Improvements in Movable Targets.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Nov., 1899-Accepted, 13th Jan,, 1900
[Communicated from abroad by EDWARD E. THRESHER, of Kalamazoo, County
of Kalamazoo, State of Michigan, United States of America, Inventor.]
Improvements in Movable Targets.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 indestructible representatives of living birds to be
used for trap shooting.
They are designed to take the place of live birds in trap shooting tourna-
ments, thereby doing away with the cruelty exhibited by sportsmen in live
bird shooting. These indestructible birds are also designed to take the place
of the so called pigeons or targets made of clay which are now used by many
sporting clubs.
The principle feature of this invention is to produce a target made of alluminum
or other suitable metal in the form of a pigeon or bird, and so constructed and
carried from one point to another that when shot it will collapse and drop with
its wings hanging down, thus indicating a kill, or in other words that the target
has been hit, but at the same time the body of the bird will be suspended by
its tail on the carrier-plate or wire to its destination, from which point it is to
be reversed and sent back or sent in other directions.
In the drawing forming a part of this specification Fig. 1 is a perspective view
of the bird-target as when mounted upon its carrier-bar or plate and being
moved from one destination to another, during which transit of the bird the
sportsman is to shoot; Fig. 2 is a perspective representation of the bird after
having been hit and in its collapsed condition carried by the tail; Fig. 3 a
detached perspective view of the tail; Fig. 4 a side elevation of the bird with
parts broken away showing construction; Fig. 5 an enlarged broken plan of
the carrier-bar in Fig. 1, as when attached to the body of the bird, but being
inverted in Fig. 5; Fig. 6 same as Fig. 5, but as it is before being attached to
the bird, and Fig. 7 is a section on line c-c in Fig. 5, and this would be an
enlarged section, but inverted, on same parts in Fig. 1.
Referring to the parts of the drawing pointed out by numerals, 8 is the
hollow body of the bird-target made in two halves and then put together, the
separation of which halves, or the division between them, is indicated by line 9,
in Figs. 1 and 2. Each half is provided with a cutaway portion in the top,
which when the halves are put together as in Fig. 1 and 2, form a slot 10, to
receive the locking part of the carrier-bar.11.
It is the design to send or move the bird-target from one point to another,
or station, by means of a suspended traveling wire or cable 12, Figs. 1 and 2.
The carrier-bar 11, is attached to this cable 12, and the central part of the
carrier-bar 13 which is a little lower than the ends of said carrier 11 is passed
into the slot 10 and detachably locked or attached therein as follows.

page_text: Coupled to the lock-portion 13 of this carrier-bar 11, is a revolvable disk 14,
Figs. 5 and 6, said disk having a stem or axis 15, extending up through the
lock-part 13 of the carrier-bar 11 as in Figs. 1, 2, and 7, said stem 15 being
provided with a thumb head 16 to turn it by, by taking hold of it with the
thumb and fingers when locking the body of the target-bird to the carrier-bar.
Lock-rods 17, 18, 19, and 20 are pivotally attached to the revolvable disks 14,
at 21, 22, 23, and 24.
These lock-rods extend in different tangential directions from the periphery
of the disk 14, to such points as will admit of their outer ends catching under
the body of the target-bird at the edges of the slot 10. In Fig. 5 the ends of
the lock-rods are thrown out as they would be when supporting the body of the
bird. These ends of the lock-rods are dotted in at 25, 26, 27, and 28 in Fig. 2.
At these ends of said lock-rods are shoulders 29, internally in the body of the
bird and shown dotted as in Fig. 2, and against which shoulders the ends of
the lock-rods contact when the target-bird is shot as explained in the operation.
The wings of the bird are pivoted to the body by means of the arms 31, pivoted
at 32, said wings being pointed out by character 30, Figs. 1, 2, and 4.
The inner ends of these arms 31 catch under the carrier-plate or bar 11 as
in Fig. 1, when the body of the bird is attached so as to hold the wings up as in
the position of flying.
The tail 33 of the bird-target is provided with a prong 34, this being what is
called long, and a short prong 35, in the manner or form of a hair pin, and these
prongs are inserted into holes in the rear end of the body as in Figs. 2 and 4,
the detachable tail itself being shown in Fig. 3.
The long prong 34 is provided with a spring 36, so that the tail will be held
in place and at the same time be capable of being pulled out and reversed or
turned over (the short prong coming out of its hole and the long prong remaining
in its hole) when reversing the bird to send it in another direction.
The tail hangs on the carrier-bar between the prongs of said tail as in Fig. 2,
when the bird drops after being hit by the sportsman.
It will be noticed by reference to Fig. 1 that the slot 10 is larger than that
part of the carrier-bar in and over said slot. For this reason when the target-
bird is hit by the sportsman at any point the body of the target-bird will be
moved or thrown out in the opposite direction from said point of hitting and
will cause one of the shoulders 29 to push on its particular locking-rod, which
action will turn the disk 14 and draw in all the other locking-bars. To
illustrate-In the operation I first raise the bird-target as in Fig. 1 and turn
the disk 14 so as to throw the ends of the locking-rods 17, 18, 19, and 20 out
as in Fig. 5, thus catching them under the upper edges of the body each side
of the slot 10 as in Fig. 2, at 25, 26, 27, and 28 as before explained. Then as
stated, when the bird-target is hit. the disk 14 will turn in the other direction
and release the outer ends of the locking-rods from engagement with the body
and the same will fall as in Fig. 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention 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:
1st An indestructible movable target, suspended by wire or cable, said target
constructed to change position and condition to indicate a kill when disturbed by
contact of the missel shot, without destroying the target for further use, sub-
stantially as set forth.
2nd The combination of an indestructible representation of a bird-target,
means for detachably attaching it to a travelling suspending means, and a
reversible tail for suspending it to the suspending means after the bird-target
drops, substantially as set forth.
3rd A travelling suspended wire or cable, a carrier plate or bar attached to
said cable, a bird-target adapted to be detachably attached to said carrier-plate,

page_text: a reversible tail astride of said carrier-plate, and wings pivoted to the body and
having arms adapted to catch under the carrier-plate to hold the wings up until
the bird-target falls, at which time the wings also fall, all combined, substantially
as set forth.
4th-The combination of the hollow indestructible bird-target having the
top slot, a carrier-plate smaller than the slot, a revoluble disk attached to the
carrier-plate, and locking-rods pivotally attached to the disk and adapted to
detachably engage the under sides of the edges of the slot in the top of the
target, substantially as set forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.