IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR DRIVING BEWING MACHINES AND FOR SIMILAR PURPOSES
Year: 1885

page_text: similar Purposes.
I WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE of the Firm of Haseltine Lake & Co Patent Agents
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for "IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR DRIVING BEWING MACHINES
AND FOR SIMILAR PURPOSES
to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to produce a simple and convenient mechanism
for driving sewing, and other light running, machines.
The said invention consists in the combination with a rotary shaft, of, a lever
having an arm adapted to receive motion from the foot of the operator and an arm
connected to a strap, cord or like device; a pulley arranged loosely on the said
rotary shaft and receiving the strap, cord or like device around it, and a wheel
affixed to the said rotary shaft and deriving motion from the said pulley when the
pulley runs in one direction and running free of the pulley when the pulley runs ip
the reverse direction.
The motion of the operator's legs is a swinging motion forward and backward
and is much easier than a treadle. When the pulley rotates in one direction it
imparts motion in the same direction to the said wheel and shaft, but when the
pulley runs in the reverse direction it is disengaged from the said wheel and the
latter and the shaft run free under the momentum they have then acquired.

page_text: Improved Mechanism for Driving Sewing Machines, and for
similar Purposes.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
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 :-
The object of this invention is to produce a simple and convenient mechanism
for driving sewing machines and other light running machines.
My improvements consist in the combination with a rotary shaft of a lever
having an arm adapted to receive motion from the foot of the operator and an armi
connected to a strap, cord or like device; a pulley arranged loosely on the said
rotary shaft and receiving the strap, cord or like device around it; and a wheel
affixed to the said rotary shaft and deriving motion from the said pulley when the
pulley runs in one direction and running free of the pulley when the pulley runs
in the reverse direction.
The motion of the operator's legs is a swinging motion forward and backward
and is much easier than a treadle. When the pulley rotates in one direction it
imparts motion in the same direction to the said wheel and shaft, but when the
pulley runs in the reverse direction it is disengaged from the said wheel and the
latter and the shaft run free under the momentum they have then acquired.
In the accompanying drawing
Figure 1 is a front view of a sewing machine, a stand on which it is mounted
and mechanism for driving it.
Figure 2 is an end view of the same.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of a clutch which forms part of the driving
mechanism.
Figure 4 is a section of the clutch taken in a plane at right angles to Figure 3.-
Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures.
A designates a sewing machine of the general type known as the Wilcox & Gibbs
Machine. My improvement is not however confined in its application to any
particular machine.
The machine shown has a continuously rotating driving shaft a. An eccentric
or crank with which this is provided imparts motion to a pitman rod 6 whereby
the needle driving arm c is oscillated.
The sewing machine is mounted on a table or platform B erected on standard C.
A pulley & affixed to the shaft a receives a belt D from a belt pulley E whose
shaft E is journalled in hangers F depending from the table or platform B.
On the shaft E' is arranged a clutch consisting of ratchet wheel G which is
affixed to the shaft and a pulley G' mounted loosely on said shaft and provided with
a pawl or pawls G³ adapted to engage with the teeth of the ratchet wheel when the
pulley G¹ is rotated in one direction so as to transmit motion to the ratchet wheel
and its shaft E¹ and adapted to play freely over the teeth of the ratchet wheel when
the pulley G¹ is rotated in the other direction.

page_text: H designates a lever consisting essentially of a rock shaft h journalled in the
standards C, an arm h¹ extending downwardly from the rock shaft between the
standard C and a bifurcate arm h³ extending upwardly from the rock shaft outside
one of the standards C.
The arm h¹ of the lever H has at the lower end a foot piece h³ which is connected
to it in such manner as to be free to rock.
The lever is to be swung or oscillated by the foot of the operator applied to the
foot piece. The foot piece is rendered free to rock in order that it may accommodate
itself to the movements which the foot of the operator will naturally have in
swinging the lever H. I may make the rock shaft h and arm h¹ of the lever of
iron. I preferably make the arm h² of cast steel in order that the bifurcate portions
thereof may be resillient.
The bifurcate portions may be formed integral with a collar which is fitted and
secured to the end of the rock shaft h.
A strap cord or like device I made of leather or analogous material is wrapped
or wound around the pulley G and fastened at the ends to the bifurcate portions
of the arm h² of the lever H. When the lever H is swung in such direction as to
cause its arm h' to move rearwards the pulley G¹ will be rotated by the strap I in
the proper direction to effect the rotation of the shaft E¹.
The sewing machine will then be driven. When the lever H swings in the
reverse direction the strap I will rotate the pulley G in such direction that it will
run free of the ratchet wheel G so as to return to the starting position. Of course
the ratchet wheel G and the shaft E¹ may rotate free of the pulley G¹ whenever
they acquire a greater speed than the pulley G¹ even though the latter is rotating
in the same direction.
By my improvement I provide for driving a sewing machine with an easy motion
and very rapidly.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is:
The combination with a rotary shaft of a lever having an arm adapted to receive
motion from the foot and an arm connected to a strap cord or like device, a pulley
arranged loosely on the said rotary shaft and receiving the strap cord or like device
around it and a wheel to the said rotary shaft and deriving motion from the said
pulley when the pulley runs in one direction, and running free of the pulley when
the pulley runs in the reverse direction.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.