US2651140A - Magnetic toy - Google Patents

Description

p 1953 G. M. KovAc 2,651,140

MAGNETIC TOY Filed Jan. 28, 1949 f 5 31 v I. lf-w Patented Sept. 8 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT, OFFICE MAGNETIC TOY George M. Kovac, Rockford, Ill.

, Application January 28, 1949, Serial No. 73,260

3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a new and improved magnetic toy, game, or display device.

I am aware that magnets have been used in toys and games; also that charts, representative of farm scenes, water scenes, village scenes, and the like, have been provided as a part of such toys and games, in connection with which miniature figures or playpieces representative of people, animals, birds, and so'forth, as well as inanimate objects such as wagons, boats, and so forth, have been employed and arranged to be moved about by a hidden magnet, or magnets, moved around under the charts, these figures or playpieces being usually of a non-magnetic material, such as paper or plastic material, but including permanent 'magnet base members adapted to be attracted by the magnets so that the said figures or playpieces may be caused to move with the magnets. However, the limitations of such toys and games have long been apparent to buyer and seller alike, and they have, therefore, not been commercially successful. It is, therefore, the principal object of my invention to provide an improved and far more interesting version of the kind of magnetic toys and/or i games just mentioned, one in which the operator (or operators) not only moves a permanent magnet (or magnets) by remote control (or controls) but also turns the same this way or that, as desired, by means of the same remote control, whereby to give much more lifelike and amusing movements to a playpiece than was possible heretofore and, accordingly, add zest to the play and also call for the greater exercise of imagination, skill and care, as well'as judgment, in the operation, and thus maintain the players interest and make the device truly educational.

In the improved device of my invention, a pantograph is provided, and the permanent mag-'- net is attached to the outer end of the arm on the operated end of the pantograph linkage with a rotary pulley, the other parallel arm on the operating end of the pantograph linkage being provided with a manually movable and rotatable remote control knob on another rotary pulley that is connected with the first pulley by means of an endless suitably-tensioned belt, so that the figure-moving magnet is not only given multiplied lineal movement predetermined by the ratio of the pantograph but may also be turned in either direction through any desired angularity by the same, or more, or less, manual rotation of the control knob, depending upon the working ratio between the two pulleys mentioned.

The manually operable knob moves with it a coaxially arranged pointer or stylus, by means of which the operator may readily follow a route laid out on a miniature chart and cause the magnet to describe on a larger scale a corresponding route relative to and beneath an enlarged but otherwise duplicate chart, and, accordingly, move whatever figure or playpiece is being operated, the same being turned one way or another or all the way around at different points by the remote control knob, as occasion demands or as the operator may decide.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a plan View of a magnetic toy or game made in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a front end view of Fig. 1, but showing a small figure or playpiece, representing a swan, operable by magnetic attraction to and fro over the chart along any course picked at random by the operator, as illustrated by the dotted line courses in Fig. 1, and

Figs. 3 and 4 are sectional details on lines 3-3 and 5-4 of Fig. 1, both details being somewhat enlarged.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout these views.

Referring to the drawing, the reference numeral 5 designates a substantially horizontal rectangular platform or stage, suitably supported in elevated substantially parallel relation to the rear portion of a larger rectangular base 6, as on posts I, feet 8 being provided on the bottom of base 6 for support thereof in elevated relation to the top of a table or other support on which the toy or game is being used. Any suitable nonmagnetic material, such as plastic board or composition board, may be used for the parts 5 and 6, but it is important that it be stiif and have reasonably hard, smooth and durable surfaces, so that the slider, indicated generally by the reference numeral 9, will ride smoothly on the bottom of platform 5 and top of base '6. The slider 9 consists of a permanent horseshoe or other magnet l0, fixed by means of a cleat Ill, to the top of a pulley II that is pivoted, as indicated at l2, on the outer end of an arm l3 forming the operated end portion of a pantograph, indicated generally by the reference numeral 54. A bowed leaf spring [5 is slidable at opposite ends on the base 6 and suitably secured intermediate its ends to the outer end of the arm l3, whereby to support the outer end of the arm [3 in elevated relation to base 6' and urge the magnet I0 into close contact with the bottom of the platform 5, and, accordingly, insure best attraction with the permanent magnet N? that is provided in the base of each of a plurality of miniature figures on playpieces, one of which is shown at in Fig. 2, representing a swan. The figures or playpieces H are adapted to slide freely over a paper or cardboard chart |8 placed on the platform 5, the chart illustrated in Fig. 1 including a pond or lake scene IS with one or more islands 20 in it, and it being intended that the swan shall be moved around in this pond or lake, passing, of course, around the islands on any course taken at random, as, for example, the course indicated by dot and dash lines at 2| in Fig. .1.

The course indicated at 2|, it will be noticed, includes many turns, and at a number of points the object describes a generally circular path, as indicated by the arrows, it being possible with the remote control mechanism in the present toy to make the figure move lineally along a straight line or a curved line and also turn this way or that way as may suit the operator, or turn completely around one or more times, thereby encouraging the child to a greater and greater exercise of imagination, skill, and care, as well as judgment, in the operation of the toy and, accordingly, maintain the player's interest and make the toy truly educational.

The pantograph M is pivoted on the front portion of the base 6, by means of its arm 22, at 23. Arm 22 is pivoted, at 24, to the inner end of arm |3. Arms 25 and 26 forming a parallelogram with arms i3 and 22 are pivoted to said arms |3 and 22, as at 21 and 28, respectively, the arms 25 and 26 being pivotally connected together at 29. Carried on the pivot 29 is a pulley 39 that is free to turn with respect to arms 25 and 28, and fixed to the pulley 30 is a manual control knob 3|. The arms 25 and 26 have upwardly offset end portions 32 and 33 at their pivotally connected ends, so as to support the pulley 30 and knob 3| in sufiiciently elevated relation to the base 6 that a stylus, or pointer, 34 extending downwardly from and suitably forming a part of the pivot pin 29 is easily visible to the child operating the toy, and, therefore, the child can easily trace with the stylus 34 on the miniature chart I8 the particular course he, or she, wants the figure I! to follow on the larger chart |8, the miniature chart l8 being, of course, made to scale in relation to chart |8 with the same scene on it, as indicated by the lake or pond l9, islands 20, and so forth in Fig. 1. Lugs 35, or other suitable means, may be provided on platform 5 and base 6 to insure correct relationship of charts l8 and Hi, and any suitable hold-down or securing means, like that indicated at 36, may be provided on the diametrically opposite side of the charts from the lugs 35 to fasten the charts in place temporarily. There will, of course, be various and sundry charts l8 with corresponding miniature charts l8 showing all sorts of scenes calculated to interest the child, and appropriate figures or playpieces H for each pair of charts. The knob 3| will be moved by the child manually and also turned this way or that way accordingly as the child desires to have the remotely controlled figure ll move and turn. Idler pulleys 31 are carried on the pivot pin 21, and an endless belt 38 that is suitably spring-tensioned, as indicated at 39, is wound around the pulleys 30, and 31, in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1, to provide an operating connection between pulleys 30 and to enable turning the magnet H1 in either direction through whatever angularity the operator may desire-and, accordingly, turn the figure II that happens to be disposed with its magnet IS in the field of the magnet H). The pulley I is shown as slightly larger in diameter than the pulley 30, but the reverse size relationship could, of course, be provided. With the size relationship disposed in the drawing, it requires a greater angularity of turn of the knob 3| to obtain a given angularity of turn of the controlled figure H, and, of course, the reverse would be true with the reverse pulley size relationship. Each of the pulleys I and 39 has annular grooves more than wide enough to accommodate twice the width of the cord, so that there may be one and one-half turns of the cord on each pulley, thereby eliminating the likelihood of slippage. The idler pulleys 31 have annular grooves wide enough to accommodate freely one pass of the cord 38 and the spring 39 whenever that is caused to move over either of the idler pulleys.

In operation, it should be clear that, by virtue of the pantograph M, the remote control knob 3| moving through a relatively short distance over chart I8 causes multiplied movement of the figure ll over the chart I8, and the operation is substantially without effort and with none of the awkwardness that was connected with operating the figures with a hidden magnet moved by hand directly by reaching nearly arms length under the platform. The rotary connection between the knob 3| and slider 9 afiorded by pulleys 39 and 3'! and cooperating belt 38, obviously, makes the operation of the figures ll much easier and more interesting as well as amusing, there being nothing stilted about the turning of a figure, such as there was bound to be when the same was turned by direct hand control of the hidden magnet reaching arms length, or nearly so, under the platform. Various scenes are provided on charts l8 and |8 with toy figures appropriate for each kind, thus making the toy or game of never-ending interest to a child, by virtue of the variety of amusement afforded. Thus, in addition to the lake or pond scene of Fig. 1, other charts containing scenes of barnyards, railroads, town squares, village streets, airports, harbors, castles with mazes of paths leading thereto but only one entry, puzzles, sports scenes, and so forth, are rovided. The device can be made in larger sizes for use as a display device in advertising various products, and it is obvious that by power operation of the pantograph, wherein the stylus 34 is in the form of a cam follower working in an endless cam track, a certain pattern of movements may be repeated again and again for an animated display. Also games may be played where two players each have a pantograph I4 and magnet l9 operable thereby to move a toy figure or man Ii over the game-board, the two pantographs being operable in different planes to avoid interference with one another when moving into the same areas of the playing field on the chart l8, and being controlled from opposite or adjoining sides of the base 5. Various miniature or table games, like baseball, basket-ball, football, and so forth, could be played, each player controlling the moves of his own men by remote control in the manner described.

In conclusion, I should point out that the invention is not limited to the precise location of the chart or diagram l8 with reference to the chart or diagram I8 herein shown, although this arrangement was found to have certain advantages. Furthermore, whilethe magnet I0 is shown as continuously held in the raised operative position, I may provide means for retracting the same relative to the bottom of platform 5 for release of the figure I! when it has been moved to a desired position and to enable transferring to another figure I! to be operated, althou h it is believed that obstacles or shoulders provided on the chart l8 for abutment by the figures constitutes a simpler expedient for enabling withdrawal of the magnet from the figure or figures when desired. As an alternative, I would mention the possibility of using an electromagnet in place of the permanent magnet [0 which could be energized and de-energized easily by closing and opening a switch connecting the coil of the magnet with a source of current supply, such as a dry cell battery. Such an application would be truly educational to older children and adults, too, because of the analogy to the more powerful lift magnets used in industry and operated similarly.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. In a toy or game, the combination of a relatively large playing surface, a toy figure including magnetic material disposed on and movable relative to said surface, a magnet disposed beneath the playing surface and rotatable on an axis at right angles to said surface and movable linearly so that the toy figure may be turned in either direction and moved linearly at will in any direction by magnetic attraction about the playing surface, a parallelogram arrangement of pivotally connected arms forming a pantograph a portion of which is movable under the playing surface, said pantograph being pivoted on a support that is disposed in fixed relation to said playing surface, a spindle upstanding on one arm of said pantograph mounting said magnet for rotation about the spindle axis, another playing surface on said support which is a miniature of the large area playing surface, a manually operable rotatable knob mounted on another arm of said pantograph, said knob being of small diameter in relation to the small area playing surface and movable on said small area playing surface, and an operatin connection between said knob and magnet enabling said magnet to be rotated for at least one complete revolution in either direction at will by means of said knob to turn the toy figure accordingly before, during or after lineal movement.

2. In a toy or game, the combination of a relatively large playing surface, a toy figure including magnetic material disposed on and movable relative to said surface, a magnet disposed beneath the playing surface and rotatable on an axis at right angles to said surface and movable linearly so that the toy figure may be turned in either direction and moved linearly at will in any direction by magnetic attraction about the playing surface, a parallelogram arrangement of pivotally connected arms forming a pantograph a portion of which is movable under the playing surface, said pantograph bein ivoted on a support that is disposed in fixed relation to said playing surface, a spindle upstanding on one arm of said pantograph mounting said magnet for rotation about the spindle axis, another playing surface on said support which is a miniature of the large area playing surface, a manually operable rotatable knob mounted on another arm of said pantograph, said knob being of small diameter in relation to the small area playing surface and movable on said small area playing surface, a drive pulley arranged concentric with and rotated by said knob, a driven pulley capable of continuous rotation on said spindle for corresponding rotation of said magnet, and an endless belt extending between said pulleys whereby rotation of said knob will effect rotation of said magnet and hence also said toy for at least one complete revolution in either direction at will before, during or after lineal movement thereof.

3. A toy or game as defined in claim 2 wherein said manually rotatable knob is located on a corner of said parallelogram arrangement of pantograph arms and which further includes an idler pulley over which said belt passes, said idler pulley being located on another corner of said parallelogram arrangement of pantograph arms that is always equidistant from said drive and driven pulleys.

GEORGE M. KQVAC.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 264,258 Dimmick Sept. 12, 1882 1,237,388 Robertson et a1. Aug. 21, 1917 1,927,233 Forner Sept. 19, 1933 2,038,455 Studer Apr. 21, 1936 2,090,664 Bruno Aug. 24, 1937 2,466,069 Babigian Apr. 5, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 650,499 France Sept. 24, 1928

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