Inventions Ill-Advised: Bicycle Malapropisms in Edwardian England, 1901-1906

JF Ptak Science Books LLC  Post 241

I know that this invention by Karl Lange (1904, left) may or may ever come in “handy”, but, well if you were a circus performer it might be another story. The whole thing looks so improbably heavy  and unwieldy to me that it couldn't possibly be of any use, though it is a thing of beauty. All one really needs to complete this picture is another rider seated on the inverted bike waiting for their turn.

Marshall Rigby’s machine (1901, below right) looks more like a geometry problem than anything else, but really intended to make the not-so-early-by-any-means larger-wheel velocipede easier to get on and get off. Why bother keeping the big middle wheel is anyone’s guess.

Frederick Simms’s (1906, below left) bike-powered bike-opter doesn’t look like it could move forward let alone fly.

Sayer’s “Improved Cycle Or Other Vehicle” (1905, below right) has a telescoping wheelbase and seat, and has brakes that can be adjusted so that they are automatically applied “at a predetermined inclination in the road”. It also has wheels “that may be readily adapted to rails”, though what rails and to where those rails might be going is again a mystery. Also a mystery here is how power is transmitted—I can’t tell how the thing is made to go, though it is a pretty drawing.

Lastly for tonight is the bouncing bike of Herr Adolf Ernst Anton Mueller (1902, below), who came up with the idea of powering a bike from the “up and down motion” of the rider’s weight, thus doing away with pedal. He doesn’t provide a rest for the feet, which might make the bouncing a little difficult. Also, Lt. Mueller was writing from the Military Barracks of Grandenz (Germany) and was an officer in the Kulmer Infantry regiment, making me wonder if he was thinking in terms of regimental displays of bouncing German soldiers on bikes…

Abstracts for the British patents mentioned above (from the British Patent Office), in their original format, retaining all of the juices and flavors of Edwardian engineerese:

Lange, K. April 15, 1904.  Bicycles adapted for use by gymnasts and acrobats. -A cycle for use in performing the feat of looping the loop in circuses &c., on the mutilated loop k, l, n, has a second cycle attached above the rider's head, which enables him, on leaving the part l, to complete the journey, head downwards, on the upper wheels g, h. The upper cycle may have more than two wheels, and other padding besides the cushion i.

19018038. Rigby, M. April 19. Unicycles; safety wheels and supports; steering- mechanism; driving-mechanism; frames.-A unicycle comprises a large wheel A carrying on, or connected to, its axle B a frame consisting of forked members 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and a single member 4 arrange:! as shown. A socket E connecting the members 3, 4, and 5 carries the saddle-pin. Safety-wheels C and H, one of which may be replaced by a pair, support the rider when at rest or when steering. The wheels C and H may be mounted in pivoted forks which are actuated by a spring so as to keep the wheels in line. Rigid handles D enable the cycle to be steered when the wheel H is in contact with the ground, but, if desired, the wheel H may be mounted in a steering-post actuated by pivoted handles. The wheel A may be driven either by simple cranks, as shown, or by suitable treadle, crypto, or chain gearing. Either of the members 5, 6 may ba replaced by a member connected to the socket E and the axle of the wheel H. A bridge J serves as a step in mounting.

25,395. Simms, F. R. Dec. 6. Gyroscopic apparatus.-For driving a gyroscopic wheel e on an aerial machine by a motor m in such a manner that the aeronaut can vary its inclination by pulling cords q, the driving-shaft f is made in two lengths connected by a ball-and-socket joint p. The two lengths are pressed together by springs j with sufficient force to cause the rotation of the motor to be transmitted to the wheel by the friction of the joint.

18,699. Sayer, R. C. Sept. 16. Motor road vehicles; locomotive tramway vehicles. -Relates to a cycle or vehicle which has a variable wheel base, brakes automatically applied at a predetermined inclination of the road, and wheels that may be readily adapted for running on rails. The frame comprises struts m, radiating from the axis of the wheel a, tubes l, rods o, and a forked tube p. The steering-wheel 10 is mounted in a fork the stem 11 of which is fitted in a socket on the ends of the members 8 of the telescopic parts 7, 8 of the frame (and on and on)

26,453. Mueller, A. E. A. Dec. 3. Body motion, propelling by.-The rider stands upon the foot-rests q, and, by the weight of his body, depresses the saddle, which is attached to a lever b, pivoted at its end c to the frame. The downward movement of the lever b causes a spring pawl e to actuate a ratchet-wheel f. The motion of the ratchet - wheel is communicated through wheels i, k, l to the chain-wheel m and thence to the hind wheel n, so that the bicycle is propelled forwards. The pressure on the saddle is then released, and the saddle is restored to its normal position by a spring p, when the cycle of operations is repeated.