AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR BIRD TRAP SHOOTING
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Gibson Bussey, of Museum Works, Rye
Lane, Peckham, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of.
"AN IMPROVED APPARATUS TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR BIRD TRAP
SHOOTING."
Sealed the 2nd September 1870, and dated the 7th July 1870.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Gibson Bussey
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 7th July 1870, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
GIBSON BUSSEY, of Museum Works, Rye Lane, Peckham, in the
County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
APPARATUS TO BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR BIRD TRAP SHOOTING," and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made
solemn Declaration that I am the true and first Inventor thereof.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Gibson Bussey, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed in and by the following
statement:-
-
The nature of this Invention can be better understood by reference
to a toy known as the ariel top, in the improvement of which my
Invention partly consists, but the Invention more particularly relates to
the motive power by which this ariel top is made to fly and the purposes
for which I utilize it, videlicet, as a substitute for what is usually known
as pigeon and sparrow trap shooting.
My first improvement relates to the material employed for the wings
or blades of this ariel top, for which purpose I use thin sheet steel or
other metal instead of paper (the material heretofore used), by the use of
which steel I am enabled to construct an ariel top that will bear hitting
with shot when fired from a gun several times.
My next improvement relates to the use of a small bladder or india-
rubber ball which I fix in any convenient manner to this ariel top and
inflate the same with wind or gas and now call it a gyro pigeon; this
ball or bladder when hit with shot fired from a gun collapses and proves
that the shooter has made a hit.
My next and most important improvement relates to the means by
which I make the gyro pigeon fly through the air in imitation of a bird
on the wing. For this purpose I do not use the mode adopted for giving
flight to the aforesaid toy, but I use a spring, by preference an ordinary
clock spring, though any other spring would answer the purpose; this
spring I enclose in a barrel, case, or frame of any neat form or size and
made of either metal or wood. I fix the outer end of the spring to the
inner side of this case; in the centre of the said case I introduce an
axle or arbor and make the inner coil of the spring catch by a stop, so
that when the said arbor is turned round the spring is wound up, but
the said stop is so bevelled off as to allow the arbor when turned the
reverse way to slip past the stop and continue its rotating motion for
some time after the spring has exhausted its power; at the upper part
of the said arbor is a ratchet wheel, into the notches of which a stop is
inserted, and the sudden withdrawal of which sets the apparatus in
motion. Above the said arbor and ratchet wheel is fixed a fork, into
which the gyro pigeon is set, and the rapid revolution resulting

page_text: from the liberation of the spring causes the blades or wings of the
ariel top to catch the air, rise out of the fork, and fly off in any given
direction.
To enable me to increase or diminish the rate of revolution and steady
the motion I sometimes introduce a train of wheels, but prefer the spring
to act direct on the arbor.
My next improvement consists in adopting the ball-and-socket joint
to the under side of this barrel, case, or frame, so that the gyro pigeon
can be made to take wing in any desired direction. This apparatus is
called the gyro trap and is fixed to the ground by an iron rod or any
other means.
A string is attached to the stop which holds the ratchet wheel which
is to be pulled by the trapper.
Having now stated the nature of my Invention and how the same is
to be performed, I wish it to be clearly understood that I do not claim
the Invention of the ariel top, but,―
First. The application of thin steel or other metal instead of paper
for the wings of the ariel top.
Second. The use of inflated bladders or india-rubber balls fixed to this
improved ariel top for the purpose of being shot at.
Third. The application of a spring as the motive power, by which the
axle or arbor is made to revolve.
Lastly. The adoption of the ball-and-socket joint to the trap, by which
the gyro pigeon can be made to fly out in any direction and at any angle
required.
In witness whercof, I, the said George Gibson Bussey, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Seventh day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.