IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM FOR PROPELLING AND GUIDING VEHICLES AND FOR DRIVING MACHINERY BY MUSCULAR POWER
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the "International
Patent Office," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MECHANISM FOR
PROPELLING AND GUIDING VEHICLES AND FOR DRIVING MACHINERY BY MUSCULAR
POWER." A communication from abroad by William Smith Hall,
of Quincy, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Scaled the 16th July 1869, and dated the 31st May 1869.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 31st May 1869, 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 "International Patent Office," No. S, Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MECHANISM FOR PROPELLING AND GUIDING VEHICLES AND FOR DRIVING

page_text: MACHINERY BY MUSCULAR POWER," and have petitioned Her Majesty to
grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal
Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that it
has been communicated to me from abroad by William Smith Hall,
of Quincy, Massachusetts, 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 Drawings
forming a part of this Specification.
The Invention has particular reference to an organization of me-
chanism by which muscular power applied either by the hand or
foot may be more advantageously exerted in driving mechanism than
by the ordinary means of cranks and treadle levers, the said Invention
consisting primarily in combining with a rotary shaft and with a wheel or
wheels located and fixed thereon a double set of spring pawl levers
and pawls or clutches, cach lever being hung and rocking loosely upon
the shaft, and bearing a feed pawl or clutch which grasps or impinges
against the periphery of the wheel as the pawl arm of the lever is
moved in one direction, thereby rotating the wheel, the pawl arm
being carried in the opposite direction into normal position by a suitable
spring, and cach lever and pawl working independently of the other, so,
that the shaft may be driven by one pawl alone, or by both together, or
both alternately, and without regard to extent of movement, there being
no cranks and no dead centros to require a certain fixed play of the
pawi lever. With the pawl levers are connected treadle or hand levers,
or both, and with the pawl wheel shaft is connected a fly wheel bearing
shaft, and by suitable gearing the said pawl wheel shaft is connected
to and actuates the shaft or mechanism to be ultimately driven; these
and other features of the mechanism constituting specific details of
the Invention.
The said Invention is applicable to the working of hand lathes, sewing
machines, velocipedes, or vehicles, to be propelled by the riders and other
apparatus in which hand or foot power is now generally employed
or may be advantageously employed to rotate cranks or crank shafts.
The said Invention is shown in the Drawings, and will be herein
particularly described as applied to a four-wheeled carriage, but its

page_text: application and adaptation to driving other apparatus or mechanism
will be obvious.
The Drawings shew the carriage in side elevation at A, in plan at B
(the body being removed), and in end elevation at C.
a denotes the carriage or truck frame having axles b, c, mounted
respectively on wheels d, e. The rear wheels e are fixed to their
axle c, the said axle turning in bearings fon the under side of the perches
of the said frame a. The said shaft or axle carries a gear wheel g
meshing into and driven by a pinion h on a shaft i that carries a
momentum whcel k, and this shaft carries a pinion meshing into
and driven by a driving gear m on a shaft n, each shaft i, n, turning
in bearings on the under side of the frame a. The gear wheel mis
fixed to or preferably forms a direct part of a pawl or pawl driven
wheel o, having laterally projecting rings or flanges p on its opposite
sides, with which flanges engage two clutch or friction pawls or gripes 4.
Each of these pawls is hung at the end of a pawl lever rocking freely
on the shaft n, the opposite arm of the lever being attached to one
end of a spring (whose other end is attached to the frame a), the
stress of cach spring returning its lever to a normal position when
released. Each pawl or gripe is composed of two pins j projecting
from an arms, the said arm having an oblong slot near its outer end
through which passes the screw pin by which it is hung to the pawl
lever, and the pins j, j, embrace the adjacent flange of the driving wheel.
Each arm & is pressed in a direction opposite to that in which it moves
in driving the wheel by a slight spring a, the slot enabling the arm
to assume a position in direct line with the pawl lever or a position
angular thereto. When the spring a throws the arm into an inclined
position the two clutch pinsj hug the flange of the wheel so that if
the pawl attached arm of the lever is moved in the opposite direction
(or in a direction to keep the arm so inclined) the pins will carry
the wheel with them (the lever and wheel having the same centre of
movement) while if the movement of the lever is reversed friction
of the pins against the flange will bring the arm s into line with tho
lever arm, and the pins will slip upon the flange or the flange will
run between the pins without movement being imparted by them to
the wheel and without the pins impeding the free rotative movement
of the wheel. There is jointed. to the upper arm of cach pawl lever
the rear end of a horizontal connecting rod whose front end is jointed

page_text: to a rocker arm wo hung on a cross rod in front of the dasher of the
carriage. The arm swings freely on this rod. To the end of cach
rocker arm is fixed a pedal har y, which projects through a hole
in the dasher board and has at its top a pedal z, preferably jointed to
the bar so as to tip freely in the direction of its length. The rider
sitting upon the carriage seat places his two feet upon the two pedals,
and by alternately pressing down the pedals pushes out each rocker arm
at the front of the carriage, thereby working the pawl levers and turning
the driving wheel and (through the system of gearing) rotating the
rear axle and its wheels and propelling the carriage. After each forward
movement of either pedal the stress of the foot being withdrawn the
spring draws back the upper arm of the pawl lever, the connecting
rod, and the rocker arm and the pedal, restoring all these parts to
their normal positions for a repetition of the operation. The carriage
may thus be driven by either pedal alone, by both pedals together, or
by both alternately, the momentum acquired by the fly wheel securing
case or uniformity of movement in the carriage, and enabling it to
be more easily propelled.
It will be observed that the pedal bars are so arranged that the rider
can readily push each of them forward with his feet, bracing himself
against the back of the seat. Besides the rocker arms to the rod a
carries two upright hand levers projecting from sleeves turning upon
the rod, each sleeve having at one end a clutch tooth or shoulder, which
engages with a tooth or shoulder on the adjacent end of the sleeve, by
which the rocker arm is hung upon the rod. A cord a² is fastened to
the upper end of each hand lever, and the rider grasping a cord in
cach hand and pulling the cords towards him (bracing his feet against.
the dasher) effects the same movement of the rocker arms that is
effected by the fect in action with the pedals. The hand levers and
pedals may be used in conjunction, but it will be obvious that they
can be used to better advantage independently; they enable the rider,
however, to use either his hands or his fect as he may be best able to
do, or to change from one to the other as circumstances or fancy may
dictate or require. When the hand levers are not in use they may be
swung down below the rod x, as seen at C, one of them being also
shewn as thrown down at A. Either hand lever may be actuated alone,
or both together, or alternately, and in using either feet or hands it
will readily be seen that the movement of the pedal or of the hand

page_text: lever inay be arrested at any point short of the full stroke thereof, the
clutch pins returning from any position to normal position. As the
clutch pins gripe the driving wheel normally and in their downward
movements, they also act as stops to prevent back movement of the
driving wheel and of the carriage wheels driven thereby. This will
prevent the carriage from running backwards when upon an incline.
As it is often necessary to "back," however the gearing is arranged,
so that the same movement of the pawl driven wheel may propel the
carriage either forward or backward. For this purpose the pinion h
is placed loosely upon the shaft i, and there is also placed upon the
same shaft another loose pinion &, and between these two pinions.is
placed a clutch e splined to and sliding upon the shaft operated by
one arm of a shipper lever de, whose other arm has a fork or clutch,
with which one arm of an upright hand lever e² engages, this lever
extending up on one side of the scat, as seen at A. By means of the
lever the clutch wheel may be thrown into engagement with clutch
pins on either pinion. The pinion 6 is geared to a pinion on the
shaft or axle c by an intermediate pinion g³, so that the same motion of
the driving gear that imparts forward movement to the rear wheels when
the clutch is connected with the pinion imparts rotary movement
to the same wheels when the clutch is connected with the other pinion b.
By bringing the clutch midway between the pinions the carriage may
be drawn or pushed in either direction without reference to the me-
chanism to be actuated by the rider. A steering mechanism by which
the rider may turn the front wheels by hand or foot may be applied to
the carriage as follows:-The front axle (upon which the wheels turn)
has at its centre a plate ³, through which a transom bolt passes.
Just at the back of the transom bar is a shaft, on which is a worm
wheel, into the groove or between the threads of which projects from
the plate a pin m². At the front of the carriage is a vertical shaft n³
turning in bearings fixed to the carriage body. At the top of this
shaft are arms o, at the end of which are cords p² to be grasped and
operated by the hands of the rider, or a lever arm may be jointed to
the top of the shaft to turn it. At or near the foot of the shaft are two
other arms q, to the opposite ends of which are jointed pedal bars pro-
jecting through slots in the dasher board. Below the arms q another
arm is fixed to the shaft n³, to the end of which arm the end of a
rocker arm (turning on a horizontal pin ") is connected by a link &²;
this rocker arın ² carrying a segment gear a", the teeth of which mesh

page_text: into a pinion y on the shaft of the worm wheel; now as the shaft is
turned in either direction by the hand or foot of the rider the movement
of the arm turns the gear 2 which turns the shaft of the worm
wheel the rotative movement of the worn wheel moving the pin m³,
and thereby turning the front axle and changing the direction of
movement of the carriage. The thread of the worm wheel is of such
a pitch that it holds the pin and front wheels in any position, tho
change of direction being produced only by turning the shaft. The
movement of the carriage may be arrested by brake shoes a³, b³, at the
ends of a slide bar c, which is held back by a spring and is pressed
out by a rocker lever, one arm from which projects up at the side of
the seat to be operated by the hand of the rider, while another arm g³
projects through into the front of the carriage seat to be operated by
the foot of the rider. The bar is moved up towards the wheels by an
arm, which enters a hole in the brake bar between two slots, through
which pass the pins that hold the bar. By the forward movement of
arm by hand or by depression of the arm the bar is slid towards
the wheels, bringing one brake shoe against the periphery of the
outer wheel, and the other against the periphery of the fly wheel,
thereby arresting the movement of both wheels. It will be observed
that the fly wheel shaft is arranged between the shaft of the pawl driven
wheel and the shaft or axle of the rear carriage wheels. The fly wheel
may, however, be placed on an auxiliary shaft not forming an inter-
mediate, but employed simply as a shaft for carrying the momentum-
wheels. For driving sewing machines, hand lathes, and other light
machines the ratchet and pawl or clutch mechanism and gearing are
preferably arranged and applied as seen at E, the general organization
of the mechanism being identical with that shown at A, B, and C. The
shaft of the machine to be driven is connected to the fly wheel shaft
by suitable belting or gearing. As in sitting at a machine (such, for
instance, as a sewing machine) to be driven by foot the foot of the
operator rests constantly upon the treadle, and as it may be necessary
to instantly arrest the operation of the machine and lock it in stopped
position, notwithstanding the pressure of the foot or feet, a brake
mechanism is provided, as seen at E in section; this mechanism being
as follows:-A brake shoe is hung over the fly wheel on a vertical
spindle attached to a lever fulerumed at one end under the machine
table, and attached at the other end to a stem passing through the
table, such stem having a finger piece at the top, and being pressed

page_text: up by a suitable spring to hold the brake off of the periphery of the
fly wheel. The lever stem has a notch, which when the lever is pressed
down springs over a tooth at the surface of the table, this tooth locking
the lever in position with the brake hard upon the wheel, thus arresting
the mechanism and keeping it arrested. By moving the lever stem slightly
in a lateral direction the notch slips off the tooth and the spring lifts
the lover and throws the brake from the wheel, when the pressure of
the foot will again and immediately start the mechanism. The Drawing
at e shows but one treadle and pawl lever, the duplicate beyond being
identical with that seen in the Drawing. At F the clutch pawl and
pawl lever are shewn in detail in section with a portion of the wheel
flange grasped by the pins, the spring pressing the clutch arm into its
horizontal position to produce the bite of the pins upon the wheel, the
movement of the lever towards its normal position produced by its
spring bringing the clutch arm into line with the lever, (the notch where
the arm is jointed permitting this movement of the arm,) thereby
releasing the wheel from the gripe of the pins, and enabling the flange
to run freely between them, or the pins to run freely over the flange.
At G a modification of the said Invention is shewn, in which two
common spring pawls are seen, the point or tooth of each engaging
with the teeth of a ratchet wheel, but the friction clutch or pawl
mechanism is considered in every way preferable to this for most
purposes.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and shown how the same may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice, I claim,―
The combination of spring pawl, spring pawl lever, pawl wheel, and
gearing, substantially as described.
Also the double set of spring pawls, pawl levers, connectors, and
treadles, the two sets working independently of each other, and cach
being actuated alone, both together, or both alternately, substantially
as described.
Also the peculiar pawl clutch, consisting of the two pins on an arm
jointed to the pawl lever, the pins grasping. the wheel flange as the lever
is moved in one direction, and slipping over the flange as the lever
returns to its normal position, and allowing the flange to run between
them when the lever is at rest or is moving towards its normal position,
substantially as described.

page_text: Also the mechanism for stopping the fly wheel and locking it in its
arrested position, substantially as described.
Also the combination of the hand levers and pedal bars with the
double set of pawl levers, so that the mechanism may be actuated
by hand or by foot, or by both together, or alternately, substantially as
described.
Also the mechanism for changing the direction of rotation of the
actuated shaft or axle, substantially as described.
Also the steering mechanism, substantially as described.
Also in combination with the treadle mechanism a momentum whcel
located on a shaft connected by gearing with the pawl actuated wheel.
shaft, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.