GB195549A - A new or improved amusement device - Google Patents

Abstract

195,549. Cooper, J. May 30, 1922. Race games, mechanical.-A device for playing a competitive game of skill comprises a number of paths on which the figures of foxhounds &c. are adapted to move, a platform bearing the figure of a fox &c. and adapted to be moved to cross the paths of the foxhounds, and mechanical means for advancing the hounds towards the fox and to open and close the jaw of each hound as it comes within catching distance of the fox. The fox 24 is mounted on a revoluble platform 23 and the hounds 10 are caused to move along radial paths 1 by means of screws 8 rotated by handwheels 25. The extremities of the screws carry gear wheels 17 which drive the fox's platform 23 by means of pawls 18 and rollers 19, 20, the presence of the pawls giving the speed control of the fox's platform to the competitor who winds the fastest. As a hound approaches the fox's platform, a pin 28 rocks a three armed lever 29 connected by a cord 31 to the hound's jaw which is thus opened. At the same time the lever squeezes an air bag 32 to emit a sound approximating t'o a bark or bay. When the lever 29 slips past the pin 28 the jaw is closed by a spring 36 and if the competitor is successful the jaw closes upon and removes the fox's brush. At the completion of the inward movement of the hound a projection 40 on the winding screw 8 lifts the nut 14 off the screw, in which position it is retained by a catch 41, and the hound returns by gravity along its track which is sufficiently inclined for the purpose. At the starting point a collar 26 disengages the catch 41 and the nut 14 drops into engagement with the screw in readiness for another winding operation. The attendant may return all the hounds simultaneously to their starting positions by rotating an annulus 50 and thereby raising a series of levers 7 so as to disengage the nuts 14. Instead of the hounds returning under the influence of gravity, a cable and weight attached to each hound may be used to effect the, return. In a modification each hound is advanced by means of a winding drum and a cable, and at the end of the hound's forward movement a stop on the cable disengages the winding drum from its hand-wheel. A weight hanging from a cable then draws the hound back to the starting point where the winding drum is automatically re-engaged with its hand-wheel.