IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Gustave Bodel, of Boulevard de Strasbourg,
28, at Paris, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Gustave Bodel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 21st September 1874.
re
I, LOUIS GUSTAVE BODEL, of Boulevard de Strasbourg, 28, at Paris,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN
THE MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION OF HOBBY HORSES AND TOY
CARRIAGES," to be as follows:-
It has been already attempted by means of various mechanical
arrangements to imitate in toy or hobby horses, teams, or other such
things the movements of the feet and the neck of real horses, but
hitherto it has been deemed impossible to construct joints which, so to
speak, would reproduce exactly the movement of the animal.

page_text: The new system of mechanical toy harnessing with natural articulation
which I have constructed effects this and will supply to artists or
children a miniature equipage, in which horses coupled or singly will
perform exactly the progress and the motion of the head, neck, and legs
of the actual horses. The special articulations which I have arranged
for this purpose are essentially characterized by their mode of connection
and junction at the neck, the shoulder, the knee and hoof, they are put
in action by a transmission which starts from a motive barrel enclosed in
a little box attached to the frame of the carriage or from a system of
pedals and jointed levers commanded directly by the person occupying
the seat of the carriage. In the first case the equipage constitutes a
very elegant and amusing toy, in the second it is not merely a toy for
children but will serve to exercise their muscles in the gymnastic
exercise which it causes them to exert.
The internal mechanism of the horse body is enclosed in an envelope
of pasteboard, papier mâché, or other material consolidated by hoops of
wire constituting a sort of rigid carcass. The neck is provided at the
interior with wire hoops connected on one side with slide bars, and on
the other with a sort of jointed chain resembling so to speak the
vertebrac of the real animal. The neck and the legs are covered with
caoutchouc or flexible skin which yields perfectly to all the movements
of the walk or trot.
I proceed to describe the equipage in some detail. In the interior of
the frame of the vehicle or in a special envelope annexed thereto is
enclosed the motor mechanism both for the horse and the wheels of the
vehicle. This mechanism is arranged as follows:-Upon a shaft which
carries the wheels of the vehicle is keyed a toothed wheel which gears
with the teeth of a motor barrel mounted upon an auxiliary shaft
parallel with the first. This barrel when wound up communicates
this movement to the wheels so that the vehicle advances. The wheel
gears on the other side with a little pinion which is keyed upon a bent
shaft to which a long crank is jointed. By this arrangement the latter
receives a to-and-fro oscillation, producing the movements of the various
joints of the horse by the aid of a mechanism to be described presently.
In order to regularize the action of these actuating organs I arrange above
the barrel a little pinion gearing with the teeth of the barrel; this pinion
is keyed upon a shaft which bears a toothed wheel acting by a little
endless screw upon the governor wheel, which latter can be formed of

page_text: wings of any form or of a heavy ring with an arm. At its front end the
crank or rod is jointed to a sort of lever, to which it communicates its to-
and-fro motion. The lever transmits the movement to the hind legs by
a bar, and to the front legs by means of a second bar. The bar is
jointed to an oscillating piece of sheet iron or steel of triangular form,
the two lower angles of which are united by pivots to two curved bars
which imitate the thigh bone of the horse; the bar is grooved at its
upper part in order to develop itself according to the curve of the move-
ment of the thigh of the natural horse. These two bars are jointed to
an oscillating piece which represents the hock of the horse, this piece
also carries by joints the hoof, the movement of which is commanded by
means of bars through the intermediation of straps. The action of the
articulation of the fore legs is the same as that of the hind ones except
that the centre bar is jointed directly to another bar of those of the
thigh which are both pivotted upon a rock piece mounted upon the
same carcass as those of the rock piece. An oscillating piece carries the
hoof, the movement of which is produced by a rod jointed directly to a
prolongation of the bar.
The movement of the horse's neck is effected by means of a curved
oscillating piece jointed at a certain convenient spot of the centre rock
lever already mentioned. This curved piece by its oscillation puts the
head and the vertebrae of the neck into motion. The vertebrae are held
at their lower end by a support united to the carcass of the horse.
As I have already explained the interior mechanism of the horse is
enclosed within an envelope of pasteboard, papier mâché, wood, or
other rigid material which can be made to assume the form of the
animal's body, while the legs and neck are formed of india-rubber or
flexible skin which bends itself perfectly to all the movements. The
horse thus jointed can be harnessed singly or coupled with another
similar horse, and the movements of both of them will be commanded in
the same manner.
The above described articulations can be as well applied to any other
animal, such as the ox, the dog, the sheep, and so on. The carriage can
also be of any form whatever, and may be upon two or four wheels, or
it may be replaced by a plough or gun carriage or any other object
mounted upon wheels.
I proceed to describe the application of my system of articulated
equipage to a little carriage for chhildren. In this case the two articulated

page_text: horses as above explained are mounted upon a little pivoting wheel
which allows them to be steered or guided.
Each horse has its joints or articulation commanded by a crank and
rod, which instead of being put in action by a motion barrel, as in the
specimen already described, receives a to-and-from movement from a
system of pedals and jointed levers which I proceed to describe, and
which are worked directly by the children riding in the vehicle. The
child seated upon the front seat acts by his feet upon pedals arranged at
the front end of the levers, and these latter oscillate at their other ends
upon an axis fixed to the carcass of the carriage. Towards the middle
of their length the levers carry jointed rods, the lower ends of which are
connected to other oscillating levers. These last are provided at the
rear with a series of holes in one or other of which the crank are fitted,
the heads of which are jointed to two bent crank rods upon the shaft
which constitutes the axle of the vehicle: This axle has thus imparted
to it a continuous rotating movement, and draws with it the wheels to
which it is rigidly attached. The axle carries a toothed wheel which
gears with a pinion keyed upon a little shaft, the two shoulders of which
are connected by the oscillating arms with the two rods which directly
actuate the articulations of the horses.
The child occupying the hind scat of the vehicle contributes to the
motion of the vehicle by means of levers which he inserts at will at the
moment of putting the vehicle in motion into sockets keyed upon the
axis upon which the levers move. By this special arrangement of pedals
and jointed levers I obtain great lightness and facility in movement,
which gives to the children a healthy gymnastic exercise without over-
fatiguing their limbs.
To obtain great mobility I make use when necessary of antifriction
cushions, and I construct the wheels preferably of iron wire, like
velocipede wheels.
My system of pedal vehicles is described in combination with my
articulated horse, but it will be understood that they can be used
advantageously in all case, that is to say, alone or combined with horses
or other animals whether articulated according to my Invention or
not.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Louis Gustave Bodel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 19th March 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
GUSTAVE BODEL, of Boulevard des Strasbourg, 23, at Paris, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
sessors, give and grant unto me, the said Louis Gustave Bodel, Her
special licence, that I, the said Louis Gustave Bodel, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Louis Gustave
Bodel, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MECHANICAL CONSTRUCTION OF HOBBY HORSES
AND TOY CARRIAGES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Louis Gustave Bodel, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Gustave Bodel, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed. to be particularly described and ascertained in and

page_text: it has been deemed impossible to construct joints which, so to speak,
would reproduce exactly the movement of the animal.
The new system of mechanical toy harnessing with natural articulation
which I have constructed effects this, and will supply to artists or
children a miniature equipage in which horses coupled or singly will
perform exactly the progress and the motion of the head, neck, and legs
of the actual horse. The special articulations which I have arranged
for this purpose are essentially characterized by their mode of connection
and junction at the neck, the shoulder, the knee, and hoof; they are put
in action by a transmission which starts from a motive barrel enclosed
in a little box attached to the frame of the carriage, or from a system of
pedals and jointed levers commanded directly by the person occupying
the seat of the carriage. In the first case the equipage constitutes a
very elegant and amusing toy, in the second it is not merely a toy for
children but will serve to exercise their muscles in the gymnastic
exercise which it causes them to exert, and used without the toy horses
the carriages can be generally used by postmen, commissionaires,
messengers, or porters, in fact for all purposes for which velocipedes.
have been proposed.
The internal mechanism of the horse body is enclosed in an envelope
of pasteboard, papier mâche, or other material consolidated if necessary
by hoops of wire constituting a sort of rigid carcase.
The neck is pro-
vided at the interior with wire hoops connected on one side with slido
bars, and on the other with a sort of jointed chain resembling, so to
speak, the vertebrae of the real animal. The neck and the legs are
covered with caoutchouc or flexible skin which yields perfectly to all the
movements of the walk or trot..
The Drawings annexed to this description will enable the con-
struction and action of my system of mechanical equipage with natural
articulation to be readily understood.
Figures 1 and 2 are respectively an elevation and a sectional plan of
the first arrangement of my system when it forms an amusing toy. In
the interior of the frame of the vehicle A in a special envelope annexed
thereto is enclosed the motor mechanism both for the horse and the
wheels of the vehicle. This mechanism is arranged as follows:-Upon
a shaft which carries the wheels R of the vehicle is keyed a toothed
wheel which gears with the teeth of a motor barrel B mounted upon

page_text: an auxiliary shaft ¹ parallel with the first. This barrel B when it is
wound up communicates its movement to the wheels R so that the
vehicle advances. The wheel gears in the other side with a little
pinion 63 which is keyed upon a bent shaft ³ to which a long rod C is
jointed. By this arrangement the latter receives a to-and-fro oscillation,
producing the movements of the various joints of the horse by the aid of
a mechanism to be described presently. In order to regularize the
action of these actuating organs I arrange above the barrel Ba little
pinion gearing with the teeth of the barrel, this pinion b' is keyed
upon a shaft c which bears a toothed wheel c¹ acting by a little endless
screw c² upon the governor wheel d, which latter can be formed of wings
of any form or of a heavy ring with an arm. At its front end the rod C
is jointed to a sort of lever D to which it communicates its to-and-fro
motion. The lever D transmits the movement to the hind legs by a
bar f, and to the front legs by means of a second bar g. The bar fis
jointed to one oscillating piece of sheet iron or steel f¹ of triangular
form, the two lower angles of which are united by pivots to two curved
bars f³, which imitate the bone and muscle of the horse's thigh, the
bar f being grooved at its upper part in order to develop itself according
to the curve of the movement of the thigh of the natural horse. These
two bars f, f³, are jointed to one oscillating piece f* which represents
the hock of the horse; this piece also carries by joints the hoof 1, the
movement of which is commanded by means of the bars f³ and ƒ³.
through the intermediation of straps h³, h2, h3. The action of the
articulations of the fore legs is the same as that of the hind ones except
that the centre bar g is jointed directly to one of the thigh bars g², both
of which ³, are pivoted upon a rock piece g' mounted upon the
same carcase F as those of the rock piece f'; an oscillating piece 9*
carries the hoof h, the movement of which is produced by a rod /*.
jointed directly to a prolongation of the bar g³.
'
The movement of the horse's neck is effected by means of a curved
oscillating piece actuated by a rod jointed at a certain convenient spot
of the centre rock lever D already mentioned. This curved piece 2 by its
oscillation puts the head and the vertebrac k, k, of the neck into motion.
The vertebrae are held at their lower end by a support 7 united to the
carcase of the horse.
As I have already explained the interior mechanism of the horse is
enclosed within an envelope. m of pasteboard, papier mâche, wood, or

page_text: flexible skin which lends itself perfectly to all the movements. The
horse thus jointed can be harnessed singly or coupled with another
similar horse, and the movements of both be commanded in the same
manner.
The above described articulations can be applied to any other animal,
such as the ox, the dog, the sheep, and others. The carriage A can
also be of any form whatever, and may be upon two or four wheels, or it
may be replaced by a plough, a gun carriage, or any other object
mounted upon wheels.
Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a sectional elevation and a plan
showing the application of my system of articulated equipage to a little
carriage. In this case the two articulated horses, as above explained,
are mounted upon a little pivoting wheel R¹ which allows them to be
steered or guided.
Each horse has its joints or articulations commanded by a crank or
rod C, which instead of being put in action by a motor barrel, as in the
specimen already described, receives a to-and-fro movement from a
system of pedals and jointed levers which I proceed to describe, and which
are worked directly by the persons riding in the vehicle. The person
seated upon the front seat 2 acts by his feet upon pedals 1, 1, jointed to
levers n, n, and these latter produce the action of the jointed levers o, o,
which oscillate at their other ends upon an axis fitted to the frame of
the carriage. These levers o, o, are provided with a series of holes, in
one or other of which the cranks o¹ fit. The heads of these cranks
are jointed with the two shoulders p, p, of the shaft k which forms the
axletree of the vehicle. This axletree is thus imparted with a continuous
rotative movement which draws with it the wheels b which are rigidly
attached to the axletree.
The person occupying the hind seat of the vehicle contributes
to the motion of the vehicle by means of hand levers s, s, which he
inserts at will at the moment of putting the vehicle in motion into
sockets keyed upon the axis upon which the levers o², o², move, these
levers o², o³, being jointed to other levers 0³, o³, connected to the {
shoulders p, p, of the axletree . By this special arrangement of pedals

page_text: and jointed levers 1 obtain great lightness and facility in movement,
which gives to the persons using the carriage a healthy gymnastic
exercise without over-fatiguing their limbs.
To obtain great mobility I make use when necessary of antifriction
cushions, and I construct the wheels R', b, b, preferably of iron wire like
velocipede wheels.
Figure 5 shows in longitudinal sectional elevation an arrangement of
carriage separated from the horse to be applied for general purposes, such
as for carrying postmen, messengers, and others. In this case the
vehicle is mounted upon three wheels a, b, b, the front wheel a is pro-
vided with a fork strap c which can turn freely in the shaft d so as to
enable the vehicle to be readily guided or steered by means of reins for
of a hand lever. The hind wheels b, b, support the seat of the carriage g
which is connected by curved supports of as graceful a form as possible
with the shaft d, leaving room for the support / to hold a lantern j.
The diameter of the wheels and the distance between them are calculated
so as to give the greatest possible stability, they are constructed like
velocipede wheels, that is to say, with the nave in bronze, the spokes of
strong wire, and the felloe covered or not with caoutchouc. The hub is
sufficiently large to avoid all friction and thus preserve great rigidity;
the forms of the carriage frame and its dimensions, as shown in the
Drawing, are so combined as to spread the weight among the wheels
supporting it, and to give the greatest safety to the rider. One of the
wheels b, b, can be loose upon the axletree k, the other is keyed so as to
turn with it. Rotation is imparted to the axletree
pedals 1, 1, oscillating at m, as I have described with reference to
Figures 3 and 4. These pedals are united by little jointed rods n to
rocking levers o which themselves transmit the continuous rotation to
the shoulders p, p, of the axletrec /.
by means of
Figure 6 shows in a diagram form the articulations detached from the
carriage. By this special arrangement of motive mechanism the pedals
instead of being actuated by the oblique efforts of the legs of the rider
receive a normal effort, that is to say, in the direction where muscle
exerts most force and is fatigued the least. To this system of mechanical
carriage I adapt an automatic support (chambricre) with a roller, which
will fall to the ground when the vehicle tends to rock backward so as to

page_text: and as shown with reference to Figure 5 of the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Gustave Bodel, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of March, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD,
Civil Engineer,
Boulevard de Strasbourg, 23,
Paris.
L. G. BODEL. (L.S.)