IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CONVERTING RECIPROCATING INTO ROTARY MOTION
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR CONVERTING RECIPROCATING INTO ROTARY MOTION."— A
communication from abroad by Merrick Mortimer Barnes, residing at
East Hampton, State of Massachusetts, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th May 1866.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in tho
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CONVERTING RECIPROCATING INTO ROTARY'
MOTION," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery for converting
reciprocating into rotary motion by means of one or more jointed arms
pivoted to a shaft and acting upon the interior surface of a drum or pulley,
each arm being furnished with a presser foot and operated through a rod or
its equivalent by the motive power.
In the accompanying Drawings Figure 1 is a front elevation, Figure 2 is a
plan, the drum or pulley being shewn in section (the upper half being removed
to shew the jointed arms), Figure 3 is an enlarged plan of one of the jointed
arms detached.
A is a standard on a shaft B, projecting from which is hung the balance
wheel C, to which is attached the drum or pulley D; inside of this drum are

page_text: placed two arms E, F, constructed in every way alike, and differing only in
the way in which they are arranged.
I will now describe the construction of the arm E, which description will
apply alike to the arm F. It consists of three parts a, b, c, connected together
by the joints d, e. The part a fits loosely on the shaft B and is jointed to the
part 6 at d; the part 6 is attached to the part a at d, and to the part c by
means of the joint e, and this latter part c spreads out into a foot fat its outer
end which fits against the inner surface of the drum D. On the back of the
arm is placed the spring 9, which is fastened to the part a and presses against
the foot so as to keep it up to the interior surface of the drum and always
ready to act. G, H, are two rods, the upper.ends of which are connected to
the jointed arms E, F, while their lower ends are brought together and
pivoted to the end h of a treadle I.
I will now describe the operation of the Invention. The end h of the
treadle being moved upward the rod G will straighten out the arm E so that
the foot will press against the interior surface of the drum D and force the
wheel round in the direction of the arrow, Figure 1. On the treadle being
moved in the opposite direction the rod G is drawn downward, causing it to
act on the arm E in a manner contrary to the one just described, and bending
it at the joint d, so that it is shortened and the foot frelieved from contact
with the interior surface of the drum D. The rod H acts on the arm F in a
similar manner, only it is so placed that the motion of the treadle which
straightens the arm E bends the arm F, and vice versa, so that each motion
of the end of the treadle either up or down acts directly to turn the wheel C
in the direction of the arrow. i is a spring stop on the arm F, against which
the arm E strikes, thus preventing the presser feet from coming into contact
with each other.
Although this Invention is represented in the Drawings, and has been before
described as connected with a treadle, I do not wish to confine myself entirely
to this arrangement, as it is evident that it can be operated by any motive
power; for instance, it can be connected with the piston of a steam engine,
and in fact this Invention can be applied in nearly any situation where a
crank is now used. If preferred, one of the jointed arms may be dispensed
with and the wheel revolved by one arm only operated through a rod or its
equivalent by the motive power.
Some of the peculiarities of this Invention which render it advantageous in
some situations are, first, it has no "dead point," like a crank, and consequently.
is always ready to start; second, from the peculiar arrangement of the parts
it can be turned only in one direction, thus particularly adapting it to sewing.

page_text: machines; third, no definite length of stroke is required to produce a revo-
lution of the wheel as with a crank, so that it is adapted to different persons,
as, for instance, in a sewing machine many persons, particularly children, have
great difficulty in acquiring and keeping the length of stroke required by the
crank, thus making the operation of running the machine very tiresome;
fourth, the vis inertia of the balance wheel can be utilized without the impe-
diment of the weight of the treadle, piston, or other connection which must be
carried along where a crank is employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd November 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, İ, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord
1866, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs
and successors, give and grant unto me, the said George Tomlinson Bou-field,
Her special license that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 MACHINERY FOR CONVERTING RECIPROCATING INTO ROTARY
MOTION," being a communication to him from abroad by Merrick Mortimer
Barnes, a person resident at East Hampton, in the County of Hampshire,
and State of Massachusetts, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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 Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 is a front elevation, Fig. 2 is a plan, the drum or pulley being shown
in section (the upper half being removed to show the jointed arms), Fig. 3 is
an enlarged plan of one of the jointed arms detached.
My Invention consists in converting reciprocating into rotary motion by
means of one or more jointed arms pivoted to a sbaft and acting upon the
interior surface of a drum or pulley, each arm being furnished with a presser
foot and operated through a rod or its equivalent by the motive power.
To enable others skilled in the art to understand and use my Invention I
will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.
In the said Drawings A is a standard on a shaft B, projecting from which
is hung the balance wheel C, to which is attached the drum or pulley D.
Inside of this drum are placed two arms E, F, constructed in every way alike,
and differing only in the way in which they are arranged.
I will now describe the construction of the arm E, which description will
apply alike to the arm F. It consists of three parts a, b, c, connected together
by the joints d, e. The part a fits loosely on the shaft B and is jointed to the
part bat d; the part 6 is attached to the part a at d, and to the part c by
means of the joint e, and this latter part c spreads out into a foot fat its outer
end which fits against the inner surface of the drum D. On the back of the
arm is placed the spring 9, which is fastened to the part a and presses against
the footf so as to keep it up to the interior surface of the drum and always
ready to act. G, H, are two rods, the upper ends of which are connected to
the jointed arms E, F, while their lower ends are brought together and pivoted
to the end h of a treadle I.
I will now describe the operation of my Invention. The end h of the
treadle being moved upward the rod G will straighten out the arm E so that
the foot will press against the interior surface of the drum D and force the
wheel round in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1. On the treadle being
moved in the opposite direction the rod G is drawn downward, causing it to
act on the arm E in a manner contrary to the one just described, and bending
it at the joint & so that it is shortened and the foot f relieved from contact
with the interior surface of the drum D. The rod H acts on the arm F in a
similar manner, only it is so placed that the motion of the treadle which
straightens the arm E bends the arm F, and vice versa, so that each motion

page_text: of the end of the treadle either up or down acts directly to turn the wheel C
in the direction of the arrow. i is a spring stop on the arm F, against which
the arm E strikes, thus preventing the presser feet f from coming into contact
with each other.
Although this Invention is represented in the Drawings, and has been before
described as connected with a treadle, I do not wish to confine myself entirely
to this arrangement, as it is evident that it can be operated by any motive
power; for instance, it can be connected with the piston of a steam engine,
and in fact this Invention can be applied in nearly any situation where a
crank is now used. If preferred, one of the jointed arms may be dispensed
with and the wheel revolved by one arm only operated through a rod or its
equivalent by the motive power.
Some of the peculiarities of this Invention which render it advantageous
in some situations are, first, it has no "dead point," like a crank, and conse-
quently is always ready to start; second, from the peculiar arrangement of
the parts it can be turned only in one direction, thus particularly adapting it
to sewing machines, &c.; third, no definite length of stroke is required to
produce a revolution of the wheel as with a crank, so that it is adapted to
different persons, as, for instance, in a sewing machine many persons, parti-
cularly children, have great difficulty in acquiring and keeping the length of
stroke required by the crank, thus making the operation of running the
machine very tiresome; fourth, the vis inertiae of the balance wheel can be
utilized without the impediment of the weight of the treadle, piston, or other
connection which must be carried along where a crank is employed.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under
the above recited Letters Patent I claim, the drum or pulley D, in combination
with one or more jointed arms E or F, each of which is furnished with a
presser foot fand operated through a rod or its equivalent by the motive
power, substantially as described.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal this 31st