Patented Nova 21 1916.

ATTORNEYS
JOHN C. DETTRA OF OAKS PENNSYLVANIA ASSIGNOR TO JOHN C. DETTRA & COMPANY INC. OF OAKS PENNSYLVANIA A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.
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TOY OR. THE LIKE:
Specification of Letters Patent.
Patented Nov. 21 1916.
Application filed October 6 1915. Serial No. 54 311.
To all whom it may concern: 7
Be it known that I Jolla' C. DETTRA a citizen of the United States and a resident of Oaks county of Montgomery and State
5 of Pennsylvania have invented a certain new and useful Toy or the like of which the following is a specification reference being had to the accompanying drawings.
A principal object of my invention is to
l0 provide a toy or the like preferably formed to substantially resemble a piece of ordnance which shall be capable of automatically discharging a plurality of projectiles in rapid succession; and to provide a toy
of this character which shall be attractive
in appearance which may be manufactured
and sold at a low price and which shall
be devoid of intricate and complicated parts
which when in operation might be liable to
get out of order or become damaged by
rough usage.
My invention further includes all of the other various novel features of construction and arrangement hereinafter more definitely specified.
In the accompanying drawings in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive is illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention Fig. 1 being a top plan view thereof; Fig. 2 a side elevation with certain portions broken away for the sake of clearness; Fig. 3 a vertical longitudinal section and Figs. 4 and. 5 fragmentary vertical longitudinal sections illustrating the operation of certain parts of the 35 device. In Figs. 6 to 10 inclusive a slightly
modified form of the invention is shown
said figures corresponding respectively to
the views of the preferred embodiment here-
tofore more specifically described.
40 Referring now more especially to the form
of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to
5 inclusive the same may comprise a plu-
rality of similar barrels 1 each preferably
formed to substantially imitate the barrel 45 of a cannon and each being provided with
a suitable longitudinal bore 3 preferably
extending through its entire length. Super-
imposed vertically over the barrels and
maintained in rigid relation therewith are 50 shorter barrels or magazines 5 and 6 each
having a suitable longitudinally extending bore 7 of substantially the same diameter as bore 3 one or more magazines being provided for each barrel employed in the de-vice. In that form of the invention shownin Figs. .1 to 5 inclusive each barrel is provided with two superimposed magazines but any number of magazines may be utilized as desired. The magazines and barrels are fixedly positioned with relation to each 60 other by any suitable means those shown in the drawing comprising cross pieces or tie bars 10 and 11 suitably mortised into the walls of the barrels and magazines and extending transversely with ";respect to their longitudinal axes the bars being se-cured in position by a suitable adhesive or otherwise. If desired however any other suitable means may be utilized for securing the magazines and barrels together said 70 means preferably being such as to also maintain each barrel and its respective magazine or magazines in fixed relation with its adjacent barrel and its magazines so that all of the barrels and magazines when assem- 75 bled shall form a substantially unitary structure.
The barrels and their respective magazines may preferably be mounted on a suit-able carriage that shown in the drawing 80 comprising a bottom 12 and side pieces 13 and 14 extending vertically upward there-from and secured in fixed relation there-with by any suitable means thus forming a sort of trough preferably just wide enough 85 to snugly accommodate the rear ends of the barrels and a portion of the lower magazines 5 when assembled and secured together as hereinbefore described. Adjacent the forward end of the carriage a suitable block 90 16 is secured upon the upper surface of the bottom 12 between the side pieces 13 and 14 to form a rest or support for the rear ends of the barrels the upper surface of the block being preferably inclined as clearly 95 shown in Fig. 3 so that when the barrels are resting thereon the forward ends or muzzles thereof will be permanently directed upwardly at a suitable angle. The barrels may be secured between the side 100 pieces 13 and 14 and in fixed relation with the carriage by any suitable means that shown in the drawing comprising a pair of pins 18 extending transversely through the side pieces and into the walls of the lower 105 magazines and if desired the forward end of the carriage may be mounted upon a pair of suitable wheels 20 pins 21 passing through the wheels and into the block 16 forming axles for the former upon which 110
15 20-25 30
55
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they may rotate to enable the carriage to be drawn over the surface upon which the wheels rest. If desired a small post 22 may be provided adjacent the rear end of the
5 carriage extending vertically upward from the bottom thereof to more graphically enhance the resemblance of the device to a piece of ordnance.
Each magazine is closed at its rear end
10 and adapted to contain within its bore 7 a plurality of projectiles 25 which in practice may consist of suitable wooden balls or the like of a diameter slightly less than the diameters of the bores 3 and 7 so that the
15 projectiles will loosely fit within both the magazines and the barrels and for the purpose of permitting the projectiles to consecutively pass from the magazines to the interior of the barrel on which such maga-
20 tines are respectively imposed and prior to their being discharged therefrom as herein-after described a passage 27 of a diameter equal to that of the bore extends downwardly from adjacent the rear ends of the
25 bores of the magazines to the bore 3 in the subjacent barrel.
Suitable means are provided for the purpose of discharging projectiles alternately from the barrels when a pair of barrels are
30 employed or in consecutive rotation from the several barrels when more than two are. utilized such means comprising a suitable spring actuated plunger disposed in each barrel and suitable plunger actuating means
35 operating in conjunction with the plungers as hereinafter described.
More particularly and considering for the
moment but a single barrel for example
the barrel nearest the observer when the de-
40 vice is in the positions shown in the draw-
ings a plunger 30 preferably formed of flat
steel or other suitable material is disposed
in the rear end of the barrel substantially
longitudinally thereof and is provided at
45 its forward end with a turned-over portion
forming a head 31. A suitable block 33 is
fixedly disposed in the bore 3 adjacent the
rear end of the barrel and maintained there-
in by any suitable means as for instance a
50 pin 34 extending through the block and the
walls of the barrel the upper side of the
block being cut away to provide a passage
35 through which the body of the plunger
may freely extend. A suitable coil spring 36 .
55 is disposed around the plunger within the
barrel between the head 31 and the forward
end of the block 33 against which the spring
n.ay be compressed by the retraction of the
plunger through the passage 35. In the
5º form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 5
inclusive the material forming the plunger
adjacent the rear end thereof is directed
upward substantially normal to the axis of
the body of the plunger as at 37 and at a
G5 point 38 again directed substantially longi-
tudinally as at 39 thus forming a sort of hook for a purpose to be hereinafter de-scribed.
The length of the plunger is such that when the spring '36 is expanded and the 73 plunger thereby carried to its forward or normal position as shown in Fig. 2 the spring will extend across the mouth of the passage 27 but when the plunger is retracted as hereinafter described to the position 75 shown in Fig. 3 the spring will he compressed sufficiently to clear the mouth of the passage.
For the purpose of consecutively retracting the plungers in the several barrels a suit- 80 able crank 40 is provided and journaled in the side pieces 13 and 14 of the carriage as at 41 and 42 a portion of the crank being extended outside of the side piece 13 then directed substantially parallel therewith for 85 a suitable distance and then turned outwardly to form a handle 44 whereby the crank may be' conveniently manually rotated. When a pair of barrels are employed
in the device as illustrated in the drawing y^ the crank may be formed with a double throw as best shown in Fig. 1 the crank pins 45 and 46 being arranged to alternately engage portions 37 of the plungers 30 in the respective barrels as the crank is rotated 95 which operation serves to retract the plungers alternately rearwardly from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the position shown in Fig. 3 when the crank is rotated in the direction of the arrows. Of course if a loo greater number of barrels than two are employed the crank will be formed with a corresponding number of crank pins one for each plunger and the same instead of being oppositely disposed will preferably be arranged symmetrically about the crank circle.
The -operation of this form of the device may be briefly described as follows: The plungers 30 being in their normal or for-ward position a plurality of projectiles 25 1 are introduced into the muzzles of the magazine or magazines. The first projectile so introduced will roll toward the rear of the magazine owing to its inclination and pass from the bore 7 into the passage 27 and 115 thence downwardly to the mouth thereof from whence however it is prevented from passing into the bore 3 of the subjacent barrel by its ' contact with spring 36 as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The next projectile 120 introduced into the muzzle of the magazine will come to 'rest. upon the first projectile partially within passage 27 and partially within bore 7 and the next projectile will come to rest against the second and so on 125 until both magazines are completely filled with projectiles as shown in Fig. 2. It will be understcod that in loading the magazines it is generally customary to fill the lower magazine first and thereafter the 130
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magazine or magazines imposed thereon
although it is really immaterial whether-the
upper magazines are first loaded and then
the lower as in either case the projectiles will assume substantially the position shown in Fig. 2 and of course a lesser number of projectiles than would be necessary to entirely fill all the magazines may be utilized if desired. It will also be understood that preferably projectiles are placed in the magazines over all of the several barrels before the discharge of the projectiles is begun but of course if desired only a single set of the magazines may be loaded. Presuming how-ever that all of the magazines have been filled as heretofore described if the crank 40 he now rotated in the direction. of the arrows the crank pin 45 for example will engage the plunger 30 with which it is in 20 longitudinal alinement as shown in Fig. 2
and the further rotation of the crank will
serve to retract the plunger to the position
shown in Fig. 3 thus compressing the spring
36 sufficiently to open the mouth of passage 25 27 and permit the lowermost projectile to
pass into the barrel in front of the head 31.
Still further rotation of the crank there-
after causes the crank pin 45 to traverse the
surface of the portion 37 of the plunger tc 30 assume the position shown in Fig. 4 after
which a very slight further rotation of the
crank will cause the crank pin to pass the
point 38 and thus release the plunger which
under the action of the compressed spring 35 36 is carried forward as shown in Fig. 5 to
forcibly discharge the projectile from the
barrel.
It will be evident that a continued rota-
tion of the crank will cause a similar opera-40 tion to take place when the crank pin 46
engages its respective plunger 30 in the ad-
jacent barrel and that a continuous rotation
will thus result in the consecutive retrac-
tion and release of the plungers in the sev-
45 eral barrels as the respective crank pins en-
gage the plungers therein resulting in the
consecutive discharge of the projectiles from
the barrels of the device until all of the pro-
jectiles in the magazines have been fired.
In practice it is found that the projectiles
in the upper magazine are generally ex-
hausted before the projectiles are drawn
from the lower magazine but it is of course
immaterial from which magazine the supply
55 of projectiles is first exhausted. Further-
more as in practice and with the parts
properly adjusted the crank may be rotated
with considerable speed it will be evident
that a substantially continuous stream of 60 projectiles may be discharged from the de-vice the duration of the discharge depending solely upon the number of projectiles which have been placed in the magazines prior to the operation of the crank.
In Figs. 6 to 10 inclusive is shown aslightly modified form of the invention comprising a slightly different form of plunger releasing means the device being further-more illustrated with but a single instead of
a plurality of magazines superimposed on 70 each barrel. In this form of the invention the barrels and carriage may be constructed substantially similar to the barrels and carriage in that form of the device previously described and each magazine may be se- 75 cured to its respective barrel by a cross bar 10 and the barrels and magazines rigidly positioned on the carriage as in the preferred embodiment of the invention. The arrangement of the passage 27 through which the 8(9 projectiles can. pass into the barrel and of the plunger 30 and coil spring 36 may also be in all respects similar to the corresponding parts illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive but the rear end of the plunger instead 85 of being bent in the manner hereinbefore described may preferably be directed upwardly as at 60 so as to form a slightly acute angle with the body of the plunger to a point
62 and thence curved rearwardly and down- 90 wardly on substantially the arc of a circle as at 63 and terminated at point 64. In this form of the device for the purpose of positively releasing the plungers after they have been retracted by the operation of the 95 crank to substantially the limit of their rear-ward travel a transverse bar 70 is disposed between side pieces 13 and 14 of the carriage in such position that the lower part of the portion 63 of the ends of any of the plungers 100 will engage the bar when the plunger is retracted as shown in Fig. 8. As the crank is continued in its rotative movement in the direction shown by the arrow the retracted plunger will he depressed the surface of. 105 portion 63 traveling beneath the bar 70 and the crank pin relatively rising along the surface of portion 60 until the parts assume the position shown in Fig. 9 when a slight further rotative movement of the crank will no cause the crank pin to pass the point 62 and thus release the plunger which under the action of the compressed spring 36 is carried forward as shown in Fig. 10 to discharge the projectile in the manner herein- 115 before described.
It will be evident that the continuous rotation of the crank 40 will result in the consecutive retraction of the plungers in the several barrels as the respective crank pins engage portions 60 of the plungers and that the retracted plungers will be thereafter re-leased through the engagement of portion. 63 with the bar 70 as hereinbefore described resulting in the consecutive discharge of the 125 projectiles from the several barrels as in the
form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1
5 10 15
50
65
120
to 5 inclusive.
While I have designated the invention herein as a toy and while it is my present 130
1 205 166
intention to utilize the device more especially as such it will be evident that with the apparatus constructed upon a larger scale it might readily be employed for the dis-
5 charge of a substantially continuous stream of heavier projectiles such as small bombs and the like in active warfare or for other purposes. Furthermore while I have here-in illustrated and described certain embodi-
10 meats of my invention in considerable detail I do not thereby intend to limit myself to those precise forms of the device as it will be evident that suitable changes may be made both in the forms thereof and in the
15 design and operation of the actuating mechanisms and that a greater or less number of barrels may be utilized the crank being suitably modified for this purpose and provided with a suitable number of crank pins
20 and that the number of magazines employed in connection with each barrel may be varied as desired and that the releasing means de-scribed in connection with either form of the invention may be utilized in connection
25 with the other form and that other suitable changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended
30 claims.
Having thus described my invention I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States:
1. A toy or the like comprising a pair of
35 barrels a separate magazine superimposed on each barrel and communicating with the interior thereof a spring actuated plunger in each barrel and means comprising a crank having a double throw operative to
40 alternately actuate said plungers in said barrels to discharge projectiles therefrom as supplied from said magazines.
2. A toy or the like comprising a pair of laterally disposed barrels a separate maga-
45 zine superimposed on each barrel a passage from each magazine to its respective barrel a coil spring in each barrel normally closing said passage a plunger in each barrel ex-tending rearwardly therefrom a carriage a
50 crank having a double throw mounted on said carriage and operative to alternately engage the rear ends of said plungers and means to release said plungers when retracted by the operation of said crank.
55 3. A toy or the like comprising a plu-
rality of barrels a magazine superimposed
on each barrel a carriage means to secure
said barrels and magazines in fixed relation
therewith a spring actuated plunger in each
60 barrel having a hook-shaped end exterior
of said barrel a crank operative to alter-
nately engage the ends of said plungers and
a bar secured to said carriage and operative
to engage the hooked ends of said plungers 65 when retracted by the operation of said crank.
4. A toy or the like comprising a plurality of laterally disposed barrels a separate magazine superimposed on each barrel a carriage means to maintain said barrels and magazines in fixed angular relation with said carriage means operative to permit the transfer of a projectile from the magazines to their respective barrels a spring actuated 75 plunger in each barrel manually operative means operative to retract said plungers and a transversely extending bar operative to release said plungers from said first mentioned means at the extremity of their re- 80 tractive movement.
5. A toy or the like comprising a pair of laterally disposed barrels a carriage a magazine superimposed on each barrel a passage extending from the interior of each 85 magazine to the interior of its respective barrel a coil spring disposed entirely with-in each barrel and normally closing said passage a plunger in each barrel extending through said spring and having a- head 90 within the barrel and a hook-shaped end without the barrel a crank journaled in said carriage and having a plurality of crank pins operative to alternately retract said plungers and a transversely extend- 95 ing bar fixed with respect to said carriage operative to release said plungers when drawn by said crank to the limit of their rearward movement.
6. A toy or the like comprising a plu- 100 rality of barrels a magazine superimposed on each barrel a passage extending from each magazine to the interior of each barrel a coil spring and a plunger in each barrel normally closing said passage means comprising a crank operative to retract said plunger and compress said spring to open the mouth of said passage and a transversely extending bar operative to automatically release said plunger at the ex- 110 tremity of its retractive movement.
7. A toy or the like comprising a plurality of barrels a carriage a separate magazine disposed above each barrel and having a passage leading to the interior 115 thereof a spring concealed in each barrel normally operative to close said passage plungers operative to compress said springs and means comprising a crank journaled in said carriage operative to consecutively re- 120 tract said plungers to compress said springs and open said passages.
In. witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 29th day of September A. D. 1915.

JOHN C. DETTRA.
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