Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Apr., 1887
Complete Left, 25th Jan., 1888
Complete Accepted, 16th Mar., 1888
1, HERBERT MORTON, of 385 Collyhurst Road, Manchester in the County of
Lancaster, Iron Moulder do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to arrangements for propelling toy horses and cycles by the
action of the rider.
When applied to a toy horse, the horse is mounted on a truck with wheels or other-
wise supported by wheels. I cut a vertical slot through the body of the horse and
pass through the slot a lever capable of rocking on a horizontal pin. The saddle is
fixed on the top of this lever and a cross-bar supporting a pair of stirrups is fixed to
the bottom. Near the bottom end a connecting rod is attached to the lever and
connected at its other end to a crank pin in the back wheel or a crank on the wheel-
axle, or two connecting rods may be used attached to crankpins in the wheels or to
cranks on the wheel axle. The parts are so arranged that the lever slants from the
saddle to the stirrup in a forward direction when the saddle is in its lowest position on
the back of the horse. As the rider rises or stands up in the stirrups, his weight
causes the lower end of the lever to move downwards and backwards and the saddle
to be lifted, and as he sits down on the saddle the lever is pressed back into its original
position, so that by imitating the movement of a rider on horseback he causes the
lever to make an oscillating motion, which being communicated by the connecting
rod or rods to the crank or cranks turns the latter and causes the wheels to rotate and
the toy horse to move forward.
The toy horse may be fitted with two, three or four wheels and may be used as a
separate toy or cycle, or several of them may be combined in a round about.
A similar arrangement of rocking lever and saddle may be applied for propelling
bicycles and other cycles.
1

page_text: Means for Propelling Toy Horses and Cycles.
I, HERBERT MORTON of 385 Collyhurst Road, Manchester in the County of
Lancaster, iron moulder 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 arrangements for propelling toy horses or cycles by the
action of the rider. When applied to a toy horse, the horse is mounted on a truck
with wheels or otherwise supported by wheels. 1 cut a vertical slot through the body
of the horse and pass through the slot a lever capable of rocking on a horizontal pin.
To the top of this lover a saddle is attached & to the bottom of the lever a crosshar
supporting a pair of stirrups. Near the bottom end a connecting rod is attached to
the lover and connected to a crankpin on the back wheel or a crank on the wheel
axle, or two connecting rods may be used attached to crank pins on the wheels or to
cranks upon the wheel axle. The parts are so arranged that the lever slants from the
saddle to the stirrups in a forward direction when the saddle is in its lowest position
on the back of the horse. As the rider rises or stands up in the stirrups, his weight
causes the lower end of the lever to move backwards and the saddle to rise, and as
he sits down on the saddle the lever is pressed back into its original position, so that
by imitating the movement of a rider on horse back he causes the lever to make an
oscillating motion, which being communicated by the connecting rod or rods to the
crank or cranks, turns the latter and causes the wheels to rotate and the horse to move
forward.
The toy horse may be fitted with two, three or four wheels and may be used as a
separate toy or cycle, or several of them may be combined in a round about.
On the drawing appended hereunto my improved rocking saddle is shewn applied
to a toy horse fitted with three wheels.
a is the slot cut through the body of the horse, & the rocking lever, e the pin passed
through the slot upon which the lever vibrates. The lever is hinged at the top to
the saddle frame d at its back, and the frame d is hinged at the front end to another
lever e vibrating on a pin 'so that in rocking the saddle retains an approximately
horizontal position. It may however also be fixed rigidly upon the top of the lever b.
The lower end of the lever is forked and has connected to it by means of a pin the
connecting rod g attached at its other end to the cranked axle upon which the
wheels are fixed. The axle revolves in brackits or bushes attached to the back
legs of the horse. The forked ends of the lever are prolonged and bent round the
belly of the horse as shewn and support the stirrups kk. The front wheel runs in
bearings in the forked end of the vertical rod m passing through the body of the
horse and fitted at the top with the cross-handle n for steering the horse. The action
of the rider and apparatus for propelling the horse is as herein before described.
The same arrangement may be applied for propelling cycles without the body of
the horse. The levers & and e are in that case supported by pins passed through the

page_text: backbone of the machine, which may be formed with slots for the levers to pass
through, or the levers may be formed with forks or slots embracing the backbone or
may be made double with a space between them for the backbone to pass through.
In some cases I attach the connecting rod to the top end of the lever b instead of to
the bottom end, this arrangement being more particularly applicable to cycles arranged
similarly to the toy horse shown on the drawing with the driving wheel or wheels
behind and the steering wheel or wheels in front, while if the driving wheel or wheels
are in front and the steering wheel or wheels at the back, the connecting rod is
preferably attached to the bottom end of the lever b.
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,
Firstly, propelling toy horses and cycles by means of a vibrating lever carrying
a saddle at the top and stirrups at the bottom, substantially as herein before
described.
Secondly, the combination with a vibrating lever with saddle and stirrups of a
connecting rod or connecting rods actuating a crank or cranks for propelling toy
horses and cycles, substantially as hereinbefore described.
EMMOTT & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.