US581287A - Handle for handle-bars of bicycles - Google Patents

Description

v (No Model.)

. J. G. HODGSON.

HANDLE FOR HANDLE BARS 0F BIGYGLES.

Patented Apr. 27; 1897.

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UNITED STATES FATENT @FFICE.

JOHN G. HODGSON, OF MAYWOQD, ILLINOIS..

HANDLE FOR HANDLE-BARS OF BICYCLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 581,287, dated April 2'7, 1897.

Application filed July 16, 1896. Serial No. 599,373. (No model.)

To wZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. HODGSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Maywood, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Handles for the Handle-Bars of Bicycles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in the construction of handles for the handlebars of bicycles.

The object of my invention is to provide a handle of a simple and cheap construction which, while being strong, stiff, firm, and rigid, as required for safety and security to the rider in steering his wheel and balancing himself thereon, will at the same time be sufficiently elastic and yielding at its upper part to prevent the disagreeable jarring and sometimes bruising of the palms of the hands of the rider, especially when the rider rests considerable of his weight upon the handle-bars and when the roads are rough.

To this end my invention consists of a bicycle-handle of any customary or suitable shape, the lower portion or segment whereof being strong, firm, stiff, and rigid and being made of any suitable material, such as metal or a combination of metal and wood, cork,

celluloid, or other material, and the upper portion or segment whereof, or the part thereof upon which the palms of the hands especially rest, is made yielding and elastic to prevent jar or shock to or bruising of the palms of the hands. The upper segment of the handle may be made yielding or elastic in any suit-- able manner or by any suitable means, but I prefer, however, to do this by providing the lower or stiff and rigid part of the handle with a socket to receive a pad .of yielding material, forming the upper or yielding and elastic part of the handle. As in practice the palm of the hand rests almost entirely upon the outer half of the handle, I prefer to make only the outer half of the upper segment of the handle yielding and elastic.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all of the figures, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a bicycle-handle-bar handle embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view, and Fig. 3 is a central vertical longitudinal section.

In the drawings, A represents the handlebar; 13, the shell or metal portion of the haudle, which is provided with the customary socket b to receive the end of the handle-bar A.

0 represents the stilf or rigid filling material, such as wood, celluloid, cork, or hard rubber or like material, to fill out the metal shell to the required shape. As illustrated in the drawings, this filling 0 extends at the lower portion of the handle only about half its length, the remainder of the stiff and rigid part of the handle being formed by the metal shell B, which is here enlarged or brought out to the exterior shape of the handle at the outer half or portion of the handle, as is clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 3.

portion of the handle, the same being preferably formed of any suitable material, such, for example, as hair, sponge, spongy rubber, or other yielding or elastic material, the same being preferably inclosed in a flexible sheath d, of leather, rubber, or fabric. This yielding or elastic upper part of the handle extends, as before stated, preferably only about half the length of the handle and at the outer part thereof, as indicated in the drawings.

By enlarging the metal shell B of the handle at the outer end of the handle the socket or space to receive the yielding or elastic pad or packing is made greater to give more room for an adequate amount of the packing of yielding material, so as to properly cushion the hand and at the same time form a socket for holding the packing properly in place. This is a convenience in construction.

As the lower part of the handle is stiff and rigid, the yielding of the upper part does not interfere in any way with the efficiency of the handles in steering or operating the bicycle, while it effectually prevents jars and shocks to the hands. To secure the hard or stiff filling 0, of wood, cork, or other material, in place, the metal shell B is provided with a extending around the handle at the inner half or portion thereof, and an elastic or yielding 15 part D at the upper and outer portion of the handle, such metal shell B, being enlarged at the lower and outer part of the handle to form a socket or receptacle to receive the yielding or elastic outer upper portion of the handle, 20

substantially as specified.

JOHN G. HODGSON.

lVitnesses:

S. E. CURTIS, H. M. MUNDAY.

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