Improvements in Roundabouts.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Mar., 1895-Accepted, 4th May, 1895
Improvements in Roundabouts.
I, ROBERT WALTER HUTTON, of 42 Lambton Quay in the City of Wellington,
in the Colony of New Zealand, Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement
The object of my invention is to provide for the amusement of the public a novel
and simple form of machine of the kind such as are usually known as roundabouts
or merry-go-rounds, and my invention consists in providing a circular railway
having a series of gradients over which passenger cars travel, being propelled
or hauled by any convenient power, which power is applied in a novel and simple
manner.
My invention is illustrated in the accompanying shects of drawings on which:-
Figure 1 is a general plan of my apparatus.
Figure 2 is a sectional elevation shewing one of the undulations of the circular
railway with the cars travelling over.
Figure 3 is a side view of one of the cars with the connecting and actuating
endless ropes attached.
Figure 4 is a plan of the car.
Figure 5 is a plan of the rope clutch with the clutch grasping the rope.
Figure 6 is an end view of the clutch.
Figure 7 is a plan of the clutch with the rope released.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the figures.
a are the passenger cars having seats a' and which are connected together by
safety ropes or chains a² and traction ropes or chains a³ so as to form a continuous
circle of cars which travel over the circular railway b and alternately mount the
elevations and fall into the depressions..
The rails bare supported on suitable framing and the framing being so
arranged as to form platforms by which the passengers enter the cars and alight.
c is an engine which may be actuated by steam water or any other suitable means.
c' is the engine shaft and c is the fly-wheel fixed upon it. e is a driving pulley
round which the driving rope 9 passes to the guide pulley e², round which it is
guided by a tension pulley e. Guide rollers or pulleys g₁ are also provided. By
these means the engine rope g is short in length, is independent and readily removed,
is always in proper tension and can be kept in continual motion. In order to com-
municate the motion of the rope g to the ropes a³ and the continuous circle of cars a
I make use of the following arrangement :-
Referring to Figures 5, 6, and 7f is a plate fastened firmly in a suitable position,
(by preference), underneath the bottom of each car a so that the half clips f¹ and f
which are grooved at y, may, when desired, be able to clip the rope g as shewn in
Figure 5. The half clip I prefer to be stationary on the plate ƒ but fixed so
that the rope may not wear against it when not engaged with the clip, and the half
clip f¹ I hinge on a pin f so that it can be closed on the rope g by means of a
spring f. The spring 18 is fastened at one end to the plate f by a pin f' and at
the other end by a pin f' which is carried by the half clip f and is fitted with a
friction roller. A slot is formed in the plate fto guide the half clip flin
opening and shutting on the rope g. Each car is preferably fitted with one of the
clutches which is actuated as hereinafter described.

page_text: To a stationary frame or to the frame supporting the rails are fixed two cams or
inclined planes d one being fixed so as to be about in front of a car when the other
is behind the next car. When in their normal position the clips f1 and 2 are
closed but as soon as a car approaches one of the cams d the clutch upon it is
opened by the action of the point of the cam raising the half clip 1, see Figure 7,
and remains open whilst the roller f is traversing the edge of the cam after which
it drops on to the rope g and clips it firmly both by the action of the spring f³ and
by the pull of the rope tending to draw the clip inwards and around the pin f*.
So soon as the clutch reaches the next cam d it is again opened in a similar manner
and the cam passes on released from the rope g. Previously to this however the
next car has by a similar process been attached to the rope g. By these means one
car is always firmly attached to the rope and the whole of the cars put in motion
thereby. It is of course possible to engage one or more cars to the driving rope
if desired and more especially when a great number of cars are made use of, but
I have found the attachment and release of one car quite sufficient for my purpose.
The axles of the cars are placed radially to the centre of the rail track and the
outer rail is raised to prevent the effect of centrifugal force and in some cases [
place guard rails for still greater safety.
By the means herein before described I provide a circular railway for public
amusement which is absolutely safe in practice, is simple and easily erected, and
moreover leaves a clear space in the centre for a band of music, dancing and other
purposes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. In a circular railway such as described a track having undulations to produce
alterations of position in cars hauled substantially as and by the means herein before
described and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
2. In a circular railway such as described, clips actuated by cams or inclined
planes and springs or mechanical equivalents of the same, substantially as and for
the purposes described herein and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
3. In a circular railway such as described the combination of an independent
driving rope with engaging and disengaging cams or planes substantially as
described herein and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
4. A circular railway constructed arranged and operated substantially as herein-
before described and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 19th day of March A D 1895
W. E. HEYS & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.