US1462027A - Hydrocycle - Google Patents

Description

F. BRADY HYDROCYCLE July 17, 1923}.

I Filed Auz. 9. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 3m FRAN/T @2402.

Patented July 17, 1923'.

UFRANK' BRADY, or DENVER, COLORADO.

ear 'fiIe d AugustQ, 1921. Serial no, 490,938.

To all whomitmay concern. v Be 1t known that I, FRANK BnAnLa citizen of the United States, residing at the'city and county of Denver and'State of Colorado, have invented cer tain new and useful Improvements in Hydrocycles; and I do d clarethe following to bela' full, cleargand exact description. of'the invention such as will enable'others skilled'inthe art to which it appertains to make and; use the same,;reference being had to the accompanying drawings andto the 'charactersof reference marked thereon, which: form a part of this specification. a j;

This invention relates to manually pro pelled watercraft of the typeusuallyreferred to as hydrocycles and has reference more particularly to theoperating mechanism .by which the operator transmits power to the propellingapparatus," v I am awarethat water. vehicles have been made which comprise a, pair of pontoons which are connect'ed together inpar'allel re,- lation and equipped with a bicycle orbicycle-like apparatus by which the operator generates power by applying his feet to pedals in the-usual'way, the power thus generated-beingtransmitted to a propeller of eithcrthe screw or paddlewheel type.

the type-Of water vehicle referred'to above and to devise an operating. mechanism. that will be adaptedto be operated simultaneously by two people, one of whom perates to a water levelthan it would be in case the two operators were mounted tandem on elevated seats.

eral way I willjproceed to describe the same in detail by reference to the accompanying drawings in. which- I Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my! hydrocycle.

Fig. 2 is a p an View ther fi It is the object of my invention to improve of. the -type referred to in which thecenter of gravity is. brought closer to the Having thus described my device in agenw Fig. 3 is an elevation or view looking towards the rear.

Fig. 4 is a plan-view of the propelling mechanism'and Fig. 5 is a side w Of the propelling mechanism.

The sainereference characters refer to the same parts throughout the several views. My improved ihydrocycle comprises two pontoons 10 of boat'or canoe shape. having (PAT NT OFF-ICE.

decksllto which are connected, at spaced intervals, cross bars 12 and 13 which hold the pontoon in spaced parallel relation. Connectingthe rear ends of pontoons l0beneath' the water surface is a bar 14 that serves as a bearingfor the propeller shaft 15. Pivotally secured to the'rearmost cross bar 12 by suitable means is a rudder lfiwhich is con trolled bythe handle bars 17 actingthrough steering post 18, rods 19 and bar 20, the latter being non-rotatably connected to the rudder post 21. Secured to one of cross bars 12and one of cross'bars 13 is a, frame 22 comprising two bars 23 and24, tothe top of which-is secured a suitable bicycle seat or saddle 25,. Secured to bar, 13 and one of bars 12 is a frame 26 which 'carries at its top a bearing 27 in which is j'o urnaleda pair of pedals 28 having non-rotatably secured thereto asprocket wheel 29. "The relationship betweenthe saddle 25 and pedals :28 is ;such that a personseated on the saddle will be able to operate the pedals with'ease. The

saddle may, of course, be adjustable in the usual manner so as to accommodate people of difierentsizes, Located in front of frame 22 is a seat 30 having aback 31 to which is secured a rearwardly extending portion32 which forms a bearing for steering post 18, the latter being provided with a collar '83 to hold itin place. Seat 30 has a forwardly extending portion 34 for the reception and protection of the" feet of the occupant. Se cured to the foremost ones of members, 12 and 13 is a frame 351:0 which is pivoted at 36 alever 37 the purpose Ofwhich will hereinafter appear. Lever 37 is provided with two handles 38 which'are to be grasped by the hands of the operator. I

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 4 and 5, it will benoted that a frame 39 supporting two bearings or pillow blocks 40 and 41 in the former of which is pivotally mounted a shaft 42 carrying a gear wheel 43. Gear wheel 43 has one spoke thereof provided with a pin 44 between which and pin 45 on the end of lever 37'is connected a pitman 46 by means of which the oscillatory motion of lever 37 is caused to rotate wheel 43.

Pivoted in bearing 41 is a shaft 47 to one end of which is secured a sprocket wheel 48, which is in the same plane as sprocket wheel .29, and to the other end is connected a bevel gear 49 and a spur gear 50, the latter meshing with gear 43. A sprocket chain 51 serves to transmit power from wheel 29 to wheel 48 and to bevel gear 49. A pinion 52 secured to the end of shaft 15 meshes with bevel gear 49 and transmits the power to propeller 53. i

The operation of my device is as follows: One of theoperators is seated on saddle 25 with his hands grasping handle bars 17 and his feet on pedals 28. The other operator is seated in seat 30 with his feet restingon the floor and his hands grasping handles 38. When the former operator rotates wheel 29 through pedals 28 he transmits motion to wheels 48, 49, 50 and 43 through chain 51. When the operator 'that occupies seat 3O moves lever 37 about its pivot 36 he transmits motion and power to wheels 43, 50 and 49 through pitman 46. It is thus apparent that the power exerted by both operators will be transmitted to bevel gear 49 and from there through pinion 52 and shaft 15 to propeller 53 which will thus be acted upon by the combined power of both operators.

Since the pedals 28 can be rotated at a greater speed than the lever 37, I have provided the gears with such relationship that this is accomplished. The lever 37 should preferably make one-half a cycle to each complete revolution of the pedals 28 al; though the exact ratio is not material and can be varied so as to suit the convenience of the operator by merely changing the sprocket wheel 48 to the size desired. 7

From the above it will be seen that I have: provided a motion transmitting means suit able for use on hydrocycles of the pontoon type, or any other type, that is simple in construction and adapted to be operated by two people one of whom is seated on an ele vated seat and uses his feet to operatea pair of pedals and the other of whom is comfortably seated nearer the water surface and uses his hands to move a lever. By

the means outlined a comparatively great amount of power can be produced and transmitted to the propeller of the vehicle and great speed can thus be attained with a minimum amount of exertion.

Although I have shown my mechanism applied to a pontoon type boat structure it is evident that it can be applied to any type of floating structure as well as to land vehicles of various types.

I desire the foregoing description to be taken in an illustrative sense only and not in a limiting one and I reserve the right to apply mydev'ice to any use to which it may be adapted as well as to make such changes therein as may fall withinthe scope of the appended claim.

I desire to point out that this hydrocycle is made detachable in order that it may be readily disassembled for shipping and for transporting from place to place. lYhen' it is desired to" ship or transport the device the barsl2 and 13 together with cross bar 14 are detached from the pontoons and the mechanism may also be 'detached'from these bars and the whole packedin a comparae tively small box. i i

If it should be desirable to operate the hydrocycle by one man only the pinion '50 may be'moved outwardly ,o'n's'haft 47 until it becomes disengaged from gear wheel 43, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4. The operator may then be "seated onsaddle 25 and operate the pidals 28 without turning wheel 43 or operating the lever 37.

Having described my improved device and the best manner in which I coiitemplate constri'icting, making and using the same, what I claim as my invention or discovery is! A mechanical movement comprising a driven shaft provided with a bevel pinion, means for drivingfsaid shaft comprising a bevel gear cooperating with said pinion, a

gear shaft secured to said bevel gear, a 3

bearing in which, said shaft rotates, a sprocket wheel secured to said shaft, a'pair of pedals rotatably mounted on an axissubstantially parallel to said gear shaft, a sprocket'wheel non-rotatably connected to said pedals, a sprocket chain connected to said sprocket wheels, a gear pinion connected to said gear shaft and longitudinally movable thereon, a gear wheel operatively connected with said pinion, a crank pin secured tosaid gear wheel, a lever pivotally mounted 'betweenits ends and a pitman between one" end of said lever and the crank pin on said gear.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signa ture.

' FRANK BRADY I

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