MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING MOTIVE POWER TO of "IMPROVEMENTS. IN SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jules Bourdin, of No. 10, Rue de la Fidélité,
Paris, in the Republic of France, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING MOTIVE POWER TO
of "IMPROVEMENTS. IN
SEWING MACHINES."
Sealed the 11th December 1874, and dated the 27th June 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jules Bourdin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th June 1874.
I, JULES BOURDIN, of No. 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the
Republic of France, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING MOTIVE
POWER TO SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in keying a pulley on the main spindle of the
sewing machine; under the felloe of this pulley on the right and left
hand sides are two discs or pieces which turn on the spindle, and which
have on their peripheries (which approach very near to the under side of

page_text: the felloe of the pulley without touching it) two, three, or more recesses,
deeper on one side than on the other. In these recesses I place india-
rubber balls. Motion is communicated from the treadle or treadles to
projections or bosses on the recessed pieces by means of cords which
wind thereon, and pass into the groove of a loose pulley fixed to the
under side of the stand of the machine. These cords are fixed to the
treadle or treadles in such a manner that the alternate movement of the
treadle forcing the balls to catch between the periphery of the side
pieces and the surface of the felloc of the pulley forces this pulley to
turn. The pulley can only turn in one direction because the reverse
movement of the side pieces disengages the balls and prevents the
drawing along of the pulley.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Jules Bourdin in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 15th December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULES
BOURDIN, of No. 10, Rue de la Fidélité, Paris, in the Republic of
France, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
cighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Jules Bourdin, Her special licence
that I, the said Jules Bourdin, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jules Bourdin, my 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 Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING MOTIVE POWER TO SEWING MACHINES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jules Bourdin, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was

page_text: 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 Jules Bourdin, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereto annexed
and to the figures and letters marked theren, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in keying a pulley on the main spindle of a
sewing machine; under the felloc of the pulley on the right and left
hand sides are two disks or pieces which turn on the spindle, and which
have on their peripheries (which approach very near to the under side of
the felloe of the pulley without touching it) two, three, or more recesses,
deeper on one side than on the other. In these recesses I place india-
rubber balls. Motion is communicated from the treadle or treadles to
projections or bosses on the recessed pieces by means of cords, which
wind thereon and pass into the groove of a loose pulley fixed to the
under side of the stand of the machine. These cords are fixed to the
treadle or treadles in such a manner that the alternate movement of the
treadle forcing the balls to catch between the periphery of the side
pieces and the surface of the felloe of the pulley forces this pulley to
turn. The pulley can only turn in one direction because the reverse
movement of the side pieces disengages the balls and prevents the
drawing along of the pulley. Or the recessed disks may be fixed and
the pulley loose.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, I will now
proceed to more particularly describe the same by reference to the
accompanying Drawing in which Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure 2 a
section, shewing the arrangement I prefer employing, the pulley being
loose and the recessed pieces fixed; Figures 4 and 5, section and eleva-
tion, shewing this arrangement applied to the stand of a sewing machine;
and Figures 6 and 7, sections shewing the arrangement I employ
when the pulley is fixed and the recessed discs loose.
In Figures 1 and 2, K is a metallic cylinder closed at both ends by
two wooden disks R, the whole forming a loose pulley or drum on the
spindle or shaft B which passes through it. In the interior of this loose
pulley or drum I place a piece C fixed on the shaft B by means of a

page_text: screw N, or by any other suitable means. This piece is made of cast
zinc or otherwise, and is constructed of two cheeks or discs in the space
between which the recesses D, D, D, are cut out, having such a form
that the distance from the side of each recess to the cylinder K becomes
less the further it recedes from the bottom. In each recess is placed a
loose india-rubber ball E; from this arrangement it follows, that if the
loose pulley is made to move in the direction of the arrow, one at least
of the three balls will be drawn along, then compressed between the
cylinder K and the piece C, and consequently will force this latter to
turn with the spindle B to which it is fastened. If the movement takes
place in the contrary direction, the balls having a tendency to be thrown
back constantly to the bottom of their respective recesses, the piece C
and the spindle B will remain stationary during the movement of the
pulley A, K. It will thus be seen that if a cord is wound round this
pulley and is drawn alternately from one side to the other, the move-
ment of the spindle B will take place always in the same direction.
To obtain a greater speed all that is necessary is to wind the cord not
upon the pulley or drum K but on a boss or neck K¹ formed on the
elongated part of one of the sides; A, as seen in Figure 3.
Having described the principle of my Invention I will now show an
example of its application to a sewing machine.
It will be understood that these means may be applied to any other
system of sewing machine, and in general to all machines wherein a
spindle or shaft is put in motion by means of an alternate movement.
In Figures 4 and 5 F is the spindle on which I place two pullics or
drums M, M¹, similar to that shewn in Figures 1 and 2, and I wind on
these pullies the cord S, S¹, of the treadles R, R', causing it to pass over
a return pulley P fixed on a part of the frame or stand X. It will be
seen that one of the treadles R draws the shaft F in descending, and
that as soon as its action has ceased that of the treadle R' commences and
forces the shaft F to continue the movement in the same direction; V,
V₁, are fly wheels to assist in regulating this action.
In Figures 6 and 7, in which a fixed pulley and loose recessed discs
are employed; c is the pulley keyed on the spindle d of the sewing
machine; a, a, are the recessed discs, one on each side of the pulley, and a
loose on the spindle d; b, b, b, are the recesses in the discs a; f; ƒ, are
the india-rubber balls placed in the recesses b, b; e, e, arc the bosses on
each side of the discs a over which the cords from the treadles pass.

page_text: Having now described the nature of my Invention and the best means
with which I am acquainted for carrying the same into effect, what I
claim is, the employment of a loose pulley in combination with a
recessed piece fixed on the driving spindle and india-rubber balls; or of
a fixed pulley in combination with loose recessed pieces, and balls for
obtaining by means of the alternate movement of the feet the con-
tinuous circular movement of the spindles of sewing machines, sub-
stantially as herein-before described and represented in the accom-
panying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jules Bourdin, have hereto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.