Improvements in or relating to Serpentines, applicable for Use at Carnivals, and Apparatus for Projecting them.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Mar., 1896-Accepted, 5th Sept., 1896
Improvements in or relating to Serpentines, applicable for Use at
Carnivals, and Apparatus for Projecting them.
A communication from CHARLES BRUNOT, of 28 Rue Ballu, Paris, in the
Republic of France, Government Employé.
I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to coiled ribbons of paper known & herein referred to as
"serpentines" such as are thrown about at carnivals "paper-battles" "confetti-
battles" & like festivals or functions & to devices for projecting them.
One of the characteristics of this invention consists in the employment of a
stroug ribbon A B Figure 1, wound up with the last external coils of a serpentine
and allowing the latter to be thrown by unwinding it from the outside and not
from the central opening as hitherto.
Whether this ribbon A B usually made of fabric forms part of the projectile, as
in what are hereinafter termed "armed serpentines," or is connected to the pro-
pelling apparatus, the inventor reserves to himself its use (just as if he had invented
gunpowder, he would claim its use in cartridges prepared beforehand, as well as in
a flint lock gun or a percussion gun).
This general principle being laid down, the following is a description of the
form the most convenient in practice for the public. It is that. of the armed
serpentine whose manufacture is formally placed among the claims of this
specification.
An ordinary serpentine is unwound from the outside for a length of about a
metre; on the under surface of this unwound part is placed about 0.80 m. of strong
ribbon A B of the same width as the serpentine. (This resisting ribbon A B can
be made of cloth, leather, eel skin, coloured twine etc.) This ribbon A B with the
portion of paper previously unrolled is now re-wound in such a manner that the
paper covers up the fabric; then when the end of this paper be glued and an
"armed serpentine" is produced.
Figure 1. In ordinary manufacture a breadth of stuff of about 0.80 m. in length
will be introduced among the last coils of the wide paper ribbon; this will be
glued as usually done and the whole will be cut out on a serpentine cutting
machine.
1st. This armed serpentine can be thrown by two different types of apparatus,
the different principles of which are as follows;-
Forward tangential traction exclusively exerted on the cloth ribbon without
applying any projecting effort at the centre of gravity of the serpentine-this is
the principle of the device hereinafter termed the "spirobole."
2nd. Full projection of the whole body of the serpentine, part of whose moving
force acquired previous to the final escape into space being utilized in order to
produce a movement of rotation resulting from the tangentially holding back of
the ribbon-this is the principle of the device hereinafter termed the "ballospire."
1st. Spirobole. First characteristic point. It is a case of tangential traction
applied to a serpentine at rest. This peripheral traction and the inertia applied to
the centre of gravity not having the same points of application, a couple is formed

page_text: which tends to make the serpentine turn about its axis, or at least to cause it to
move round a centre of rotation very near to the centre of gravity. To obtain a
forward displacement it is necessary to bring an auxiliary resistance to bear whose
most favourable point of application is the point diametrically opposite the
tangential point of traction.
The direction of this auxiliary resistance is also mechanically defined. It is
required to cause the serpentines to turn round; each of the points of the circum-
ference will therefore describe a cycloid. Now the tangent to the cycloid at the
point of origin is normal to the line of rotation; the auxiliary resistance, if it is
applied to the turning point should thus be perpendicular to the directrix of
rotation.
That auxiliary resistance is obtained by means of needle points over which the
serpentine travels, slightly pricking into the serpentine hut this method is not the
only solution of this principle, and as this auxiliary resistance, perpendicular to
the direction of rotation is one of the essential points of the apparatus, the use of
all auxiliary resistance of this kind is included in the claims hereof.
The second characteristic point of the "spirobole" also results from a mechanical
theoretical consideration. It is known from a study of the gyroscope, that each
body in rotation which is displaced, keeps the parallelism of its successive planes of
rotation if nothing hinders their being kept up. The turning serpentine will
therefore remain parallel to itself from the time that its rotation and initial
direction have been assured. In order to determine this direction it is therefore
sufficient to keep the serpentine, during the first movement of its flight, in a
groove, which causes it to remain in the same plane.
guiding
Finally, the third characteristic point of the "spirobole" results from the very
position of the tractional force on the apparatus. This force being placed in front
of the serpentine, on the very route that it must follow, it is necessary that the
motive organs should disappear before being reached by the serpentine, without
which, these organs would form an obstacle, & the serpentine would strike against
them and be stopped or hindered in its flight. These are the essential points of the
spirobole." In addition to the use of the ribbon and the tangential force already
mentioned as a general characteristic; any apparatus of the first type presenting
one of the three following new characteristics is included in this invention, viz. ;-
1st. The application of an auxiliary resistance to limit the rotation; 2nd Suppression
of the tractional organs after the release of the propelling spring; 3rd The use of
guides for fixing the initial plane of rotation.
66
All the remainder, springs, detents, the manner of supporting or arranging the
organs may vary in their nature or the material of which they are made; the
preceding characteristics are claimed as defining the apparatus of the first type.
Fig. 2. Here is moreover a brief description of the "spirobole" type; a straight
piece of wood A B to the B end of which is attached a strip of indiarubber. This
indiarubber is terminated by an attachment piece C which is placed on a nose D
of the detent D E.
This detent D E is supported on a plate fixed on one of the sides of the straight
piece of wood A B. This plate has its inner surface prolonged by a ledge & forms
with this ledge one of the walls of the guiding groove. The other wall is formed
by a partition not shown on the drawing.
The straight piece of wood A B forming the bottom of the groove is furnished
with vertical needle points m¹ m² m³ &c. on which the serpentine rolls and by
which it is successively pricked. The cloth ribbon of the armed serpentine is
attached to the link C after having fixed the serpentine on the first of the needles.
2nd. Type "Ballospire."-Here a projection is first given to the whole of the
serpentine and it is only when it has acquired it that a part of the movement is
transformed into a rotatory movement by the backward traction or tangential
stopping or arresting of the ribbon of the armed serpentine. The mechanical
characteristics of the "ballospire" are therefore more simple than those of the
"spirobole," they approach those of the manual propulsion when the serpentine is

page_text: unwound from the exterior. These characteristics consist of a support A acted!
upon either by a spring B Fig. 4 or by some other force for example the operators
hand B' and an organ C, Figure 3, for attaching the cloth ribbon R. whose use is
again here the capital point of the claim.
Figures 3 and 4 show two types of "ballospires" of very different appearance
yet four ded upon these essential characteristics. In Figure 3 the ribbon forms-
part of the armed serpentine. In Figure 4 on the contrary the ribbon forms part
of the apparatus and ordinary commercial serpentines can be thrown by means of
this ribbon.
The mechanical projection of serpentines by the before described method lending.
itself to vertical projection and long distance projection may be used for the
projection of luminous serpentines of easily inflammable or phosphorescent material
capable of being utilised in firework displays, the exclusive manufacture of which.
the inventor reserves to himself.
The principle of these luminous serpentines is as follows:-Suppose that a
serpentine instead of being made of paper was made from a ribbon of gun cotton.
or from any other pyrotechnical or easily inflammable substance. By projecting
this serpentine and lighting the end remaining in the apparatus after it is unwound,.
one obtains very curious effects similar to lightning.
Here, the characteristic resides in these two essential points:-1st. Pyrotechnical
Gr easily inflammable substance rolled up in the form of a serpentine and
mechanically unwound previous to being lit; 2nd Ignition after projection by
applying fire to the end remaining within reach of the person firing the serpentine..
The luminous serpentine may be formed of or treated with a phosphorescent
material such for instance as phosphor or certain sulphates.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and in what manner the-
same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. Paper serpentines used in day time when these serpentines are provided with
a strong ribbon (generally of some textile fabric) wound round the last coils of the
serpentines, these serpentines being always wound from the outside.
2. The combination with a paper serpentine of a strong flexible ribbon wound
between the last or outer of its coils substantially as described.
3. A first type of serpentine-projecting apparatus called "spirobole" the
characteristic features of which are;
(a) A tangential force acting by traction in the forward direction by means of
a strong ribbon such as claimed in Claim 1:
(b) A resistance at the point of rolling in order to procure cycloidal.
movement:
(c) Parts producing the traction disappearing after the detent:
(d) A guiding groove for fixing the initial plane of rotation.
4. A second type of serpentine-projector called "ballospire" which on the
contrary gives a forward movement to the whole of the serpentine and which
produces the rotary movement by means of the momentum acquired by the centre
of gravity in combination with the holding back of the ribbon claimed in
Claim 1.
5. The luminous serpentines used at night and made either of pyrotechnical or
easy inflammable or phosphorescent material such as for instance phosphor or
certain sulphates these serpentines being projected or launched by the apparatus.
above described.
Dated this 10th dox of March 1906
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant..