Improvements in or connected with Foot Motors for Sewing and other Machines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Feb., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 18th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 6th Jan., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Foot Motors for Sewing and
other Machines.
We, DONALD NOBLE, and JOHN ARTHUR BROWN, of the Nobro Works,
Little Queen Street, Leeds, in the County of York, Engineers, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with foot motors for
sewing and other machines.
The objects of our invention are, first, to reduce the friction of the driving
wheel by the employment of a ball or antifrictional bearing, and at the same time
to provide for the adjustment of the opposite end of the crank shaft by means of
a centre screw, which also acts as a bearing; and second, to enable the driving
wheel to be placed on the outside of the stand and to utilize the stand as a guard
for the wheel.
In carrying this invention into practice we employ a suitable stand constructed
so that it will act as a guard for the driving wheel which is mounted as hereafter
described on the crank shaft on the outside of the stand. Provision is made on
the stand for the pivoting of the treadle and also for adjustably attaching a bench
or table thereto.
On the stand is provided a suitable boss in which is bored a hole preferably of
two diameters, though not necessarily so, as the object we have in view could be
obtained by boring a hole of the same diameter through the boss and attaching to
it a plate or disc in which is bored a hole of smaller diameter than that in the
boss. Through the boss is passed the end of the crank shaft on which the driving
wheel is mounted, and the said shaft is supported by any desired number of balls or
spheres arranged within the boss, a cone being formed or mounted on the crank
shaft for keeping the spheres in position and against which they work. The
opposite end of the crank shaft is carried by a centre bearing consisting of an
adjusting screw (armed with one or more locknuts) provided with a V'd end. The
centre bearing is carried in a suitable support or crank guard, which is fixed to
the boss of the stand. The said screw thus serves the double purpose of centre
bearing and adjusting device; by means of which the cone on the crank shaft is
pressed against the said spheres, which in return are retained in position by the
internal lip or flange, formed by the two diameters of holes in the boss, which acts
as a thrusting piece.
The boss in the stand by having an internal lip or flange and by being closed at
the opposite end by the crank guard may be arranged to act as a well for the
reception of oil for lubricating the antifrictional bearing. Whilst the lubrication
of the centre bearing may be obtained by means of a tube or well (attached to
the crank guard) for the reception of oil, and any fibrous material saturated with
oil by capillary attraction.
The crank and treadle may be connected together by ordinary means.
The above described stand and bearing or method of mounting the crank shaft
in said bearing alone, is applicable to sewing and other machines of ordinary
construction.
Dated the Camenteenth day of February 1808.
DONALD NOBLE,
JOHN ARTHUR BROWN,.
By W. Fairburn-Hart,
Agent.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Foot Motors for Sewing and
other Machines.
We, DONALD NOBLE and JOHN ARTHUR BROWN, of the Nobro Works,
Little Queen Street, Leeds, in the County of York, Engineers, 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:—
This invention relates to improvements in or connected with foot motors for
sewing and other machines.
The objects of our invention are, first, to reduce the friction of the driving
wheel by the employment of a ball or antifrictional bearing, and at the same time
to provide for the adjustment of the opposite end of the crank shaft by means of
a centre screw, which also acts as a bearing; and second, to enable the driving
wheel to be placed on the outside of the stand and to utilize the stand as a guàrd
for the wheel.
In the drawings :-
Fig. 1. is a front elevation, Fig. 2. an end elevation, and Fig. 3. a plan of a foot
motor constructed according to this invention.
Fig. 4. is a transverse section on line z. a, Fig. 2. looking at the back and drawn
to a larger scale than the other views.
A is the standard or upright,-hereafter termed stand,-which is preferably though
not necessarily so, shaped as shown in drawings and it is provided with the
guard A' to prevent the operator's dress or other clothing coming in contact with
the driving wheel B, which is placed on the outside of the stand instead of the
inside as is generally the case.
C is the treadle which is mounted in bearings C₁ by the centres c.
The
bearings are connected to the stand A by the rod C. In the upper portion of
the stand A is provided a bearing A' in which is mounted the adjustable table
supporting pin D.
E is a boss provided in or on the stand A in which is bored a hole è (see Fig. 4)
preferably, of two diameters. It will be seen on reference to Fig. 4. of the drawings
that the portion of the hole e which is of a larger diameter than the crank Fis
arranged to pass almost through the boss and is then reduced in size to suit the
diameter of the crank F as well as to form a lip or ledge e' for the purposes to be
hereafter named. We would have it understood that it is not absolutely necessary
to make the hole e in the boss of two diameters as the object we have in view could
be attained by making the hole of one diameter and screwing or otherwise fixing a
plate (with a hole in it smaller than that in the boss but of the same size as the
diameter of the crank) to the face of the boss E to form the ledge e'. To the face
of the boss opposite to the ledge el is fixed by set screws e³, e³, or their equivalents,
the crank guard G for preventing the knees or clothing of the operator coming in
contact with the crank. One arm or end of the crank guard G is provided with a
boss which is of the same diameter as the largest portion of the hole, and it is
arranged to pass within the hole in the boss E so that the crank guard may form a
closing or cover for the hole and also form a bearing for the end of the crank F.
The crank F is provided with a reduced end f on which is mounted and fixed a
cone F¹, and the fly wheel B. The end of the crank is supported by any desired
number of balls or spheres I arranged within the boss E. These balls or spheres I
are kept at the lip or ledge end of the boss E by the cone F upon the surface of
which they impinge. The opposite end of the crank-shaft is pointed or in the
shape of V, and is supported by a centre bearing consisting of an adjusting
screw H which may or may not be armed with one or more lock nuts H. The

page_text: centre bearing H is mounted in one of the arms of the herein before mentioned crank
guard G.
The screw H thus serves the double purpose of centre bearing and adjusting
device by means of which the cone F' on the crank shaft is pressed against the
said spheres I, which in return are retained in position by the internal lip or
flange e formed by the two diameters of hole in the boss E which acts as a thrusting
piece.
The boss E by having an internal lip or flange e¹ and by being closed at the
opposite end by the crank guard G may be arranged to act as a well for the
reception of oil, tallow, or other equivalent substance for lubricating the anti-
frictional bearing.
Whilst the lubrication of the centre bearing H may be obtained by capillary
attraction by means of a tube or well J attached to the crank guard G for the
reception of oil and any fibrous material, such as hemp, cotton or the like. The
crank F and treadle C may be connected together by ordinary means, such as
by the connecting rod K.
Before attaching the crank guard G to the stand A, the crank F is so made that
its end f' may be threaded through the hole in the boss g until the pointed end f¹
of the crank is in contact with the centre bearing H in which it works, and the
end is then passed within the boss E until the cone F¹ is in contact with the balls
or spheres I when the crank guard G may be secured to the stand A. and the fly
wheel B mounted upon the outer end of the crank shaft as shown. The cone F'' is
adjustably kept in contact with the balls or spheres by means of the centre
bearing H.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
:-
1st. A foot motor for sewing and other machines consisting of a treadle connected
as described to a stand which forms a guard for the fly wheel, a crank shaft carried
in ball and centre bearings capable of adjustment, and the means for lubricating the
bearings, and for connecting the treadle and crank together, substantially as herein
described and illustrated.
2nd. In a foot motor for sewing and other machines, the stand A constructed as
described to form a guard for the fly wheel and provided with an adjustable
pillar D for supporting the table and a crank guard G secured to said stand and
armed with an adjustable centre bearing for the reception of the pointed end of a
coned crank shaft F substantially as herein described and illustrated.
3rd. The combination, in a foot motor for sewing and other machines, of a coned
bearing Fon crank shaft F, said cone being pressed against balls or spheres I,
arranged within the boss E of stand A, by means of a centre bearing H placed
opposite to and in a line with said antifrictional bearing, and the means for
lubricating both bearings, substantially as herein described.
4th. The general arrangement and combination of the various parts forming the
foot motor as a whole substantially as herein set forth.
Dated the Seventeenth day of November 1893.
DONALD NOBLE,
JOHN ARTHUR BROWN,
By W. Fairburn-Hart,
Agent.