IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO APPARATUS FOR DRIVING OR OPERATING SEWING MACHINES BY ELECTRICITY
Year: 1881

page_text: A
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Henry Harris Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th October 1881.
communication from abroad by Jean Joachim Journaux, of Paris, France.
HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO
APPARATUS FOR DRIVING OR OPERATING SEWING MACHINES BY ELECTRICITY."
[A communication from abroad by Jean Joachim Journaux, of Paris, France.]
To successfully make use of an electric motor for driving or actuating sewing
machines it is essential that the motor be capable of being easily managed, as it
has at the will of the operator to submit to all the variations in speed which the
work renders necessary; moreover, a sewing machine designed to be operated by
electricity should be so connected that it may be worked either by means of the
foot or by the electric motor as may be desired, without the necessity for removing
any of the parts and without loss of time.
My Invention provides means whereby a sewing machine may be driven by
means of electricity or by the foot of the attendant at the will of the latter,
and is carried into practice in the following manner, that is to say:-I provide an
electric motor which may be of any suitable kind and which is arranged to act
upon the sewing machine by means of elastic and variable friction, as hereinafter
described.
The sewing machine, which may be of any construction, does not require to be
altered in any part excepting that one of the two faces of the driving pulley has
to be made level or true.
The electric motor is mounted on a pivot or in any manner which will allow it
to be moved bodily or in one piece. An adjustable spring (coiled or otherwise)
draws or pushes the motor so as to cause a roller or wheel forining part of the same
to press with an elastic pressure upon the level face of the aforesaid driving wheel
of the sewing machine. By reason of this arrangement the contact which is
adjustable at will remains automatically constant notwithstanding the irregularities
caused by wear or by the imperfections of the workmanship. To ensure a
satisfactory degree or amount of friction the face of the driving wheel and the

page_text: friction wheel or roller may be striated, milled, or ground, but I prefer to cover
the latter with some soft material, such as leather or india-rubber, thus providing
a connection which ensures silent working and requires no lubrication. When
worn the covering material may be readily replaced by a new piece, but this will
not require to be done frequently.
If it is desired to operate the sewing machine by foot power, the usual band or
cord is placed in the peripheral grooves of the two ordinary wheels and the driving
roller wheel of the motor is moved away from the aforesaid driving wheel of the
sewing machine by operating a cam or piece provided for the purpose. The machine
may then be driven by means of the treadle in the usual manner and the electric
motor remains inoperative.
To put the electric motor into gear again it is only necessary to cause the cam
or piece to assume its original position, taking care to remove the cord or band
from the wheels.
It will be readily understood that I may according to the construction of the
machine to be driven place my oscillating or movable motor in any suitable
position; when placed horizontally, the driving is effected by the contact of the
motor roller or wheel with the rim and not with the face of the driving wheel of
the sewing machine.
The necessary variation in speed may be obtained in two manners, that is to
say, by means of a rheostat placed in the circuit of the electric motor, this rheostat
being by preference actuated by the foot.
I prefer to use for this purpose an apparatus known as the "speed modifying
rheostat" (rhéostat modificateur de vitesse). A chain is attached at one end to a
fixed metal block and its other end is connected with a movable metal attachment
which can be operated by the foot by means of a pedal which is kept elevated by
a strong spring. The chain is connected to one end of another spring, the upper
end of which is secured to the said block. The latter and the chain are electrically
connected by a flexible conductor coiled into a helix at its upper end.
By pressing on the pedal the spring connected to the chain is elongated, and its
tension can be progressively increased, and consequently the electric resistance of
the speed modifying chain rheostat is reduced. It is advisable to protect the chain
and spring by enclosing the same in an insulating tube.
The electric connections are insulated from the frame of the machine, and the
conducting wires are as far as possible placed in the recesses or depressions of the
framework.
When the pedal is released it rises automatically, and this movement may be
utilized for causing the electric circuit to be broken by means of a switch.
The speed may also be regulated by causing greater or less pressure to be exerted
on the motor, which pressure acts as a brake upon the machine and the motor as a
whole. This is easily effected by reason of the motor being capable of oscillating
or moving. Pressure is exerted upon the latter in the proper direction by means
of a special pedal and a rigid or elastic connecting rod.