CC0 · no rights reserved
Tricycle, Patent Model
From the collection of National Museum of American History. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Francis Fowler of New Haven, Connecticut, submitted this model with his patent for a tricycle equipped with a ratchet connection in the hub of each driving wheel. The patent was issued patent number 224,165 on February 3, 1880. The allowed the outer of the two driving wheels to rotate freely on the crankshaft when the machine was making a sharp turn, thus d the function of a modern automobile differential unit. This model of the Fowler tricycle was transferred from the U.S. Patent Office to the Smithsonian in 1926. It is not known that this tricycle was ever manufactured.
National Museum of American History’s own descriptionCredit lineTricycle, Patent Model. 1880. Fowler, Francis. National Museum of American History. CC0.
