Improvements in or appertaining to Horizontal Bars and Swings for Athletic and Recreative' Purposes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 9th June, 1898-Accepted, 9th July, 1898
Improvements in or appertaining to Horizontal Bars and Swings
for Athletic and Recreative' Purposes.
I, THOMAS BUDWORTH SHARP, of County Chambers, Martinean Street, Birmingham,
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 :-
Horizontal bar arrangements usually consist of a couple of uprights with a circular
bar placed horizontally from the top of one upright to the top of the other upright.
Sometimes there is only the one bar with its two uprights: sometimes a second set
is placed square and parallel with the first set; and sometimes there is a third set
and so on When there are more than two sets they are usually placed equi-
distant
Now, my invention consists in making these bars so that they can rock in which
case they may be said to become a sort of inverted swing
I will first describe my improvements as applied to a single set of horizontal bars.
On or about the ground level 1 place two brackets, each with a hole near its top,
which hole is about say about 2 or 3 feet from the bottom of the bracket each of my
uprights consists of a bar with a weight (which is variable) at its bottom end, each
bar has a hole through which a pin can be placed for the purpose of attaching it to
its bracket This hole is say about 18 to 30 inches from the lower end of the upright
and at the top of the upright which is say about 6 feet or more above the pin hole,
I place a suitable eye hole through which the end of the horizontal bar may be in-
serted and fixed. The weight which I attach to each upright I make sufficiently
heavy to keep the whole arrangement vertical even when one or more performers are
suspended from the bar above
It will thus be seen-(when I have connected by their respective pivots the two up-
rights to their respective brackets and have placed balance weights sufficiently heavy
on the bottom ends of each of the uprights and have connected the tops of the
uprights with the ends of the horizontal bar) that I have what may be termed an
inverted swing'
"
66
If a performer now takes hold of the bar he can by working his body about pro-
duce a sort of swaying motion, and with a considerable amount of working, he can
cause the bar to describe a sort of "rainbow" and can bring his feet in contact with
the ground back and front
I will now describe my improvements as applied to more than one set.
In these cases, I place two or more sets, square and parallel with one another and
connect them (preferably at their tip ends) with connecting rods or links, thus, a sort
of parallel motion 18 produced, and, the two or more horizontal bars move as if they
were one and each describes its own rainbow and all the rainbows are of the same
radius, and the same length as one another
In the case just described (as all the horizontal bars whether still or moving have
no relative motion to one another beyond that produced by the partial rotation
of each bar on its own axis) many performances which are done on the stationary
bars can be gone through on my rocking bars.

page_text: Of course it is obvious that all the apparatus described in this Specification can
be worked wholly or partially by any suitable agency other than the musculai
exertions of the user or users of the said apparatus
I will now further proceed to describe my invention with the aid of drawings
in which the same letters refer to the same parts throughout.
Drawing No 1 shews two elevations of a single set of my bars at rest, wherein
each bracket 18 marked A A, the hole in each bracket with its accompanying pin or
pivot is marked B; each upright is marked CC, each eye hole wherein the bar end
19 inserted 19 marked D while the horizontal bar itself is marked EE and the balance
weights marked F will be seen to consist of a main weight and a series of lighter
plates; these lighter plates being for the purpose of varying the weights to suit the
requirements of the performers.
Diawing No 2 shews a side elevation of a single set on the rock For letter
references refer to description of Drawing No. 1
Drawing No. 3 shews a side elevation of my apparatus when a common swing has
been attached to the overhead bar In this case the swinger can "akım " along in a
nearly straight line close to the ground for a considerable distance There 18
practically no limit to the length of the skum which may be increased at will by
lengthening the bars and swing ropes. The swing bar is marked G and the swing
ropes are marked H H For other letter references refer to description of Drawing
No. 1.
Diawing No 4 is a fiont elevation of my apparatus with the swing just referred
to attached. In this case the apparatus 18 at rest For letter references see
description of Drawings Nos. 1 and 3
Drawing No. 5 is an elevation of a set of three bars at rest They are all connected
by connecting 1ods or links marked I I For other references see description of
Drawings No 1
"
Drawing No 6 18 an elevation of the same on the swing, showing how they all
move together somewhat after the manner of a parallel motion. For letter references
see description of Diawings Nos. 1 and 5
Drawing No. 7 is a plan of Drawing No. 5
Drawings Nos 1 and 5
For letter references see description of
Drawing No. 8 shews a swing boat to carry one or more persons attached by ropes
to the top ends of a double set of uprights The boat will skim along the ground in
a nearly straight line after the manner of the swing illustrated in Drawings Nos 3
aud and while doing so will remain practically in a horizontal position. The boat
itself 15 shewn at J J For other letter references see description of Drawings Nos.
1 and 5.
Drawing No 9 is another view of the apparatus shewn on Drawing No. 8. For
letter references see description of Drawings Nos. 1, 3 and 8.
Drawing No. 10 shews the apparatus illustrated by Drawings Nos. 8 and 9 while on
the swing or rather "skim." It will be seen that the boat J, J, maintains its
horizontal position however much the uprights G, G, may rock
see description of Drawings Nos. 1, 3, 5 and 8.
For letter references
Drawing No 11 is a sectional elevation through the centre of one of the uprights
Heie A A is the bracket standing in the ground B is the whole through which the
più or pivot passes. In this case the hole is tapped and the pin is enlarged under
the head which enlarged part 18 screwed so that the pin may be firmly attached to
the bracket. CC 18 the upright with its eyehole at the tip through which the
horizontal bar E, E passes. K is a pin to secure the bar end into the eye hole
the weight attached to the upright by the bolt L
F' 18
Instead of the weight being variable its centre of gravity may be moved further
from or nearer to the pivot on which the upright rocks on the two methods may be
combined namely a variable weight with a variable distance between the centre of
gravity of the weight and the centre of the rocking pivot
In place of weights I may use springs or elastic cads or other suitabe apparatus but
I prefer the weights.

page_text: If I like I may have no balance weights at all or no equivalents for them but I may
merely have a rocking shaft worked by a bell crank lever and manual power or by the
direct action of an hydraulic or steam cylinder but nothing equals the balance weights
worked either by the person or persons using the apparatus or by others not using it
or by both combined.
The bars in compound sets may of course be independent of one another (that is,
not connected by links or connecting rods) or they may be connected so that they do
not rock after the manner of a parallel motion as for instance, if the connecting rod
or link were placed above the pivots on one set and below the pivots on the adjoining
set; in this case when 1ocking takes place the two horizontal bars affected by the
ariangement while describing thein "Rainbows" will alternately approach and recede
from one another
In the early part of this Specification I have spoken of the rocking pivot being a
certain distance from the bottom of the bracket and of the horizontal bar being about
six feet or more higher up. Of course it must be understood that these figures are
merely intended to give an idea of what the apparatus would be for an ordinary
athlete For stage or open air exhibitions these figures would be considerably
increased while for nursery purposes they would be materially decreased.
I have also spoken of the weights being heavy enough to keep the sides vertical
even when the performers are resting on them but in special cases the said weights
may be purposely made rather too light for this purpose. In these cases the
performers would have to assist the action of the weights with a jump or be assisted
by an outside agency.
Of course it is obvious that my invention may be modified in many ways but I have
here described enough to make its nature evident and there would be nothing gained
by my describing a thousand or more of the possible modifications to which it lends
itself.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1 The manufacture and use of a horizontal bar for athletes and others which
bar turns about a pivot or pivots situated below the level of the said bar and
preferably so balanced by weights springs or their equivalents that it has a tendency
to remain above the level of the said pivot or pivots but which can be caused to
describe a rainbow or part of a rainbow by the muscular exertions of the body or
bodies of the athlete or athletes or others who use it or which may be partially or
wholly worked by an independent source of power substantially as described and
illustrated and for the purposes set forth.
2 The manufacture and use of two or more horizontal bars for athletes and others
which turn about pivots situated below the level of the said bars and so connected
that they move in a known ratio to one another and preferably so balanced by weights
springs or their equivalents that they have a tendency to remain above the level of
the said pivot or pivots but which can be caused to describe rainbows or parts
of rainbows by the muscular exertions of the body or bodies of the said athlete or
athletes or others who use them or which may be partially or wholly worked by
an independent source of power substantially as described and illustrated and for the
purposes set forth.
3 The manufacture and use of a swing so attached to such a horizontal bar as I
claim under Claim Number or attached to the tops of such verticals as I employ to
carry such horizontal bar and which swing may be caused to have a running or
skimming motion by the muscular exertion of the body or bodies of the athlete or
athletes or others who use it or which may be partially or wholly worked by an
independent source of power substantially as described and illustrated and for the
purposes set forth
4. The manufacture and use of a swing or swing boat so attached to such horizontal
bars as I claim under Claim Number 2 or attached to the tops of such verticals as I
Q

page_text: employ to carry such horizontal bars and which swing may be caused to have a
running or skimming motion by the muscular exertion of the body or bodies of the
athlete or athletes or others who use the apparatus or which may be partially or
wholly worked by an independent source of power substantially as described and
illustrated and for the purposes set forth.
5. The means and mode of inverted or rainbow swinging substantially as described
and illustrated.
6. The means and mode of skimming along in a straight line or somewhat in a
straight line or in a crooked line as opposed to the ordinary method of swinging
around a fixed overhead point substantially as described and illustrated.
Dated this Eighth day of June 1898.
THOMAS BUDWORTH SHARP