Patent ID: 8043139
Filing Date: 2011-10-25
Classification: A63H

Abstract:
1. An improved start gate timer trigger, for one or a plurality of gravity-driven cars, wherein; (a) said start gate timer trigger comprising a holding member which is a metallic trigger lever making a mechanical contact with and supporting a metallic drop member, said trigger lever and said drop member being electrically wired and appropriately insulated so that said mechanical contact is also a fully functional normally closed electrical contact for starting an external race timer; (b) said trigger lever being arranged to act on demand to open said normally closed contact with said drop member by allowing a contact point on said drop member to undergo a separation from a mutual contact point on said trigger lever when said drop member is allowed to drop thereby opening said normally closed electrical contact and thereby causing said race timer to start with substantially zero time delay after said separation; (c) said drop member also being rigidly connected to a pivoted and insulated metallic start post support rod which has a plurality of starting posts rigidly attached such that when said drop member undergoes said contact point separation from said trigger lever contact point by dropping, said start post support rod begins rotating causing said plurality of attached starting posts to also be urged to rotate, thus allowing an onset of gravitational acceleration to begin a movement of said cars; (d) whereby said onset of gravitational acceleration and beginning of said car movement relative to said external race timer start thus being delayed only by a mechanical movement propagation time from said drop member to said starting posts, said propagation time amounting to only several tens of millionths of a second, thus said external race timer start time agreeing with said onset of gravitational acceleration time with an accuracy improved by a very large factor compared to a millisecond range accuracy shown by start gate timer triggers that employ micro switches.