Patent GB-190720971-A (GB)
Inventor: KANNEL THEOPHILUS VAN
Filed: 1907-09-21
Granted: 1908-04-02
Abstract: 20,971. Kannel, T. van. Sept. 21. Amusements for fairs etc.; toboganning.-In amusement or illusion apparatus, a flexible floor is given an undulatory motion by means of cranks and link-work and imparts undulatory movements to a vehicle supported and travelling thereon. The surroundings are constructed to imitate a shoreway, and two vibratory floors are placed on opposite sides of a platform or island A, Fig. 1, the floors being connected at one end by so-called rapids C, down which the vehicle descends by gravity and at the other end by a fixed floor C', across which the vehicles are moved from the disembarking pier F to the embarking pier E. The line of the floor is made to correspond to a wave form by suitably disposing the supporting beams J, which may be covered by floor plates made of pliable steel sheets I, I' bolted together, the lower sheets being fastened to the beams. The floor beams J are jointed to side uprights by ball-and-socket joints K, Fig. 7, and are also connected centrally by a book N on one part resting in a socket M<1> carried by the other part. The beams are lifted by means of rods 0 engaging shoulders M<2> on castings M bolted to the beams. Lifting-rods O<4>, O<8>, Fig. 2, one half wave-length apart are supported by bellcrank levers P<2> arranged in opposite directions, and jointed to the same driving - bar, so that the weights of the two corresponding floor sections are transmitted in opposite directions to the driving- bar and thus balance one another. Each driving- bar is also balanced by dividing it at the middle of its length, connecting the halves by a link, and arranging one half over bell-crank levers acting in an opposite direction to the other bell-crank levers. In a modification, the weight of a driving-bar is balanced by a weighted lever. The arms and legs of the bell-cranks are preferably forked, or made with double plates, so that the pivots of the lifterrods may be supported at both ends. The driving- bars are of I section, Fig..7, and extended bearings for the pivots of the legs P<2> are formed in the driving-bars by bushings, each extended through a hole in the plate of the I-bar and shouldered upon one end to fit such plate. A collar secured upon the opposite end holds the bushing to the plate. The bell-cranks are kept in place upon the shaft d by collars s. The driving-bars are reciprocated by connecting-rods S, divided shafts T carrying disks and crank-pins c, toothed gearing, and a shaft V driven by a belt or motor. The crank-pins c are set in such a relation to one another that the connecting-rods are reciprocated successively, actuating the bell-cranks in the desired progression to give the undulatory movement to the floor. To connect the undulating floor with a stationary floor, a few of the pivoted beams adjacent to the edge of the fixed floor may have a lesser motion than those beams that have the normal wave movement. The wave motion of the rapids is preferably of variable character to produce choppy waves ; the floor beams are hinged at their outer ends C<2>, Fig. 1, vibrated at their inner ends C, and are made divergent towards their pivoted ends, The beams H<1> supporting the end portions of the side floors are extended from their pivots at the outer ends directly to the terminal beams H<2> of the rapids, where they are suitably jointed to such beams to facilitate the transfer of the vehicles smoothly from one floor to the rapids, or vice versa.