IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR CONVERTING [A " RECIPROCATING INTO ROTARY OR ROTARY INTO RECIPROCATING MOTION
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th September 1882. A communi-
cation to him from abroad by Jean Joseph Larroque of Paris, France
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine Lake and Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVED MECHANISM FOR CONVERTING
[A
"
RECIPROCATING INTO ROTARY OR ROTARY INTO RECIPROCATING MOTION
communication to him from abroad by Jean Joseph Larroque of Paris, France]
This invention relates to improved mechanism for converting reciprocating motion
into rotary motion and vice versa.
This mechanism permits the connecting rod usually employed between the piston
rod and crank shaft to be dispensed with, and it also allows of dispensing with the
bent portions or cranks usually formed on shafts for transmitting movement to the
same at a point between the ends thereof, and consequently does not necessitate
reducing the strength of the shaft by bending the same or dividing it for the
purpose of formning the crank.
This mechanism consists essentially in a piston rod terminated at its outer portion
by a guide-frame in which a roller is free to move, and serves as a crank-pin, a slot
being formed in the said guide-frame of sufficient size to receive, at the end of the
outward and inward strokes of the piston, the shaft to which rotary motion is to be
imparted.
This mechanism works without much friction upon a crank or arm fixed at any
point of a straight shaft and imparts rotary motion directly to the same.
It is obvious that the same device may be arranged to effect the change from
rotary motion to reciprocatory or rectilinear to-and-fro motion; and it can, therefore,
be employed very advantageously in many machines, chiefly in steam or other
engines.
In the accompanying drawing is illustrated the application of the said invention
to an engine in which the piston is moved by steam or other fluid. This application
is shewn by way of example, and it is evident that the details of construction may
be modified.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved mechanism and,
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same..
..ז
1-11am in dients the came nexts throughout the drawing

page_text: a is the cylinder in which the piston is actuated by steain or other fluid, b the
piston rod, and c the guide-frame attached to the end of the piston rod. This frame
is constructed with two slots d, e, in the form of a cross. The slot d serves as a
guide for the roller g¹ hereinafter referred to, and the slot e is designed to receive,
at each end of the stroke, the shaft which is to be rotated, this arrangement
dispenses with the necessity for bending or dividing the shaft. g is a crank or arm
keyed upon the shaft at any part of its length. gl is a roller carried by a stud at
the extremity of the crank g; this roller is situated in the slot d and is guided by
this slot to produce the rotation of the crank. The frame c slides between the
friction rollers h without any appreciable friction; the said rollers are carried by a
stationary frame i and serve to guide the frame c in its movements and prevent
lateral deviations of the same. The guide rod j is fixed to the upper part of the
frame c and passes through a stuffing box k provided on the frame i; this stuffing
box is in a line with the axis of the piston rod and prevents the frame c from rising
or descending too far in the vertical plane in which it moves.