A Toy Pistol or Revolver.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 21st Nov., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 21st Aug., 1891-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Toy Pistol or Revolver.
I, WILLIAM WALTON, of Murton House, Bishopwearmouth in the Borough
and County of Sunderland, Schoolmaster, formerly Engineer Student in Her
Majesty's Naval Service, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:
This invention is an air pistol or revolver of the nature of a pop-gun, having
a revolving part containing several chambers, the said revolving part having all
its chambers loaded at the same time by one operation. The revolving part is
easily removable from the rest of the pistol and another similar revolving part as
easily put in its place, so that by loading several of these revolving parts, and
carrying them as a reserve it is easy to fire a great number of pellets, without
reloading.
One of the simplest forms of this toy revolver is as follows:-Imagine a short
cylindrical box without a lid having its length about of its diameter. On the
end of this box, inside, imagine a regular hexagon drawn so that the six corners
touch, or very nearly touch the edge of the box inside, where the cylindrical part
meets the flat end.
Let this regular hexagon be divided into six equilateral triangles and imagine
one of these cut out from the end of the box, that is, imagine a short cylindrical
box without a lid, and having a hole of this shape and proportional size, and
exactly relative position in the end. This box represents the "case" in which the
revolving part is turned as each pellet is fired.
21
To this " case " is fixed one end of a tube or "barrel," the internal cross section
of which is an equilateral triangle about the size of the triangular hole in the case.
It is fixed to the outside of the end of the box so that the internal cross section of
the barrel coincides with the triangular hole in the box. The "barrel" is a
few inches in length and may conveniently have one end of its internal cross section
slightly enlarged so as to facilitate the entrance of the pellets. It may conveniently
have the other end of its internal cross section slightly diminished so as to prevent
the too easy expulsion of the pellets at a low atmospheric pressure. This "barrel"
should be smooth inside and should be of uniform size throughout except just at
the ends as just explained. The outside of this barrel may be of any shape. Thus,
if it be made of sheet metal the outside will be triangular, if it be made of cast
metal it will probably be round. If it be made of wood, or of wood lined with
sheet tin it will probably be round.
The "revolving part" which fits into the "case" as above mentioned is a regular
hexagonal prism about inch high and of such a size as to allow it to turn just easily
within the case, that is, the corners of the regular hexagon touch or almost touch
the interior of the cylindrical part of the " case. This regular hexagonal prism is
partitioned off into six triangular prisms of the same height i.e. about inch, the
cross section of each of these triangular prisms being an equilateral triangle of
about the same size as the internal cross-section of the "barrel." If this
"revolving part" is made of sheet metal, it can be made of three pieces, each
about inch wide, and each having a length equal to two diameters of the
cylindrical box or "case."
Of these three pieces two will be bent alike, so that,
in manufacture, twice as many pieces of one shape will be required as of the other.
At one or more of the corners of the hexagonal "revolving part," and towards the
rear of it, a small piece of sheet metal is arranged to project radially. This piece,
or these pieces, will slip into one or more of six slots, arranged equidistantly upon
the rear edge of the "case," and in such a way that when the projection or

page_text: projections upon the "revolving part" is or are in one or more of the six slots,
the "revolving part has one of its six chambers exactly coinciding with the
triangular "barrel," and that as each of the six chambers comes opposite to the
"barrel" it may be kept in exactly a proper position for transferring the pellet
from the "revolving part" to the tube or barrel." This revolving part" is
easily changed by hand from any one of its six positions within the "case
next, and is as easily removed from the case" altogether either for the purpose
of its being reloaded, or to allow another similar "revolving part," already loaded,
to be put in its place. The "revolving part" is made either of thin sheet metal,
or of some substance which will bear a thin front edge.
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" to the
case the
"
All the chambers of the "revolving part are loaded at the same time, by
pressing its thin front edge through a slice of elastic substance, such as cork,
orange peel, apple, turnip, carrot, parsnip, potatoe; and as the cutting edge in
loading becomes the front edge when the "revolving part" is in the "
pellets are very easily transferred to the triangular "barrel" as required.
The "ramrod," with which to transfer the pellets from the "revolving part
to the "barrel," and with which to fire the pistol, may be of any suitable shape,
and of any suitable material. At present, I prefer to make the rod itself of round
metal wire, with a handle of cast metal. This handle may suitably be shaped like
the handle of a pistol, or revolver. If the rod and its handle be all of cast metal,
the rod may conveniently be made triangular in section.
to a
The foregoing description relates chiefly to a "barrel" of triangular section, and
revolving part" of hexagonal shape, subdivided into six triangular chambers.
This shape is the most economical of the elastic substance, from which the pellets
are cut, because the equilateral triangle and the hexagon fit so well together, as to
leave no waste of substance, except at the edge of the slice.
If four equilateral triangles be put together, they form an equilateral triangle
of twice the length of side, and of four times the area. If six of these larger
equilateral triangles be put together, they form a hexagon twice as large
as the first hexagon in any direction, and of four times the area.
By thus
arranging a "revolving part" of 24 triangular chambers, and having 4 triangular
"barrels (themselves forming a triangle), it is easy to fire 24 pellets each time a
fresh "revolving part" is put in the "case." Each time the "revolving part" is
turned round into one of its six positions, four of the chambers come opposite to
the four barrels, so that, although there are 24 chambers, yet only six slots in the
"will be necessary to accommodate the one or more projections on the
"revolving part." As there are four "barrels the ramrod may be single, or
double, or quadruple, so as to fire one, two, or four pellets, at the same time. By
allowing the "barrels" themselves to revolve round a suitable centre, 2 "barrels
will accommodate the 24 chambers.
".case
24
If the chambers and "barrels" be round in section, 2 "barrels" will accommodate
seven chambers, one "barrel" to the central chamber, and the other "barrel " to
the other six chambers, arranged round the central chamber. 4 barrels" will
accommodate 19 chambers, the twelve extra chambers being arranged round the
six, just mentioned. In employing round "barrels" and chambers it may be better
to omit using the central chamber and the "barrel" coinciding with it, and let one
"barrel" accommodate six chambers, 3 "barrels accommodate 18 chambers
5 (or 6 if preferred) accommodate 36. By allowing the "barrel " or " barrels " to
revolve round a suitabla centre, one "barrel" will accommodate 18 chambers, and
two "barrels "will accommodate 36.
If the chambers and "barrels" be square in section, 3 "barrels" will accom-
modáte 9 chambers, thus :-the central chamber will coincide with one "barrel "
and of the other eight chambers, arranged round the central one, the four
arranged laterally will in turn coincide with a second "barrel" while the four
arranged corner-wise will in turn coincide with a third "barrel."
Round this square of 9 chambers may be arranged another row of 16 chambers,
each four of which will in turn coincide with a barrel." Thus on the square

page_text: méthod 9 chambers require 3 "barrels " 25 chambers require 7 "barrels." By
omitting the central chamber, and the "barrel" coinciding with it, 2 "barrels
will accommodate 8 chambers, 4 barrels "will accommodate 16 chambers,
6 barrels will accommodate 24 chambers, and so on.
The ramrod may be made single, or double, triple, quadruple, sextuple, so as
fire off one, two, three, four, or six pellets at the same time.
By allowing the "barrel" itself to revolve round a suitable centre, one "barrel"
will accommodate 16 chambers on the square method.
Dated this 19th day of November 1890.
WILLIAM WALTON.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Toy Pistol or Revolver.
1 WILLIAM WALTON of Murton House Bishopwearmouth in the Borough and
County of Sunderland Engineer, formerly Engineer Student in Her Majesty's Naval
Service, 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 :-
This invention relates to an air-pistol or revolver of the nature of a pop-gun
having four chief parts A the case B the barrel C the revolving part D the ram-
rod. The revolving-part containing several chambers and having all its chambers
loaded at the same time by one operation. The revolving part is easily removable
from the rest of the pistol and another similar revolving-part is as easily put in its
place, so that by loading several of these revolving parts and carrying them in
reserve it is easy to fire a great number of pellets without reloading.
One of the simplest forms of this toy revolver is as follows:-The case is a
short cylindrical box without a lid having its length about 3 of its diameter.
Fig. 1. On the end of this box, inside, Fig. 24 imagine a regular hexagon drawn,
so that the six corners of the hexagon touch, or very nearly touch the circular
edge of the box, inside, where the cylindrical part meets the flat end. Let this
regular hexagon be marked off into six equilateral triangles and let one of these
equilateral triangles be cut out from the end of the box, then there will be Fig. 1ª
a short cylindrical box without a lid and having a triangular hole of this shape
and proportional size and exactly relative position in the end.
23
This box
represents the "case in which the revolving part is to be turned as each pellet
is fired.
To this case is fixed Fig. 34 one end of a tube or "barrel" the internal cross
section of which is an equilateral triangle, Fig. 3B about the size of the triangular
hole in the case. It is fixed to the outside of the end of the case so that the
internal cross section of the barrel" coincides with the triangular hole in the
case Figs. 14 34 3. The barrel may be fixed to the case by soldering, by
rivetting, by passing the end of the barrel through the hole in the case and turning
the edges over, or in any other suitable way. In the rear edge of the cylindrical
case, that is, furthest away from the barrel, are cut six small slots E equidistantly
placed round the edge, and suitably arranged relatively to the barrel. These six
slots are to accommodate one or more projections of sheet metal F upon the
revolving-part, as presently explained. The barrel is a few inches in length and
may conveniently have one end of its internal cross section slightly enlarged so as
to facilitate the entrance of the pellets. It may conveniently have the other end
of its internal cross section slightly diminished so as to prevent the too easy
expulsion of the pellets at a low atmospheric pressure.
The barrel is smooth
inside and of uniform size throughout, except at the ends as just explained. The
outside of this barrel may be of any shape. Thus, if it be made of sheet-metal the
outside will be similar to the inside, if it be made of cast metal it will probably be
round. If it be made of wood, or wood lined with sheet metal it will probably be
round.

page_text: "
37
The revolving-part" which fits into the case is a regular hexagonal prism
about inch high, and of such a size as to allow it to turn just easily within the
case that is, the corners of the regular hexagon touch or almost touch the interior
of the cylindrical part of the case. This regular hexagonal prism is partitioned
off C. Fig. 24 into six triangular prisms of the same height, i.e. about inch, the
cross-section of each of these triangular prisms being an equilateral triangle of
about the same size as the internal cross-section of the barrel. If this revolving-
part is made of sheet metal it can be made of three pieces each about 1 inch wide,
and each having a length equal to two diameters of the cylindrical box or case
Figs. 4 4 4 At one or more of the corners of the hexagonal revolving-part
and towards the rear of it, a small piece of sheet metal For an equivalent is
arranged to project radially. This piece, or these pieces will slip into one or more
of the six slots or grooves E arranged equidistantly and suitably upon the rear
.edge of the case A and in such a way that when the projection or projections upon
the revolving part is or are in one or more of the six slots or grooves, the
revolving part has one of its six chambers exactly coinciding with the triangular
barrel, and that as each of the six chambers comes opposite the barrel it may be
kept in exactly a proper position for transferring the pellet from the revolving
part to the tube or barrel. This revolving part is easily changed by hand from
any one of its six positions within the case to the next and is as easily removed
from the case altogether, either for the purpose of its being reloaded, or to allow
another similar revolving-part already loaded to be put in its place. The revolving-
part is made either of thin sheet metal, or of some material which will bear a thin
front edge.
All the chambers of the revolving-part are loaded at the same time by pressing
its thin front edge through a slice of clastic substance, such as cork, orange-peel,
apple, turnip, carrot, parsnip, potato; and as the cutting edge in loading becomes
the front edge when the revolving part is in the
66 case the pellets are very easily
transferred to the barrel as required.
The "ram-rod" D Fig. 5 with which to transfer the pellets from the revolving-
part to the barrel, and with which to fire the pistol may be of any suitable shape
and of any suitable material. It may be convenient to make the rod itself of
round metal wire with a handle of cast metal. This handle may suitably be
shaped like the handle of a pistol or revolver. If the rod and its handle be
all of cast metal the rod may conveniently have the same shape in section as the
barrel.
The foregoing description has related chiefly to a barrel of triangular section,
and to a revolving-part of hexagonal shape, subdivided into six triangular
chambers. This shape is the most economical of the elastic substance from which
the pellets are cut, because the equilateral triangle and the hexagon fit so well
together as to cause little waste of substance.
If four equilateral triangles be put together Fig. 6 they form an equilateral
triangle of twice the length of side and of four times the area. If six of these
larger equilateral triangles be put together Fig. 7 they form a hexagon twice as
large as the first hexagon in any direction and of four times the area. By
thus arranging a revolving part of 24 triangular chambers, and having 4
triangular barrels (themselves forming a triangle) it is easy to fire 24 pellets each
time a fresh revolving part is put in the "case." Each time the revolving-part is
turned round into one of its six positions four of the chambers come opposite the
four barrels, so that although there are 24 chambers, yet only six slots in the case
will be necessary to accommodate the one or more projections on the revolving
part. By allowing the barrels themselves to revolve round a suitable axis 2 barrels
will accommodate the 24 chambers H Fig. 8.
If the chambers and barrels be round in section, two barrels will accommodate
seven chambers Fig. 9, one barrel to the central chamber, and the other barrel to
the other six chambers arranged round the central chamber. Four barrels will
accommodate nineteen chambers Fig. 10, the twelve extra chambers being arranged

page_text: round the six just mentioned. In employing round barrels and chambers it will be
better to omit the central chamber and the barrel coinciding with it, and let one
barrel accommodate six chambers, Fig. 14, three barrels accommodate eighteen
chambers Fig. 10 five barrels (or six if preferred) accommodate thirty-six Fig. 11.
By allowing the barrel or barrels to revolve round a suitable axis, one barrel will
accommodate 18 chambers H. Fig. 10 and two barrels will accommodate 36 H
Fig. 11.
If the chambers and barrels be square in section, three barrels will accommodate
9 chambers Fig. 12-the central chamber will coincide with one barrel, and of the
other eight chambers arranged round the central one, the four arranged laterally
will in turn coincide with a second barrel, while the four arranged corner-wise will
in turn coincide with a third barrel. Round this square of nine chambers, may
be arranged another series of 16 chambers each four of which will in turn coincide
with a barrel. Thus, on the square method nine chambers require three barrels,
25 chambers require 7 barrels. By omitting the central chamber, and the barrel
coinciding with it 2 barrels will accommodate 8 chambers Fig. 12, 4 barrels will
accommodate 16 chambers Fig. 13, 6 barrels will accommodate 24 chambers
Fig. 12, and so on. By allowing the barrel itself to revolve round a suitable
axis H Fig. 13, one barrel will easily accommodate 16 chambers on the square
method.
As all the chambers in the "revolving-part," are to be loaded at the same time,
it is important that the sheet-metal or other material of which it is made
should have a thin front edge so as easily to cut through the elastic material of
which the pellets are made. The triangular shape of the chambers and the
hexagonal shape of the revolving-part lend themselves well to this, as there are no
useless interstices. The square shape of chambers, and revolving-part, also lends
itself well to it. But in arranging cylindrical chambers in the revolving-part
there are awkward interstices between every three or more contingent cylinders
Fig. 9 and these interstices must be cleared each time the barrels are emptied, so
as to keep the cutting free. To keep the cutting free when the barrel and
chambers are cylindrical, a simple method is to have the revolving-part of the same
size, crosswise, as seven cylindrical barrels arranged in a bundle Fig. 9 so that the
section of the revolving-part will be a central circle with six other equal circles
arranged round it. If now the central circle be taken away Fig. 14 we shall have
six equal circles suitably placed. But where every two of these six circles meet,
there will be two thicknesses of metal. To get rid of this double thickness I form
the six cylindrical chambers out of two strips of sheet metal Figs. 15A 16A
about inch wide and rather longer than three times the circumference of the
barrel. Each strip is easily bent by dies Figs. 15", 16". Thus :-
:-a short straight
end, circle convex, circle concave, circle convex circle concave convex,
concave, convex, short straight end. The two short straight ends Jare
casily fastened together, either by soldering, or by turning one over the other.
This not only keeps the strip to its proper shape but also forms a projection F to
slip into the slots E upon the rear edge of the case, as mentioned above.
Two pieces cut and bent as just mentioned will fit together and form six
cylindrical chambers Fig. 14 if six narrow slots K have been previously cut in
cach strip at the places where one strip will cross the other. The length of each
narrow slot is equal to about half the width of the strip and the said slots can be
made at the same time as the strips themselves are cut out of the metal sheet.
When two strips cut and bent as just mentioned are put together they may be
fixed together by a touch of solder, or by turning the edge of one over the edge of
the other or in any other suitable way. When the six chambers have been
emptied of their pellets the central star-shaped interstice must also be emptied
before reloading. This is easily done and the piece of elastic material which is
expelled therefrom is large enough to form a pellet.
The method just described of forming six round chambers is applicable to other
numbers and to other shapes of chambers.

page_text: The ramrod may be made single or double, triple, quadruple or sextuple so as to
fire off one, two, three, four, or six pellets at the same time.
I do not restrict myself to the exact details and arrangements herein shown and
described as the same may be varied and the apparatus modified in various ways
according to circumstances without departing from my invention, but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is―
1. In a toy-pistol or revolver the case having in the circumference towards the
rear, slots or grooves or equivalents, in number equal to the number of chambers
or groups of chambers in the revolving part, to accommodate one or more
projections on the revolving part as herein sliown and described.
2. In a toy-pistol or revolver a barrel of triangular section.
3. In a toy-pistol or revolver a barrel of square section.
a
4. The revolving-part made of sheet metal or of a material capable of bearing
thin front edge for loading by cutting as described, and having one or more radial
projections or equivalents to slip into the slots or equivalents in the case, as
described and shown.
5. The revolving-part of hexagonal section having chambers of triangular section
as described and shown.
6. The method of forming a revolving-part of two strips of metal cut, slotted,
bent, fastened, and joined together as shown and described, whether the number of
chambers in the said revolving-part be six or any other number larger or smaller,
and whether the shape be round triangular or square.
7. The revolving part of square section, having chambers of square section as
described and shown.
8. The combination of a triangular barrel with a revolving-part containing
triangular chambers as described and shown.
9. The combination of a square barrel with a revolving-part containing square
chambers as described and shown.
10. The combination of one or more barrels revolving round a fixed axis, with a
case suitable for a revolving-part containing a large number of chambers, as
described and shown.
11. The combination of two, three, four or six ramrods together as explained.
12. The method of loading a toy-revolver by inserting in the case a revolving-
part which has already been used as a cutter, and the chambers of which have been
charged by pressing or cutting as explained.
13. In a toy revolver the employment of refils each containing several chambers
loaded, and ready to be inserted in the case.
Dated this 20th day of August 1891.
WILLIAM WALTON.