IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER, APPLICABLE TO WORKING SEWING MACHINES AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES." SP
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Morris Ashforth, of Market Overton,
Doctor of Medicine, and William Hardy, the younger, of Thistleton,
both in the County of Rutland, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER, APPLICABLE TO WORKING SEWING
MACHINES AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Morris Ashforth
and William Hardy at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 21st October 1869.
We, GEORGE MORRIS ASHFORTH, of Market Overton, Doctor of
Medicine, and WILLIAM HARDY, the younger, of Thistleton, both in the
County of Rutland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER, APPLICABLE TO
WORKING SEWING MACHINES AND OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in obtaining motive
power, and in applying the same for working sewing machines, and for
other such purposes.

page_text: We propose to construct a foundation and standards or vertical bearing
plates, within which the various parts are contained and allowed to work
in journals. A large cog wheel rim or flange forms the main driving wheel
and is supported by an additional rim or tyre, the periphery of which is
made on the principle of a windlass wheel to receive the links of an
endless chain. Within the internal periphery of the wheel or rim a disc
wheel is fitted, having narrow flanges or borders to contain the width of
the compound rim, within which it is capable of turning loosely, and of
being firmly fixed therein by means of a clutch action in order to cause
the uniform motion of the two; this disc wheel is fixed to or forms part
of the chain wheel rim. The chain supports a weight of sufficient cxtent
to exercise power on the chain wheel, and by its descent to produce the
rotation of the driving rim in gear with which a pinion is set, the shaft
carrying a multiplying driving toothed wheel gearing again into a third
pinion, and so on according to the rapidity of motion required, the last
pinion being attached to the driving shaft of the sewing machine or other
apparatus to be worked. When the weight has descended to its limit or
thereabouts, the clutch is released and the disc wheel turned back by
a handle, whereby the weight is again raised with the chain, and the
clutch being fastened the operation may be recommenced and the work
will continue in proportion to the length of chain and the descent of
the weight.
To regulate the speed of the motion a friction break is applied to the
disc wheel on its smooth edge. This break may consist of a rod or stem
having a screw cut thereon, and passed through two horizontal bars, its
lower extremity being provided with a block of wood or metal to fit the
shape of the rim, or with a steel friction band or other equivalent so that
the break may be tightened or slackened as required. To stop the
motion a rocking lever is applied to a series of projecting teeth on the
face of the disc. The fusee wheel may be cut with a V
to receive
a rope or cord instead of a chain, and the rope may be passed under one
or more rollers and carried upwards to a pulley from which the weight
is supported.
groove
Or the sewing machine with the apparatus attached may be placed in
conjunction with a standard or pillar, at the top of which the pulley may
bo set in a bearing and the rope carried from the driving fusce over the
pulley so as to descend from the ceiling to the floor.
To increase the speed of the sewing machine a large grooved driving

page_text: wheel may be finally set on the shaft and a band carried over the grooved
wheel of the machine, and placed on any diameter of pulley required for
the speed. The weight may also be caused to pass through a floor or
series of floors, or even to descend outside the wall of a building, in order
to afford a sufficient degree of descent to work the apparatus for a con-
siderable time. In accordance with the power and speed required so
must the degree of weight be regulated, and in order to raise the weight
for a new operation a crank handle may be used to the fusee wheel with
or without the intervention of toothed gearing. In other cases a lever
may be used working with a pall on to a ratchet wheel set on the square
stem of the fusce outside the plate or standards, by the use of which any
power may be brought to bear to wind up the weight.
By these improvements sewing machines or other such apparatus may
be worked without the use of a treddle or manual labor, it being only
necessary to adjust the weight at intervals as the power becomes
exhausted.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Morris Ashforth and William Hardy in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, GEORGE
MORRIS ASHFORTH, of Market Overton, Doctor of Medicine, and WILLIAM
ILARDY, the younger, of Thistleton, both in the County of Rutland, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said George Morris Ashforth and William Hardy,
Her special licenco that we, the said George Morris Ashforth and William
Hardy, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
we, the said George Morris Ashforth and William Hardy, our executors,
administrators, and 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

page_text: Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING
AND APPLYING MOTIVE POWER, APPLICABLE TO WORKING SEWING MACHINES AND
OTHER USEFUL PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said George Morris Ashforth and William Hardy, our exccutors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their,
or one of their hands and seals, 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 George Morris Ashforth, do hereby
declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
Our Invention relates to certain improvements in obtaining motive
power, and in applying the same for working sewing machines and for
other such purposes.
We construct a foundation and standards or vertical bearing plates,
within which the various parts are contained and allowed to work in
journals. A large cog wheel rim or flange forms the main driving
wheel, and is supported by an additional rim or tyre, the periphery
of which is made on the principle of a windlass wheel to receive the
links of an endless chain. Within the internal periphery of the wheel or
rim a disc wheel is fitted, having narrow flanges or borders to contain
the width of the compound rim, within which it is capable of turning?
loosely and of being firmly fixed therein by means of a clutch action
in order to cause the uniform motion of the two; this diso wheel
is fixed to or forms part of the chain wheel rim. The chain supports
a weight sufficient to exercise power on the chain wheel, and by its
descent to produce the rotation of the driving rim, in gear with which a
pinion is set, the shaft carrying a multiplying driving toothed wheel
gearing again into a third pinion, and so on according to the rapidity of
motion required, the last pinion being attached to the driving shaft of
the sewing machine or other apparatus to be worked. When the
weight has descended to its limit or thereabouts the clutch is released a
d the disc wheel turned back by a handle, whereby the weight is
; in raised with the chain, and the clutch being fastened the operation

page_text: may be recommenced, and the work will continue in proportion to the
length of chain and the descent of the weight.
To regulate the speed of the motion a friction break is applied to the
disc wheel on its smooth edge or to an independent break wheel on the
shaft of the last pinion, as may be most convenient. This break may
consist of a rod or stem having a screw cut thercon and passed through
two horizontal bars, its lower extremity being provided with a block of
wood or metal to fit the shape of the rim, or with a steel friction band
or other equivalent so that the break may be tightened or slackened as
required. To stop the motion a rocking lever may be applied to a series
of projecting teeth on the face of the disc, but in most cases the friction
break will be found sufficient. The fusce wheel may be cut with a
V groove to receive a rope or cord instead of a chain, and a rope may be
passed under one or more rollers and carried upwards to a pulley, from
which the weight is supported.
Or the sewing machine with the apparatus attached may be placed in
conjunction with a standard or pillar, at the top of which the pulley may
be set in a bearing and the rope carried from the driving fusee over the
pulley, so as to descend from the ceiling to the floor.
To increase the speed of the sewing machine a large grooved driving
fly wheel may be finally set on the shaft, and a band carried over the
grooved wheel of the machine and placed on any diameter of pulley
required for the speed. The weight may also be caused to pass through
a floor or scries of floors, or even to descend outside the wall of a
building, in order to afford a sufficient degree of descent to work the
apparatus for a considerable time. In accordance with the power and
speed required so must the degree of weight be regulated, and in order
to raise the weight for a new operation a crank handle may be used to
the fusee wheel with or without the intervention of toothed gearing. In
elevating the weight a lever may be used working with a pall on a
ratchet wheel set on the square stem of the fusce outside the plate or
standards, or a crank handle may be applied, in either of which methods
a pinion may be made to gear with the toothed wheel on the stem or
shaft of the chain wheel, so that the weight may be raised with case by
the operator. A treddle break may also be used, whereby the foot may
bring down the friction piece on the disc wheel.
By these improvements sewing machines or other such apparatus may
ho worked without the use of a traddle or manual nower it being only

page_text: necessary to adjust the weight at intervals as the power becomes
exhausted.
We now proceed to describe the most suitable arrangement of
apparatus for carrying into effect the foregoing principles, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings and letters thereon.
Fig. 1 shews a front elevation of the machine, partly in section;
Fig. 2, a plan view; Fig. 3, a separate view of the compound chain wheel
and loose ratchet wheel with pall action; Fig. 4, an opposite view of
same. Similar letters denote corresponding parts in each Figure.
The apparatus shewn is to be set in a suitable casing or cabinet work
in such manner that the chain, standard, and weight may be concealed
from view, unless the apparatus is intended to be used in a factory,
where the weight and chain may descend outside the building from an
upper story, but in domestic use, where the cabinet work would be
especially applicable, the hollow pillar within which the chain and
weight are contained may be about six or seven feet in height, according
to the time during which the machine is required to work. So also, not
only for the sake of appearance but for increase of time in working, a
corresponding pillar may be made on the right-hand side of the work,
and a second weight and arrangement of chain in connexion with the
driving wheel may be placed therein, so as to increase the time of its
operation by a single winding of the chain; otherwise a second weight
may be arranged with a similar object in the left pillar. Above the
apparatus, on a suitable table, the sowing machine is set in the ordinary
manner, and a driving band from the fly wheel brought through a slot
in the table serves to drive the sewing machine, the speed being
regulated by the break power at the will of the operator.
By reference to the Drawings Figs. 1 and 2 it will be seen that within
the framework a, a, the series of toothed wheels and pinions are con-
tained, the two plates being bolted together by stays and screws b, b. 3
Outside the front plate the main cog wheel c is set on a shaft passing
through bearings in the frame plates, and this wheel is driven by the
pinion d by means of the crank handle e. But other means of actuating
this wheel may be devised; for example, a lever may be applied in
conjunction with a pall and ratchet motion, whereby a very small;
amount of power will be necessary to turn the wheel and elevate the
weight; but in either caso the intervention of the pinion d will render
the motion of the wheel o easy to the operator notwithstanding the

page_text: weight lifted. The shaft also carries the fast and loose compound
ratchet wheel e whereby the winding of the chain is effected.
Now in order that the winding up of the weight shall be accomplished
without affecting the multiplying wheelwork of the apparatus within the
frame the fast and loose compound wheel is applied. Fig. 3 shews an
internal face view of the driving portion with its ratchet f secured by
two pins g, g; then Fig. 4 shews the corresponding opposite face of the
chain wheel. It will be observed that the pall his actuated by the
spring secured to the platej by the screw. The pall works on a
pivot, but escapes the ratchet while turning to the right, but when
once turned to elevate the weight the ratchet cannot turn to the left
without dragging back the pall and its chain, and consequently the
weight of the chain must actuate the entire scries of wheelwork, and
eventually the fly wheel and sewing machine or other machine to which
the apparatus may be applied. is the first of the series of wheelwork,
carrying a certain number of teeth, and being of a corresponding
diameter in order to effect increase of speed to the pinion m, which is sct
on the shaft n carrying a second toothed wheel o gearing with the pinion
2 keyed to the shaft q, on which the fly wheel r is applied. This wheel
is grooved to receive the band whereby the sewing or other machine is
actuated. The shaft q also carries a friction wheel 8, above which a
break & is placed, secured to the spring and controlled by the treddle u
pressed by the foot of the operator. The chain wo passes over the
pulley a; it is attached to the weight 6'; then it passes to the driving
wheel, and round the same continuously. shew the grooved pulleys
keeping the chain in gear. The standard d' is shown, and may be of
any desired height according to circumstances; it is made of iron braced
together by tics; and the chain is made to correspond with a whelped
boss formed on the chain wheel, after the manner of a windlass or
anchor chain wheel; or it may be made in compound parallel links to
gear with pins or studs on the chain wheel. In Fig. 1 the chain is
shewn descending at a further angle in case the friction bearing wheel
or pulley c¹ should be placed over the centre of the chain wheel.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into practical effect, wo would
remark in conclusion that we do not limit ourselves to the precise
details or configuration of parts which we have expressed and shown, nor
to any definite proportions or diameters of wheels and pinions, since

page_text: the same may be varied to suit the speed required to work various
machines and the power demanded; but what we claim and desire to
be secured to us by the herein in part recited Letters Patent is, the
general construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, with
special reference to the compound chain and ratchet wheel for winding
and controlling the chain and weight, constituting our improvements
in obtaining and applying motive power for the purpose of driving
sewing machines and other descriptions of machinery to which such
apparatus is or may be applicable, substantially as herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Morris Ashforth, have here- 1
unto set my hand and scal, this Nineteenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
JOHN L. FRENCIL,
8, Croft Place,
Hastings.
G. M. ASHFORTH. (L.S.)