GB1120654A - Magnetically operated simulated eye assembly for toys - Google Patents

Abstract

1,120,654. Eye opening and closing means. DE LUXE TOPPER CORP. 7 March, 1967 [5 July, 1966], No. 10611/67. Heading A6S. A simulated eye for use in a toy comprises a housing adapted to be located in the head of said toy, an eye assembly pivotally mounted within said housing and magnetic means secured to and rotatable with said eye assembly which magnetic means may be influenced by a control magnet to cause said eye assembly to pivot within said housing thereby causing the eye to appear to open and close. Fig. 2 shows in section the eye socket 12 of a toy in which the housing of a simulated eye is accommodated. Each housing comprises a body 13 and a cover 19 provided with an elliptical opening 21 at its centre. Pivotally mounted in the housing by pintles 28 is the eye assembly, which comprises two portions a hemispherical shell 18 bearing on its outersurface the representation of an eye and an armature portion 30 which is attached to shell 18 via posts 24 (figs. 4 and 6 not shown) bottom post 25, and lip 26, which are dimensioned such that armature 30 is a snap fit in shell 18. The eye-assembly is perfectly balanced around the axis defined by the pintles 28 so that once the assembly is placed in any given position it maintains that position regardless of the orientation of the toy. An opening 42 in the central section of the armature contains a disc-shaped magnet 44 tightly fitted therein. The centres of the end faces of the disc coincide with the pintles 28 so that the magnet is balanced about the same axis as the eye assembly. The magnetic axis is preferably normal to the pivot axis extending from the front to the back of the housing. To operate the eye, a control magnet 48 is brought adjacent to it when the magnetic force causes the eye to pivot, the amount of movement being governed by the interaction of ledges 15 and 17 of the housing and projecting leg 36 of the armature. In an alternative embodiment fig. 7 not shown the housing is surrounded by a solenoid which is activated from a battery via a reversing switch. When operation of the switch reverses the magnetic direction of the solenoid and moves the eyes accordingly. In a further embodiment fig. 8 not shown the rear of the housing is fitted with an electromagnet the polarity of which may be changed via a reversing switch again manipulating the eye. In other embodiments fig. 9 and 10 not shown coils situate adjacent each eye are activated by switch means and battery to manipulate eye assemblies which are in the case of fig. 9 biassed by a magnet or by ballast into a particular orientation which bias is overcome by the magnetic influence of the coils or wherein the case of fig. 10, the reversal of the coil field is achieved using a circuit wherein one end of the coil is in circuit with switch means and the other end is connected to a centre tap of the battery. The toy preferably includes two eye assemblies each activated by a separate solenoid or coil.