IMPROVED MEANS OF DRIVING LIGHT MACHINES, SUCH AS THOSE USED FOR SEWING, EMBROIDERING, AND THE LIKE
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sigmund Louis, of No. 50, Newgate Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of " IMPROVED MEANS OF DRIVING LIGHT MACHINES,
SUCH AS THOSE USED FOR SEWING, EMBROIDERING, AND THE LIKE." A commu-
nication from abroad by Camille Dognin, Louis Isaac, and Simon Haas, all of
No. 37, Rue du Sentier, Paris, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sigmund Louis at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd December 1877.
SIGMUND LOUIS, of No. 50, Newgate Street, in the City of London. "IMPROVED
MEANS OF DRIVING LIGHT MACHINES, SUCH AS THOSE USED FOR SEWING,
EMBROIDERING, AND THE LIKE." [A communication from abroad by Camille
Dognin, Louis Isaac, and Simon Haas, all of No. 37, Rue du Sentier, Paris,
France.]
This Invention relates to mechanism to be employed instead of treadles, such as
are used in sewing machines and the like, for the purpose of producing rotary
motion by the exertion of the lower members of the operator's body, the object of
the Invention being to enable those members to be used in such a way as to produce
less fatigue to the operator and less general movement of his body, and to avoid the
consequences prejudicial to health and comfort which often result from working
with treadles as they are commonly arranged.
According to this Invention a pendulum is suspended vertically, and presents at
its lower end a foot-rest on which the operator places his foot, causing by the
motion of his leg the pendulum to swing to and from his body. The pendulum 18
connected by a rod to a crank on the shaft of the machine, which is as usual pro-
vided with a fly wheel. Two pendulums thus arranged may be employed, one to be
worked by each foot.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Sigmund Louis in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st June
1878.
SIGMUND LOUIS, of No. 50, Newgate Street, in the City of London. " IMPROVED
MEANS OF DRIVING LIGHT MACHINES, SUCH AS THOSE USED FOR SEWING,
EMBROIDERING, AND THE LIKE.” A communication from abroad by Camille
Dognin, Louis Isaac, and Simon Haas, all of No. 37, Rue du Sentier, Paris,
France.
This Invention relates to mechanism to be employed instead of treadles, such as
are used in sewing machines and the like, for the purpose of producing rotary
motion by the exertion of the lower members of the operator's body, the object of
the Invention being to enable those members to be used in such a way as to produce
less fatigue to the operator and less general movement of his body, and to avoid the
consequences prejudicial to health and comfort which often result from working
with treadles as they are commonly arranged.
According to this Invention a pendulum is suspended vertically, and presents at
its lower end a foot-rest on which the operator places his foot, causing by the
motion of his leg the pendulum to swing to and from his body The pendulum is
connected by a rod to a crank on the shaft of the machine, which is as usual pro-
vided with a fly wheel. Two pendulums thus arranged may be employed, one to be
worked by each foot
US
THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a front view, and Fig. 2 a side view of the table and framing of a light
machine, such as a sewing machine, with means of driving the motor shaft thereof
according to this Invention; that is to say, a pendulum consisting of two bars D, D,
united by a foot board F, and suspended by pivots E from the table of the machine,
is linked by connecting rods G, G, to the cranks H, H, of the driving shaft C. One
foot or both feet of the operator being placed on the foot board F, the pendulum is
caused to swing by the action of the lower part of the leg, and by its oscillation
gives rotary motion to the shaft C.
At the top of the bars D, D, there may be several holes for the pivots E, so that
their height may be varied if desired.
A bar L may be fixed across the machine, adjustable in height by passing its ends
through slotted holes, and securing it therein by thumb nuts, so as to bear on the
legs of the operator just above the knee, and prevent movement of the thigh.
Fig 3 is a side view, and Fig. 4 a front view of a modified arrangement in which
two pendulums are employed, one for each foot to swing to and fro alternately, for
which purpose they are linked to cranks H, H, set opposite to one another on the
shaft C.
The shaft may be conveniently made in two separate lengths, coupled at R, so
that the cranks can be set opposite to each other if alternate swinging is required,
or in line if single swinging is preferred, or at intermediate angles.
It is convenient to make the one foot board F, shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, or the
separate foot boards, shewn in Figs. 3 and 4, adjustable in height to suit legs of
different lengths. The foot board also, instead of being rigidly fixed to the pen-
dulum rod D, may be jointed thereto, so that it can rock to the motion of the foot
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents, I
claim, driving light machines, such as those used for sewing, embroidering, and the
like, by means of a pendulum linked to a crank on the driving shaft, and caused to

page_text: 5
swing by the foot of the operator applied at its lower end, substantially as herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sigmund Louis, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
ATAK
TALTI
SIGMUND LOUIS. (..)