IMPROVEMENTS IN TREADLES FOR SEWING MACHINES
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Kilham Herrick, of Boston, in the
County of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, in the U.S., of
America, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREADLES FOR SEWING
MACHINES."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Samuel Kilham Herrick
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 23rd June 1873, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
Kilham HerriCK, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of
Massachusetts, in the United States of America, send greeting.
·
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "TREADLES FOR
SEWING MACHINES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent
for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I really believe
myself to be the first and true Inventor thereof.
__

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Kilham Herrick, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes the nature of my said Invention, and thic manner
in which the same is to be performed (that is to say) :—
My Invention relates to improvements on treadles for sewing machines
and other light machinery, consisting in the employment of two loose
pulleys running free around a sleeve to which disks, having pivoted
pawls attached thereto in the usual manner, are secured. The sleeve
as well as the balance wheel is made to revolve freely around a stationary
stud screwed firmly into the frame of the sewing machine. The disk
nearest to the balance wheel has attached to it a forked clutch which
embraces the stud or projection found on all the ordinary sewing machine
balance wheels that revolve upon a short stud or pin.
My Invention has for its object to utilize the old balance wheel on
already existing machines without alteration, by which construction
the cost of applying the treadle mechanism is greatly reduced, and
the delay and inconvenience of sending the wheel to a machine shop
for alteration is avoided. Straps are attached from each of the loose
pulleys to the treadles by which the pulleys are moved around their
axes in one-direction, but for the purpose of reversing their motion,
and at the same time raise up each treadle so as to be ready for the
pressure of the operator's foot, I have connected both pulleys by
means of a strap or cord running over a small pulley that is made
to revolve freely in a bearing attached in a suitable manner to the
stationary stud, around which the balance wheel revolves, or to the
table or machine frame, as may be convenient. By this arrangement.
one of the pulleys is moved forward at the same time as the other one
is moved backward, and vice versa, for each stroke of the treadle, as
will now be fully shown and described.
On the Drawing Fig. 1 represents a side clevation, Fig. 2 represents
a central longitudinal section of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3. represents a ground
plan of my Invention.
a is the sewing table, and b, c, the frames in the ordinary manner;
d and e represent the treadles, by means of which the machinc is
operated; is a short stud or pin screwed firmly into the frame c
as shown in Fig. 2. The balance wheel 9 revolves loosely around
the said stationary stud or pin f. A sleeve h, to which the disks i, k,

page_text: are secured, is also made to revolve loosely around the stationary pin f.
The grooved pulleys l, m, revolve loosely around the sleeve h; to each
of the disks i and k is attached a movable clutch in some of the
ordinary ways which impinges on each of the grooved pulleys l, m,
whenever said pulleys are moved in the direction as shown by the
arrow on Fig. 1, whereby the pulley so moved is locked together to
the sleeve and disks i and k, but as soon as a pulley is moved in
an opposite direction the aforesaid clutch lets go its hold on said pulley;
that is then disconnected from and allowed to run freely around the
sleeve . To the disk i is attached a forked or slot-hold arm or clutch n,
in the perforation of which the projection o, being the ordinary crank
common on all sewing machine balance wheels, is inserted, as shown
in Fig. 2. A strap p connects the pulley to the treadle d, and a similar
strap, chain, etc. q connects the pulley m to the treadle e.
For the purpose of moving each pulley automatically to its original
position after it is turned by the aforesaid strap and treadle, I attach
to the pulleys and m a secondary strap or cord which is led around
a loose pulleys that is made to swing freely around its axis, and
supported in a suitablo arm & attached to the stationary pin f, or to
any other stationary part of the machinc, as may be convenient.
'
From the above will be understood that if the treadle d' is pressed
down, and consequently the pulley 7 moved in the direction as shown
by the arrow in Fig. 1, that the pulley m is simultaneously moved
in an opposite direction by the strap and loose pulleys, causing the
treadle e to be drawn upwards, and vice versa, during the operation
of the machine.
The pawls or clutches spoken of in connection with the disks k, i,
and pulleys l, m, form no part of my present Invention, and any other
suitable clutch or mechanism may be employed instead.
In place of the forked arm n attached to the disk i any other suitable
clutch or coupling device may be used for connecting the mechanism
operated by the treadles with the balance wheel.
From the foregoing it will be seen that an improved treadle
mechanism without a crank can thus be readily applied to a machine
provided with an ordinary crank treadle without requiring a new
balance wheel, or any alteration whatever of the old one, which is

page_text: a great convenience as it avoids the necessity of sending the wheel to a
machine shop, and materially lessens the cost of the attachment.
.
It will be seen that the hollow sleeve h with the pulleys l, m,
will run true, as it revolves upon the same stud as the balance wheel.
Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation
of my Invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patent and claim,―
1st. A mechanism actuated by a treadle or treadles and running
upon the same stud as the balance wheel when said mechanism is
connected with the balance wheel by a clutch or coupling, for the
purpose as herein shown and described.
2nd. In combination with the treadles d, e, and pulleys l, m, the
straps or connections p, q, and the additional strap and loose pulleys,
or their equivalents, as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof I, the said Samuel Kilham Herrick, have here-
unto set my hand and seal this Twenty-sixth day of April 1873,
A.D., at Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States of America.
Witnesses,
ALBAN ANDRÉN,
JOHN R. HEARD.
SAMUEL KILHAM HERRICK. (L.S.)