US3032922A

US3032922A - Ventriloquial doll

Info

Publication number: US3032922A
Application number: US57300A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mitchell William
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1960-09-20
Filing date: 1960-09-20
Publication date: 1962-05-08
Anticipated expiration: 1979-05-08

Description

May 8, 1952 w. MITCHELL 3,032,922

VENTRILOQUIAL- DOLL Filed Sept. 20, 1960 3), U w/g/ 5f-I (L (7J/obl' @U 22 @/wbz 2@ r5.5

United States Patent 3,032,922 VENTRILOQUIAL DOLL William Mitchell, 30 E. 21st St., New York, N.Y. Filed Sept. 20, 1960, Ser. No. 57,300 1 Claim. (Cl. 46-154) 'I'his invention relates to a commercially produced doll adapted for use in ventriloquism.

Most dolls, commonly called dummies, used by ventriloquists are individually produced and of artistic merit so that they have a unique personality easily identified by the public.

Moreover, the doll manufacturing industry produces in quantity dolls which are generally fully stuffed.

It is an objective of this invention to provide a mass produced doll adapted for ventriloquial use, especially by children.

It is a further objective to provide a doll having a resilient face and a cavitated head adapted for ventriloquial use, yet of inexpensive manufacture and of relatively simple construction.

The doll of this invention may be of any desired animal form including that of human beings. Moreover, the outer garments or covering of the garments may be of optional selection.

This invention is illustrated by an embodiment in the form of a monkey having a fur body covering made of synthetic fur material, but clearly it is not to be limited to this animal form nor to the synthetic fur used in conjunction therewith.

This embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of the monkey,

FIG. 2 is an inside out view of the front of the monkeys head showing the interior surface of a resilient plastic face and the manner of securing the face to the other portions of the head,

FIG. 3 is a view of the segmented rear of the inside-out monkeys head and back, and showing the back portion of the monkeys head and the manner of securing it to the animal body portion,

FIG. 4 is a side view of the inside-out head,

FIG. 5 is a view of the side of the head of FIG. 4 showing the spacer element partly sewn in place,

FIG. 6 is atop view of the animal head inside-out showing in section the spacer element secured in place and the chamber space between the spacer element and the back of the animal head,

FIG. 7 is a vertical section view of the head and of the resilient face showing the manner of forming the cavity adapted to receive the operators hand and showing a resilient face element having nger operable projections thereon,

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the animal of FIG. 4 with the head bent forward to show the inside of the hand receiving cavity, and

FIG. 9 is a View of the back of the head element superimposed upon the spacer element.

Turning now to the drawing, a doll 10 in the form of a stuied monkey and having stuffed moveable arms and legs, is provided with a face 11 of resilient rubber or plastic. A pair of resilient ears 12 and hands 13 are also provided to give the animal a life-like quality. The resilient rubber or plastic permits distortion of the face upon application of finger pressure to the interior surface thereof thereby creating a plurality of facial expressions. Release of the applied pressure on the interior surface of the face permits the distorted face to rebound or return to its normal expression.

As shown in FIG. 2, the body and head of the doll are made by conventional sewing together on the back surface thereof, suitable segments of synthetic fur.

'ice

An important feature of this invention lies in the provision of a cavitated head to a dolls body to permit manipulation of said resilient face 11.

To provide a cavitated head to the dolls body, the head is made preferably of four elements, namely the face 11, the back of the head 14, and the split element 15 forming the left side of the head and the split element 16 forming the right side of the head.

The body proper of the doll is of conventional construction and is provided with a back element 17 having a suitably long slit 18 therein to permit pushing out the insideout sewn construction so that the fur side of the fabric is exposed to view. The doll is further provided with a conventional pair of

front body elements

19 and 20 and arms Z1.

As shown in FIG. 3 the back of the head element 14 is substantially a semi-circular element. A semi-circular spacer element 22, preferably of plain cloth, is provided with base line 23 roughly equal or`slightly larger in length to base line 24 of the head element 14.

The

side split elements

15 and 16, back head element 14 and face 11 are sewn together by conventional means to give the head shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. The head is then sewn to the body of the animal as shown at the round neck opening of the conventional body portion, leaving the base line 24 unsewn.

According to this invention, the suitably large semicircular spacer element 22 is sewn to the side to side medial line of the top of the head along its semi-circular edge 25 only so that a suitable opening is provided between

base lines

23 and 24 to receive subsequently a stufing 26. As shown in FIG. 6, the circular edge 25 is sewn in part to the slits 27 of the

side elements

15 and 16, said side slits 27 then receiving said ears 12 which are lastly sewn in place therein.

The unstuffed doll with its head partly sewn thereon, the base line 23 of the head being unsewn to the body portion and also unsewn to the base line 24, is completely turned into the body cavity of the doll and a circular piece of cloth 28 is sewn into the throat area thereby completely blocking of the body cavity from the head cavity. Next the head and later the arms and the legs are pulled through slit 18 so that all the sewn seams are disposed interiorly of the doll surface.

The doll is then stuffed with brous material 26 both in the body portion and in the head between

elements

14 and 22. Thereafter slit 18 is sewn up and base line 23 is sewn to base line 24 and the doll is ready for the ventriloquist.

To permit effective operation the dolls face, the face 11 is preferably provided with projecting ridges 29 above and below each of the eyes on the interior surface thereof. These ridges preferably follow the contour of the eye or the eyebrow. Preferably also the mouth of the face 11 is provided on its interior with a ridge 30 suitable for seizure between a pair of lingers.

The provision of finger operable ridges 29 on the interior surface of face 11 either above or below the eyes, or on the cheeks of the interior surface or above and/or below the lips thereof is optional for clearly the resilient face can be made to change its expressions by the application of ringer pressure on the interior surface itself of face 11 as for example, behind the eyes. However the provision of one or more ridges on the interior face surface permits obtaining exquisite facial contours and expression.

The ears 12 are also made of resilient plastic and as shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 7 the ears 12 are hollow to permit insertion of a nger of the ventriloquist. However, the doll is operable with solid ears as well as with hollow ears. Where hollow ears 12 are employed the ears are easily wiggled, thereby giving an added attraction to the doll.

The use of a pair of opposed hollow ears 12 results in the central or head cavity communicating directly to the pair of cavities. The hollow ears are sewn into the slit 27 around the periphery of the hollow ear edge as shown in FIG. 7.

This invention is of generic scope in that it relates to dolls adapted for manual manipulation of a resilient face, the hand of the operator being inserted into the dolls head from the rear thereto.

I claim:

A doll adapted for ventriloquial purposes comprising a resilient plastic face and a semi-circular spacer element for separating said face from the back of the dolls head to form a suitable hand receiving cavity, said doll having an aperture at the base of the back of the head communicating with said cavity, a pair of ridges disposed about each eye, said ridges being adapted for finger manipulation whereby the eye expressions of the doll are selectively changed, said doll having an open mouth formed by a V-shaped integral projection protruding into the interior of said cavity and adapted to be seized between the fingers of the operator, a semi-circular back of the head element, a pair of side elements each having medial slits therein disposed between said face andrsaid back of the head element, said semi-circular spacer element having a larger semi-circular circumference than that of the back element with a substantially equal base line, said spacer elernent having a base line being sewn to the base line of the back of the head element and the semi-circular edge of said spacer element being sewn in part within the medial slit line of each of said side elements, and a hollow resilient ear sewn into the slit line of each of said side elements, the cavity of each ear being in communication with the cavity of said head whereby a pair of opposed rfingers of an operator may be inserted into the opposed ears to eiect the selective manipulation thereof.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,028,068 Hamley May 28, 1912 1,274,328 Price July 30, 1918 2,756,448 Werbe July 31, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,789 Great Britain 1911 546,111 Germany v Mar. 10, 1932