Untitled record

Application filed February 12,1880. Serial No, 340,098. (No model.:

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, John A. Lee, Sr., and Eli S. Reel, citizens of the United States, residing at Chattanooga, in the county of

Hamilton and State of Tennessee, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spring-Motors; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable to others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to certain improvements in spring - motors constructed and adapted for operating sewing-machines, otic gans, small lathes, job-printing presses, light water-crafts, and other light and easily-operating machinery, the invention being more especially and particularly useful as a motor attachment to sewing-machines.

so The object of the invention is to provide a motor which may be cheap, simple, and effective in its operation, one that can be instantly wound while it is in motion, and which when once wound is capable for run25 ning several hours and imparting motion to the machinery with which it is connected. The motor attachment is compact in its construction, so that it occupies but little. space and may be placed on the machinery which it is to operate so as to be entirely out of the way of the operator. It is readily attached to or detached from the machinery with which it is to be used, whether that machinery be a sewing-machine or some other kind of a machine, 35 and if a sewing-machine whether it be of the kind that runs by wheel or crank. The motor may be readily⁷ stopped or started at the will of the operator, and its speed can be regulated to a uniformity, and may be increased or diminished, as desired.

The invention therefore consists, essentially, in the novel form of winding attachment, and,furthermore, in certain detailsand peculiarities in the construction, arrange45 inent, and combination of the several mechanicalparts which constitute the invention, all substantially as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating our invention, Figure 1 is a vertical section 50 of our improved spring-motor, certain parts being shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a detail view of the disk and its hub, to which the actuating coiled spring Is connected, and shows the mode of connecting the spring to 55 the hub, and also shows details of the governor. Fig. 3 is a side view of our improved spring-motor, a portion of the casing being broken away to expose the interior mechanism. Fig. 4 is a detail view of the annular 60 ring and its pawls which form a portion of the clutch mechanism used in operating the device. Fig. 5 is a detail view of the spring which serves to reverse the winding attachment after each pull upon the pull-cord dur- 65 ing the operation of winding the motor, and shows the manner in which each end of said spring is secured in place. Fig. G shows the plates arranged on the table and within which the handle end of the stop-lever is lo- 70 cated.

Similar letters of reference designate corre-. sponding parts throughout all the different figures of the drawings.

A designates the table, platform, or sur- 73 face in connection with which the motor is arranged. This table may obviously be of any suitable and desirable pattern and form belonging to any of the various kinds of machinery which our improved motor is adapted 80 and designed to operate. Beneath this table or platform A, and securely fastened thereto by means of bolts or other suitable attaching means, is the supporting-frame B, within which the several mechanical parts of our 85 improved motor are located. This frame is preferably furnished with a casing, (not shown in the drawings,) which casing is made of sheet metal and designed to cover the working parts of the machine. By referring to 9c Fig. 3 it will be seen that the said frame B is provided with lugs s, which act in the place of grooves to allow the metal casing to be fitted to the frame, and in Fig. 3 the dotted lines at s' represent a rim outside of the lugs s, the purpose of which rim is to permit the metal casing when it is being fastened ii place to pass between it and the aforesa.

440,482 lugs s. The sides of the supporting-frame B are connected and securely braced and fastened together by means of the horizontal tierods a a, located at top and bottom of the 5 frame-work and projecting through the sides thereof, the projecting ends of said tie-rods being furnished with nuts a’ a', which are screwed up tightly against the outer side of the frame. There may obviously be any io number of these tie-rods. In Fig. 3 we have shown four of them—two at the top and two at the bottom of the frame. Four may perhaps be a preferable number, but obviously we can use all that may be needful to se15 curely fasten the frame together.

Within the frame B are journaled three principal horizontal shafts C, D, and E, said shafts passing through bearings in the sides of the frame and having their projecting 20 ends furnished with suitable oil-cups, as shown in Fig. 1, which cups maybe fastened rigidly to the supporting-frame or may be cast integral therewith, whichever plan may be found better.

We term the shaftC the “winding-shaft.” It is located at about the middle part of the frame. On this shaft are arranged rnanyof the rotating parts of the motor mechanism, as we shall now proceed to specify. The main actu30 ating-spring consists of several coils e e e, which are arranged within suitable barrels g g g, said barrels being provided with hubs, which are nicely bored to fit upon the shaft C. There may obviously be any number of 35 the coils, so that the spring may have greater or less power, according to the numberof coils. We preferably employ three coils and as many inclosing-barrels. At one end of these barrels is a disk L, which has a hub similar to the hubs of the barrels, said hub being located upon the winding-shaft C and firmly secured thereto. In Fig. 2 we have shown this disk L with its hub L', said hub having an opening or hole L³, which receives a button L^s on the end of the 45 first coil e. The first coil e is thus connected at one end to the disk-hub L', while at its other end it will be connected to the first barrel g. The hub of the first barrel projects within the interior of the second barrel, and 50 the second coile is firmly secured to said hub and likewise to the inner surface of the second barrel g, and so on. The last barrel is rigidly held in place by the connection h, by means of which it is securely fastened to the frame

B, said connection h being an angle-iron or similar structure, which is firmly bolted to the frame and likewise to the barrel g. The intermediate barrel permits the shaft Cto turn loosely within its hub. Thus it will be seen 60 that as the shaft C is rotated by some suitable means applied thereto the actuatingspring will be wound up more or less as may be desired, and that when it unwinds it will actuate the shaft and rotate it in the reverse 65 direction, thereby setting in motion the train of gearing, which we shall proceed to describe hereinafter, and thus transmitting motion to the machinery with which the motor may be connected.

On the shaft C, near the disk L, is a large 70 gear-wheel J, loosely mounted on the shaft. Connected rigidly to the hub of this gear, and likewise loose on the shaft between the large gear J and the disk L, is a ratchet-wheel M, which is engaged by a series of one or more 75 pawls i, that are pivoted to the disk L and engage the teeth of the ratchet. Thus it will be seen that when the coiled spring, after having been wound up to a sufficient tension, begins to unwind, the pawl or pawls i will ro- 80 tate the ratchet, and thus revolve the gear J. It may be here stated that when the coiled spring is being wound up the pawl or pawls will slip loosely over the ratchet. The revolution of the gear-wheel J is transmitted to 85 the shaft D, on which is a pinion c, which is engaged by the gear-wheel J. The shaft D also has thereon a gear-wheel K, which meshes with the pinion d on the shaft E, which shaft is provided with a large pulley or wheel R, 90 furnished with a crank-pin R', to which pulley a belt may be applied for the application of the power of the spring-motor to any machinery with which the device may be arranged. The pulley R may be of any con ven- 95 ient size and form to permit the power to be easily transmitted from the motor. Thus it will be seen that the train of gearing just described will multiply to a high degree the speed furnished by the actuating-spring, since ico the gear J on the shaft C is very large, while the pinion engaging it on shaft D is small, &c. Hence the uncoiling of the spring will serve through this train of gearing to impart a very rapid motion to the shaft E and its pulley R. 105

On the shaft C, near gear-wheel J, is a winding-wheel N, having asuitable peripheral surface, to which is attached the strap I, which runs over the winding-spool H, whose spindle is journaled horizontally in the brackets & δ, no affixed to the under side of the table A, said strap I being furnished at the end thereof with a pull or handle G, by means of which it is manipulated durin-g the operation of winding up the motor. The operator by pull- 115 ing downward in the direction of the arrow ‘ shown in Fig. 3 upon the pull G will partially rotate the winding-wffieel N. Said windingwheel has a hub, about which is coiled a spring y, its end being connected by a pin or other 120 device to the wheel-hub. The other end of said spring^ is provided with a ring f, which passes around one of the upper tie-rods a. It will thus be seen that when the operator pulls upon the pull Gand rotates the winding-wheel 125 in one direction, this operation will serve to coil the spring j more or less tightly, so that when the operator lets go of thepullsaid spring in uncoiling will return the windingwheel to its former position. _I30

The winding - wheel N is broken or cut away at one point in its periphery. (See' Fig. 3.) Within the winding-wheel is an annular ring P.

440,483

Tclclc denote a series of four pawls or dogs, which are pivoted by means of pivots k' k' k' to the vertical face of the winding-wheel N, said pawls or dogs having their outer ends 5 slotted at k? k? k?, which slots are entered by horizontal pins k? kⁿ k³ on the ring P. The inner ends of these pawls or dogs are curved properly to adapt them to bear upon the hub 0, which is located upon the shaft C and is io securely bolted or otherwise fastened thereto.

Thus it will be seen that the series of pawls constitute a clutch mechanism adapted to grip the hub 0, when desired. Although we have shown four of these pawls, yet we do not in15 tend to be confined to this number. The series may contain any number, either four or less, or more, as may be preferred. The annular ring P is provided at one point in its periphery with a projection or pin p, which so lies within the slot or cut-away portion of the periphery of the winding-wheel N, and is connected, as shown in Fig. 3, to the end of the strap I, which passes around the windingwheel.

11 designate springs, which are secured to the winding-wheel and also to the annular ring P, their function being to reverse the motion of the annular ring P sufficiently to remove the dogs k from contact with the hub

0 at the proper time. It will thus be clearly seen that the operator by pulling upon the pull G and revolving the winding-wheel N will cause the annular ring P to be rotated, since said ring is connected by the projects tion p with the strap I, which rotation of the ring P oscillates each pawl of the series upon its pivot k', the slot in the other end aiding and assisting in the free movement of the pawl and ring in this manner, and the re40 suit of this movement of the pawls being to clasp or grip their inner ends tightly upon the hub 0, which will cause said hub to rotate, carrying with it the shaft 0, and hence winding up the coiled springs. When the operator lets go the pull G or relaxes his hold thereon, so that the spring/ to which we have above referred, may act to restore the winding-wheel to its former position, it is clearly evident that the reversing-spring I will oper50 ate to move the ring P sufficiently to disengage the pawls from contact with the hub. When the operator pulls again upon the pull G, the same operation will take place as before, and the shaft C will be given another 55 rotation and the coiled springs wound up a little more. Thus the operator by successive downward pulls upon the handle G will in a very short time wind up the coiled spring to its fullest tension, it being held in this posi60 tion by means of the pawl i engaging the ratchet, as we have already seen.

On the shaft E is located a ratchet-wheel m and also a rough wheel n. The ratchetwheel m we term the “stop-ratchet.” It is 65 adapted to be engaged by the lower end of the stop-lever F, which projects upward through a slot in the table A, its upper end being furnished with a knob or handle which may be easily grasped, and which in the drawings is lett ered F'. The other side of the table 70 A is provided with a couple of plates r and r', superposed one on the other, as shown in Fig. 3, said plates being illustrated in detail plan in Fig. 6. Through these plates projects the handle F' and within them it works nicely, 75 being moved from the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3 into the position indicated in dotted lines in the same figure, and vice versa, for the purpose of causing the lower end of this stop-lever to engage or be disengaged 80 from the ratchet-wheel m, which movement, of course, as will be obvious, stops the motion of the machine or permits the mechanism to operate, whichever may be desired. The stop-lever F is pivoted to the main frame 85 B by means of the pivot/, (see Fig. 1,) fixed as a stud on the frame, one end having a pin passing through it, while the other end has a nut thereon. This stop-lever has its handle in convenient position to be readily grasped 90 by the operator, so that he may at any time stop or start the motor. He therefore has the motor completely under his control at all times and can operate it at pleasure.

Q designates a drum-brake or governor- 95 wheel, which may be of rubber, if desired, which works in contact with the rough wheel n. This brake-wheel Q is carried on a shaft q, which shaft is provided with a governor consisting of the blades q' q'. The shaft q is 100 journaled in a frame Q', hung upon a horizontal shaft 0, which is affixed horizontally to the main frame B, near the base thereof, the outer end of said shaft 0 being provided with a suitable nut, whereby it is fixed in place. 105 Thus it will be seen that the frame Q' swings upon the shaft 0, so that the brake-wheel Q may be brought into as close contact as desired with the rough wheel n on the drivingshaft E. IIO

R² indicates a thumb-screw, which passes through suitable lugs on the main frame, said thumb-screw having its inner end bearing against the swinging frame Q'. This thumbscrew can be adjusted as desired, and its ad- 115 justment will cause the wheel Q to bear with a less or stronger pressure upon the wheel n. This brake-wheel regulates the speed of the motor and enables the operator to readily and accurately govern its speed. The rough wheel 120 n is simply a wheel which has not been turned up perfectly smooth on its face. By having the wheel rough in this way a better contact is secured between it and the rubber wheel Q, which presses against it. It will be noted 125 that the wheel Q is fastened rigidly to the shaft, which carries the governor.. This governor serves an important purpose in making the movements of the motor steady and uniform. 130

At the left hand of Fig. 2 is shown a modification in the construction of the governor mechanism. Here it will be seen there is a worm on the governor-shaft, which shaft is

440,482 held in a separate frame bolted to the main frame B. This worm engages a gear on the shaft E. The governor-shaft carries two arms hinged at the outer end thereof, which arms 5 are movable. In this way the speed is regulated. When the spring of the motor is very strong, the arms will be forced upward, and as the springs gradually run down and become weaker in their power the arms will io drop, thus giving the band-wheel a steady motion. The movable arms of this governor are simple sheets of brass hinged edgewise, so that their flat surfaces will resist the air, thus causing the arms to be lifted when run15 ning at a high speed and to be dropped when running at a low speed.