AN IMPROVE MENT IN SPRING TOPs
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE
MENT IN SPRING TOPs."-A communication from abroad by Hippolyte
Sealed the 13th July 1866, and dated the 13th January 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald Broonian
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 13th January 1866.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING TOPS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to those spring tops which are formed in two parts,
viz., the head in which the spring, barrel is fitted, and the body or top proper.
These tops are spun as follows:-The head is connected to the top proper,
and by turning the head the spring is stretched and wound on a central tube;
then by pressing on the end of the tube the top proper is disconnected from
the head, receiving a rotary impulsion from the spring so that it spins on a
table or floor, while the head is left in the hand of the operator.

page_text: The present improvement consists in magnetizing this head, so that if it
be applied to the upper end of the axis of the top when the top is spinning
the top may be suspended by the magnet and still retain its rotary motion,
and it may be caused to receive any gyral inclination. I prefer to apply
the magnetization to the upper end of the head of the top, and in such case
the bead must be inverted after the top proper has been released therefrom.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by Amelia Susannahı Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AMELIA
SUSANNAH BROOMAN, of Twickenham, in the County of Middlesex, Widow,
and sole Executrix of Richard Archibald Brooman, late of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, Patent Agent, deceased, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Amelia Susannah Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Amelia Susannah Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Amelia Susannah Broonan, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN SPRING TOPS," (communicated
to the said Richard Archibald Brooman, from abroad by Hippolyte Huriaux
and Lucien Faille, both of Paris, France), upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Amelia Susannah Brooman, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Amelia Susannah Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be-performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement thereof; reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
.
This Invention consists in magnetizing the head or barrel of spring tops, so
that the top may be suspended thereby while spinning. The spring top to
which this Invention is chiefly intended to be applied is composed of two parts,
namely, the body or top proper, and the head or barrel, by means of which the
top is spun. The head contains for this purpose a spring, which is wound up
or tightened by the rotation of the barrel when in place and engaged on the
the rod of the top. By the disengagement the spring being freed becomes
relaxed, and produces, the rapid rotation of the top which separates from
the barrel. The spring, therefore, performs the double function of imparting
the rotation and of releasing the parts.
The accompanying Drawings illustrate one of these tops, the head or barrel
of which I magnetize for the purpose of suspending the top while spinning.
Figure 1 represents the top as suspended by the rod of the barrel, and indicates
several of the positions which the top can be caused to take in relation to the
barrel while spinning; Figure 2 is a vertical section of the head or barrel
with the spring wound up or tightened; Figure 3 is a similar section, but
representing the spring in the position it occupies when the top is released.
The steel spiral spring a is fitted at one end to the spindle 6 by means of a pin
m, and at the other end to the barrel c by means of a pin n. Being connected
in this manner the barrel c and the spindle b cannot only turn transversely
one in the other, but also become displaced longitudinally one in relation to
the other. Thus, by winding up the spring a on itself by means of the barrel,
the barrel can be raised or lowered in relation to the spindle, and then the
barrel and the spindle are in such position that the unwinding of the spring
not only causes them to turn on their own axes, but also brings them nearer
each other. The spring a therefore fulfils the double part of a spring for
imparting the rotary motion to the top when free, and of a spring for
returning the spindle b to its normal position. I apply magnetization to the
upper end b¹ of the spindle b, which end may be of spherical or other desirable
form. By means of this magnetization when the top d is spinning it can be
suspended by its rod d¹ from the barrel c, as represented in Figure 1, and it
can be caused to spin in any desired position in relation to the barrel c. The
barrel c thus acts both as a means of spinning the top and as a magnetized
medium for suspending it. The magnetization may, if thought desirable, be
applied to any other convenient part of the barrel or head.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the magnetizing

page_text: of the barrel or part which imparts the rotary motion to spring tops, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Amelia Susannah Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of July, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.
A. S. BROOMAN. (L.s.)