IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR USE IN GYMNASTIC AND OTHER EXERCISES OR PERFOR PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Oliver, of the City Road, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
USE IN GYMNASTIC AND OTHER EXERCISES OR PERFOR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Oliver at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th September 1875.
I, GEORGE OLIVER, of the City Road, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR USE IN GYMNASTIC AND OTHER EXERCISES OR PERFORMANCES," to .
be as follows:-
71
My Invention relates to apparatus for use in gymnastic and other
exercises or performances, and consists in improvements in the In-:
vention for which Letters Patent were granted to me bearing date:
May 6th 1871, No. 1284, and also in an improved spring mattress for
the performer to alight upon in making a descent from a height.
11

page_text: The Invention described in the Specification of the Patent above
referred to was an apparatus for suddenly raising a performer to a con-
siderable height from the stage, the apparatus consisting mainly of an
assemblage of vertical springs arranged overhead, the performer being
connected thereto by a fine wire rope.
My present Invention is designed to render the use of the apparatus
available in theatres or other buildings whose height is insufficient to
enable the apparatus to be concealed from the spectators when the
springs are arranged in a vertical direction, as described in my said
former Patent.
According to my present Invention I enclose the springs in a wooden
box or casing, to the one end of which they are permanently connected,
instead of being fastened to the beam or joist in the roof, as before.
The box or casing is mounted in a horizontal position on a vertical pivot,
and the wire to which the performer is attached is passed over a pulley
(or pulleys), of which there are a number fitted in the overhead staging
in various positions and directions, so that by employing but one set of
springs the performer may be raised many times in rapid succession
from different parts of the stage, the apparatus being quickly turned on
its pivot in the required direction, and the wire passed over a pulley
immediately above the performer. Morcover, the apparatus need not
be placed overhead, as before, but may be arranged in any convenient
position, and even on or below the stage itself if desired.
The apparatus used in descending from a height, illustrated in
Figure 6 of the Drawings of my former Patent, may also be similarly
arranged.
To enable the performer to execute feats in the air when in the act of
rising I use two wires, one being connected to each side of the harness
worn by the performer.
In order to more easily effect the withdrawal of the bolt by which the
springs are held distended, I connect the bolt to a hand lever, by which
it may be readily drawn out.
In my former Patent I described a method of distending the springs
separately, but when it is required to use the apparatus repeatedly in
rapid succession this method occupies too much time, and I therefore
connect the springs permanently to the cross bar or frame, and distend
them all at one operation by means of a winch, pulley, or other means.

page_text: The spring mattress of my Invention is attached to a backing of wood
or canvas, sustained by ropes connected thereto stretched in a horizontal
direction from either side of the mattress, and passing round sheaves
mounted on a suitable frame or support. The ropes are connected at
the under side of the frame by india-rubber springs (or the said springs
may be otherwise inserted in the length of the ropes) to enable the
mattress to yield under the weight of the performer alighting thereon,
after which the elasticity of the springs will cause the mattress to return
immediately to its former position if required. This mattress may be
used as a spring board if desired. In some cases however it may be
desirable that the mattress should not rise again after the performer
alights thereon. To this end vertical racks are fixed beneath the
mattress, and from the latter weighted blocks depend, provided with
spring pawls, which engage with the racks and prevent the mattress
rising.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Oliver in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 25th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
> OLIVER, of the City Road, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said George Oliver, Her special
licence that I, the said George Oliver, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said George-Oliver, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR USE IN GYMNASTIC AND OTHER EXERCISES OR PERFORMANCES,"
upon. the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Oliver, my
executors, or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
".

page_text: their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describo and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Oliver, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
My Invention relates to apparatus for use in gymnastic and other
performances and exercises, and consists in improvements in the
Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me, bearing date
May 6th, 1871, No. 1234, and also in an improved spring mattress for
the performer to alight upon on descending from a height.
The Invention described in the Specification of the Patent above
referred to was an apparatus for suddenly raising a performer to a
considerable height from the stage, the apparatus consisting mainly of
an assemblage of vertical springs arranged overhead, the performer
being connected thereto by a fine wire rope.
The object of the first part of my present Invention is to render the
apparatus available for use in theatres or other buildings where there is
not sufficient height to admit of the springs being placed in a vertical
position, as described in my said former Patent. With this object the
cross head to which the springs are attached at one end is fitted to move
along horizontal guides in a frame or box, the other ends of the springs
being attached either to the end of the frame or to a second movable
cross head sliding between the said guides for the purpose herein-after
mentioned. The wire by which the performer is raised is attached to
the first mentioned cross head and is carried over a pulley in the overhead
staging from which it hangs downwards to the stage.
The frame or box may either be fixed or it may be movable upon a
vertical pivot and be surrounded by a number of the said pulleys in
various positions and directions, so that by employing but one set of 3
springs the performer may be raised many times in rapid succossion

page_text: from different parts of the stage, the spring apparatus being quickly
turned on its pivot in the required direction and connected to the wire
which passes over the pulley that is immediately above the performer.
The apparatus used in descending from a height illustrated in
Figure 6 of the Drawings of my former Patent may also be similarly
arranged.
In order to more easily effect the withdrawal of the bolt by which the
springs are held distended I connect the bolt to a hand lever suitably
arranged.
When it is required to use the apparatus several times in quick
succession I provide a winch, pulley, or other means of distending all the
springs at once instead of separately, as described in my former Patent.
In this case the springs will be permanently attached to the cross head,
and both cross heads will move in the guides, the winch being preferably
attached to the rear cross head.
The second part of my Invention relates to an improved spring
mattrass. It consists of an ordinary mattress with a backing of wood
or canvas sustained by springs connected thereto, either directly or by
cords. In the former case the springs are stretched in a horizontal
direction from the sides and ends of the mattress and attached to a
strong frame, and in the latter case the cords are attached to the
mattress and pass round sheaves mounted on a suitable support, and the
springs are connected to the cords. These springs allow the mattress to
yield under the weight of the performer alighting thereon, and by their
elasticity will cause the mattress to return immediately to its former
position if required. When the mattress is placed in the level of the
stage like a trap it is desirablo that the mattress should not rise again
immediately after the performer alights thereon, and in such case
vertical racks are fixed beneath the mattress between which weighted
catches are hung from the mattress which engage with the racks and
prevent the mattress rising again until they are released from the

page_text: of the frame of the apparatus, and at the other end to a stationary cross
head d fixed to the end of the frame. The frame is fixed or supported
in the horizontal position shown (or at any convenient angle) on a
suitable platform at a proper height above the stage. It may either bo
a fixture or which is more convenient, if it is desired to raise the
performer from different places on the stage, the frame may be mounted
to turn on a central pivotƒ; g is the wire rope by which the performer
is raised. It is attached to an eye in a bolt b¹, fixed to cross head 6,
and passes over a pulley h, mounted on the platform. This wire
descends to the stage, and to its other end the performer is attached by 1
means of the harness and connections described in my said former
Patent. With an apparatus movable about a pivot for a centre a
number of pulleys h would be used, disposed in different positions, each
· pulley being placed radially to the said pivot so that by moving the
spring apparatus round to the different pulleys, and successively 1
attaching the wires 9, passing over the different pulleys, the performer
may be raised in different places. The springs are kept distended by a
bolt passing through an eye in 6', the said bolt being fitted to slide in
staples attached to the end frame as shown. The bolt i is jointed at i¹
to a hand lever k working on a pivot at k², by means of which the bolt
may be instantly withdrawn when the signal is given. 1, Figure 6, is
a drum or pulley operated by a winch handle m, through gear n, o.
This drum is mounted in a bracket at the rear end of the frame of the
apparatus (or at the other end if preferred). In this case, the cross
head d is also movable between the guides c and is connected by a rope 2
to the drum l.
In order to distend the springs the cross head 6 is first secured by its
bolt i, and the cross head d is drawn back by the winch and similarly
secured by a bolt ; x, latch for holding the spring apparatus in lino
with pulley h.
Instead of locating the spring apparatus overhead it might be placed
on or beneath the stage, and a wire connected to 6 led up over suitable
pulleys and attached overhead to the wires 7 of pulleys h, but this
arrangement is less advantageous.
8
It will be readily understood, without illustration, how the apparatus 8
described in Figure 6 of my said former Patent may be arranged and
used in like manner for descending in different places, the wire passing
over pulleys as in the other case.

page_text: Figure 3 is a plan of one arrangement, and Figure 4 is a cross section
of the other arrangement of mattress; Figure 5 is a detail. It consists
of an ordinary horsehair mattress p attached to a backing of wood or
canvas, to which are attached the india-rubber sustaining springs r,
stretched in a horizontal direction from the sides and ends of the
mattress, as shown in Figure 3, and attached to a strong rectangular
frame supported on legs or otherwise at a suitable height above or
below the stage. In Figure 4 the mattress is in the level of the stage,
and the springs ♬ which sustain it are in a vertical position as shown.
These springs are attached at one end to the framework, and at the
other to cords & passing over sheaves beneath the stage, and attached
to the mattress as shown.
The arrangement for preventing the mattress rising again after the
performer has alighted thereon consists of vertical racks t, t, fixed
beneath the mattress, and weights or weighted blocks hung by cords
from the mattress and working between the racks. These weights are
provided with spring catches or pawls (more clearly shown in the
detail view, Figure 5) which engage with the racks. When the mattress
descends or sinks under the weight of the performer the weights sink
also, and the pawls taking into the racks retain the weights and
consequently the mattress in the lowest position (as shown in dotted
lines) until released by hand.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. Arranging the cross head b, to which the springs are attached,
to work along horizontal or inclined guides parallel to the springs,
substantially as shown and described, in combination with a pulley for
the wire g to pass over as set forth.
Second. Mounting the frame carrying the guides in which the spring
apparatus works to turn horizontally upon a pivot, and the use thereof
in combination with a number of wires g and pulleys 7 disposed around
the same, all substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Third. The combination with the spring apparatus of a winch and drum
for distending the springs connected to a movable cross head, sub-
stantially as shown and described.

page_text: Fourth. The combination with bolt i of a hand lover, as and for the
purpose specified.
Fifth. Supporting a mattress by springs attached to and distended
between its sides and an outer frame, substantially as shown and
described in Figure 3 of the Drawings.
Sixth. The vertical arrangement of springs and cords passing over
sheaves and attached to the mattress for the purpose of supporting the
same, substantially as described and shown in Figure 4 of the
Drawings.
Seventh. The combination with either arrangement of spring mattress 1
herein-after described, of the racks and weights hung from the
mattress, and provided with pawls to engage with the racks as and for
the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Oliver, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of March, in the 1
year of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-six.
ATADA AT TTD