Improvements in Race Starting Machines.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Sept., 1896-Accepted, 14th Nov., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Race Starting Machines.
I VICTOR CARANDINI Patent Agent of Queen Street Melbourne Australia
temporarily residing in India do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
The machine herein described is devised to supersede flag starting and to prevent
false starts and favoritism at the post.
The said machine consists of a barrier of five or other suitable number of ropes
drawn tightly one above the other across the race course at about the height of the
horses' heads and secured at their ends to bars jointed to the free ends of arms
which are jointed to supporting posts mounted one on each side of the course.
Strong spiral springs are attached to one end of one of the arms on each post near
the pivot or joint end. When the barrier is in position to obstruct the course the
said springs are extended and the said barrier is held down at each end by
mechanism consisting in part of catches connected to struts which steady the
supporting posts the arrangement being such that when the mechanism which holds
down one end of the barrier is released the liberation of the other end is instantly
effected through the medium of the lowest rope. The closing of the spiral springs
when the barrier is liberated throws the barrier up to a horizontal or nearly
horizontal position above the jockeys' heads thus leaving free passage for the
horses underneath it.
The posts supporting the mechanism are permanently fixed in the ground but
the parts supported by the said posts are removable and portable and are taken
down and put up at the various starting distances during the interval between the
races.
A machine constructed according to this invention is illustrated in the accoin-
panying drawings
Figure 1 of which is an elevation of the machine' taken from a point on the
race course facing that where the horses stand when ready to start the position
of the horses being on the farther side of the said machine with their heads
toward's it.
Figure 2 is a side elevation of that portion of the mechanism which is shown on
the left hand side of the barrier in Figure'l the said elevation being taken from a
point between the posts and the ropes being represented in section. Figure 3 is a
similar view of the mechanism on the right hand side of the barrier.
In the following description of the said drawings' the parts thereof are referred
to by the letters and figures marked thereon.
The same letters and figures of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures
of the drawings.
a b are the posts supporting the barrier and the mechanism for working it which
posts are about ten feet long seven out of ground and three in and about seven or
eight inches square and are steadied by stays or struts c d. ef are frame castings
provided with steel pivots 9 g g g h h h¹ h¹ which castings fit on to the tops of
the posts a band are secured in place by screws e f¹. jij are the
arms supporting the barrier which arms are of steel and of light structure and
triangular in form and fit and work on the pivots g g g¹ghhhh¹ being kept

page_text: in place thereon by pins as shown. I are the bars to which the barrier
ropes m m mare secured which bars are connected to the arms ijj by means
of clips n n jointed thereto and secured by screws n' n'.
oo are the spiral springs by which the barrier is raised the said springs being
arranged and connected to the posts a band to the arms ij as clearly shown in
Figures 2 and 3. p p are air cylinders having mounted in them pistons connected
to rods pl pl the object of which is to resist the action of the springs oo when the
barrier has been partially raised by them.
Those of the barrier ropes which are marked m m are severally secured at their
ends to the bars kl and the lowermost rope mis at one end connected by a
hook n to a link g which is connected to a spiral spring r secured to the upper
end of the bar and passes under a pulley a carried by the said bar and is
connected at its other end to the bar and near the said end is also connected to a
hook t which is engaged with the upper end of a standard secured at its lower
end to the strut d by means of a screw u¹.
The mechanism by which the arms ij and supporting the barrier are retained
in the positions shown in the drawings against the pull of the springs o o is herein-
after described. The arms; and the bar I are retained in the said position by
engagement of a loop attached to the said bar with a lever jointed to the
standard u the end of which lever bears against a finger won a slide w' mounted
on the said standard x to which slide is attached a cord & having a ring at its free
end. The spring carried by the bar k is kept extended by engagement of a
catch a with a slotted rod g' carried by the link g and projecting through a slot in
the said bark which entch a is jointed to the said bar & and is engaged with a
loop y connected to a standard y' secured at its lower end to the strut c by means
of a screw y².
The method of setting up the removable parts of the machine and the action of
the mechanism by which the barrier is released when the horses are required to
start are as follows:-
The eastings are placed on the posts a b and rerewed tightly thereto. The
standards and y₁ are then secured to the stays c d. The arms iijjare then
one at a time engaged with the pivots on the said castings and the pins are put in
to keep the said arms in place. The bars k end I are then connected to the said
arms by means of the clips n n the ropes m m are connected to the said bars and
pulled tight the rope m* is connected to the bar and to the link q and the spring"
is drawn down a little so as to admit of the catch a passing through the slot in the
rod g and engaging with the said rod as shown in Figure 2. The arms ij are then
raised sufficiently to admit of the springs o o being connected to the said arms and
to the posts a b. The barrier is then drawn down extending the springs o o and is
held down at one end by engaging the catch lever e with the loop and at the other
end by engaging the loop y with the catch . The lowermost rope m is then
adjusted by placing the hook t over the upper end of the standard whereby the
portion of the end of the said rope next the said hook is caused to hang slack as
shown at m. The other end of the said rope is then tightened till the link q
descends when the catch a flies back to the position indicated by broken lines.
The machine is then ready for starting. When the barrier is to be raised the
cord w is pulled by the starter this causes the slide w' to descend and release the
catch lever the springs o o then throw the arms ij up and cause the hook t to be
pushed off the end of the standard s thus freeing the spring which draws up the
slack portion m² of the rope m* and draws the slotted bar q' carried by the link q
up clear of the catch a which then becomes disengaged from the loop y connected
to the standard y' and so releases the other end of the barrier. The barrier is
then rapidly raised by the springs oo until it is above the level of the jockeys'
heads when the action of the said springs is checked by resistance of the air in the
cylinders p p which resistance causes the rate of motion of the barrier to gradually
decrease until it comes to rest in the position indicated by the broken line marked z
in Figure 2.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that I
claim:-
First. A race starting machine consisting of parts arranged and acting substan-
tially as hereinbefore described that is to say a race starting machine consisting
essentially of a barrier connected to arms working on pivots on standards and
capable of supporting the said barrier either in position to obstruct the race
course or at such a height above the ground as to leave the course unobstructed
according to the position of the said arms the said barrier being retained in the
obstructing position by suitable catches and when released being raised by means
of springs connected to the said arms the action of which springs when the barrier
is partially raised is checked by resistance of air within suitably arranged chambers
or vessels.
Secondly. A race starting machine the barrier of which is mounted on the free
ends of arms or levers pivotted to standards and connected to springs by the action
of which springs removal of the barrier from its obstructing position is effected
substantially as herein before described.
Thirdly. In a race starting machine wherein a spring actuated barrier is retained
in its obstructing position by mechanism engaging its two ends the arrangement
hereinbefore described whereby release of one end of the barrier by direct action
on the retaining mechanism at that end only ensures disengagement of the
retaining mechanism at the opposite end which arrangement consists essentially
in the connection in such a manner of spring operated retaining mechanism
situated at the said opposite end of the barrier with a portion of the mechanism
at the end of the barrier released by direct action that release of that end is
immediately followed by automatic disengagement of the said spring operated
mechanism.
Fourthly. In a race starting machine wherein a barrier is carried by arms or
levers working on pivots the provision hereinbefore described for ready setting up
and removal of the machine as required that is to say the construction of the said
pivots on frames capable of ready connection to and disconnection from posts or
standards forming the supports for the machine substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Dated this Twenty-fifth day of September 1896.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.