AN IMPROVED BELT SHIFTER AND REPLACER
Year: 1885

page_text: "
I, ALEXANDER ANDERSON, Manager of the Singer Manufacturing Company's
Works at Kilbowie, in the County of Dumbarton, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention for AN IMPROVED BELT SHIFTER AND REPLACER," the same being
a communication to me from abroad by Sydney A. Bennett of New York City, in
the United States of America, and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The object of my invention is to provide a convenient and cheaply constructed
belt shifting device by which a belt after having been shifted by said device from
its pulley which will be automatically replaced in operative position when the
shifting lever is released by the operator. In carrying my invention into effect, I.
construct a shifting lever with an opening through which the belt may pass, and
provide a retracting spring by which said lever is returned to its normal position
after the belt has been shifted from the pulley. In applying my invention to
sewing machines, for which it is more particularly intended, I prefer to pivot the
shifting lever to the top of the dress guard which partly surrounds the lever pulley
wheel and I also deem it well to provide said wheel with an inclined belt replacing
lip or projection to assist the shifter in automatically replacing the belt. When.
the belt is new and stiff a guard over the upper pulley on the driving shaft of the
machine is useful in preventing the belt from getting displaced, and a guide for the
belt on the rear side of the cross-brace of the stand is also a useful adjunct in
holding the belt in place. These several cooperative features of iny invention are not,
however, indispensable and may be used or not as circumstances may require.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is an elevation of a sewing machine with
my invention applied thereto. Figure 2 is a partial side view with the cross-brace
of the stand in section on line 2-2 Figure 1. Figures 3 and 4 are top views of
the main pulley and adjacent parts showing the shifter in different positions.
Figures 5 and 6, are detail top and side views, respectively, of the shifter and
adjacent parts.
A, indicates the side supports of a sewing machine stand; B the cross-brace
thereof and C the table on which is mounted the "head," or sewing machine
proper, D. In the stand is mounted a crank shaft E to which is secured the main
driving pulley F, and partly surrounding the latter, on its front side, is a dress-
guard G to the top of which I prefer to pivot my belt shifting lever H, although

page_text: I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the particular location thereof
as it may be placed in any convenient position. The lever H is provided with an
opening h, through which the belt I loosely passes, and a spring J connected with
said lever and with some fixed part of the stand, as the top of the dress guard,
serves to hold the lever in position for the belt, when on the pulley, to pass through
it. The opening in the lever H is preferably enclosed, as shown, so as to hold
the belt positively at all times, but it is obvious that said lever may simply be
forked for the passage of the belt if desired.
When the belts are new and stiff they are liable, when off the driving pulleys
and released from tension, to become displaced unless held positively, and to this
end I prefer to cover the upper pulley on the driving shaft of the machine with a
guard K, and as an additional means for holding the belt in place at all times, a
guide L, attached to the rear side of the cross-brace or some other part of the stand,
may also be used.
From the foregoing it will be understood that the spring J will normally hold
the shifting lever H in the position shown in Figures 3 and 5, but when the belt is
to be thrown from the driving pulley F the operator will move the shifter to the
position indicated in Figure 4 and tlie belt will then instantly run off from the
pulley. When the shifting lever is released by the operator it is immediately
returned to its original position by its retracting and holding spring J, and the
belt is thus held in place to be run on to the pulley when the latter is rotated. To
insure this automatic action I prefer to provide said pulley with an inclined belt-
replacing device or projection f which will engage the belt when the pulley is
rotated in the proper direction and cause the former to run on to the latter. In
lieu of employing. a spring to retract the lever H as illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings, the said lever may be connected to a weighted lever or similar device
serving to retract the lever H and thereby to replace the belt.
Having now particularly described the nature of my said invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is
1. An automatically retracted belt shifter, substantially as set forth.
2. The combination with a sewing machine stand of an automatically retracted
belt shifter substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with the dress guard of a sewing machine stand of an
automatically retracted shifting belt lever pivoted thereto, substantially as set
forth..
4. The combination with a pulley provided with a belt replacer of an auto-
matically retracted belt shifter, substantially as set forth.
5. The combination with the main or lower driving pulley and the belt shifter,
of a belt guard for covering the upper pulley, substantially as set forth.
6. The combination with the stand, the belt shifter placed at the front side
thereof and the main driving pulley, of a belt guide on the rear side of said stand,
substantially as set forth.
7. The combination with the stand and main or lower driving pulley of a belt
shifter placed in front and a belt guard placed at the back thereof, substantially as
set forth.