Tech-Quiz--What is It? (#7, 1893)

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post   [Part of the Tech-Quiz series.]

Generally with these questions I provide a detail of a patent drawing and from that the application is supposed to be derived.  Here, though, is the full drawing, and is seems pretty straightforward, I think, though the ultimate use of the contraption might not be so obvious.  Or perhaps it is?   What was the intended purpose of this object?

 

Answer in the "extended reading" section, below:

 

Yes, it was a stage device to simulate flight, and patented in 1893.