Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Aug., 1897- Accepted, 2nd Oct., 1897
I, FRANK LATIMER, Engineer, of Huntley, Cook County, Illinois, United States
of America, do hereby declare the nature of my invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
My invention relates particularly to velocipedes of the safety rear-driven type,
and especially to the frame portion and mechanism for driving or propelling the
vehicle.
The object of my invention is to provide a simple, economical, and efficient
safety bicycle of the rear-driven type; and the invention consists in the features,
combinations and details of construction hereinafter described and claimed.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a safety bicycle
fitted with my improvements; Fig. 2 a side elevation of the frame with all the
parts removed; Fig. 3 an enlarged sectional plan view of a portion of the frame,
taken on line 3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow; Fig. 4 a vertical
sectional elevation of a portion of the frame, taken on line 4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 an
enlarged sectional view of the bearing portion for sustaining the driving sprocket
wheel and other parts taken on line 5 of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 an enlarged detail view
of a portion of the pedal and mechanism for restoring the pedal to its normal
position; and Fig. 7 an enlarged transverse section, taken on line 7 of Fig. 6.
In constructing a safety bicycle in accordance with my improvements, I con-
struct a frame portion A, which is composed of a head tube a, a front lower
tubular member a¹, a pillar tube a², and an upper tubular front member a³, some-
what on the usual lines. The rear portion of the frame is provided with the
upper fork piece a*, which runs down to support the axle of the rear driven wheel
much in the usual manner. To stiffen the frame, however, and fit it with my
improved construction, I provide an inner lower fork portion A', which extends
back from the connecting bracket a that joins the pillar tube and lower tubular
member to the sprocket shaft hereinafter described. I further provide an outer
lower fork composed of the tubes A2 A2, which extend forward from the rear wheel
axle to the sprocket shaft. Both of these rear fork pieces the inner A' and the
outer A are connected to the pillar tube by means of upwardly extending
tubular fork pieces a and a7, the purpose of which will be hereinafter more fully
set forth. The frame is further provided with the usual front fork, B, carrying
the steering wheel and the handle bars b', while the seat portion C is mounted
in the usual manner in the pillar tube. The wheel is further provided with the
rear-driven wheel D of the usual construction, which is operated as hereinafter
described.
To provide mechanism for the bicycle, I make two sprocket wheels E E¹, which
are mounted rotatably upon a two-part shaft G, which is held in suitable
bearings g and g' of the lower and outer fork portions. This two-part shaft is
joined together by the turnbuckle-nut or sleeve H, which is interposed between

page_text: the lower inner fork portions and rigidly holds such supporting shaft from any
movement whatever. The shaft-a detail of which is shown in Fig. 5-is prefer-
ably provided with a shoulder g² at its inner end and nuts 3 at its outer end that
grasp the bearing portion of the outer lower forks and with the turnbuckle-nut
act to hold such fork portions in their operative position. Each sprocket wheel
is provided with a hub portion r, having ball bearings el at each end thereof, so
that the sprocket may run easy and be prevented from any lateral or longitudinal
inovement. The sprocket wheels E are connected with sprockets d on the rear-
driven wheel by means of a sprocket chain A, which serves to transmit the power
and motion of the driving sprocket to the rear driven wheel.
To transmit power from the rider to the sprockets, I provide each driving
sprocket with circular ratchets I, which are secured to such sprockets by rivets
or screws i, and pivotally mount upon the hub of each of the sprockets a lever K,
having a portion & bent at right angles to the portion that carries the pedals .
These angular portions carry pawls that engage with the ratchet teeth of the
circular ratchet, either by means of gravity or the force of a light tension
spring ³, which we have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings.
The pedal levers are provided with hub portions K that surround the hub of
the sprockets, and which have double ball bearings at each end thereof, which
serve to minimize the friction between the parts and hold the same easily in
operative position. Lock nuts act to hold the bearings in position.
In order to return the levers with their pedals to a normal or intermediate
position, I provide a cord or cable or rope L, which is secured by means of a
stirrup to the inner end of the pedal pins, as shown in Fig. 6 of the drawings,
and which is passed over a pulley L' that is secured to the upper tubular member
of the frame. It will thus be seen that by depressing on one pedal the opposite
pedal and its lever is raised. To assist in limiting the downward movement and
in restoring the parts to a normal intermediate position, provide helically coiled
springs L2 that surround the cord or cable, and which are rigidly secured at the
lower end of the same and at the upper ends 14 to the bracket that supports
the cable pulley, in such manner that when the tension limit of the spring is
reached a further downward movement of the pedals is prevented, and when all
pressure is removed both pedals are returned to their normal intermediate position,
occupying about a horizontal plane. These springs may be of such number of
coils that when one is lengthened to its fullest extent the other is compressed,
so that its coils contact and prevent further upward movement of the pedal on
that side.
The advantages of my improvement will be readily appreciated by persons
engaged in this particular art, and consist principally in an improved efficient
driving mechanism, such as will be more fully hereinafter set forth in the claim.
In describing and illustrating my invention, I have chosen to do the same in
connection with a gentleman's or diamond frame; but it will be understood that
I do not desire to be limited strictly to this particular type of frame, any more
than is pointed out in the following claim.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of
and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
my invention,
is:-
In a bicycle of the class described, the combination of a frame portion provided
with a front steering wheel and a rear driving wheel, a sprocket shaft in the
frame portion, a pair of sprocket wheels independently and rotatably mounted
thereon, a circular ratchet on each sprocket, a right angular vibrating lever
mounted on the hub of each sprocket wheel, the outer end of each having a pedal
portion and the inner angular member carrying a pawl engaging the ratchet,
anti-friction bearings interposed between the lever and sprocket wheel hubs, a
cable or similar mechanism connecting the pedal levers together so that the
downward movement of one assists the opposite movement of the other, and helical

page_text: springs surrounding the cable to limit its movement and restore the parts to a
normal position, substantially as described.
Dated this 10th dov of August 1897
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.