US1844852A

US1844852A - Amusement device

Info

Publication number: US1844852A
Application number: US362723A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harvey Stanley Thomas
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1929-05-13
Filing date: 1929-05-13
Publication date: 1932-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 1949-02-09

Description

INVENTOR.

S. T. HARVEY AMUSEMENT DEVICE 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May l5 .Illllllh STA/VL EY Www/As HARVEY ATTORNEYS.

F eb. 9, 1932.

Feb. Q, 1932a s. T. HARVEY MUSEMENT DEVICE Filed May 13, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A TTORNE YS.

r ma NH ES WA mM M Y M M r o ABY Patented Feb. 9, 1932 STANLEX 'THoMAsfHARvnn or' MILL onnrronm( AMUSEMENT inivicnfy I' i .Application led May.13,` 1929.,y SerialNo. 362,723.

dy invention 'relates to .improvements iny amusement devices, and it consists inthe combinations, constructions, and` arrangementsy hereinafter described and claimed.

it is possible to make people helievethat theyV are` moving even' though `in fact-they themselves are lnot. moving, but the objects'at Y which they "are looking are 'in movement. -With this theught in view, Ihave devisedan amusement device which will* make people actually believe that they are flying although in reality the device does not' leave the ground. y n 1 l accomplish this byvremovin'g ally objects upon whichr the eye caniocusi that might inform the person that hewvas not actually flying.- l'niakethe person believe that he is flying hy first constructing a-theater that will resemble the cabin of apassengerfcarrying lo airplane. The floor of the, theater isrnoved ina predetermined manner so .as to simulate actual flying. -i

In addition to thisI place. a pilot `at the ulating the controls for guidingthewoul airplane. @n each sidefot thepilot, I place the Wings oit"4 an airplane andmount'propeli' lers inl Ylrent'ot'the Wings, which willinake .a

droningY noise in much the samev manner asf These' propellers will also airplane engines.

create a breeze Wnich Will whip Vloy, the spectators faces, thus enhancing theilying'sensa--.

tion.

l3ositioned at. thefront ofy the theater is thrown. These pictures have previously been vtaken during. actual iying or, from camouflaged scenes. The theater is darkened so that only the screen 1s visible,

ocean, over the North or South Pole, sightseeing trips over cities or War. pictures-in f toria-l illustrations showing airplanesiight:-

lront of the theater for the purpose ornaip-` e a screen onfwvhich moving pictures., are.

and: the: pilot' and the pictures can be sov portrayedasv to give the eii'ect offlying. Different pictures may he shown, for example, liights across the,V

`My inventionfisillustrated inthe accom. panying drawings ormingfalparta of; this. application, in which e Figure 1 is atop :planvievv offthe. device,- portions being shown insection,vr

Figure 2 is Aa longitudinal fsection throughl the device; f

` ligure 3'is a frontfelevationgv Y Figure 4 isa section throughaportion,off the device; and'.

lignre 5 vis section through anothere portion of thedevice..y

In carrying out my invent-ion, Iiprovideeai louilding,H indicated :generally at: 1', this buildl. ing being oic any shape desired. Ifound-that: ashape, as shown in Figures l and, Will"l rnia-lie more ofL an appeal totlieamusementv loving public than other shapes.'` 'The-.side Walls 2 of the-buildingfmay. heusedfor-pic-A 70,5 ing-one another, sight-seeingtrips over-cere tain parts of the: World, etc;

The lbuilding, is providedwith tween; trances 3, (see Figure l). Either oneeof? these entrances may loe-used or bothmay-hef. used, this dependingupon the .f size. ofltheicrowd` to be handled. Disposed-1 adj acent.: to each entrance are ticket booths at, (sees Figure 3). y

lVithin the.building I ,dispose aicircular! 801v enclosure `5 andinthe enclosure, I; rotatably.` mounta theaterv 6:' The VWallnf the-enclosure 5 has an; entrance opening `7 which@ may.C be closed'loy4 a door, iffdesired. "Ehe- WallS of the theater Ghas. an entrance.openinglQfthat is .designed tote brought into registration'.y with the opening 7. for permitting,` people.; to.; Walk. on to theiioor l() ofethetheater. Anf inclined passageway 1:1. leads-.from the en trance to the doory opening-7;

lf both entrances are used, the; =people-l passing through therear entrancewill be dif. rected through `aedoor opening :12 and thentol` the door opening 7;' Whenl onlyfthefront.` entrance is used, the-d0or-opening1- 12=is 1 closed. 4

The floor-10 is rotatahlyandpivotally sup-A portedk at its centerloy @1 -hemisphere A13 ,Which-, l

is seated. in hemisphericalfrecesslt in a.:

jee

support 15. The support is carried by a foundation 16, (see Figure 2).

The periphery of the fioor 10 is supported at two places by wheels 17 and 18, shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. These two wheels are disposed far enough apart to cooperate with the central support for forming a threepoint support. The floor 1 may be weighted at the side nearest the wheels so as to keep the wheels resting upon a circular track 19, (see Figure 2). This weight may be sufficient to counter-balance the weight of any persons within the theater, regardless of where they are standing or sitting.

As a precaution against the tilting of the floor 10 at too much of an angle, I provide a retaining rail 20 that is disposed above the circular track or supportingr rail 19. The wheels 17 and 18 normally do not contact with the retaining rail 20, but they will contact with this rail should the floor 10 be suddenly forced upwardly adjacent to these wheels for any unknown reason and the wheels engaging with the retaining rail would prevent further movement.

1- I have found that a three-point support is sufiicient for the floor and that the rail 19 may be curved so as to have a vertical rise and fall. This curve is clearly shown in Figure 2. The rail 2() has a. similar curve. The wheel 17 is a driving wheel, and this engages with the supporting rail 19 and causes the entire theater 6 to revolve. This movement, of course, will be felt by the persons in the seats 21, and the undulations in the track 19 Will cause the floor to tilt laterally, simulating the slight rocking of an airplane while flying. A single wheel 17 is not sufficient to give the lateral rocking effect. Two wheels spaced apart, as shown in Figure 1, will produce this effect.

The means for rotating the wheel 17 may comprise any mechanism desired. I have shown an electric motor 22, (see Figure 5), this motor driving a Worm 23 that meshes with a worm gear 24, the latter being mounted upon the shaft 25 that carries the wheel 17. One terminal of the motor is grounded, While the other terminal has a wire 26 that extends into a cylinder 27, (see Figure 4), and has its end secured to a piston 28. The piston carries a piston rod 29, which in turn supports a roller 30 that rides upon a circular conductor rail 31. A spring 32, disposed within the cylinder 27, urges the piston 28 downwardly and keeps the roller 30 in contact with the rail at all times. A wire 33 leads from the rail 31 to the source of current. In Figure o, 2 I have shown the Wire 33 as extending into a conduit 34, the conduit extending to the source of current. The stroke of the piston rod 29 is long enough and the length of the roller 30 is sufficient to permit the floor 10 to swing into various angular positions during its travel and still have the wire 33 electrically connected to the wire 26.

If desired, a spring box 35, (see Figure 5), may be disposed in the cockpit 36 so that the pilot 37, (see Figure 2), sitting on the seat 38, may control the movement of the theater 6.

To carry out the realism of actual flying, I dispose airplane wings 39, shown by the dotted lines in Figure 1, at the front of the theater. The framework 40, (see Figures 2 and 5)surrounding the cockpit 36, extends downwardly at an angle and merges into the aisle 41, (see Figure 1), in the theater. I dispose two propellers 42 ou each side of the cockpit and these are actuated by electric motors 43 or other suitable means. The propellers will not only make a noise simulating the propellers of an airplane, but will also create a draft which will iiow past the spectators and enhance the illusion of flying.

At the front of the theater, I dispose a screen 44, which, if desired, may be framed to represent windows in the cabin. A moving picture projection machine 45, (see Figure 2), is disposed diametrically opposite the screen 44 and will throw pictures upon the screen 44. As stated in the first part of the specification, these pictures may be of an infinite variety depicting fiights across oceans, sightseeing trips, actual airplane fights, etc. For example, a fight with a dirigible might show the dirigible as a small speck far off in the distance, this speck gradually growing larger until the would-be airplane was within striking distance. The pictures could then be made to show the airplane zooming around the dirigible, jockeying for a Vital position before firing.

Machine guns might be disposed adjacent to the pilot seat with blank cartridges, and these could be set going to make the entire effect more realistic. The guns r from the dirigible might be shown trained upon the airplane and firing point blank at it. This is merely an example showing how realistic the device could be made to function.

Nearing the end of the reel, the pilot would slow down the movement of the theater 6 and would bring it to a stop with the opening 9 registering with an exit opening 46, (see Figure 1), in the circular enclosure 5. The people would file out through the central aisle 41, pass through the aligned

openings

9 and 46, and then proceed down stairs 47 and out through the exit openings 48 in the building 1.

After the people have left the theater, it may be rotated so as to again bring the opening 9 into registration with the opening 7, so as to permit people to enter for the next show.

Although I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of various changes, and I reserve the right to employ such changes as may come within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: Y

1. An amusement device comprising a building, a support, yan entirely enclosed theater disposed within said building and hava universal connection with said support,

means for rotating and tilting the entire thewith one another, when the theater comes to rest, means for projecting pictures of flying, within said theater, and means for rotating and tilting said theater as a unit during thek showing of the pictures.k

3. An amusement device comprisintg an entirely enclosed theater, an airplane uselage and wings disposed at the front of the theater, propellers mounted in front of the wings, a screen disposed in front of the propellers, means for projectingpictures on the v screen, and means for imparting a circular movement to the theater as a unit and for causing it to rise and fall during this movement.

4. An amusement device comprising a support, a circular entirely enclosed theater having a universal connection with the support, a circular track slightly larger in diameter than the theater and having undulations therein, wheels carried by the theater and riding upon the track, means for driving the wheels `for causing a rotation and tilting of said theater, and means for projecting moving pictures during the movement of the i* theater.

5. An amusement device comprising a support, a circular entirely enclosed theater having a universal connection with the support, a circular track slightly larger in diameter than the theater and having undulationsv therein, wheels carried by the theater and riding uponthe track, Ameans, for driving the wheels for causing a rotation and tilting of said theater, means for showing pictures of within the theater, and means for rotating the propellers for creating the illusion of flying. n y l 6. A device for creating the illusion of lycling the support and being slightly larger theater having a universalv in diameter than thediameter of the theater,

wheels for supporting a part of the theater removed from the universal connection and traveling on said track, means for driving the wheels, said theater and building havingA door openings adapted to register, and means for projecting moving pictures within the theater enclosure.

7. In a device for simulating flying, a discshaped floor, a support for the center of the floor giving it a universal movement, a two point support for the periphery of the floor consisting of an Lundulating track having a diameter substantially the same as the diameter of the floor and wheelsriding on the track and supporting the'fioor at the two points, the entire periphery of the floor being free to dip in any direction as guided by,` the wheels, and means for slowly rotating i ythe floor.

8. In a device for simulating-flying, a discshaped floor, a central support for the floor and having a universal connection therewith, means yfor slowly rotating the floor, and means for engaging with the floor at two points on its periphery for causing the floor to slowlydip in various directions as it turns for giving thesensation of actual flying.

9. In a device for simulating flying, a discsliaped floor, a central support for the floor and having a universal connection therewith, means for slowly rotating the floor, means for engaging with the floor at two points on its periphery for causing the floor to slowly dip in various .directions as it turns, and

means for projecting moving pictures on a screen while the floor is dipping and turning. 10. A device for creating the illusion of flying and comprising an `entirely enclosed theater designed to be rotated as a unit, means for rotating the theater, means for causing the theater to tilt at various angles while rotating to simulate actual flying, a screen disposed within and at the front of the theater, means for projecting moving pictures on' the screen, and rotatable'propellers disposed adjacent to the screen for adding to the illusion of flying. n

ySTANLEY THOMAS HARVEY.

*t flying, within said theater during the movement of said theater, propellers disposedr iie