A MOVING TREAD POWER
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Koch, Engineer, of New York, in the United
States of America, for the Invention of "A MOVING TREAD POWER."
Sealed the 23rd December 1859, and dated the 4th November 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Koch at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th November 1859.
I, LOUIS KOCH, Engineer, of New York, in the United States of America,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A MOVING TREAD
POWER," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
mechanism for obtaining motive power, and consists in the application of the
weight of a man or quadruped in stepping on bands or their equivalent as a
cause of resistance against the propelling of any travelling machine, and
thereby giving motion by the simple act of walking of the said man or
quadruped to any mechanism carried on the framework of such machine, such
motion being obtained independantly of the motion of the wheels on which the
machine may be supported.
In carrying out the Invention, and applying it to a mowing or reaping

page_text: machine, for example, the frame of the machine is provided at its after end
with a pair of handles or shafts carried by the hands of a man, or supported in
a convenient manner from the back of an animal. The fore part of the frame
is supported on a pair of running wheels, which are totally independant of the
mechanism which drives the cutters. This mechanism (the peculiar mode of
actuating. which constitutes the main feature of my Invention) consists of a
transverse shaft provided with loose drums, which give motion to the shaft
through palls and ratchet wheels, as is well known to mechanics, and these
drums are themselves rotated by means of two bands, cords, chains, or
their equivalents, which are secured to their periphery and wound thereon,
whilst the other ends of the bands, cords, or chains, pass through suitable
guides and trail on the ground immediately beneath the feet of the man or
animal. As the machine is pushed along, the feet of the man or animal step
upon the bands alternately, and by thus offering resistance to the onward
movement of the machine, unwind each band from its drum alternately, and
rotate the drums, which transmit their rotatory motion to the transverse shaft
through the palls and ratchets, the motion transmitted being continuous, by
reason of the alternate action of the drums. Coiled springs are employed for
winding up each band again the instant it is released by the raising of the foot
from off its extremity on the ground. A continuous rotatory motion of the
shaft being thus obtained, it is evident that any convenient mechanical driver,
such as gearing and driving bands, may be employed for transmitting its
motion to the cutters, or other piece of mechanism to be operated upon. It
is further proposed to connect the bands, cords, or chains with oscillating
levers, or with wedges acting on antifriction rollers in lieu of drums, according
to the nature of the motion required, that is to say, whether it be a continuous
rotatory motion, or a horizontal, longitudinal, or vertical sliding motion, but in
all cases the motion required is obtained from the action of the feet in walking
when pushing or propelling the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Koch in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
April 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
KOCH, Engineer, of New York, in the United States of America, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Louis Koch, Her special license that I, the said
Louis Koch, my executors, administrators and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Louis Koch, my executors, administrators, or 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
"A MOVING TREAD POWER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Louis Koch, by an instrument in writing, under my hand and seal,
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 Louis Koch, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
mechanism for obtaining motive power, and consists in the application of the
weight of a man or quadruped in stepping on bands, or their equivalent, as a
cause of resistance against the propelling of any travelling machine, and
thereby giving motion by the simple act of walking of the said man or
quadruped to any mechanism carried on the framework of such machine, such
motion being obtained independantly of the motion of the wheels on which
the machine may be supported.
In carrying out the Invention, and applying it to a mowing or reaping
machine for example, the frame of the machine is provided at its after end
with a pair of handles or shafts carried by the hands of a man or supported in
a convenient manner from the back of a horse or other quadruped. The fore
part of the frame is supported on a pair of running wheels which are totally
independant of the mechanism which drives the cutters. This mechanism
(the peculiar mode of actuating which constitutes the main feature of my
Invention) consists of a transverse shaft provided with loose drums which give

page_text: motion to the shaft through palls and ratchet wheels as is well known to
mechanics, and these drums are themselves rotated by means of two bands,
cords, chains, or their equivalents which are secured to their peripheries and
wound thereon, whilst the other ends of the bands, cords, or chains, pass through
suitable guides, and trail on the ground immediately beneath the feet of the
man or animal. As the machine is pushed along the feet of the man or
animal step upon the bands alternately, and by thus offering resistance to the
onward movement of the machine unwind each band from its drum alternately
and rotate the drums which transmit their rotatory motion to the transverse
shaft through the palls and ratchets, the motion transmitted being continuous
by reason of the alternate action of the drums. Coiled springs are employed
for winding up each band again the instant it is released by the raising of
the foot from off its extremity on the ground. A continuous rotatory motion
of the shaft being thus obtained it is evident that any convenient mechanical
driver such as gearing and driving bands may be employed for transmitting
such motion to the cutters, or other mechanism to be operated upon.
It is further proposed to connect the bands, cords, or chains with oscillating
levers, or with wedges acting on antifriction rollers in lieu of drums according
to the nature of the motion required, that is to say, whether it be a continuous
rotatory motion or a horizontal, longitudinal, or vertical sliding motion, but in
all cases the motion required is obtained from the action of the feet in walking
when pushing or propelling the machine.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the two Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both Figures.
Figure 1 represents a plan view shewing the application of this moving
tread power to a reaping machine, and Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical
section of the same.
A, A, represent the frames of the machine supported by the running wheels B.
The back ends of the frames are bent slightly upwards so as to be conveniently
held by the bands in propelling the machine forwards, or the same may be so
arranged as to be attached to the upper part of the body by which means the
hands of the operator are at perfect liberty. E is a shaft turning in suitable
bearings attached to the frame A. On this shaft are fitted drums F, F¹, capable
of turning freely on the same. On the sides of these drums are ratchet wheels
G, G¹, which are firmly attached to the shaft E, and are acted upon by pawls n, n³,
secured to the drums, and so arranged that the turning of the said drums in

page_text: one direction, will by means of the pawls and ratchet wheels impart a rotatory
motion to the shaft E. H, H, are hollow boxes fitted loosely on the shaft E,
and kept in their proper places by being firmly attached to the cross-piece p
fast on the frames A. These boxes H and H' contain spiral springs secured
at one end to the inner circumference of their box, and at the other end to
their respective drums For F¹. Instead of placing the springs and pawls and
ratchet wheels on the outside of the drums, as above described, the same may
be arranged so as to be placed in the inside of said drums between the inner
periphery and the shaft. Around the drums F and F¹ bands K and K' are
wound, one end of each of which is fastened to its drum, and the other end
after passing through guides L or L' is fastened to and supported by the cross
piece p, and projects some distance on the ground where the same may be
fastened to pieces of wood or metal to give them more stiffness. Projections
m, m', are attached to the bands to prevent the same being drawn through
the guides L, L, and to give the springs fast to the drums their proper
tension.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-The man or animal having
hold of the back part of the machine, and in the act of propelling or pushing
the same forwards, places one foot on either of the bands (say K) on which,
consequently, the weight of his body will be thrown, holding thereby said
band K fast between his foot and the earth or ground, and unwinding
thereby said band by the forward motion of the machine from the drum F, at
the same time turning said drum F, which, through the connections of the
pawl a with the ratchet wheel G, acts upon the shaft E so as to turn the same.
The other foot then descends upon the band K', turning in the same manner
the drum F, which likewise communicates its motion to the shaft E so as to
turn the same. During this time the foot has been lifted off the band K
when the spiral spring in the box H, and which is attached to said drum F,
as before mentioned, acts upon this drum, so as to turn the same in the opposite
direction, winding thereby the band K again around said drum F, and bringing
the outer end of said band again near the end of the guide L until stopped by
the projection m, and ready for the next forward step of the foot, when the
same operation will be repeated, producing thereby a continued rotatory
motion of the shaft E, to be used for any desired purpose.'
In the machine represented in the Drawing a wheel M is fastened on the
shaft E, between the boxes H and H', which wheel gears into a pinion N,
attached to an upright spindle P, supported on the top of the box H, and in the
distance piece D (not shown in Figure 1). On the shaft or spindle P a drum
or pulley S is firmly fixed. On the forward end of the machine plates Ware

page_text: fastened to the frames A to support and carry upright spindles Q, on which
pulleys R are fastened, connected by bands with the drum or pulley S, by
which arrangement a rotatory motion is given to the said spindles Q. On the
spindles Q, plates J are firmly attached, to which bent knives or blades V are
fastened by means of screws or bolts. The spindles are placed so near together,
or the knives are made so long that the ends of said knives shall cross each
other but so as to work clear during their revolution. By reason of the
inclined position of the machine when operating, the inclination of the knives
or blades is downwards, and by the arrangement of curving the blades and
making the cutting edge on the outer circumference of the same, a drawing
and oblique cutting motion is produced on the grass or wheat, by which the
process of mowing or reaping and the power required is much facilitated and
reduced. Instead of using bands wound round the drums as herein-before
described cords or chains may be used provided with proper pieces outside of
the guide pieces for the foot to step on, or the ends of the bands or cords
outside the guides L, L', may be so constructed as to be fastened to the feet,
moving in that case backwards and forwards therewith. Instead of passing
bands or cords over drums or pulleys as above described, the same may each
be fastened to one end of a lever acted on by a spring so as to move the lever
back again after the pressure of the foot and the weight of the body upon the
end of the band have caused the same to be moved in one direction, while the
machine is propelled forwards. These levers may be attached either to a shaft
so as to communicate a rotatory motion to the same, or arranged so as to turn
on a fulcrum to produce a longitudinal motion. Or instead of attaching the
bands or cords to a drum placed on a shaft for the purpose of imparting a
rotatory motion to said shaft, or in lieu of fastening the bands, cords, or
-their equivalents to the end of levers to produce either a rotatory or a horizontal
or longitudinal motion, as above described, the same may be attached to an
inclined plane or wedge, upon which a roller or rollers are placed, which said
rollers will, by the pulling of said band or wedge, together with any weight
which may be attached to said rollers, be raised upwards, producing thereby
a power to be used for any desired purpose.
It will thus be seen that this moving tread power can be applied to any
travelling mechanism by using the weight of man or animal on said bands or
their equivalents às a cause of resistance against the propelling of the machine,
and giving motion by the act of walking of the man or animal to said
mechanism or its equivalent to produce a power applicable to any desired
purpose.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said

page_text: Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of apparatus
for obtaining and applying motive power, as herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of applying motion to travelling mechanism by
the action of the feet of man or animals upon bands or cords during the act of
walking, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Koch, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of March, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty.
LOUIS KOCH. (L.S.)