US1360953A - Amusement apparatus - Google Patents

Description

T. D. HOOPER, JR. AMUSEMENT APPARATUS.

* APPLICATION FILED MAY l. 1920. 1,360,953. Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

T. D. HOOPER, In.

AMUSEMENT APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I, 19201 Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

THOMAS HOOPER, JR., 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

AMU'SEMENT APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 30, 1920.

Application filed May 1, 1920. Serial No. 378,297.

1o all whom t 'may concern.'

'Be it known that I, Trrotnis D. HoorER,

I a citizen of the United States, residin Vat the city of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improved yAmuse ient Apparatus, of which the followingis @specification Y The present invention has relation to and .is an improvement upon the apparatus set forth Letters Patent Number 1,101,630 granted to me J une 30, 1914. According to the construction of parts as shown and described in said patent it is necessary to employ a double set of traction rails whichadds materially to the erection and maintenance of the-apparatus. I have discovered that a conventional scenic railway may be Areadily convertedV into a structure embodying features of the present invention by making use ofthe single set of tracks found thereon and connecting therewith a series of loops and :re-arranging the wheels of the' trucks as found upon a conventional scenic railway car sov that the flanges of the wheels of one truck track upon the outer edges of the single line of rails and the iianges of the wheels of the other truck track upon the innerl edges of said rails. The eifect of this is to render any scenic railway readily adaptable for conversion into a novel amusement apparatus at comparatively little cost and practically no added maintenance cost. I have also discovered that when a car-body is reversing a loop that there is a tendency of the car to tilt and in the present instance I have provided means upon both the car and adjacent a loop for reducing such tilting to a minimum. Y

rFhe invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described and inally claimed.

The nature, characteristic features and scope of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying f drawings forming part hereof, and in which Figure 1,'is a view in cross-section of an incline of a scenic railway of the present invention taken at one of the loops thereof, Fig. 2, is a fragmentary view, in plan, of an incline including loops, the supporting structure being omitted for the sake of clearness, and

Fig. 3, is a view in plan of a car illustrating the non-tilting device as applied thereto.

For the purpose of illustrating my invention I have shown in the accompanying drawings one form thereof which is at present preferred by me, since the same has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, although it is to be understood that the various instrumentalities of which my invention consists can be variously arranged and organized and that my invention is not limited to theprecise arrangement and organiz/.ation of the instrumentalities as herein shown and described.A

In the drawings a scenic railway is shown for illustrative purposes although Vobviously the present idea may be readily embodied in the form of a toy. .Since the construction of scenic railways is well understood in the art I have shown no more thereof in the drawings than is necessary to an understanding of the present invention. 10 designates cross-ties and 11 bucks of an incline of a conventional scenic railway. 12 designates the conventional single set of rails as mounted upon the cross-ties 10. At an appropriate place or places along the incline the cross-ties are extended beyond the line of the track as at l0 upon which a loop 13 is constructed. In practice such loops are positioned in pairs one upon each side of the main line of rails although this is not essential. It however provides for the comfort of the patrons of a scenic railway as will hereinafter be described. Adapted for travel over an incline, .under the influence of gravity, are cars 14 cach provided with a pair of trucks l5 having` swiveled relation as at 16 with a. car. Each truck is usually equipped with four wheels and the flanges thereof are similarly positioned as shown in my patent aforesaid. By the present invention, however, I reverse the wheels of one truck so that instead of the flanges thereof engaging the outside edges of the rails they engage the inner edges of the rails. By this arrangement I am enabled to obtain a reversal of car-body at a loop to produce a sensation both novel and exhilarating inv its effect. This reversal of car-body is made possible for the following reason :-For the sake of illustration, let it be assumed that the flanges of wheels of the truck at the front of a car track upon the outside edges of the rails of an incline and that the flanges of the wheels of the rear truck track upon the inside edges of the rails and let it be further assumed that such front truck is to talre the first loop. This arrangement ofV parts is shown in Fig. 2. It will be observed that the front truck in takingvthe loop Vhas a greater distance to travel than does the rear truck passing along the Vmain line of the'rails so that the rear truck overtakes the front truck and y"tempoarily becomes the :leading truck. By the exchange of places .the body of the car, because of its swivel'ed connections with said trucks, has been shifted end for endy so that the passengers therein are now'seated backward. To promote the comfort of the occupants of the car, it is desirable to immediately re-shift the car-body and preferably upon the opposite sidev of the main rails so that said passengers Y shall not be subjected'to dizziness. The car' j isre-shifted byreason of another loop and it will be observed that the wheels of the rear ytruck (now the leading` truck) follow the rails of the loop while the wheels of the rear truck (now the trailer) follow the main line ofrails so that the ear is caused to sume its former position, that ispwith the vpassengers se'atedforward.

In order to prevent tilting kof a car during the above described shiftings both the cars 3 and the Ybucks may be provided with means tending to reduce tiltingto a minimum.

Each truck may have fixed thereon ahori-` zontally disposed plateV 17 and adaptedV to bear Vupon each plate are apair of rollers 18 secured to theunderside of` a car. l/Vith the rollers so positioned two are uponfthe left hand side of a car vand two` upon the right hand side of a car. A car in shifting end for end as Yit. passes through a loop moves cross-wise of the rails while the trucks retain their same relative position.V

In this position ,the rollers 18 bearing upon the plates 17 of the trucks serve to maintain the body of a car in a non-tiltable position. As an additional preventive the bucks may'be provided with a guard rail 19 for a loopv and a guard rail 2O for a main line opposite a loop. The ends of a car vpass under such guards during shifting. In or-V der to provide clearance with respect to the bucks the ends of the car are rounded as illustrated. v

It will now be apparent that l have de vised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable in the statement of the invention and the above description and while l have in ythe. present instance shown 1 and described the preferred embodiment position. y

thereof whichhas been` found in practice Yto give satisfactory and reliable results, it isV to be understood that thesame is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from' the spirit or scope of.

the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages. lllhat vl claim is Y l. In an amusement apparatus, an incline provided with a single set of traction rails,

loops arranged at intervals along the line of said rails, a car adapted for travelover said rails under the influence of gravity and trucks having swiveled relation with saidVV car, one truck Vbeing lprovided QwithV flanged ftrac'tionf wheels the '-iianges' of which are arranged to track upon the insideedges of 'i `said rails Vand the other` truck being pro- Vvided with flanged traction wheels the flanges of which are'arranged to track upon to the outer rail ofthe main lineV opposite to the first mentioned guard to preclude tilting of said car'rduring shifting of its 3. Apparatus as described in claim 1 characterized by means arranged between a truck and said car to prevent tilting of saidy car Vduring shifting of its position.

4. In amusementapparatus, an incline provided with-a single set of traction rails, loops arranged at intervals along the line of said rails, a car adapted for travel overv said incline underthe influences of gravity and trucks having swiveled relation with said car, one truck beingvprovided with flanged .traction-wheels, the flangesV of which are arranged to first follow the 'main line of rails and then follow a loop and the other truck being provided'with flanged traction wheels, the flanges of which are'arranged to continue along said main line ofV rails and follow the next loop whereby said car upon reaching a loop is caused to ybe shifted end for end without'changing its originalcourse of travel.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed myname. Y THOMAS D. HOO/PERpJR.

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