Improvements in Tops.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 25th June, 1895-Accepted, 27th July, 1896
Improvements in Tops.
I, CARL BARUS, Ph.D., of 1409 30th Street N.W., Washington Columbia, in
the United States of America, 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:-
My invention relates to improvements in tops and has for its object to provide a
top which constitutes an artistic toy, and which is capable of tracing various forms
of curves upon a tablet, sheet of paper, slate or the like, during the spinning and
rocking motion of the said top.
With this object in view, my invention consists essentially of a top of any
suitable form provided at its lower end with a marking stylus, adapted to trace
various forms of curves upon a tablet, sheet of paper, slate or the like, on which the
top is set in motion.
Referring to the drawings:
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of one form of top constructed according to my
invention; and
Figure 2 is a similar view of a modification.
In Figure 1 the top is formed of a disc made of a comparatively heavy rim a
preferably of wire say about one eighth of an inch in cross section, secured by
à central web i of thin metal or other suitable material to a hub c. This hub is
perforated axially, and into the upper part of the perforation is passed a rod d
preferably provided with a bead and retained in place by means of two collars b and h,
the said rod thus serving as an axle around which the disc or wheel of the top is
free to rotate.
The lower part of the hub c is formed hollow with a socket e in which a pencil or
other suitable marking instrument f is secured, the said pencil serving as the point
upon which the top spins and which pencil, by the peculiar motions of the said top
in spinning and rocking draws the designs of various curves upon the surface of the
tablet or the like g. The exterior of the hub c is preferably formed drum-shaped
so that a string may be wound around it for spinning the top.
C
In Figure 2 I have shown a top of simpler construction, in which a is the heavy
rim of a broad wheel, joined by the web i to the hub c the whole ensuring slow and
regular motion.
The hub c in this construction is likewise drum shaped for the same purpose as
above defined, and the axle or rod d preferably provided with a head or handle is
rigidly secured at the lower end thereof to a short piece of tubing e large enough in
bore to receive an ordinary pencil fitting snugly therein.
By removing the head or handle, the rod or axle d with tubing e and pencil f may
be withdrawn readily from the top for more convenient packing.
The operation of the top will be readily understood, and its peculiar motions may
be noted when the top is in rotation about its axis; when this axis is placed
obliquely to the plane of the tablet, or the like, the top swings in the well known
way simulating the motion of precession about a movable axis, which in its turn is
both in rotational and in translational motion. The stylus or pencil therefore traces a
series of exceedingly beautiful and delicate curves, of an order varying from complex
spirals to complex cycloids, or curves having these appearances. The particular
figure obtained depends, among other things, on the inclination of the tablet to the
horizontal, on the form of writing point, and on the obliquity of the axis of the top
to the plane of the surface on which it is spinning.

page_text: I am aware that spools have been spun on sharpened pencils thrust through them;
but what I believe to be new is the association of a pencil, or its equivalent, adapted
to act as a blunt writing instrument with a top in such a way as to trace the curves
corresponding to the movements of the top, both in its translational or orbital and
in its precessional and rotational motions. I use the word blunt to mean capable of
rolling and to refer to the pivotal end of the top capable of rolling on a tablet or the
like while the top is spinning.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An improved top provided at its lower end with a blunt pencil or its
equivalent, the said pencil being adapted to trace various forms of curves upon
the surface of a tablet or the like while the top is in motion substantially as set
forth.
2. The improved top substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in
Figure 1 and in Figure 2 of the accompanying drawing.
Dated this 25th day of June 1895.
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.