US881637A - Amusement device. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908.

No. 881,637. H

W. S. VAN SANT. AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1907.

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PATENTED MAR. 10, 1908.

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1 w. s'. 'YAN SANT. AMUSEMENT DEVIGE. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16, 1907.

.No. 881,637. A PATE'NTED MAR. 10, 1908.

w. s. VAN SANT.

- AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLIO-ATION FILED SEPT.16, 1907 a SHEETSQSHEET a.

, with suitable carriers in which passengers vflooring or surface 3 over which the seats are device.

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WILLIAM S. VAN SANT, OF OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

AMUSEIVDENT DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed September 16, 1907. Serial a. 393,065.

Patented March 10, 1908.

To all whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that LWILLIAM S. VA-N SANT, citizen of United States, residing at Oakland, in the connty'of Alameda and State of (alifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Amusement Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to amusement devices of that class in whiclrthose to be amused are carried upon traveling supports and transported'through various scenes during the travel. i

It consists in the combination of mechanism, and in details of construction which will be more fully explained by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan. Fig. 2 is a partial vertical section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of the seat-actuating mechanism. Fig; 4 is a detail view of the track and apparatus. Fig. 5 is a partial section of a seat. Fig. (i is a transverse vertical section of a truck. Fig. 7 is a plan view of the turning It is the object of my present invention to provide an endless traveling way or ways,

ma be seated, and means for producing odd an unexpected conditions during the ride.

I have here shown my apparatus as consisting of a series of endless traveling ropes or cables, which may be driven by any suitable or well known power, not here shown. These cables A and B pass around various direction pulleys by which their line of travel may be changed horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, at will. 1n the present illustration I have shown the two cables A and B having seats or supports 2 for passengers, so mount ed as to be moved by the cables.

The support for the seats may consist of standards which extend down through the movable, the flooring being slotted in the i line of travel of the cable, for this purpose.

A standard is preferably madewith a plurality of parts. The upper portion of the standard consists of a sleeve 4, to the upper end, of which the seat is pivotallyl'ixed, as is shown at 5. About this sleeve a loosely turn- 5 able collar 6 is fitted, and this collar travels within the groove or slot so as to relieve the supporting sleeve from wear, and to reduce friction as much as possible. Below this collar :1. larger slceve 7 incloses the sleeve 4, and through both of'these sleeves passes the inner'rpd 8. I The upper end of this rod is bent 'oirtw ard and ivoted to the chair or seat 2 at a distance ehindor away from the pivotal center 5, as shown at 9. The lower end of this rod has any suitable anti-frictional device 10, and by a rising and falling, or irregular surface, as 11, over which the anti-friction device 10 moves during the travel of the car, it will be seen that when these undulating portions occur the seatwill be caused to tilt about the pivot 5.

12 is a spring shoe contacting with the bottom of the rod 8.

All the rods and sleeves pass through the center of a carriage or truck. Outside of the truck are rollers 15, which are adapted to travel upon tracks 16 upon each side of the line of travel of the central rod 8, previously referred to. The tracks upon which these rollers travel may also be variously curved. An instanceof this curvature is shown at 17, where the tracl rises, and the rollers, in passing over this naised portion, will lift the car to any desired extent. Thus, if the car'is' traveling along on a level, it may pass between hedges or walls, as shown at 18, where there is no prospect upon either side; then suddenly arriving at this raised portion of the track, the car will be lifted so high that the occupant can look over the f once and see whatever there is upon. the other side.

The trucks 13 are here shown as havin anti-friction rollers 19 upon the sides, an these rollers move between the rails 16, and assist in turning curves.

The cables A-B are clamped or .otherwise secured to the outer sleeves 7 of the seat standards. as at 25, and the sleeves carry rollers 26 which travel 11 )011 fixed rails or supports 28 which thus ho d the cables up.

20 is a segmental cam so disposed with relation to th truck 13 and to the sleeve 4 by which it is carried that it may be acted upon by projections 21 fixed in the path oftravel and so disposed as to ,turntho sleeve; 4 and the scat carried tllQDtOll about a vertical axis, thus causing the seat to swing in a small segmentand produce a moyc nent which makes the occupant of the-car turn with the seat.

The scgmentBO is shown with an inclined lower surface, and rests upon a roller 27 journalcd upon the truck 13. When the segfooted.

meet or part 20 and the seat, have been re leased from contact with the nut 2 by which the turning was effected, tlre weight of the parts upon the roller 27, and the inclined surface of contact, will restore the parts to their normal position, where troy will remain until another, turning movement is ef- This device will operate as follows: The occupant of the car moving along, may meet the occupant of another car riding on a parallel line and in the opposite direction, and at the instant when thetwo are about to meet, the mechanism heretofore described will turn the cars about their vertical axes thus causing the occupants to momentarily face one another. As this isdonc, the devices 8aud ll will come into operation, and both cars will be caused to tilt, thus causing the occupsnts to involuntarily bow towards each other. This client may be heightened by causing the cars to pass tln'ou'gh walls or dodges, as t-?.;8,,and while one is traveling upon one o of"the obstruction, and the other iuon other. side, and outof sight of other, Y i opening made in the interme diate wall will. be-so disposed that the turn lag and bowing of the chairs will-occur at the instant when-"the chairs have reached'this aperture; andpeople who are perfect strangers to eachothsrwill be thus caused to involontarily salute while they are traveling.

Various modifications of the devices and the operations caused thereby may be readily ellected bv means similar to' the above,

' and well known to'a mechanic.

The lines ofseats 2 and 2 may be'so disposed that at the starting point two companion seats will be side by side, and to increaso the cil'ect they may be similarly colored; Thus,,the rowsof seats at that point way be in pairs oi the same color, as red,

en, blue, white, yellow,etc., and two perin inesirous of making the trip together will naturally take a pair of these seats. The upparatus being started, the two will travel to gether for a short distance, then one of the cars, assing around. a direction. ulley, is carrie away from the other, and y reason of the tracks being made to incline upward and downward, or to diverge, the two friends are at once so arate d, one, for instance, go- 531, up, and t is other down. To. heighten this eifect, I have here shown a cavern or tunnel into which one of the cars disappears. In the present case, this device represents a dragon with a large head, and a mouth sufficicntly large to receive one of the cars. This mouth being mechanically opened as the car a iproache's, thiscar passes into the'mouth or the dragon, which immediately closes, a d the car is shut out fromview of its 00L panion car. This car may then use downwardly, while the other car w pass "upwardly, still more effectually separating the the first named, will pass then over the corrugoted or irregular base, and the result will be a series ol rough, bumping movements while passing over this portion. The other car may be made to pass through similar oxperiences, and the rate of travel may be so timed that the two cars will be brought near each other at a time when one of the parties may be bowing to a perfect stranger, in view of the friend that he or she started with.

Other situations may be readily conceived from the foregoing, such as a maze through which the ars may travel in company, or separated, and the cars may finally be brought together for the last stage, where they will pass through a representation of a carnival scene, with all the noises which accompany such scenes, and a final shower of confetti, covered with which they may emerge at the stopping place.

The seats of the different lines may be so numbered that one understanding the ar rangement of the seats may get into an apparently distant seat, which will correspond with one 01' the seals which are arranged in pairs, so that il. the pair have been se 'mrulcd, as previously described, the correspondingly numbered seat will be so moved as to travel side by side with one of the people who have been thus separated.

Various arrangements of this sort will serve to provide considerable amusement, and it will be seen that the situations may be varied,

to an infinite degree.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is-- 1. An amusement device, comprising independently traveling carriages and direction means by which the carriages are first started in pairs, and afterwards separated andmovcd in opposite directions.

2. in an snusemcnt apparatus, a plurality of seats, nu .hanism by which said seats are caused to travel, direction means by which said seats may be separated, brought together, or caused to travel in opposite directions, means by which the seats may be raised and depressed either rapidly or gradually, means by which the seats may be partially turned to face toward or away from each other, and means by which the seals may be tilted and the occupants caused to means by which one of the seats may be caused to travel upon a downward incline, and the other upwardly, and an irregular surface over lucl a sea -carrier 18 caused to I 'pass. rtlesm One of the cars, as, r01: nstance,

4.11:. an. amusement apparatus. endless traveling cables, seats connected therewith to start in pairs, means by which said seats we be partially turned to face to or from eaci other, means by which the seats are 5 tilted about a horizontal axis to produce a bowing mo ement, and means b which the seats are returned to them norma position.

In testimony whereof I have herennto set my hand in presence of two subseriblne wit-

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