US1641477A - Gymnastic toy - Google Patents

Description

P. EssER GYMNASTIC TOY Sept. 6 1927.

Original Filed March so, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR Peter Esser ,4 TTORN S r P. ESSER GYMNASTIG TOY Se t. 6, 1927;

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Original Filed March 30, 1923 INVENTOR Pe fer Ess e r A TTORN S Patented Sept. 6, 1927.

UNI-TED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PETER ESSER, 6F CLIFTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIQNOB TO-LOUIS MARK 8c COMPANY, INC., OF NEW YORK, N; Y'., A CORPORATION 0}? NEW YORK.

GYMNASTIO TOY.

Application filed March 30, 1923, Serial No. 628,779. Renewed February 18, 1927.

ihis invention relates to a gymnastic or acrobatic toy, and more particularly to a gymnastic figure toy constructed and adapted for propulsion alonga rope or cord with a hand over hand motion.

A principal object of the present invention comprehends the provision of a gyminastic figure toy having movable arms and provided with mechanism operable when the toy is suspended on a rope or cord, for imparting an overhead hand over hand movement to the arms combined with a to and fro swinging or rocking movement of the body of the figure for propelling the toy over the rope or cord in a highly realistic and life-like fashion.

Other and ancillary objects of the present invention include the provision of a rope walking toy in which the arms are mounted for oscillatable movement on the body in a mannerto permit successive hand overhand movements in an efiicient manner; and the provision of a toy of this character having few parts capable of simple manufacture for providing an inexpensive and attractive toy.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and such other objects as may hereinafter appear,'my invention consists in the elements and their relation one to the other, as hereinafter particularly described and sought to be defined in the claims, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings which show a preferred embodiment of the invention, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of my rope walking toy, with parts broken away, showing the same suspended for propulsion on a rope or cord,

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the same with parts shown in section, and

Figs. 8 to 6 are diagrammatic views depicting the manner in which the mechanism provided functions to impart a hand over hand propulsion combined with an oscillati-n or rocking movement of the toy.

Referring now more in detail to the drawings and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 thereof, the toy gymnast of my present invention comprises generically a figure which may be made to represent or simulate an acrobat attired as a clown, the said figure including a .body 10 provided with the arms 11 and 12 movable relatively theree to, and mechanism generally designated as 13 suitably housed or en ased by he b dy 10 and operative for imparting motion to the toy when the same is suspended on a horizontal cord or rope 14 to produce a handover hand motion o he a ms 1 n 12 and an oscil ating o ocking mot on. of the body 10,

The body 10 may be conveniently made out of sheet material stamped into the configuration Shown, and the arms 11 and 12 are desirably provided with the integral hand portions 15 and 1.6 respectively, formed by suitably curving the upper ends of the arms in hooked fashion so. that the hands may successively engage the rope 14 when propelled therealong. The body 10 may also be provided with the lower limbs 16 and 17 freely movable thereon, and to this end the lower limbs may be conveniently carried by the hook-shaped elements 18 and 19 fixed to an open frame 20 provided for supporting the mechanism 13, the said frame being fixedly carried interiorly by the body The arms 11 and 12 are preferably oscillatably mounted on the body 10, and so that the hands 15 and 16 of the figure may be moved successively in hand over hand motion, the arms are mounted on the body on offset axes, the arms 11 and 12 being to this end fixed to the non-coaxial shafts 21 and 22 spacedly journalled in the body 10 and the framework 20. By the provision of this arrangement, the hands may be made to clear each other and the arms oscillated in a predetermined manner as will be detailed hereinafter, to produce the desired propulsion of the toy along the rope.

The mechanism 13 for imparting the oscillating motion to the arms 11 and 12 comprises in the preferredconstruction the rock arms 23 and 24: attached respectively to the shafts 21 and 22, rocking motion being imparted to the said arms by means of the spaced crank arms 25 and 26 respectively, fixed to :a drive shaft 27 j ournalled in the framework 20, the crank arms being connected to the rock arms by means of the link members 28 and 29 respectively. For driving the shaft 27 there is preferably provided the spring motor 30 also journalled in the framework 20 and adapted to be energized by means of the winding key 31, motion being transmitted from the spring motor to the drive shaft by means of the i Lil) gear and pinion 32 and 33 fixed respectively to the motor shaft and to the shaft 27. For the purpose of retarding the movement of the operated parts to the desired degree, I may provide a retarding element in the form of a winged member 34 fixed to a shaft 35 journalled in the framework 20, which is set into rotation by the gear and pinion 36 and 37 fixed respectively to the shafts 27 and 35, the said retarding means operating to produce sufficient air resistance to prevent an over-running of the mechanism and to stabilize the propulsion of the figure.

As hereinbefore stated, a desideratum of the invention relates to the provision of a rope walking toy in which a hand over hand movement of the arms is combined-with a to and fro swinging or rocking motion of the body so as to effect a realistic and life-like simulation of a rope walking acrobat. To this end the arms 11 and 12 are moved relatively to the body and relatively to each other in such a manner, and the parts of the mechanism 13 are so constructed and designed, that when the figure is opcratively suspended on a horizontal cord, the relative motions will produce a forward propulsion of the figure and will effectuate a to and fro movement of the body to positions on opposite sides of the vertical line. More specifi cally, to accomplish these results the arms 11 and 12 of the figure are so arranged and operated as to be movable relatively to the body 10 in cycles, and movable relatively to each other with a relative displacement of less than onehalf of a cycle; and in the embodiment shown in the drawings, the arm 12, which because of its front mounting may be conveniently designated as the front arm, is arranged to follow the arm 11, which may be correspondingly termed the rear arm, with a displacement of less than one-half a cycle of oscillation and preferably about one-quarter of. a cycle. To produce this relative displacement, the crank arms and 26 of the mechanism 13 are arranged on the drive shaft 27 with a relative displacement of less than 180, and in the exemplified construction these crank arms have a relative displacement of about as will clearly appear from a consideration of the drawings.

The character of motion imparted to the toy by the provision of this construction will be evident from a consideration of Figs. 3 to 6 of the drawings, in which are diagran'imatically depicted four successive positions in a complete cycle of operation assumed by the figure, the movement from one position to the next corresponding to one-quarter of the complete cycle.

Referring first to Fig. 3. it will be seen that in the position there shown, the body 10 assumes an erect or vertical position indicated by the longitudinal central line 12, and

in this position the body is suspended on the cord 14 symmetrically between the arms 11 and 12. The crank arms 25 and 26 are shown moving counter-clockwise as indicated by the arrow, and due to the relative displacement between the crank arms, the arms 11 and 12 of the figure are being moved in the same direction, forwardly relatively to the body 10, as indicated by the arrows in said Fig. 3. As the drive shaft 27 and the crank arms 25 and 26 rotate one-quarter of a cycle from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 4, the forward motion of the arms 11 and 12 relatively to the body 10 and the frictional engagement of these arms with the cord 14 causes the body to move or rock rearwardly into the inclined position.

indicated by theline 79 shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. Besides providing a rearward rocking motion, this inclination of the body has the effect of moving the rock shafts 21 and 22 relative to each other in a vertical direction, the weight of the body shifting from the front arm 12 to the rear arm 11; and of causing the front arm 12 to rise from the cord 14 for hand over hand movement relatively to the arm 11. In the position shown in Fig. 4 the front arm 12 is moving forward and the rear arm 11 is already moving rearward relatively to the body 10 to initiate the relative forward movement of the body to a vertical position.

In the further rotation of the crank arms 25 and 26, the figure moves from the position shown in Fig. 4 to that shown in Fig. 5, the front arm 12 first moving into engagement with the cord or rope 14, the arms then moving in the same direction, and rearwardly relatively to the body 10, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 5, the said body moving to the erect or vertical position 19 as shown in said Fig. 5. -Due to the engagement of the arms 11 and 12 with the cord 14 and because of the motion of the arms 11 and 12 in the same direction relatively to the body 10, the body 10 is then caused to move forwardly, the effect of this movementbeing to relative ly displace the rock shafts or pivots 21 and 22 in a vertical direction opposite to that shown in Fig. 4, this causing the rear arm 11 to rise from the cord 14 for movement relatively to the arm 12 with a hand over hand motion. In the position shown in Fig. 6 the suspension of the body on the frontarm 12 and the continued rearward movement of this arm relatively to the body causes a further forward inclination of the body, producing therein a pronounced forward tilt or a rocking motion. As the crank arms 25 and 26 then move from the posit-ion shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 3,

assuming first the intermediate position shown in Fig. 1, the rear arm 11 meets and engages the rope 14, and the front arm moves forwardly on the body 10, causing Fit) the'body again to assume the vertical posi' tion suspended symmetrically between the arms 11 and 12.

vVith this mechanical movement provided, it will therefore be seen that the figure moves in recurring cycles, the body swinging forwardly and rearwardly so as to lend realism to the movement of the automaton, the right hand moving over the left hand and the left hand moving over the right hand without interference and in an efficient manner, the parts being so co-ordinatcd as to cause the body to move in unison with the arms and to assume symmetrical positions with respect thereto.

lVhile I have shown my device in the preferred form, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body, arms oscillatably mounted on the body for movement overhead with a hand over hand motion and for imparting a to and fro swinging movement to the body when 'thefigure is suspended for propulsion on a cord or rope, mechanism carried by the body and connected to said arms for imparting the said hand over hand movement to the same, the said mechanism embodying means coordinated with said oscillatably mounted arms for imparting the to and fro movement to the body.

2. A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body, arms oscillatably mounted on the body for movement overhead with a hand over hand motion and for imparting a to and fro swinging movement to inclined positions on opposite sides of a vertical line when the figure is suspended for propulsion on a horizontal cord or rope, mechanism carried by the body and connected to said arms for imparting the said hand over hand movement to the same, the said mechanism embodying means coordinated with said oscillatably mounted arms for imparting the to and fro movement to the body.

A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body and arms mounted thereon and oseillatable about non-coaxial axes for movement overhead, and mecha nism for oscillating the arms to propel the figure over a cord or rope.

4. A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body and arms movably mounted thereon on fixed non-coaxial shafts for movement overhead to produce a hand over hand propulsion of the figure over a cord or rope, and mechanism for moving the said arms.

A gymnastic toy comprising a toy figure including a body and arms movably mounted thereon on fixed non-coaxial shafts for movement overhead to produce a hand overhand propulsion of the figure over a cord or rope, and mechanism encased by the figure for moving the said arms (3. toy'gynmast comprising a toy "figure having abody and arms osciilatable overhead relatively to the body, and mechanism for oscillatin the-arms with a relative dis-- placement of less than halfof a cycle of oscillation.

7. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure having a body and arms oscillatable overhead relatively to the body, and mechanism for oscillating the arms with a relative displacement of about a quarter of a cycle of oscillation. 8. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure having a body and arms movable overhead relatively to the body in recurring cycles, and mechanism for moving the arms with a relative displacement of, less than half of a cycle.

9. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and arms mounted thereon on non coaxial pivots, the said arms being movable relatively to the body in recurring cycles, and means for moving the arms with a relative displacement of less than half of the cycle.

10. A toy gyini'iast comprising a toy figure including a body and arms mounted thereon on front and rear axes, the said arms being oscillatable overhead relatively to the body, and means for oscillating the arms so that the front arm follows the rear arm with a relative displacement between the arms of less than half of a cycle of oscillation.

11, A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and arms thereon oscillatably movable overhead relatively thereto for effecting a hand over hand move ment when the figure is suspended on a cord or rope, and mechanism for oscillating the arms including rock arms one connected to each arm of the figure, and a crank arm and connecting link for each rock arm.

12. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and arms thereon oscillatably movable overhead relatively thereto for effecting a hand over hand move ment when the figure is suspended on a cord or rope, and mechanism for oscillating the arms including rock arms one connected to each arm of the figure, and a crank arm and connecting link for each rock arm, said crank arms having a relative displacement of less than 180.

13. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and arms mounted thereon on relatively offset shafts, said arms being oscillatably movable overhead rela tively to the body for effecting a hand over hand movement when the figure is suspended on a cord or rope, and mechanism for oscillating the arms including rock arms one connected to each shaft, and a crank arm and connecting link for each rock arm.

14. A toy gymnast comprising a toy figure including a body and arms mounted. thereon on relatively ofi'set shafts, said arms being oscillatably movable overhead relatively to the body for effecting a, hand over hand movement when the figure is suspended on a cord or rope, and mechanism for oscillating the arms including rock arms one connected to each shaft, a11d a crank arm and connecting link for each rock arm, said crank arms having a relative displacement of less than 180.

Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 27th day of March, A. D. 1923.

PETER ESSER.

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