Improvements in Spinning Tops.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Aug., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 22nd May, 1896-Accepted, 27th June, 1896
Improvements in Spinning Tops.
I, MARSHALL ARTHUR WIER, of Elm Bank Place Kingston-on-Thames, in
the County of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates more especially to what are known as tune or harmony
playing tops, but it is also applicable to what are known as chameleon or colour-
changing tops, and it consists of improved mechanism for moving the reed plate in
relation to the slotted plate, or the slotted plate in relation to the reed plate, or
one part of any sound producing device that may be employed, in relation to the
other part of such device, as the top revolves, so as to cause such sound-producing
device to produce a more tuneful or more perfect harmony than heretofore, or in
the case of a chameleon or colour-changing top for moving one coloured part in
relation to another coloured part so as to cause a gradual change of colour or
pattern as the top revolves.
For these purposes I employ a top constructed of any suitable material and of
any suitable shape, provided with sound-producing or colour-changing devices
much in the manner heretofore practised; but for the purpose of moving one part
of the sound-producing device in relation to another, or one part of the colour-
changing device in relation to another, I employ the following arrangements:-
A cylinder is secured in the top, concentric to the axis thereof; in this cylinder
is fitted a piston which is constantly pressed towards one end of the cylinder by
means of a spring. The act of placing the handle in position for spinning the top
forces the piston from one end of the cylinder to the other, expelling the air
therefrom through a valve, or otherwise, and compressing or extending the afore-
Baid spring. When the top is set in motion, and the spinning handle has been
removed, the spring begins to force or draw the piston slowly back to its normál
position at the opposite end of the cylinder, the movement of the piston being
regulated by the speed at which air is admitted through a small opening into the
cylinder to fill up the partial vacuum created by the action of the spring on the
piston, or to force out air previously drawn in. This slow rectilinear motion of
the piston may be transmitted to the movable part of the sounding or colour-
changing device by various means; for example, if the required motion is circular,
it may be produced by means of a screw-thread formed on or in the piston rod,
and taking into a correspondingly threaded hole in the centre of the part to be
moved. Or, if the required motion is rectilinear the part to be moved may be
connected directly to the piston or piston rod so as to move therewith at the same
speed and to the same distance, or it may be connected to the piston or piston rod
by levers or other devices so as to be moved at the same or a different speed, and
in the same or a different direction.
Dated this 92nd dow of August 1895

page_text: improvements in Spinning Tops..
I, MARSHALL ARTHUR WIER, of Elm Bank Place, Kingston-on-Thames, in
the County of Surrey, Engineer, 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 more especially to what are known as tune or harmony
playing tops, but it is also applicable to what are known as chameleon or colour-
changing tops, and it consists of improved mechanism for moving the reed-plate in
relation to the slotted plate, or the slotted plate in relation to the reed plate, or
one part of any sound-producing device that may be employed, in relation to the
other part of such device, as the top revolves, so as to cause such sound-producing
device to produce a more tuneful or more perfect harmony than heretofore; or,
in the case of a chameleon or colour-changing top, for moving one part of the top
in relation to another, so as to cause a gradual change of colour or pattern as the
top revolves.
For these purposes I employ a top constructed. of any suitable material and of
any suitable shape, provided with sound-producing or colour-changing devices
much in the manner heretofore practised; but for the purpose of moving one part
of the sound-producing device in relation to another, or one part of the colour-
changing devices in relation to another, I employ arrangements of the kind shown.
in the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a vertical section of a tune or harmony playing top constructed in
accordance with the present invention, Figure 2 a similar section but with certain
of the parts in positions different from those shown in Figure 1,
Figure 3 is a plan of the reed-plate employed in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 4 is a vertical section of a similar top with certain of the parts somewhat
differently arranged
Figure 5 is a vertical section of another modification,
Figure 6 a partial plan taken on the line X-X of Figure 5, with the upper
part of the body of the top removed,
Figure 7 a section taken at line Y-Y of Figure 5,
Figures 8 and 9 elevations of the reed-plates employed in Figure 5, and.
Figure 10 is a vertical section of another modification.
Figure 11 is a plan of a chameleon top constructed in accordance with the
invention Figure 12 is a sectional elevation of same taken on the line Z-Z.of.
Figure 11 and
Figure 13 is a detail view showing one method of constructing the piston G.
Referring in the first instance to Figures 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, A is the
body or casing of the top constructed preferably of sheet metal spun to shape in
the usual way. B is a plate dividing the body of the top into upper and lower
compartments, and provided with oue or more slots C through which air can pass
to the reeds D of the reed plate D' arranged to revolve slowly below the slotted
plate B. Holes A¹ are formed in the upper compartment of the top, and holes A 2
are formed in the lower compartment thereof. When the top is caused to spin
rapidly on its peg E the centrifugal force causes air to be ejected through the
holes A 2, and. air enters to fill the partial vacuum thus produced, through the
holes A'. This air finds its way through the slotted plate 13 and reed-plate D'
into the lower compartment of the body of the top, causing the reeds D to produce
musical or other sounds in the well known way.
As above stated the reed-plate D' is caused to rotate slowly below the plate B
in order that the reeds D may pass successively below the slot C in the plate B,

page_text: and it is the means for effecting this movement of one part of the sound producing
device in relation to the other that forms the chief feature of my invention. For
this purpose I employ the following arrangements :-
A cylinder F is secured in the body of the top concentric to the axis thereof;
in this cylinder is fitted a piston G which is constantly pressed towards one end of
the cylinder (the upper end in the arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2) by
means of a spring H. The pistou rod G₁ of the piston G passes up into a guide
tube A 3 secured to the upper part of the body A of the top, the upper part of the
guide tube A3 or a tube A4 surrounding it foraning the cylindrical surface on
which the string is wound in order to spin the top. When the top is to be spun
the lower end of the spinning handle, which consists of a cylindrical piece of
wire I, is pressed downwards into the guide tube A 3 and acting against the upper
end of the piston rod G¹ forces the piston G downwards in the cylinder F from
the position shown in Figure 1 into the position shown in Figure 2 expelling the
air from the lower part of the cylinder through a valve J or otherwise, and com-
pressing the spring H. When the top has been set in motion, and the spinning
handle I has been withdrawn from the guide-tube A 3, the spring H begins to
force the piston G slowly back to its normal position at the upper end of the
cylinder F, the movement of the piston being regulated by the speed at which air
is admitted through a small opening (not shown in the drawings) into the lower
part of the cylinder to fill up the partial vacuum created by the action of the
spring H on the piston G.
This slow rectilinear motion of the piston G may be transmitted to the movable
part of the sounding device by various means, for example, if the required motion
is circular as in the case of the reed-plate D' in Figures 1 and 2, the rectilinear
movement of the piston may be converted into the required circular motion of the
reed-plate by means of a screw thread G 2 formed on or in the piston rod G', a
projection D2 (see Figure 3) in the central hole of the reed-plate D' taking into
the said screw-thread.
In the modification shown in Figure 4 the spring H is caused to act upon a
collar G 3 secured on the piston rod G instead of on the piston direct. In this
figure the movable reed-plate D¹ is placed above the stationary slotted plate B and
the air enters the top through the holes A¹ at the lower part of the top instead of
at the upper.
In the modification shown in Figure 5 the reed plate D3 are connected directly
to the piston G and partake of its rectilinear motion, and. the corresponding slotted
plates B are secured in the top parallel to them. In this case the reed-plates
form the piston rod of the piston, and the air is admitted to the reeds through a
hole or holes K (see Figure 6) in the top thereof and is ejected as before through
the holes A 2. In Figure 5 the two reed-plates are so constructed and arranged
that as the piston rises a reed in each comes alternately opposite to the slot C in
its corresponding slotted plate.
Instead of a cylinder and piston, a bellows may be employed to effect the motion
of the part to be moved as shown in Figure 10 for example in which F1 represents
a bellows the bottom of which is secured to the lower part of the casing A of the
top, and is provided with an outlet valve J similar to that shown in Figures 1, 2,
4 and 5, and the top of which has secured to it the screwed rod G' which serves to
rotate the tune plate D₁ in the same manner as explained in reference to Figures 1
and 2. The bellows F¹ contains a spring H which tends constantly to keep the
bellows expanded. The frame P, which is fixed to the lower part of the casing A
of the top, serves to guide the rod G¹ and also to support the tune plate D¹ in
position. The action is precisely similar to that described in reference to
Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5, that is to say when the rod G¹ is pressed down by the wire I:
the air in the bellows is forced out through the valve J, and the spring H then
begins to expand the bellows again, forcing up the rod G and thereby turning the
tune plate as before described, the speed of ascension of the rod G¹ being

page_text: governed, as before by the entrance of air into the bellows through a very small
hole not shown in the drawing. Other parts of the top shown in Figure 10
corresponding to similar parts in Figures and 2 are marked with similar letters
of reference.
The chameleon top shown in Figures 11 and 12 acts in a manner similar to that
above explained in reference to musical tops, that is to say, the piston G and
piston rod G¹ cause the disc L to rotate slowly with reference to the main disc M
of the top as the latter spins. The disc L is coloured in concentric strips or in
any other way according to fancy, and when put in place on a disc P, which
engages with the screw thread of the piston rod G', one portion of it is masked by
the opaque segmental cover N; but as it is slowly rotated independently of the
top, while the latter is spinning rapidly, the parts at first hidden by the cover N
come into view, and other parts at first in view become hidden by the said cover,
and the colours and their arrangements aniong themselves change continuously as
the top goes on spinning.
The disc L is caused to rotate along with the disc P by means of a pin Q on
the latter taking into a hole in the former; and the disc L, which may be made of
paper for example, may be put in place on the disc P and round the piston rod G¹
and removed therefrom, when required, by being cut through radially from the
centre to the circumference.
The piston G may conveniently consist of a thin metal thimble G4 (Figure 12)
attached to the piston rod G and filled in with "durable" or other similar
material G 5 which material extends above such thimble as shewD.
In the arrangements above described in connection with musical tops the slotted
plate is fixed to the body of the top, and the reed-plate is moved in reference to
the slotted plate; but it is obvious that the reed-plate might be fixed, and the
slotted plate be moved in reference to it. Similarly in the arrangement above
described of the colour-changing top the segmental cover is fixed to the top and
the coloured disc is moved in reference to the cover, but it is obvious that the
coloured disc might be fixed and the cover.moved in reference to it.
Furthermore it is obvious that instead of the movement of the piston by the
spring being regulated by the flow of air through a small opening into the cylinder
behind the piston, the regulating effect may be produced by the flow of air,
previously drawn in or compressed in the cylinder, outwards through a smalĺ
opening from such cylinder in front of the piston.
Similar letters of reference relate to like parts in all the figures of the
drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
First. In a musical, or colour-changing top the improved mechanism for moving
one part thereof in relation to another part, which consists of an air compressing
or exhausting device actuated by a spring but having its movement governed and
regulated by the entrance of air into such device or by the escape of air therefrom,
and devices for transmitting the motion of the air compressing or exhausting
device to the part to be moved, substantially as described.
:Second. In a musical, or colour-changing top, the improved mechanism for
moving one part thereof, in relation to another part, which consists of a cylinder,
a piston therein urged towards one end of such cylinder by a spring, but having
its movement governed and regulated by the entrance of air into the cylinder
behind the piston or by the escape of air from the cylinder in front of the piston,
and devices for transmitting the motion of the piston to the part to be moved,
substantially as described.
Third. In a musical, or colour-changing top, the improved mechanism for
moving one part thereof, in relation to another part, which consists of a bellows

page_text: actuated by a spring, but having its movement governed and regulated by the
entrance of air thereinto, and devices for transmitting the motion of the bellows to
the part to be moved, substantially as described.
Dated this 22nd day of May 1896.
M. A. WIER,
Per W. H. Beck,
115 Cannon Street, London, E.C., Agent.