US2064119A - Climbing toy - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 15, 1936. v |REN|US 7 2,064,119

CLIMBING TOY Original Filed May 22, 1934 INVENTOR Joseph V. frenzus BY 2% r. w M

ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 15, 1936 UNITED STATES eArEN'r @FFIQE CLIMBING TOY poration of Ohio Application May 22, 1934, Serial No. 726,911 Renewed May 11, 1936 9 Claims.

This invention relates to toys, and more particularly to the class of toys in which the bodies of the toys simulate animate figures, and in which provision is made of mechanism actuated by a fiexible cord or cords, to produce a climbing effect of the body, and appropriate movements of the limbs or other appendages of the figure, to enhance the illusion of animation.

A conventional form of actuating mechanism for the above purpose includes what may be briefly designated as a difierential pulley, characterized by barrel or spool parts of different diameters, upon each of which a cord is so Wound that when the cords are pulled in opposite directions, the greater leverage of the cord on the spool of larger diameter will wind upthe cord on the spool of less diameter and cause the figure to climb or approach bodily the end of the cord leading from the smaller spool. Upon release of 20 the tension on the cords, the weight of the figure causes the cord on the smaller spool to unwind and winds up the cord on the larger spool.

In most of the conventional climbing toys of the above type, a considerable amount of sheet metal and/or solid wood structural elements have been used, adding undesirably to the expense of the construction and weight of the figure, and a general object of the present invention is to provide such a climbing toy figure with an improved actuating mechanism of the differentialpulley type, and an improved body structure in which the use of metal is confined substantially to the differential spool and to the employment of easily bent wire suitably formed to support the actuating mechanism and afford desirable reinforcement to parts of the enclosing body which may be subjected to destructive deformation in use.

A cognate object of the invention is to so organize the improved actuating mechanism that the principal strains exerted in operation will be borne by the metal wire part, so that the enclosing body structure and the limbs or other appendages may be formed of an inexpensive material such as cardboard, availing of recently perfected methods of fabricating the component parts of toy figmes from such material.

These can be stamped out in standard dimensions and large quantities thus providing components which may be assembled readily by persons having only an average amount of training and skill.

Another object of the invention is to provide actuating mechanism in which the oscillating arms, legs and other moving appendages derive their movement from a single continuously rotating cam disc, against the periphery of which actuating levers of cardboard are held by the weight of the appendages, thus eliminating the use of the cranks and connecting rods conven- 5-5 tionally employed for this purpose and decreasing the power required to produce the oscillatory motions.

These improvements make it possible to meet a presently growing demand for climbing figure To toys upon a production basis running into many hundreds of thousands annually, with the immediate employment of numerous operatives at good wages; and it is possible to sell the product at prices which are sufficiently high to'yield aeis fair profit, and are still Within a price range that can be sustained without killing the market.

For several years the sale of the climbing figure toys has dwindled practically to zero, on account of the inability of manufacturers to produce 511011420 toys of conventional structure at a price satisfactory to the market, although this class of toys ,is one that has an intrinsic appeal for children.

Other features of theinventio-n will be made to appear in the accompanying drawing andz= specification, and will be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation of a climbing figure toy, representing the well-known character 730 Mickey Mouse in Person, this being one illustrative embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on a medial plane parallel with the sides of the animated figure.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail view in crosssection of the actuating mechanism and associated working parts, taken on the irregular line 33 of Fig. 1, viewed in the direction indicated-by the arrows at the end of the line, and 10 upon a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary detail View in vertical section taken on the irregular line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration and description, the part desig-45' nated generally by the character H] is the body of a simulated animate figure, in this instance a mouse, made up desirably by stamping or cutting out from relatively thin sheets of ordinary cardboard of good quality, the component parts of 50 the figure, including side-pieces II and I2 forming the torso and head, a combined back and front'member 13, a pair of upper legs [4 joined by an integral part I5, and a pair of lower legs I6 similarly joined by a separately formed part I1.

It will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that the blank for the upper leg set is scored, as at 8, in the cutting operation, and bent to final shape thereafter; also that mortises 20 and co-operating tenons 2i are provided where necessary, and are fitted together as part of the assembling operation, this being, however, only a desirable and preferred mode of construction, as it lends itself to the economical fabrication of these toys.

Other parts of this body structure, and the details of their preferred formation, will be hereinafter described, as occasion arises, including the preferred means for mounting and actuating the legs, etc.

In pursuance of the general object of the invention, provision is made of actuating mechanism of the differential pulley type, generally designated by the reference character 22, and embodying spool or barrel portions 23 and 24, of suitable material, preferably sheet metal, the former being larger than the latter, the spools each being fitted with a dished end flange, as at 25, 26, and a. medial flange, or cam 21, of eccentric form being provided, embraced between the spools.

The differential pulley 22 has an axially disposed tubular journal or bushing 28, with oifset ends 29, to hold the parts together and add strength thereto, and by means of the central bore 30, the pulley is journalled rotatably on a wire support 3| which has an end 32 mounted in an eyelet 33 fitted in an aperture in the side piece H, the wire being bent to form a loop 34 fitted snugly in a slot 35 in the side-piece l2, thereby being suitably supported to hold the pulley in place. The wire is therefrom extended at 36 (see Fig. 2) in arcuate form along, and in bracing contact with, the back wall l3 of the torso, and free end 31 of the wire protrudes to a considerable extent through a bottom orifice 38, constituting a tail, with a terminal queue 39.

This wire constitutes the element of chief structural rigidity of the toy, affording a firm support for the differential spool at its axis of rotation and also acts as a strut at both the central and dorsal regions subjected to greatest collapsing tendency, and finally provides a strong tail piece, a projecting part which is ordinarily likely to be broken off in use, but should be desirably slender, to enhance the illusion of animate simulation. It serves also as a guide for the operating cord.

In pursuance of an important object of the invention, the legs, arms and similar appendages are actuated from the central cam 21 by a novel system of levers which serve also as pivotal supports for said appendages, as will be seen best from Fig. 4.

The lever for the lower leg set is designated by the reference character 4! and that for the upper set by the character 42. They are similar in shape and similarly mounted. and actuated, so that a description of the lever 4| will apply to both.

Each lever comprises a portion 43 extending transversely of the torso and a portion 44 at right angles thereto. The portion 43 in each is of sufficient length to extend through bearing apertures 45 (see Figs. 1 and 2), of V-shape, provided for that purpose in the side members II and I2, and the ends 46 project outside of the torso and serve as tenons to enter suitable mortises 41 in the legs I 8, which are firmly united thereby to the lever 4| and consequently are united to each other. The legs l4 are similarly mounted on, and united by, the lever 42.

The integral projection or arm 44 of each lever is adapted to extend past, and in contact with, the cam 21, so that when the cam is rotated with the pulley the shoulder 48 on the cam engages first one and then the other of the lever projections 44 and forces the same outwardly, tilting the levers in turn, and through them causing lifelike movements of the leg sets.

It is to be noted that the fulcrum or pivotal axis on which the levers 4! and 42 turn, as indicated by the reference character 49 in each instance, lies at the apex of each V-shaped slot 45, and the V-shaped slots are so positioned that the weight of each leg set tends to bias the lever projections 44 constantly against the periphery of the cam 21. There is however no binding action, as the cam operates by sliding contact only, so that the leg sets are desirably free in their oscillating movements.

It is further to be noted that the levers, being made of relatively thin sheet material, preferably cardboard, for the sake of lightness and cheapness, act at this pivot point somewhat as does the knife-edge bearing of a pair of balances, and therefore develops but little friction. It is, of course, possible to make the levers of thin sheet metal, or other thin material, if desired, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Before assembling the parts above described, the cord 50 will be attached suitably to the larger spool, as by inserting the inner end of the cord through a hole 5! in the flange 25, and knotting that end, then winding the cord upon the spool; similarly, the cord 52 will be secured to the flange 26 of the smaller spool but this cord will be simply led up through suitable holes 53 in the torso and through a hole 54 in the top of the head, without winding it on the spool 24.

The free end of cord 50 will be led downward and out of the body through a bottom hole 55 adjacent to, but preferably separate from, the hole 38 through which the tail 31 extends, and each cord will be provided preferably with a ring 55,.

through the feet, this being a departure from conventional practice.

As a result, it is much easier to cause the Winding up of cord 52 upon the smaller spool by the leverage of the cord 50 on the larger spool, in the usual way, and the rapid oscillating movements of the leg sets are very lifelike.

The mortise and tenon joints, 28, 2!, such as those between the side members I! and i2, and the back-and-front strip l3 which serves to connect the side members together in a spaced relation, may desirably be formed as joints of exclusively frictional fixation, eliminating the use of adhesives and of dowels, cotter pins, or other metallic fasteners, in fabricating the body of the toy and its appendages.

I claim:

1. A toy of the climbing figure type, characterized by a hollow body and a differential pulley provided with a flexible operating member wound upon said pulley and extending out from said body; said toy being further characterized by a disc cam fixed co-axially upon said pulley, and having an eccentric periphery; a lever extending transversely of said body and projecting at each end through the sides thereof, said lever having an integral projection engaged peripherally with said cam disc; and appendages upon said projecting ends of the lever simulating animated members of said body, the body having V-shaped apertures to receive said projecting lever ends, and in the apices of which V-shaped apertures said lever ends are fulcrumed to oscillate under the action of said cam.

2. A toy of the climbing figure type, characterized by a hollow body and a differential pulley provided with a flexible operating member wound upon said pulley and extending out from said body; said toy being further characterized by a disc cam fixed co-axially upon said pulley, and having an eccentric periphery; a lever extending transversely of said body and projecting at each end through the sides thereof, said lever having an integral projection extending past said cam disc; and appendages upon said projecting ends of the lever simulating animated member of said body, said appendages being so positioned as to constitute gravity-biased means to maintain said lever part in yielding engagement with said eccentric cam periphery.

3. A toy characterized by a body having a cavity provided with a rotatable actuating mecha nism including a disc cam having an eccentric periphery, said toy being further characterized by a fiat lever of sheet material having a finger engaged with said cam periphery exclusively frictionally, the ends of said lever projecting through bearings in said body in which said lever is adapted to oscillate when actuated by rotation of said cam; and appendages fixed on, and oscillated by, said projecting lever ends, being positioned to serve as gravity-biased means to maintain said finger in yielding engagement with said cam periphery.

4. A toy characterized by the elements combined and co-operating as set forth in claim 3, and further characterized by having said hollow body, cam-disc, lever and appendages formed of cardboard.

5. A toy characterized by the elements combined and co-operating as set forth in claim 3, and further characterized by having said hollow body, cam-disc, lever and appendages formed of cardboard, the body comprising separately formed side and other body parts fitted together by exclusively frictionally fixed mortise-and-tenon joints, and said appendages being fixed to said lever by similar joints.

6. In a toy of the class described, having a hollow body comprising several side and other parts formed predominantly of light sheet material such as cardboard, a rotatable actuating member having an axial bore, and a one-piece skeleton member of wire having one end fixed in one of the side members, and having an integral part extending across the central cavity of said body and bent to form a loop seated in the opposite side member, thereby constituting a transverse strut for said hollow body, and also forming a journal for said rotatable actuating member, said wire being bent at the region of said loop and extending close to and in a direction conforming with that of a portion of said body so as to constitute a supporting brace contiguous to a portion of said body between, and spaced from, said sides, the free end of said wire being extended out through an aperture in a wall of the strut for said hollow body, and also forming a journal for said rotatable actuating member, said wire being bent at the region of said loop and extending close to and in a direction conforming with that of a portion of said body so as to constitute a supporting brace contiguous to a portion of said body between, and spaced from, said sides, the free end of said wire being extended out through an aperture in a wall of the body spaced from said rotatable member, to afford additional rigidity to the combined body elements, and the extremity of said free end being curved to simulate a tail or like appendage, and terminating in a queue.

8. In a toy of the class described having a body formed predominantly of light sheet material such as cardboard, with side members, and a curved strip intermediate said side-members, and serving as a spacer therefor, an actuating pulley having an axial bore, and a skeleton member of wire having one end fixed in one of the side members and an integral part extending across the central cavity of said body and bent to form a loop seated in the opposite side member, thereby constituting a transverse strut for said hollow body and also a journal for said pulley, said wire being bent at the region of said loop and extending close to and in a direction conforming with that of a portion of said body so as to constitute a supporting brace contiguous to a curved portion of said spacer strip, the free end of said wire being extended out through an aperture in a wall of the body spaced from said pulley, to afford additional rigidity to the combined body elements.

9. A toy of the class described having a hollow body formed predominantly of light sheet material such as cardboard, with side and other members fitted together with exclusively frictionally fixed mortise and tenon joints; actuating mechanism within said body; and a one-piece skeleton member of wire having one end fixed in one of the side members and an integral part extending across the central cavity of said body and bent to form a loop seated in the opposite side member, thereby constituting a transverse strut for said hollow body and also a support for said actuating mechanism, said wire being bent at the region of said loop and extending close to and in a direction conforming with that of a portion of said body so as to constitute a supporting brace spaced from said side members and contiguous to another body member, said wire serving to tie together the principal components of said toy and to afiord. additional rigidity thereto, sustaining the weight and-operating strains of said actuating mechanism.

JOSEPH V. IRENIUS.

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