OF TRANSMITTING ROTARY MOTION
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for
OF TRANSMITTING ROTARY MOTION."
Stephen Dennis, Antonio Samper, and
States of Columbia, South America.
the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS
A communication from abroad by
Julio Valenzuela, all of the United
Sealed the 12th September 1879, and dated the 16th July 1879.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 16th July 1879.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middle-
sex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVED MEANS OF TRANSMITTING ROTARY MOTION." A
communication from abroad by Stephen Dennis, Antonio Samper, and Julio
Valenzuela, all of the United States of Columbia, South America.
The object of this Invention is to transmit rotary motion with a minimum loss
by friction, and without the intervention of belts, gearing, and the like.
The Invention consists of two pullies, one on the driving and the other on the
driven shaft, that are connected by an endless cord, rope, or chain, which makes
one or more complete turns or coils around each, and is drawn to the ordinary
tension of a driving belt, while in front and rear of each pully, and nearly in
contact with their faces, are fixed grooved rollers either running loosely on shafts
or keyed on freely revolving shafts, each one of whose grooves covers a turn or coil
of the cord or rope, and thus keeps it in its perpendicular plane and prevents the
cord or rope from running off at the side of the pulley.
It will be obvious that by this device power can be transmitted from one point
to another without the friction incident to the use of belts, and without the loss of
power attendant upon the invariable slipping of belts when running at any but
very low speed.
Indeed it has been fully demonstrated that an economy of from twenty to
twenty-five per cent., which is convertible into like saving in fuel, may be assured
by substituting this frictionless and non-slipping transmitter for the ordinary device
of the belt. It will be seen too that by the aid of the grooved rollers power can,
with equal ease, be transmitted from a horizontal to a vertical shaft, or vice versa,

page_text: thus enabling one to dispense with the use of gear wheels, and that the power can
be transmitted to any distance whatever with less loss of the original force than by
-any-other-means.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a plan of the device; Figure 2 is a
sectional-side elevation-of-the-same-on-line x, x, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a sectional
plan of loose pully and clutch. Similar-letters of reference indicate corresponding
parts.
A. represents the frame supporting the working parts of the device; B is. the
driving pulley and C the driven pulley, the former-keyed-to-the-shaft-a,-while the
latter runs loosely on the shaft b', but can be "thrown in gear" by the action of
the clutch D, that is, keyed on shaft b'; E, E, are the grooved rollers on shafts c,.c¹;
the cord, rope, or chain Fis turned it is seen several times around the pullies B and
C, and its tendency to run sideways off the faces of the pulleys is checked by the
grooves of the rollers E, E, in which the turns or coils of the cord or rope run, and
the rollers revolve so freely that there is no appreciable friction between them and
the cord; G is a cross bar for stiffening the frame. The simplicity, effectiveness,
and durability of this device must be obvious to all who have had experience with
the common belt and cog-wheel systems.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,-
1st. The within described device for transmitting motion consisting of frame A
supporting the shafts a', 6', and c¹, c¹, pullies B and C, clutch D, grooved
rollers E, E, and cord, rope, or chain F, constructed and arranged substantially as
and for the purpose described.
2nd. A device for transmitting motion in which an endless cord, rope, or chain is
coiled one or more times around both driving and driven pullies, and held in place
by grooved rollers fixed in contact with it, substantially as herein shown and
described.
3rd. The combination of pullies B and C and cord, rope, or chain F with the
grooved rollers E, E, revolving in the same plane with the pullies, substantially as
herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 16th day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.