US575278A

US575278A - Island

Info

Publication number: US575278A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1897-01-12
Anticipated expiration: 1914-01-12

Description

(No Model.) V v G. B. ALLEN. SPINNING TOP.

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INTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE BION ALLEN, OF PAWVTUOKET, RHODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO EDWIN R. BULLOCK, OF SAME PLACE.

SPINNING-TOP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 575,278, dated January 12, 1897. Application filed March 4, 1896. Serial No. 581,757. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE Bron ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pawtucket, in the county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spinning-Tops; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention is a bounding top, an improvement in that class of tops spun by winding a cord from the spurnpward and throwing to the ground.

My improvement consists in making a top that can be bounded into the air as an additional attractive feature. I accomplish this by fitting into a central longitudinal opening in the body of the top a movable spur and a spring or elastic cushion.

The top I have made and will now describe is as follows, reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, in which similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views: p

Figure 1 shows the empty body of a top with a ledge or ridge at the bottom to hold the spinning-cord in place. Fig. 2 shows a complete top. Fig. 3 is a spur enlarged and tapered at its upper end for the purpose hereinafter described. Fig. 4 shows a top fitted with a spur having a taper only on the flange at its upper extremity. Fig. 5 shows this spur independently.

a is the top-body in Figs. 1 and In Fig. 2 b is apin passing through the plug 0 to hold it in place. dis a spring (or elastic cushion) fitted into the opening in the topbody. 6 is the spur, whose upper extremity is enlarged and tapered. g is the tapering connection between the two sizes of the opening in the top-body.

a is the top-body in Fig. 4. e is the spur in Fig. 4, flanged at its upper end and corrugated near the point to hold the spinning-cord.

By experiment I have found that the movement of a parallel spur, however well fitted, will soon enlarge its opening in the top-body and cause the top to wabble and so interrupt its spinning. To prevent this, I enlarge the upper extremity of the spur and make the opening in the top conform to the shape of the spur, as shown at gand at g. 9 shows a spur with a long bevel. g shows a spur with a beveled flange at its upper end. In g the bevel will center the spur and the under side of the flange will bear against the inner side of the opening and prevent wabbling. I place in the opening above the spur a spring or elastic cushion sufficiently compressed to hold the enlarged upper end of the spur firmly against the top-body, as shown at g and at g. This effectually prevents any wabbling of the top due to a loosely-fittin g spur, and the shape of the upper end of the spur meetingacorresponding shape in the opening causes the point of the spur to always come down in the center after any compression of the spring or elastic cushion.

In the top which I have described the spring will be compressed when the top is spun, the spur being forced upward by striking the ground. The relaxation of the spring forces the spur back into its original position, thus causing the top to bound into the air. It will be seen by this that the spring has two offices, one to cause the top to bound and the other to hold the spur rigidly in place.

In a peg-top, to which class this top belongs, the string is wound upwardly from a roughening or ridge on the spur; but unless the connection between the spur and the body of the top be very close the cord will not wind uniformly up the side of the top, but the first course 011 the body of the top will so project over the last course on the spur as to cause the cord to tangle in spinning.

I prefer to make my tops with a close connection between the body-piece and the spur, so as to admit of winding the cord from the spur upward.

Again, I prefer to make the spurs used in my tops as shown in Fig. 3; but I also use the spur shown in Fig. 5 when I desire to do so.

That I claim is- In a bounding top, in combination a bodypiece having a central longitudinal opening tapered to a smaller size near its lower end, a spring or elastic cushion, a spur tapered at its upper extremity to correspond with the taper of the opening, and a plug pinned or otherwise secured in the upper extremity of said longitudinal opening, substantially as shown and described and for the purpose specified.

In testimonywhereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

GEORGE BION ALLEN.

Witnesses:

DAVID F. MORTON, H. NELsoN FRENCH.