US2756051A - Hobby horse - Google Patents

Description

5. M. SHONE July 24, 1956 HOBBY HORSE Filed July 20. 1954 /M/wro/a SAMUEL M. A52m/v:r

3V L05 ATTDE/V. IIaeQ/s, [17.464,4 Fofr mi:

HOBBY HORSE Samuel M. Shone, Los Angeles, Calif.

Application July 20, 1954, Serial No. 444,450

1 Claim. (Cl. 272-53.1)

The present invention relates to a toy having a resemblance to an animal which is designed to be used for physiotherapeutic purposes with younger children. A broad, general object of this invention is to provide a toy of this category which may be used by either normal or physically handicapped children, and which, for the latter use, may be adjusted according to the ability of a child to operate the device.

This invention may be briey summarized as including a base, an adjustable carriage secured to Said base by spring means, a seat secured to said carriage, a simulated animals head pivotally mounted uponv said carriage; and means for attaching said head to either said base or to said carriage so as to control the motion of said carriage. The appended claim more precisely summarizes the actual details of the present construction. These details are best more fully explained with reference to the remainder of this specification and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a toy of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial perspective view of the toy illustrated in Fig. 1 showing one adjustment of part of this toy; and

Fig. 3 is a partially sectional view of one part of the toy illustrated in Fig. 1.

A toy of the invention is shown in Fig. l as including a base 11 formed out of two bilaterally symmetrical sections 12 of hollow tubing. Each of these sections 12 includes a center base portion 15 to the ends of which there are attached rubber cushions 16 of a type designed to bear against a floor or other supporting surface and corner uprights 17 holding in an elevated position ends 18. As is best seen in Fig. 3, these ends 18 terminate in end openings 20, each of which is designed to be aligned with a corresponding opening 20 on the adjacent end 18 of the other of the sections 12. When the toy 10 is assembled, the ends 18 are thus aligned with one another; this relationship between the ends 18 is maintained by means of small shafts 21 projecting into the end openings 20 on both of two adjacent ends. Undesired movement of the shaft 21 at the rear 22 of the toy 10 is prevented by a small bolt 25 passing through this shaft 21 and an end 18; undesired movement of the shaft 21 at the front 26 of the toy 10 is prevented by means of an eye bolt 27 passing through an end 18.

At the corners 28 of the sections 12 between the uprights 17 and the ends 18, coil springs 30 are attached to the base 11 by means of eye bolts 31; these springs 30 are, in turn, connected to the eye bolts 32 passing through the ends 35 of crossbars 36 forming a part of a carriage 37. This carriage 37 includes, in addition to the crossbars 36, two spaced parallel supports 38, each of which has a top 40 and connected parallel front and rear ends 41 and 42, respectively. Bolts 45 are employed passing through selected pairs of holes 46 within the ends 41 and 42 to secure these ends to the crossbars 36. It is readily apparent from Fig. 1 of the drawings that the height of the supports 38 can be readily adjusted by varying the nited States Patent O 2,756,05i Patented July 24, 1956 f 2 holes 46 through which the bolts 45 are passed. An other bolt 47 serves to aid in maintaining the parallel spacing of the supports 38.

The carriage 37 has mounted thereon a seat 48 which is held upon the tops 40 of the supports 38 by brackets 50 secured to a generally saddle-shaped board 51 forming a part of this seat by bolts 52. A bracket 55 is fastened to this board 51 towards the rear 22 of the toy 10 so as to project generally upwardly. Heavy wires forming a back rest 56 arey attached to this bracket 55 generally above the board 51Afor the obvious purpose; a strap 57 is fastened to the back rest 56 in order to hold a child upon the seat' if a child is unable to support himself or herself upon the toy 10. If desired, the rest 56 and the strap 57 can be omitted from the toy 10. lWith the seat construction shown, the seat 48 can be moved along the tops 40 of the supports 38 as desired so that the seat 48 can be moved to the most convenient location fora child upon this seat 48 to grasp handles 58 located upon opposite sides of a simulatedanimals head 60. In the draw ing, this head 60 is shown resembling a horse, but it can also be made to resemble a donkey, a bull, an elephant, etc. The head itself is mounted between the tops 4i) of the supports 38 bya common pivot 61 projecting through these two tops; it is adapted to be held in any of several operative positions by'means of a fastening bar 62 secured within a pivotal mounting 65 upon the head 60. The end of this bar 62 remote from the head 60 is provided with an eye 66 which is held by another eye 67 upon a bolt 27.

For one type of riding action of the toy 10, this bolt 27 can be secured within an opening (not shown) at the front 26 of the toy 10 as illustrated in Fig. l. When the toy 10 is assembled in this manner, a child upon the seat 48 can obtain a galloping type of action by pushing or pulling upon the handles 58. This feature of the invention is very important with respect to the use of the toy 10 by physically handicapped children having effective use of only one or both hands and arms. An actual physical embodiment of the invention assembled as shown in Fig. 1 has been very effectively employed in a heart-warming manner in enabling a child having the effective use of only one arm to play in somewhat the manner of a normal child, while at the same time permitting and encouraging needed exercise of the arm. When the device is assembled as shown in Fig. l, the movement of the carriage 37 can be instantly stopped by holding the handles 58 in any given position, in the same manner in which the reins of a horse are pulled in stopping the horse.

lf desired, the bolt 27 can be attached to any of the holes 46 enabling the toy 10 to be used in much the manner of a conventional horse toy. The height and location of the handles 58 can be varied by changing the hole 46 which is used for this purpose (Note Fig. 2).

One major advantage of the instant invention lies in the fact that it can be adjusted in virtually any desired manner so as to t, from an actual point of view, virtually any child, depending upon the size of the child, by varying the height of the supports 38 upon the crossbars 36 or by moving the seat 48 as desired. Such adjustment may be very easily and readily accomplished with a minimum of difficulty within the construction specifically shown.

Another major advantage of the instant invention lies in the fact that the carriage 37 and the base 11 can be formed out of hollow aluminum tubing so that the entire device possesses extremely low weight. Despite such low weight, and the fact that the seat 48 and the carriage 37 may be positioned in virtually any location so that the carriage 37 can have either a high or low center of gravity as desired, the toy 10 possesses very stable characteristics and is virtually impossible to upset. Further, because of the precise construction shown, the toy of the instant invention can be readily disassembled and shipped in a flat, narrow box occupying very little volume with a minimum of `diiculty, and can be assembled by any housewifeV or other individual without a great deal of effort.

Those skilled in the art will realize that the herein described invention is capable of wide modifications within the scope of the instant disclosure. Such modifications are to be considered as part of the inventive concept insofar as they are defined by the appended claim.

I claim as my invention: j

A toy ofthe class described which comprises: a base having front and rear ends formed out of two bilaterally symmetrical sections of hollow tubing, each of said sections including a center base portion, corner uprights attached to the ends of said portion, and horizontally extending ends attached to said corner uprights, the ends of saidsections being aligned with one another at the front and rear ends of said basegtmeans holding said ends of said sections in alignment with one another; eye bolts attached to said base adjacent the uppermost portion ofy said corner uprights; coil springs Vcarried by each of said eye bolts; cross bars positionedV adjacent to and between said front and rear ends; a second set of eye bolts attached to the ends of said cross bars, said second set of eye bolts being connected lto said coil springs; two supportmembers of identical construction, each having a top and parallel front and rear ends, mounted parallel to, and spaced from one another with said front ends of said support members being secured to one of said cross bars and with said rear end of support members being secured to the other of said cross bars; means attached to said support members for maintaining the spacing of said support members; a pivot projecting from one of said support members to the other of said support members adjacent to the front end of said base; a simulated head mounted upon said pivot so as to be capable of movement between said support members; a pivotal mounting upon said head adjacent to the front end of said base; a fastening bar secured within said pivotal mounting so as to project therefrom; means detachably securing said fastening bar to the front end of said base whereby movement of said support members with respect to said base will cause said head to rotate with respect to said support members; a seat positioned on said tops of said support members; brackets positioned beneath said tops oi said support members; and bolts securing said brackets and said seat to one another in a position upon said support members.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,437,015 Baltz Mar. 2, 1948 2,552,002 Dunbar May 8, 1951 2,659,602 Cowsar Nov. 17, 1953

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