ANVED TREADLE ACTION FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Steele, of Sparkbrook, near Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Machinist, and Francis Cocks, of Bir-
mingham aforesaid, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
"
Sealed the 12th April 1876, and dated the 28th October 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Steele and
Francis Cocks at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 28th October 1875.
We, JAMES STEELE, of Sparkbrook, near Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Machinist, and FRANCIS COCKS, of Birmingham aforesaid,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED TREADLE ACTION FOR SEWING MACHINES," to be as follows:-
For the purposes of our Invention we provide a disc of metal, which
towards its outer periphery is grooved. Within this groove is caused to
work a pair of links, the one ends of which have a commond centre in

page_text: the said disc, the other ends being connected by two separate connecting
rods to the treadle, by means of which motion is given to the machine.
Thus upon motion being given from the treadle the connecting rods
(which are jointed thereto) give motion to the pair of links before
mentioned in such manner that the one being forced upwards drives the
disc a half revolution, when the said links lock themselves. The other
link then coming down obliges the disc to complete its revolution, and
the motion being continuous the said disc continues to revolve, and by
means of it the necessary action is given to the machine.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Steele and Francis Cocks in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 27th April 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, JAMES
STEELE, of Sparkbrook, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Machinist, and FRANCIS COCKS, of Birmingham aforesaid, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said James Steele and Francis
Cocks, Her special licence that we, the said James Steele and
Francis Cocks, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as wc, the said James Steele and Francis Cocks, our exe-
cutors, 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 "AN IMPROVED
TREADLE ACTION FOR SEWING MACHINES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said James Steele and Francis Cocks, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said James Steele and Francis Cocks,
do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement (that is to say):-
For the purposes of our Invention we provide a disc of metal, which
towards its outer periphery is grooved. On the face of this disc is
caused to work a pair of links, the one ends of which have a common
centre in the said disc, the other ends being connected by two separate
connecting rods to the treadle by means of which motion is given to the
machine. Thus upon motion being given from the treadle the con-
necting rods (which are jointed thereto) give motion to the pair of links
before mentioned in such manner that the one being forced upwards
drives the disc a part revolution, when the said link unlocks itself in the
groove (not that the said links lock themselves as stated by inadvertence
in the Provisional Specification). The other link then coming down
obliges the disc to complete its revolution, and the motion being con-
tinuous the said disc continues to revolve, and by means of it the
necessary action is given to the machine.
In order that my Invention may be fully understood I annex Drawings
thereof, which I will now proceed to describe.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the wheel of a sewing machine to which
my Invention has been applied.
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the disc and links drawn to a larger
scale, namely, about full size.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section also to a larger scale.
Similar letters of reference refer to like parts in all the Figures.
The fly wheel a runs loosely upon the fixed stud b, and to the central
boss of the said fly wheel is fastened the disc c. In the face of the
disc c is a concentric groove d. Two links A and B also turn loosely
upon the fixed stud b. Each link is compound, and consists of two

page_text: portions, namely, the short arm e (or e¹), through which the fixed stud b
passes, and the long arm f (or f¹), which is hinged to the short arm e
(or e¹) by means of the shouldered screw y (or g¹), and which has at its
outer end a stud h (or h¹), which is embraced by one end of the con-
necting rod (or '). The lower ends of the connecting rods k, k³, are
attached to the treadle 1, as shewn in Fig. 1. m is the outline of the
frame of the stand of the sewing machine. The long arms f, f', of the
links A, B, have cam-shaped projections p, p, (which in this case are
oval shaped) formed upon them (see Figs. 2 and 3), which projections
or cams enter the groove d in the disc c.
The breadth of the oval cam (see Fig. 2) is less, and its length o is
greater than the width of the groove d, so that although the said cam-
shaped projections will freely traverse the groove d, when their minor
axes assume a radial position with respect to the fixed stud b, yet when
it is attempted to place the major axis of either of the said oval pro-
jections radially to the stud b the said cam-shaped projection jams or
locks itself in the groove d. The links A, B, are so arranged that the
aforesaid locking action takes place during the ascent of A and during
the descent of B, as shewn by the arrows in Fig. 2, so that inasmuch as
both the links A and B rise and fall simultaneously (both being con-
nected to the same end of the treadle / as aforesaid) one or other of them
is sure to be locked with the disc c, and is therefore in a position to cause
the disc c to revolve, and with it the fly wheel a and the rest of the
machine which is in connection therewith. Conversely whether the con-
necting rods are ascending or descending one or other of the links A, B, is
unlocked from the disc c, and is free to move in the groove din readiness
for its next propelling stroke. The reciprocating motion of the treadle
is thus converted into a continuous motion in one direction only of the
fly wheel a, and that irrespective of the extent of the reciprocations of
the treadle l.
The spring 8, 8¹, connect the two parts of each compound lever
together in such a manner as to keep cach cam or projection in gentle
contact with the sides of the groove d, so that either may be ready to
propel the disc c without slip or loss of time.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be carried into effect, we desire it to be
understood that without limiting ourselves to the precise details herein-

page_text: before contained we desire it to be understood that what we claim as the
Invention to be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the combination of the grooved disc c, the cam-shaped pro-
jections p, p, working therein, and the compound links A, B, in the
manner and for the purpose herein-before described and shewn in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, tho said James Steele and Francis Cocks,
have hereunto set our hands and seal, this Twenty-sixth day
of April, in the year of our Lord 1876.
Witness,
T. EMERY DAVIES,
Clerk to Mr. G. R. Holland,
Birmingham.
(L.S.)
JAMES STEELE.
FRANCIS COCKS. (L.s.)