Jumping toy

Application filed April 3, 1923. Serial No. 629,599.

To dll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Oliver P. Spilman, a citizen of the United States, residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State 5 of Texas, have invented new and useful Improvements in Jumping Toys, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a jumping toy which may be shaped and colored 10 to represent a frog or other quadruped, and which may be used by itself as a toy, or in connection with other pieces to constitute a game.

The object of the invention is to provide a 15 toy of this type with means by which the animal may be manually actuated to perform one or more jumps of indeterminate length, at the same time turning a somersault.

A further object of the invention is to provide, in connection with such a toy, a number of flat pieces or discs which may represent pools of water and which are adapted to be arranged at various points on 25 a surf ace to be played upon so that the animal, by a succession of somersaults, may be caused to progress successively from one disc to another. Thus, the number of jumps or somersaults necessary to progress from one ³⁰ disc or pool to another will depend upon the skill of the player. The game may be played upon a table or any other surface with the discs or pools at various places and numbered to indicate the order in which they are to be played. A certain number may be designated as par for a given hole in the same manner as in golf.

The invention will be best understood from the following detailed description 40 taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which represents the preferred form of the invention.

In the drawing:—

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a dining 45 room table on which the pieces are arranged for playing.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the jumping toys in the form of a frog.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of so the same.

Fig. 4 is a plan view thereof with a portion of the body broken away to show the interior construction.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the base 55 block comprised in the toy. ·

Fig. 6 is a detail view of a weight which is employed to adjust the inertia of the spring.

The flat pieces or discs which may be used either to represent pools of water, or holes ⁶⁰in a golf course, are preferably numbered numerically from 1 to 6, inclusive, as indicated in Fig. 1 to represent the order of succession in which the holes are to be played. Of course, any desired number of «5 discs may be used and the game may be played upon a table represented as 7, or upon any other surface either plain or curved, as desired.

The jumping toy which may be used in ⁷⁰connection with the game or may be made and sold separately as a jumping toy, comprises a rectangular base black 8 preferably of wood and surrounded by a shell 9 which is Secured thereto and shaped and colored ⁷⁵to represent a frog or other animal. The block 8 is provided with a vertical slot 10 in which is secured the lower end of a flat steel spring 11 which extends upwardly from the base block through an opening 12 ⁸⁰in the back of the animal, and is preferably curved rearwardly as shown at 13.

When the rear end of the spring is depressed, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 2' and 3, and then suddenly released, the ten- ⁸⁵sion of the spring and its inertia will cause it to rebound and impart a turning movement to the frog, causing it under certain conditions to turn a somersault. It is preferable to provide a weight 14 for the upper ⁹⁰end of the spring 11 to be slidably secured thereto in order to increase the inertia thereof sufficiently to facilitate the progress of the frog. This weight 14 may be adjusted longitudinally of the spring to the ⁹⁵position which the player finds by experience to give the best results. The proper movement of the frog will be determined, of course, by the amount of pressure exerted on the spring and the manner in which it is ¹⁰⁰released, and will depend almost wholly upon the skill of the player.

The. par for each hole or pool may be arbitrarily fixed in accordance with previous experience, and depending upon the dis- ¹⁰⁵tance between the respective pools. The pools may be formed of circular pieces of stiff paper preferably about four inches in diameter or slightly greater than the longest dimension of the frog. ¹¹⁰

In playing the game, as many frogs will be used as there are players and each player

V» 1,542,012 in turn will endeavor to cause the frog to advance by a succession of somersaults from one pool to the next. In case the frog fails to alight right side up after executing a 5 somersault, the contestant responsible therefor must go back to the starting place and start anew.

The frog or other animal is preferably made xvith a wooden base block and a shell of tin, papier mache, celluloid or other suitable material.

While I have shown and described the preferred form of the invention and the various ways-in which it may be used., it 15 xvill be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, but that modifications may be made in the structure thereof, and various other ways may be dexnsed for using the invention, all of which fall within the'scope ni of the invention as defined by the appended claims.