Electrical Apparatus by Means of which a Prize is Automatically Delivered when a Target is Hit.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 19th May, 1899-Accepted, 22nd July, 1999
Electrical Apparatus by Means of which a Prize is Automatically
Delivered when a Target is Hit.
We, JULIUS DOMJÉN, of Wembinsky Gasse 21, Budapest, Hungary, Merchant,
nd CARL SCHRÖTTER, of III Hotel zur Goldeneu Birné, Vienna, Austria, Civil
Servant, do hereby declare the nature of our 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 a target by means of which the prize is automatically
delivered when the marksman has hit the bull's eye.
For this purpose the bull's eye is mounted on a sliding pin so that it is pushed
backwards by the blow of the projectile and completes an electric circuit, the cur-
rent passing through which, liberates the arrested clock-work of an automatie
apparatus of any suitable construction. As the closing of the circuit by the bull's
eye is of short duration the actuation of the automaton cannot be effected there-
by, and an auxiliary means is necessary.
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of the connections between the target
and the automatic apparatus by means of which actuation of the latter is rendered
certain, and Fig. 2 is a modification of the same arrangement. Fig. 3 is a vertical
longitudinal section through the shooting stand.
The bull's eye 1 is movably mounted in the target 2 and is kept in its forward
position by the spring 3 bearing against it from behind; a pin or the like limits
the forward movement of the bull's eye.
When the bull's eye is pushed backwards the spring 3 makes contact with a
second spring 4 placed immediately behind it, and thus closes an electric circuit.
The two springs are connected by the wires 5 and 6 with a source of current 7, an
electromagnet 8 being included in the path of the wire 6. When the springs &
5 and 4 are brought in contact, the armature 9 of the electromagnet is attracted
and the lever 10 attached thereto is disengaged from the stop wheel 11 of the
clock-work of the automaton. The closing of the circuit is of very short duration
so that the clock-work will be stopped again before its inertia has been overcome.
It is necessary, therefore, that the lever 10 should be kept in the position in which
30 it is disengaged from the wheel 11 until the clock-work has been so far set in
motion that it will not be prematurely stopped. For this purpose the lever 10
must be held either by electrical mechanical means from the instant when the
clock-work is disengaged until it is well in motion, and must be liberated agai
so that it may stop the clock-work as soon as the automaton has delivered th
35 reward.
In the construction shown in Fig. 1 a second circuit 12 is connected with th
source of current 7, which circuit comprises the electromagnet 13. This circuit
The contact 14 is normally closed by the arm of a lever 1
عمممنى

page_text: which is kept in this position by the pressure of a tooth of the stop wheel 11 on
the other arm. The armature 16 of the electromagnet 13 is on the lever 10. The
second contact 17 on the circuit 12 is closed by the movement of the lever 10 which
disengages the stop-wheel.
The device works as follows:-
Immediately the armature 9 is attracted in consequence of the closing of the
circuit by the bull's eye, the lever 10 closes the contact 17 of the circuit 12 and
the electromagnet 13 is excited. This magnet now holds the armature 16 and thus
keeps the lever 10 disengaged from the wheel 11, so that the clock-work sets the
automaton at work even though the contact of the springs 3 and 4 is no longer
closed and the magnet 8 is no longer energised. When once the pawl at the end
of the lever 10 is free of the tooth of the stop-wheel 11 further holding of the
lever 10 is unnecessary. Meanwhile, however, the tooth of the wheel 11 which
holds the lever 15 against the force of the spring attached thereto, has slid past the
end of the lever arm and the contact 14 in the circuit 12 has been broken. Tho
electromagnet 13 is now no longer energised and the lever 10 is liberated so that
it again returns to the position in which it stops the wheel 11. At the same time
the lever 15 is again brought into the position in which it closes the contact 14.
In the modification shewn in Fig. 2 the lever 10 is kept mechanically in the
position in which it is disengaged from the wheel 11 and is liberated by the excita-
tion of the magnet 13. In this arrangement only one break, 14, of the circuit is
necessary and this remains open normally and is closed at the right moment. A
two armed lever 18 is stepped at one end and by means of this step keeps the
lever 10 in the position in which it is disengaged from wheel 11 when it has been
brought into this position by the closing of the contact 3, 4. When the clock-
work is in motion the tooth of the wheel 11 slides past the end of the lever 15 and
the circuit 12 is closed at the contact 14, but not until premature stoppage of the
clock-work is no longer possible.
The electromagnet 13 being now energised attracts its armature 16 and lever 10
is liberated ready to stop the wheel 11. By the time this arrest occurs a tooth of
wheel 11 will have raised the lever 15 and broken contact 14, so that at the next
closing of the contact 3, 4 lever 18 is able to engage with the lever 10.
The whole device with the automaton 19 is best placed at the shooting stand,
only the wires 5 and 6 being carried by the target. The automaton may be of
any construction and may deliver any kind of reward, or may play music as a
reward.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is ;-
1. Electrical apparatus by means of which a prize is delivered automatically
when a target is hit, consisting of an electric circuit which is closed when the
bull's eye is hit, the current in which circuit liberates the arrested clockwork of
the automatic delivery apparatus, substantially as described.
2. In electrical apparatus such as is referred to in Claim 1, for the purpose of
preventing premature arrest of the clock-work, a device for holding the lever (10)
which liberates the clock-work, until the clock-work is in motion, such device
consisting of a second electric circuit (12) broken in two places, one of which
places (17) is bridged by the said lever (10) when this is actuated by the closing
of the first electric circuit by the bull's eye, whereby an electromagnet (13) is
energised and holds the said lever (10), the second of the said broken places (14)
being normally bridged by a lever (15) held in the bridging position by the clock-
work and liberated when this moves, whereby the said circuit (12) is broken and
the said lever (10) able again to stop the clock-work, substantially as described
with reference to Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings.
8. The modification of the device referred to in Claim 2 in which the lever (10)
is mechanically held by the stepped end of another lever (18) and is subsequently

page_text: liberated by the closing of an electric circuit by means of a third lever (15) actu-
ated by the clock-work, substantially as described with reference to Fig. 2 of the
accompanying drawings.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.