US2725654A

US2725654A - Ornaments simulative of winged insects

Info

Publication number: US2725654A
Application number: US317418A
Authority: US
Inventors: Kosikar Mary
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1952-10-29
Filing date: 1952-10-29
Publication date: 1955-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 1972-12-06

Description

Dec, W55 M. KQSIKAR ORNAMENTS SIMULATIVE OF WINGED INSECTS Filed Oct. 29, 1952 HTTORNX United States Patent ORNAMENTS SIMULATIVE OF WINGED INSECTS This invention relates to ornamentations for use in hair styling, on garments for women, on flowers and for other uses, and in: particular to ornamentations simulating winged insects such as moths and butterflies.

The creation of three dimensional objects simulating animals has been attempted by various means fromv the earliest times. Because of the natural beauty of Lepidoptera, reproduction of these for ornamental purposes is well known in the art. Suchreproductions to be practical for use as an ornament must be strong and capable of being produced inexpensively. In the past accuracy of reproduction has been sacrificed to these requirements.

The object of this invention is to construct artificial winged insects particularly Lepidoptera which simulate the natural object with reasonable exactness, but at the 7 same time are sufficiently strong tobe used as an ornament and can be produced quickly and cheaply.

This object is attained by the use only of material which is readily available at low cost, namely fine flexible wire, padding, fabric for the wings flocking to simulate the fine hairs of the body, adhesive for adhering the parts together and hardening the body, and ordinary artists coloring materials for simulating the natural coloring of the various insects to be reproduced.

The invention will. be described relative to a butterfly, but it will be understood that with necessary modifications it is applicable to other winged insects.

The invention is more particularly described in the following specification and it is described by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a top view of an artificial butterfly ornament constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the butterfly shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an underneath view of the butterfly shown in Fig. l on an enlarged scale, with the outer covering removed, showing the wiring which forms the frame of the object in full lines; and

Fig. 4 is an underneath view of the abdomen of the butterfly showing the cover wrapping.

Referring to the drawings, in which like reference numerals indicate like parts, the ornament comprises a head 10, a thorax 11 and an abdomen 12 from which extend front wings 13 and rear wings 14.

The body of the butterfly is formed of a framework of flexible wire. The main frame member of the butter fly consists of a wire 15 which is bent upon itself to form an elongated U-shaped or hairpin-like member. This member is shaped by bending in its transverse plane to form a comparatively long narrow curved rear portion which forms the frame of the abdomen 12, a comparatively long wider mid-portion which forms the frame of the thorax and a short substantially semi-circular portion at the front end which forms the frame for the head 10. with a restricted portion between the rear portion and the mid portion and between the mid portion and the front portion. The rear end is bent downwardly to simulate the curve of the abdomen of a natural butterfly. The body is built up around the wire frame member 15 by stuffing absorbent cotton-F or cotton wool or similar filling material around and between the arms of the wire 15, roughly indicated in Figure 3. v

The'front wings 13 are supported by wires 16, and the back wings 14, by wires 17. Each wire is bent into the form of a loop, and the free ends are inserted into the stuffed body of the butterfly on either side thereof. As shown in Figures 2 and 3', the free ends of the

wing wires

16 and 17 extend backwardly and forwardly respectively on either side of the body. Alternatively they may be wrapped around the body of the butterfly in a manner which it is not practical to illustrate because of the confusion with the other wires shown in the drawings. Covers C which are formed and coloured to simulate the wings of the butterfly are adhered to the looped portions of the wing supporting wires 16 and' 17. These covers may be made of light cloth sized to make it rigid or may be of thin plastic cut and coloured as desired. The supporting wires are thread covered or sheathed. Adhesive is applied to the wire covering after which the wing covers are applied to wires. When the adhesive dries the wing covers are firmly adhered to the wires.

Butterfly wings have veins or lines of darker colour extending outwardly from the base in substantially the form of a loop, as illustrated in Figure 1,. and the wing of the butterfly can be simulated more naturally by having the supporting wires conform to or follow these veins. Since-in many cases the wing covers are of very light semi-transparent material through which the supporting wire might be perceived, from the upper side of the wing, a much more natural result is obtained by having. the wires conform substantially to the veins which are of darker colour and less transparent, thus concealing the wires when viewed fromthe top of the wing. The flexibility of thewires supporting the wings makes it possible by suitable bending to arrange the wings at any natural position relative to the body.

Head appendages collectively referred to by the reference numeral 19, and in the illustration comprising a prehoc'is and two antennae, and likewise made of flexible wire bent to conform to the head appendages of the natural butterfly, are inserted into the body of the butterfly as shown in Figure 2 and project forwardly from the head. These may be suitably coloured to simulate corresponding parts of a natural butterfly.

The eyes 20 are also applied to the head on either side of the head appendages and facing the upper portion of the body and may be suitably made from round headed pins stuck into the body, and the heads colored to simulate the eyes of the natural butterfly. To obtain a more natural contour for the eye portion, the head of the pin may be moulded with modeling clay or other suitable material and suitably painted.

The ornament is provided with front legs 23 (Figures 2 and 3) and hind legs 24 likewise formed from flexible wires and these wires are Wound around the middle portion of the body, twisted around one another and the free ends bent into a shape simulating the legs of a natural insect extending beyond the under side of the body. In the drawing the butterfly depicted has a pair of forwardly projecting legs 23 and two pairs of rearwardly projecting legs 24. 7

With the artificial butterfly thus assembled, a wire 25 of relatively small gauge and considerable flexibility is wound around the body between the front and midportion to form a contracted area representing the junction between the head and thorax. (See Fig. 3.) A similar wire 26 is wound around the body between the mid-portion and the rear portion to form a contracted area between the thorax and the abdomen. One of the wires which encircles the body is bent to form a loop 27, shown in Figs. 2 and 3, for securing the ornament to a dress or other object.

The rear portion or abdomen is then wound with flexible tape to simulate the segments of the abdomen of a natural butterfly.w The abdomen is wound with the tape from the end towards the thorax. By twisting-each winding underneath the abdomen, the under portion of the body will have diagonal windings, as shown-in Fig. 4, Whereas the upper portion of the abdomen, as shown in Figure 1, will have transverse windings, each of which gives a very life-like simulation of the segments of the thorax of a butterfly. By overlapping the windings in various degrees segments of different and natural appearing sizes can be reproduced. These windings which make up the abdomen on the butterfly may be colored before or after application in order to simulate the true coloring of the butterfly.

The front and mid-portions of the body representing the head and thorax are coated or saturated with adhesive. Before the adhesive dries, flocking is applied to the head and body portions, this flocking simulating the fine hairs of the head and thorax of a natural butterfly. The flocking may be suitably colored before it is applied or may be colored after application. After the flocking has dried, suitable markings may be applied to the body portion to simulate the body markings of a natural butterfly.

The various parts of the ornament can be made separately and in quantity. The wing covers may be colored before being applied and if it is desired to produce a number of wings having the same design and color, these may be done by a mechanical process such as by means of a stencil or screen. The flocking which covers the body may be colored or dyed to the proper shade, the flexible tape for winding the abdomen may be colored to the required color, the wires may be pre-cut to desired shape and the eyes suitably colored before the assembly is begun, so that the assembly can be performed in quantity by the use of semi-skilled labour to produce the article on a mass production scale. The finished product thus becomes a highly realistic object of sturdy construction adapted to quantity production.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. An artificial insect adapted to be worn as an ornament, comprising a body formed of an elongated U- shaped flexible wire shaped to substantially correspond to the contour of a natural butterfly and filled with a filling material, said body being divided by flexible wire windings into front, middle and rear portions simulating the head, thorax and abdomen of a natural insect, and being provided with wings, eyes and head appendages, each said wing being formed of a flexible wire loop ex tending outwardly from a side of the middle portion of the body and having its free ends inserted in the middle portion of the body, each said loop supporting a thin rigid cover member shaped, marked, and coloured to simulate a wing of a natural insect, said loop conforming at least in part to the markings on the wing, said head appendages being formed of flexible wires shaped to simulate similar parts of a natural insect and having their free ends inserted in the front portion of the said body, the front and middle portions of said body being covered with flocking and coloured to simulate the hairs on the head and thorax of a natural insect, and the rear portion of the body being covered with a flexible tape wound around said rear portion from the end thereof to the middle portion of the body and coloured to simulate the abdomen of a natural insect, the tape being diagonally wound underneath the rear portion of the body, but transversely wound on top to resemble abdominal segments.

2. An artificial insect as claimed in claim 1, in which the eyes comprise beads coloured in imitation of natural butterfly eyes and disposed on the ends of wires, the free ends of which wires being inserted on either side of the body of the front end thereof.

3. An artificial insect as claimed in claim 1 provided with legs, said legs being formed of flexible wire members formed around the middle portion of said body with ends extending beyond the under side of the body and bent to represent natural insect legs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 227,933 Von Erichsen May 25, 1880 452,292 Smith May 12, 1891 1,727,700 Dickson Sept. 10, 1929