IMPROVEMENTS IN TREADLE MECHANISM AND CASTOR APPARATUS FOR SEWING AND OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREADLE MECHANISM AND CASTOR
APPARATUS FOR SEWING AND OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES."—A communica-
tion from abroad by George Kendall Proctor and John Christopher
Osgood, both of Salem, Massachusetts, United States of America.
ealed the 10th October 1872, and dated the 3rd June 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 3rd June 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN TREADLE MECHANISM
AND CASTOR APPARATUS FOR SEWING AND OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES," a com-
munication, to be as follows :—

page_text: nearly vertical, and another treadle has a rigid vertical bar about as high
as the driving shaft, and is connected to the crank by a pitman rod
nearly perpendicular to the first named pitman rod, the said arrange-
ment being calculated to give a more even application of power than
other arrangements.
Secondly. In two oscillating treadles separately connected to a double
crank so arranged that the said treadles will work thoughout the greater
part of each movement in opposite directions, and the dead points will
be neutralized to a considerable extent, thereby permitting & more
natural action of the feet and legs of the operator, by which the work
can be performed with more comfort, and a steadier motion is produced
than would be practicable with other arrangements.
Thirdly. In a double crank secured to the balance wheel of the
driving shaft of sewing and other light machines, by adapting one arm
of the crank to be placed over the hub of the wheel, and clamped to one
of the spokes of the said wheel so as to turn the same, the wheel being
secured to the driving shaft.
Fourthly. In a lever having a castor pivoted to the legs at one end of
the machine just above the lower end of such legs and extended hori-
zontally or nearly so toward the other end of the machine, where it
meets two other horizontal levers having castors, and passes through one
of them into a slot or notch of the other. The one through which it
passes is provided with a foot piece by pressing the foot on which the
machine is brought to a rest on the castors of the levers, and is held
by securing the foot piece under a catch or shoulder properly located in
the supporting framework of the machine. By this means the said
machine is adapted to be moved about readily.
The first named lever of the three is extended along the machine from
one side or end support to the other, while the two last named levers are
arranged transversely to the machine, and parallel to or alongside the
inner face of the opposite side or end support to that on which the first
named lever is hung.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 3rd December 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of June, in the year 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 William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert
Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 TREADLE MECHANISM AND CASTOR APPARATUS FOR SEWING
AND OTHER SIMILAR MACHINES," a communication to me from abroad by
George Kendall Proctor and John Christopher Osgood, both of Salem,
Massachusetts, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument 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 Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 accom-
panying Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
These improvements consist,-
First. In an arrangement in which one treadle foot is connected at
one end to the crank by a pitman or connecting rod rising nearly

page_text: vertical, and another treadle having a rigid vertical bar about as high as
the shaft of the wheel, and connected to the crank by a pitman nearly
perpendicular to the other pitman. The object of this arrangement of
parts is to secure a most even application of power.
Second. In two oscillating treadles separately connected to a double
crank so arranged that the said treadle will work throughout the greater
part of each movement in opposite directions, and the dead points will
be neutralized to a considerable extent, thereby permitting a more
natural action of the feet and legs of the operator, by which the work
can be performed with comfort, and a steady motion is produced.
Thirdly. In a double crank secured to the balance wheel of the
driving shaft of sewing and other light machines, by adapting one arm
of the crank to be placed over the hub of the wheel, and to be clamped
or secured to the said wheel so as to turn with the same, the wheel being
secured to the driving shaft.
Fourthly. In a series of levers of which one or more must be directly
provided with and must carry castors of any ordinary construction that
are arranged within and upon the frames or legs or other parts forming
the supports for sewing or other light machines, and connected together
in such manner that by suitably operating one of the series of levers the
whole series will be simultaneously moved in a direction to bring the
castors to the floor. The bearings of the castors on the floor there form
the fulcrums, and thus the machine is lifted on to the castors. By releasing
the operating levers through the weight of the machine itself the several
levers are simultaneously operated, but in the reverse direction to that
just above stated, bringing thereby the machine steadily and evenly to
rest upon its ordinary supports or legs.
One arrangement of the levers for the operation above described con-
sists in a lever pivotted to the legs at one end of the machine just above
the lower end of such legs, and extended horizontally or nearly so
toward the other end of the machine; it there meets two other trans-
versely arranged levers, and extending through one of them enters a slot
or elongated notch of the other. One of these transverse levers is the
operating lever, and both, as well as the first lever referred to, are directly
provided with and carry a castor, and all the castors are in such position
that the depression of the operating lever will bring them to a bearing on
the floor to act as the fulcrums of the levers.

page_text: Another arrangement of the castor levers, but one that involves the
principle of construction and operation of that just above explained,
consists in arranging the lever first referred to in the series of levers
just above described to revolve upon a suitable journal or fulcrum, in
lieu of hinging or pivoting it as before.
Figure 12 is a vertical secton on the line z, z, Figure 10.
Figure 13 is a similar view to Figure 11, but with the table resting
on the castors.
A represents a table or stand of the form and construction employed
ordinarily in sewing machines, the said table consisting of a table board B
with end supporting frames C, C³, one at each end, the same being
braced in any suitable manner; D is the balance wheel, and E its hub,
by and through which the wheel D is fastened to the driving shafts E³
arranged in the ordinary manner; F, F, are the two treadle feet hung
upon the horizontal rod G of the two supporting frames C, C³.

page_text: In Figures 1 and 2 one treadle foot E of the treadle feet F, F, has an
arm H turned from the toe around in front of the toe to the treadle
foot F. The arm H, through the pitman rod I, is hung to the wrist
pin a and eccentrically to the balance wheel, the pitman rod I working
nearly vertically, moving at its upper end each way from a vertical line.
The other treadle foot F2 (Figures 1 and 2) at or near its toe has a rigid
arm K that rises vertically to about the height horizontally of the
balance wheel axis, and at its upper end is connected through the rod L
to the wrist pin a hercin-before referred to, the said upper end vibrating
toward and from the wheel axis. The rod L works nearly perpendicular
to the rod I.
By the construction and arrangement of the connection between
treadle feet and driving shaft above described, the shaft is obviously
driven as desired, and while the movements of the treadles are in exactly
opposite directions the connecting rods are nearly at right angles,
enabling thereby the power of either treadle to act while the other
treadle is passing the dead point. If both treadles were connected as is
treadle F, which of itself is the ordinary way, both treadles as to power
would apply and cease at the same time.
In Figures 3 and 4 one treadle foot F, through its toe extension M, is
connected by a pitman rod N to a wrist pin 6 of the balance wheel D,
and the other treadle foot F2, through its toe extension O, is connected
by a pitman rod P to a wrist pin C at one end of an arm Q, that at its
other end is supported by and on the wrist pin b.
The wrist pins 6 and C are both eccentric to the axis of the balance
wheel, and radii of the wheel drawn through them are perpendicular or
nearly so to each other. Under an arrangement of parts and connections
such as just above described and shewn in Figures 3 and 4, the treadle
connections are never both at once on the dead points, and during the
greater part of each movement the treadles are moving in directions
opposite each other; while one is passing the dead points the other is
passing midway between the dead points. The power is thereby applied
most efficiently, and by dividing the labour between the two legs of the
operator, rendering it easier and producing more uniform motion; the
starting of the machine is also facilitated.
In Figures 5 and 6 R is an arm having at one end a hole d sufficiently
large to allow the arm to be placed on the hub E of the balance wheel D.

page_text: At S the arm R is widened, making two ear pieces for the reception of
screws or bolts g. With the arm R on the wheel hub E, and one bolt
or screw at each side of one arm or spoke T of the balance wheel D, and
the two bolts screwed into a plate U on the other face of the wheel, the
arm R becomes clamped to the wheel D, so as to move in unison there-
with. The arm R is then the main crank, and at or near its outer end
it fits by its hole or recess h over the stud i of the wheel D. k is a
wrist pin of the main crank arm R, to which is hung a rod V that is
connected and hung to one F of the treadle feet F, F, of the machine,
as ordinarily. The wrist pin k also carries an arm W, which by one end
of a rod X is connected and hung to the treadle F³.
The main crank arm R sustains to a great extent the strain of the
connected rods. The crank attachments just above described and shewn
in Figures 5 and 6 are to be made in different sizes and forms to the
different kinds of sewing machines more especially, thus enabling it to
be applied most generally by users of all kinds of sewing machines.
As herein-before stated, the attachment of castors to sewing and other
light machines, &c., is shewn fully in the several Figures 7, 8, 9,
and 10, 11, 12, and 13, and the construction and arrangement of the
same are as follows:--1, 2, 3, are three wheel castors of the ordinary
construction, and they are each respectively attached to separate arms of
levers 4, 5, 6. The lever 4, in Figures 7, 8, is shewn as hung on a
fulcrum at the side frame C³, extending therefrom to or nearly to the
other side frame C2; the castor 1 carried by this lever 4 is at or near its
fulcrum. The two levers 5 and 6 are both hung upon the inside of the
side frame C; the one lever 5 on a fulcrum pin m at the rear of the side
frame C, and the other lever 6 on a fulcrum pin n at the front of the
same side frame O.
The two levers 5 and 6, from their respective fulcrum pins m, n,
extend toward and pass each other, and are connected so as to move
together when one is operated by means of a slot o and pin p, as shewn.
The lever 5, hung at the rear of the frame C, is extended to the front,
and there terminates in a foot piece Y, as shewn, and becomes and is the
operating lever. The castors 2 and 3 of both levers 5 and 6 are at or
near their fulcrum pins m and n, respectively, and to the lever 5 the
first lever 4 herein described is connected by entering the same and
thence passing into the other lever 6, the pin p herein-before referred to

page_text: as making the connection between the two levers 5 and 6 being an
extension of the said lever 4.
When the lever is arranged as shewn in Figures 9, 10, 11, 12,
and 13, that is to turn upon the treadle foot rod G as a centre, the
extension arms 7 and 8 are provided for the lever 4, the one 7 for the
castor thereof, so as to bring the castor into a more eligible position for
operation than it would be were it directly in the lever proper, and the
other for the purpose of securing a more effective connection between it
and the two end levers 5 and 6 than would be possible were the lever 4
to enter straight into the levers 5 and 6. The point of connection
between lever 4 and levers 5, 6 (the connection with the two being made
through the one to the other), is at Z, and is by a pin T and slightly
elongated hole S.
The castor lever 6 is between the operating and castor lever 5 and end
frame C, and the operating and castor lever 5 at its foot piece Y has a
side lip so projecting that upon a suitable depression of the said lever 5
it can be set under the castor lever 6, and thus keep the said levers from
raising or lifting. It may be here observed that the disposition of the
several levers 4, 5, and 6, and their connections in relation to the legs or
frames C, C³, is such that by a depression of the operating lever 5 the
movement of the castor levers will be sufficient to bring their centres
below the plane of rest of the frame upon the floor or other surface, and
thus throw the frame upon the castors as supports; and by raising the
operating lever 5 I permit the castors to come wholly within the
frames C, C2, so that then the frames C, C2, will be supported upon
themselves as ordinarily.
From the above description of the construction and arrangements of
the several castor levers 4, 5, and 6, with regard to one another and the
frames C, C³, it is obvious, first, that by depressing the foot piece end of
the operating and castor levers the several castor levers will be simul-
taneously turned or swung, and all in a similar direction, that is,
downward, bringing their castors if the depression of the lever be
carried far enough beyond the feet of frames C, C³, by which they rest
upon the floor, when they become the fulcrums of the levers, raising
thereby the frames C, C², on to said castors which then are the rests for
the frames upon the floor, and can be so secured by setting the lipt of
operating and castor lever 5 under castor lever 6, as shewn; second,

page_text: that the frames resting on the castors, as above described, to bring the
frames back to rest on the floor it is only necessary to release the
operating and castor lever 5 from the castor lever 6, when by the
weight of the table and its frames, etc., the whole resume their respective
normal positions.
Thus it will be seen that by an arrangement of levers, substantially
as herein described, the table or stand A can be thrown as it were most
readily upon castors or upon its ordinary supports, according as may be
desired. The advantages of this arrangement are obvious, and do not
need particular mention herein. It may be well to here remark that it
is not intended to limit this Invention to any particular arrangement of
castor and operating levers.
The construction of levers 4, 5, and 6, shewn in Figures 9, 10, 11, 12,
and 13, is preferable, and in practice is found to be the best, as it is most
firm and rigid, and is not so likely to wobble as the arrangement shewn
in Figures 7 and 8, but the principle of operation in both cases is the
same. Other means than the lip t may be provided for holding the
operating levers fast, and therefore it is not intended to limit this Inven-
tion to any particular means for fastening; the lip however is efficient
for the purpose. When the lever 4 is arranged upon the treadle foot
rod G its upper surface is adapted as a receptacle V to catch and retain
the drippings of oil from the bearings on said rod. The levers 5 and 6
may be arranged at the left-hand side of the machine in lieu of at the
right, as described under a precisely similar but reverse arrangement of
connecting parts.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,―
First. The connection of one treadle F to the crank by the ordinary
connecting rod I, and of the other treadle F by the rigid arm K and the
connecting rod L, substantially as described.
Second. The crank applied in the manner shewn in Figures 3 and 4
to the treadle mechanism of a sewing machine, for the purpose specified.
Third. The arm R constructed with a recess h and ears for screws g
and the plate U, all combined, constructed, and applied to a balance
wheel having a stud i, substantially as and for the purpose described.

page_text: Fourth. The levers 4, 5, and 6 carrying respectively castors 1, 2,
and 3 when combined and arranged together, substantially as and for
the purpose specified.
Fifth. The lever 4 adapted as a receptacle for oil drippings, sub-
stantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Third day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
EDWARD STEVENS,
8, Southampton Buildgs.
Wч. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)