US574658A - Balance attachment for pedals - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. R. BLIVEN. BALANCE ATTACHMENT FOR PBDALS.

Patented Jan. 5,189?

, mll/www JOHN R. BLIVEN, OF D'AYTONA, FLORIDA.

BALANCE ATTACHMENT FOR PEDALS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 574,658, dated January 5, 1897.

Application filed March 30,1896. Serial No. 585,455. (No mocleLl To LEZ whom, it Wray concern:

Beit known that I, JOHN R. BLIVEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Daytona, in the county of Volusia and State of Florida, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Balance Attachments for Pedals, which improvement is fully set forth and described in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying sheet of drawings.

This invention has for its object the production of an attachment for bicycle-pedals which shall serve automatically to keep said pedals in proper position to receive the shoe of the rider, said attachment being of the nature of a weight having connections that are readily adjustable to fit various sizes of pedals.

My improved balance attachments may thus be manufactured and marketed independent of the pedals and may be attached to or removed from such pedals at will.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 shows an outer end View of a pedal having my improved form of balance-weight attached thereto. This View also shows the crank-arm and crank-shaft of a bicycle. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the pedal of Fig. 1, and Fig. o

is a cross-sectional View of said pedal on line 0c of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a detail view of portions of my attachment, explaining particularly the means provided for adjusting the device to fit pedal-frames of greater or less width.

In the drawings, 10 indicates a crank-arm; 11, a shaft secured to the outer end of said arm; and 12 denotes the pedal, which latter is here shown as of sheet metal bent to form side and end portions that are mounted to revolve freely on the axial shaft 11. Pedals of this class are made of various sizes and designs, but are usually mounted to revolve on a shaft or axle corresponding in general arrangement to the shaft 11, and said shaft revolves within a shell or tube 13, that is a rigid part of the pedal and serves to protect the shaft proper from dirt, &c. My device is intended to be attached to the said axletube 13. Fig. 3 perhaps explains most clearly the manner of thus attaching the device.

14 denotes a hook of suitable size to partly encircle tube 13, the shank of said hook being straight and screw-threaded, as at 15, to receive two threaded nuts 16 and 17, between which is a disk 18, that is fitted to slide easily on said shank. Disk 18 is slotted across one end, on opposite sides of its central hole, to receive in each slot the overlapping ends of two metallic strips 19 20, that are slightly greater in width than the depth of the slots, so that when the parts are assembled, the

upper nut 16 will abut the exposed edges of the strips and will serve to clamp said strips tightly in disk 18 when the balance attachment is in use.

I prefer to form the strips 18 19 as single pieces of metal that are bent to form rectangular frames 18' 19', in which I place blocks 18u 197 of rubber or similar yielding material,

which, when the strips are adjusted to fit the pedal, engage the lower edges of the pedalframe of opposite sides of the tube 13, as is best seen in Fig. 3.

When it is desired to use my described attachment, the nuts 16 17 are unscrewed until the hook 14 can be passed upward between the pedal-frames and hooked over tube 13. The upper screw 16 is then screwed upward and disk18 pushed upward until the rubber blocks 18a 19 engage the lower edges of the side frames of the pedal. Nut17is then secured home until the strips 19 2O are rmly clamped between nut 16 and the bottom of the slots in disk 18. This also acts to draw the hook 14 into close engagement with the tube 13 and effectually clamps the attachment to the pedal. The weight thus provided serves to hold the pedal at all times in a given position relatively to its axle, so that the same side of the pedal is always presented, in a horizontal position, to the foot of the rider of the wheel. This is particularly desirable when mounting a wheel or when trjfing to catch the pedals after coasting.

The cost of producing my described attachments is very slight, and. they may be very quickly attached to or removed from the pedals.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent- 1. A balance attachment for axially-supported pedals, consisting of nuts screwed IOO upon a threaded rod, Whose end is bent to partially encircle the pedal-axle or its tubular jacket, a slotted disk intermediate said nuts, and laterally-extending plates 19 20 located in said disk-slots, substantially as specified.

2. In combination With a pedal mounted to revolve on an axial shaft, a balance attachinent consisting of a screw having a hook- Io shaped end adapted to engage said shaft, or

its tubular jacket, as set forth, threaded nuts fitted to said screw, a slotted disk intermediate said nuts, and laterally-extending plates loosely itted in the disk-slots with their ends adapted to engage the side frames of the pedal, all substantially as specified. JOIIN R. BLIVEN. Vitnesses:

R. X. DE GRAW, GEO. II. CLARK.

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