IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING MOTORS FOR DRIVING SEWING MACHINES AND OTHER SMALL OR LIGHT MACHINERY
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th January 1877. A communication
from abroad. by Isaac Solomon, of Solomon's Island, Maryland, United States
of America.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN SPRING MOTORS FOR DRIVING
SEWING MACHINES AND OTHER SMALL OR LIGHT MACHINERY." A communication
from abroad by Isaac Solomon, of Solomon's Island, Maryland, United States of
America.
In constructing a motor according to this Invention I use suitable framework
that will properly carry the mechanism attached thereto, and admit of its being
attached to the machine to which it is to be applied. This framework is held
together by means of rods; across the frame there is a shaft upon which is placed
a series of springs, the inner ends of which are secured to the said shaft, and their
outer ends to some fixed portion of the frame or machine.
These springs are composed of two leaves, one of which is secured at its end as
above described, while the other has lips formed upon its ends for the purpose of
preventing its slipping off from the leaf upon which it is placed. The object of this
second leaf is to compensate for the variations in the main leaf, or the one which
is fast at its ends, and it is placed in such a position thereon that when the said main
leaf commences to be wound up it shall be coiled around the shaft or drum before
the compensating spring begins to be wound up. This compensating spring or leaf
may be placed at any desired position upon the main leaf, so that when the said
leaf uncoils to such an extent as to become weakened or of less force than when
wound up to its full extent, the said compensating leaf shall be brought into requi-
sition, and thus compensate for such loss of power. A single spring of this character
may be used, but by using a plurality of springs the machine may be made more
powerful.
Motion is imparted to the mechanism to be driven by means of a gear wheel
placed upon the shaft to which the springs are secured, and in order that the requi-
site velocity may be attained the said wheel is made to mesh into a pinion upon a
shaft which also carries a gear wheel larger in diameter than the pinion which
drives it, and is arranged to mesh into another pinion placed upon a shaft from
which motion is communicated to the machinery to be driven, either by a belt or.
by an additional gear wheel.
Upon the last-named shaft there is placed a friction or brake wheel upon which
the brake is made to act; the said brake consists of two levers, the inner ends of

page_text: One of
which are bent in such a manner as to cause them to nearly encircle the brake wheel,
which has a groove in its periphery for receiving the ends of the levers.
the levers of this pair is pivoted to the frame at a point between that portion which
rests upon the brake wheel and its long arm, while the other lever is pivoted at a
point on the opposite side of the frame, so that a force applied to their outer ends
shall cause them to clasp the brake wheel in such a manner as to cause the machinery
This brake is applied
to remain stationary when the operator desires it to do so.
to the wheel by means of a coiled spring which for convenience is enclosed in a
cylinder, a rod extending therefrom to and being connected with the outer arm of
one of the said levers; and in order that the movement of the two levers may be
simultaneous, they are connected by a link or other flexible connection..
For operating this brake a rod extends downward from the lower lever to such a
point as to cause a stirrup attached to its lower end to be in a convenient position
to have the foot of the operator placed therein; when it is desired to put the
mechanism in motion a pressure upon said stirrup will disengage the inner ends of
the levers from the brake wheel, and the springs will at once put the mechanism in
motion, and when it is desirable to have the motion arrested, all that is required is
that the foot be removed from the stirrup.
It is necessary in machines of this character that provision should be made for
holding the spring or springs in their coiled positions, and for this purpose there is
applied to one of the said shafts a ratchet wheel, and pawls attached to one of the
gear wheels engage with this ratchet wheel and are held in position by springs.
Provision is made for winding up the spring or springs by placing upon the
spring shaft a gear wheel having upon its inner surface a clutch which engages with
a similar one on the first-named gear wheel; this clutch wheel is made to move
horizontally upon its shaft, so that when it becomes necessary to wind the springs
its clutch may be caused to engage the one on the shaft which carries the springs,
but when not in use may be slipped outwards and thus relieve the springs of so
much labor as would be required to turn the clutch wheel and the parts connected
therewith. These parts consist of a spur wheel and pinions, one of the latter being
placed upon a shaft which carries upon its outer end a crank, by turning which the
said pinion will cause the spur wheel to rotate, and thus will give motion to another
pinion and to the clutch wheel, and thus the winding up of the springs will be
effected.