US1538140A - Walking animal - Google Patents

Description

May 19, 1925.

J. SPELLING WALK I NG AN IMAL Filed Nov. 2'Z, 192.5 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 19, 1925.

J. SPELLING WALKING ANIMAL Filed Nov. 27, 1923 3 Shets-Sheet 5 atto: n-c x1 l Patented May 19, 1925.

UNIT ED STATES .T01-IN'.SlPSIJLLINGr.,` OE WALLA WALLA, WASHING-TON.

WALKING ANIMAL.

Application led November 27, 1923. Serial N'o. 677,233.

To aZZwhOm; t may concern: v

Be it known that I, JOHN' SI'JELLING, a subject of the King of Norway7 residing at Walla Walla, in the county of Walla Walla and State of Vashington, have invented new and useful Improvements in Walking Animals, of which the following is a specification. K

This invention relates to mechanical toys and more particularly to those of an ambulatory type and has for its primary ob: ject the production of such a toyprovided with means whereby the toy will assimulate the natural movements of a quadruped such as a horse or the like.

Another object of' the invention is to provide the toy with means whereby the feet and the head of the animal will be caused to move coordinatelyy with each other and in conformity with the natural movements of the animal. i

A further object ofthe invention is' to provide a toy of this nature which is simple in construction, efficient in operation and which can be readily manufactured and sold upon the market at ya nominal cost.

These and other objects will more fully appear and the nature of the invention. will be more clearly understood from the following description of the invention, thesubject matter of the claims, and the views illustrated in the accompanying draw-ings, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view,

Fig. 3 is a detail view of the cam and arm for providing motion to the head of the toy, and

Fig. 4 is a persepective view showing attachment of the animal to a cart.

Referring to the drawings, 1 `denotes the side plates of a frame which are secured together in spaced relation b the rods 2, one of the rods being positione at the frontend of the frame, whilst the twogother rods are positioned approximately "intermediate of the ends of the platesl 1. y

Within the frame is mounted a drum 3 having at one side a gear t forming la component part thereof. Within the drum 3l is` a coil spring 5 having one end attached to the drum`3 at 6 andv its opposite end at tached at 7 to a winding shaft-8"' rotatably mounted in the plates 1 ofthe frame and having one end extendingoutwardly from; one of the plates 1 and provided with a rectangular reduced portion 9 for receiving a key for winding the spring 5. i

The main gear 1 of the drum 3 meshes with the front pinion 10 of the gear 11, the4 gear 11 being in mesh with the front gear 12 for revolving the front shaft'13. The gear 4 also meshes with the rear pinion 111 ofthe rear gear 16 which corresponds to the front gear 11 but which gears are disposed at diametrically opposite sides of the gear 4. The gear 16 also meshes with the rear gear 17 secured upon the rear shaft 18. These gears are operated by the tension of the spring 5 when wound by the shaft 8 upon which is a ratchet 19 for retaining the spring in wound position through the medium of the pawl 20 which isjpivotally mounted upon the inner side of the righthand plate of the frame.

Secured in spaced relation adjacent the upper edges and at the outer sides of thel plates 1 of the frame as at 21 are the inner ends of the curved floating spring rods 22, there being four of these rods. The op-` posite ends of the spring rods 22 arel pivot` ally secured through the apertured upper ends of the operating arms 23, the arms 23 forming a rigid part of the legsV 24 of the toy. The arms 23 of the legs lare each pivot-ed as at 25 to the crank arms 26rigidly secured upon the projecting ends of 'the' shafts 13 and 18 at the outer sides ofthe respective plates 1I of the frame. The crank arms 26 are actuated through the medium of the shafts 13 and 18 when revolved by they respective gear connections' with the spring motor 3, whereby the legs 241 of the animal will be moved in a forwardly or rear: wardlyldirection in acordance with the position of thevarious crank arms 26, this swinging action being occasioned by the fact; that the members 23 having a pivotal connection with. thew vrespective forward an, rearward ends of ,the spring rods 22. Itis to be noted that the respective crank arms 26 upon the ends of the operating shafts 13 and 18 are arranged so that the crank arms` at the right side of the animal will point inwardly towards each other, whilst the crank arms 26 at the left-hand side of the animal will point in opposite directions when in the positions illustrated in the drawings. However, it is to be understood that the positions of the crank arms are reversed or in fact assume various angular relations to each other during the movement of the legs of the animal constituting the toy. This arrangement of these crank arms with respect to each other causes the animal to assume the true walking gait of a horse or like quadruped.

Surrounding the above described mechanisms is the body 27 of the horse or other animal, which body 27 is provided at the bottom thereof with the enlarged front opening 28 and a similar opening 29 at the rear, the only member connecting the side portions of the body at the bottom being the member 30 forming the abdomen of the horse or other animal. rlhe forward portion of the body 27 converges to form the base of theJ neck 31 in which is mounted the annularly reduced portion 32 of the neck proper,

f the reduced portion 32 of the neck being pivotally retained within the opening of the base 31 of the neck by the rod 33 having its ends headed or riveted as at 34 and upon which rod 33 is adapted to swing the reduced portion 32 of the neck proper by the aperture 35 in its upper portion forming a pivotal connection and the elongated slot 36 in its lower portion, the slot 36 being of suflicient size to permit freedom of this portion of the neck. Y

In order to give the head Lthe natural vertical and swinging movements when the animal is walking there is provided the bar 37 having its forward end 38 mounted through the forehead of the animal and its intermediate portion provided with the enlarged eye 39 loosely surrounding the central por tion of the front connecting bar 2 of the main frame, the eye 39 of the bar 37 being prevented from lateral movement upon the rod 2 by the pins 40 projecting` through the rod 2 at opposite sides of the eye 39.

For causing` the vertical aud lateral movements of the head of the horse the inner end of the bar 37 extending from the eye 39 is provided with the arcuate finger 41, the end of. the finger 41 being adapted to travel in the circumferential and laterally inclined groove 42 of the cam wheel 43. The groove 42 is formed so as to provide the two oppositely disposed cam surfaces 44 upon which the arcuate finger 41 of the bar 37 is designed to travel, the cam surfaces 44 being so formed as to provide diametrically and oppositely vdisposed shoulders or drops 45, whereby when the cam wheel is revolved by the shaft 13 the finger 41 of the bar 37 will travel in the laterally inclined groove 42 therebygiving a side swing to the head of the animal and at the same time the' head of the animal is gradually elevated by the finger 41 riding upon the cam surfaces 44 until the finger 41 drops down upon one of the shoulders or drops 45 whereby a sudden downward movement will be imparted to the head preferably at th@J time that one of the fore feet of the animal is caused to swing forwardly, whereby the natural movement of the animals head will coordinate with the movement of the legs of the animal and thereby assimulate the natural movements of a horse or like animal.

The top of the head of theanimal is provided with'- the openings 46 in which are mounted the ears 47. The ears 47 may be formed of stamped material to give the shape of the ear, the lower portion of the ear being provided with the transversely disposed flat portion V46 having its end turned substantially upon itself as at 49 for preventing the ears 47 from being withdrawn from their pivotal mountings upon the head of the animal, the ears 47 being capable of the natural movements when the animal tosses its head. f

It is desirable to show the horse attached to a buggy, wagon, cart and the like and this manner of attaching the animal to such vehicles is accomplished through the medium of thc rod 50 which is adapted to pass transversely through the body and the mechanical frame-work of the animal, the rod 50 being secured by any suitable fastening means shown at 51 to the respective shafts of the vehicle.

The feet of the animal are preferably pro vided with the rubber pads 53 to prevent marring of the floor, table, or the like upon which the toy may be operated.

It should be stated in connection with the bowed spring rods 227 that they have a novel and improved function in that they provide a yieldable pivotal connection between the leg arms 23 and the frame plates 1 which serves to hasten the return of the crank arms 26 to vertical position at which time the legs will be perpendicular to the ground. Also when the momentum of the horse and cart 54, as when going down hill is greater than the speed of rotation of the cranks 26 a sufficient portion of this increased motion will be taken up by the bowed spring arms 22 to permit the cranks 26 to catch up, so to speak with the leg movement and maintain a coordinating cycle of movement without binding.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A walking toy comprising a body, a head pivotally. mounted upon said body, legs operatively suspended from said body, means for pivotally retaining the upper portions of said legs within saidbody, means for. actuating said legs, means associated withsaid legactuating rmeans for impartingan alternate vertical and, lateralmotion to said head, and-tamotor for operatingsaid leg and said head actuating means.

2 A walking toy-comprising a body, a head pivotally mounted upon said body, legsv for said body, vertical arms projecting from said legs within said body, rods for pivotally retaining the arms of said legs within the body, crank shafts within said body, cranks connecting the arms of said legs with said crank shafts, a motor for operating said crank shafts to actuate said legs, a cam upon the foremost crank shaft and operated thereby, and an arm connecting said head and said cam for imparting an alternate vertical and lateral movement to said head simultaneously with the movements of said legs.

3. A walking toy comprising a body, a head pivotally mounted upon said body, a frame within said body, rods pivoted in said frame, legs for said body, arms for said legs within said body and having their upper ends pivotally connected to the free ends of said rods, crank shafts upon said frame, a motor upon said frame, gearing connecting said motor with said crank shafts, cranks upon the ends of said crank shafts and pivotally connected to said arms at points below their pivotal connections with said rods, a grooved cam secured upon the foremostof said crank shafts, and a bar pivoted at the forward end of said frame and having one end secured to said head and its opposite end provided with a curved finger for engaging said grooved cam, whereby to impart alternate lateral and vertical movements to said head simultaneously with the actuation of said legs by said motor.

4f. A walking toy comprising a body, a frame within said body comprising side plates and connecting bars, a spring motor within said frame, a winding shaft for said spring motor, front and rear crank shafts within said frame having their ends projecting through the side plates of said frame, gears for connecting said motor with said crank shafts, oppositely directed retaining rods pivotally mounted upon said plates, legs for said body, integral arms upon the upper ends of said legs having their upper ends pivotally connected to the free ends of said retaining rods, crank arms secured upon said crank shafts exteriorly of said plates of said frame and having operative connections with said arms of said legs at points below their pivotal connections with said retaining rods, a cam uponv the foremost of said crank shafts substantially intermediate of its ends and revolved thereby, said cam having a circumferential laterally inclined groove, cam faces upon the bottom of said groove and having drops therein, and an arinpivotally mounted` inthe front of saidr frame for connectingsaidv head 1 withl said cam, whereby to impart:alternate vertical and lateral movementsto saidl head simultaneously with the actua tion ofsaidlegs by said motor,

5. A.f walking toy-comprisinga body, a frame within said body comprising side plates and connecting bars, a spring motor within said frame, a winding shaft for said spring motor, front and rear crank shafts within said frame having their ends projecting through the side plates of said frame, gears for connecting said motor with said crank shafts, oppositely directed yieldable retaining rods pivotally mounted upon said plates, legs for said body, integral arms upon the upper ends of said legs having their upper ends pivotally connected to the free ends of said yieldable retaining rods, crank arms secured upon said crank shafts eXteriorly of said plates of said frame and having operative connections with said arms of said legs at points below their pivotal connections with said yieldable retaining rods, said crank arms at one side being disposed diametrically opposite to the crank arms at the opposite side to assimulate the natural movements of the legs, a cam upon the foremost of said crank shafts substantially intermediate of its ends and revolved thereby, said cam having a circumferential laterally inclined groove, cam faces upon the bottom of said groove and having drops therein, and an arm pivotally mounted in the front of said frame for connecting said head with said cam, whereby to impart alternate vertical and lateral movements to said head simultaneously with the actuation of said legs by said motor. *l

6. A walking toy comprising a body, a head pivotally mounted upon said body, legs operatively suspended from said body, means for pivotally retaining the upper portions of said legs within said body, means for actuating said legs, means associated with said leg actuating means for imparting an alternate vertical and lateral motion to said head, a motor for operating said leg and said head actuating means, and ears movably mounted upon said head and actuated by the movements of the head.

7. In a toy of the class described having limbs, a frame, resilient means for yieldingly and pivotally attaching said limbs to said frame, and means independent of said resilient means for actuating said limbs.

8. In a toy of the class described having limbs, a frame, resilient means for yieldingly and pivotally attaching said limbs to said frame, driven rotatable cranks carried by said frame and a pivotal driving connection between said cranks and said limbs.

9. In a toy of the class described, a frame,

arched spring metal rods carried by said frame, limbs pivotally depending from the ends of said rods, and actuating means for said limbs.

10. In a toy of the class described, a frame, arched spring metal rods carried by said frame, limbs pvotally depending from the ends of said rods, driven rotatable cranks carried by said frame, and a pivotal driving connection between said cranks and l0 said limbs.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

J OHN SPELLING.

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