IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES APPLICABLE FOR BICYCLES
Year: 1884

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, Fel. Inst. P.A. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool, in the county of Lancaster, and
323 High Holborn, in the county of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declaro
the nature of my said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN SADDLES APPLICABLE
FOR BICYCLES," 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 this invention is to produce a light, cheap, and clastic saddle which
may be applied to machines of the various types now in general use.
It is the particular aim of the invention to provide a saddle which shall be
highly elastic in a vertical direction, the action of which shall remain unimpaired
by use, and which shall be adapted to have its tension increased or diminished as
circumstances may require.
To this end it consists essentially in combining with a flexible or pliant seat a
supporting frame consisting of parallel arms or bars, the ends of which are coiled
and extended upward in suitable form for connection to the seat proper.
By the employment of the coils one is enabled to introduce into the frame
without unnecessary weight a spring of considerable length and of consequent
durability and elasticity. The employment of these coils also avoids the necessity
of constructing the intermediate or connecting portion of elastic material. This
invention further consists in constructing the frame as above described in one
continued or endless piece, whereby reliance may be had on the torsional resistance
of the metal to produce a frame which will retain its original form and condition
under the strains encountered in practice.
The invention further consists in combining with the flexible or pliant seat of
leather or equivalent material, a lining or backing of canvas, wire gauze, or other
equivalent material adapted to resist the strains without stretching, whereby the
stretching and sagging of the seat which commonly occurs in existing saddles is
wholly avoided.
The invention further consists in combining with the supporting frame and the
pliant seat, straps or suspending devices extended from the forward end of horn'
En
1

page_text: where they are secured by buckles or equivalent fastening devices.
The adjusting devices thus applied admit of the tension of the seat being
increased or diminished as circumstances may require and applied in the peculiar
manner stated, they also serve to assist in sustaining the seat.
Referring to the accompanying drawings:-
Fig 1. represents a side elevation of the improved saddle.
Fig 2. is a bottom plan view of the same.
Fig 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same on the line X X of Fig 2.
Fig 4 is a perspective view of the frame detached
In proceeding to construct a saddle, first provide a frame A of the form
represented in Fig. 4. This frame is constructed of a single piece of steel wire,
or equivalent material possessing the requisite strength and elasticity, bent into
the proper form and joined at the ends in such manner as to constitute a continuous
or endless frame.
The frame c comprises as shown two parallel or substantially parallel arms a of
substantially straight form, each of which is formed at the forward end into coils b,
the coils of one arm being connected to those of the other by the intermediate
arched portion c designed to support and strain the forward end or horn of the
saddle. At the rear end of each of the arms, a is formed into a coil d. These
coils are located on the outer sides of the arms, and the terminal portions are bent
upward outward and rearward as shown at e, and joined at the rear side by a
horizontal portion f which is given a curvature corresponding with that required
at the rear end of the seat.
Having thus produced the, frame, which it will be observed, has a broad elevated
portion at the rear and a narrow elevated portion c at the forward end, next
provide the saddle B, or seat proper consisting of a sheet of leather or equivalent
pliable material increasing in width from the front to the rear, its marginal form
being the same or essentially the same as that of saddles now in common use.,
The end of this sheet secure firmly in any suitable manner to the raised portion f
of the frame, the preferred mode of attachment being to fold the leather over the
frame from the top and secure it thereto by means of the eyelets g applied through
the two thicknesses in the manner represented in Figs 2 and 3. The forward end
of the seat is passed over the raised portion c of the frame, thence downward and
back ward thereunder. To the extremity of the seat, on the under side connect
two straps C which extend thence backward in diverging lines to buckles or
equivalent fastening devices D secured to the rear end of the frame at or near its
corners. These straps serve to apply the necessary longitudinal tension to the seat
proper, and admit of this tension being increased or diminished as the weight of
the rider or other circumstances may require.
It will be observed that the adjusting straps are carried backward parallel with
and immediately beneath the seat proper, and that they extend from end to end
thereof. In consequence of this arrangement it is found that the straps serve an
efficient purpose in assisting to maintain the seat, and that as the straps and the
seat are of equal length there is no tendency of the seat to work back and forth.
around the forward end of the frame.
It will be seen that when the seat is properly strained, that it is sustained at
its two extremities by the upright portions of the frame, and that the coils of the.
frame urging the elevated portion endwise serve to apply a strong longitudinal
tension to the seat, whereby it is adapted to sustain and carry the weight of the
rider without sinking upon the frame beneath.
In practice it is found that by constructing the frame of one endless piece as
described, that it is the better adapted to maintain its original form, that the
torsional elasticity of the metal is rendered more available, and that the liability.
of the seat to lateral displacement is lessened.
The saddle constructed as above may be attached to the machine by means of
clips or fastening devices of any suitable character adapted to engage with the

page_text: frame a.
In practice it is usually advisable to flatten the arms a on their sides,
so that they will have a vertical section deeper than the transverse section, this
construction giving additional strength in proportion to the weight.
The yielding action of the saddle is derived wholly from the elasticity of the
coils and of the raised portions at the end, no reliance being placed on the elasticity
of the arms a which may be, and in fact generally are, made of such strength as
to be practically rigid under the strains which they commonly encounter, the main
purpose of the arms a being to keep the extremities of the saddle in line with
each other, and to sustain the coils and prevent the two ends from being drawn
together by the longitudinal strain.
The employment of the coils is advantageous in that they give greatly increased
length to the elastic portion of the frame. It being a well known fact that the
life of a spring depends upon its length, it will be seen that the employment of the
coils is of great advantage.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
I declare that what I claim is.
me,
1st. In a bicycle saddle, the combination of the flexible seat or saddle proper,
and the supporting frame consisting of the longitudinal arms, the terminal coils,
and the elevated ends.
2nd. In a bicycle saddle, the combination with a pliable sheet forming the seat
or saddle proper, of a supporting frame having terminal coils connected with the
seat to apply a longitudinal tension thereto, and longitudinal arms rigidly
connecting the coils at one end with those at the other.
3rd In combination with a flexible seat, an endless sustaining frame provided
with elevated ends and with coils at one or more points in its length.
4th. The improved frame for a saddle consisting of parallel arms provided with
terininal coils and connected by raised portions, substantially as described.
5th. In a bicycle saddle the combination with a frame for supporting the
extremities, of a pliable seat or saddle of leather or like material, and a backing
of canvas or equivalent non elastic material applied closely thereto, substantially
as described, whereby the stretching of the leather and the sagging of the seat is
prevented.
6th. In combination with a frame for supporting its extremities, the pliable seat
or saddle proper, the two divergent straps connected to the forward end thereof,
and buckles or equivalent fastening devices, substantially as shown.
7th. In combination with a flexible seat or saddle proper, a supporting frame,
the rear end of which is composed of a continuous elastic wire or rod passing
through the rear end of the saddle, with its two ends curved downward and
fashioned into coils, substantially as described.
8th. In combination with a flexible seat or saddle proper the arched supporting
arm c having its lower extremities fashioned into coils, substantially as described.
ELL Ja
1004
WP. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
Agents for the Applicant.