US767281A - Amusement device. - Google Patents

Description

No. 767,281. PATENTED AUG. 9, 1904. W. J. KEEFE.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1904.

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No. 767,281. PATENTED AUG. 9', 1904, W. J. KEEFE.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 22, 1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- UNITED STATES Patented August 9, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. KEEFE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF TVVO-THIRDS TO GEORGE O. HALE AND FRED W. GIFFORD, OF KANSAS CITY, M-IS- SOURI.

AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 767,281, dated. August 9, 1904.

' Application filed March 22,1904. Serial No. 199,423. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. KEEEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at 1733 Carr street, St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amusement Devices; and I do hereby declare the following-to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Hy invention relates to improvements in amusement devices.

It has for its object to construct an illusion amusement device in which a person can be made to feel that he is traveling through a foreign country and seeing its sights and at the end of the journey arrives at some noted city, town, or place of amusement.

The invention consists of a pavilion or inclosure having a practically unbroken wall, preferably circular in plan, picture-machines arranged in position to throw a continuous picture upon said wall, the picture of one machine blending into the picture of the next machine, and so on to any desired extent, a dark tunnel constructed outside of said wall, a track or waterway in said tunnel, a conveyance running in said tunnel, said conveyance being open at the sides and the forward end of said conveyance substantially filling the opening in the tunnel, a picture-machine mounted upon the rear end of said conveyance, so as to throw moving pictures upon the Walls of the tunnel while the conveyance is moving, means of entrance and exit to said tunnel, and means of delivering the passengers through said tunnel into said pavilion.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating the preferred embodiment of my invention, Figure l is a top plan view of an amusementpavilion embodying the principles of my invention, parts being broken away to economize space and other parts being broken away to show the details of construction. Fig. 2 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the parts shown in Fig. 1.

is a side elevation of the car and track. Fig.

4 is an end elevation of the car, showing the entrance to the tunnel.

Fig. 3'

located at the center of the pavilion, so that the pictures from said machines may be projected upon the wall 2, the picture of one machine blending into the picture of the next,

and so on, to produce a continuous picture of.

any desired size thereon. The pictures may be animated or stationary, as desired. The tunnel 4 is constructed around the pavilion, the outer wall of the pavilion serving as the inner wall of the tunnel. The inner faces of the tunnel-walls are continuous and adapted to serve as a background or a screen upon which the pictures may be projected from a moving-picture machine. The track 5 is laid in said tunnel and is purposely uneven, so that when the cars are moving slowly over the track the passengers will be shaken to give them the impression of moving rapidly.

The car 6, which is mounted to run upon the track 5, is provided with seats 7, preferably arranged in rows raised above each other for the accommodation of passengers, the sides of said car being open and the front end 8 being of a size and shape to substantially fill the opening of the tunnel, as shown in Fig. 4. Said car has mounted on its rear end a moving-picture machine 9, which is adapted to throw pictures upon one or both of the walls of the tunnel, so that as the car movesforwardly a continuous scenic picture may be thrown upon the walls of the tunnel to give the passengers the impression that they are ac-' tually traveling through the country and visiting the scenes being shown. The pavilion is provided with an entrance 10 to admit the passengers to the car, and after the passengers have passed through the tunnel an entrance 11 admits them to the interior of the pavilion.

The pictures will be taken from a moving train and when projected upon the walls of the tunnel will be very realistic. The front end of the car being solid shuts ofi the view beyond therange of the picture-machine, and

the impression will be substantially the same as though the passengers were looking out of the car-window, traveling through the country, and seeing the scenes being shown.

It is obvious that many changes may be made in my invention without departing from the spirit or sacrificing the advantages thereof. For instance, the size and shape of the pavilion and tunnel may be changed, the car may be shaped like a boat, so that the passengers would have the impression of sailing down a river or across a larger body of water, &c. I therefore reserve the right to make such changes as fairly fall within the scope of my invention.

Suitable means may be provided for blowing air into the faces of the persons on the car to give them the impression of moving rapidly through space, whereas the car is in reality moving slowly.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, -is

1. In an amusement device, a dark tunnel or passage-way, a conveyance adapted to move through said tunnel, and a picture-machine mounted upon the conveyance and adapted to project scenes upon the walls of said tunnel, substantially as set forth.

2. In an amusement device, a passage-way, a conveyance adapted to move through said passage-way, and having its front end. adapted to substantially fill the passage-way, and means of projecting animated pictures upon the walls of said passageway, substantially as set forth.

3. In an amusment device, a passage-way, a conveyance adapted to move through said passage-way, and having its front end solid and adapted to substantially fill the passageway, and means of projecting animated pictures upon the walls of said passage-way and upon the front end of said conveyance, substantially as set forth.

4. In an amusement device, a pavilion having the inner face of its wall adapted to receive pictures, a dark tunnel or passage-way constructed around said pavilion, a car adapted to pass through said tunnel, a picture-machine mounted upon said car and adapted to project pictures upon the walls of said tunnel, means of entrance to said tunnel, and means of passage from said tunnel to said pavilion, substantially as set forth.

5. In an amusement device, a pavilion having the inner face of its wall adapted to receive pictures, a dark tunnel or passage-way constructed around said pavilion, a car adapted to pass through said tunnel, a picture-machine mounted upon said car and adapted to project pictures upon the walls of said tunnel, means for actuating said car While the picturemachine is in operation, means of entrance to said tunnel, and means of passage from said tunnel to said pavilion, substantially as set forth.

6. In an amusement device, a passage-way, an irregular track in said passage-way, a car adapted to move over said track, a movingpicture machine mounted upon said car and means for actuating said car while said picture-machine is in operation so that the passenger is given the impression of traveling rapidly through the country and visiting the scenes shown.

7. In an amusement device, a pavilion having a practically continuous wall, a passageway constructed around said pavilion, the outer wall of the pavilion forming the inner wall of said passage-way, a car adapted to pass through said passage-way, and a movingpicture machine mounted on said car and adapted to project pictures upon said latter walls.

8. An amusement device, comprising a pavilion or inclosure having a practically unbroken wall, picture-machines arranged in position to throw a continuous picture upon said wall, a dark tunnel constructed outside of said wall, a track laid in said tunnel, a car adapted to run upon said track, said car being open at the sides, and its forward end substantially filling the opening in the tunnel, a picture-machine mounted upon the rear end of said car and adapted to throw moving pictures upon the walls of the tunnel while the car is moving, so as to give the impression to the passengers that they are traveling through the country and visiting the scenes being depicted upon the walls, means of entrance and exit to said tunnel, and means of delivering the passengers through said tunnel into said pavilion, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM J. KEEFE.

WVitnesscs:

L. B. CovELL, E. J. RAo'riiL.

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