A New or Improved Toy or Game.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Feb., 1894-Accepted, 24th Mar.,
1894
A New or Improved Toy or Game.
WILLIAM GIBBIN, Junior, 21, to 24, Pickering Place, Bayswater, London,
Builder, 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 :-.
My invention relates to a new or improved toy or game and has for its object to
provide an interesting and amusing toy or game for the proper execution of which
a certain amount of skill is necessary.
In carrying my invention into practical effect, I provide a box of rectangular or
other convenient shape constructed of cardboard or other suitable material and
furnished either with a permanent or removable lid the top of which consists of a
sheet of glass, the firing end of the said box being also provided with a small piece
of glass to enable the operator to sight the cannon hereinafter to be more fully
described. At one end of the box (that end provided with the aforementioned
strip of glass) is mounted a small spring cannon, of well known and usual con-
struction, between two standards of wood or other suitable material, the cannon
being provided with a bulged portion which enters semi-circular recesses formed in
the said standard and so forms a ball and socket joint by means of which the
cannon can be turned, to a certain extent, in any direction. At the other end of
the box is so mounted a platform or table that it may be caused to revolve freely
by means of a piece of string or in any other convenient manner, and around the
edge of this table or platform are mounted any desired number of swinging targets
which may take the form of birds, or animals, such as ducks, rabbits, or the like.
These swinging targets which may be stamped out of sheet metal or constructed in
any well known and suitable manner, are mounted upon short supports over slots
formed in the edge of the table and furnished with downwardly projecting parts
which pass below the table and are so weighted as to balance the upper part or
target portion.
The box is furnished with guides of cardboard or other suitable material
diverging from the mouth of the cannon towards the revolving table or platform
aud furnished with an inclined bottom and within this portion of the box are
placed one or more shots so that by tilting the box towards the firing end the said
shots will run up the inclined bottom of the box and be guided into the mouth of
the cannon by the aforementioned guides. The cannon having been loaded the
table is then caused to revolve and aim is taken at the targets as they pass by, by
glancing along the cannon through the glass placed at the firing end of the box for
that purpose. The targets are so weighted that upon being struck by a shot they
immediately assume a horizontal position and will remain so until they are raised
either by hand or by causing the weighted ends to pass under an inclined or curved
strip of metal, thereby depressing the weighted ends, and bringing the targets
again into view.
In order that my invention may be more fully understood, I will now proceed to
describe same with reference to the accompanying drawings in which
Fig. 1 is a plan of my new or improved toy or game and Fig. 2 a section on
line of Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 is an end view of the box,
Fig. 4 is a detail partly in section showing the method of mounting the
revolving table or platform, Fig. 5 is a similar view shewing a modified method

page_text: Fig. 6 is a view at an enlarged scale shewing the construction and mounting of
the swinging targets and also the device for raising them after having been struck
and Fig. 7 is a front view of the said raising device.
Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
The box bis furnished with a lid which may be either removable or fixed, the
top of the said lid consisting of a sheet of glass g, while the firing end of the box is
also furnished with a small strip of glass g².
The cannon c is formed with a bulged portion entering the semi-circular
recesses a in the mounting standards s s At the other end of the box b is placed
the revolving table or platform t mounted upon the rod (Fig. 4) the outer tube t¹
serving to retain same in position, while the end of the said tube is formed with
two circular flanges between which the string for revolving the said table or
platform is wound or in the modified form of mounting shown in Fig. 5 the rod r is
permanently fixed to the underside of the tablet and the free end passes through
the bottom of the box and is furnished with a knob or disc n for rotating the said
table or platform, the underside of the box being in this case provided with feet or
supports in order that the said knob or disc may be clear of the surface upon
which the box is standing and so allow same to revolve freely. Around the edge
of the revolving table or platform t are mounted the swinging targets & between
short supports s² and directly over the slots s³ formed in the edge of the table, the
said targets d being furnished with extensions p' which pass below the surface of
the table and to which are attached the weights w. The targets d are so balanced
that upon being struck by a shot from the cannone they will immediately assume
the horizontal position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and will remain in that
position until they pass under the raising device m which consists of a curved strip
of metal of the shape clearly shown in Fig. 7 and which presses the weighted end
of the target down as it passes by in the course of the revolution of the table or
platform, thereby causing the upper portion to assume its upright or normal position
and is 1..en again ready to be shot at.
The box is further provided with guides o' which diverge from the mouth of
the can..on towards the revolving table or platformt for the purpose of guiding the
shots to the month of the cannon c the said guides being furnished with an
inclined bottom rising towards the cannon for the purpose of enabling same to be
easily loaded.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion a. in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In a toy or game such as herein described, in combination with the cannon c,
the swinging targets d, pivoted to supports s², over slots s³, and the device m for
again raising them into the position for being shot at, substantially as herein
described and shown in the accompanying drawings.
2. The new or improved toy or game, arranged, constructed, and operated,
substantially as herein described and shown in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20th day of Wah... 1001
F. G. CASSELL,
Of Cassell & Co.,
22, Glasshouse Street, Regent Street, London, W.,
Agent for the Applicant.