IMPROVED DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED DRIVING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES."
-A communication from abroad by Abraham Winsor Harris, of
Duoridoneo Rhode Island United States of America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 17th March 1871, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for “IMPROVED DRIVING
MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to
grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal

page_text: Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it
has been communicated to me from abroad by Abraham Winsor Harris,
of Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing forming
a part of this Specification:
The object of my Invention is the prevention of the backward
motion of the needle which often accompanies the starting of a sewing
machine, and it consists in the peculiar devices for such purpose as
herein-after described.
It is well understood by those familiar with sewing machines that
when started they are as liable to be propelled in one way as the other.
The backward motion thus often obtained frequently results in the
entanglement and looping of the thread and the general defacing of
the work. I overcome these difficulties by the use of a pulley so con-
structed and arranged that the motion of the crank and crank shaft in
machines employing the same, and the motion of the driving wheel,
in machines not employing a crank shaft, will only be communicated to
the needle when they are moving in the desired direction.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sewing machine frame with my
improved device detached; Figure 2 is a side view of the aforesaid
pulley Figure 3 is a side view of the said pulley with the side plate
removed shewing the position of the parts of the pulley during the
backward motion of the crank shaft; Figure 4 is a similar view of
the same, showing the position of the parts during the forward motion
of the crank shaft; Figure 5 is a vertical section of the said pulley.
Figures 6 and 7 show a modification in its construction embodying,
however, the-same-principle.
Figure 8 is an elevation of a machine not employing a crank shaft
with my improvement attached.
Figure 9 is a side view of a ring, and Figure 10 is a similar view of
another ring herein-after described.

page_text: Figure 11 is a section of my improved device, adapted to sewing
machines not employing a crank shaft formed by placing together the
said two rings.
Figure 12 is a side elevation of a second device adapted to machines
not employing a crank shaft, Figure 13 is an elevation, and Figure 14 a
section of the same.
A, Figure 1, represents the crank shaft, and E, the pulley. The said
pulley, as shewn in Figures 3, 4, and 5, is constructed with an outer
rim E', within which is a driver J having one or more rubber pawls N
which move upon the inclined planes and operate upon the inside of the
rim E. The driver J is attached to the shaft by a set screw, while
the outer rim or band wheel E' is free upon the shaft.
The operation of this arrangement of my Invention is as follows :-If
the crank and shaft be started in the wrong direction the pawls N will
recede upon their respective planes from the point of contact with the
rim E', as shewn in Figure 3, thus permitting the driver J.to revolve
during such backward motion of the crank and shaft within the rim E¹,
which remains stationary, the shaft A revolving in the hub of the latter.
When, however, the crank has been moved far enough to reverse the
motion and commences to move in the right direction, the pawls N
immediately move forward upon their respective planes and nip the
rim E¹ as shewn in Figure 4 and start forward the machine.
cam
"
In adapting my said Invention to machines not employing a crank
and crank shaft, I remove the pulley now in use upon the
or "driven" shaft, and substitute therefor either of the two devices
herein-after described, both embodying the same principle and differing
from each other and from the device herein-before described as adapted
to machines employing a crank shaft only in the construction and
arrangement of parts.
"
L, Figure 8, shews my improved device upon the " cam or "driven "
shaft which may be constructed as follows:-I take a ring or disc M
having a longitudinally projecting rim o, as shewn in Figure 9, which
moves freely upon the cam shaft, and is connected with the driving or
balance wheel by a belt. I provide the ring or disc P, Figure 10, with
inclined surfaces & upon its inner surface, upon which rest and move
the elastic rollers or pawls u. I then place the ring P upon the cam
shaft, and attach it thereto by means of a set screw, the elastic rollers
being received within the projecting rim o of the ring M.

page_text: It will now be readily understood that when the machine is started
their
in the right direction the elastic rollers u will move forward upon
planes and nip the rim o and start the machine. If, however, it be
started in the wrong direction the rollers will recede from the point of
contact with the rim o, and the ring or disk M will move around upon
the cam shaft without communicating motion to the machine.
The modification of my Invention seen in Figures 12, 13, and 14
consists of a pulley V loose upon the cam shaft and provided with
pawls which operate upon a ratchet wheel Z secured firmly to the
cam shaft.
A modification of the drum J herein-before mentioned may be seen
in Figures 6 and 7 I do not confine myself to any particular construction
of the pawls, as many variations thereof may be made, all however
embodying the same principle.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. A pawl in combination with a loose band wheel E¹ and crank
shaft A, the whole arranged and operating substantially as described,
for the purpose specified.
Second. The combination of the elastic rolls N with the band wheel E¹
and driver J, for the purpose specified.
cam or
Third. The combination of a pawl or pawls with the
driven" shaft, and the driving or balance wheel of a sewing machine,
the whole constructed and operating substantially as described for the
purpose specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of March,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.