other crank by an amount equal to twice the
excentricity. In the same manner, when it is the excentric axle which is working
for the purpose of reducing the speed to a minimum, the right crank must become
longer in order to be the same as the other crank, that is to say to obtain the same
effective length, owing to the excentricity existing between the two axles. It is
therefore indispensable to sometimes increase and sometimes reduce the length of
the right crank to obtain identical length between both cranks, such increase or
decrease being utilized to leave free the toothed pulley or couple it with the exterior
axle according to whether the minimum or maximum speed is desired.
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 :-
For bicycles and other similar vehicles means for increasing on gradients the
propelling power of the vehicle in proportion to its decrease in speed comprising the
following devices viz.: a larger axle E provided with enlarged ends ee and an
excentric portion in which another axle Facts, one end of which is provided with a
perforated and screw-threaded portion f; and chain wheel R driving an endless chain
and movable in one of the ends of the axle E; a gear wheel H provided with internal
teeth h and with external slots ' and coupled with the chain wheel R; another gear
wheel with outside teeth H¹ secured on the axle F and engaging with the previously
mentioned gear; the cranks P P¹ the first of which is permanently fixed on the axle F
and the second is loosely attached to the perforated and screw-threaded portion of
the said axle F', the latter crank being provided at its head with a slotted part p
which slides over the axle F and with a pawl pl which engages with the slots h¹; a
screw-bolt G which moves in the head of the crank P and which, by engaging with
the screw-threads of the axle F causes the said crank to slide over said axle F and
the pawl pl to engage with the slots h¹ or to move away from them; and a method of
softening the friction of the axle E and the pulley R, substantially as described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawing.
تيمم
1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.