Improvements in Pedal Actuated Driving-mechanism for Use in Propelling Small Boats.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd July, 1899-Accepted, 7th Oct.,
1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Communicated from abroad by HENRY STRONG DURAND, of 87, South Fitzhugh
Street, Rochester, New York, Physician and Surgeon, ROBERT MCCANDLASS
BECK, of 717, Jefferson Street, Waverly, Baltimore, Maryland, Machinist,
and ROBERT KENDALL MCLELLAN, of 422, West Twenty-Third Street, New
York City, Machinist, all in the United States of America.]
Improvements in Pedal Actuated Driving-mechanism for Use in
Propelling Small Boats.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
This invention relates to improvements in motors which are actuated by foot-
power, and which are adapted to impart to the shaft of a screw-propeller of a
small boat the proper motion to enable the boat to be driven by means of such
a motor, in connection with the propeller and its shaft, by a person sitting in
the boat, and the invention consists of a mechanical motor constructed and
adapted to be operated substantially as is shown by the accompanying drawings,
and as is hereinafter described and claimed.
On the accompanying sheets of drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the
motor; Fig. 2, a rear elevation, being a view in the direction indicated by the
arrow near the right of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the motor, with supple-
mentary means adapting it to be operated by two persons sitting before it, as
well as by the person naturally sitting behind it; Fig. 4, a detail of particular
parts which appear in Fig. 3; and Fig. 5, a view of the motor as it appears
when in use in a boat, a portion of the boat being broken away to expose the
motor and the feet and legs of the persons operating it.
Similar reference-numerals designate like parts in different views.
The object of this invention is to produce a motor which may be operated by a
person sitting on a seat like an ordinary chair, the motor being stationed in front
of him, and being driven by the legs acting as toggles, their force being exerted
against the back of the seat, and against pedals which move alternately forward
and backward from and toward the seat-back, in courses which are followed
naturally by the feet as the legs are straightened and bent.
The frame of the motor is composed of a base 1 and uprights 10, the base being
provided with ears 1 through which bolts or screws may be passed. The tops of
the uprights are connected together by a cross-bar 11, and on each upright is
a projection 12, in which is a recess 12. In the lower and forward part of the
frame is a shaft 2, which projects from the sides of the frame, and on which are
crank-arms 20 extending in opposite directions from the shaft. Each crank-arm
The beams are pivoted on the projec-
is connected to a beam 3 by a link 4.
tions 12 of the frame, the length of each beam being preferably a little more
5 than two and one half times the length of one of the crank-arms, and the eleva-
tion of the axis of the beams above that of the shaft 2 being a little less than

page_text: the length of one of the beams. The length of the links 4 is such that when the
crank-arms are parallel to the base, that one of the beams 3 which is connected
to the forward crank-arm is nearly vertical. The relations to each other of the
crank-arms, beams 3, and links 4 being as described, the lower ends of the beams
and rear ends of the links travel forward and backward, during each revolution
imparted to the shaft 2, along arcs whose rear extremities are nearer to a hori-
zontal plane containing their forward extremities, than to a vertical plane also
containing their forward extremities.
Between each of the beams 3 and the adjacent upright 10 of the frame is a
bar 31, which is attached at its ends to the beam 3 by means of the bearing-pins
of the beam, these pins and those of the other beam extending through the outer
portions of the projections 12 and through the rear ends of the links 4. The
upper ends of the bars 3¹ are contained in the recesses 12 in the projections 12.
The function of these bars is to reinforce the beams 3, so as to help prevent them
from springing, or from exerting an improper strain on the bearings. These
bearings, as well as those of the crank-arms and links 4 and of the shaft 2, are
ball-bearings.
Each of the beams 3 is provided at its lower end with projections 30 and 31,
and foot-rests or pedals 30 and 31' are attached to these projections. A cord or
strap 32, provided at its rear end with a handle, is sometimes attached as shown
to each of the pins on which the foot-rests 30¹ are mounted, and such cords or
straps might be attached to pins projecting from the pedals 31. The pedals 31'
are intended to be used only when two persons operate the motor, although one
person might operate it by means of these pedals instead of the others mentioned.
The shaft 2 carries a large gear-wheel 21, which is tight on the shaft. Below
and behind this shaft is another shaft 5. The latter shaft is parallel to the
shaft 2, and has its bearings in blocks 13 which are bolted to the uprights 10. It
carries a pinion 50 and a bevel-gear 51 having a common hub, by which they are
keyed to the shaft. The gear 21 engages the pinion 50. A shaft 52, for example
a propeller shaft having one of its bearings in the block or bracket 53 fixed on
the base 1, carries a small bevel-pinion 54, with which the bevel-gear 51 engages.
The bolt-holes in the bearing-blocks 13 are slots, and on these blocks are arms 14
which extend to the block 53, and are attached thereto by screws passing through
the slots in the arms. The slots mentioned facilitate the adjustment of
the gears 50 and 51, to bring them into proper relations with the gears 21 and 54.
Balance wheels 55 and 50 are secured on the shafts 52 and 5 respectively, and
on a shaft journalled in the uprights, above and behind the shaft 2, another
balance-wheel 57 is keyed, together with a pinion 58 which is engaged by the
gear 21. The mechanism between the uprights is inclosed in a case, portions of
which are shown in Figs. 1 and 2.
The direction of the forward motion of the cranks is indicated by the arrow near
the left of Fig. 1. When the motor is operated by one person only, he naturally
sits behind it pushing against the pedals 30¹, his position there being more favor-
able than another which he might occupy in front of the motor, with his feet on
the pedals 31'. The effective resultants of the power applied by the legs to the
pedals 30 are transmitted by the links 4 to the crank-arms 20, causing the
shaft 2 and gear 21 to rotate, and to impart motion to the shaft 52 through the
gears 50, 51 and 54.
If it is desirable to provide for the operation of the motor by several persons
all facing in the same direction, so that, for example, a boat may be propelled
by a crew operating the motor, that is done by the addition to the machine
described of the means illustrated in connection with it in Fig. 3. In front of
the motor and at suitable distances from it and from each other, are stationed
standards 10, whose height is the same as that of the frame of the motor.
Beams 31, similar to the beams 3, are pivoted to each of these standards, there
being such a beam on each side of every standard, and each of the beams 3" is
reinforced by a bar 3111, similar to the bars 34, the beams and bars being con-

page_text: eams on
are
cted together at their ends by the bearing-pins, as are the beams and par
d 31. The beams 31 are a little further apart than are the beams 3 of the
otor, each of the beams 3" and its reinforcing bar 31 being so arranged that
e outer face of the bar and that of the projection 31, on the corresponding
eam of the motor, are in the same vertical plane. Between the lower end of
The
ach of the beams 3 and that of its reinforcing bar 31 is a block 40, mounted
posely on the bearing-pin, these blocks being provided with nipples 41.
connected with those of the stan-
41 These
the forward standard
motor, by rods
ard behind it, and with those of the
ods are composed of sections, which are screwed into the nipples 41 of
he blocks 40, and which are of proper lengths to keep the beams of each series,
or those which are connected together by each rod, substantially parallel to one
nother. The rear sections of the rods 4¹ are provided with eyes, by which they
are pivoted on studs on the projections 31 of the beams 3, the studs being affixed
to the projections 31 in place of the pedals 31', but the bars 4 might be pivoted
to the lower ends of the beams 3 proper, instead of to the projections 31. The
bearings at the ends of the beams 3, and those at the ends of the rods 4¹, are
ball-bearings. At the lower end of each of the beams 311 is a pedal 30, which
is secured to the beam as represented in Fig. 4, and behind the motor, and behind
each of the standards 10', a seat is fixed in the proper position to enable a person
occupying it to exert power most effectively upon the pair of pedals next in front
of him.
To provide for the operation of the motor by four or more persons, the supple-
mentary means above described is extended by the addition of other similar
means.
The rods 4 are made in sections, to render it easy to lengthen or shorten them
as may be desired, but a single continuous bar might be substituted for each of
these rods.
It is
The motor is represented in Fig. 5 in its proper position in a boat.
fastened to the bottom of the boat, or a foundation close to the bottom or keel,
by screws or bolts passing through the ears 1' of the base. The seat 6 behind the
motor is preferably so arranged that the seat proper is a little above the axis of
each of the pedals 30', when the pedal is in its highest and most backward posi-
tion, and that the leg of the person operating the motor, he sitting on the seat
5 with his back against the seat-back, shall be straight, or nearly so, when the
pedal is in its most forward position. He sits then well down in the boat, about
as near to the bottom as a person commonly sits in a small row-boat, so that his
weight tends to keep the boat steady, and besides, his seat and its arrangement
with respect to the motor are such that he can exert the full strength of his legs,
0 acting as toggles, against the back of the seat and the pedals of the motor.
motion of each of the pedals 30 being forward and downward at the beginning
of each stroke, it is particularly favorable to the leg, since the force then exerted
on the pedal acts on a line drawn from the knee to the pedal, or in a direction
which is nearly the same as that of the pedal's motion. When the motor is pro-
45 vided with the cords or straps 32, effective power may also be exerted by pulling
on these with the arms during the backward movements of the pedals.
Another person may act on the pedals 311, from a seat 6', placed in front o
This seat is so arranged that the sea
the motor, as represented in Fig. 5.
proper is about level with the axis of either pedal, and the leg of the person
50 straight or nearly so, when the pedal is in its highest position.
The
The relation of each of the seats 61 to the pair of pedals next in front of it i
The force exerted on th
the same as that of the seat 6 to the pedals 30'.
pedals 3011 is transmitted by the rods 4' to the beams 3, and thus acts upon th
cranks in conjunction with that applied to them by the person sitting behin
55 the motor.
Each of the seats should be adjustable forward and backward, and verticall
i

page_text: to render it easy to change its position, if necessary, to that which would best
suit the person who is to occupy the seat.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondents, I declare that what I claim is:
1. A mechanical motor comprising the combination of; a shaft 2; shaft-driving
mechanism composed of a pair of cranks, a pair of beams, and a pair of links;
and a pair of pedals on the shaft-driving mechanism; the cranks being fixed on
the shaft, the beams being equal in length and being mounted on an axis parallel
to and above and behind the shaft and at an elevation above the axis of the shaft
greater than the distance of their axis behind that of the shaft, the links being
equal in length and each being pivoted at its front end to one of the cranks and
at its rear end to one of the beams, each of the peals being con-
nected with one of the beams at the lower end of the beam, and the rela-
tions between the cranks, beams and links rendering the motion of the pedals a
reciprocating motion forward and downward towards and backward and upward
from the shaft; substantially as described.
2. A mechanical motor comprising the combination of: a shaft 2; shaft-driving
mechanism composed of a pair of beams and means of imparting motion from
the beams to the shaft; and a pair of pedals; the beams being equal in length and
being mounted on an axis parallel to and above the shaft and at an elevation
above the axis of the shaft greater than the distance of their axis from a vertical
plane containing the axis of the shaft, each of the pedals being connected with
one of the beams at the lower end of the beam, and the relations between the
beams and other parts of the shaft-driving mechanism rendering the motion of
the pedals a reciprocating motion forward and downward towards and backward
and upward from the shaft; substantially as described.
3. A mechanical motor comprising the combination of: a shaft 2; shaft-driving
mechanism extending behind the shaft; and a pair of pedals; the pedals being
connected behind the shaft with the shaft-driving mechanism and having a reci-
procating motion forward and downward towards and backward and upward from
the shaft, their forward and backward motion being greater than their downward
and upward motion; substantially as described.
4. A mechanical motor combined with supplemental operating mechanism, the
combination comprising: a motor having shaft-driving mechanism composed of
a pair of beams 3 and means of imparting motion from the beams to the shaft,
the beams being pivoted at their upper ends to the frame and their lower ends
having a reciprocating motion forward and downward towards and backward and
upward from the shaft; a pair or pairs of beams 31 pivoted to a standard or
standards in front of the motor; rods or bars connecting the pairs of beams
and 3 together; and pedals at the lower ends of the beams 3 substantially
as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.