Improvements in Coin Freed or Actuated Machines for Providing Amusement and for other purposes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Feb., 1891
Comp.ete Specification Left, 15th Aug., 1891-Accepted, 12th Dec., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin Freed or Actuated Machines for Providing
Amusement and for other purposes.
We, ARTHUR RICHARD BROWN, Engineer, of The Park, Harrow, in the County
of Middlesex, and EDWIN CHAMBERS JOHN DEVIS, Engineer, of Laurel Cottage,
School Road, Moseley, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to machines, which, in exchange for a predetermined coin or
coins inserted therein, provide amusement to the operator and which may display
information advertisements or other subjects.
Its object is to provide a form or source of amusement novel as supplied by such
a machine and with which may be combined some of the objects which such machines
serve at present, such as the exhibition of sketches, fortune or character-telling
mottoes, answers to questions, advertisements &c.
We provide on the machine and in view of the operator a representation of a
person supposed to be blowing bubbles and we provide in the machine one or more
imitation bubbles together with mechanism adapted to cause such imitation bubbles
to rise, also in view of the operator, on or after the introduction of the predetermined
coin or coins, the whole being so arranged that the person represented appears to be
blowing the bubbles, as we may call them, or causing them to rise.
The bubbles may carry fortune or character-telling mottoes, sketches, or other
amusing, interesting or useful matter, when desired; and may be arranged so that
there is always one of them visible to the operator, the subject, if any, carried by
such bubble being supposed to be applicable or useful to the operator who has
brought it into view.
In one form of our invention we provide a case having a vertical glass front,
parallel to and behind which, at a suitable distance, is a picture of a child blowing
bubbles, and we cause the imitation bubbles to rise through the space between the
picture and the glass front, appearing to emerge from a bowl or tobacco pipe at the
bottom of the picture.
The bubbles may be made of glass, and iridised if preferred, or of other suitable
material, and may be caused to rise through water, air, or other suitable medium, as
may be found convenient. If heavier than the medium through which they rise.
they may be permanently attached to suitable mechanism which is preferably
hidden, as far as possible, behind the picture or the case of the machine, or they may
be raised by such mechanism through the medium of magnets. We prefer, however
to make them lighter than the medium through which they risc and to allow thein
to rise of their own accord, adapting and using the mechanism for the
purpose
bringing them down again, preferably invisibly to the operator, to a position from
which they can rise.
of
Thus we may allow them to pass, after rising in the front of the picture, into pockets
or spaces on a wheel or endless band extending to the bottom of the picture, such
wheel or band being actuated by suitable mechanism; or they may rise into a wheel
at the top, the rotation of such wheel forcing them down through a tube or between
guides back to the bottom, or they may be depressed by being rolled along a fixed
plate by a moving band leading from the top to the bottom of the machine, or they
may be actuated by a current of air or water.
The depressing wheel or its equivalent may be actuated by electric power, clock-
work, hand power, the weight or impact of the coin, hydraulic power, falling sand,
the motion of a pendulum or other suitable means freed or actuated by or on the
insertion of the coin.

page_text: Instead of the picture we may use a solid figure or a figure in relief, and certain
parts, such as an arm or the tobacco pipe, may be made capable of certain motions
suited to the operation of the machine thus the head may be made to rise and fall
so that the eyes follow the bubbles as they rise.
:
The machine itself may constitute an advertisement of soap, with which object
the outside case may, in shape and colour, represent an enlarged piece of the soap
advertised.
Dated this 31st day of January 1991
ARTHUR R. BROWN.
EDWIN C. J. DEVIS.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coin Freed or Actuated Machines for Providing
Amusement and for other purposes.
We, ARTHUR RICHARD BROWN, Engineer, of The Park, Harrow, in the County
of Middlesex, and EDWIN CHAMBERS JOHN DEVIS, Engineer, of Laurel Cottage,
School Road, Moseley near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick 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:-
Our invention relates to machines, which, in exchange for a predetermined coin
or coins, inserted therein, provide amusement to the operator and which may display
information advertisements or other subjects. Its object is to provide a form or
source of amusement novel as supplied by such a machine, and with which may be
combined some of the objects which such machines serve at present, such as the
exhibition of sketches, fortune or character-telling mottoes, answers to questions,
advertisements &c.
We provide on the machine and in view of the operator a representation of a
person supposed to be blowing bubbles and we provide in the machine one or more
imitation bubbles together with mechanism adapted to cause such imitation bubbles
to rise, also in view of the operator, on or after the introduction of the predetermined
coin or coins, the whole being so arranged that the person represented appears to be
blowing the bubbles, as we will hereinafter call them, or causing them to rise.
The bubbles may carry fortune- or character-telling mottoes, sketches, or other
amusing, interesting, or useful, matter, when desired, and may be arranged so that
there is always one of them visible to the operator, the subject, if any, carried by
such bubble being supposed to be applicable or useful to the operator who has
brought it into view.
1 I.
"In one form of our invention we provide a case having a vertical glass front,
parallel to and behind which, at a suitable distance, is a picture of a child blowing
bubbles, and we cause the imitation bubbles to rise through the space between the
picture and the glass front, appearing to emerge from a bowl or tobacco pipe at the
bottom of the picture.
"The bubbles may be made of glass, and iridised if preferred, or of other suitable
material, and may be caused to rise through water, air, or other suitable medium, as
may be found convenient.
If heavier than the medium through which they rise they may be permanently
attached to suitable mechanism which is preferably hidden, as far as possible, behind
the picture or case of the machine, or they may be raised by such mechanism
through the medium of magnets. We prefer however to make them lighter than
the medium through which they rise, and to allow them to rise of their own accord,
adapting and using the mechanism for the purpose of bringing them down again,
preferably invisibly to the operator, to a position from which they can rise. Thus
we may allow them to pass, after rising in front of the picture, into pockets or
spaces on a wheel or endless band extending to the bottom of the picture, such

page_text: wheel or band being actuated by suitable mechanism; or they may rise into a wheel
at the top, the rotation of such wheel forcing them down through a tube or between
guides back to the bottom, or they may be depressed by being rolled along a fixed
plate by a moving band leading from the top to the bottom of the machine, or they
may be actuated by a current of air or water. The depressing wheel or its
equivalent may be actuated by electric power, clockwork, hand power, falling sand,
the motion of a pendulum or other suitable means freed or actuated by or on the
insertion of the coin.
Instead of the picture we may use a solid figure or a figure in relief, and certain
parts, such as an arm, or the tobacco pipe, may be made capable of certain motions
suited to the operation of the machine; thus the head may be made to rise and
fall so that the eyes follow the bubbles as they rise.
The machine itself may constitute an advertisement of soap, with which object
the outside case may, in shape and colour, represent an enlarged piece. of the soap
advertised.
Figures 1 to 7 inclusive of the accompanying drawings shew one form which our
invention takes.
A is an outer case of sheet iron, made in the form of a tablet of soap, and
supported on a vertical board B from a base piece U, Figure 5; C is a light wheel
carrying inwardly radiating arms c between which lie the bubbles D; E, E, are
guard plates to hide the mechanism from the operator and to keep the bubbles in
place, they are discontinued for a short space at the top and bottom. The wheel C
is furnished on its inner side with wire teeth a with which gears a small wheel F.
which is centred on a spindle d fixed at the top of the machine; and to the bush b
centred on the same spindle is fixed a double ended lever G, one end of which is
normally kept depressed by a helical spring f the other end being connected by a
cord or rod e to one end of a platform V whose other end is so hinged to the base
of the machine that when the operator stands on it his weight depresses it, pulls
down the cord e, and extends the spring f. The bush b carries a small bearing on
which is centred a lever H weighted at its far end and carrying a tray on its forward
end. The coin being inserted through the sloth falls on to this tray and by its
fixed to the
weight presses the forward end of the lever H on to a notched disc I
driving wheel F. 11, 12, are two circular sheets or plates of glass forming the
front and back of a tank containing the wheel C and bubbles D and filled with
water, the sides of the tank being formed of a double strip of zinc J separating the
glass sheets and continuous all round except for a small space at the top through
which the wheel F projects; water tight joints being made by means of rubber
cords lying in grooves in the zinc strips and compressed between the latter and the
glass by means of the clamps i, i, some of which may be prolonged backwards as
shewn and screwed to the board B to form supports for the tank; K, K, are rollers
on which the wheel C runs, and L is a shoot for leading away the coin after
operation.
The action of the mechanism is as follows: The operator steps on to the plat-
form V, and his weight acting through the cord e pulls down the lever G against
the spring, he then puts a penny into the slot and the coin passing on to the tray
presses the forward end of the lever H on to the notched disc g; the operator then
steps off the platform when the spring pulls the lever G back to its former position,
but in so doing the lever H catches on the notched disc g and takes it and the
driving wheel F round through a quarter of a revolution; the return of the lever G
and consequent angulation of the lever H tilts the coin out on to the shoot I leading
to the coin receptacle and at the same time the wheel C is driven round in the
direction shewn by the arrow, bringing a vacant space to the top and a bubble to the
bottom of the tank, opposite the breaks in the guard plate E. The bubble D1
which was previously resting close to the top of the tank then rises into the vacant
space in the wheel while the bubble just brought to the bottom rises through the
break and takes its place. A picture of a boy blowing bubbles is affixed to the back

page_text: of the further glass sheet I 2 so as to be visible through the two glasses and the
water, as shewn in Figure 5.
Figure 7, shews.a bubble such as we use in this particular machine when we wish
to display mottoes sketches, or other subjects. The bubble is of glass 7 blown to
the shape shewn with an inwardly projecting neck forming a flat on one side, the
object of which is to prevent the bubble turning and so keep the subject which it
carries facing the operator. The neck is stopped by a cork m carrying on its inner
face a weight to which is attached the motto or other subject o, the weight
being fixed eccentrically so as to keep the bottom of the subject o downwards.
n
The specific gravity of the bubble is first approximately regulated by its size and
the weight of the glass in it, and is further graduated by the weight and the
cork m and is finally adjusted by means of any convenient water proof cement. p laid
on over the cork, the finished bubble being a very little lighter than water so that
it rises through the water rather slowly.
Instead of a platform, a pull or push bar or a lever handle can be used for giving
motion to the lever G, and the small lever H can in any of these cases form a
ratchet which, when depressed by the weight of the coin, acts on a ratchet wheel
connected to the wheel F, or directly on the latter.
Instead of the machine being actuated by the spring fit may be actuated directly
by the weight of a person on a platform, such weight being reduced and the motion
of the platform being multiplied by means of ordinary gearing normally held
stationary by a ratchet lever or catch adapted to be knocked or pressed out of gear
by the impact or weight of the coin, the machine thus being operated without the
operator moving off the platform.
Figure 8, shews an arrangement of mechanism in which the motive power is
obtained by winding up a spring, or weight W; the wheel P thus driven gears with
a pinion on the spindle of the driving wheel F before described and this wheel F
has three radial slots s in its face into two of which project the ends of the two
levers R & S whose upper ends partially obstruct the coin orifice; R being centred
above the latter and S below it and the two being drawn together by the spring T.
When the coin is pressed between the levers it first forces the lower end of S along
the groove to the centre of the wheel, and the lower end of R from the centre to the
end of the next groove, the wheel during the action revolving through 60 degrees;
the upper ends of R and S being now fully separated the coin passes them and they
return under the influence of the spring, to their former positions, shewn in Fig. 8,
enabling the wheel F to turn through another 60 degrees, making in all a third of
a revolution at every operation of the machine; the levers R and S work in slots cut
in the sides of the coin orifice which serve to guide them and to limit the movement
of them towards each other under the action of the spring in this manner the
lever R is prevented from moving beyond the centre of the wheel F, in the direc-
tion of S. We have for convenience made the wheel F, in Fig. 8, with six teeth,
the wheel C taking two teeth of F at each operation, but it is obvious that we could
if desired have made the wheel F with three teeth, making it of course of larger
diameter, the wheel C moving the same distance as before at each operation, and
the wheel F moving a third of a revolution as before; the same thing applies to the
arrangement shewn in Fig. 1, in which case the wheel F could have been made with
four teeth instead of eight.
Instead of the levers R and S and spring T, in Fig. 8, we may use a ratchet
wheel, of somewhat similar construction to the wheel in Fig. 1, connected or fixed
to the wheel P and normally held stationary by a catch carried by a weighted lever
adapted to be pressed or knocked out of gear by the weight or impact of the coin,
and to fall into gear again, the wheel P thus being allowed to revolve under the
influence of the weight W until the catch comes into contact with the next tooth
of the ratchet wheel. the number and pitch of the teeth of the ratchet wheel
depending on the distance through which the wheel P is required to revolve.
In some cases we may use an electric battery and motor to give motion to the

page_text: wheel mechanism instead of the weight W, the insertion of the coin being used for
completing the circuit through the motor, we have described how this can be done
in a former Patent No. 4874 of 1890 ; or we may use a small hydraulic motor for
the same purpose as for instance a small water wheel or turbine actuated by a
stream of water from an ordinary water service pipe, a suitable pipe being arranged
to carry off the waste water, the water wheel may be attached directly by means of
suitable gearing to the wheel F and so actuate the bubble wheel C, the water wheel
may be retained by a catch which may be knocked or pressed out of gear by the
coin and the wheel allowed to revolve.
In another form of our invention, shewn in Fig. 9, we supply the power by merely
pressing the coin against a suitably arranged lever and slip pawl, in this case we
prefer to place the coin orifice on the top of the casing A of the machine making
it in the form of a box with an opening in the centre to allow of a finger being
moved down the required distance, and near the top and to one side of the coin
orifice we attach a lever F so that it can swing in the same, to the other end of
the lever we pivot a slip pawl B which latter can gear with the teeth a of the bubble
wheel C, the lever in its normal position obstructs the coin orifice as shewn, being
held in such position by a weight or spring D, when therefore a coin is inserted and
pressed down the coin orifice it forces the lever and slip pawl to one side, the latter
catching a tooth a on the wheel C consequently moves it the required distance,
when the coin is pushed right in it falls free of the coin orifice and the lever and
pawl return to their normal positions, in order to bring the pawl B back to its
normal position we prefer to employ a light spring d although the pawl could be
weighted for the same purpose; to prevent a knife being used to move the lever we
form a bridge or covering H over the coin orifice; or for the same purpose we may
employ another lever E-attached to the opposite side of the coin orifice, as shewn
in Fig. 10, which as it is pressed to one side by the coin moves the pawl B on the
lever from say an inclined position to a nearly vertical one so that it can catch a
tooth a on the wheel C, otherwise if the lever Fonly is moved the pawl can pass
over the teeth a, a, on the wheel C and not move it; we prefer to weight the
pawl B with a balance weight W, to bring the pawl and levers back to their normal
positions, shewn in Fig. 10, instead of using the springs D and d as in Fig. 9; it is
obvious that the coin orifice may be on the front of the casing A, but we prefer to
place it on the top in order to get a more direct action for the coin.
We can if we prefer, say to cause more than one bubble to rise at each operation
of the machine, or in order to cause the wheel C to have an uncertain amount of
motion, make use of a weighted lever or. pendulum, in this case we attach a slip
pawl on to the pendulum and allow it to gear with a ratchet wheel fixed to the
wheel Fin the same manner and instead of the wheel g, in Figs. 1. 2. and 3; the
oscillations of the pendulum are started by pressing in the coin from either the top
or front of the casing, and the coin pushing the pendulum to one side, the latter is
allowed to swing from side to side until it comes to rest of its own accord; the slip
pawl, or its equivalent, attached to the pendulum catches a tooth of the ratchet
wheel at each forward stroke, and so moves the ratchet wheel and consequently the
wheel F and wheel C.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. A machine which, on or after the insertion of a predetermined coin or coins,
automatically causes, or can be made by the operator to cause, imitation bubbles to
pass upwards in front of a representation of a person blowing bubbles, so as to
approximately appear as bubbles blown by the person represented.
2. A machine for producing the effect described in the preceding claiming clause
and which is operated by the weight of the operator on a platform, or by a pull or
push rod or lever, the function of the coin being to weigh or knock either a driving
pawl or its equivalent into gear, or a retaining catch or its equivalent out of gear.

page_text: 3. A machine otherwise as described in the last preceding claiming clause, but
worked by a weight or spring previously wound up.
4. A machine for producing the effect before described but in which motion is
supplied by an electro motor substantially as described.
5. A machine for producing the effect before described, but in which motion is
supplied by a hydraulic motor substantially as described.
6. A machine for producing the effect before described, but in which motion is
supplied by the pressure of the coin against a suitably arranged lever or other piece
substantially as described.
7. The use of imitation bubbles, of a form and construction substantially as
described with reference to Fig. 7 of the accompanying drawings.
8. A combination of parts constituting a machine substantially as described with
reference to Figs. 1 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 10th day of August 1891.
ARTHUR R. BROWN.
EDWIN C. J. DEVIS.