Bicycle : BICYCLE

BICYCLE

By Baron Karl Von Drais

Bicycles are one of the most ubiquitous forms of transportation in the world. Most children remember their first bike; with it came the chance to explore their world with more freedom than ever before. As we grow, however, bicycling becomes more than just a childhood rite of passage. Wind in our hair and feet on the pedals, we have several good reasons to climb on and take a trip. Much of the world uses bicycles as a primary form of daily transportation. What would take several hours of travel on foot becomes faster and more efficient on two wheels.Furthermore , it is all because of the man who invented the bicycle which he is , Baron Karl Von Drais.

Biography of Baron Karl Von Drais

Baron von Drais Karls Sauerbronn or Karl Drais was born on 29 April 1785 in Karlsruhe, Germany, he was a German inventor and find Laufmaschine also later called the velocipede, or draisienne. It then entered a two-wheeler principle that later became the basis for the bicycle and motorcycle and was the beginning of mechanical private transport. Drais also found early typewriter with a keyboard in 1821. From 1803-1805, Drais studied architecture, agriculture and physics at the University of Heidelberg.

Baron Karl Von Drais

He joined as forestry officials, worked as a teacher at his uncle's private forestry agencies, and in 1810 received his chief forester, but its position has not been determined. One year later he was suspended from his service, but continues to receive a salary so that he could devote more time to his invention.

Drais successfully perform an important breakthrough, which proved to be the foundation stone of the development of the next cycle. By Von Drais, Hobby Horse modified until it has a steering mechanism on the front wheels. shape velocipede, an early form of bicycle, but without pedals. Reported first journey, from Mannheim to Schwetzinger Relaishaus took place on June 12, 1817. In the same year, he made a second trip, from Gernsbach to Baden, and others. By taking the energy of motion of both legs, Von Drais able to glide faster time around. He himself calls this vehicle as Draisienne. The story itself was published in the local newspaper Germany in 1817. In 1839, Kirkpatrick Macmillan added a drive shaft that connects between the rear wheels and front tires Draisienne.

Draisienne bike did not last long, because after that, began to emerge a new bicycle types are more efficient and even some of them are already using the pedal, although the pedal is still not perfect as a bike today). Even so, the bike was made Baron von Drais remains to be thumbs up, because it was able to be a milestone in the emergence of modern bikes in the world.

On January 12, 1818, Drais was awarded a title of respect for the duke as a reward for his discovery. Baden did not have a patent on his invention at that time. Grand Duke Karl Drais later also appointed as Professor of Mechanics. This is just an honorary title, not associated with a university or other institution. Drais retired from the civil service and continue to receive a salary as his invention.

Drais approaching disaster when a murder and decapitation occurred on Ludwig Sand, in 1820. Drais father as supreme judge Baden, refused to apologize, and then surrounded by her student in germany student. Therefore, 1822-1827, Drais then moved to Brazil as a supervisor at the Fazenda land owned by Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff, but returned to Mannheim.

because of the discovery is the climate anomalies 1816, the year without a summer caused by the eruption of Mount Tambora almighty in Indonesia has disrupted transport in Europe due to crop failure and famine horses, and this is the cause of discovery Drais' velocipede of them.

Drais died in his hometown, Karlsruhe, Germany on December 10, 1851, penniless after Prussian revolt in Baden and seized money Drais retired pay fully for the revolution.

Facts About Baron Karl Von Drais

- 1785 Born in Karlsuhe

- 1812 Invented a device to record piano music on paper

- Made early velocipedes.

- 1813/4 Invented two 4-wheeled human powered vehicles

- 1817 Invented a 2-wheeled human powered vehicle, otherwise called a Draisine or "hobby horse".

- Baron Karl Drais von Sauerbrunn (1785-1851) made the first "dandy horse", a velocifere with steerable front wheel

- 1822 Went to Brazil for 5 years

- 1827 Invented a stenograph machine using 16 characters

- 1851 Died peniless in Karlsruhe

History of Bicycles

1-The Walking Machine

In 1817 Baron von Drais invented a walking machine that would help him get around the royal gardens faster: two same-size in-line wheels, the front one steerable, mounted in a frame which you straddled. The device was propelled by pushing your feet against the ground, thus rolling yourself and the device forward in a sort of gliding walk. The machine became known as the Draisienne or hobby horse. It was made entirely of wood. This enjoyed a short lived popularity as a fad, not being practical for transportation in any other place than a well maintained pathway such as in a park or garden.

2- The Velocipede or Boneshaker

The next appearance of a two-wheeled riding machine was in 1865, when pedals were applied directly to the front wheel. This machine was known as the velocipede ("fast foot"), but was popularly known as the bone shaker, since it was also made entirely of wood, then later with metal tires, and the combination of these with the cobblestone roads of the day made for an extremely uncomfortable ride. They also became a fad, and indoor riding academies, similar to roller rinks, could be found in large cities.

3-The High Wheel Bicycle

In 1870 the first all metal machine appeared. (Previous to this metallurgy was not advanced enough to provide metal which was strong enough to make small, light parts out of.) The pedals were still atttached directly to the front wheel with no freewheeling mechanism. Solid rubber tires and the long spokes of the large front wheel provided a much smoother ride than its predecessor. The front wheels became larger and larger as makers realized that the larger the wheel, the farther you could travel with one rotation of the pedals. You would purchase a wheel as large as your leg length would allow. This machine was the first one to be called a bicycle ("two wheel"). These bicycles enjoyed a great popularity among young men of means (they cost an average worker six month's pay), with the hey-day being the decade of the 1880s.

Because the rider sat so high above the center of gravity, if the front wheel was stopped by a stone or rut in the road, or the sudden emergence of a dog, the entire apparatus rotated forward on its front axle, and the rider, with his legs trapped under the handlebars, was dropped unceremoniously on his head. Thus the term "taking a header" came into being.

4- The High Wheel Tricycle

While the men were risking their necks on the high wheels, ladies, confined to their long skirts and corsets, could take a spin around the park on an adult tricycle. These machines also afforded more dignity to gentlemen such as doctors and clergymen. Many mechanical innovations now associated with the automobile were originally invented for tricycles. Rack and pinion steering, the differential, and band brakes, to name a few!

5-The High Wheel Safety

Improvements to the design began to be seen, many with the small wheel in the front to eliminate the tipping-forward problem. One model was promoted by its manufacturer by being ridden down the front steps of the capitol building in Washington, DC. These designs became known as high-wheel safety bicycles. Since the older high-wheel designs had been known simply as bicycles, they were now referred to as "ordinary bicycles" in comparison with the new-fangled designs, and then simply as "ordinaries."

6- The Hard-Tired Safety

The further improvement of metallurgy sparked the next innovation, or rather return to previous design. With metal that was now strong enough to make a fine chain and sprocket small and light enough for a human being to power, the next design was a return to the original configuration of two same-size wheels, only now, instead of just one wheel circumference for every pedal turn, you could, through the gear ratios, have a speed the same as the huge high-wheel. The bicycles still had the hard rubber tires, and in the absence of the long, shock-absorbing spokes, the ride they provided was much more uncomfortable than any of the high-wheel designs. Many of these bicycles of 100 years ago had front and/or rear suspensions. These designs competed with each other, your choice being the high-wheel's comfort or the safety's safety, but the next innovation tolled the death of the high-wheel design.

7-The Pnuematic-Tired Safety

The pnuematic tire was first applied to the bicycle by an Irish veterinarian who was trying to give his young son a more comfortable ride on his tricycle. This inventive young doctor's name was Dunlop. Sound familar? Now that comfort and safety could be had in the same package, and that package was getting cheaper as manufacturing methods improved, everyone clamored to ride the bicycle. This 1898 Yale uses a shaft drive to dispense with the dirty chain.

The bicycle was what made the Gay Ninties gay. It was a practical investment for the working man as transportation, and gave him a much greater flexibility for leisure. Ladies, heretofore consigned to riding the heavy adult size tricycles that were only practical for taking a turn around the park, now could ride a much more versatile machine and still keep their legs covered with long skirts. The bicycle craze killed the bustle and the corset, instituted "common-sense dressing" for women and increased their mobility considerably. In 1896 Susan B. Anthony said that "the bicycle has done more for the emancipation of women than anything else in the world."

Bicycling was so popular in the 1880s and 1890s that cyclists formed the League of American Wheelman (still in existence and now called the League of American Bicyclists). The League lobbied for better roads, literally paving the road for the automobile.

8-The Kid's Bike

Introduced just after the First World War by several manufacturers, such as Mead, Sears Roebuck, and Montgomery Ward, to revitalize the bike industry (Schwinn made its big splash slightly later), these designs, now called "classic", featured automobile and motorcyle elements to appeal to kids who, presumably, would rather have a motor. If ever a bike needed a motor, this was it. These bikes evolved into the most glamorous, fabulous, ostentatious, heavy designs ever. It is unbelievable today that 14-year-old kids could do the tricks that we did on these 65 pound machines! They were built into the middle '50s, by which time they had taken on design elements of jet aircraft and even rockets. By the '60s, they were becoming leaner and simpler.

9-The Current Scene

Pedaling History has on display even the recent history of the bicycle in America that we are more familiar with: the "English 3-speed" of the '50s through the '70s, the 10-speed derailleur bikes which were popular in the '70s (the derailleur had been invented before the turn of the century and had been in more-or-less common use in Europe since), and of course the mountain bike of right now. There are also many oddball designs that never quite made it, including the Ingo (you have to see it to believe it!)