IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ANONYMMING VARIABLE SPEEDS TO REVOLVING SHAFTS OR AXLES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lancaster, of Accrington, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
ANONYMMING VARIABLE SPEEDS TO REVOLVING SHAFTS OR AXLES."
Sealed the 27th January 1874, and.dated the 8th December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lancaster at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th December 1873.
I, William LanCASTER, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for “Improvements
IN APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING VARIABLE SPEEDS TO REVOLVING SHAFTS OR
AXLES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improved apparatus for transmitting various
speeds to a shaft by means of a strap, and two, three, or more pulleys,
the said pulleys being all of the same diameter and the strap always
running at the same speed.

page_text: Suppose for instance that I require to drive a shaft at three different
speeds, then I employ three pulleys side by side and all of the same
diameter. The centre pulley of the three is keyed fast upon the shaft
or axle to be driven, and hence when the driving strap is upon this
pulley it drives the shaft or axle at the ordinary desired speed. Inside
the rim of this central pulley on each side is a ring of internal spur
teeth cast or fixed to the rim of the pulley. On the left side of this
pulley and attached to one of the arms of the said pulley (or to the plate
if the pulley is made with a plate instead of arms), are applied two studs
carrying two small spur pinions in gear with each other, the outer
pinion being in gear with the internal spur teeth inside the rim of the
pulley, and the inner pinion in gear with a spur wheel attached or fixed
to the left adjoining pulley. To the side of this last-named spur wheel is
cast or otherwise fixed a strap pulley, and almost touching it so that the
strap can be shifted from one to the other as desired. When the driving
strap is moved on to this left-hand pulley it of course drives the pulley
itself at the same speed that it was driving the central pulley, but as
this left-hand pulley is not keyed fast upon the axle, the spur wheel to
which it is fixed gives motion to the two spur pinions, the outer one of
which drives the central pulley in the same direction as before but at a
reduced speed, and as this central pulley is keyed on the shaft the speed
of the latter is reduced accordingly.
If it be required to reverse the direction of motion at the same time that
the speed is altered (as in driving the table of a planing machine, for
instance) either one or three pinions must be used instead of two. On
the other side of the central pulley there is a similar pulley connected
in the same manner by the same arrangement of wheels to the internal
teeth, but gearing with a pinion of much smaller diameter fixed to the
right-hand pulley. Thus the left-hand pulley will reduce the speed of
the shaft or axle (say) to one half or two-thirds of the original speed,
whilst the right-hand pulley might reduce the same to one-tenth or one-
twentieth or any other desired speed, according to the way in which the
reducing gearing is calculated.
An ordinary loose pulley of a similar diameter may be placed on the
shaft close to either of the outer pulleys, so that when the strap is

page_text: It will be evident that the above described arrangement is applicable
to all kinds of machinery where it is requisite or desirable to give two or
more different speeds to a shaft by means of pulleys, all of the same
diameter, and with a strap running always at the same speed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Lancaster in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 8th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LANCASTER, of Accrington, in the County of Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said William Lancaster, Her
special license that I, the said William Lancaster, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Lancaster,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING VARIABLE SPEEDS TO REVOLVING
SHAFTS OR AXLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Lancaster, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same.
to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Lancaster, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to improved apparatus for transmitting various
speeds to a shaft by means of a strap, and two, three, or more pulleys,

page_text: the said pulleys being all of the same diameter and the strap always
running at the same speed.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention, I will
now proceed to describe in detail the manner in which the same is
to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and in
order that the same may be clearly understood, I have annexed
hereunto a Sheet of Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the
same with figures and letters of reference corresponding with those in
the following explanation thereof :-
Suppose for instance that I require to drive a shaft at three different
speeds, then I employ three pulleys side by side and all of the same
diameter as shown at Figs. 1, 2, and 3 in the annexed Drawing. The
centre pulley a, a, of the three is keyed fast upon the shaft or axle b, b,
to be driven, and hence when the driving strap is upon the pulley it
drives the shaft or axle at the ordinary desired speed. Inside the rim of
this central pulley a, a, on each side is a ring of internal spur teeth c, c¹,
cast or fixed to the rim of the pulley. On the left side of this pulley
and attached to one of the arms of the said pulley (or to the plate if the
pulley is made with a plate instead of arms as shown in the Drawing)
are applied two studs d, e, carrying two small spur pinions f, g, in gear
with each other, the outer pinion g being in gear with the internal spur
teeth c, c, inside the rim of the pulley a, a, and the inner pinion f, f,
in gear with a spur wheel h, h, attached or fixed to the left adjoining
pulley i, i, which is of the same diameter as the pulley a, a, and almost
touching it, so that the strap can be shifted from one to the other as
desired (see side elevation, Fig. 2). When the driving strap is moved
on to this left-hand pulley i, i, it of course drives the pulley itself at the
same speed that it was driving the central pulley a, a, but as this left-
hand pulley is not keyed fast upon the axle b, b, the spur wheel h, h, to
which it is fixed gives motion to the two spur pinions f, g, the outer one
of which drives the central pulley a, a, in the same direction as before
but at a reduced speed, and as this central pulley is keyed on the
shaft b, b, the speed of the latter is reduced accordingly.
If it be required to reverse the direction of motion at the same time
that the speed is altered (as in driving the table of a planing machine,
for instance) either one or three pinions must be used instead of two.
On the other side of the central pulley there is a similar pulley k, k,

page_text: connected in the same manner by a similar arrangement of wheels to
the internal teeth c¹, c¹, but gearing with a pinion of much smaller
diameter fixed to the right-hand pulley k, k. This, the left-hand
pulley i, i, will reduce the speed of the shaft or axle b, b, (say) to one-
half or two-thirds of the original speed, whilst the right-hand pulley k, k,
might reduce the same to one-tenth or one-twentieth, or any other desired
speed, according to the way in which the reducing gearing is calculated.
The ordinary loose pulley 1, 1, (see Fig. 1) of a similar diameter may
be placed on the shaft close to either of the outer pulleys, so that when
the strap is shifted on to this fourth pulley the shaft will not be driven
at all, but remain at rest.
Figs. 4 and 5 show a modification of this arrangement wherein the
studs which carry the intermediate wheels are not carried the plate
or arms of the fast pulley, but are carried by a fixed bracket. In this
case the right-hand pulley a, a, is the fast pulley keyed upon the
axle b, b, and having an internal rim of teeth c, c. The intermediate
spur pinions and g are mounted upen studs d and e, but instead of these
being carried by the arms or plate of the pulley a, a, as in the previous
case, the stud d is carried in a fixed bracket k, k, keyed on to a fixed
tube or boss m, m, in which the axle b, b, turns. The stud e, e, is carried
by a swinging bracket n, n, supported by the stud d, d. The larger
wheel f¹, f, at one end of the stud d, d, gears with the pinion h, h,
keyed upon the end of the long boss h³, h¹, of the differential pulley i, i,
whilst the boss of the loose pulley 1, 2, runs freely outside the boss h, h.
The swinging bracket n, n, is provided with a counterbalance weight o, o,
and a curved spring p, p, which when the driving strap is on the
pulley a, a, throws the pinion 9, 9, out of gear with the internal
teeth c, c, and stops the revolution of the pulley i, i; but allows it to
come into gear again immediately that the strap is placed upon the
pulley i, i, and the pinion h, h, commences to revolve.
I may here remark that if preferred the differential motion may be
communicated by means of bevil gear instead of spur gearing.
It will be evident that the above described arrangement is applicable
to all kinds of machinery where it is requisite or desirable to give two or
more different speeds to a shaft by means of pulleys, all of the same
diameter and with a strap running always at the same speed.

page_text: Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed
or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim as
my Invention the arrangements of apparatus for transmitting variable
speeds to a shaft by means of a strap, and two, three, or more pulleys,
the said pulleys being all of the same diameter and the strap always
running at the same speed, substantially as herein-before described and
represented by the annexed Drawings or any mere imitation or modifica-
tion thereof, constructed and operating in substantially the same
manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lancaster, have hereunto
.
set my hand and seal this Fifth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Witnessed by
GEORGE DAVIES, C. E.,
Patent Office,
Manchester.
WILLIAM LANCASTER. (L.S.)