IMPROVEMENTS IN THEADLES FOR SEWING AND OTHER LIGHT MACHINERY
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough
Park, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THEADLES FOR SEWING AND OTHER LIGHT MACHINERY."
- A communication from abroad by Samuel Kilham Herrick,
residing at Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, in the United
States of America..
Sealed the 20th September 1872, and dated the 5th April 1872.

page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for
the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it has been com-
municated to me from abroad by Samuel Kilham Herrick, a person
resident at Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, in the United States
of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention to be as follows:-
On the Drawing Figure 1 is a front elevation; Figure 2 is a section
over the line A, B, taken on Figure 1; Figure 3 is a horizontal section
over the line C, D, taken on Figure 1; and Figure 4 is a cross section
over the line E, F, also taken on Figure 1.
My Invention relates to improvements in treadles for sewing and
other light machinery, and consists in reciprocating clutches or pawls
that are made to bind against the smooth surface of a drum or drums,
and operated by means of pinions held loosely on the shaft and rack
bars connected to the treadles. The treadles are lifted upwards auto-
matically by means of spiral springs or their equivalents attached to
the treadle shaft. A brake is placed on the side of the fly wheel in
such a manner that it can easily be worked by means of the operator's
knee for the purpose of stopping the machine quickly at any time.
The treadle motion may be started at any position of the stroke,
and the impetus given to the fly wheel by one motion of the treadle
will carry the shaft round a great many times, as will herein be
shewn and described.
.
a, a, are the two supports, in which the shaft b is held stationary.
Around the shaft is a sleeve c moveable, to which is keyed or otherwise
secured the fly wheel d and grooved pulley e, as shewn. Over the
sleeve c are the two circular discs f,f, easily moveable, and to each of
the discs ff, is attached a toothed pinion 9, 9. The toothed pinions g, g,
are made to operate with a reciprocating motion by means of the toothed
rack bars h, h, the lower ends of which are connected to the treadles i, i.
The treadles i, i, swing around the stationary treadle shaft k, and the
treadles are operated by the feet as usual. Spiral springs 1, 1, or their
equivalents are connected to the treadles i, i, and the stationary shaft k,
so as to balance the weight of the bars h, h, and press them upwards.
On each side of the pulley e is turned a smooth groove m, in which
projects a clutch or pawl n attached to the disc f by the pin o inserted
Joosely through a hole in the pawl n; a spring p or its equivalent is

page_text: attached to the disc f so as to hold the end q of the pawl n in contact
with the groove m.
As the disc f is moved like the arrow on Figure 4
the end q binds against the sides of the groove m, and thus carries with
it the drum e, but when the disc f is moved in the opposite direction
the pawl will glide easily over the groove m, but the momentum of the
fly wheel d will continue to move the pulley e onwards till a new
impetus is given to the drum e by the motion of the pawl n in the first-
named direction, and so on. A brake supported from the bottom of
the table or the frame a is made to be pressed against the wheel d by
the operator's knee so as to stop the machine at any time. A frame s
is secured to the shaft b, and serves as a guide for the bars h, h; but I
may also provide the bars h, h, with a slotted frame playing over the
shaft 6 for the same purpose, by the arrangement of which I may
attach the drum e to the shaft b, and have the shaft 6 revolving instead
of stationary.
•
.
Having thus described my Invention, I wish to claim the rack
bars h, h, operated by the spring foot plates i, i, in combination with the
cog wheels g, g, clutches or pawls n, n, grooved pulley e, and the fly
wheel d with its brake r, for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.