USRE4184E - Improvement in treadles for sewing and other machines - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN CHARLES POLE, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN TREADLES FOR SEWING AND OTHER MACHINES.

Specitication forming part of Letters Patent No. 107,717, dated September 27, 1870; Reissue No. 4,184, dated November 22, 1870.

lo all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN CHARLES POLE, of the city of Washington, in the Disirict of Columbia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Treadles and Treadle- Connections for Sewing and\other Machines; and I do hereby declare the followingr to be a clear, full, and exact description thereof', reterence being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

, The main object of my invention is to do l away with those shocks, concussione, and visuch a yielding or elastic treadle with a yield-v ing connecting-rod, and in certain specific details of construction hereinafter described.

Figure lis a front view of a table having my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is n side view on the line w x of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side view of my improved elastic treadle adapted by its construction to be placed upon and operated in conjunction with an ordinary foot piece or treadle, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Fig. 4 is an edge view of the same. Fig. 5 represents a mode ot' construction ot' my elastic connecting-rod. Fig. 6 is an isometrical view of the under plate of my improved treadle when constructed for a. table or machine not already provided with a treadle or foot-piece.

Referring tirst to Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, Arepresents my upper rockingA or vibrating plate, made of any suitable material and intended for the action of the foot of the operator. It is provided with smalll projecting pivots a a for insertion in the ears b b of the bed-plate B, which thus sustains and carries it, but allowsit to be rocked thereon. Either or both 0f the plates A and B, I provide, if desired,

| with elastic stops C C, and they are also both provided with suitable springs or elastics, D D, whose tension should be about equal and such as to hold the plate A parallel with B when the parts are at rest. Thenpper and lower elastic stops C, whenA employed, should be far enough apart toA permit theplate A, when rocked upon its two pivotal centers, to be pressed down at its front or back, as the case may be, and thus bring into use, by stretching or distending it, one or the other of the elastic springs or links D D. The stop or stops C which are nearest the link that now becomes relaxed as its opposite one is distended by this action receive the whole strain or pressure imparted by the foot of the operator.

The bed-plate B of my compound treadle I provide with small ears K, turning downward, the object ot' which is that they shall reach over the edges of the ordinary treadle, F, (see Fig. 1,) of the machine, and thereby hold to position for its proper action my improved apparatus when applied thereto.

As an equivalent for the elastic springs D D, any ordinary spiral or other spring may be used. `When these springs are made powerful enough it is evident that the auxiliary stops C (l will not be needed and may be omitted.

When I desire to apply my above-described improvement to a machine not already supplied with a treadle I construct its upper plate as already set forth; but I provide the lower plate, B, with a shaft or axis, E, as shown in Fig. 6, journaled at its ends to serve in the place of the axis of the ordinary treadle, and I also proj ect the rear part of such lower plate, as shown and furnish it with any well-known means whereby it may be connected to the connecting-rod or pitman. In other respects this lower plate is substantially the same asin the other gures or as above described.

' I will now proceed to describe the yielding or elastic connectingrod which I have iuvented, and which I use to connect a treadle with the crank or driving shaft.l This rod I make in two sections or'pieces, G G, of suitable size and material, and provide one of the pieces with a xed head or strap, H, through which under certain conditions, the other piece may work or slide. Attached to the upper piece' or section and to each side of the head or strap H is a pin, I, and on each side of the lower section are two other pins, I I, from which rubber or other elastic bauds or loops d d are carried, so that both shall be fastened to the fixed central pin, I. This construction a1- ]ows the lower or sliding section to move and ride upon the upper and non-sliding one, but always, however, in either direction of its sliding to be under the stress and resistance of one pair ofthe spring-loops d d. Stops c c, of an elastic material, are provided on the pitman or connecting-rod to act as yielding bumpers during the sliding action in either direction, and thereby to prevent too great a thrust. I do not claim any particular material or spring.

By my construction, although the range of motion of the foot of the operator may be slightly greater than with an ordinary non-elas# tictreadle, yet the power expended or required is not increased, inasmuch as the springs or the springs and stopsG C and cc, as the case may be, by their resiliency, react so as to assistthe foot in its movements.

The maximum increase of the motion ofthe foot in using my improved treadle is perhaps about one-fourth more than with an ordinary noniyieldin g treadle.

The whole apparatus may be suitably ornamented, and my improved treadle may be used with an'ordinary rigid connecting-rod; or my improved connectingrod may be used With au ordinary treadle; or both of my said improvements can be used in conjunction, as shown. I prefer thus tovuse them together.

A most important result attained by my invention occurs when stoppin ga machine driven by it. The sudden checkingof the momentum ot' the driving or fly wheel is relieved by the yielding resistance of the sprin gs, and there is no abrupt shock or jar imparted to the foot, and thence through the limbs to the hip ot the operator, as is unavoidably the case when the connecting-rod and the treadle are rigid. Such K shocks frequently recurring in time prove in some cases very injurious to the person. By my improvement the force of' vthe stopping 1s divided and spent before it reaches the foot,`

and the effect upon the person islight, gentle, and harmless.

I claim- 1. A treadle composed of a rigid rocking plate, and also of another plate carried by and rocking with it-,and having also a yielding or -elasticmovement of its own.

2. An extensible connecting-rod foratreadle, changeable as to its operative length when in action, and composed ot' two rigid parts arranged to move lengthwise relatively to each otheragainst the force of a spring or springs.

3. The combination, with an extensible elastic connecting-rod, of a treadle in which one rocking plate works with another rocking plate under elastic tension. f 4. The rocking or vibrating plate A, with its springs D D, combined with a vibrating bed plate, B, and elastic stops C, the whole operi ating substantially as and for the purposes described.

5. The connecting rod composed of the pieces G Gr, the pins I, elastic v springsd d,the tixed head or strap H, and the elastic stops c c, the parts being combined and operatin g substantially as and for the purpose described.

l6. A bed-plate adapted for connection to a connecting-rod, and provided with'ashaft and journals, and with ears b b, substantiallyr asI and for the purpose described.

7. The combination of the elastic treadle, constructed as shown, with the elastic connecting-rod, also constructed as shown in the drawings, the whole operating substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

BENJAMIN CHARLES POLE.` .I

Witnesses:

J. F. vBEALE', JOHN J. HALSTED.

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