US155569A - Improvement in velocipedes - Google Patents

Description

fw. BUSH. r Vielocipedvzs?y y N0.155,569. I Patented Oct. 6,1874.

THE GRAPHIC B0. PHOTU'LITILSQ. 4I PARKPLACVE, NYY.

LINITED STATES PATENT FFICE.

.WILLIAM BUSH, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN. VELOCIPEDES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N0. 155,569, dated October 6, 1874; application led January 12, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM BUSH, of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Class of Vehicles known as Locomotors or Velocipedes, of which the following is a speciiication:

My present invention relates to improvements in the method of propelling and guiding, and in the general arrangement 0f, velocipedesor locomotors; and has for'its object the productonl of vehicles of this class more easy of control and more complete and Vefficient than those at present existing. I accomplish these results by providing means whereby the vehicle may be easily propelled,

yand the weight of the person driving, or other weight, is made to assist in propelling such vehicle or of itself to start the same, means'whereby the vehicle will, .of itself, keep a straight course, or be easily guided to the right or to the left, if desired, and means whereby any person, male or female, may, with propriety, ride upon such vehicle, carry a number of bundles or packages, and have the clothing' protected from dusty and mud, all with economy of space and under a neat and concise arrangement. The vehicle to which 1n yimprovements relate is a three-wheeled one, having one wheel in front and two wheels in the rear rigidly attached to the axle, so that both must turn with it and together. It may be provided withadjustable top and rear cover to be detached ad libitum. The rear wheels are about twice as large as the front wheel, to cause the vehicle to move easily up hill. axles, front and rear, and the hind axle turns in two stationary boxes attached below on the frame. Elastic springs may be adjusted under the seat. v

Inthe accompanying drawings, and forming rims press the smooth rollers C C. Said rollers are attached to verticalbars I I, which are The frame rests on the placed between the rear wheels in front of the rear axle. They pass through apertures in the frame, and are so wide apart as to allow a person to sit between them. A cross-bar, N, connects the vertical bars below, a litt-le above the frame. To this cross-bar is attached the seat, which will thus partially re- 'volve in apertures of the bar, if liftedbehind. The vertical bars are held above in position by standards, and slide downward by pressing on the seat until the cross-bar, on which the seat rests, reaches the upper surface of the frame, or until the rollers C C begin their pressure on the rims. The pressure of the rollers is to aid in the propulsion of the velocipede, or simply to start it in the first instance. The vertical bars, rollers, and crossbar are in front ot' the rear axle, so that said A rollers will press on the rims in front ot a vertical central line of the wheels, or a distance of about one-fourth of their respective circumferences. The cross-bar and seat are slightly higher than the axle.Y When a person seats himselfin the seat o'r a weight is placed in it, the rollers will be caused to press upon the uppersurfaces of the rims in front of the top point of their circumferences, and will consequently start the wheels, or materially assist in the propulsion of the vehicle. The seat turns to suit the occupant and to cause the rollersto press heavily or lightly upon the whe'els. The `two vertical bars I I may be inverted and pass thus through the apertures ofthe frame vertically downward and below the axle and seat, and the rollers are made to press on the inside of the respective rims peripheries in front of their circumferences, as before mentioned, and with the same effect. E E are levers having handles on their upper ends, which may be turned inward at a right angle to permit said levers to be more easily worked than if such handles were a mere continuation in a straight line of such levers, and being provided toward their lower ends with pawls pivoted to them and working into cog or ratchet wheels J J. These ratchet-wheels are rigidly iixed to the rear axle, near each end of the saine, so that said axle must turn with them. The levers E E are bent or curved in such manner as to pass under a projection at right an gles to and from the upper ends of the bars II, as shown. rlhe levers E E may be worked, causing the pawls to take into the notches of wheels J J behind the centrum ofthe axle and cog-wheels, (the handles being raised to an erect positiom) when pushing said levers forward will also cause propulsion of the vehicle. The pawls are so constructed and arranged and attached that when the bars and levers are resting below on the frame, in a horizontal position, the vehicle may be moved either backward or forward without interfering with said pawls. When the levers are erect the vehicle may also be turned backward without their interference. A A are rectangular journal-boxes attached to the under side of two horizontal bars, K K, which are bent nearly at a right. angle upward, and then at a right angle backward, and connect the front and rear wheels by means of their axles. Said journal-boxesv are closed at their outer sides, so as to prevent the axle moving sidewise or longitudinally, and are made rectangular to allow the axle, which is.

xed to the wheel M, to slide forward and backward. This axle is made to rest continually against the rear breast of the journalboxes, (unless pushed forward on one side or the other to guide the vehicle,at the will of the person driving it,) by the shape and position of the front part of the horizontal bars v K K. rlhese bars K K of the frame, and to which the journalboxes are attached, are higher behind than at the journal-boxes.' The first bend of these barsthat is, the lower bend-is greater than a right angle, and by this means the rear breast is made to rest normally against the axle ot' the front wheel, as the box really presses down upon it. The journal-boxes being sufli'ciently long to allow of the proper forward movement of the axle, the vehicle may be guided by the person in it pressing the axle on one end or the other with his foot, or otherwise. When the vehicle moves straight on, both ends of the front axle revolve at and rest against the rear breast ofthe rectangular boxes. H is a platform or rest for the feet, bolted or otherwise attached to the frame, and has xed to it a fender or mud-shield, G, which is directly behind the tire or circumfer-A ence of the front wheel. Below the rear axle and between the wheels, about as much forward as rearward of said axle, is a box, O, for containing packages, &c. It will be observed that the box being below the axle, the center of gravity is very low, thus presenting no hinderanee to the locomotion of the vehicle, and making it less liable to be upset.

By this arrangement of the box or receptacle, withfthe step or foot-rest and the dustshield all attached, constructed, and relatively arranged as shown, I give the device a neat and trim appearance, eifect a great economy in space, and produce a vehicle in which any person, male or female, may ride with due regard to decency, with comfort, with protection to their clothing, and with safety, for the vehicle cannot readily be upset in running down hill rapidly, in turning short curves, or otherwise, as by pressure upon the foot-rest or shield. They being connected with the box, said box will always tilt into equilibrium.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. rIhe combination of the rims B, the rollers C, the vertical bars I, and the cross-bar and seat N, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination of the front wheelM with the journal-boxes A and bars K, bent downward', as described, whereby a forward pressure is given, and the axle of said wheel is caused to rest normally against the rear breast of the journal, and the vehicle may be guided, all substantially as described.

3.r The combination of the levers E, having pawls, with the cog orratchet wheels J and the bars I, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a velocipede or locomotor, the box or receptacle O, below the' rear axle, and the footrest H having shield G, all combined as set forth.

WILLIAM BUSH.

l Witnesses AUGUST FELL, S. E. OHAMBERLAIN.

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