US1340282A - Velocipede-horse - Google Patents

Description

D. H. MARKM ANN AND M. A. DEMMLER.

VELOCIPEDE HORSE.

APPLICATION FILED mun, 1919-.

1,340,282. Patented May 18,1920.

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lfax A17 emmlen D. H. MARKMANN AND M. A. DEMMLER.

VELOCIPEDE HORSE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 7,1919.

1,340,282. Patented y 18, 1920.

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I 1741 Al7emmlen UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL H. MARKMANN AND MAX A. DEMMLERI, 013 ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

VELOCIPEDEJ-IORSE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 18, 1920.

Application filed June 7, 1919. Serial No. 302,547.

T 0 all whom. it may concern:

Be-it known that we, DANIEL H. MARK- MANN and Max A. DEMMLER, citizens of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Velocipede-Horses, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to velocipedes of the type that consist of a toy horse provided with wheels, and means for causing the legs of the horse to rock or move up and down, thus giving the impression of a running horse, when the velocipede is in motion.

One object of our invention is to provide a velocipede horse of the general. type referred to that can be manufactu'red at a low cost and in which the means for rocking or moving the legs of the horse is of novel construction and so designed that it is practically noiseless when in operation.

Another object is to provide a velocipede horse of the general character above referred to, which is so constructed that the leg operating mechanism is completely concealed from view. Other objects and desirable features of our invention will be hereinafter pointed out.

Fi ure 1 of the drawings is a side elevationa view of a velocipede horse constructed in accordance with our invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section, illustrating the propelling mechanism and the means for actuating the legs of the horse.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal longitudinal sectional view, taken through the body of the horse; and

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view, partly in vertical section, illustrating a slight modification of our invention.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3 of the drawings, which illustrate one form of our invention, A designates the body of the horse, B and C the front and rear legs, respectively, D the neck and E the head. The front and rear legs are pivotally mounted on the body A and said body is mounted on a pedestal F carried by a truck G provided with front and rear wheels H and I, respectively, the head E of the horse being rigidly connected to a vertically-disposed steering shaft 1 which is connected with the front wheels H in such a manner that, said front wheels will turn and thus change the path of travel of the velocipede when the head E of the horse is turned to the right or to the left.

In the form of our invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 the propelling mechanism consists of a drive shaft K rotatably mounted in bearings on the pedestal or on the truck and provided with a sprocket wheel 2 that cooperates with a sprocket chain 3 which extends around a sprocket wheel 4 rigidly connected to the rear axle 5 to which the rear wheels I are secured, said drive shaft K being provided with crank arms 5 that carry foot pedals 5 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The means that we prefer to use for actuating the legs of the horse consists of a horizontally-disposed shaft L journaled in bearing members 6 arranged on the inside of the pedestal F, as shown in Fig. 2, and provided with cranks 7, as shown in Fig. 3, that are connected by means of links 8 to rigid arms-9 on the front and rear legs of the horse, one of the cranks 7 beingconnected by means of two links to the right front and rear legs and the other crank 7 being connected by means of two links to the left front and rear legs. The pedestal F is hollow and the body A of the horse is also hollow, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to conceal the leg operating mechanism and certain parts of the propelling mechanism from view. Rotary movement is imparted to the shaft L so as to cause the front and rear legs of the horse to rock upwardly and downwardly, and thus give the impression of a running horse, when the velocipede is in motion. In the form of our invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3 the operating shaft L of the leg actuating mechanism is driven by means of a sprocket chain 11 that passes around a sprocket wheel 12 on the shaft L and around a sprocket wheel 13 on the drive shaft K. If desired, however, the operating shaft L of the leg actuating mechanism can be operated directly from the sprocket chain of the propelling mechanism. Therefore, in Fig. A of the drawings we have illustrated a slight modification of our invention, wherein the operating shaft of the leg actuating mechanism is provided with a sprocket wheel 12, that cooperates directly with the sprocket chain 3'" that drives the rear aide to Which the rear Wheels I are connected, said sprocket chain passing around a sprocket Wheel 2 secured to a drive shaft K that is mounted in bracket 14 on the truck G of the velocipede.

A velocipede horse of the construction above described can be manufactured at a low cost on account of its simple construction; the leg operating mechanism is practically noiseless when in operation, due to the fact that the front and rear legs of the horse are directly connected by means of links With cranks on an operating shaft that is driven from the propelling mechanisin, and still another desirable feature of a velocipede horse of the construction illus trated in Figs. 1 to 3 is that the leg operating mechanism is completely concealed from view and the drive shaft K is arranged in direct vertical alinement with the rider seated on the saddle M of the horse.

Having thus described. our invention, What We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A velocipede horse, comprising a truck, a propelling mechanism for said truck composed of a drive shaft, a sprocket Wheel on said shaft, a sprocket chain that travels over said sprocket Wheel, oscillating legs on the body of the horse, an actuating means for said legs consisting of a rotatable shaft, a sprocket Wheel on said rotatable shaft arranged in engagement With and driven by the sprocket chain of the truck propelling mechanism, and means pivotally connected to said rotatable shaft and to the front and rear legs of the horse for rocking said legs when the truck propelling mechanism is in operation.

l 2. ii velocipede horse, comprlsing a body portion, a truck provided With a pedestal that carries said body portion, a propelling mechanism for said truck consisting of a sprocket chain and a drive shaft provided with a sprocket Wheel for imparting movement to said sprocket chain, a second sprocket wheel mounted on said pedestal above said sprocket chain and arranged in engagement With said sprocket jchain so that it will be actuated directly by said sprocket chain, oscillating legs on the body of the horse, and links pivotally connected to the legs of the horse and joined t said second sprocket Wheel so as to cause the of the horse to oscillate or rock when the propelling mechanism for the truck is operated.

8. A velocipede horse, comprising a truck, a propelling mechanism for said truck composed of a drive shaft, a sprocket wheel on said drive shaft and a sprocket chain actuated by said sprocket Wheel, a hollow pedestal on said truck, a horse body mounted on said pedestal and provided with oscillating legs, a crank shaft journaled in said pedestal and provided with a second sprocket Wheel arranged above said sprocket chain With its teeth in engagement with said chain so as to be operated directl by said chain, and links for connecting said crank shaft to the legs of the horse so as to cause the legs to rock when the propelling mechanism for the truck is operated.

DANIEL H. MARKMANN; MAX A. DEMMLER.

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