US1932317A - Mechanical toy - Google Patents

Description

1933- E. F. LEDBETTER 1,932,317

' MECHANICAL TOY Filed Nov. 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l 57726521? leabeifi r INVENTOR H25 ATTORNEY.

Oct. 24, 1933. LEDBETTER 1,932,317

MECHANICAL TOY Filed Nov. 24, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR HIsATTORNEY.

Patented Oct. 24, 1933 "PATENT OFFICE MECHANICAL TOY Ernest F. Ledbetter, Chicago, 111'.

Application November 24, 1930 Serial No. 497,903

Claims. (01. 46-40) This invention relates to certain novel 'im provements in mechanical toys and has for its principal object the provision of an improved construction of this character which will be '5 highly efficient in use and economical in manufacture. v

Among the several objects of this invention is to provide a number of objects in the character of prizefighters and a referee, which characters .10 are mechanically operated so as to have natural movement in the course of boxing.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists'in the novel combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter 15; described and claimed.

The invention will be best understood-by reference to the accompanying drawings, showing the preferred form of construction and in which: Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional detail view of the invention; v

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the same taken substantially on the line 2-2 on Fig. 1';

Fig. 3 is a fragmentarydetail view of an elevating mechanism embodied in the invention;

Fig. 4 is a plan view. of the, detail shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the mechanism for operating'the arms of the prizefighter characters embodied in the invention;

Fig. 6 is an elevational detail view; and Fig.7 is a bottom plan view on line 7-7 of Fig. 6. s v 1 Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, a box like structure is indicated at .10 and includes a bottom wall 11 and a top-wall 'i2. The top wall 12 is made removable so as to gain access to the interior of the box like structure.

Arranged horizontally in the box like struc-' ture is a partition 13 which divides the box like structure into a lower compartment 14 and an upper compartment 15.

Arranged in the lower compartment 15 is a spring motor-16 including a winding key 1'7 and a shaft 18 journaled in bearings 19 provided by the partition-13 and bottom wall 11. This spring motor includes a driving gear 20 which meshes with'the gear .21v mounted on a shaft .22 journaled 'in bearings .23 provided by the partition 13 and bottom Wall 11. Formed as an integral part of this gear 21 is a gear 24 whichv operatively meshes with a gear 25 of a smaller ratio. This gear 25 is mounted upon a shaft 26 journaled as at 27 in the bottom wall 11 and projects upwardly ,through'a bearing 28 mounted in the partition 13. On the shaft 20 adjacent the gear 25 is a gear 29 which operatively meshes with a'gear 30 v of a governor mechanism 31, said governor mechanism being controlled in its speed by a control key 32 whereby the speed of rotation of the shaft 26 may be regulated. Mounted on the shaft 26 adjacent the partition l3,is a drive gear '33 which operatively meshes with a drive gear 34. This drive gear 34 is mounted on a shaft 35 carrying an inverted cam 36. This cam'36 is adapted. to, engage a shoulder 37 carried by a collar 38 mounted on a shaft 39 having its lower end of hollow construction. This shaft 39 has telescopic relationwith a guiding stud 40 mounted upon a bearing plate 41. Mounted on this shaft 39 is a gear 42 which .7 meshes with a gear 43 mounted on the shaftv 35 and this gear 43 meshes with a gear 44 carried by a shaft 45 journaled in a suitable bracket 46 carried by the side wall 47 of the box like structure 10.

Mounted on the shaft 39 are spaced collars 48 which provide a groove therebetween and mesh ing withthis groove is a bifurcated end 50 of a rocker arm 51, which rocker arm has a central, opening 52 formed therein. The upper endportion of shaft 39 provides a lift rod 53 which projects upwardly through a slotted opening 54 formedin the top wall 12.

An objectisindicated at 55 in the character of aprizefighter and includes thigh portions 56 piv- 5 otally connected to the body 57 as at 58. To these thigh portions are pivotally connected the legs 59 as at 60. Pivotally connected to the body in a manner to be hereinafter described are arm members 61. The lifting rod 53 projects up-- wardly into the body 57 of the character and is secured for rotation therein by means of a bracket 62. The upper end of this lift rod has secured thereto a bevel gear 63 which operatively meshes with-a bevel gear 64 carried by a shaft 65 journaled in brackets 66 secured within the body 57. The ends of this shaft 65 carry gears 67 which operatively mesh with gears 68 mounted on shafts 69 journaled in suitable bushings 70 and 71, the bushing 71 being fixed to the shaft 69 and forming the pivotal connection between the body 57 and the arm 61.

The shaft 45 has secured thereto a link 72 which is pivotally connected as at 73 to adjacent end portions of curved arms 74 and 75. The 5 curved arm 74 has one end portion pivotally connected as at 76 to one of the feet 77. of the legs 59. This pivotal connection 76 is'to a peg 118 which -may be provided at its upper end with a head 119 movable in a slot 122 to permit movement of- ,by a shaft.92.

the leg '77 thereon, or this may be accomplished in any conventional manner. The opposite end of the arm '75 is pivotally connected as at 78 to a curved arm 79 which in turn is pivotally connected as at 80 to a curved arm 81 which is pivotally connected as at 82 to the foot 83 of one of the leg portions 84 of an object 85 inthe character of a prizefighter which is'constructed substantially similar to the character 5'71 The pivotal connection 82 is made to a peg 120 which may be provided at its upper end with a head 121 movable in a slot such as 122 to permit movement of leg 83 thereon; The connected end portions of the arms 79 and 81 are pivotally connected to one end of a link 86 which is pivotallyconnected to a shaft 87 journaled in a bracket 88 secured to the side wall 89 of the box like structure 10. This shaft 87 at its lower end carries a gear 90 which operatively meshes with the gear 91 carried Ths shaft 92 carries an inverted cam 93. v The lower end of this shaft 92 carries a gear Qiwhich operatively meshes with the gear 33. This cam 93is adapted to operative-1y engage a shoulder 11'? mounted on a collar 95 carriedby, a shaft 96. This shaft 96 is hollow in structure and hastelescopic engagement with a guiding stud 97. The shaftcarries spaced collars 98 to provide a groove in which engages the bifurcated end 99 of the rocker arm 51. The upper end portion of the shaft 96 provides a lifting rod 100 which projects up into the character8l and is operativelyfconnected with arm moving'mechanism substantially similar to the arm moving mechanism described inreference to Fig. 5 of the drawings, it being pointed out that like reference characters to indicate the parts illustrated in ,Fig. 5 are applicable to the elements comprising the arm moving mechanism of thecharacter 85.

The pivotal connection '78 is in the form of a shaft 101 which projectsupwardly into one of the feet of an object 102in the character-of a referee, a shaft 109 projecting into the character 102 and suitable 'mechanismis provided similar 'to'the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 5 to move the arm 103 of the referee in-count like action.

The upper end portions of the shafts 35"and 92 are journaled'in'a plate 104 which carries bevel idler gears 105 operatively meshing with a bevel gear 106. The upper extremity of shaft 26 carries a gear 10'? which'floa'ts on the round portion of shaft 26 and meshes with a gear 108 mounted on a shaft 109 which projects upwardly'through a slot in the top wall 12 andinto the character 102. A clutch arrangement 110 is provided which includes a clutch cap 111 which is mounted on a squared portion of shaft 26 and isadapted to have frictional engagement with a clutch face 112 provided on a hub 113 provided by the gear 10'7. This cap provides astud 114 which projects through the opening 52 of the rocker arm 51.

As shown in Fig. 3'of the drawings there are arranged in the hollow portion of the shafts 39 and 96 cushion springs 1 15 whereby'to absorb the shock of the shafts 39 and 96 when the same are rolled. r

The operation of the device is as follows: Upon operation of the shaft'26 by action of the spring motor-'16 theshafts -35 and-92 will be caused to rotate and likewise thes'haft 26. As-

the shaft'35 rotates the cam'36 will'engage the shoulder 37 and move the shaft 53 downwardly.

,As this shaft 53'ismoved downwardly the shaft 4.5 will be caused to'rotate and rotate the arm-'72 in the direction of 'thearrow'l16, Asthis arm 72 moves inthis direction the arm '74 will be and the raising of caused likewise to follow the direction of movement of thisarm and consequently pivot the leg portion 59 backwardly so that when the shaft 39 is in its lowermost position by action of the cam 36 and collar 3'7 the character will be in a kneeling position such as is illustrated by the left hand character 85. At other points of operation of the arms 75 and '79the characterswill be moved by pivotal movement of these arms into a clinching position and at that time the object representing the referee will move toward the characters in a manner which will indicate that the referee char-" acter is endeavoring to part the fighters, the turning movement of the referee character being effected by the action of arms '75 and-79 on shaft 101. Upon retraction of the referee character the prizefighters the arms will pivot so as to bring these characters in standing position with the arms operating as though one character is striking the other character. The movement of the various characters in their particular place can be readily understood by"fol lowing the movement of the link and curved arm members illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings. As the shafts 39 and 96 are alternately moved E100 up and down, the rocker arm 51 engages and dis-. engages the clutch cap' lll from the clutch face 112 of gear 107, thereby at one time causing gear 107-to rotate with clutch cap 11 and in turn to rotategear 108 and shaft 109, which controls the (.16 arm moving mechanism of referees arm 103, while when the clutch cap 111 is disengaged from clutchface 112, gear 107 will float on shaft 26 "andmodification, without departing'from the spirit of the invention. I, therefore, do not 'wishifis tobelimited to the precise details of construc- 'tion set forth, but desire to avail myself of such variations and modifications'as come within'the scope of the appended claims; i l-laving thus described my invention what 1611 claim asnew and desire to protect by Letters Patent is: l

1'. A mechanical toycomprising a pair of ver-' tical shafts mounted for vertical movement, a character in the form of a prizefighter mountedfjg5 on each of said shafts, means for moving said shafts simultaneously but alternately up and down, and means including portions having pivotal connection with the feet of said characters the legs thereof into standing and lfgg kneeling positions as the characters are moved, respectively, up and down.

2. A mechanical toy comprising a pair ofvertica1 shafts mounted for vertical movement, a

: down, means including portions having pivotal connection with the feet of said characters for flexing the legs thereof into standing and kneeling positions as the characters are moved, re-' .spectively, up and down, and means associated withand operatively" connected to each of said shafts for moving the arms of the character thereon when the same is in standing positionj 3. A mechanical toy comprisingapair of vertical shafts mounted for vertical and rotatable movement, 'a character in theform of a prizefighter mounted on each of said shafts, means for moving said shafts simultaneously but alternate-" 1y up and down, means including portions having pivotal connection with the feet of said characters for flexing the legs thereof into standing and kneeling positions as the characters are moved, respectively, up and down, and means associated with each of said shafts for imparting a limited rotation or turning movement thereto when the character thereon is in standing position.

4. A mechanical toy comprising a pair of vertical shafts mounted for vertical and rotatable movement, a character in the form of a prizefighter mounted on each of said shafts, means for moving said shafts simultaneously but alternately up and down, means including portions having pivotal connection with the feet of said characters for flexing the legs thereof into standing and kneeling positions as the characters are moved, respectively, up and down, means'associated ,witheach of said shafts for imparting a limited rotation or turning movement thereto when the character thereon is in standing position, and means associated with and operatively connected to each of said shafts for moving the arms of the character thereon when the same is in standing position.

5. A mechanical toy comprising a pair of vertical shafts mounted for vertical and rotatable movement, a character in the form of a prizefighter mounted on each of said shafts, means for moving said shafts simultaneously but alternately up and down, means including portions having pivotal connection with the feet of said characters for flexing the legs thereof into standing and kneeling positions as the characters are moved, respectively, up and down, means associated with each of said shafts for imparting a limited rotation or turning movement thereto when the character thereon is in standing position, a referee character, a vertical shaft supporting the referee character, and means associated with the last-named means for effecting a turning movement of the referee character at certain times during the movements of the prizefighter characters.

ERNEST F. LEDBET'I'ER.

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