Improvements in Apparatus for Producing Illusory Dramatic Effects.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 31st May, 1889-Accepted, 13th July, 1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by JAMES WILLIAM KNELL, of Navesink Avenue,
Highlands, County of Monmouth and State of New Jersey, United States of
America, Actor.]
Improvements in Apparatus for Producing Illusory Dramatic Effects.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of
my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ILLUSORY DRAMATIC
EFFECTS," and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Referring to the drawings:
Figure 1 is a plan view of a stage showing an embodiment of my invention.
Figure 2 is a front view of the same and in vertical section through the floor and
one carriage.
Figure 3 is a detail perspective view of the carriage.
Figure 4 is a detail end view of the carriage.
Figure 5 is a detail view in central lengthwise section of the carriage.
The object of my invention is to provide means for enabling the effect of a raco or
contest of speed between animals or men to be produced upon a limited length of floor
space, as on the stage of a theater; and to this end my invention consists in the
device and means for supporting the racers, and for moving them relatively, and it
further consists in the combination of such means and device of the peculiar back-
ground, as more particularly hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.
In the accompanying drawings the letter a denotes a floor, as of a stage, through
which there is cut an opening 6 of any desired length and width. This opening is
preferably located in a direction substantially parallel to the front of the stage, but it
may be placed at any desired angle therewith that may be necessary to aid in
producing the effect sought.
In the opening is located a carriage & supported on the tracks c on wheels d' fitting
upon the tracks and enabling the carriage to be moved along back and forth in the
direction of the opening. The carriage supports an endless path e supported on
rollers ees, the path being made of an endless apron or flexible structure similar to
that used in a treadmill. A standard is secured to one side of the carriage and its
upper end terminates at a height best adapted for supporting the animal, as a horse,
that is placed upon the endless path on the carriage. A flexible connection f' has a
short length of chain or swivel, as preferred, and to it is secured the girth or
supporting strap g, as by means of a snap hook. By means of this device the horse
or other animal may be held in a fixed position so far as the carriage is concerned
while it is prevented from moving off the carriage although making violent move-
ments as in running to produce the rapid motion of the endless path.
A chain or rope is secured to the carriage and led over pulleys to the windlass i
by means of which the carriage, while supporting considerable weight, may be drawn
along on the track to the extent of the opening through the floor. Any desired
number of carriages d, or similar structures, can be arranged side by side in the
opening, and to each carriage a like rope or chain is connected and conducted over a
supported windlass so that the relative position of the two carriages may be determined
at will. As the position of the animal is fixed so that it is not changed with reference
to the length of the carriage the change of the position of the carriage causes a change
in the relative position of the animals borne thereon, and by regulating the relative
position of the carriages at the time when the animals are in active motion, as running,
the semblance of a race or contest of speed between the animals is produced.
In order to aid in the effect produced and also to cover the opening a flexible

page_text: apron is secured to the opposite ends of each carriage and each extends over
rollers d' close to the extreme ends of the opening and then turns downward and
bears a weight d³, or are provided with equivalent means of keeping the flexible
covering extended while the carriage is moving backward and forward on the tracks.
In order to aid in the illusory effect I make use of a compound panoramic scene
made up of a foreground panorama k and a background panorama k¹, the former being
supported on upright rollers at opposite ends on which it may be wound and unwound
in the usual manner while the panorama forming the background is borne on rollers
of greater length arranged so that this background is placed in the rear somewhat in
the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. This panoramic scene displayed
on canvas of different heights is of course properly located with reference to the rest
of the stage so as to form a suitable background for the incident to be illustrated by
the moving figures that are placed on the carriage or carriages.
In a prior patent No. 3010 dated June 16th A.D. 1883 is shown and described an
apparatus in which an endless path, fixed in its position with relation to the stage, is
embodied, while the animal, as a horse, is held by means that enable its position to be
changed, that is allow it to have a progressive movement along the path. In my
within described device and apparatus the position of the animal with relation to the
carriage supporting the endless path is substantially fixed (within certain limits of
movement as described) while the carriage and path are moved back and forth as a
preferable means of changing the position of the animal with reference to the
surrounding objects or of two or more animals with reference to each other.
In the accompanying drawings my apparatus is described with reference to a horse
race but without material change the apparatus can be fixed so that the precise effect
of a boat race or other contest of speed may be successfully represented in so far as
the effect of the progressive movement and the alternation in position of the
participants is concerned, and I do not limit myself to the particular device for the
specific purpose, that is a horse race, that is herein illustrated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is :
1. In combination with a stage having an opening through the floor thereof, a
movable carriage supported on tracks or rollers, the chain or rope connected to the
carriage at opposite ends and passing over guides or pulleys, and the means, as a
windlass, for producing an intermittant reciprocating movement of the carriage, all
substantially as described.
2. In combination with a stage floor having an opening there-through, a movable
carriage located in the opening and movable along its supports, the endless path borne
on said carriage, a standard fixed to the carriage, and the means substantially as
described for moving said carriage back and forth along the opening, substantially as
described.
3. In combination with a plural number of carriages supported on tracks or runways
and adapted to move thereon, the standards fixed to each carriage, the endless path or
apron borne on the carriage, and the means substantially as described for moving the
several carriages, all as and for the purpose specified.
4. In combination with a stage floor having an opening there-through, a carriage
located in the opening and movable along its supports, the standard fixed to the
carriage, the endless path borne on the carriage, the flexible apron fast to the carriage
and passing over a support near one end of the opening, the apron support, and the
means for moving the carriage back and forth along the opening, all substantially
as described.
5. In combination with a stage floor, an endless path borne on a movable carriage,
a carriage supported on tracks or runways, means for imparting an intermittant
movement to the carriage, and the compound panoramic scenes of unequal heights
forming the background of the scene, all substantially as described.

page_text: 6. In combination in a stage setting, the compound panoramic scenes of unequal
heights and adapted to be moved at different rates of speed, all substantially as
described.
Dated this 31st day of May 1889.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.