IMPROVEMENTS. IN CLUTCHES OR CONNECTIONS FOR MACHINERY
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Reed Hill, Civil Engineer & Patent Agent,
of 7, Duke Street, Adelphi, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN CLUTCHES OR CONNECTIONS FOR MACHINERY."
Sealed the 10th October 1861, and dated the 17th April 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Reed Hill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th April 1861.
I, JOHN REED HILL, Civil Engineer & Patent Agent, of 7; Duke Street,.
Adelphi, London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CLUTCHES OR CONNECTIONS FOR MACHINERY," to be as follows,
and consists in attaching by a joint an arm or bow to the driving shaft or
wheel at the part usually supplied with a sliding or friction clutch which is
moved by hand: This arm or bow takes hold of & drives the wheel or shaft
by pressing against a pin or a projection on the wheel, shaft, or other form of.
machinery requiring to be driven.
Opposite to or in the line of revolution of the bow there is placed on an
axle a wedge-shaped piece for disengaging, the point of which being presented
by hand between the bow & wheel, a separation takes place by the continued.
revolution of the driver, whilst that which was driven remains at rest...
Attached to the wedge for "throwing out" there is. another wedge-shaped
piece, which being placed in the circular line of revolution made by a stud

page_text: projecting from the back of the bow, forces it in passing towards the before-
mentioned pin or projection, thereby forming the driving connection or
"throwing-in. Two-bows or arms-may-be-used whenever it is considered
necessary to drive at opposite points.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Reed Hill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th October 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
REED HILL, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, of 7, Duke Street, Adelphi,
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said John Reed Hill, Her special licence that I, the said John Reed
Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Reed Hill, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN CLUTCHES OR CONNECTIONS FOR MACHINERY,"
upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Reed Hill, my executors or, admi-
nistrators, 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 John Reed Hill, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 :-
My improvements in clutches or connections for machinery are such that
any kind of work being performed may be thrown off within one revolution of
the driving shaft or wheel, however great the resistance may be, with the same

page_text: facility and ease as in very light work. The Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, in the
accompanying Drawing shew the application of this Invention to the case of a
shaft driving a wheel.
Figure 1 is a side view; Figure 2, edge view of wheel and clutch;
Figure 3, a plan of the same; Figure 4, a section of the clutch with the bow
only; Figure 5, part of a wheel with mortice for driving pin; Figure 6, front
view of disengaging arm.
In the second case wherein the wheel drives the shaft, as shewn by the other
Figures, Figure 7 is a side view; Figure 8, edge view of wheel and clutch;
Figure 9, plan of the same; Figure 10, bow and arm only..
A in every Figure represents the shaft; B, arm or lever fixed in the shaft;
C, a tooth or any other form of wheel; D is a bow for transmitting the power
from the wheel or shaft. In the case of the shaft driving the wheel, the ends
of the bow are attached to the ends of the cross arm at a, a, by joints suffi-
ciently loose to allow the part of the bow at d to be drawn from the wheel into
the position shewn by the dotted lines 6 in Figure 2. The part of wheel in
Figure 5 shews a mortice c, in which is fixed a projecting pin by which the
wheel is driven when the bow at d is close to the wheel, but when drawn out
it passes the pin, leaving the wheel at rest whilst the shaft and bow revolve.
This clutch is disengaged by the top of the lever E being brought within the
line of revolution of the top of the bow d and against the side of the wheel, so
that as the wheel is driven around, the wedged-shaped top of this lever E forces
the bow from the wheel when it remains at rest. This lever E is fixed on a
shaft e, having a handle similar to Figure 11, or of any other convenient con-
struction, and fixed where most within reach. Figure 6 shews the other view
of the lever E, the upper double incline f being for throwing off whichever
way the wheel may be revolving. The arm and double incline or wedge g is
for the purpose of throwing or putting into gear by its being drawn out into
the line of revolution of the projection h formed on the outside of the bow ;
therefore if the lever E is. moved from the wheel it, connects the wheel with
the shaft, but if moved towards the wheel it disconnects. In providing to drive
machinery wherein there is intermittent resistance, it may be necessary to con-
fine the arm and bow to the wheel, to prevent the wheel from overrunning or
moving faster than the arm or bow at the pauses of non-resistance, and then
being overtaken with a knock or "back lash" when the resistance returns. To
meet this case, the catch k is introduced into the bow, see dotted in Figure 1,
also a different kind, see Figure 4, being on a pin at i; the bow in this case
being made of two thicknesses, with the catch in the middle, or laid in a recess
with a spring to keep it out at all times, except when the pin of the wheel is

page_text: passing over it. The bow D is kept in its position when clear of the wheel by
the friction of a suitable substance fixed in the end of the branch j of the armi,
producing sufficient rubbing pressure as to keep it in the line, in which it will
be placed by the disengaging lever E. For disengaging small wheels it may
be found more convenient to put one lever for throwing off, as G, in Figure 5,
and another H, for throwing on, connected by a rod I, which will close the
clutch at a greater proportionate distance from the driving pin in the wheel
than in the former case when a wheel is employed to drive a shaft, as shewn by
Figures 7, 8, 9, 10; the bow is jointed (also loosely) to the wheel with suffi-
cient play to allow it to be drawn from the wheel, so that the inner projection
of the bow m may pass outside the end of the arm which is fixed on the shaft,
when the wheel will revolve, leaving the arm and shaft at rest. The outer
projection of the bow at n is for the purpose of being operated on by the
engaging and disengaging lever or levers, as before described, in the other
case, as in this respect both bows are similar. This bow may be kept in-its
place also by the friction of a bolt or pin fixed in the bow, and to slide in a
hole in the ring of the wheel with sufficient resistance to keep it clear of the
end of the arm when the shaft is thrown off.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise details as herein described, as
other modifications may be adopted, but claim as my Invention the general
arrangement of using a jointed bow to transmit the power, and which is dis-
engaged, when necessary, by the revolution of the driver, the wedge being
placed by hand into the requisite position.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Reed Hill, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
JOHN REED HILL. (L.S.)