US1003588A - Target. - Google Patents

Description

J. T. DICKMAN.

TARGET.

APPLIGATION FILED Mus, 1911.

1,003,588. Patented sept. 19,1911.

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JOHN m. DICKNAN, or Los ANGELES, aannemen. i

TARGET.

1,003,58& Specification ofl-ettersifet- Patented Sept. 19,1911. f Application ined nay s, 1911. serial No. 625,738.

citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angelesl and State of lalifornia, have invented new andl useful Improvements in Targets, of which the following is a specification. A

This invention relates to improvements in targets, and has particular relation to targets which are provided with movable parts adapted to be thrown from one position to another, when a drivenpart of the target has been successfully struck.

It is also the object of the invention to provide a target having openings with lights showing therethrough, the shooting of a projectile through one of said openings operating to make it appear as though the light had been put out.

It is a further object of the invention to rovide a 'target' havin eyes behind which.

ights are adapted to s ine with a mechanism adapted to hide the lights first behind one eye and then behind the other for making it appear as though the figure of the target has had its eyes put out.

It is also an object of the invention in this connection, to provide the means for hiding.-

the light so that each light will be successively hid, the' projectile or bullet passing through the eye upon one side shifting the light hiding mechanism first to one side and then the other.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is afrontelevation 'of a target constructed in accordance with the` present invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken upon the `line 2--2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view taken upon the line 3-3 of Fig. 2 portions of the target being broken away.

Itis the purpose of the invention to provide a target which may have any desired configuration upon the front thereof, and the invention is especially adapted for the use of a fac-e of some kind, so that the eyes thereof may be employed as target points and the appearance be given thereto when an eye is struck as though it were put out. For the purpose of describing the invention, the drawing shows the target formed with the face and head of a clown as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus the body portion 5 is made up of a plate preferably of a configuration to show the head, cap, and Shoulders of a clown. The ligure is 4provided vwith apertures at 6 which are 'made of a suitable size to form propertarget bulls-eyes, and

the said apertures form the central ortions of the eyes. About the eyes the@ gure is provided with an enlarged protecting plate which is shaped to give the remaining appearances necessary for providing eye portions upon the ligure. S ctacles may also be represented upon the said protecting plate around the eyes. The face' portion of the figure is usuallyl somewhat rounded m clearly indicated in Fig. 2 makin the whole appearance more realistic. The ace may of course be decorated in a'ny desired form and provided with any marks for giving it the appearance of a clown. l

`ehindv the figure, and just below the apertures 6 a Yprojecting bracket or shelf 8 is mounted and pro'ectin' upwardly through slots 9 formed in t e sai shelf are burners 10. The said burners 10 ,are preferably ordinaryA gas jets and usually branch from a gas fed pipe as 11.I The burners 10 project just farA enough through the apertures 9 to bring the flames of the gas jets when they are lighted, immediately behind the eye apertures 6. In the use of the target the lights are kept continuously burning so that there is a jetbehind each eye opening at all times. The effect of giving the target the appearance of having had its eye put out is accomplished by the use of a rocking baille plate or blind 12 which is provided with a projecting arm -13 by which it is pivotally secured to a depending projection 14 formed upon the said bracket 8. The projecting arm 13 extends through a slot in the -said bracket 8 so that its lower end is pivoted to the said projection 14 a-short distance below the upper surface of the bracket 8. The body portion of the baille late 12 is rovided with inclined under e ges as 15 w ich are adapted to rest upon the said bracket 8 lwhen the baille plate is rocked from one side .0 1 'matically accomplished by the action of a I the targetthrough the eye opposite the baf- .ile plate 1 2.v When the baffle plate is swung 'to the lother extreme of its lthen ythe other is givenv the appearance p lmovement the other end. thereof will be moved over the a ertures 6 opposite the light upon that si e, the light at the other eye being at the saine time exposed again; thus first one eye and of being put out.

The operation of the baie plate is autolever 16, which is pivoted atl 17 u on the bracket 8. The forward end of t e said lever 16 is provided with bifurcated portion 18, which is adapted to loosely engage a pin 19 projecting from the rear face of the baf- 'its pivot le plate 12. By swinging the lever 16 upon in the baiie plate may be caused tomove rom one side ofthe target to the other and back again. The lever 16 is adapted to be operated by the bullets or other projectilesl which pass through the e e'apertures, the s'aid lever being provi ed with laterally projecting actuating arms 20 for this purpose. The arms 2O project oppositely rom the rear end of the lever 16 and kfrom a point to the rear of its pivot point .17 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The said arms do not extend quite at right angles to the bod -position of the lever 16, but at a f slightly o tuse angle with. respect thereto and thus one arm 20 is 'adapted to be swung into alinement with one aperture 6 upon one side of the target, while the other arm will be swung out of the range of the apertura on the other side of the target as clearly indicated in Fig. 2. As shown by the arrow in said Fig. 2 a projectile passing through the open eye ofthe target will strike one of the arms 20. In doing so it will operate to swing the lever 16 to the osition indicated in readiness for actuation by the next successful bullet. The eyes of the target may thusbe successively put out, to all appearances, and one4 eye of the target will always be ready to be put out. The mechanism is Y absolutelyautomatic in its operation, and

does not require an attention on the part of an attendant. Tl'ie pivotal mount-ing of the baiileplate 12 as already intimated, is such as to cause the parts to always seek the extremities of their movement.

- By the use of the strengthening plate 7 the target is reinforced1 and strengthened. at

the pointwhere the projectiles are most 'or injure persons.

likely to strike. A continued striking of the target with bullets or like projectiles .soon causes a pitting of the surface which is objectionable and in fact is sometimes liable to produce harmful results since the lead of the bullets in striking a pitted plate will frequently fly great distances and wound After a target has become thus pitted it has to be discarded. In the target constructed as described and in accordance with the present invention, the

plate 7 is the only portion which is liable to become pitted and it can be removed and replaced from time to time without having to'discard or throw away the rest of the target mechanism. To facilitate theremoval and replacement of the said plate, itis secured to the targetby means of screws 21. In using the target the plate 7 constituting the portion about the eyes which are the bulls-eyes of the target, is usually painted in the morning and generally needs no further attention duringv the day. The paint however becomes knocked ott so that frequent painting is generally resorted to. As soon as the plate 7 shows any evidence of becoming pitted it is removed and a new plate put in its place. The said plate 7 is generally made of cast met-al which is very hard and is the only portion of the target which need to be formed of such hard substance.

.It will be observed that the mechanism is simple in structure and that it can be applied to any desired target or conguration and may be adapted to the eyes of any kind of figures.

What I claim is:

1. A ,target having separated aperturestherein and an automatically operating blind common to said apertures and arranged adjacent thereto and capable of closin each aperture successively.

2. i target comprising a body having a plurality of 'apertures ormed therein, a projectile-actuated blind adjacent to said apertures so adapted to close any'of the apertures through which a projectile passes.

3. A target comprising a configuration having apertures formed therein, lights arranged opposite said apertures and a screen adapted to come between said lights and apertures byV a projectile passing through any of them.

4. A target mechanism comprising a iigure having apertured eye portions formed thereon, a light disposed opposite the apertured portions of said eyes and a rockin screen arranged between the light and sai f apertures and means adapted to bestruck by a projectile to cause said screen to hide the light in either eye.

5.` A target comprising a figure having eyes forme lights arranged immediately behind the said ortion thereon with central apertures,

operated lever for throwing the said bailleA plate from one side to the other.

6. A target comprising a ligure having eye portions formed with apertures therein, a lighting device arranged adjacent to the figure and having' jets extending opposite the apertures of the eyes, a bracket mounted upon the figure, a rocking baille plate carried thereby and adapted to rock 0pposite one eye or the other according to the side of its pivotal point to which it is moved, a pinl projecting from the said baille late, a lever pivotallyr mounted on the brac et and 'having a forked end loosely en aging said pin, laterally projecting projecti e engagin arms carried by the said lever and arrange4 to come opposite first one aperture and then the other of the eyes, the action of a projectile upon the arm opposite an o en eye being such as to throw the baille p ate be- Y tween that eye and the jet behind it, for indicating that the eye has been put out.

7. A target mechanism, I comprising a shield portion having the configuration 4of a face formed thereon, and having apertures at the e es, a removable reinforcing plate surrbun 'ng said eye apertures and projecting the target at that point, means' for maintaining light behind the said apertures, a rocking light hiding plate mounted behind the apertures and arranged to rock above its pivotal points, .whereby its end portions will always rest opposite one of the apertures, and-a bullet actuated lever engaging said baille plate and adapted to rock it from one side to the other when a projectile passes through one of the eyes.

In witness that I claim the foregoing I' have hereunto subscribed my name this 29th .day of May, 1911.

JN O. DICKMAN.

Witnesses:

E. A.' Sumner, EARL'E R. PoLLAm).

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