Improvements in Bicycles.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 15th May, 1897-Accepted, 16th Oct., 1897
Improvements in Bicycles.
I, DANIEL CARPENTER, Farmer, of the town of Goshen, in the County of
Orange, in the State of New York, one of the United States of America, 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 aim of the present invention is to provide a spring frame, or in other
words a frame composing several parts or sections, which are hingedly connected
and held in normal position by means of one or more springs, which adapt the
several portions or sections to yield with relation to each other, thus adapting
the wheels to rise and fall without effecting the intermediate portion of the frame.
The improved construction thus adapts all vibration and jar to be absorbed
without being communicated to the rider or occupant of the bicycle.
The invention also has for its aim to provide a pivotally mounted and spring
cushioned handle bar, whereby the riders hands and arms are protected from
receiving the vibrations of the frame.
With these and other objects in view the invention consists in certain novel
features and detail of construction and arrangement of parts as hereinafter fully
described, illustrated in the drawings and pointed out in the claim.
The accompanying drawing represents a side elevation of a bicycle constructed
in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to the drawing, 1 designates the driving wheel and 2 the front or
steering wheel of the machine. The driving wheel is mounted in a triangular
frame comprising forwardly diverging forks 3 and 4, 3 designating the upper
rear fork and 4 the lower rear fork, the said forks being connected at their
forward ends by a substantially vertical bar 5.
The front or steering wheel 2 is mounted in a steering fork 6, which passes
through the head tube 7 of the machine frame, and which has pivotally con-
nected to its upper end a handle bar 8 fulcrumed in a transverse horizontal axis 9,
so that it may oscillate up and down. The handle bar 8 is provided at its center
portion with a forwardly projecting arm 10, having a depending rigid portion 11
which extends downward in front of the handle bar stem 12 and in substantially
parallel relation thereto. Between the extension 11 and the stem 12 is an inter-
posed spring 13 attached at its opposite ends to said parts and adapted to allow
the extension 11 to move toward and away from the stem 12 for permitting
the oscillation of the handle bar. Riding upon rough and uneven surfaces the
handle bar is thus allowed to yield, thereby absorbing any vibration of the frame
and preventing its communication to the hands and arms of the rider. Con-
nected to the head tube 7 is a triangular frame consisting of an upper reach
bar 14 and a lower reach bar 15 which diverge rearwardly and are connected
to a substantially vertical bar 16.

page_text: The front and rear frames above described are connected pivotally to the seat
frame which comprises downwardly diverging bars 18 and 19 connected at their
upper ends and forming a rest for the saddle 20, the lower ends of said bars
being connected to a substantially horizontal bar 21, the opposite ends of which
are pivotally connected at 22 and 23 to the bars 5 and 16 of the rear and front
frames respectively. The pivot 23 is formed by the crank axle which carries
the usual cranks and pedals, and which is also provided with a driving sprocket
wheel 24, from which a driving chain 25 extends around a sprocket pinion 26
of the driving wheel 1. The bar 21 is provided intermediate its ends with a
depending bar 27 the lower end of which extends to about the horizontal plane
of the lower ends of the bars 5 and 16, and said bar 27 is further connected to
the bar 21 by means of the downwardly converging braces 28. 29 designates
a spring which extends horizontally between the bars 5 and 16 to which said
spring is connected. The spring 29 is also connected to the lower end of the
bar 27, so as to maintain the seat frame in proper relation to the front and rear
frames. Instead of a single spring 29, two or more springs may be employed.
By reason of the construction above described the front and rear wheels may
yield up and down with relation to each other and to the seat frame, the spring 29
yielding to allow of such movement and acting to right the parts to their normal
positions.
This renders the machine easy running and dispenses with the necessity of
using cushion or pneumatic tires, although such tires may be used if desired.
Ordinarily, however, solid rubber tyres of any size or width may be employed.
The pivots 22 and 23 may be provided with ball bearings thus allowing the
several frames to oscillate freely in relation to each other. By reason of the
spring 29 acting in a horizontal direction, no disagreeable vibration or jar is
communicated to the saddle.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
claim is :-
1. In a foot propelled vehicle the combination with front and rear frames
in which the carrying wheels are mounted, of an intermediate frame pivotally
connected thereto on horizontal axes and a spring interposed between the front
and rear frames and connected to the intermediate frame, substantially as and
for the purpose specified.
2. In a foot propelled vehicle, the combination with separate and independently
movable front and rear frames, of an intermediate frame pivotally connected
thereto, on horizontal axes, a seat supported on said intermediate frame, and one
or more springs connecting the front and rear frames and the intermediate frame,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
3. In a bicycle, the combination with the front and rear wheels, of separate
and independently movable frames in which said wheels are journaled,
said frames comprising substantially vertical bars, a seat frame
arranged between said wheel frames and pivotally connected thereto Oll
horizontal axes and also provided with a depending portion lying intermediate
the vertical bars of the wheel frames, and one or more springs interposed between
the wheel frames and the seat frame, substantially as described.
4. In a foot propelled vehicle, the combination with a handle bar stem, of a
handle bar pivotally connected thereto on a horizontal axis and provided with
an extension projecting in front of said stem and a spring interposed between
said stem and extension and connected to said parts, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
5. In a bicycle, the combination with an oscillatory handle bar, of a spring
for cushioning the movement of said handle bar, substantially as described.
6. In a bicycle, a machine frame composed of three sections, the end sections 5
being hingedly connected to the intermediate section, and one or more springs

page_text: connecting the several sections and permitting the same to oscillate relatively
to each other, substantially as described.
Dated this 15th day of May 1897
JENSEN & SON,
77, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agents.