CONVERTIBLE BICYCLE-TRICYCLE PATENTS
Many hours can be lost browsing patents for bicycles. The late Victorian era provided patent applications for all sorts of innovations in bicycle design, most not subsequently used.
If an inventor was lucky he could sell his patent or receive patent fees from a company that wished to manufacture an item that drew on their idea. If he was unlucky, a company may indeed use his idea – but without crediting him; it took a lot of work and money to litigate for patent infringement and companies would weight up the chances of being successfully sued before making an item that was patented.
The earliest years of bicycle evolution reveals patents for many odd variations, peaking around the turn of the twentieth century when inventors started to turn to motor bicycles and automobiles, and the cycle industry slowed down as a result. But interesting patents returned in the 1930s, this time for children’s bicycles and tricycles. As an example, further down the page I’ve reproduced a range of patents for converting juvenile tricycles into bicycles.
The Velo-Bike Convertible Tricycle (below) was patented by the sons of John W Gallo Jr, as a development of Mr Gallo Senior’s original 1934 patent for the Tri-Bike tricycle. JW Gallo Sr is assigned one third of the patent rights.
c1949 Levermatic Convertible Tricycle
(Levermatic Corp, Boston, MA)
15.5″ Front wheel. 9.5″ Rear wheels
LENGTH: 34″
WIDTH: 18″
HEIGHT: 26″
VARIOUS CONVERTIBLE BICYCLE-TRICYCLE PATENTS
I have four convertible tricycles. As well as this one, there’s a Velobike and two Tribikes. One of the Tribikes was owned by the Dion Quins…
TO SEE THE
1940 TRIBIKE CONVERTIBLE TRICYCLE
PLEASE CLICK HERE
TO SEE THE
1949 VELO-BIKE CONVERTIBLE TRICYCLE
PLEASE CLICK HERE
