That Alenax Transbar does indeed look like the bike from hell. There were a large number of lever powered bikes in the early years, because chains were notoriously weak, and a strong rider could rip a chain in two almost at will. It was not until the bush roller chain was invented by Hans Reynold that chains became bombproof. McMillans bike in the EARLY 1800s had a lever and rod drive, a la locomotive wheels.
My secret stash of bicycle patents is in the bicycle technology section of the Patent Pending blog, at
http://patentpending.blogs.com.