John Richard Dedicoat (born 1840,
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
; died 1903) was the inventor of the
pencil-sharpening machine,
bicycle bell
A bicycle bell is a percussive signaling instrument mounted on a bicycle for warning pedestrians and other cyclists. The bell (instrument), bell is a required piece of equipment in some jurisdictions. They are usually mounted on the Bicycle ha ...
, and other bicycle related items. Apprenticed to
James Watt,
he went on to become a bicycle manufacturer and made and sold the "Pegasus" bicycle.
Dedicoat designed a spring step to assist in mounting bicycles with high seats. Some people found it quite an effort to hoist themselves into the
saddle
The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not k ...
from the step. Dedicoat's invention was based on the action of a
groom, who, when a lady puts her foot in his hand in mounting a horse, gives her a lift into the saddle; so with this step it was pushed down against a spring until a catch held it. The step rocked on a hinge which turned as the leg was straightened and released the spring, the rider then getting a lift of 5 or 6 inches just at the moment he was reaching for the saddle. It was very pretty but had one defect: if the spring was too strong for the weight of the rider, it did its work too well, and shot him not into the saddle, but over the
handles
A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following t ...
.
References
Some of this information is from ''The Cyclist'' Trade Section of May 20, 1903.
1840 births
1903 deaths
British inventors
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