Improvements in Bicycles.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 21st June, 1892-Accepted, 23rd July, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Bicycles.
JAMES BRADLEY, of No. 345 Canal Street, in the City of Albany, and State
of New York, United States of America, Machinist, and HARRISON WINNE
BULLOCK, of No. 210 Lancaster Street, in the City of Albany, and State of New
York, United States of America, Clerk, do hereby declare the nature of this said
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 certain new and useful improvements in bicycles; and
more particularly in an arrangement and combination of parts whereby the driving
gear occupies such a position that the pedals for actuating the same are forward
the wheel saddle but within the periphery of the wheel so as to receive to greater
advantage the driving power, than if the pedals were located at a point between
the two bicycle wheels, as is the common practice in the usual chain-driven bicycles
of the safety type.
In carrying out our invention, we have embodied this leading or main
characteristic principle of construction in an organization presenting simplicity and
durability of parts, with a high degree of efficiency and facility of operation. As
incidental thereto, we have geared each of the pedal shafts to the driven wheel by
a separate train of gearing, the whole being located within the periphery of the
wheel, thereby permitting the employment of a larger driven wheel than is
practicable in the usual safety bicycles; and we have made provision for readily
altering, as desired, the relation of the pedal gear to the remaining gears of the
train, so as to increase or diminish the speed of transmission from the pedal gear,
according to the particular requirements of practice. We have also provided for
a diminution of friction between the moving parts, by the employment of ball-
bearings having a particular arrangement which enables them to be readily inserted
in position, in putting the machine together; and, in one modification of our inven-
tion, we have provided for a diminution of friction between the gear wheels
themselves by employing as the idle gear a form of gear engaging with the cog-
teeth of the pedal gear and driven wheel gear by means of peripheral pins or
pintles serving as gear teeth and having each a loose encompassing sleeve.
have also provided a strongly braced and well fitted general frame work for the
machine as a whole, and particularly for the housing and adjustment of the driving
wheel gear trains.
In the accompanying drawings, illustrative of our invention,
We
Fig. 1 represents our improvements in side elevation, as applied to a bicycle;
Fig. 2 represents a top plan view of the driven wheel and its accessories, with
the saddle removed;
Fig. 3 represents a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 represents, partly in section and partly broken away, a modified form of
driving gear;
Fig. 5 represents, in perspective, a detail view of the driving gear and its frame-
work; and
Fig. 6 represents, partly broken away and partly in section, a detail view of the
connection between the driving gear frames and the back-bone and forward reach
of the main frame.
Similar numerals of reference indicate similar parts throughout the several
views.
Referring to the drawings 7 indicates the leading wheel and 8 the rear or driven
wheel of a bicycle, having the usual guiding or steering rod 9 and saddle 10. The
main frame-work of the machine consists of a back-bone 11, foward reach 12, cross
Pie 71

page_text: connection 13 and sleeve 14, the sleeve 14 being mounted upon the guiding-rod 9
and the back-bone being sustained from the hub sleeves 15 by the rearwardly
extending supporting braces 16 connected by the bridge-piece 17, brazed o
otherwise secured to said back-bone.
The hub sleeves 15 are provided, as shown in Fig. 5, with a nipple 18 upon
which the inner ends of the braces 16 are brazed or otherwise secured. Said hub
pieces 15 also serve as the inner supports of the frame-work for the driving trains.
These driving train frame-works are located upon opposite sides of the driven
wheel, and consist of an outer pair of parallel rods 19 and an inner pair of parallel
rods 20, united to form a rigid frame by means of the connecting pieces 21, 22,
having openings through which the rods pass and within which they are firmly
secured by brazing or otherwise. At their outer ends the rods 19, are provided
with connecting pieces 23 joined by a cross-piece 24, which cross piece has a
sleeve 25 rigidly fixed thereto and provided with nipples 26, 27 upon which the
back-bone li and forward reach 12 respectively, are brazed.
Upon the driven wheel 8 of the machine are secured the cog-gears 28, rigidly
affixed so as to revolve with the driven wheel, by being squared or keyed upon
the driven wheel shaft. An idler gear 29 intermeshes with each of the driven
wheel gears 28 and is in turn connected to and driven by a gear 30 fixed upon
the pedal crank 51, the said idle gear and pedal gear being supported in bearings
adjustable within the driving gear supporting frames.
The construction and function of the adjustable bearings will be fully apparent
from Figs. 3 and 5. Each of the bearings consists of a central sleeve portion 31
provided with projections 32 having perforations through which the rods 20
and 19 are adapted to pass, and being split at the ends of said projections and
provided with binding screws 33 whereby the adjustable bearings can be securely
locked or clamped to the rods 19 and 20 in the adjustment desired, and whereby
they may be unclamped and shifted to a different position when it is desired to
change the gearing. The sleeve portions 31 are internally screw-threaded, and a
hollow nut made up of separate sections 34, 35 is adapted to be screwed within the
screw-threaded opening thus presented. Within the hollow nut is located a
sleeve 36 provided with an annular groove within which rests the balls 37. The
sleeve 36 has a central square aperture for the reception of the square shaft 38
upon which the gear is mounted.
In the modification shown in Fig. 4, the intermediate idler wheel 39, is provided
with cross pins 40 surrounded by sleeves 41, which, as heretofore stated, tend to
diminish friction in the gear train.
The operation of the invention will be apparent power transmitted by the
operator through the pedals is communicated on each side of the driven wheel to
the cogs 28, thereby driving the bicycle forward, and with the increased efficiency
due to the location of the pedals just ahead of the wheel saddle. When it is
desired to change the gearing, or replace a worn or broken gear, it is merely
necessary to drive out the square pin 38 whereupon, when the bearings are.
unclamped from the rods 19, 20, and slid lengthwise on said rods, the gear in
question is at once released from its bearings, and a new gear may be substituted
in its place. Where it is only desired to change the relation of the gears to each
other, and not to replace a damaged idle gear, it is merely necessary, in the way
described, to remove the pedal gear and substitute for it a gear of larger or smaller
size.
It will be understood that, in assembling the parts, the bearings are to be strung
upon the rods 19, 20, before the connecting piece 22 is brazed upon said rods. The
ball bearings are put together by first screwing in the portion 34 of the nut, then
inserting the sleeve 36, with its balls 37, and finally screwing in the portion 35 of
the nut. The square shaft 38 is thereupon passed through the sleeve 36 and
through the squared opening of the gear wheel; whereupon the sleeve thus locked
to the gear revolves within the hollow nut, and upon the friction balls. When the
particular form of idle wheel 39 is employed, the revolution of the gearing is

page_text: almost noiseless. For convenience in lubricating these bearings, we provide an
opening through the sleeve portion 31, which will permit oil to obtain access to the
groove containing the friction balls. This lubricating opening will normally be
closed by the screw plugs 42.
While, in the foregoing description, we have set forth our preferred method of
construction, we wish to be understood, that we do not restrict ourselves to the
special form of the several elements involved, but, in some instances, contemplate
the employment of such fair equivalents therefor as come within the fair scope and
spirit of our invention.
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. In a bicycle, the combination with the driven wheel, of a pedal gear train,
bearings for the outer members of said gear train, and friction-balls separating the
bearings from the gear wheel journals; substantially as described.
2. In a bicycle, the combination with the driven wheel, of a pedal gear train,
bearings for the outer members of said train, a shaft or arbor for each of said
members and upon which it is fixed, sleeves on the shaft and friction balls separating
the bearings from the sleeves; substantially as described.
3. In a bicycle, the combination with the driven wheel, of a pedal gear-train,
bearings for the outer members of said train, said bearings consisting of a main
body portion and a two-part nut having a recess between the parts for the reception
of friction balls, a shaft or arbor for each of said outer gear wheels and upon which
it is fixed, sleeves on the shaft and friction balls separating the interior of the two
part nut from the sleeves; substantially as described.
4. In a bicycle, the combination with the driven wheel, of a pedal gear train and
bearings for the outer members of said train and rods upon which the bearings are
mounted said bearings being split at their ends and provided with clamping screws
for clamping the split ends upon the rods; substantially as described.
5. In a bicycle, a pedal gear frame, consisting of two pairs of guide rods for the
gear-wheel bearings, said rods being connected to form a rigid frame, and said
frame being suspended at one end from the driven wheel hub, and at the other end
from the back-bone frame; substantially as described.
6. In a bicycle, a pedal gear frame, consisting of two pairs of guide rods for the
gear-wheel bearings, one pair of said rods being shorter than the other, cross pieces
for connecting said pairs to form a rigid frame, one of said cross pieces being con-
nected to the wheel hub, and the outer ends of the longer pair of guide rods being
connected by a cross-piece supported from the back-bone frame; substantially as
described.
7. In a bicycle, a frame-work, consisting of two pedal gear frames each formed
of two pairs of guide rods for the gear wheel bearings connected to form rigid
rigid frames, said frames being suspended at one end from the driven wheel hub, a
saddle-supporting back-bone having at its end a cross pin connecting it to the outer
ends of the pedal gear frames, and rods extending rearwardly from the hub and
having a bridge piece for connecting them to the back-bone; substantially as
described.
Dated this 23rd day of May 1892
JAMES BRADLEY.
HARRISON WINNE BULLOCK.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicants.