Amusement device.

Application filed July 8, 1907. Serial No. 382,608.

To aU whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Percy W. Fuller, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massa5 chusetts, have invented an Improvement in Amusement Devices, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like letters on the drawing representing like parts. 10 This invention relates to amusement devices of the type which involve a passengercarrying car traveling on a track which may have grades therein, and the objects of the invention are to provide a novel form of car 15 for carrying the passengers and also to provide novel means for propelling the car up the grades of the track so that the car may be kept in continuous motion on the track.

The car herein shown comprises a car body 20 or outer shell or barrel adapted to turn bodily about its axis and to roll along the track and a non-rotary passenger-containing compartment within the shell or body. I propose to employ electricity as the motive 25 power for propelling the car up the track, and in the form of the invention herein shown the motor devices are so arranged that when the car reaches the foot of an upgrade the electric propelling means is auto30 matically rendered operative, and when the car reaches the top of the incline, said propelling means is automatically rendered inoperative.

I will first describe one embodiment of my 35 invention and then point out the novel features thereof in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a view of a car embodying my invention showing the car on the track; Fig. 2 is a vertical section through 40 Fig. 1 Fig. 3 is a side view of the car; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail of the controlling device for the motor; Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view showing in plan a length of track, and showing the field element of the motor arranged 45 on the up-grades of the track; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing a portion of the armature element of the motor which is carried by the car; Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the position of the field ele⁵⁰ ments of the motor on the up-grades of the track.

The track 3 on which the car runs may have any arrangement as is commonly found in roller coasters and similar amusement devices.

⁵⁵ In Fig. 7 I have illustrated diagrammatic ally a track which comprises upward inclines 5 and downward inclines 6, said inclines being connected by more or less level portions of the track. The track is also shown as an endless track over which the car may travel, al- 60 though this is not essential to the invention.

The car comprises a body or shell 7 cylindrical in cross section and arranged with circumferential ways 8 that fit ana roll on the rails 3 of the track. This barrel or shell is 65 open at both ends and may be made in any suitable way. Within the barrel or shell is the passenger-receiving cage 9 which is also circular in shape and which is supported upon rolls 10 carried by the barrel or shell. The 70 passenger-receiving cage is provided with seats 11 on which passengers may sit and if desired may be weighted slightly on one side so that the seats-will always be maintained in the proper position, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. 75

Since the passenger-receiving cage 9 rests freely on the rolls 10, and since it is weighted, it will follow that as the barrel or shell 7 is rolled along the track 3, the cage 9 will maintain its position with the seats vertical. The 80 passenger-receiving cage 9 also has open ends and the seats 11 are arranged facing the open ends so that the passengers in the car may look out through said open ends as the car travels.

The outer shell 7 may also be provided with 85 guide rolls 12 which are adapted to bear on the end flanges 13 of the passenger-receiving cage, said end rolls serving to prevent the cage from moving longitudinally of the barrel.

In most amusement devices of the roller 90 coaster type the car for carrying passengers has to be raised to the highest point of the track either by means of an elevator or by means of a cable or some similar contrivance either of which requires the constant attend- 95 ance of an attendant. It is one of the objects of my invention to provide a novel means for propelling the car up the incline, which means is rendered operative automatically when the car reaches the bottom of the 100 incline and is rendered inoperative automatically as soon as the car reaches the top of the incline.

In'the preferred embodiment of my invention I propose to·use for this purpose an elec- 105 trie motor of the induction type and to provide such a construction of motor that it will be automatically thrown into operation at the foot of the incline, thereby to propel the car up the incline, and will be automatically HO

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901,435 brought into engagement with the shoe 25 -rendering operative other windings of the armature. The result is that the various windings of the armature are progressively rendered operative and inoperative and the car 70 is thus propelled along the track. In constructing .an apparatus embodying my^invention the laminated cores 15 for the field elements and the winding 16 therefore will be placed along those portions of the track 75 having an up-grade or over which the car has to be propelled, such field elements being designated by shaded areas 15 in Fig. 7, for instance. .

The winding 16 of one section or the field so element may be connected by suitable wares 26 with the -windings of another section or the field element of the motor, and thus all the sections of the field element may be rendered operative from the same generator 18. 85 As the contacts 22 pass out from engagement with the shoe 25, there is a likelihood that injurious sparking may occur, and to blow out any sparks that may be thus generated, I propose to employ the well-known magnetic 90 blow-out 27 as shown diagrammatically m Fig. 4, and which is located at the end of the shoe, said blow-out being connected by wires 29 and 33 with the main portion of the shoe and with an insulated section 30 thereof. 95 The induced current generated in the wand20 rendered inoperative at the top of th© incline thereby permitting the car to roll down the downward incline by .force of /gravity 1 © accomplish this result with this type of mo5 tor, I propose to arrange the field element of the motor along the track at the upwardlyinclined portions thereof, and to arrange the armature element of the motor .upon .the car, said armature element being made to encircle the barrel of the car. I have also provided means to render operative that portion of the armature element which is adjacent, the track when the car is passing over the portion of the track having tne field element therein, the other portions of said armature element being inoperative. Referring again to the drawings, the field element of the motor comprises a laminated iron core 15 extending along the track and having the winding 16 thereon, the wires 17 of which are connected to a generator 18. I propose to make the induction motor of the three-phase type and therefore there will be three separate windings 16, and the generator 18 will be a three25 phase alternator. , ' The armature element of the motor whien is mounted on the ear comprises a laminated iron core 19 whieh encircles the car body and which has extending across the same the wires 20, all of which are connected at one end to .the common wire 21 that encircles the ear and each of whieh is connected at its other end to a contact member 22. These contact members are shown as arranged on the inside of the barrel 7 between the latter and the passenger-receiving cage 9, there being as manv contacts 22 as there are cross wires 20, and each contact being connected to its wire by a connection 23. The contacts 22 are all msu40 lated from each other as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Carried by the cage 9 is a contact shoe 25 which is yieldingly held against the contacts 22 by means of suitable sprmgpressed pins 28. This shoe is of a length to bridge the contacts 22 on the armature element which are adjacent to the track 3 and by its engagement with said contacts, said shoe closes the circuits of those wires 20 which are adjacent the track. When the car is moving over a portion of the track having the field element therein, a magnetic flux will be generated in those armature windings which are connected or closed by the shoe 25 and the co-action of the magnetic flux thus generated and that generated in the field winding will cause the car to be propelled in a well-known manner. .

By employing the shoe which is earned by the non-rotary part 9 of the car the armature windings whieh-are adjacent to the track and those only, will be rendered operative and as fast as the contacts pass out .from engagement with the Shoe, the windings connected to said contacts are rendered inoperative, but simultaneously other contacts are ing of the blow-out will cause any sparks which may be generated to be instantly blown out before any damage will occur.

This type of induction motor has the advan- 100 tage that no control thereof is necessary for as soon as the ear reaches the portion of the track having a field section therein the motor automatically becomes operative to propel the car forward and as soon as the car leaves 10 5 a portion of the track having a section of the field element therein the action of the motor automatically ceases. By properly placing these sections of the field element of the motor the ear may be kept continuously in motion throughout the track as wall be obvious.

I have not attempted herein to show- all forms of-my invention, but have selected the preferred embodiment thereof to illustrate the principle of the invention. I do not, therefore,- wish to be limited to the construction shown. . .