US1324057A - And one-hale to elizabeth - Google Patents

Description

L. ST. D. MALONE.

TOY ANIMAL.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, 1919.

1,324,057. Patented Dec. 9,1919.

UNITED STATES PATENT-OFFICE.

LEON s'r. IJENIS MALONE, or ROCHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA, Assrenon or ONE-HALETIO NANCY Ha H. DE'FORD, OF BALTIMORE,

H. 'FINNEY, OF E VANS'ION, ILLINOIS,

MARYLAND, AND ONE-HALF TO ELIZABETH TOY ANIMAL.

' America, residing at Rochester, Pennsyluse of pivoted legs,

mine, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements in Toy, Animals, of which the following is a specification.

In the manufacture of toy animals, the arms, neck, jaws, etc., in semblance of the corresponding struc ture of the animal as produced in nature, is

well-known, such features having been disclosed in various United Statespatents.

The present invention relates more particularly to features which do not correspond closely to what may be termed the natural structure of theanimal, but at the a same time make it.p0ssible to arrange or V mal'in life.

place the artificial or toy animal inattitudes and cause it to execute motions which bear a striking resemblance to the attitudes and motions assumed and executed by the ani- Thetoy animal of the invention also includes certain external features which while they donot in themselves bear a close-resemblance to the natural features, give to the completed animal a lifelike, striking and attractive appearance not incident to corresponding toy articles. heretofore produced. In the present instance the inven tion has been embodied in atoy dog, but

it may be: used in toys bearing the semblance of other animals.

r The body or trunk of the: animal is 'made in two sections, the rearmost" section being the smaller and shorter, and these sections are joined by a pivot or. pin which is just forward of the leg joint and near the center of the trunk measuredvertically, the position of this pivot with the contour of the connected parts givingthe animal the apparent effect of havi'ng'a flexible backbone and trunk, so that'it can assumewellknown attitudes of crouching and j uinping in which the back is hollowed or arched, which attitudes are characteristic of dogs,;one of the most familiar beingthe crouching atti-- tude'often assumed by playful animals. Aside from this, the rear portion of the head, beginning just forward of the eyes and including the ears, is constructed of a single hoodlike raised piece which brings Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 20, 1919. Serial No. 298,440.

Patented Dec. 9, 1919.

prominence to the eyes with an accompanymg convenience of construction. The body, head and neck are made of flatpieces, one being slotted and the other tongued to fit in the slot adjacent the pivot joint; Th legs are preferably pivoted to the flat body memher so that they swing freely relatively to it, the outer surface forminga guide and hearing, and preferably the body has a striking color scheme as indicated, the back and forward shoulders being of one color and the lower part of the abdomen of another contrasting color, the hind legs and hood being like the shoulders. However, the various features of invention as the color scheme and the hood, and the articulation of the trunk are not essential to each other.

In the accompanying drawing I have illustrated a toy dog including the various features of my invention in the preferred form.

Figure l is an elevation with certain parts on the side near the observer removed for convenience of illustration.

Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the animal complete.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3, 3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing by numerals, the toy animal illustrated consists in general of a body 1, legs including feet 2, 3, 4, 5 and head 10. {The forward legs 2, 3 swing freely about a transverse pin 6, passed throughthe forward end of the body member-near the lower quarter, the hind legs 4 and 5 being similarly swung on a transverse pin 7 passed through the rear end of the body. The toy also includes a neck 8 pivoted to the body by a pin 9 passing through the upper forequarter of'the body, a head 10 pivoted to the neck :by a transverse pin 11, a lower jaw 12 pivoted to articulate freely in the head section, and a tail l3 pivoted in the rear upper quarter of the body on a transverse pin 14. v

The construction of the body member 1, as already outlined in the preamble, is animportant" feature of the invention, the sameconsisting of .a forward or trunk member16 particularly the back lines 19 and 20 of the members 16 and 17, being of such configuration and so related to the pivot 18 as to give the body a natural outline and attitude as it is bent about this pivot pin 18.

Preferably and in the form of the invention shown, the haunch member 17 is formed at its forward end into a tongue or tenon 21 which is cut as to its forward surface on an arc 22 concentric with the pin 18, and the forward or trunk section of the body 16 is formed at its rear end with a corresponding socket or mortise 23 concentric with the pin 18, the jaws 24 on each side of the mortise forming the rear end of the trunk, being also preferably cut on a corresponding are on the same center, and the haunch section 17 being cut away on an arc 25 also concentric with the pin 18 to form the tenon 21.

The body sections preferably are laminated as shown in Fig. 3, being built u of a central strip 26 and two strips 27 on each side of the center strip, the outer strips being of lesser thickness. The outside strips 27 form the jaws 24 i'nclosing the mortise, the central piece being cut away on the arc 23, and in the haunch member the central piece forms the tongue or tenon, the outer layers being cut away on the are 25. To form the neck joint, the central strip 26 is cut away, forming a socket 28 into which the end of the neck is inserted and held by the pin 9.

The head is formed of three strips or laminations corresponding to the body structure, see particularly Fig. 1, the same consisting of a central piece 29 and outside members 30. The central piece is cut away at the bottom to form a socket or mortise 31 for the neck joint and the jaw 12 which is pivoted at 32 therein. The outside head strips 30 in this instance have the effect of a hood or mark extending down beyond the eyes and over the jowls, emphasizing and demarking the nose and giving the head and ears which are included in thls mark an appearance of life, though not hearing a close resemblance to the natural structure. The tail 13 is also pivoted in a socket 33 between the outside laminations, the socket being formed by cutting away the central member.

Preferably the hood pieces 30, the upper forward portion of the trunk section 16, the top edge of the body and one or more of the legs are given a color contrasting to that applied to the rest of the animal, though other color schemes may of course be used, the object being to give an attractive appearance and a lifelike effect without closely imitating nature, which, if attempted under the circumstances and conditions presented, would not produce the effect desired.

While toy animals with jointed bodies have been described in prior publications and probably manufactured, it willbe noted, in comparison with these, that the effect pro duced by the particular configuration of the trunk and haunch member, and the position of this joint and its relation to the rear leg joint, give to the animal an unequaled facility for assuming natural attitudes or attitudes which give the apparent effect of being natural.

The hoodlike structure of the head gives the nose or snout, including the upper and lower jaw and eye, a eculiarly lifelike effect and relief, which is believed to be novel as to both the means and result.

I have thus described specifically and in detail a toy embodying my invention in order that the same may be fully understood. However, the specific terms herein are used descriptively rather than in their limiting sense and the scope of the invention is defined in the claims.

lVhat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a toy animal, a body of substantially fiat material composed of a trunk portion and a haunch portion, a mortise and tenon joint including a transverse pivot adjacent the rear of the body on which the two-parts articulate upward and downward from their normal relative position.

2. A toy animal having a body of substantially fiat construction composedof a trunk portion and a haunch portion, hind legs pivoted to swing on the opposite faces of the haunch portion, and fore legs pivoted to swing on the opposite faces of the trunk, a transverse pivot connecting the trunk and haunch portions, about which the two portions of the trunk are ada ted to swing both upward and downward 'rom their normal relative position, the same being adjacent the rear leg pivot.

3. A toy animal having a body of flat material consisting of a trunk section and a haunch section, a transverse pivot near the vertical center of the trunk section and near the hind legs, the said pivot connecting the trunk portion to the haunch portion to swing about the pivot both upward and downward from normal relative position.

Signed by me at Baltimore, Maryland, this 19th day of May, 1919.

LEON ST. DENIS MALONE.

Witnesses: l

E. A LSLEGER,

CHESTER MORRIS HOWARD.

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