Improvements in Supports for Bicycle Saddles or the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Mar., 1897-Accepted, 22nd May, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Supports for Bicycle Saddles or the like.
A communication by JOSEPH N. SMITH, of No. 82 Putnam Avenue, Detroit, in
the County of Wayne and State of Michigan, United States of America,
Manufacturer of Carriage Hardware and Specialties.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of The Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6 Bank Street,
Manchester, both in the County of Lancaster, 118 New Street, Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, and 322 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, 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 :-
This invention relates to supports for bicycle saddles, and has for its object an
improved support in which a spring is interposed between the bicycle frame and the
saddle, the object being to produce a commercial saddle support which may be used
with any bicycle that is provided with the ordinary tubular frame.
The drawings show the support in perspective, with parts of the seat post broken
away to disclose the interior construction.
A indicates the ordinary saddle post of a bicycle. It is not shown, however, as
connected with a bicycle, but simply as a detached hollow tube.
B indicates a short tube adapted to telescope into the saddle post A. At the
bottom of the tube B is a collar b, inserted as a screw nipple that is adjustable
vertically and has a central perforation which acts as a guide for the lower end of
the rod C.
c indicates a collar secured to the tube B at its upper extremity, and provided
on one side with a roller bearing d. It is also provided with a square or substantially
square opening through which passes the square shank a, of a vertically sliding
rod C. This collar is secured to the tube B by brazing or other suitable means.
Through the square shank a of the rod C is a pin p, which prevents the rod from
escaping from the tube B.
Below the point e, the shank of the sliding rod C is preferably round, and at the
meeting point between the square and the round parts, there is a shoulder that
bears against the upper end of a coiled spring g, the lower end of the spring bears
against the collar b.
The sliding rod is inserted from below through the collar c.
The lower collar or
screw nipple 6 is placed on the lower end of the rod C and screwed to place by
means of a spanner wrench; the tension of the spring 7 is regulated by the position
of the nipple in the tube.
The sliding rod C is provided at its outer or upper extremity with a short bolt E
on which is held the saddle-arm h, and this is arranged to engage with the nut,
either to the front or rear, and to that end, it is provided on both its upper and
lower sides with sockets that fit down over the squared end of the shank of the
rod C. The hole through it is at such an angle to the main axis of the arm that it
extends from the rod C in a horizontal direction either to the front or to the rear,
when the support is in place on the bicycle.
In seat supports as they are generally made at the present time, the saddle post
is placed at an angle to the vertical, and the supporting rod that engages within

page_text: the saddle post is also at an angle to the vertical; and in all that class of supports
in which attempts have been made to employ a spring in the saddle post for the
purpose of giving more relief to the rider, the bearing has been so constructed, that
as the rod reciprocates, it bears against the upper end of the saddle post and on one
side only of it, and it is not free to slide, but always acts with a motion that is more
or less uneven, and the friction produced often creates disagreeable squeaking and
also tends to cut out the bearing between the sliding rod and the parts that are
fixed to the frame. This device obviates all of these detrimental features.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In a support for bicycle saddles or the like, the combination of the containing
tube provided with upper and lower collars, a sliding rod provided with a square
shank, a friction roll secured to the tube against which the square shank of the
sliding rod is adapted to bear, and a spring engaging the rod within, the tube,
substantially as described.
2. The combination of a containing tube provided with upper and lower collars,
an enclosed sliding rod adapted to sustain a saddle, the portion of the rod traversing
the upper collar being squared, a roller friction bearing for one side of the squared
rod, rotatably held in the upper collar, another collar fixed below the square
portion of the shank and an elastic support for the shank bearing on the collar,
substantially as described.
1007