Improvements in Roundabouts or Merry-go-rounds.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 19th June, 1893-Accepted, 5th Aug., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Roundabouts or Merry-go-rounds.
I, THOMAS WALKER, of Oldbury Works, Tewkesbury, in the County of
Gloucester, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained
n and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to improvements in roundabouts or merry-go-
rounds in which the horses or other bodies adapted to carry riders (hereinafter
included in the expression "horses") have imparted to them movements resembling
the movements of galloping horses and has for object the production of these
movements in an efficient manner by comparatively light mechanism.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 shows an elevation partly in section and
Fig. 2 shows a plan of so much of a roundabout or merry-go-round as is necessary
to illustrate this invention.
1 is a carriage or truck on which are mounted a steam boiler 2 and an engine 2
for driving the roundabout; 25 is the chimney of the boiler furnace around which
the horses revolve. 3 is the usual lantern wheel which is driven from the engine in
any suitable manner. In the example the driving is effected from the engine
shaft 2° through bevel gear 2° 2° vertical shaft 2' and pinion 2. The lantern wheel
is mounted on antifriction balls 4 that travel in a ball track or race 5 supported by
standards 6. The upper side of the rim of the lantern wheel is connected by
The lantern wheel is provided
stays 3 to a tube 3b that surrounds the chimney 2b.
at its underside with an annulus 7 or series of part rings grooved to correspond
To the upper side
with the ball track or race and adapted to rest upon the balls 4.
of the lantern wheel are secured radial arms 9. In the example, the arms 9 are
carried in sockets 8 attached to the lantern wheel but the said arms may be
otherwise secured to the lantern wheel. 10 is the rounding board; it is attached
to the radial arms 9. The platform 9 is suspended by rods 9b to the radial arms 9.
The horses 11 are suspended by rods 12 to swifts 13 constituting levers of the first
order having their fulcra at 13° and operated at their inner ends by means of an
annular cam 14 whereby an upward and downward movement is imparted to the
swifts. The fulcra are pivots supported in bearings bolted on to the lantern
wheel 3. The inner ends of the swifts 13 are provided with rollers 13 the axes of
which are arranged in line with the swifts these rollers bear against the undulating
surface of the annular cam 14 which is fixed to the chimney as shown. The outer
ends of the swifts 13 are provided with flanged rollers or antifriction wheels 15
adapted to travel on vertical guide bars or rails 16 secured to the rounding board 10;
the inner surfaces of these guide bars are curved each to a radius struck from the
axis of the pivot of the corresponding swift so that the periphery of the roller 15
may always be in contact or approximately so with its guide bar or rail 16.
the rounding board or to the lower parts of the guide bars or rails 16 are fixed
brackets that carry swivelling guides 17 (see plan Fig. 3) through which pass
rods 18 that are connected at their upper ends to the swifts 13 as shown. On each
rod there is a fixed collar or stop 18 also a loose collar or ring 18 or it may be a
plate fixed to the swivelling guides but have through it a hole for the passage of
5 the rod 18. Between 18 and 18 there is a spring 19. The springs 19 tend
Bormally to maintain the swifts 13 horizontally or approximately so when there are
no riders on the horses and the rollers 13 are not in contact with the cam 14; when
however, there are riders on the horses the springs will be compressed and the
inner ends of the swifts will be raised thereby bringing the rollers 13 into contact
with the under surface of the cam if they were not previously in such contact.
To

page_text: The horses of each swift are connected together by means of bars so bent as to
form steps to enable persons to easily mount and dismount from the horses,
sufficient play being provided at the points of connection between the bar and the
horses to allow the horses to swing outward under the action of centrifugal force
as they are caused to travel round.
The extent to which the horses are free to swing outward is limited by means
of arms 20 passing through hooks or eyes 21 secured to the swifts.
Stays 24 24 connect the rounding board and the radial arms supporting the
same with a ring attached to but capable of movement about the chimney.
On the horses being caused to travel around the chimney, the swifts 13 will be
caused to simultaneously oscillate in a vertical sense about their pivots and thus to
impart to the horses movements resembling the movements of galloping horses,
owing to the rollers 13b travelling against the undulating surface of the cam 14
against which the rollers are kept by the weight of the riders.
As will be evident instead of attaching a guide bar or rail to the rounding board
or equivalent a roller or rollers or wheels might be carried in a bracket attached to
the rounding board or equivalent, a bar curved to a radius struck from the axis of
oscillation of the swift being then fixed on the end of the swift so as to travel in
contact with the wheel, and instead of the wheel being flanged or grooved the bar
might be flanged or grooved to receive the wheel.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I do not
claim broadly the combination with the swifts or arms of a roundabout hinged to a
part capable of revolving round a central pillar or support, of a stationary cam
acting on rollers on the swifts or arms so as to cause them to oscillate vertically as
they revolve round the central pivot or support, but what I do claim is :-
1. In a roundabout or merry-go-round the combination with a swift and means
for imparting upward and downward movement thereto of a spring tending to
maintain the swift normally horizontal or approximately so.
2. In a roundabout or merry-go-round the combination with a swift and means
for imparting upward and downward movement thereto of a rod connected to the
swift, a swivelling guide through which said rod passes and a spring tending to
maintain the swift normally horizontal or approximately so as described.
3. In a roundabout or merry-go-round, the combination with a swift and means
for imparting upward and downward movement thereto, of a vertical guide bar or
rail and an antifriction wheel or wheels, the bar or rail being fixed to the rounding
board or equivalent and the antifriction wheel being carried by the swift at or near
its outer end or vice versa substantially as described.
4. In a roundabout or merry-go-round the combination and arrangement of parts
comprising a swift, means for imparting upward and downward movement thereto as
well as motion in a circular course, a rod attached to the swift, a swivelling guide
through which such rod passes, a spring tending to keep the swift normally
horizontal or approximately so, a guide bar or rail with curved face and an anti-
friction wheel one of them being carried by the swift and the other by the rounding
board or its equivalent, and one being grooved to receive the other substantially as
described and shown.
5. My improved roundabout or merry-go-round as described and shown.
T
1
1011 .
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.