Doll

May 23, 1939.

E. G. SCHAEFFER DOLL

Filed July 24, 1936

2,159,293

<img file="US2159293A_D0001.tif" />

Patented May 23, 1939

2,158,293

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,159,293

DOLL

Edward G. Schaeffer, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to American Character Doll Co., Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York

Application July 24, 1936, Serial No. 92,333

Claims. (Cl. 46—169)

This invention relates to dolls and more particularly to a doll structure having eyeballs pivotally mounted therein with automatic mechanism for moving the eyeballs into closed, sleep5 ing position and into open, waking position.

In accordance with this invention, an eyeball assembly is provided which includes one or more eyeballs pivotally mounted for movement into open and closed position having associated thereto with eyeball-operating mechanism assembled as a complete unit before it is inserted into the doll head. The unit may be suitably clipped, fixed, or otherwise attached within the doll head, or, if desired, the unit may be incorporated with the ¹⁵ doll head mold and then molded into place as the doll head itself is molded or formed.

In one form of my invention the eyeballs are fixed to a suitable rock shaft which is pivotally supported in a bracket fixed, secured, clamped, 20 or otherwise secured within the doll head. A suitable weighted pendulum is fixed to the rock 'shaft so that when the pendulum is acted upon by gravity, it will move the eyes into closed or open position upon predetermined rocking or lift25 ing movement of the doll body. A guide rack for the pendulum is integrally formed with or secured to the bracket. The guide rack is provided with an elongated slot through which the pendulum member extends. The rack is pro30 vided with a series of barbs which successively interrupt the movement of the pendulum when it swings the eyeballs to closing position so as to require sidewise rocking of the doll head to successively advance the pendulum into eye-closing 35 position. This operation takes place as the doll is rocked in its crib or in the arms of its childmother. When the doll is raised into vertical or aroused position, the pendulum will return to its eye-opened position without obstruction from the ⁴⁰ barbs.

The eyeball and eyeball-operating unit can be inexpensively made and assembled with a minimum of operations, and largely by unskilled labor, and can be advantageously assembled in doll heads designed to retail at comparatively low cost. The movement of the eyeballs is such as to closely simulate the eyeball movement in the human baby when it is rocked to sleep and when ₅₀ picked up and aroused. The child-mother obtains great happiness and delight from the doll as herein constructed, since its eye performance, to which the child is immediately attracted, is very similar to that of a natural baby.

An object of this invention is to provide a sleeping doll having eyeballs which can be closed by a solicitous rocking movement of the doll.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved eyeball mounting and eyeball-operating mechanism which may be assembled as a 5 complete unit and the unit thereafter inserted, attached, or otherwise applied to the doll head.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved eyeball unit having eyeballmounting and operating mechanism associated 10 therewith which can be produced at low cost, which is substantially foolproof and positive in operation, and which is sturdy and strong in construction.

Other objects of this invention will become 15 apparent as the disclosure proceeds.

Various other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following particular description and from an inspection of the accompanying drawing. 20

Although the novel features which are believed to be characteristic of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself, as to its objects and advantages, and the manner in which it may be 25 carried out, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view through 30 a portion of a doll head, showing particularly the eyeballs, the mounting therefor, and the mechanism for manipulating the eyeballs to closed and open position, this view being taken on line I—I of Fig. 2; ₃₅

Fig. 2 is an elevational view looking into the front section of the doll head and showing a rear elevational view of the doll’s eyeballs, the mounting therefor, and the eyeball-manipulating mechanism, this view being taken on line 2—2 of ₄₀Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the eyeball mounting and the eyeball-manipulating mechanism, one of the eyeballs being removed to show the structure to the rear of same; 45

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the eyeballs, the mounting therefor, and operating mechanism, this view being taken along line 4—4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and 50

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view looking directly at the eyeballs, this view showing the eyeball mounting and the operating mechanism therefor.

Similar reference characters refer to similar 55

2,150,293 parts throughout the several views of the drawing and specification.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, there is shown for purposes of illustra5 tion the front half 1 of a doll head, having facial features 2. The doll head may be made from porcelain, phenol resins, vulcanized rubber, or other earthy, metallic, fibrous, resinous, or moldable materials well known in the art. The eye10 balls 5, the mounting therefor, and the eyeballoperating mechanism, are assembled as a complete unit and then inserted within the doll head. Where the doll head is molded, stamped, or otherwise formed, the eyeballs, eyeball mounting and 15 eyeball-operating mechanism may be quickly inserted through the opening 3 in the neck portion of the doll and affixed in position. If desired, the unit may be molded into position as the doll head is formed or cast.

The eyeballs 5 are colored or otherwise formed so that the pupil 6α, the iris 6b, and the sclerotic coat 6c will have the appearance and likeness to the human eye. Eyelashes 1 comprising a plurality of parallel-arranged hairs or fibers are ce25 mented or otherwise secured to the eyeball over the iris. The upper portion 6d of the eyeball 5 is suitably coated or decorated to give the appearance of the human eyelid when closed. The eyeballs 5 are fixed to the respective ends of a shaft 8 30 which is suitably mounted on the flange portions ί ί of a supporting bracket 10. Flange portions I® extending from the bracket i 8 are provided with inwardly extending prongs ! 5 which are adapted to be pressed or clamped into gripping engage35 ment with an inwardly extending projection 16 molded or otherwise secured to the interior of the skull 1. The bracket i 8 may be quickly secured in position by means of a suitable clamping tool so as to rigidly support the eyeballs 5 in proper 40 position within the doll head, so that the opening Sa in the facial portion 2 provides a realistic frame for the eyeball.

The shaft 8 supporting the eyeballs 5 preferably extends through elongated slots 12 in the ₄₅ flange portions II, the shaft 8 being retained therein by a bent over nose portion 13 which substantially closes the outer ends of the slots. The nose portion 13 may be bent over after the shaft 8 has been inserted into the slots 12. The shaft 8 is ₅₀ frictionally retained in the fixed position by means of a suitable spring element 17 having one end 18 thereof fixed to the bracket iOand the other end 19 frictionally engaging the shaft 8 so as to resiliently press shaft 8 against the nose portion 13. The ₅5 frictional grip of the spring element ! 7 should be such as to normally retain the eyeballs in fixed position until the eyeball-moving mechanism now to be described is brought into play.

The eyeball-motivating mechanism may com₆₀ prise a bar 22 having a weight 23, such as a piece of lead, secured to the one end thereof. The other end of the bar is connected to the shaft 8 by means of a suitable loop 24 which extends through an opening or hole in the shaft 8. Thus ₆₅ it is seen that the bar 22 and the weight 23 which it supports is normally free to swing as a pendulum in a plane substantially perpendicular to the shaft 8.

The swinging movement of the pendulum, com70 prising the bar 22 and associated weight 23, is definitely limited by an elongated slot 21 cut into a guide rack 20 through which the bar 22 extends. The guide rack 20 may be provided with elements 26 clamped to a projection 27 extending from the 75 lower end of the bracket ID. It is understood, however, that the guide rack- 20 may be formed integrally with the bracket 10, if desired. The slot 21 extends in a direction generally transverse to the shaft 8, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and the movement of the eyeballs 5 from open to closed 5 position and vice versa is measured by the length of the slot 21.

It will be noted that the slot 2 ί is provided with a plurality of inwardly extending barbs 30 or projections which are designed to cause the bar io 22 to partake of a zigzag path as it passes from one end 2la of the slot to the other end 2I&amp; of the slot. This zigzag movement of the bar 22 can be effected, when the eyeball-operating mechanism is mounted within the head of the 15 doll, by giving the bar 22 and its associated weight 23 a pendulum swinging movement. This pendulum swinging movement is effected by rocking the doll sidewise back and forth as it lies in its cradle or in the arms of its child-mother. Tire 20 eyeballs are thus given a gradual closing movement during which the eyelashes 7 gradually drop downward, concealing the pupil Ba and iris 6b from view, so that the eyelid portion 6d only is visible through the opening 5α in the facial por- 25 tion 2. It will be noted that the barbs are so shaped as to provide seats on their upper faces and cam surfaces on their lower faces.

The operation of the eyeball-closing mechanism is as follows: When the doll head and as- ₈₀sociated doll body is given a sidewise rocking movement such as is customary in putting to sleep the human baby, the bar 22, motivated by gravity acting on the weight 23, vzill swing off from the seat 31 which it occupies when the doll’s _8βeyes are in open position, and will move onto ' the opposite seat 32. A rocking movement in the opposite direction will cause the bar 22, motivated by the action of gravity to slip off from its seat 32 and onto the opposite seat 33, which is one 40 stage closer to the eye-closed end 21 b of the slot 21. Continued to-and-fro rocking movement of the doll will cause the bar 22, motivated by gravity acting upon its weight 23, to drop successively onto the seat 34, the seat 35, the seat 36, the seat 45 37, and so on until the pupil and iris, 6α and 6b respectively, are no longer visible and only the eyelid portion is visible through the eye opening 5α. The doll’s eyeballs in this position closely simulate the closed lids of a sleeping baby, and ₆₀the eyeballs are supported in closed, sleeping position by the seat 40 at the end of the slot 2i. It is thus seen that the eyelashes 7 and eyelids 6d are brought into closing position by gradual stages, which closely simulates the gradual clos- ₅₅ing of a baby’s eyes as sleep approaches. When the doll is to be aroused from its slumber all that is necessary is to lift the doll into upright position or partially upright position, which will cause the weight 23 attached to the bar 22 to leave its seat ₆₀40 and move forwardly to the other end 2 la of the slot. The inwardly projecting barbs do not interfere with this movement inasmuch as they are provided with lower cam surfaces 41, which permit the bar 22 to move forwardly substantially ₆₅unobstructed. It is understood that the slot 21 may be as long as is necessary to effect complete closing and opening of the doll’s eyes and as many inwardly projecting barbs 30 may be provided as desired to effect closing of the doll’s eyes by sue- 70 cessive stages or intervals. The more barbs there are, the greater number of sidewise rocking movements will be required to completely close the eyes, and it is evident that if a large number of closely spaced barbs are provided the closing can 75

2,159,293 be effectuated without substantially visible jerking movement, so that the closing of the eyes appears to the child-mother entirely natural and similar to the gradual closing of a natural baby’s eyes.

Since the eyeball mounting and operating mechanism is all formed as an integral unit before insertion into the doll head, the same can be inexpensively manufactured from stamped parts and quickly and easily assembled. The entire eyeball-supporting and manipulating unit may be assembled within the doll head and suitably secured in position by clamps or other securing means at a high rate of speed, thus assuring a low cost of manufacture and positive operation of the parts. Heretofore eyeball-operating mechanism comprising several parts has been separately assembled in the doll head, and doll heads as thus constructed are expensive since much time and considerable skill are required to assemble the parts in the doll head in the proper relationship.

The eyeball mounting and operating mechanism herein described can be used with many different varieties of dolls. Heretofore, so-called sleeping dolis have been expensive due to the fact that the eye-operating mechanism has been unduly complicated and difficult to assemble in the doll head. The eyeball-operating mechanism herein disclosed is assembled with the eyeball as a complete, integral functioning unit, thus avoiding the difficulty of assembling the parts under cramped conditions within the doll head. The complete eyeball-operating unit may be inserted into the doll head through the neck opening, or if the head is assembled in two parts the eyeballoperating unit can be inserted in the head prior to the application of the back portion of the head to the facial portion, or if desired the unit may be placed in a suitable head-shaping mold and the head molded around the unit. In such cases the molding material would be made of disintegratable material so that it can be removed after the head has been cast.

Since the eyeball, eyeball mounting and operating mechanism are first formed as an assembled unit prior to the insertion thereof into the doll head, the same can be made and assembled on a mass production basis substantially entirely by automatic machinery and with a minimum amount of labor. The unit can thus be made at very low cost and can be embodied as a feature in doll bodies marketable at a price considerably below the price of dolls heretofore made having eyes which are rocked to sleep. The unit is sturdy and strong in construction, positive in operation, and the functional parts are so correlated as to operate efficiently and effectively. The moving parts are so supported that jars given to the doll body or doll head will not displace or disarrange the parts. The eyeball-operating mechanism can be associated with doll bodies of innumerable shapes and forms and made from all the various materials commonly used in the art.

While certain novel features of the invention have been disclosed and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various modifications, omissions, substitutions, and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.