Improvements in Combined Rifle Targets and Signalling Apparatus.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Mar., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 10th Jan., 1894-Accepted, 10th Mar., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Combined Rifle Targets and Signalling Apparatus.
I, CHARLES STUART JONES, of 3 Union Street, Dartmouth, Boot and Shoe
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to rifle targets, and consists in improvements in connection
therewith, whereby the impact of the bullet in striking the target is utilized to
mechanically give indication of the part struck and therefore of the value of the
shot fired. Moreover, the necessity, hitherto prevailing, of stationing a marksman
in proximity to the target is obviated.
At
According to this invention, the target face is composed of a series of separate
plates painted or otherwise made to represent different values of shot. Behind the
said series of face plates is a back plate through apertures in which are carried
arms extending back from the face plates each of which has two such arms.
their rear ends each pair of arms is coupled by a cross-bar which, towards the ends,
bears against springs fixed to a frame or support and tending constantly to force
the face plates to the front, that is to say, into their normal positions. Flags
coloured to correspond with the face plates are carried on staves vertically arranged
in the frame behind the target faces. The flag staves are acted upon by springs
which, in the absence of any counteracting influence, tend to raise the flags to their
full height. Towards the lower end of each flag staff is an eye or lug in which
engages the end of a lever centered on a suitable spindle and having attached a
wire, or its equivalent, which extends to the front of the target and is conducted to
a point near the firing station and is there connected to a hand lever. To set the
flags in position to indicate the value of shots fired, they, the flags, are, by actuating
the hand levers aforesaid, drawn down until a notch in each is presented to the
respective cross-bars aforesaid. When so drawn, the flags are concealed from
view and are thus held by engagement of the cross-bars. The hand levers are then
returned to the original positions so as to slacken the connecting wires.
When, now, any part of the target is struck by a bullet, the said part is forced
sufficiently far back by the impact to release the cross-bar of the part struck from
engagement with the corresponding flag staff and the latter rises and exposes to
view the flag appertaining to the face so struck. The value of the shot is thus
mechanically indicated, and so on for each face. By the springs acting on the
cross bar thereof the part struck is made to rebound to its normal position at the
front.
The flag is restored to the concealed position by actuating the hand lever thereof
and thus acting upon the particular lever in the frame which is connected to the flag
staff.
The arms at the back of the face plates may be made to run on anti-friction
rollers.
Dated thie 9th dor of March 1803

page_text: DE MULTIVATION.
Improvements in Combined Rifle Targets and Signalling Apparatus.
I, CHARLES STUART JONES, of 3 Union Street, Dartmouth Boot and Shoe
Maker, 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 has reference to an improved construction and arrangement of
combined sectional target and signalling apparatus whereby the particular part of
the target struck by a bullet, and therefore the value of the shot fired is indicated
by improved mechanical means so as to obviate the necessity of stationing a
marker in proximity to the target. And in order that the nature of my invention
may be fully understood I will proceed to explain the same by aid of the accom-
panying drawings in which,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation,
Fig. 2 a plan, and
Fig. 3 a front elevation of a combined target and signalling apparatus constructed
according to this invention.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are detail views drawn to a larger scale and hereinafter
referred to.
The target face is of the known kind composed of separate plates, there being in
the example illustrated, four such plates 1, 2, 3 and 4 forming respectively the
bulls-eye, and the inner, the magpie and the outer portions of the target and being
painted or otherwise treated accordingly. 5 is a back plate formed with apertures
through which pass arms or rods 6 that are fixed to and extend rearwardly from
the back of the respective face plates 1, 2, 3 and 4, there being two from each
plate in the example shown. Each pair of rods 6 are connected at their rear ends
by a cross bar 7 shown more clearly in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, which are enlarged views
of the rear portion of the rods 6 and adjacent parts corresponding to the face
plate which serves as the bull's eye. Behind each of the cross bars 7 is a
support 8, against which acts a pair of coiled springs 9 carried by pins 10 that are
fixed to the corresponding cross bar and work through holes in the corresponding
support, each spring bearing at its forward end against the corresponding cross bar
so as to force it and the rods 6 and face plate connected thereto into their forward
position after being moved rearward as hereinafter described. The supports 8 for
the cross hars 7 corresponding to the face plates 12 and 3, consist of cross bars
each carried by a pair of side rods or girders 8 connected to the back plate 5 and
constituting a frame surrounding the corresponding pair of rods 6 and cross bar 7.
A similar frame may be provided for the rods 6 and cross bar 7 of the outer plate +,
but in the example shown, a wall 8, is used instead. This wall may be the rear
wall of a chamber enclosing the signalling apparatus. Each side rod or girder 8
besides being connected to the back plate 5 which forms a support for the front
end thereof, is supported at the rear end on a column or standard 11. Each of the
said rods or girders 8ª is provided with a bearing or guide 12 for the adjacent rod 6
which is further supported at the front end by a roller 13 carried by an adjacent
pair of the side rods or girders 8ª. The bearings or guides 12 for the pair of rods 6
extending rearwardly from the outer plate 4, are carried, in the arrangement
shown, by the columns or standards 11 that supports the next innermost pair of side
rods or girders 8ª, and the rollers 13 for such rods are carried by the back
plate 5.
14, 14 are staves each carrying a flag 14 at its upper end and arranged to slide
vertically through a suitable hole or guide in a bar 15. To the lower part of each
of these staves is attached a plate 14 through a hole in which an upright post 16
extends, and against the under side of which acts a coiled spring 17 adapted to

page_text: raise the flag staff to its full height when the same is released. 18 is an eye carried
by the lower end of the staff and through which passes a lever 19 fulcrummed at 20.
To the free end of this lever is attached a chain 20 which is led around a guide
pulley 21 and connected to a wire 20*, in connection with a haud lever 22, arranged
near the firing station, or a weight may be attached at the point 17 to reset the
indicating flags as an alternative to levers. Each flag staff is formed in its rear
side with a notch 23 into which takes a tooth or projection 24 on the adjacent part
of the corresponding cross bar 7. The flags 14 are coloured to correspond with
the respective face plates 1, 2, 3 and 4.
The operation of my combined sectional target and signalling apparatus is as
follows:-
To set the target, the hand levers 22 are all depressed until each of the flag
staves is engaged by the pin or projection 23 on the corresponding cross bar 7
taking into the notch 23 therein, in which position the flag on its upper end will be
held below the top of the target. The hand levers are then raised and the
connecting wires and chains thus slackened. Upon a bullet striking either of the
face plates 1, 2, 3 or 4 of the target, it forces such face plate rearward for a short
distance thereby freeing the tooth or projection 24 on its cross bar 7 from the
notch 23 in the corresponding flag staff 14 whereupon the coiled spring 16 forces
up the flag staff so as to expose to view the flag 14* on the upper end thereof
(Fig. 3) thus indicating the value of the shot fired. The face plate is returned to
its normal position by the corresponding springs 9 acting against its cross bar 7.
The raised flag is lowered by depressing the corresponding hand lever 22 until the
notched portion of the flag staff is again engaged by the corresponding tooth or
projection 24.
By the construction described, all parts of the apparatus are rendered sufficiently
strong to withstand the strains to which they will be subjected in use, and the
movable portions of the target are enabled to readily move when struck by a bullet
and release the corresponding staff and signal, thereby rendering the combined
target and signalling apparatus efficient and reliable for the purpose required.
Since filing my Provisional Specification I have discovered that sectional targets
with guiding rods connected as hereinbefore described may be advantageously used
in connection with electrical indicating apparatus and I contemplate obtaining
Letters Patent in respect of such combination.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
A combined sectional target and signalling apparatus in which each of the
several sections of the target is provided with guide rods connected at their rear
ends by a cross rod adapted to engage with and hold the corresponding staff and
signal device out of view, the cross rods being acted upon by springs whose rear
ends, or some of them, bear against fixed frames as described and shown.
Dated this 10th day of January 1894.
Dated this 10th day of January 1894.
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.