Year: 1898

page_text: Games.
We, WILLIAM HENRY COOK, Salvage Officer, and CHARLES HENRY DAVID BAUER,
Merchant, both of 1, Fountain Court, Aldermanbury, in the City of London, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
1
This invention relates to mechanical toys or models adapted to represent a horse
race on a small scale, or to play race games, and more especially to a coinfreed
machine.
A machine or toy embodying our invention and designed as a coinfreed machine,
comprises the following parts:-A series of toy horses mounted on rollers and
adapted to run on an inclined plane which represents the race course, each horse
extending downwards through a horizontal slot in the said plane and being sup-
ported by a carriage which runs in an inclined groove or channel situated under-
neath the inclined plane and parallel with the same; a rectangular trough or
tray situated in a vertical compartment a short distance from the upper end of
the race course and movable up and down in the same, the said trough containing
several metallic balls serving to set in motion series of starting levers (one for
each horse) in a special manner, as will be hereafter described; an intermediate
compartment situated between the upper end of the race course and the ball trough
compartment described above, said intermediate compartment containing several
inclined partitions or deflecting plates situated one above the other and extend-
ing alternately from the front and from the back wall, so that a ball dropped
on to the uppermost partition will describe a zig-zag course, while rolling down
over the consecutive partitions or plates and will finally drop on the floor of the
intermediate compartment; mechanism for drawing the horses from the lower
to the upper end of the race course; mechanism for lifting the ball trough; and
a coin-operated device for locking and releasing the said mechanisms, so that
the carriages cannot be drawn up, nor the ball trough lifted, until a standard
coin has been inserted into a slot provided for this purpose.
The special construction of the machine may vary according to requirements,
and is preferably as follows:-
The ball-trough may be suspended from a string which runs over two guide
pulleys fixed to the roof of the compartment, and extends downward to a drum to
which the ends of the string are attached, so that by turning the drum shaft in
one direction, the trough will be lifted.
On the drum shaft is mounted a ratchet wheel, into which gears a pawl pro-
vided with a disengaging lever, on the widened end of which the coin drops after
it has passed through the vertical shoot. Before the handle fixed on the shaft of
the drum can be turned, it is necessary, therefore, to drop a coin into the slot, in
order to release the ratchet lever.
The said disengaging lever rests on a post or wire extending upward from a

page_text: lever which serves to release a pawl gearing into a ratchet wheel mounted on a
horizontal shaft serving to draw the horses up into the starting position.
From the bottom of the vertical shoot an inclined shoot extends downward to-
wards the receiving box, and is provided with a vertical slot through which pro-
jects the short arm of a double armed weighted lever. This lever must be raised
before the coin can drop into the box.
The lever is operated by the descent of the ball trough which acts on the long
aim of the said weighted lever, and in order that the trough may ascend without
lifting the lever, the long arm of the latter is composed of two lengths pivoted
together and secured in such a manner, that the outer half can be turned upward
without turning the inner half, but causes the latter to descend, if actuated from
above. The lever which retains the coin in the slot may, however, be raised by
means of mechanism set in motion by the ball trough, immediately before it has
completed its upward motion.
For drawing the horses up the inclined plane, or race course, we employ a pair
of flexible bands situated right and left of the said inclined plane and attached at
their lower ends to a pair of drums mounted on a horizontal shaft underneath the
lower end of the race course, while the upper ends are fixed to a pair of drums
mounted on a horizontal axle at the top of the intermediate compartment men-
tioned above, suitable guide rollers being placed at the angles between the upper
part of the race course and the lower part of the intermediate compartment.
Underneath the race course is also mounted an endless band running over two
rollers, one of which is situated near the lower drum axle and adapted to turn the
same by means of a pair of spur wheels, while the other is situated underneath the
upper end of the race course. The bottom of the ball trough is connected with the
said endless band by a string running over a guide roller and adapted to set in
motion the endless band, when the ball trough is lifted by means of a handle
passing through a vertical slot in the casing of the apparatus. To the top of the
ball trough is attached one end of another string extending upward to the top of
the trough guide or compartment and wound on a small drum, situated near the
winding drum at the top of the intermediate compartment, as mentioned above,
the axles of these two drums being geared together by a pair of spur wheels. By
lowering the ball trough, the two drums are therefore caused to turn on their
respective axes, and the flexible bands for propelling the horses are drawn up.
One of the rollers for the endless band mentioned above is combined with a
locking device, which prevents the roller from turning, until a coin has been
thrown into the coin slot.
Instead of drawing up the horses simultaneously with the lowering of the ball
trough, as indicated above, we may employ two independent mechanisms for draw-
ing up the horses and for working the ball-trough, and we may dispense with
tooth gear by adopting steel tapes for transmitting motion in the following man-
1er-
The ball trough is suspended at its ends from a pair of steel bands running over
guide rollers at the top of the trough guide, and then downward to a vertical drum,.
to which the other ends of the bands are attached.
To the circumference of the same drum is attached also a third steel band
running in the opposite direction over guide rollers at the base of the trough guide,
and then upward to the middle of the trough, the third steei band serving to draw
the ball trough downward, while the others serve to draw it upward. The
said drum is turned from a sector by a pair of steel bands running over the cir-
cumference of the sector and of the drum, one end of each band being fixed to
5
the drum and the other to the sector. One steel band serves for the forward motion
and the other for the backward motion of the drum. The said sector is mounted
on a horizontal shaft which carries outside the casing a hand lever.
The horses are drawn up by means of a horizontal push bar situated underneath 5
the race course and extending across the same; the said push bar being connected

page_text: by a pair of steel tapes with a roller mounted on a vertical shaft which also carries
a grooved drum adapted to draw up the horses by means of two pairs of strings
running over the said drum and attached to the same, one pair of strings and one
groove serving for the upward motion and the other for the downward motion of
the horses. The downward motion is produced automatically by means of a spiral
spring mounted on the drum shaft, and serving also to withdraw the push bar,
after it has been drawn out by hand. This push bar is locked in its position of
rest by one arm of a balance lever, adapted to be set in motion by the weight of
the coin dropped into the coin slot of the machine, the coin serving to depress one
arm of the lever, and thereby to lift the other arm out of a recess of the push bar.
As mentioned above, each horse is mounted on a weighted carriage running in an
inclined trough or groove. To draw the carriages upward, an iron bar extends
horizontally across the horses in front of the same and is fixed at its ends in a
pair of guide blocks situated right and left the race course, and adapted to slide
in a pair of inclined grooves. Each block is attached to a string guided over a
roller at the upper end of the race course and then guided down to the grooved
drum mentioned above, to which the string is attached, so that the strings and the
horses will be drawn up by turning the said drum in one direction, corresponding
to the drawing out of the push bar.
The return or downward motion of the said blocks after the roller has been
released is produced by a pair of cords attached at their upper ends to the said
blocks, while the lower ends are attached to the grooved drum mentioned above.
Each carriage has in front a weight adapted to act on a lever to which is attached
a coloured flag, so that, as each carriage arrives at the lower end of its course, the
corresponding will be raised.
To prevent any dispute or uncertainty as to which of the horses has arrived first,
we provide an automatic locking device, to prevent any flags from rising after the
first horse has arrived and lifted its flag. Said locking device chiefly comprises
a horizontal cross bar situated underneath the lifting levers of the horses and
extending across the whole width of the apparatus, said bar being attached at its
ends to a pair of two-armed levers mounted on a horizontal shaft and provided with
balance weights, and a curved supporting plate or shutter, which connects the said
levers and is so placed that when one of the inclined lifting levers is pressed down
by the arrival of the corresponding horse, it will press upon the said cross bar, and
thereby cause the supporting plate to rise, and form a support for the other lifting
levers, which prevents the latter from turning downward.
When the carriage arrives at the upper end of the course, the upper carriage
wheels drop over the edge of the inclined trough or groove on to a two-armed
lever, the opposite arm of which extends into the compartment containing the
deflecting plates and forms a flat dish adapted to be depressed, when one of the
balls drops on the said dish. As the said dish descends, the opposite arm of the
lever which supports the carriage wheels rises and lifts the same over the edge of
the inclined race or groove, after which the carriage will run down under the
influence of its own weight.
In the compartment containing the deflecting plates each deflecting plate has
inclined ledges and pins adapted to deflect the balls sideways as they run down
backwards and forwards. The lower end of this compartment is separated from
the compartment containing the ball trough by a movable shutter which is sus-
pended by a pair of springs, and pressed downward by the descent of the ball
trough, so that the balls, after having run over the zig zag plates will rest against
the said shutter, until the latter is pressed down by the ball trough. Instead of
springs, weighted levers may be emploved for keeping the shutter in position.
The side of the ball trough which adjoins the zig zag compartment is formed
by a pivoted flap which remains vertical until the trough arrives at the top of its
course, after which the balls pressing on the lower half of the flap will turn the
latter outward and roll on to the uppermost of the inclined deflecting plates.
In this apparatus the order in which the different horses start depends on the

page_text: motion of the balls over the various deflecting plates, and if any one of the starting
levers is not hit by one of the balls, the corresponding horse will not run at all.
Provision is made also to prevent the ball trough from being lifted, until all
the horses have arrived at the upper end of the race course and are ready to start.
In some cases the locking mechanism which is released by the insertion of a
coin may be omitted, so that the mechanism is ready to act without the insertion
of a coin.
As a further modification, each horse and carriage may be drawn up separately,
instead of the whole number being drawn up together; instead of toy horses, toy
cycles or other suitable objects may be mounted on the carriages which run up
and down the inclined race course, and the race course may have a series of undu-
lations, instead of forming an inclined plane.
Dated this 12th day of January 1808
FAIRFAX & WETTER,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Toy Race Courses or Apparatus for Playing Race
Games.
We, WILLIAM HENRY COOK, Salvage Officer, and CHARLES HENRY DAVID BAUER,
Merchant, both of 1, Fountain Court, Aldermanbury, in the City of London, 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 mechanical toys or models adapted to represent a horse
race on a small scale, or to play race games, and more especially to a coinfreed
machine.
A machine or toy embodying our invention and designed as a coinfreed machine
chiefly comprises the following parts: A series of toy horses or other movable
objects mounted on rollers and adapted to run on an inclined plane, which repre-
sents the race course, each horse extending downwards through a horizontal slot
in the said plane and being supported by a carriage which runs in an inclined groove
or channel situated underneath the inclined plane and parallel with the same; a
rectangular trough or tray situated in a vertical compartment a short distance
from the other end of the race course and movable up and down in the same, the
said trough containing several metallic balls serving to set in motion a series of
starting levers, one for each horse, in a special manner, as will be hereafter de-
scribed; an intermediate compartment situated between the upper end of the race
course and the ball trough compartment described above, said intermediate com-
partment containing several inclined partitions or deflecting plates situated one
above the other and extending alternately from the front and from the back wall,
so that a ball dropped on to the uppermost partition will describe a zig-zag course,
while rolling down over the consecutive partitions or plates, and will finally drop
on the floor of the intermediate compartment; mechanism for drawing the horses
from the lower to the upper end of the race course; mechanism for lifting the
ball-trough and a coin-operated device for locking and releasing the said mech-
anisms, so that the carriages cannot be drawn up, nor the ball trough lifted, until
a standard coin has been inserted into a slot provided for this purpose.
;
The special construction of the machine may vary according to requirements and
is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, of which:

page_text: Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section of a machine embodying the invention, along
line X-X of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 a section along line Y-Y of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a trans-
verse section along line Z-Z of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 a partial transverse section; Fig. 5
a partial longitudinal section along line H-H of Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 a longitudinal
section showing a portion of Fig. 1, but in a different stage of operation.
The ball trough A, Figs. 1 and 3, is suspended from a pair of chains B, which
run over two guide pulleys B mounted on the upper part of a guide frame C, and
extend downwards to a drum D, to which the ends of the chains are attached, so
that by turning the drum shaft in one direction, the trough will be lifted. A
chain B attached at one end to the said drum and at the other to the ball trough
and running over guide pulleys, causes the ball trough to descend, when the drum
is turned in the opposite direction.
On the drum shaft is mounted a toothed pinion d, which gears into a toothed
sector E mounted on a horizontal shaft e, which extends through the rear-wall
of the apparatus and carries a handle for turning the drum. As shown by
Fig. 1, the bottom of the ball trough A is inclined, and its front is formed by a
flap a adapted to turn on a horizontal axis, so as to allow the balls to escape from
the trough into the intermediate compartment provided with inclinel partitions
or deflecting plates and deflecting pins.
Each of the horses G is mounted, on a carriage g, the rear wheel of which, in
the position represented by Fig. 1, rests upon the front end of a two-armed
starting lever H, the rear arm of which extends into the intermediate or deflect-
ing compartment and forms a plate or dish placed within the path of the balls
descending through the same. The bottom of the said compartment is inclined
towards the ball trough compartment, and the lower extremity of its rear wall
has a sliding door I guided vertically by a pair of pins i and provided with a pair
of horizontal strips extending into the ball trough compartment, so that the
ball trough in descending will draw the slide I down, and the balls will escape over
the upper edge of the slide I into the ball trough.
The subsequent upward motion of the sliding door I is produced by a weight 2
suspended from a chain 3 attached to the door I.
The flap a is kept closed by the front wall of the ball trough compartment,
until it arrives at the top of the latter and allows the flap to turn on its horizontal
pivots, as shown by Fig. 1. K are the inclined grooves or channels in which the
carriages g of the horses G are running.
The horses are drawn by means of a horizontal draw-bar L situated underneath
the race-course and extending across the same; the said draw-bar having a
toothed rack gearing into a pinion mounted on a vertical shaft 2 which also
carries a grooved drum M adapted to draw up the horses by means of a pair of
strings m, m, running over the said drum and attached to the same. The downward
motion is produced automatically by means of a spiral spring M¹ mounted on the
drum shaft and serving also to withdraw the draw bar L, after it has been drawn
out by hand.
As mentioned above, each horse is mounted on a weighted carriage 9 running
in an inclined trough or groove K. To draw the carriages upward, an iron bar m¹
extends horizontally across the horses in front of the same and is fixed at its ends
in a pair of guide blocks m², m², situated right and left of the race-course, and
adapted to run in a pair of inclined grooves. Each block is attached to a string,
guided over a roller at the upper end of the race-course, and then guided down to
the grooved drum M mentioned above, to which the string is attached, so that
the strings and the horses will be drawn up by turning the said drum in one
direction, corresponding to the drawing out of the push bar L.
The return or downward motion of the guide plates or blocks m³, m³, after the
roller has been released, is produced by a pair of cords m³ attached at their upper
ends to the said blocks, while the lower ends are attached to the grooved drum
mentioned above. Each carriage has in front a weight g¹, adapted to act on a

page_text: lever g², to which it attached a coloured flag, so that, as each carriage arrives at
the lower end of its course, the corresponding flag will be raised.
To prevent any dispute or uncertainty as to which of the horses has arrived first,
we provide an automatic locking device, to prevent any flags from rising, after the
first horse has arrived and lifted its flag. Said locking device chiefly comprises a
horizontal cross bar N situated underneath the lifting levers g² and extending
across the whole width of the apparatus, said bar being attached at its ends to a
pair of levers n mounted on a horizontal shaft n¹ and provided with balance
weights and a curved supporting plate or shutter ³, which connects the said
levers. When one of the inclined lifting levers g² is pressed down by the arrival
of the corresponding horse, it will press upon the said cross bar N and thereby
cause the supporting plate to rise, and form a support for the other lifting
levers, which prevents the latter from turning downward.
Fig. 1 shows the mechanism, when the horses are at the upper end of the
course, and ready to start, the rear wheel of each horse carriage resting on the
bent front end of the corresponding starting lever H, and the balls descending
through the intermediate compartment mentioned above. As soon as a ball drops
on one of the dishes h, the rear end of the corresponding horse carriage will be
lifted over the upper edge of the inclined plane, and the carriage will run down
its groove K. The flags g3 are in the position shown in Fig. 1, until one of the
carriages arrives and pushes the corresponding lever g2 down into the position
represented in Fig. 6, whereby the locking mechanism is also thrown into the
locking position shown by Fig. 6.
The coin-controlled locking and releasing mechanisms are constructed as
follows:
If a coin is dropped into the shoot P, which has at the bottom an obtuse angle,
as shown by Fig. 5, the coin will drop through the vertical part of the shoot,
until it rests on the widened extremity of a two-armed lever Q, which extends into
the said shoot, as shown by Fig. 5, and will thereby lift the opposite end q¹ of the
lever out of a recess formed in the draw-bar L, so that the latter can be drawn
out, whereby the horses are drawn up the incline; but the coin is still held in the
shoot by a short bolt R extending across the same.
When the locking arm S releases the pins fixed to the lever E, the latter is free
to move, and is turned by means of the handle F, so as to draw the ball trough
down. Before the latter arrives at the bottom of its course, it opens the sliding
shutter I. so that the balls drop into the trough, as mentioned above. The ball
trough is now lifted by turning the handle F in the opposite direction, but before
arriving at the top, it lifts a short arm r, and thereby draws up a link or rod »,
which withdraws the bolt R by means of a bell-crank lever ², so that the coin can
drop out of the shoot P.
In this apparatus the order in which the different horses start, depends on the
motion of the balls over the various deflecting plates, and if any one of the starting
levers in not hit by one of the balls, the corresponding horse will not run at all.
Provision is made also to prevent the ball trough from being lifted, until all the
horses have arrived at the upper end of the race-course and are ready to start.
For this purpose the plates h are supported by a horizontal bar T mounted at
the ends on a pair of vertical rods t', each of which rests with its forked lower end
on a pin fixed to a balance lever or disc T. The latter is connected by a link 2
with another disc or balance lever T carrying an adjustable balance weight 1,
which tends to lift the rods t, and to balance the weight of the plates h¹.
The balance weight is so adjusted, that it cannot lift the bar T until all the
plates have been lifted off the said bar by the corresponding carriages g. As
soon as the last horse has reached its starting point, the bar T rises and allows the
disc T to turn under the influence of the weight t³.
A pin fixed to the disc T2 now acts on a pin fixed to the locking lever S, as
shown by Fig. 3, so as to lift the latter off the locking pins fixed to the segment
lever E, and the latter, which had previously been locked, is now allowed to turn.

page_text: In some cases the locking mechanism which is released by the insertion of a
coin, may be omitted, so that the mechanism is ready to act without the insertion
of a coin.
As a further modification, each horse and carriage may be drawn up separately,
instead of the whole number being drawn up together; instead of toy horses, toy
cycles or other suitable objects may be mounted on the carriages, which run up and
down the inclined race-course, and the race course may have a series of undulations,
instead of forming an inclined plane.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to performed, I declare that what I claim is;
1. A parlour race-course or apparatus for playing race games, comprising in its
construction a series of toy horses or other movable objects mounted on rollers and
adapted to run on an inclined plane representing the race-course, each horse being
mounted on a carriage adapted to run in an inclined groove parallel with the
race-course, a vertically movable trough situated near the upper end of the race-
course and containing balls, an intermediate compartment situated between the
race-course and the ball trough compartment, and containing inclined partitions
or deflecting plates adapted to direct the balls on to a series of starting levers
extending into the intermediate compartment, mechanism for drawing the horses
up the race-course, mechanism for lifting and lowering the ball-trough, and a
coin-operated device for locking and releasing the said mechanisms, the whole being
arranged and adapted to operate substantially as described.
2. In parlour race-courses or apparatus for playing race games, the method of
starting a series of racing figures, which consists in causing balls to drop upon
levers adapted to start the different racing figures, substantially as described.
3. In parlour race-courses or apparatus for playing race games, the means for
setting in motion a series of horses or other racing figures, comprising a ball-trough
adapted to rise and fall, to receive the balls at the bottom and to discharge them
at the top of its course, a deflecting compartment adapted to receive the balls at
the top, to deflect them irregularly during their downward course, and to discharge
them at the bottom; and a series of starting levers, one for each horse, adapted to
be operated separately by the descent of the balls through the deflecting compart-
ment and thereby to set in motion the corresponding racing figure, substantially as
described.
4. The combination of a parlour race course with a series of flags or other optical
indicators adapted to indicate the arrival of the corresponding horses at the end
of their course, and an automatic locking device adapted to be operated by the
arrival of the first horse, so as to lock the indicators of all the other horses, sub-
stantially as described.
5. The combination of a series of optical arrival-indicators, with an automatic
locking device, constructed and adapted to operate substantially as described and
illustrated by the drawings.
6. The construction of the ball trough and mechanism for operating the same,
substantially as described and illustrated by the drawings.
7. The mechanism for drawing the horses up the race-course, substantially as
described and illustrated by the drawings.
8. The device for locking and releasing the mechanisms for drawing up the
horses and operating the ball-trough, substantially as described and illustrated
by the drawings.
Dated this 12th day of November 1898.