Improved Means for Working a Sewing or other Machine either by Hand or Foot.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Aug., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 5th June, 1893-Accepted, 29th July, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Working a Sewing or other Machine either by
Hand or Foot.
I, RICHARD HOUSE, of 11, Fore Street Avenue, in the City of London, Sewing
Machine Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to improved means for imparting rotary motion to sewing
and other machines either by hand or foot-power.
In carrying out my invention I employ a vertically moving rod or rack which
is directly geared to or connected with the shaft to be driven, which rod is worked
either by depressing it with the hand or by pulling it down by means of a treadle.
After the rod has been moved in one direction by the hand or foot it is returned
to its normal position by means of a spring.
Instead of directly operating the vertically moving rod by hand or foot-power it
may be operated by means of compressed air.
Dated this 3rd day of August 1892.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Working a Sewing or other Machine either by
Hand or Foot.
I, RICHARD HOUSE, of 11, Fore Street Avenue, in the City of London, Sewing
Machine Manufacturer, 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 :-
My invention relates to improved means for imparting rotary motion to sewing
and other machines either by hand or foot-power.
In carrying out my invention I employ a vertically moving rod or rack which is
directly geared to or connected with the shaft to be driven, which rod is worked
either by depressing it with the hand or by pulling it down by means of a treadle.
After the rod has been moved in one direction by the hand or foot it is returned
to its normal position by means of a spring or weight.
Instead of directly operating the vertically moving rod by hand or foot-power
it may be operated by means of compressed air.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :—
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a sewing machine having my improvements
applied thereto; and,
Figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 are views illustrating the construction of details :
Figures 6 and 7 are a side elevation and plan respectively of the treadle which
I advantageously employ:
Figure 8 is a view illustrating a modification of my invention; and,
Figure 9 is a section on the line 9-9 Figure 8:
Figure 10 is a vertical section of another modification; and,
Figure 11 is a vertical section on the line 11-11, Figure 10:
Figure 12 is a view illustrating the arrangement wherein compressed air is
amplared.

page_text: Figures 13 and 14 are sectional views at right angles to each other illustrating
another modification of my invention.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a is the frame of the machine to be driven, which frame is provided at its lower
part with a recess into which one jaw of a clamp is introduced, the other jaw,
which is formed by a screw pressing against the underside of the table upon
which the machine is supported, as shewn in Figure 1 and in Figure 2; which is a
section on the line 2-2 Figure 1.
c is the driving shaft of the machine to be driven, and d is the rod through the
medium of which motion is imparted to the said shaft, the said rod sliding through
suitable guides in the pillar or column e of the machine. This rod which is shewn
in horizontal section in Figure 3, drawn to an enlarged scale, is provided with
rack-teeth engaging with a pinion g loosely mounted upon the shaft c. Integral
with the said pinion g I form a casing constituting one part of a clutch-box, the
other part of which is secured to the shaft c. This clutch-box and the adjacent
parts are shewn in Figures 4 and 5 which are sectional views at right angles to
each other drawn to an enlarged scale. Between the two parts of the clutch-box
are fixed friction rollers j, j which act in a well known manner to cause the
clutch part i with the shaft to move when the casing rotates in the direction of
the arrow, Figure 3, but when the casing moves in the reverse direction allow
the said clutch part i to remain stationary so that no movement is imparted to the
said shaft.
kis a knob upon the upper end of the rod d, which knob enables the said rod to
be depressed by hand, and is a spring resting at its lower end upon projections
within the column e and bearing at its upper end against a collar on the rod d,
the said spring serving after the rod has been depressed to again raise it.
With this arrangement it will be readily understood that the depression of the
knob causes the rotation of the shaft c and that when the rod rises the clutch
causes the pinion to be disengaged from the said shaft so that the latter rotates
under the momentum of the fly-wheel m until the rod d is again depressed and
so on.
n is an eye which is attached to the lower end of the rod d and which can be
connected by a strap n' or by other suitable connection to a treadle o hinged upon
a board or base-plate o' in such a manner that it can be worked by the feet to
cause the required movement of the rod d.
It is obvious that with this arrangement the column portion of the machine
must project over the table to which it is applied, as shewn in Figure 1, so that no
obstruction is offered to the movement of the band n¹.
As the noise which would be made by the engagement of the teeth on the rack d
with the pinion 7 might in some cases be considered objectionable, I sometimes
form the rack and pinion as shewn in Figures 8 and 9. In these figures the teeth
of the rack are composed of halls p, p and the pinion g is provided with recesses
adapted to receive the said balls; the balls themselves are held in position in the
rod d which is made tubular, as shewn most clearly in Figure 9, and cut away at
one side. Or I sometimes employ the arrangeinent shewn in Figures 10 and 11,
in which the motion of the rod is communicated to a pulley or roller g' (instead
of to a pinion) by means of a cord 7 attached at its upper and lower ends to
suitable fixed points inside the said rod d, as shewn.
When I use compressed air for operating the rod d, the said rod is attached to a
weight rat the upper end of bellows and in connection with the lower end of
the bellows I arrange an india-rubber or other collapsable ball or chamber 5, the
compression of which by band serves to inflate the bellows and lift the rod d which
is caused to descend by means of the weight or by a spring the descent of the said
bellows returning the air into the ball s. In this arrangement the upward
movement of the rod d is utilized for imparting the required movement to the
shaft and therefore the clutch is arranged with the inclined surfaces of the part i
in an opposite direction to those shewn in Figure 5.
C

page_text: In some cases. I find it advantageous to arrange that both the upward and
lownward movements of the rod d shall be utilized to drive the machine, and for
his purpose
arrange upon the shaft e and upon a lower shaft t where such shaft
s employed, as shewn in Figure 1, corresponding gear-wheels g and corresponding
clutch-boxes except that one clutch-box is adapted to cause the rotation of one
shaft during the downward movement and the other the rotation of the other shaft
during the upward movement of the rod d. On a sleeve u in connection with say
the upper pinion g I fix one end of a coiled spring t, the other end of which is
attached to a casing w through which the rod d slides. The said spring is so
placed that when during the downward movement of the rod d the pinion g is
rotated the said spring will be more or less coiled and that as the pressure upon
the said rod is released the reaction of the spring will lift the said rod d which
through the medium of the lower gear-wheel g will impart positive movement to
the lower shaft t.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The combination with a sewing or other machine, of a rod sliding vertically in
the framing of the said machine and engaging with or connected to a pinion or roller
mounted upon the driving shaft of the said machine and connected thereto by means
of a clutch in such a manner that, when the rod is moved in one direction, the shaft
will be caused to rotate whilst when moved in the other direction the pinion or
roller will rotate upon the shaft, a spring being employed for moving the rod in
the reverse direction to that in which it is moved by the hand or foot, substantially
as described.
2. The combination with a sewing or other machine of a rod engaging with a
clutch pinion or roller upon the driving shaft of the machine, the said rod being
adapted to be moved either by hand or by means of a treadle connected to it,
substantially as described.
3. The combination with a sewing or other machine operated by the recipro-
cation of a rod engaging with a clutch-pinion or the like upon the driving shaft of
the machine, of means for reciprocating the said rod in one direction by compressed
air and in the reverse direction by a spring or weight, substantially as described.
4. The combination with a sewing machine of a reciprocating rod engaging with
clutch pinions upon both the upper and lower shafts of the machine in such a
manner that communication is imparted to one of them in one direction and to the
other when moved in the reverse direction, substantially as described.
5. The improvements in driving mechanism for sewing and other machines
hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the 5th day of June 1893.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.