Walking doll

United States Patent

[1 3,604,147

<td> [72]</td><td> Inventor</td><td> Enrico Ceccon Noale, Venezia, Italy</td>

<td> [21J</td><td> Appl. No.</td><td> 828,630</td>

<td> [22]</td><td> Filed</td><td> May 28,1969</td>

<td> (45)</td><td> Patented</td><td> Sept 14,1971</td>

<td> [32]</td><td> Priority</td><td> May 28,1968, Feb. 25,1969</td>

<td> [33]</td><td></td><td> Italy</td>

<td> [31]</td><td></td><td> 60-230-A/68 and 60-213-A/69</td>

[54] WALKING DOLL

Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.C1........................................................ 46/150

[51] Int.Cl.........................................................A63h 11/14

[50] Field of Search............................................ 46/149,

116,118,119,120, 150

[56] References Cited

UNITED STATES PATENTS

<td> 2,530,696</td><td> 11/1950</td><td> Henderson..............</td><td> 46/149</td>

<td> 2,739,417</td><td> 3/1956</td><td> Ostrander................</td><td> 46/149</td>

<td> 2,859,554</td><td> 11/1958</td><td> Walss......................</td><td> 46/149 X</td>

<td> 3,098,318</td><td> 7/1963</td><td> Gardel.....................</td><td> 46/149 X</td>

<td> 3,386,201</td><td> 6/1968</td><td> Kelly et al................</td><td> 46/149</td>

Primary Examiner—Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner—D. L. Weinhold Attorney—Jacobi, Lilling &amp; Siegel

ABSTRACT: Self-walking doll having an inner motor-driven mechanism comprising a crank-operated equilateral lever arm system. Two arms of the lever arm system are articulatedly jointed to a pair of limbs, such as legs.

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PATENTED SEP 141971

3,604,147

SHEET 1 OF 2

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En^e/co Crac. ολ/

INVENTOR

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ATTORNEYS.

PATENTED SEP 141971

3,604.147

SHEET 2 OF 2

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3,604,147

WALKING DOLL

The present invention relates to an improved self-walking doll and more particularly to a mechanism to be mounted in the trunk of a doll or the like having limbs jointed to said doll trunk. The mechanism causing the legs of the doll to swing up and down with respect to said trunk is designed in such a manner that as one of the legs moves upward, the whole weight of the doll acts on the foot of the other leg now resting on the floor at a point which will constitute the pivot point about which the doll body is caused to rotate so as to put the raised leg forward. Thusly, as this latter leg in tum will be moved downward, it will be positioned in advance of the other leg, which during the preceding phase of walking has been in contact with the floor and which now will begin its raising phase so that the doll can take a short step forward.

In order to make this mechanism operative it is necessary to give a particular rearwards bent disposition to the upper part of the doll body as well as to its legs, as may be seen when the doll stands up; namely the center of gravity of the doll is vertically positioned over the forward part of the foot of that leg which rests on the floor, so that the most forward projecting part of the doll trunk is that where the said mechanism is located.

The up-and-down movement of the legs is due to an inner star-shaped lever provided with three arms which is pivoted about a pin, carried by the trunk of the doll and parallel to the advancing direction of the walking doll. The lever comprises an upper arm or effort arm which swings about a vertical axis and is actuated by a crankshaft or the like driven by a motor, while the two other lower arms are symmetrically positioned with respect to the upper arm as well as to the vertical transverse center plane of the doll which is parallel to the advancing direction of the doll, as the upper arm is vertical. Each of said lower arms of the lever are inclined outwardly and downwardly, being made integral respectively with a supporting member provided to carry and to allow the articulation of the legs connected therewith. The rotary movement of each leg is effected by friction means and by the action of an elastic locking means which tends to maintain the trunk of the doll and its legs in their normal standby arrangement corresponding to a standup position of the doll; said locking means may be made inoperative by forcing forward the corresponding leg with respect to its supporting member, when it is desired to change the walking position of the doll body to its sitting one.

The accompanying drawings show an embodiment of the invention given merely by way of example. In said drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view, partly broken away, of the body of the doll as well as of its lower limbs, while the upper limbs and the head have been removed, since they do not concern the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the parts of the doll shown in FIG. 1, said cross-sectional view being taken along line A—A of FIG. 1 which represents the vertical-transverse center plane of the doll;

FIG. 3 shows a detail on an enlarged scale, of the three-arm lever as well as the means provided to support and to connect the legs of the doll to its trunk, said detail being shown by means of a view taken along the line B—B of FIG. 2, one of said means being sectioned with an axial plane;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the detail shown in FIG. 3, said view being taken along line C—C of the same figure.

Now referring to the drawing, at 1 is marked a hollow body shaped as the trunk of a doll body, said body being preferably constructed in two halves which may be connected to each other by any suitable means.

As in the conventional dolls at each of the ilium zones a wide opening 2 is arranged in a hollow body to provide a sufficient space for the passage and articulation of the connecting and articulating devices of the legs 3.

The mechanism for moving the legs 3 so as to cause the doll to walk is driven by an electric motor 4 fed by any suitable source, as, for instance, dry cells 5 or the like, placed in hous2 ings 6 formed in the inside of the hollow body 1 and suitably made integral therewith. The motor 4 drives a gear train, generally marked 4b, which is supported by a casing 10 secured to the body 1, said gear train 4b transmitting the movement to a crankshaft 4c, the crank head 7 of which is engaged into a rectilinear guiding slot 8 arranged in the upper arm 11 of a three-arm lever and parallel to the longitudinal axis of said arm. The three-arm lever is constituted of a vertical plate forming three arms 11, IV and lid and is pivoted about a pin 9, the axis of which is parallel to the walking direction of the doll, which pin 9 is carried by the body 1 by means of a suitable bushing 9a.

As the doll stands up in a stationary position (FIG. 1) the upper arm 11 has its longitudinal axis vertical and lying in the vertical-transverse center plane A—A of the doll, while the longitudinal axis D—D of the lower arm 1 Id, designed to support the right leg 3 and the longitudinal axis S—S of the lower arm Ils designed to support the left leg 3 are symmetrically positioned relative to the plane A—A and project outwardly and downwardly in opposite directions respectively.

Preferably, along the axis of each arm 11, lidand Ils reinforcing ribs 12 are provided, projecting outwardly from each of the two surfaces of said arms so that said arms have a crossshaped section; the ribs 12 which are arranged on the arm 11 extend upwardly with portions 12d which encircle the slot 8 and cooperate to reinforce its sidewalls.

At the en of each of the lever arms 1 Id or 1 Is is fixed a hollow supporting member 13 conically shaped so as to have its smaller cross section at its outer end. On the inner surface of each member 13, longitudinal grooves are provided and are so positioned and shaped as to be able to match the facing edges of the end portion of the arm Ils or lid and of those of the ribs 12 provided thereon so as to obtain a restrained joint between the conical member 13 and the end of the arm 1 Is or 1 Idcarry ing the same. A pin 14 passing throughout the conical member 13 and the arm Ils or lid supporting said member cooperates with the aforesaid restrained joint in order to hold the conical member 13 in position on its carrying arm Ils or lid.

At its upper end, each of said conical members 13 projects outwardly with an annular flat flange 15 which is provided to constitute a guiding and resting surface for a flange 17 which is a part of a connecting means made integral with the corresponding leg 3 of the doll. Said flange 17 projects inwards from a cylindrical hollow body 16 made integral with said leg 3. The body 16 and the flange 17 constitute in combination the connecting means by means of which each leg 3 is connected and articulated with respect to the conical member 13 carried by each of the lower arms Ils and lid. The flange 17 has an inner hole of such a diameter so as to allow that said means 17, 16 may be mounted about the conical member 13 with the flange 17 in contact with the flange 15. A spring 18 urges, with one of its ends, against the inner surface of the flange 17 while it is connected at the other end with the body of the conical member 13 so as to press the flange 17 against the flange 15 of the conical member 13, and to perform a friction connection between the two facing surfaces of the flanges 15 and 17, for the purpose of permitting the variable positioning of each leg 3 relative to its conical supporting member 13 as long as a force will be applied sufficient to overcome the effect of the spring 14. Furthermore, on the purpose of exactly defining the correct position of each leg 3 relative to its conical supporting member 13, which is essential to allow the doll to walk, a suitable detent or elastic stop means is provided comprising a recess 19 arranged in one of the facing surfaces 15 and 17, and a projecting part 20 adapted to be engaged into said recess and provided in the other surface, said recess 19 and projecting part 20 matching each other, when the doll stands up (FIG. 3). Said stop means 19 and 20 acts under the effect of the aforesaid spring 18 and may be made inoperative by rotating forwards the corresponding leg 3 with respect of the trunk 1 until the projection 20 comes out from said recess 19, as the action of the spring 18 has been overcome, thus af3,604,147

Furthermore, on account of the fact that the mechanism of the invention is very small and simple, it can occupy only a part of the inner space of the hollow body 1 so that the remaining part of said space will be free and could be used for locating talking apparatus or the like.