Construction - Bicycles, Dicycles Or Otto Type Machines And Tricycles

Machines

CONSTRUCTION.

MECHANISM.

BEFORE a rider can be considered thoroughly competent for the pursuit of the sport, more especially as to the touring side of it, he must of necessity know something of the construction and mechanism of the machine he rides, and he should also possess sufficient general knowledge of the working parts and their functions to be able, on an emergency, to put them right enough to ensure at any rate a certain amount of safety in case of accident. The general intention of this chapter will be to describe the various parts of the machine and their uses, the proper methods of adjustment, and the commonest accidents which occur to them.

Before proceeding to dissect the various parts of the machine, the first thing will be to correctly name them, and for this purpose fig. 11, ‘a roadster bicycle,’ has been inserted. The first part marked is A. This is the head, a term applied generally to the hinge on which the whole machine turns (see fig. 12), but particularly to that portion of the frame which is continuous with the front forks, and which is distinctively called ‘the head;’ the top of the backbone, which enters the head, being distinguished as ‘the backbone head.’ The head A carries in front the bosses through which the handle-bar passes, and also the fittings of the break and the break lever; the handle is seen (endways) at K; the break lever, which runs along the right-hand handle, at J, and the break spoon and break attachment at O; B is the backbone, a hollow steel tube very light but very rigid, and often made oval in shape; at C the backbone B is split and carried down on either side of the wheel forming the hind forks S. These are, of course, for the most part made separately and shut into the backbone; but the effect, as far as appearance goes, is the same. D is the hub of the front wheel, usually of gun-metal; N is the hub of the rear wheel, which generally contains the bearings, being in fact a hub and bearing case in one; E, the front forks, now almost invariably made hollow, passing down on either side of the front wheel from the head, with which they are usually homogeneous, to the front wheel bearings at M. Through these bearings runs the axle of the front wheel, and outside the bearings are placed the cranks F F carrying the pedals G G. On the backbone is placed the spring H (in this case a Humber coil spring), which carries the saddle I. Beneath the head and between the forks is placed the trouser guard P. The rims of the wheels L L are frequently hollow; R is the step for mounting. The various parts of the machine as illustrated, which will come under consideration, are as follows: 1. The frame. 2. The wheels.

FIG. 11.—A HUMBER ROADSTER BICYCLE.

The frame will include—

1. The head A, which has attached to it directly the handles K, the break and lever O and J, and the backbone head.

2. The backbone B, including the spring H, step R, hind forks C.

3. The front forks E, including bearings M, cranks F, and pedals G.

The wheels will include—

The front and back wheels.

As many of the parts of a bicycle as illustrated are either duplicated in the tricycle without any structural alteration, it has been thought desirable to treat fully on the simpler piece of mechanism first, and then to describe more particularly those points of the tricycle which materially differ from the bicycle fittings, or which are not represented at all. Thus there is no ‘balance gear’ in a bicycle, and the action and nature of that piece of mechanism will be subsequently considered.

THE HEAD.

The most usually adopted form of head, modified into many shapes but radically unaltered, is that known as the ‘The Stanley Head,’ invented by Mr. Thomas Humber of Beeston, Notts, and practically introduced by a firm in Sheffield, who manufactured a machine known as ‘The Stanley Bicycle.’ In fig. 12 is shown a ‘Stanley Head’ in section as regards the head proper, and with a backbone head drawn in the round in situ. This head is one of the latest types issued by Messrs. Thomas Smith & Sons, one of the largest stamping firms in the trade. H H in the illustration is the backbone head, continuous with the backbone and shown in place. C C C C is the actual head homogeneous with the front forks, one of which is shown at E, the other of course being supposed to be removed with the other section. The hole K is for the front bolt of the spring. The hole D in the front of the head is where the handle-bar is placed, the front of the head being carried out in a neat boss to give it the necessary strength and support. O the small projection screwed into the front of the head to form a hinge for the second lever of the break, which carries the spoon upon its fore-end. The upright portion of the break is shown at N, whilst P is the hole into which in some cases the end of the handle lever of the break is put. In other cases the end of N is rounded, and enters a corresponding hole in the handle lever of the break, and several other plans are adopted. The backbone head H H, as will be seen, terminates in a solid piece of metal round and slightly taper with cones F and G at either end. The bottom cone G being rather larger than the top cone F, the bottom cone G drops into a corresponding coned socket cut in the solid portion of the lower part of the head, just at the shoulder of the forks as shown. A A is a set screw with a wide aperture up the middle, terminating in a cone, and into this the upper part of the backbone head and the cone F enters. This set screw is squared as shown at R, and has a very fine thread cut on it, and can thus be most accurately adjusted, as it is clear that by screwing the set screw A A farther into the head, i.e., downwards upon the cone F, the cones both at top and bottom are pressed more firmly into their respective sockets, and as the head can be thus locked, so that with ordinary force the backbone head cannot be moved in the head proper, it is clear that a point of adjustment can be reached if the head is accurately fitted at which there should be absolute freedom of motion in the head without any looseness, always supposing that the machine is one made by a maker with a reputation for accurate fitting, as the slightest carelessness in fitting the head cones will of course cause them to grip at one point, whilst they may be possibly quite loose at another. M is an oil hole which will require a limited but frequent supply of lubricant, as the upper cone F being turned upwards the oil tends to drain away. The object in so placing the cone, instead of making it downwards in the old way as shown at S, in the outlined figure is to secure the greatest possible length between the centres without making a long and consequently ugly head, as it is evident that the greater the length between the points of the cones the greater the leverage of the head to steady the machine. B, shown in section, is the lock nut of the head, which is screwed down when the adjustment has been made, to keep A A tight and secure. L is the beginning of the backbone. The wear of a head is of course considerable; the weight carried upon the lower cone and the general strain thrown upon the head tend to wear it out. If the adjustment is kept correctly tight, the wear will be even or practically so, but if a head is allowed to run for any length of time without adjustment, the cones will wear irregularly, and the correct adjustment of them will subsequently become almost impossible, as the circles of the cones being untrue, they will not fit when once again brought into close adjustment. Many ideas have been brought to a practical trial to remedy this defect, but none proved quite efficient until the Regent ball-bearing head was invented by Mr. Trigwell, of the firm of Messrs. Trigwell, Watson & Co. This is shown in section in fig. 13, lettered to correspond with fig. 12. But the additional points are as follows: in place of a plain cone at either end of the backbone head, there is a rounded end carrying a groove around which when in situ are placed nine steel balls of small size. In place of the coned orifice of the set screw there is a groove, which, when the set screw is adjusted, presses upon the balls and keeps them in contact with the coned ends F and G, the adjustment and all other points being the same. If carefully adjusted the balls equally carry the weight and divide the strain, and also admit of considerable adjustment, with which a slight amount of irregular wear would not interfere, although if the adjustment is correct this irregular wear would be almost impossible. This head should in future be of still more value, and will doubtless be appreciated in due time. For Humber type tricycles, and especially for tandems, it should prove practically very serviceable. The Abingdon ball head, in which the balls and their adjustments are all fitted into the backbone head and removable with it, is also a singularly neat and useful fitting, with many good points to recommend it Fig. 14 shows the original head first used on velocipes and known as the ‘socket head’ (1), shows the head complete as it used to be turned out by the Coventry Machinist Company on the ‘Gentleman’s Bicycle.’ H H is the backbone and backbone head. In this case the backbone head was placed outside, and carried in front a projection, on to which was fastened the old ‘bow spring,’ ZZ. The front forks E E, also shown in fig. 12, were continuous with a coned spindle, which passed through the backbone head, which was bored with a conical hole to admit of an adjustment which was theoretically claimed, but hardly practically possible. The spindle head of the forks, having been well lubricated, was passed through the backbone head H. The bracket C (3) was then placed over the top of the spindle, and a nut being screwed down upon the bracket on the top of the spindle as shown at 1, the socket head was complete. The handle-bar passed through the lugs Y Y, in which it revolved to wind up the cord of the break D. The old socket head allowed the wheel to turn right round, and when a fall occurred the wheel often did so, and nipping the rider’s leg between the backbone and the rim, caused a very dangerous complication which sometimes resulted in a broken limb. At the same time the adjustment was found to be very inadequate, the coned spindle wore fore and aft, and would not admit of adjustment, which, if attempted, simply caused it to bind, and thus made it absolutely dangerous in practical work; and then some genius invented the ‘Ariel Head,’ fig. 15. This, as will be seen, contained the germ of the Stanley head in an undeveloped form, and even now certain firms fit a modified Ariel head to their machines, as it is a very strong and steady head, and is moreover easily cleaned and oiled. A is the adjusting screw, H the backbone head, and C the forks.

FIG. 12.—A CONE HEAD.

FIG. 13.—TRIGWELL’S BALL-BEARING HEAD.

FIG. 14.—THE SOCKET HEAD.

FIG. 15.—THE ARIEL HEAD.

There are other steering heads in the market of varying pattern,