A NEW SELF-ACTING MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR WORKING SEWING OR OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES THAT ARE WORKED BY FOOT TREADLES, OR BY HAND, OR BY OTHER POWER
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Richard Smyth, Civil Engineer, of
Ethelburga House, 70 and 71, Bishopsgate Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of "A NEW SELF-ACTING MACHINE OR
APPARATUS FOR WORKING SEWING OR OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES THAT ARE
WORKED BY FOOT TREADLES, OR BY HAND, OR BY OTHER POWER."
1
.
Sealed the 19th July 1872, and dated the 20th January 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Richard Smyth
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th January 1872.
I, SAMUEL RICHARD SMYTH, Civil Engineer, of Ethelburga House,
70 and 71, Bishopsgate Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW SELF-ACTING MACHINE OR
APPARATUS FOR WORKING SEWING OR OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES THAT ARE WORKED
BY FOOT TREADLES, OR BY HAND, OR BY OTHER POWER," to be as follows :—
My Invention consists of machinery or clockwork formed of wheels,
either with cogs or with friction wheels, which are put into motion by a
•

page_text: barrel spring or springs wound up either in box or out of same, also by
a lever spring or springs with one or more plates, or of a spiral spring or
springs brought into power and motion by winding up either on to or
into a barrel or barrels and. on verge or cone or even pulley, either
grooved or plain, and connected with a chain of any form, links, and
metal, or of gut, cord, or leather, or of wire, cord, or rope of any metal,
the whole formed so as to transmit the power from spring barrel to
"wheels, thence to either the crank or paddle shaft, or direct to the speed
motion of the machine itself.
.
The whole apparatus is constructed in and fixed in a case or frame of
any metal and attached either to the table of the machine either above
or beneath, to the frame or legs, or on any other part that the motion
can be applied from.
The power is conveyed either direct or by band, cord, or chain, or by
wheels from any part of the frame or machine.
This Patent and principle is to be applied and used to any and every
form and class of machine known as sewing machines, stitching, and
others used for sewing or putting together any article or fabric with
thread of any material or size, or for any other class of machine of a
similar character that requires power.
The machine will be made of any dimension and of any design and
form, and to go continually any time required not exceeding 8 days, also
to any required power, also provided with a clutch or coupling to put it
into work or out, also a break to stop action.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 2
filed by the said Samuel Richard Smyth in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th July 1872.
1
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, .I, SAMUEL
RICHARD SMYTH, Civil Engineer, of Ethelburga House, Seventy and
Seventy-one, Bishopsgate Street, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of January, in the year
30

page_text: of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and.successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Samuel Richard Smyth, Her special
licence that I, the said Samuel Richard Smyth, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Richard Smyth,
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 "A
NEW SELF-ACTING MACHINE OR APPARATUS FOR WORKING SEWING OR OTHER
SIMILAR MACHINES THAT ARE WORKED BY FOOT TREADLES, OR BY HAND, OR BY
OTHER POWER," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Samuel Richard Smyth, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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
Potent

page_text: My said mechanism is enclosed in a metal case or frame, and can be
attached either to the side of the table frame, the top, or to any other
part thereof from which the motion can conveniently be applied or
transmitted to the machine.
In order that my said Invention may be more clearly and more fully
understood, and be more readily carried out in practice, I now proceed
to explain the same with the aid of the accompanying Drawing, which
forms part of this Specification.. The mechanism illustrated in the
Drawing is actuated by a coil spring in a barrel, and consists of an
arrangement of four wheels and pinions, each wheel having seventy-five
teeth or cogs, and each pinion having fifteen such teeth or cogs, the
latter being therefore rotated five times by and during one revolution of
the former, and as this occurs four times the mechanism multiplies by
six hundred and twenty-five times the speed imparted to the first wheel
by the spring.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the wheels and pinions with their respective
shafts or axles, fixed inside a metal box or case; Figure 2 is a side or
end view or elevation of the same, and shewing the spring barrel and
driving or connecting gear; Figure 3 is a front elevation of the outside
of the said box or case, which is about twelve inches in diameter and
about two-and-a-half inches in depth where the wheels are placed. The
spring barrel is about seven-and-a-half inches in diameter and about six
inches in depth. It is cast on or fitted to the top of the said case.
This Figure shews the ratchet arrangement for holding the spring in
place whilst being wound up, and also shews by red lines the positions
of the pitch lines of the wheels within the case. Figure 4 is a plan or
horizontal view of the same mechanism differently arranged. Figure 5 is
a side elevation of the same, and Figure 6 is an elevation of the box
enclosing the same.
The following reference applies to each Figure of the Drawing where
the same index letters and figures appear.
a is the metal case inside which the wheels and pinions are fixed in
holes or bearings drilled in the said case; a¹ is the spring barrel or case
cast on or fitted to the case a. This barrel contains the spring box and
spring, which spring is formed of rolled steel, of number eighteen to
twelve of the Birmingham wire gauge, properly tempered, about four
and a half inches wide and of sufficient length to give twelve revolutions

page_text: of its box a³ and the wheel g fixed thereon. This spring is secured to
its spindle a³ and box as by hooks and holes, or by any ordinary and
efficient means, and is wound up about or around the said spindle by the
following arrangement:-A. spindle or axle 6, having a square projecting
head 6', is fixed clear of the spring, and either inside or outside the
barrel or case a³, on to which axle 6 is keyed the pinion 6*, which gears
into and actuates the spur wheel c, which is fixed to the spindle a³, to
which the spring is attached. By turning with a key or winch the
axle 6 the spring is wound about or around the spindle a³, any recoil of
the said spring being prevented by the ratchet d, fixed to the spindle a²,
and the pawl or catch e as shewn. The pawl e is forced and held
in place by the small spring f. When needed compound gearing or
additional leverage may be used for winding.
which wheel h
This wheel i
On the opposite side of the spring is fixed to the bottom of the spring
box a³ the first toothed or gear wheel g of the series, and is about six
inches in diameter. The spring in its effort to uncoil itself turns its
box a³ around the spindle a³, and with it the said wheel
g. This wheel
operates the pinion h³, and with it the second wheel h,
operates the pinion, and with it the third wheel i.
operates the pinion 1, and with it the fourth wheel j, and this wheel j
operates the pinion k³, which pinion is fixed to the shaft k of the
driving pulley Z. The last wheel j of the series projects beyond the box,
a slot being cast or formed therein for the purpose sufficiently to gear
into the pinion k¹, as shewn in Figures 1 and 3. The pulley wheel may
be the ordinary one now used for driving sewing machines, in which case
the speed will be again multiplied five times, thus giving a motion to
the needle of the machine of three thousand one hundred and twenty-
five times for each revolution of the first wheel g.
A break is fixed to the frame of the machine, having a band of steel
or other suitable material, which presses on a drum attached to the
speed pulley of the machine. Also is fixed to the pinion k³ on the pulley
shaft k a clutch or coupling to throw the machine in or out of gear with
my improved mechanism.
The usual treadle of the sewing machine can be retained if desired..
Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the method of carrying the same into practical use, I
would have it understood that as the arrangement of my improved

page_text: mechanism is susceptible of great variation, I do not confine myself to
the dimensions or relative proportions, nor to the positions of the several
wheels and pinions, nor of the details of the said mechanism generally, as
.herein described or shewn in the Drawing; but what I claim and desire
to secure as my Invention by the aforesaid in part recited Letters Patent
is, the "self-acting machine or apparatus," substantially as and for the
purposes herein described and shewn in the Drawing, it being also
understood that I do not claim the constituent parts of the said
mechanism, per se, or apart from the general arrangement and purposes
of my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Richard Smyth, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of July, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
SAMUEL RICHARD. SMYTH. (L.S.)
SAMUEL RICHARD. SMYTH. (L.S.)