US586339A - Puzzle - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

M. E. B. LANE.

' PUZZLE.

No. 586,339. Patented July 13, 1897.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MARY E. BRADLEY LANE, OE TRANSIT, OHIO.

PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters :Patent No. 586,339, dated July 13, 1897.

Application filed June l, 1896. Serial No. 593,805. (No model.)

To all whom ir' may concern,.-

Be it known that I, MARY E. BRADLEY LANE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Transit, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Puzzles; 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.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in puzzles; and it has for its object, among others, to provide a simple cheappuzzle that will afford amusement to the old and young and at the same time be instructive.

A further object of the puzzle is to illustrate a scientific problem in such a way as to be instructive, amusing, and entertaining not only to students in geography, but to families and social gatherings. It constitutes what call The Globe Trotter. The parts are so arranged that the Trotter leaving New York at exactly twelve oelock noon, he keeps directly under the sun all the way around the earth. With him, therefore, it is always noon, and as midnight is always exactly antipodal to noon it is therefore always exactly opposite The Globe Trotter. Every day begins exactly at midnight and therefore a new day always begins exactly opposite The Globe Trotter.

I design the puzzle, preferably, to illustrate scientic principles and to be used at institutions of learning and social gatherings for entertainment and instruction. The following axioms are to be considered:

First axiom: The Globe Trotter leaves New York at noon Sunday. When he gets back, it is Monday noon. He must have encountered Monday noon somewhere. Where was it? Second axiom: As The Globe Trotter is all the time directly under the sun, he must encounter Monday exactly at noon, and it will remain Sunday noon until in an instant it becomes Monday noon.

Third axiom: Wherever midnight is a new day begins, and as midnight moves from east to west a new day begins east of any given place before it begins at such given place.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter appear, and the novell features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification, and in which- Figure l is a plan View of my improvement. Fig. 2 is a cross-section.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in the two views.

Referring now to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates a globe encircled at the equator by a ring B, on which are marked the twenty four hours equally spaced. On top of this ring is a movable figure C-for instance, a man called The Globe Trotter, with the sun directly over his head. On this ring outside the circle upon which are marked the twenty-four hours are two equal divisions, each marked from l to 12.

E is a pointer mounted on the pivot e on the globe.

The object of the puzzle is'to start The Globe Trotter from any given point, say New York, at noon, and traveling from east to west, say starting on Sunday, to determine where The Globe Trotter will first encounter Monday. Suppose, for instance, that as midnight travels from east to west and therefore a new day always begins east of any designated place before it begins at such designated place, supposing Pekin to be exactly antipodal to New York, Monday would begin at Pekin on the supposition that every day begins exactly at midnight and therefore a new day always begins exactly opposite The Globe Trotter;7 but as midnight travels from east to west Monday must begin at some point east of Pekin, and yet both axioms are equally true. Therefore to solve the puzzle requires the reconciliation of the two axioms or the overthrow of one of them.

Modifications in detail may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacricing any of its advantages.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is l l. A puzzle comprising a globe, a ring encircling the same and divided into spaces representing the twenty-four hours of the day, a movable object mounted on one end of IOO a pivot passed through the center of the globe, said object being adapted to travel over said ring, and a pivoted pointer mounted ou the opposite end of said pivot and traveling with said movable object and curved to conform to the curvature of the globe, substantially as described.

2. A puzzle comprising a globe, a ring encircling the same and divided into spaces representing the twenty-four hours of the day, and a movable object mounted on one end of a pivot passed through the center of the globe and said object being adapted to travel over said ring, and a pivoted pointer mounted on the opposite end of said pivot and traveling with said movable object and curved to conform to the curvature of the globe7 and a space on said `ring divided into- MARY E. BRADLEY LANE.

lVituesses:

H. V. SMITH, JOEL BROWN.

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