Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Aug., 1886.
Complete Left, 3rd May, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 7th June, 1887.
We WILLIAM REYNOLDS, Junior, of Coton, in the county of Cambridge, Mechanic,
and PERCIVAL EVERITT, of No. 47, Cannon Street, in the city of London, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
Our invention consists in actuating and controlling swings by means of steam or
other suitable motive power instead of by the occupants or attendant, while at the same
time such occupants or the attendant will be able to control the inovement imparted to
the swing
A suitable arrangement for carrying out our invention consists of a shaft to which
movement is imparted by a steam or other suitable motor. The receptacle or part to
receive the persons (usually in the form of a boat) is suspended by rods, cords or chains,
and in its position of rest is not affected by the movement of the shaft. Means are
provided whereby the occupants of the boat or receptacle or the attendant can cause
the movement of the shaft to be imparted to such receptacle until the height they
desire to attain has been reached. This can be effected in various ways such as by
fixing a pulley or friction wheel on the shaft, and providing a strap or hand loosely
surrounding the same, but which can be acted upon by the occupants of the boat or
receptacle, or by the attendant, so as to tighten it on the pulley or wheel. When the
strap is allowed to again become slack the shaft will move as before without affecting
the boat or receptacle.
Instead of the pulley or friction wheel and strap, a friction clutch under the control
of the occupants or the attendant, can be employed.
A gradual swing can thus be imparted to the boat or receptacle, until the maximum
height and speed desired have been attained.
The above arrangement will not interfere with the actuating of the swing in the
ordinary manner by means of cords or ropes to be operated by the occupants, if
desired, as by omitting to actuate the devices for allowing the movement of the shaft
to be imparted to the boat or receptacle, the shaft will move independently thereof,
while the boat or receptacle itself can be caused to swing in the usual way.
It will be obvious that by my invention a number of swings can be driven from one
motor either together or one or more independently of the others.
G. F. REDFERN,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London
Agent for the Applicants.

page_text: improvements in Actuating and Controlling Swings.
We WILLIAM REYNOLDS Junior, of Coton, in the County of Cambridge, Mechanic,
and PERCIVAL EVERITT, of No. 47, Cannon Street, in the City of London, Engineer,
do hereby declaro 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 consists in actuating and controlling swings by means of steam or
other suitable motive power instead of by the occupants or attendant, while at the
same time such occupants or the attendant will be able to control the movement
imparted to the swing.
A suitable arrangement for carrying out our invention consists of a shaft to which
movement is imparted by a steam or other suitable motor. The receptacle or part to
receive the persons (usually in the form of a boat) is suspended by rods, cords or
chains, and in its position of rest is not affected by the movement of the shaft. Means
are provided whereby the occupants of the boat or receptacle or the attendant cun
cause the movement of the shaft to be imparted to such receptacle until the height
they desire to attain has been reached. This can be effected in various ways such as
by fixing a pulley or friction wheel on the shaft and providing a brake such as a strap
or band loosely surrounding the same, or a shoe, but which can be acted upon by the
occupants of the boat or receptacle, or by the attendant, so as to tighten it on or
against the pulley or wheel. When the strap is allowed to again become slack the
shaft will move as before without affecting the boat or receptacle.
Instead of the pulley or friction wheel and strap or shoe, a friction clutch under the
control of the occupants or attendant can be employed.
A gradual swing can thus be imparted to the boat or receptacle until the maximum
height and speed desired have been attained.
In order to enable our invention to be fully understood we will proceed to describe
the same by reference to the accompanying drawings in which figure 1 is a side
elevation, figure 2 a front elevation, and figure 3, a plan of a swing constructed and
arranged to be actuated and controlled by steam or other suitable motive power
according to our invention the controlling mechanism shewn consisting of a pulley
and a sliding brako block; figure 4 is a section drawn to an enlarged scale and taken
on the line A B of figure 3; figure 5 is a front elevation of figure 4. Similar letters
in all the figures represent similar parts.
a, represents the shaft to which a continuous rotary movement is imparted by a
suitable motor such as a steam engine the said shaft being mounted in bearings b, b,
on a frame c, of ordinary construction; d, is the receptacle or boat for receiving the
persons and e, e, are rods by which the boat d, is suspended by suitable means such
as hooks, at their upper ends passed over the shaft a, as shown. g, is the pulley or
friction wheel fixed on the shaft a, and h, is the brake in the form of a shoe which is
here shown adapted to be operated by the occupants of the boat d, so as to tighten it
on the pulley or wheel g, and release it therefrom as required. (It will be obvious
that this brake can be placed under the control of the attendant.) For this purpose

page_text: the brake h, is jointed to a lever i, having its fulcrum at j, on a cross bar k, of the
frame e, supported by links or straps from the shaft a, as shewn clearly in figures 4
and 5; to the lever i, is attached a cord or rope l, which is pulled by the occupants of
the boat in order to apply the brake h, for the purpose of actuating the swing; the
opposite end of the lever i, is counterweighted in order to remove the brake h, when
the pull upon the cord 1, ceases; m, is a bar attached at n, to the frame c; by raising
the opposite end of this bar when the boat d, is in motion, it can be brought by the
attendant or other person to bear on the underside of the boat d, and will thereby act
as a brake to stop the swing.
By this arrangement it will be obvious that if a continuous rotary motion be
communicated to the shaft a, and the pulley g, be free from the brake h, as shown in
the drawings, no effect will be produced on the swing but if the brake h, be pul on
the pulley 9, by pulling the cord 1, as hereinbefore described the swing will, by the
rotation of the pulley, be moved in the direction indicated by the arrow and when
the brake h, is released tho swing will move by its own gravity in the opposite direction
so that the swing will be entirely under the control of the occupant or attendant who
by intermittently applying the brake as hereinbefore described can gradually cause the
boat d, to be swung until the desired height has been attained and it will be evident
that the swing can, by means of the said brake, be soon brought to a standstill when
required. Or the swing can be brought to position of rest by the bar or brake
lever m.
The above arrangement will not interfere with the actuating of the swing in the
ordinary manner by means of cords or ropes to be operated by the occupants, if
desired, as by omitting to actuate the devices for allowing the movement of the shaft
to be imparted to the boat or receptacle d, the shaft a, will move independently thereof,
while the boat or recoptacle itself can be caused to swing in the usual
way.
It will be obvious that by our invention a number of swings can be driven from one
motor either together or one or more independently of the others and that instead of
employing a shoe as herein before described and shewn in the drawings a similar action
to that described could be produced by the use of a strap or band loosely surrounding
the pulley or friction wheel g, or by employing a suitable clutch arrangement.
Instead of operating the swing from the upper part as hereinbefore described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings it will be obvious that the pulley g, and
brake h, (or their equivalents) may be placed below the swing in which case the lever
or arui carrying the brake would require to be connected by rods or chains to a
corresponding lever or arm on the top part of the swing frame, the cord operating the
brake passing over a suitably placed pulley.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we claim is :-
1. Actuating Swings by connecting them intermittently with a rotating shaft driven
by steam or other power in the manner substantially as hereinbefore described.
2. The combination with a swing of a continuously rotating shaft and suitable brake
mechanisin or its equivalent under the control of the persons in the swing (or the
attendant) in the manner and for the purpose hereinbefore described.
3. The combination of parts forming the improved swing hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.