page_title: Bowden cable
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bowden cable / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Air Force (1918) - Foster Mounted Lewis Gun on AVRO 504K Night Fighter.
context_page_description: A Bowden cable
  is a type of flexible cable used to transmit mechanical force or energy by the movement of an inner cable relative to a hollow outer cable housing. The housing is generally of composite construction, consisting of an inner lining, a longitudinally incompressible layer such as a helical winding or a sheaf of steel wire, and a protective outer covering.
  The linear movement of the inner cable is most often used to transmit a pulling force, although push/pull cables have gained popularity in recent years e.g. as gear shift cables. Many light aircraft use a push/pull Bowden cable for the throttle control, and here it is normal for the inner element to be a solid wire, rather than a multi-strand cable. Usually, provision is made for adjusting the cable tension using an inline hollow bolt, which lengthens or shortens the cable housing relative to a fixed anchor point. Lengthening the housing tightens the cable; shortening the housing loosens the cable.
context_section_description: The origin and invention of the Bowden Cable is open to some dispute, confusion and myth. The invention of the Bowden cable has been popularly attributed to Sir Frank Bowden, founder and owner of the Raleigh Bicycle Company who, circa 1902, was reputed to have started replacing the rigid rods used for brakes with a flexible wound cable but no evidence for this exists. The Bowden mechanism was invented by Irishman Ernest Monnington Bowden (1860 to April 3, 1904) of 35 Bedford Place, London, W.C. The first patent was granted in 1896 (English Patent 25,325 and U.S. Pat. No. 609,570), and the invention was reported in the Automotor Journal of 1897 where Bowden's address was given as 9 Fopstone Rd, Earls Court. The two Bowdens are not known to be closely related. The principal element of this was a flexible tube (made from hard wound wire and fixed at each end) containing a length of fine wire rope that could slide within the tube, directly transmitting pulling, pushing or turning movements on the wire rope from one end to the other without the need of pulleys or flexible joints. The cable was particularly intended for use in conjunction with bicycle brakes, although it had the potential for other uses. The Bowden Brake was launched amidst a flurry of enthusiasm in the cycle press in 1896. It consisted of a stirrup, pulled up by the cable from a handlebar mounted lever, with rubber pads acting against the rear wheel rim. At this date bicycles were fixed wheel, additional braking being offered by a 'plunger' brake pressing on the front tyre. The Bowden offered extra braking power still, and was novel enough to appeal to riders who scorned the plunger arrangement, which was heavy and potentially damaging to the (expensive) pneumatic tyre. The problem for Bowden was his failure to develop effective distribution networks and the brake was often incorrectly, or inappropriately fitted, resulting in a good number of complaints being aired in the press. Its most effective application was on those machines fitted with Westwood pattern steel rims which offered flat bearing surfaces for the brake pads.
  The potential of the Bowden cable and associated brake was not to be fully realised until the free-wheel sprocket became a standard feature of bicycles, over the period 1899-1901, and increasing numbers of applications were found for it, such as gear change mechanisms. Importantly in 1903, Hendee developed the twist-grip throttle using a similar cable for his 'Indian' motorcycles. Its lightness and flexibility recommended it to further automotive use such as clutch and speedometer drive cables.
  It is reported that "on 12th January 1900 E. M. Bowden granted a licence to The Raleigh Cycle Company of Nottingham", whose directors were Frank Bowden and Edward Harlow. At this signing they became members of 'E. M. Bowden's Patent Syndicate Limited'. The syndicate included, among others, R. H. Lea & Graham I. Francis of Lea & Francis Ltd, and William Riley of the Riley Cycle Company. The Raleigh company were soon offering the Bowden Brake as an accessory, and were quick to incorporate the cable into handlebar mounted Sturmey-Archer (in which they had a major interest) gear changes. Undoubtedly this is why E. Bowden and F. Bowden are sometimes confused today.
  Early Bowden cable, from the 1890s and first years of the twentieth century, is characterised by the outer tube being wound from round wire and being uncovered. Each length is usually fitted with a brass collar marked 'BOWDEN PATENT', (this legend is also stamped into the original brake's components). More modern outer tube is wound from square section wire. From c1902 the cable was usually covered in a waterproof fabric sheath, in the early post war period this gave way to plastic.
caption: A 1918 Lewis gun on a Foster mounting fitted to an Avro 504K Night Fighter. The gun trigger is operated by a Bowden cable
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