CA1195845A - Walking mechanism - Google Patents

Walking mechanism

Info

Publication number
CA1195845A
CA1195845A CA000440465A CA440465A CA1195845A CA 1195845 A CA1195845 A CA 1195845A CA 000440465 A CA000440465 A CA 000440465A CA 440465 A CA440465 A CA 440465A CA 1195845 A CA1195845 A CA 1195845A
Authority
CA
Canada
Prior art keywords
platform
legs
drive rod
cam
fulcrum support
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired
Application number
CA000440465A
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Allen W.L. Hui
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Priority to CA000440465A priority Critical patent/CA1195845A/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of CA1195845A publication Critical patent/CA1195845A/en
Expired legal-status Critical Current

Links

Classifications

    • AHUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63HTOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
    • A63H11/00Self-movable toy figures
    • A63H11/18Figure toys which perform a realistic walking motion
    • A63H11/20Figure toys which perform a realistic walking motion with pairs of legs, e.g. horses

Landscapes

  • Toys (AREA)
  • Rehabilitation Tools (AREA)

Abstract

A B S T R A C T
A walking mechanism, particularly intended for the locomotion of toys, but capable of being adapted to other uses, is disclosed. The mechanism includes four legs, one at each corner of a platform. Lever arms integral with the legs extend to central areas on either side of the platform, alongside substantially vertical side panels. A drive rod is pivotally connected to a fulcrum support positioned between the side panels. The drive rod extends through slots in the side panels and engages slots in the lever arms. A motor causes reciprocating movement of the drive rod, which pivots about the fulcrum support. Motion of the drive rod produces motion of the leg. Cam and cable means are provided for lifting and planting the legs at appropriate times to simulate a quadruped walking motion. Means are provided for varying the location of the fulcrum support in order to produce a greater step length on one side of the platform than on the other, thereby causing the platform to turn.
Both forward and backward movement are possible.

Description

9~
This invention relates generally to mechanisms for locomotion of platforms of various kinds, and par-ticularly to a mechanism which simulates -the walking motion of a quadruped.
The present invention is particularly intended for toys, where simulation of walking is often desireable, but may be applied on a larger scale to move any apparatus from one location to another.
In the prior art, many mechanisms have been used to simulate walking or to otherwise effect movement of platforms, whether that platform is the body of a toy animal, or some platform of more practical application.
Most walking toys in the prior art use mechanisms which rely on tracks or wheels. Many mechanisms do not readily allow any controlled change in the direction of advance-ment of the platform, and many are not capable of both forward and backward movement.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a walking mechanism which offers advantages over ~hose known and used in the prior art. The preferred embodiment of the present invention does not use wheels or tracks in contact with the ground, and is capable of turning and of moving forwards and backwards.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a mechanism for moving a platform, having legs pivotally connected at four corners of the platform for fore and aft movement. Lever arms integral with the legs extend to central areas on either side of the platform, alongside substantially vertical side panels of the platform.
A fulcrum support is carried between the side panels.
drive rod extends laterally between the side panels, and is pivotally connected to the fulcrum support. The
2 -drive rod extends through substantially vertical slots provided in the side panels and engages slots provided in the lever arms. Means are mounted on the platform for producing vertically reciprocating motion of the drive rod about the fulcrum support, thereby driving the lever arms up on one side of the platform while driving the lever arms down on the other side of the platform, thereby producing movement of the legs towards each other on one side of the platform and away from each other on the other side of the platform. Feet are mounted on the ends of each of the legs, and means are provided on the platform for lifting and planting the feet in synchronized fashion to produce a quadruped walking motion.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the fulcrum support is moveable laterally.
The magnitude of the reciprocating movement of the drive rod therefore is different at opposi-te ends of the drive rod, thereby produclng a longer step length on one side of the platform due to greater lever arm movement on that side, thereby causing the platform to turn.
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the legs comprise upper and lower portions pivotally connected to each other at a knee joint.
Cables are routed from the lower portions, around the front of the knee joints, and thence up to the platform.
Cam mechanisms carried on the platform are driven by and coordinated with the drive means which produces the reciprocating motion of the drive rod, the cam mechanisms being connected to the free ends of the cables to tauten each cable once per walking motion cycle. Biasing means normally cause the upper and lower leg portions to be bent with respect to each other, so the effect of the cable tautening is to straighten the leg, thereby causing the foot to be planted on the ground.
Other features of the invention will become apparent in connection with the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment oE the invention, provided by way of example. P~eference will be made -to the accompanying drawings 3 in which:
Fig.l is a perspective showing the general structure of the walking mechanism;
Fig.2 is a detailed drawing showing the above-mentioned cam mechanisms; and Fig.3 is an exploded view showing schematically the arrangement of the cams for the purpose of illustrating the cam timing.
Referring first to Fig.l, there is illustrated a platform 1 supported above four legs, namely a left foreleg 2, a right foreleg 3, a right hind leg 4, and a leEt hind leg 5. Each leg has a foot 6 at its end, pivotally connected to a 2~ lower leg portion 8 by an ankle joint 7, and has an upper leg portion lO, pivotally connected to the lower leg portion by a knee ~oint 9, and pivotalLy connected to the platform by a hip joint 11. ~11 of the joints pivot about lateral, horizontal axes.

Ex-tending from the hip joints are lever arms 12, integral with the upper leg portions 10. The lever arms extend to central areas on the left and right sides of the platform, alongside vertical panels 13 extending upwardly from the platform. The lever arms have slots 1~
3n near their ends. A drive rod 20, which is constrained to ride within slots 15 in the vertical panels 13, rides in the slots 14, It is the movement of the drive rod 20 within the slo-ts 14 and 15 which produces fore and aft movement of the legs. Upward movement of the drive rod 20 in one of the slots 15 causes the hind leg on that side of the platform to move forward relative to the platform and the forel~g on that side to move rearward with respect to the platform. Proper actuation and control of the drive rod mo-tion, when combined with means for lifting and planting the feet at appropriate times, produces the desired quadruped walking motion.
Two motors 30 and 31 mounted on the pla-tform are used to control the movement of the platform. The motor 30 produces forward or rearward movement, depending on the direction in which the motor is run. The motor 31 controls whether the platform moves in a straight line or turns to one side or the other. As will be explained in more detail, the leg movements are synchronized so that a minimum of two legs are on the ground at all times.
Dia~,onally opposite legs are off the ground at the same tinle dur:ing the walking movement. Turning is controlled by controlling the length of the steps taken on each side of the platform. For example, controlling the step length so that the steps taken on the left side of the platform are longer than the steps taken on the right side of the platform results in the platform turning to the right.
The main drive motor 30 is connected to produce rotation of a camshaft 35. As can be seen from Fig.2, four separately mounted cams 40, each with a cam follower 41, are mounted on the camshaft. Connected to the cam followers are cables 42 routed to each corner of the platform above the legs, and down to each knee joint 9. As can be seen S~

from Fig.l, -the cables are routed around the fron-t of the knee joints 9, through grooves 44, and are then connected to the lower leg portions 8 at tie-down points 45. The action of the cams 40 on the cam followers 41 is such that once during each revolution of the camshaft 35, each revolution representing one cycle in the walking motion, each cable 42 is tautened, thereby causing the leg to straighten by virtue of the cable routing around the front of the knee joint.
~ stop 50 on each lower leg portion 8 juts into the plane oE each respective upper leg portion 10 to prevent unnatural movement of the lower leg portion forward from where it becomes aligned with the upper leg portion.
Elastic bands 51 or springs are connected between the upper and lower leg portions to bias the legs -towards a bent position. When the legs are bent, they are in effect lifted from the ground. The legs which are straight-ened by virtue of the operation of the cams 40, the cam followers 41, and the cables 42 are the legs which have their feet planted on the ground.
The design of the cams 40 and their arrangement on the camshaft 35 is illustrated schematically in Fig.3.
~s can be seen, their arrangement is such that the cables 42 connected to diagonally opposite legs are tautened at the same time. The high points of the other two cams are located 180 degrees from the others on the camshaft, so that the tautening of the cables for one diagonally opposite pair of legs takes place when the cables for the other pair are fully slackened. The cams are sloped similarly in either direction so tha-t forward and backward motion of the platform can be achieved by changing the direction of rotation of the camshaft via the main drive motor 30. While not an essential feature of the invention, this capability for forward and backward movement is a particular advantage of the preferred embodiment of the invention.
The desired quadruped walking motion is such that there is relatively minimal movement of the legs when all four feet are on the ground. The cam timing is selected such that two diagonally opposite feet plant on the ground, the other two feet in efect lifting, as forward movement of the "lifted" feet begins, relative to the platform. At the end of this forward movement these feet plant and the other diagonally opposite pair begin to lift. The actual cam shaping and timing is a matter of routine determination for different platform dimensions, leg lengths, etc., in order to optimize the walking motion efficiency and the balance of the platform.
Referring now primarily to Fig.l, the basic drive mechanism will be described. The main drive motor 30 is connected to produce rotation of the camshaft 35, as has already been described. Mounted on a free end of the cam-shaft is a crank 36. A connecting rod 37 is connected to the crank. The drive rod 20 is attached to and e~tends through the free end of the connecting rod and through the slots 14 and 15 in the lever arms and vertical panels. The drive rod pivots about a fulcrum support 55, so that when one end of the drive rod is being driven upwardly by the reciprocating motion of the free end of the connecting rod, the other end moves downwardly. Thus, by virtue of the action of the drive rod agains~ the lever arms 12, the legs on one side of the platform are moving towards each other while the legs on the other side of the platform are moving away from each other. This movement of the legs, combined with the cam-operated lifting and planting of the legs and feet as described above, produces the desired quadruped walking motion also described above.
~eferring now primarily to Fig.l, the turning mechanism will be described. The variation in step length required to cause the platform to turn is simply accomplished by adjusting the lateral position of the fulcrum support 55.
When the fulcrum support is positioned in the centre of the platform, then obviously the degree of movement of the drive rod 20 at each of its ends is equal, but obviously that is not the case if the fulcrum support is not in the centre of the platform. The motor 31 is used to control the position of the fulcrum support.
The fulcrum support comprises a pin portion 56 passing through a slot 57 provided in the drive rod. The pin portion terminates at a support sleeve 58 which rides freely around a support rod 59. The other end of the pin portion terminates at a threaded aperture 60, threaded onto a threaded shaft 61 which is driven by the turn motor 31. As is readily apparent, rotation of the threaded shaft 61 by operation of the motor causes the fulcrum support to travel laterally.
The feet 6 must of course be sufficiently broad to avoid or minimize any balancing problems which could occur, particularly if the platform is to have a high centre og gravity. The ankle joints 7 are free pivoting to ensure that the feet plant flatly on the ground.
Controls for the motors 30 and 31 may at the option of the manufacturer be mounted on board the platform, or the movement of the platform may be remotely controlled, either by wires running from the controls to the platform, or using conventional radio or other wireless controls.
It will be appreciated that the above description of the preferred embodiment of the invention is by way of example only, and that many obvious variations would still be within the scope of the invention as broadly described and claimed.

9 _

Claims (3)

THE, EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. A walking mechanism for moving a platform, comprising:
legs pivotally connected at four remote corners of the platform for fore and aft movement;
lever arms integral with said legs, the lever arms on opposite sides of the platform extending to central areas on opposite sides of the platform;
substantially vertical side panels attached along either side of said platform;
a fulcrum support carried by said platform between said side panels;
a drive rod connected pivotally to said fulcrum support and extending laterally between said side panels and through substantially vertical slots provided in said side panels and engaged in slots provided in said lever arms;
means mounted on said platform and connected to said drive rod for vertically reciprocating said drive rod about said fulcrum support, thereby driving said lever arms up on one side of the platform whild driving said lever arms down on the other side of the platform, thereby producing movement of the legs towards each other on one side of the platform while producing movement of the legs away from each other on the other side of the platform;
feet attached to each of said legs; and means mounted on said platform for lifting and planting said feet in synchronized fashion to produce a quadruped walking motion.
2. A mechanism as recited in claim 1, in which said fulcrum support is moveable laterally, whereby the magnitude of the reciprocating movement of the drive rod varies at opposite ends thereof, whereby the lever arm movement on one side of the platform is greater than on the other side, thereby producing a longer step length on that side, thereby causing the platform to turn, and further comprising means for controlling the lateral position of the fulcrum support and thereby controlling whether the platform moves in a straight line or turns to one side or the other.
3. A mechanism as recited in claims 1 or 2, in which said legs comprise upper and lower leg portions pivotally connected to each other at knee joints, and in which said feet lifting and planting means comprise:
cam means carried by said platform and coordinated with said drive rod reciprocating means, including a cam for each leg;
cam followers following the cam for each leg;
cables connected from each cam follower to its respective leg, and specifically to the lower leg portion thereof, the cables being routed in front of the knee joints; and biasing means for normally having said upper and lower leg portions bent with respect to each other;
the cams and their cam followers each acting once per walking cycle to tauten said cables, thereby overcoming said biasing means and straightening their respective legs, the cam timing being adapted to produce lifting and planting of the feet as desired for a quadruped walking motion.
CA000440465A 1983-11-04 1983-11-04 Walking mechanism Expired CA1195845A (en)

Priority Applications (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000440465A CA1195845A (en) 1983-11-04 1983-11-04 Walking mechanism

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CA000440465A CA1195845A (en) 1983-11-04 1983-11-04 Walking mechanism

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
CA1195845A true CA1195845A (en) 1985-10-29

Family

ID=4126453

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
CA000440465A Expired CA1195845A (en) 1983-11-04 1983-11-04 Walking mechanism

Country Status (1)

Country Link
CA (1) CA1195845A (en)

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN109432794A (en) * 2018-09-07 2019-03-08 武汉做自己科技有限公司 Cardboard polypody mechanical creep robot
CN113518652A (en) * 2018-09-26 2021-10-19 幽灵机器人公司 Leg and foot type robot

Cited By (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN109432794A (en) * 2018-09-07 2019-03-08 武汉做自己科技有限公司 Cardboard polypody mechanical creep robot
CN113518652A (en) * 2018-09-26 2021-10-19 幽灵机器人公司 Leg and foot type robot

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