“Each rod has a pronged foot-piece, f, and between the foot-piece f and the crank-hanging of each rod the rod is suspended by a flexible line, g, from the body of the wagon.
“Turning the crank-shaft b in any suitable manner causes the pronged foot-pieces, f of the rods d1, d2, d4, and d5 to take hold of the ground, and thereby propel the wagon, and by arranging the cranks as is shown in the drawings one rod after the other is brought into and out of action, securing a continuous action of the mechanism to propel the wagon, all as is obvious without further explanation.
“The lines g hold and keep the rods to the action of their crank-arms, and cause the rods to be properly brought, from time to time, by the cranks into operating positions on the ground.”
This device is a logical sequence of Mr. Croft’s, being a combination of shoving-bars worked by machinery instead of by hand. This patent is now expired and can be used by anybody.
E. N. Higley, of Somersworth, N. H. Velocipede. No. 201,179. Patented March 12, 1878.
“The invention consists in an arrangement of pulleys upon each side of the crank-arm, and pulleys of similar construction upon the sides or ends of the axle of the road-wheel, and connected together by chains or other suitable means, whereby the carriage may be propelled by the feet alone without turning around or otherwise operating the hand-shaft; or the hand-shaft may be employed, when desired, to aid or assist the feet, as circumstances may require; or both sets of pulleys may be used by the hands and feet to increase the speed of the carriage.”
W. Klahr, of Meyerstown, Pa. Bicycle. No. 285,821. Patented October 2, 1883.
Mr. Klahr was one of the early geniuses that appreciated the utility of the anti-vibrator. Notice the spring upon the front reach. This is a device quite similar to that used by many makers of rear-drivers in the past few years. The inventor does not claim this, however.