Improvements in Treadle Mechanism.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Apr., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 1st Jan., 1900-Accepted, 17th Feb., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Treadle Mechanism.
I, JOHN KING MACDONALD, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing Company,
Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (as
communicated to me by The Singer Manufacturing Company, of New York,
United States of America, Sewing Machine Manufacturers) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to that class of treadle mechanisms, for use in driving
sewing machines, lathes, and the like, in which power is transmitted to the driv-
ing wheel shaft from swinging or pendulous treadle levers through suitable
clutches connecting with said shaft; the object of this invention being to provide
a treadle mechanism, of the class referred to, which is simple in construction and
light running and practically noiseless in operation. To this end the improved
treadle mechanism comprises two swinging segment gears meshing with pinions
having clutch connections with a driving wheel shaft preferably mounted to run
on ball-bearings, one of said segment gears being connected with a treadle-shaft
mounted in suitable bearings and provided with a swinging treadle arm or lever,
and the other of said segment gears and its treadle arm or lever being mounted
to swing on said shaft, all as will be hereinafter more fully described.
The legs or side frames of the sewing machine stand are connected by a brace
suitably bolted thereto, said brace being furnished on its front side with for-
wardly projecting lugs in which is journalled the rocking treadle shaft provided
with a depending treadle arm or lever having a pivoted foot piece. Attached to
the right hand end of the treadle shaft is a segment gear, and loosely mounted
on said shaft, by its collar, is a second segment gear with which is rigidly con-
nected a second treadle arm or lever also having a pivoted foot-piece.
The driving wheel shaft is provided with a driving wheel or pulley which is to
be belted to a sewing machine or other pulley to be driven. Loosely mounted
on the driving wheel shaft are two collars each provided with a pinion with which
the segment gears mesh, said collars both having clutch connections, by means
of spring-pressed clutch dogs, with an interposed hub or collar fixed to the said
shaft, or it may be integral therewith. To reduce friction, wear and noise the
driving wheel shaft is preferably constructed with conical ends running in ball
bearings one or both of which may be adjustable, in any suitable manner, to
take up wear when necessary. A knee brake-lever is provided having a brake-
shoe of rubber or other suitable material adapted to be forced against the side
of the driving wheel against the stress of a retracting spring.
In the operation of the improved treadle mechanism the clutch-dogs are caused
by the action of a spring to grip flanges of the fixed hub or collar and thus rotate
the driving wheel shaft when the treadle arms or levers are swung forward, or
from the operator, said clutch dogs being released from said collar, when the
movements of said treadle arms or levers are reversed, so as to move
freely backward with the loose collars and pinions when the move-
ments of said pinions and loose collars are reversed by the segment gears
connected with said treadle arms or levers and meshing with said pinions. The
segment gears are, in operation, to be swung back and forth alternately by their
operating treadle arms or levers, as will be understood.
By employing a short and comparatively light driving wheel shaft having its
Pri Q77

page_text: bearings in a loop at one side of the brace, and by arranging the two swinging
segments and their clutch connections with said shaft in said loop, these parts
are located entirely out of the way of the operator; this arrangement of these
parts being more compact and convenient than in the constructions of swinging
treadle mechanisms heretofore in use in which long and comparatively heavy
driving wheel shafts have been employed, and in which the segment gears and
their clutch connections with the driving wheel shafts were in front of the
operator and were thus more or less in the way.
The ball bearings for the conical ends of the driving wheel shaft which are pre-
ferably employed consist of ball cases or boxes secured in the bars of the brace
and which bars form the loop enclosing the driving wheel shaft. Each of these
boxes contains a series of balls surrounding a conical end of said shaft, and the
said balls being held in their cases or boxes by rings or washers held
in the ball cases or boxes by slightly under cut gains formed
at the ends of the boxes and into which gains the washers, originally formed
slightly crowning are pressed. One box is secured in the bar by a set screw,
and the other box has screw-threaded parts fitting in a tapped hole in the other
bar, to permit of delicate adjustment to take up wear, a set screw, engaging said
box between its threaded parts, serving to hold said box in any desired position.
Dated this 5th day of April 1899.
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER,
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant.
I, JOHN KING MACDONALD, Manager of The Singer Manufacturing Company,
Kilbowie, Dumbartonshire, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me, to be parti-
cularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to that class of treadle mechanisms for use in driving
sewing-machines lathes, and the like in which power is transmitted to the driv
ing-wheel shaft from swinging or pendulous treadle-levers through suitable
clutches connecting with said shaft, the object of the invention being to provide
a treadle mechanism of the class referred to which is simple in construction and
light running and practically noiseless in operation. To this end the improved
treadle mechanism comprises two swinging segment-gears meshing with pinions
having clutch connections with a driving-wheel shaft preferably mounted to run
on ball-bearings, one of said segment-gears being connected with a treadle-shaft
mounted in suitable bearings and provided with a swinging treadle arm or lever
and the other of said segment-gears and its treadle arm or lever being mounted
to swing on said shaft, all as will be hereinafter more fully described.
In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front side view of a sewing
machine stand embodying the invention. Figure 2 is a sectional end view of
the same on line 2—2, Fig. 1, with the table removed and with the outline of a
side frame in dotted lines. Figure 3 is a detail sectional view showing the driv
ing shaft and its ball-bearings and clutch devices. Figure 4 is an enlarged
detail view of one of the ball-boxes, and Fig. 5 a detail of one of the loose clutch-
collars and its clutch-dog.
A. A. denote the legs or side frames of a sewing-machine stand, and. B a brace
connecting said legs or side frames and suitably bolted thereto, said brace being

page_text: furnished on its front side with forwardly-projecting lugs b, in which is jour-
nalled the rocking treadle-shaft C, provided with a depending treadle arm or
lever c, having a pivoted foot-piece c¹. Attached to the right-hand end of the
shaft C is a segment-gear C₁, and loosely mounted on said shaft by its collar c
is a second segment-gear C2, with which is rigidly connected a second treadle
arm or lever, also having a pivoted foot-piece c¹.
D is the driving-wheel shaft, provided with the driving wheel or pulley D',
which is to be belted to a sewing-machine or other pulley to be driven. Loosely
mounted on the shaft D are two collars , each provided with a pinion d', with
which the segment-gears C¹, C³, mesh, said collars d both having clutch connec-
tions, by means of spring-pressed clutch-dogs d, with an interposed hub or
collar, fixed to the said shaft D, or it may be integral therewith. To reduce
friction, wear, and noise, the driving-wheel shaft D is preferably constructed with
conical ends running in ball-bearings, one or both of which may be adjustable in
any suitable manner to take up wear when necessary.
F is a knee brake-lever having a brake-shoe f, of rubber or other suitable
material, adapted to be forced against the side of the driving-wheel D¹ against
the stress of a retracting-spring f.
In the operation of the improved treadle mechanism the clutch-dogs d² are
caused by the action of the spring to grip flanges of the fixed hub or
collar and thus rotate the shaft D, when the treadle arms or levers c and c³
are swung forward or from the operator, said clutch-dogs being released from said
collar when the movements of said treadle arms or levers are reversed, so as
to move freely backward with the loose collars & and pinions d' when the move-
ments of said pinions and loose collars are reversed by the segment-gears C
and Ca, connected with said treadle arms or levers and meshing with said pinions.
The segment-gears C¹. C2, are in operation to be swung back and forth alter-
nately by their operating treadle arms or levers c, c³ as will be understood.
By employing a short and comparatively light driving-wheel shaft having its
bearings in a loop at one side of the brace B, said loop consisting of the bars. 61
and and their upper and lower connections, and by arranging the two swing-
ing segments and their clutch connections with said shaft in said loop, these parts
are located entirely out of the way of the operator, this arrangement of these
parts being more compact and convenient than in the constructions of swinging
treadle mechanisms heretofore in use, in which long and comparatively heavy
driving-wheel shafts have been emploved and in which the segment-gears and
their clutch connections with the driving-wheel shafts were in front of the
operator and were thus more or less in the way.
The ball-bearings for the conical ends of the driving-wheel shaft D which are
preferably employed consist, as herein shown. of ball cases or boxes e², e³, secured
in the bars 1, 63, of the brace B, and which bars form the loop enclosing the
driving-wheel shaft. Each of these boxes contains a series of balls e, surrounding
a conical end of said shaft. and the said balls being held in their cases or boxes
by rings or washers e³. held in the ball cases or boxes by slightly-undercut gains
formed at the ends of the boxes, and into which gains the washers, originally
formed slightly crowning, are pressed. The box e¹ is secured in the bar b by
a set-screw e, and the box ea has screw-threaded parts fitting in a tapped hole
in the bar to permit of delicate adjustment to take up wear, a set-screw e6,
engaging said box between its threaded parts, serving to hold said box in any
desired position.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is-
1. In a treadle mechanism, the combination, with a stand comprising legs or
side frames and a connecting-brace provided at one end with a loop, of a driving-
wheel shaft mounted in said loop, a clutch hub or collar rigid with said shaft,
collars loose on said shaft and having clutch connections with said fixed hub or

page_text: collars, said loose collar being provided with pinions, two independently-movable,
swinging segment-gears also arranged in said loop and meshing with said pinions,
and swinging treadle arms or levers connected with said segment-gears.
2. In a treadle mechanism, the combination with a stand comprising legs or
side frames, and a connecting-brace provided at one end with a loop, of a driving-
wheel shaft mounted in said loop, a fixed clutch hub or collar on said shaft,
loose collars having clutch connections with said fixed hub or collar and provided
with pinions, said shaft having conical ends, ball-bearings in which the said
conical ends of said shaft are mounted, independently-movable segment-gears
meshing with said pinions, and swinging treadle arms or levers connected with
said segment-gears.
3. In a treadle mechanism, the combination with a rock-shaft mounted in
suitable bearings, of a depending treadle arm or lever and a segment-gear both
attached to said shaft, a second segment-gear loosely mounted on said shaft so
as to rock thereon, a treadle arm or lever rigidly connected with said loosely-
mounted segment-gear, and a driving-wheel shaft with which said segment-gears
are operatively connected.
4. In a treadle mechanism, the combination with a rock-shaft mounted in suit-
able bearings and provided with a depending treadle arm or lever and with a
segment-gear, of a second segment-gear loosely mounted on said shaft, 'so as to
rock thereon, and having a rigid treadle arm or lever, a driving-wheel shaft, a
single fixed clutch hub or collar and two loose collars all mounted on said shaft,
said loose collars having clutch connections with said fixed clutch hub or collar.
5. The combination with the treadle-shaft C mounted in suitable bearings and
provided with the treadle arm or lever c and the segment-gear C₁, of the swinging
segment-gear C³ having its pivotal bearing on the said shaft, the treadle arm or
lever rigidly connected with said segment-gear C2, the driving-wheel shaft D),
the pulley D, the fixed hub or collar and the loose collars d provided with
pinions and having clutch connections with said fixed hub or collar d³.
6. The combination with the legs or side frames A, A, the brace B connecting
said legs or side frames and provided on its front side with the forwardly-pro-
jecting lugs b. and the treadle-shaft C having its bearings in said lugs, the
treadle arm or lever c and the segment-gear C, of the swinging segment-gear C²
having its pivotal bearing on the said shaft, the treadle arm or lever rigidly
connected with said segment-gear C, the driving-wheel shaft D, the pulley D'.
the fixed hub or collar d³, and the loose collars d provided with pinions d, and
having clutch connections with said fixed hub or collar d³..
7. In a treadle mechanism, the combination with a treadleoperated driving-
wheel shaft provided with conical end portions, of ball-bearings for said shaft
consisting of boxes or cases each having a series of balls encircling a conical end
portion of said shaft, and a washer secured at the end of each box in a slightly-
undercut gain to hold the balls in the boxes.
8. In a treadle mechanism, the combination with a treadle-operated driving-
wheel shaft provided with conical end portions, of ball-bearings for said shaft
consisting of boxes or cases each having a series of balls encircling a conical end
portion of said shaft. and a washer secured at the end of each box in a slightly-
undercut gain to hold the balls in the boxes, one of said boxés having a screw-
thread adjustment to take up wear.
Dated this 30th day of December 1900
WALLACE FAIRWEATHER.
Of the Firm of Cruikshank & Fairweather,
Chartered Patent Agents,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow, Agent for the Applicant.