US2716840A - Mechanical boxer toy - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 6, 1955 R. E. ARMSTRONG 2,716,340

MECHANICAL BOXER TOY Filed Sept. 50, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l 7 INVENTOB S pt. 6, 1955 R. E. ARMSTRONG 2,716,840

MECHANICAL BOXER TOY Filed Sept. so, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 B 4 VMOND ABMs TRO/VG United States Patent MECHANICAL BOXER TOY Raymond E. Armstrong, Toronto, Ontario, Canada Application September 30, 1953, Serial No. 383,334

18 Claims, (Cl. 46-442) This invention relates to animated toy game apparatus of the type wherein one or more persons are able to engage toy figures in a competitive effort.

A popular animated toy figure game is that wherein the competitors actuate toy figures in a miniature boxing ring, the figures being manipulated in a manner to simulate the weaving and punching tactics of real boxers.

Numerous examples of the prior art in this field have been provided for the purpose noted but these, in all cases, lack facilities for the provision of fully realistic action on the part of the toy figures.

' It is the object of the present invention to provide an animated toy game arrangement wherein means is pro vided for animating the toy players in a realistic manner.

Although not limited to use in such a sphere the teachings of the invention will be elucidated by an application in the field of utility wherein two animated toy boxers are manipulated, puppet fashion, so as to simulate a competition between two boxers.

According to my teachings, an animated toy figure arrangement of the type indicated comprises a head member, a torsal frame, a support member or beam, a mounting platform and a base, right and left flexibly jointed arm members hingedly jointed leg and thigh members, means for hinging the head member for forward and backward motion thereof with respect to said torsal frame, means for hinging the torsal frame for forward and backward angular movement thereof about the support beam, means for latching the said torsal frame rigidly to the said support beam, means sensitive to a backward movement of said head member for unlatching the torsal frame from the said rigid relationship, a solar plexus plate, means for resiliently associating said plate with the said torsal frame, means sensitive to an inward excursion of said solar plexus plate for unlatching the torsal frame from its said rigid relationship with said support beam, resilient means for urging said base toward said platform but in such a manner that the base and support can be tilted over a predetermined range of angles about a vertical polar axis and can also be lowered along the said axis to a predetermined limit, manually operable means for actuating said arm members and manually operable means for tilting and lowering said base.

' The latched body support (torsal frame) arrangement includes unlatching means whereby if the head or solar plexus of the figure is struck with sufiicient force the toy figur hinged at its ,midriff, falls backward and goes out of control. Such an event may be established as a point for the player whose blow caused the event and may by the rule terminate a round or phase of a game. The toy figure must be re-set when once unlatched by a blow and this may be done by manually re-setting the toy figure or one may attempt to cause it by chance to re-set itself by causing a violent flaying of the arms and/or by causing the figure to tip and weave against the playing surface or against ropes enclosing a ring.

The tipping and weaving facility is provided by erecting the toy figure support upon a base which is spring loaded 2 7 l 6 ,84 0 C Patented Sept. 6, 1955 so that the support resides normally in a vertical position but, by means of a handle attached to the spring loaded base, can be tilted forward, backward, or sideways within specified limits and which will return automatically to the vertical attitude as soon as a player relaxes the control of the handle.

In a further aspect an unique handle means for tilting the toy figure includes facilities centralized upon the apparatus at a point beneath the playing surface and further includes facilities centralized at the same point for actuating the arm members of the figure.

In this way a player can cause the toy figure to perform all its antics by moving certain fingers and muscles of one hand only. If desired, the player by using both hands one upon the controls of each of two toy figures, can actuate both figures and by Providing suitable concealmentin the way of drapes and/ or the like, can establish a boxing puppet show. Alternatively two players may use the apparatus one operating each toy figure so as to play a boxing game.

These teachings will now be embodied in a preferred example of construction described with reference to the accompanying drawings whereof:

Figure 1 shows in perspective a miniature boxing ring of well-known style including toy boxing figures animated in accordance with the present teachings,

Figure 2 presents a side elevation of the construction depicted in Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a view of one toy figure of Figure l or 2 somewhat enlarged and mostly section to show details of the construction,

Figure 4 is a section viewed from the rear or operating end of the arrangement,

Figure 5 discloses details of a mechanism,

Figure 6 shows details of the latching device whereby the figure is normally held erect. This figure also shows means whereby the latch can be released by a blow to the plexus of the figure, and

Figure 7 again shows the latch arrangement but now being released by a blow to the head of the figure.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 is the hinged head, 2 the torso and 3 a hinged solar plexus plate forming part of a toy figure which is supported by a main inner torsal frame 4 hinged at 5 to a support 6.

The latter is made integral with a figure base block 9. Legs 7, 8, 7, 8, arms 28, 29, 28', 29' and gloved fist 30, 30' complete the essential main parts of the toy figure as seen by an audience. Decorative parts such as trunks 38 or the like may be added if desired.

The head 1 is hinged at 141 to the upper portion of the beam 4 and hinged to the head at 39 is a thrust rod 15 which co-operates with a latch lever 14. Said lever 14 is hinged at 16 to frame 4 and is normally inclined with a. lower end provided with a latch roller 17 seated in a notch 18 formed in said support 6. The latch lever 14 includes an extension at pivot point 40 having a bumper face 31 lying close to the inner surface of solar plexus plate 3.

The solar plexus plate 3 includes an inwardly turned extension 42 which abuts the rearward portion of latch lever 14.

Referring specifically to Figure 6 it will be observed that if the plexus plate 3 is struck a hard blow by glove 30" of the other animated figure the latch roller 17 will preferred arm actuating be knocked outof notch 18 and the follow-through of the blow will cause the body part 2 to swing about pivot 5 and fall backward until the roller 17 drops into notch 19. The tension spring 32 will then allow further limited backward yield of the body 2, which moves back while the head snaps back under the pull of thrust rod 15. The notch 19 may be predetermined to allow the body to fall into a reclining or similar attitude. The figure may be re-set manually by moving the body forward until roller 17 latches in notch 18 or it may be re-set in another way that will be described later. Depressible plate 3 is hinged at 3a or otherwise arranged to yield inwardly.

lf glove 30 strikes the head 1 a hard enough blow to overcome the tension of spring 32, the thrust rod 15 will be actuated by the snap back of the head and will shift latch lever 14 sutficiently to unlatch roller 17 from notch 18 causing the body 2 of the figure to fall backwards about pivot 5 as previously described.

The tension of spring 32 and other parameters of the latch mechanism can readily be varied so as to make the body 2 fall when the blows at the head and plexus are of equal force, or they may readily be adjusted so that a soft blow to the plexus will unlatch roller 17 while only a hard blow to the head will unlatch the roller 17. It will readily be seen that by suitable adjustment of the length of the rearward extension of 3, setting point of contact of extension 42 closer to the roller 17 or farther from it, a wide variation of unlatching forces can be chosen and these can be further defined by variations in tension of spring 32.

The latching of the body 2 in erect position is assisted by an abutment member 43, whose presence at the point shown simplifies the design, particularly that of the notch 18.

It will be evident that by suitably contouring the notch 18 at 41, its hold can be made weak enough in the backward direction so that a blow of predetermined force upon a firm portion of body 2 willeject the roller 17 out of the notch 18 and unlatch the body so that it will fall backward.

It will now be seen that the construction up to the point above recounted provides a toy boxing figure which has great versatility of response to suitably directed blows and can be adjusted to respond diiferently to blows of differing intensity and to blowlands at different areas or localities on the figure.

To provide still greater versatility in the figure action and to further enhance realism, the support block 6 is associated both slidably and resiliently with the playing surface 13. This feature is best seen in Figures 3 and 4.

The platform surface 13 is slotted along a centre line leaving transverse narrow opening 44. At this opening a platform 12 is slidably supported by guideways or runners 36, 37 so that it can slide back and forth in the channel like opening. The support bar 6 passes freely through a slot in the platform 12 and is rigidly attached to base 9. The latter is held normally in contact with the under side of the platform by tension springs 10, connected to said platform. Any plurality of these springs may be employed but inspection of Figure 1 will show that a plurality of 3 was chosen for this example, one at the front and two at the rear of the assembly. The tension springs are made strong enough to hold the block 9 firmly against the platform 12, but should preferably be made as long as possible so that they exhibit a high degree of flexibility for a reason that will be immediately evident.

The block 9 is fitted with a handle 11. This can be of any suitable shape or form that will enable manipulation of the block 9 to be had, but for reasons later to be men-- tioned is preferably made like a platform or handrest extension of the block 9. By pressing downward on this handle 11 the block 9 can be pulled vertically downward and this in effect shortens the extent of projection of support bar 6 above the platform surface 13. This causes the legs 7, 8, 7', 8' to flex about their pivots and 46 and the figure appears to bend or sag at the knees.

By twisting the handle 11 the figure is made to sway from side to side within the limits of freedom provided by aperture 44 and the freedom allowed to the support member 6 in plate 12. If the bar 6 has side play in the aperture through which it extends in the platform 12, the body 2 of the figure can be rocked by the handle portion 11 of the block 9 in order to represent weaving tactics in boxing.

If the figure is knocked over (unlatched), a skillful operator may be able to re-latch the figure by tipping the block 9 so as to draw the member 6 downward and at an acute angle with the supporting surface 13 so as to bring the whole body assembly into a nearly recumbent posture on said supporting surface.

The figure at any attitude can also be moved forward or backward in the ring in the slides 36, 37.

The arm members 28, 29 on one side and 28', 29' on the other side are actuated by a cable and lever system in each case. Arm 28 is pivoted at 22 on the fulcrum of a lever having an arm 23 actuated at 33 by cable 21. A jigger rod 24 is pivoted at 25 to the body 2 forwardly of the arm pivot 22 and arranged alongside of the arm 28 with its lower end pivoted at 26 to the foisa-zagrm 29 adjacent to the pivot 27 of arm members 28 an When cable 21 is tensed the arm first flexes and then rises and straightens out sharply thus imitating very realistically a boxers punch. The gloves 3t), 30' may be of rubber or other suitable material and these bumpers are fitted to the handparts of the arms 29, 29'.

The cables 21, 21 are pulled down through the block 9 and are turned at and pass into a recess 47 in handle 11. The cables may terminate in rings 34 dimensioned to receive the finger tips of an operator. Manual operation of the arms is effected by drawing backward on the rings. In this way the arms of the toy figure perform a vigorous and realistic punch; and by relaxing the manual pulling force on the rings the arms fall back to the sides of the body 2 of the figure. The rings may be rendered captive to the recess 47, as shown in Figure 4, by framing them loosely into the aperture so as to slide freely therein.

it will now be evident that the three features of the construction, the latching body, the individually actuable arms and the tilting-sliding base have all been brought n an unique manner to a single convenient control point in the handle 11 so that by effecting slight selective movements of two fingers and by moving the whole hand from side to side or up and down or by angular pressure upon the handle at one point or another on its surface, an operator can cause the toy to kneel, rise, away, weave, punch differently with each arm and move forward or backward in a very great variety of moves according to the will and skill of the operator.

Many minor variations from the described structure can be made by anyone skilled in the art without departmg from the broad spirit of my teachings; all such modifications are to be regarded as lying within the ambit of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. An animated toy figure arrangement of the kind described comprising a head member, a torsal frame, fiexurably jointed left and right arm members, hinged leg and thigh members, a support beam, and a base therefor, and a mounting platform supplied with a slot through which said support beam loosely projects in upward direction with said base located below the platform, means for hinging the head member for forward and backward motion thereof with respect to said torsal frame, means for hinging the said torsal frame for forward and backward movement thereof with respect to said support beam, means for latching the said torsal frame rigidly to the support beam at a specified attitude of the frame, means sensitive to a backward movement of said head member for unlatching the torsal frame from the said rigid rela tionship, a solar plexus plate, means for resiliently associating said plate with the said torsal frame, means sensitive to an inward excursion of said solar plexus plate for unlatching the torsal frame from its said rigid relationship with said support beam, resilient means for urging said base toward said platform in such a manner that the base and support beam can be tilted selectively over a predetermined range of angles about a vertical polar axis and can also be lowered along the said axis to a predetermined limit, manually operable means for actuating said flexurably jointed arm members, and manually operable means for tilting and lowering said base.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the means for latching the torsal frame to the support beam comprises a latching lever pivoted upon the said torsal frame and having an arm, a latch roller on the end of said arm, and means characterising the upper portion of said support beam for receiving the said roller in nested relation to form a lock.

3. A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the means sensitive to a backward movement of said head member for unlatching the torsal frame comprises a push rod hingedly connected at one end to said head member .in a position rearward of the head hinge and extending downwardly into the said torsal frame.

4. A construction as defined in claim 1 wherein the means sensitive to inward excursion of said solar plexus plate comprises an extension integrally associated with said plate at one end and at its other end co-acting with said latching means to disable the latch when a said inward excursion occurs.

5. A construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein the resilient means for urging said base toward the platform includes a plurality of highly resilient coil springs disposed at selected points about the said base, each spring having one end connected to the said platform and its other end connected under tension to a selected point on said base.

6. A construction as defined in claim 1 in which the right and left arm members each comprise a pivot rotatable in the torsal frame, a main arm fixed at its upper end to a said pivot, a forearm, means pivoting the upper end of said forearm to the lower end of said main arm, a lever fixed on said p'ivot, a jigger rod hinged at its upper end to said torsal frame and a side of said pivot, means for hinging the lower end of said jigger rod eccentric to the pivotal point on said forearm, and an arm-actuating cable having one end fixed to said lever and passing freely down through the said base to project therefrom.

7. An animated toy game of the kind described comprising a figure having a body, a support, said body being pivoted at its lower end on said support to swing backwardly between an erect and a substantially toppled position, means providing a latching slot on said support at a point rearwardly of said pivotal connection of said body, a latching lever pivoted on said body above said pivotal connection, said lever being normally arranged to extend downwardly and rearwardly of said pivotal connection of the body and having its lower end engaged with said latching slot to prop the body in erect position, and relatively yieldable means on the body and arranged to disengage said lever under impact for causing the body to topple rearwardly on its pivotal connection.

8. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the latching lever is pressed toward the latching slot by a spring, and in which the lower end of said lever has a roller by which it is engaged in said latching slot.

9. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which an abutment stops the body from swinging forwardly beyond an erectile attitude, and in which the lever is pressed by a spring into engagement with the latching slot and is received in a subjacent slot when disengaged and swung down with the body in a toppling movement.

10. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the relatively yieldable means on the body comprises a yieldable wall forming a part of said body and having a mechanical connection with the lever to disengage the same under impact.

11. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the yieldable means for disengaging the latching lever comprises a plate pivoted to the body and forming a part thereof, said plate having at its distal end a trip member which is arranged to thrust the lever out of the latching slot when the plate recedes under impact.

12. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the yieldable means for disengaging the latching lever comprises a head pivoted on the body to topple backwardly, and in which said head is linked to the lever in a manner to impart a disengaging movement to it when the head is toppled by a blow.

13. A structure as set forth in claim 7, in which the relatively yieldable means on the body includes a pivotally supported head, and a thrust rod connection with the latching lever to effect disengagement of said lever when a blow is delivered to said head.

14. A structure as defined in claim 7, in which the support comprises a vertically arranged bar, the upper end of which provides the pivotal connection with the body of the figure and the lower end of which extends loosely through a slot in a platform and is rigidly connected to a subjacent base block, and in which spring means press said base block upwardly against said platform.

15. A structure as defined in claim 7, in which the support comprises a platform interrupted by an opening therein, a block subjacent said platform, resilient means mounting the block on said platform, the mounting of the block allowing it to be depressed manually and said resilient means serving to revert the block to normal position after a lowering movement, a bar on said block extending upwardly through said opening and forming the pivoted support for the figure-body, and articulate legs pivoted on said body and arranged to be bent at knee joints by contact with a playing surface when the block is depressed.

16. A structure as defined in claim 7, in which the support comprises a bar and a platform, said platform being provided with an opening therein, a handled block subjacent said platform means resiliently attaching said block to said platform, said resilient means permitting said block to be depressed, said bar upstanding from said block and passing through said opening, the upper end of said bar forming the pivotal connection with the figure body, means providing a playing surface having an elongated slot, means slidably supporting said platform subjacent said playing surface for movement axially of said slot, and articulate legs pivoted on said body and normally resting on said playing surface.

17. A structure as defined in claim 7, in which the body is provided with articulate arms capable of being thrust outwardly from a pivotal axis, and in which manual means is provided for manipulating said arms, said manual means comprising a lever extending from said pivotal axis, a flexible element connected to said lever and guided on the support for manual manipulation.

18. A toy figure boxing game of the kind described comprising a supporting structure providing a playing surface, having an elongated slot; a pair of toy figures; a platform for each toy figure, each said platform being disposed below a slotted portion of said playing surface, guide means mounting each said platform slidably on said supporting structure for movement axially of said slot, a handle extending from each said platform, a base block subjacent each said platform, spring means adapted to press each base block upwardly against the respective platform, and a vertically arranged bar upwardly extending from each said base block and loosely projecting through a hole in the respective platform, each said bar having an upper end attached to a toy figure aforesaid.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,188,864 Webber June 27, 1916 1,266,765 Bouiford May 21, 1918 1,799,735 Crowell Apr. 7, 1931 2,586,432 Land Feb. 19, 1952

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