US1378874A

US1378874A - Child's educational and amusement device

Info

Publication number: US1378874A
Application number: US440749A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gottlieb L E Klingbeil
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1921-01-28
Filing date: 1921-01-28
Publication date: 1921-05-24
Anticipated expiration: 1938-05-24

Description

a. L. E. KUNGBEIL. CHILD'S EDUCATIONAL AND AMUSEMENT DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN- 28,192!- 1 378,874. Patented May 24, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES PATENT orries-- GOT'ILIEB L. E. KLINGBEI on OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

CHILDS EDUCATIONAL AND AMUSEMEN T DEVICE.

Specification of Letters latent. Patent d 24 1921 Application filedJanuary 28,1921. Serial No. 440,749.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Go'r'rnrnn L. E.I{LING-' unit, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Childrens Educational and Amusement Devices, of which the following is a Specification. v

The present invention relates to an educational and amusement device for small children and its object is to provide an apparatus adapted for use in the kindergarten, in primary schools and in the'home, constructed in such inanner that the interest of the child will be stimulated with a resultant rapid advance in spelling, primary arith- Inetic and the like. 7

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forthin the detailed de scription which'follows.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a frontelevation of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention with. the parts in position ready for use; 1

Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical sectional view through the} device butwith protecting shields, hereinafter described, in position both in front of and behind the keys Fig. 3 is a partial longitudinal sectional view through several of the letter tubes;

Fig. 1 isa fragmentary front view illustrating the shield in positionover the keys;

Fig. 5 is a'fragmentaryrear view illustratin the shield over the rear of the keys;

Tig. 6 is a plan View of a tray hereinafter described; Fig. 7 is an edge elevation of said tray; and

Fig. 8 is an end elevation of the tray. Like numerals designate corresponding parts in allof the figures of the drawings.

The'device comprises a body portion5 thatis-supported upon end posts 6 which terniinate in legs 7. The body portion 5 is vertically channeled to provide a plurality of letter tubes 8, which receive smalluflat blocks 9 having the lettersof the alphabet thereon. There are enough of the tubes 8 to accommodateall oflthe letters of the alphabet and numerals'from 1 to 9 and, if desired, a cipher, as well as the following signs Thetop of the body 5 is inclined .or beveled as indicated at 10 are deposited in that particular tube.

which not only facilitates the ready entry 'of'the blocks 9 into the tubes 8 but provides a surface 11 upon which letters of the alphabet, numerals and signs corresponding to the several letter tubes may be placed. A hinged cover 12 is adaptedtoibe folded down hetween upwardly projecting portions 13 of V theend members 5 of the body 5 and to cover the upper ends of the, letter tubes 8. Thus when thedevice is being carried from place to'place', the blocks 9 can not be spilled outof the upper ends of the tubes 8. This is, fcourse, a matter of advantage in a device intended for use by small children i n I A because they are likely, at any time to turn the apparatus upon its side or upside down.

Disposed beneath .the body 5 and sup-- portedbetween the end posts 6 is a letter tray 14. The rear wall of this tray is eX- tended upwardly as at 1 5 andis secured to a rod 16 the ends of which are engaged with projecting portions 17 of theposts 6. The end walls of the letter tray are fastened to h posts 6 at 18. The letter blocks 9 are to bee ected' from the letter tubes 8 by

keys

19 or 20 as the case may be, and when so ejected the blocks fall into the letter tray Hand are picked out of this tray,one at a time, by the child and deposited in the channels 21 of an assembly tray 22, shown in Fig. 6.

In order to provide sufficient space between the

keys

19 and 20 sothat any individual key may be selected and pushed without actuating any of the other keys, these keys have been arranged in two rows and in staggered relation with respect to each other. Each tube 8 has a key devoted thereto and the head of thekey is lettered or numbered as indicated at 23 with a letter corresponding to the letters borne by the blocks that To prevent the accidental actuation of the keys and the v accidental discharge of blocks 9 from the tubes 8, a plateor shield 24 is disposed rearwardly of the line of keys and is held in position at one end by hooks 25 (see Fig. 2) and at the other end by a pivoted bar 26, said bar being pivoted; at 27 to the plate 24 and having its ends engageable beneath oppositely projecting hooks 28 and 29 which aresubstantially like the hooks 25 except that their free'ends extend longitudinally of the body 5 insteadof vertically.

A shield or cover 30 of L shape in cross sectionis adapted to cover the front of the keys. In placing this shield in position it is slipped longitudinally inside of the

free ends

31 and 32 01 hooks 33 and 3 1 (see Fig. 2) and engages at the opposite end beneath correspondingly shaped and I numbered portions of a pair of hooks. The endwise move ment is limited by a stop hook 35. As long as the shields 2 land are in position, the

keys

19 and 20 are held against endwise movement. lVhen the device is to be used, these shields are removed after which the keys may be actuated to eject the letters in the following manner. If it be desired to select the letter C, the child will pull out upon the key marked 2O in Fig. 1. It will be observed that this key bears upon its end the letter O and it is the key that is associated with the letter tube having the C blocks therein. l/Vhen this key is pulled outwardly until its downwardly projecting portion 2O abuts against the flange 20 of the bottom 8" of the letter tube, one of the blocks C will fall in front of the end 20 of the key. Then the key is pushed inwardly and the block is ejected through the rear of the body 5 and falls into theletter tray 14. The block is then picked out of the letter tray and placed in one of the channels 21. of the assembly tray22, as hereinbefore stated, and this operation is repeated to select whatever letters may be necessary to build the word or sentence selected. The bottoms of those letter tubes which receive the lower row 20 of keys is formed by the plate 8. The bottoms of the letter tubes which receive the upper row of keys 19 are formed by filling locks 8 The assembly tray shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8 is preferably provided with cleats 86 across its bottom which cleats not only prevent warping of the tray but render it possible to readily tip the tray so that all of the blocks contained therein may be dumped into the hand when it is desired to return them to the letter tubes 8. 1

It will be observed that the device of the present invention provides a simple and compact structure, occupying but little space and capable of a wide range of usefulness in the instruction of young children. use will appeal to the child more than the mere assembly of the ordinary alphabet blocks would do for the reason that the average child quickly tires of merely assembling blocks. The desire to operate a mechanical apparatus, to letter blocks fall therefrom, etc, awakens the interest of the child and incites it to persist in the use of the apparatus.

L see the Furthermore the necessity for selectivelydistributing the letter blocks among the letter' tubes, affords further exercise of the childs mind and further familiarizes the child" with the appearance and identity of It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular arrangement herein shown and described for it is manitest that the principles involved may be embodied in apparatus of other shapes, proportions and sizes without departure from the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim is: j y

1. A device of the character described comprising a body portion having a plurality of vertically disposed tubes formed therethrough, letter blocks adapted to fit in and be guided by said tubes, said tubes being correspondingly designated by letters of the alphabet, keys adapted to eject the letter blocks from the bottoms of said tubes, said keys being likewise correspondingly designated by letters of the alphabet, a pair of shields and means for securing the same inwardly and outwardly of said keys to thereby prevent movement of said keys.

2. A. device of the character described comprising a body portion vertically channeled to provide a plurality of letter tubes the upper edge of said body portion lying at such angle as to render the same visible when looking from the front of the body portion and bearing suitable indicia for the several letter tubes, letter. blocks adapted to fit in and be guided by said tubes and a plurality of correspondingly designated keys for ejecting the several letter blocks from the bottoms of said tubes.

3. A structure as recited in claim 2 wherein said ejecting keys are disposed in a plurality of rows and the keys of the rows are staggered with respect to each other.

4. A structure as recited in claim 2 in combination with a hinged cover adapted to be closed down over the open upper ends of the letter tubes.

5. A structure as recited in claim 2 in combination with shields and means for securing the sameinwardly and outwardly of said shields to thereby prevent movement of said shields.

6. A device of the character described comprising a bodyportion vertically channeled to form a letter tube, a bottom for said tube and a stop flange, carried by said bottom, and a key laterally traversing the bottom of said tube andcut away at its under side for the reception of said stopflange, said key being movable by its outward movement to a position to permit a letter block to fall in the rear thereof and being movable inwardly to eject said block through the rear wall of the body portion.

Intestimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses: V

MAUDE C. Conny,

I ISLEA R. 7' j