AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ROTARY MOTION
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Joseph Read, of Dublin, in the County of Dublin,
Ireland, for an Invention of "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING
ROTARY MOTION."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Joseph Read at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th September 1881.
JOHN JOSEPH READ, of Dublin, in the County of Dublin, Ireland. "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ROTARY MOTION."
On suitably constructed frame work I mount two spindles or shafts parallel to
each other, on one of which are keyed two ratchet wheels at suitable distance
apart, and outside of these ratchet wheels are arranged two hollow drums which
are free to rotate on the shaft or spindle, which latter for convenience I call shaft
No. 1. To the interior of these hollow drums I affix a paul acted on by a spring,
the former gearing with the ratchet wheel so that the drum will be free to rotate
in one direction without affecting the shaft, whereas when the drum is rotated in
the reverse directlon, the paul with which it is provided engages the ratchet wheel
and causes the shaft to rotate with it. Round a flange formed on the face of these
drums is coiled a belt or chain, the free ends of which are connected with the
grooved peripheries of two pulleys keyed on the second spindle or shaft, called for
convenience shaft No. 2. These pulleys are of same diameter and are placed at
same distance apart as the drums on shaft No. 1, and the belts or chains connecting
them with the aforesaid drums are wound in different directions for the purpose
presently described. Around the circumference of each of the drums is arranged
one or more coils of belt or chain, the free ends of which may be acted on by
treadles or other suitable means.
The action of the apparatus may be thus described :-When one of the free ends
of the last described belt or chain is acted upon, the drum to which it is attached
is caused to rotate to the right, and in doing so causes the shaft on which it is
mounted to rotate in the same direction.

page_text: With this rotary motion of drum a there is a corresponding rotating motion of
pulley a¹ on shaft No. 2 through the intervention of the belt connecting said drum
and pulley.
While this movement is taking place the second pulley 61 on shaft No. 2, having
its cord or belt wound in a different direction to pulley a¹, causes the drum b on
shaft No. 1 to rotate to the left, thereby winding up the belt or chain with which
this drum is provided; thus the reciprocating rotary motion imparted to shaft No. 2
by shaft No. 1 reacts on the drums mounted on shaft No. 1, and by the alternate
action on the free ends of the drum belts a continuous rotary motion is imparted
to the shaft on which these drums are mounted. A rotary motion can also be
imparted to shaft No. 1 by the reciprocating rectilinear motion of racks acting on
cogs or teeth provided on the peripheries of the drums and on opposite sides of the
diameter of same.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Joseph Read in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th March
1882.
JOHN JOSEPH READ, of Dublin, in the County of Dublin, Ireland. "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ROTARY MOTION."
My Invention relates to improvements for converting reciprocating and alternating
rectilinear. motion into continuous rotary motion.
For this purpose I mount two spindles or shafts parallel to each other, which for
convenience are designated shaft No. 1 and shaft No. 2, and on each of these shafts
I mount two drums or pulleys, the two mounted on shaft No. 2 being keyed, while
those on shaft No. 1 are hollow and are free to revolve, and within each of these
latter drums or pulleys 1 arrange a ratchet wheel keyed to the shaft, and with
which gears a pawl (connected with the interior face of the drum or pulley), so
that these two drums or pulleys will be free to revolve in one direction without
affecting the shaft, whereas when they revolve in the reverse direction the pawls
will engage the ratchet wheels, thereby causing the shaft to rotate continuously in
one direction. The pawls are provided with two shoulders, one on each side, and
these shoulders run into or through the sides or faces of the hollow drums, and are
kept in position by suitable springs. The pawls are thus supported on both sides,
and are steadier and stronger than if supported on one side only. The teeth of the.
two ratchet wheels point in the same direction. The reciprocating rotary motion
is imparted to these two pulleys or drums by means of cords, belts, or chains, which
serve to connect them with the pulleys or drums mounted on shaft No. 2, and which
are wound on said pulleys or drums in opposite directions, as illustrated in Figs. 6-
to 9 inclusive of accompanying Sheet of Drawings. The ends of the cords, belts,
or chains are fastened to their respective pulleys. Thus when the cord h (Fig. 8) is
drawn downwards, pulley p with shaft No. 1 is caused to revolve in the direction
indicated by the arrows, while shaft No. 2 will revolve in the opposite direction,
uncoiling pulley p¹, coiling pulley p³, and reversing the rotation of pulley p³, and
consequently winding the cord thereon. Now when the cord h² is pressed down-
wards the action of all four pulleys is reversed, while the rotary motion of shaft
No. 1 remains unchanged. Figs. 6 and 7 show this modification of my Invention
applied to a tricycle for the purpose of driving the same. The two parallel shafts
are seen at No. 1 and No. 2, the shaft No. 1 being the main axle on which the
driving wheels are mounted, and No. 2 being fixed in suitable bearings in the
frame-work of the tricycle. The four pulleys are shown at p, p¹, p², and p³, but
here shaft No. 1 is caused to revolve in a different direction to that shown in Fig. 8,
which is accomplished by simply altering the arrangement of cords round the
pulleys. h, h, are treadles which act alternately on the free ends of the cords
of pulleys p and p³. The rider's seat is supported on a rod carried from a.
point kand. resting on a bridge l, so that the rod will run free of the shafts 1
and 2.
Any suitable contrivance may be adopted for steering the tricycle. Instead of
connecting the four pulleys by means of cords they may be provided with teeth,
and arranged so that p² and p³ will gear with each other, while an intermediate
spur-wheel should be introduced between p and pl to give the desired difference in
the rotation of the pulleys.
Fig. 9 is a section of a pulley or drum which may be used on shaft No. 1 for the
purpose of increasing or diminishing considerably the leverage of the power applied
to the mechanism, which is accomplished by increasing or diminishing the number
of coils of cord, belt, or chain wound round same, the coils. being wound in the

page_text: space, while the cords which serve to connect these drums to the pulleys on shaft
No. 2 are passed round the grooves t, t. This may be described as a double drum
connected by a hollow cylinder, and each drum may have a ratchet, pawl, and
spring arrangement within, as above described.
In carrying out another modification of my Invention I mount two hollow drums
provided with teeth round their circumference free on a shaft or spindle, within
each of which I arrange a ratchet wheel keyed to the spindle, and gearing with a
pawl in the same manner as described in reference to the first part of my Invention,
and I impart to these two drums an alternating rotary motion, so that while one
drum is revolving in one direction the other is revolving in an opposite direction,
and through the intervention of the ratchet wheel and pawl a continuous rotary
motion is imparted to the shaft.
The application of this modification of my Invention will be more readily
understood on reference to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive of accompanying Drawings, in
which it is intended to show the principle applied to a steam engine.
a, a, are
Similar letters indicate corresponding parts in each of the views.
standards in which the shaft b is mounted, and c, c¹, are the cog wheels or drums
passed freely over the shaft, as seen in perspective, Fig. 3. The ratchet wheels d
are arranged within the drums, and are keyed to the shaft and gear with the
pawl d', the latter being pivotted to the drum (see Fig. 5), and acted upon by the
springs d. ff, represents a rack frame provided internally with a row of teeth
on each side, each row gearing independently with each drum. These teeth only
extend half-way across the rack-frame, the other half being flat, as seen in Fig. 3.
To this frame is attached the broken rod e, representing the piston rod of an
ordinary steam engine; g is a pulley for transmitting the rotation of the shaft as
may be required.
Now the action of the apparatus may be briefly described thus:-When the rack
frame is drawn to the left, the cog wheel or drum c¹ gearing with the row of teeth c²
will revolve to the right, and in doing so will cause the pawl to carry the ratchet
wheel d round, and with it the shaft b to which the ratchet wheel is keyed, while
simultaneously the cog wheel or drum c is revolving in an opposite direction, owing
to its gearing with the row of teeth placed on the opposite side of the rack frame.
When the rack frame is moved from left to right, the cog wheel or drum c_will then
-act-upon-the-shaft in a similar manner to that just described in reference to cog-
wheel or drum c¹; thus by the reciprocating rectilinear motion of the rack frame a
continuous rotary motion is imparted to the shaft b in the direction indicated by
the arrows through the intervention of the mechanism as described.
Having thus fully described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
applying same in practice, I would have it understood that what I consider new
and useful, and therefore claim as the Invention to be secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
The method of converting alternating rectilinear motion into continuous rotary
motion, in the manner substantially as herein described and illustrated with
reference to Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive of accompanying Drawings, and the application
of the modification to the steam engine, as described and illustrated with reference
to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive of accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Joseph Read, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord Ono thousand
eight hundred and eighty-two