Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for use in Race Games.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Dec., 1897-Accepted, 12th Mar., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Apparatus for use in Race Games.
I, FRIEDRICH HUTTER, Engineer, of Vienna, IX Harmoniegasse 5, Empire of
Austria, 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 :-
The subject of the present invention relates to apparatus for use in race games,
in which all the riders travel on separate similar tracks and propel their mounts
and the carriages on which these latter are placed, by a swinging or pivotting
motion, which swinging motion of the mount, say a horse, is transformed into a
rotary motion propelling the carriage on which said horse is mounted.
The tracks are preferably in the form of railroads having the shape of closed
similar curves which are arranged, according to the space available either in one plane
so as to cross one another or side by side or one over another.on different levels.
The carriages running on these tracks and carrying the mounts are also all alike
and chiefly comprise two driving wheels running on the track and two guide wheels
running on a third rail, the two former wheels being secured to a crank-shaft and
adapted to be rotated by means of rods provided with power-collecting and regulating
springs from the pivoted body of the horse.
In the accompanying drawing Figures 1, 2 and 3 show a carriage or support
provided with a riding horse according to the present invention in side-and end-
elevation, and plan, respectively, Figures 4 to 7 showing various constructions of
tracks.
·
As may be seen from the latter figures, the curves of the tracks are arranged
so that the distance to be travelled by each separate rider is the same.
All curves C
are therefore, of the same length and of similar shape.
These tracks may be arranged either side by side, as in Figure 7, or, if the
available space does not allow it, one over-lapping the other, that is to say crossing
one another as in Figures 4, 5 and 6, or finally on different levels so as to avoid
crossing.
When the tracks cross, the curves are arranged so that one rider has to travel a
different length from the starting point to the point where the paths of the two
riders cross than the second rider, the second rider has to travel a different distance
than the third rider from the starting point to the crossing of their tracks and
so on.
The tracks are preferably arranged on the three-rail system, the two outer rails
serving for the two driving wheels while the central rail serves as a guide
rail.
The horse body A is mounted on a carriage-frame B. he platform a mounted by
means of springs on the driving axle m carries two brackets b b₁ with bearings c c¹
for the rotating axle or pivot d.
On the latter axle is pivoted a plate or frame e carrying the horse, by means of two
bearings ff cast with said plate and prevented from moving sideways. On the plate e
are mounted hinges g g¹ in such manner that they can be adjusted nearer to or further
from the spindle d.

page_text: With the hinges g g¹ engage rods h h¹ one or both of which are made in two parts,
that is to say one part hollow and adapted to receive the other part, a helical spring k
being interposed between the two. This spring (or springs) the tension of which can
be regulated by adjusting the solid rod in the hollow one and fixing it in position by
means of a set screw serve for accumulating propelling power produced by the oscilla-
tion of the horse and for the purpose of overcoming the adhesion to the rails and the
friction in the bearings. The springs also act, in cooperation with the suitably dis-
tributed weight of the horse-body (owing to the latter being filled with shot) as a
governor in case of any disturbances of the usual motion.
By means of the rods h h¹ the swinging motion of the rider is transmitted to the
crank-shaft m and a continuous rotation of the wheels n n¹ mounted on said shaft is
produced, said wheels running on the outer rails of the track.
The guide-wheels o o¹ running on the central rail p rest with their flanges i i
against opposite sides of the head of the rail, whereby perfect guiding is ensured both
on the straight and curved portions of the track. These wheels are mounted loose on
axle-journals q q¹ supported in bearings in brackets t t¹ pivoted about pins ¹ mounted
in ball bearings s s¹. All the bearings of the apparatus are preferably ball-bearings for
the purpose of diminishing friction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is —
1. Apparatus for use in race games comprising a number of similar rail-tracks C
having any desired curved shape and arranged in the same plane either next to each
other or crossing each other, or on different levels one above another on which tracks
carriages carrying mounts for riders are adapted to be propelled independently of one
another by the swinging of the mounts by their rider substantially as described.
2. Carriages and horses for race games, for the purpose of transforming the swinging
movement of the rider into an advance movement of the carriage comprising a frame
provided with two driving wheels running on a track and two guide-wheels running
on a third central rail, said driving wheels being rotated by a crank-shaft m by means
of rods h h¹ connected to a plate carrying the mount and pivoted about a central
spindle, the guide-wheels being supported in vertical forked brackets t t carried in
ball bearings, one of the rods h h¹ or both being made in two parts and provided with
adjustable interposed springs k substantially as described.
3. The combination and arrangement of parts constituting the complete mount for
use in race games substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 1, 2 and 3 of
the accompanying drawings.