US3572704A

US3572704A - Dexterity game with phonograph

Info

Publication number: US3572704A
Application number: US757549A
Authority: US
Inventors: Marvin I Glass; Gunars Lictis
Original assignee: Glass Marvin and Associates
Current assignee: Glass Marvin and Associates
Priority date: 1968-09-05
Filing date: 1968-09-05
Publication date: 1971-03-30
Anticipated expiration: 1988-03-30

Abstract

An electric game apparatus including a base structure housing a phonograph mechanism, and a simulated birdcage pivotally supported on the base by a center pole which extends upwardly from the base to the roof of the cage. The cage includes a comical figure, and each player in turn attempts to remove the comical figure through the bars of the cage without disturbing the balance thereof. The means for controlling the operation of the battery-powered phonograph includes contact means which is responsive to movement of the cage to actuate the phonograph and produce a sound message. The phonograph includes indexing means for shifting the tone arm from one recorded message to the next and means for returning the tone arm to the starting position on the record after all of the messages have been played.

Description

2,581,644 l/1952 Frick a [54] DEXTERITY GAME WITH PHONOGRAPH 9 Claims, 11 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 273/1 [51] Int. Cl A631 9/00, A63h 5/00, G1 lb 17/06 [50] Field ofSearch 273/1 (E),

118 (A)125 (A), 101.1 (recent), 102.1 (B), 102.2 (1930); 274/l.1, 9, 15, (Inquired); 46/232,

United States Patent 1 3,572,704 72 Inventors Marvin 1. Glass 2,957,693 10/1960 Ross 273/l(E)X Chicago; 3,109,655 11/1963 Lea 274/15X Gunars Licitis, Lombard, 111. 3,158,370 11/1964 Pearson,Jr...... 273/1(E) [2]] Appl. No. 757,549 3,371,934 3/1968 Duncan et a1 274/1(1) [22] Filed Sept. 5, 1968 3,461,604 8/1969 Glass et al 274/1(1)X [45] Patented Mar. 30, 1971 Primar y Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle [73] Asslgnee $222 & Associates Assistant Examiner-Paul E. Shapiro Attorney-Hofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & McCord ABSTRACT: An electric game apparatus including a base structure housing a phonograph mechanism, and a simulated birdcage pivotally supported on the base by a center pole which extends upwardly from the base to the roof of the cage. The cage includes a comical figure, and each player in turn attempts to remove the comical figure through the bars of the cage without disturbing the balance thereof. The means for controlling the operation of the battery-powered phonograph includes contact means which is responsive to movement of the cage to actuate the phonograph and produce a sound message. The phonograph includes indexing means for shifting the tone arm from one recorded message to the next and means for returning the tone arm to the starting position on V the record after all of the messages have been played.

I PATENTEUMARBQIQH I 3572.704

SHEET 3 OF 4 i i I 6 \NVENTORS 1: 6o 6 MAPW/VAGMSS 44 435 WWW MwSWM -WW ATTORNEY PATENIEDMAR30|97| $572,704

sum u 0F 4 INVENTOQS MAPV/A A 61455 60/1 44 5 1/0775 lllll l lllll l/l BM MMSMWWM ATTORNEY DEXTERITY GAME WITH PHONOGRAPH BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to amusement devices or games and more particularly relates to animated devices which visually or audibly report the performance of an act, either desired or undersired.

2. Description of the Prior Art Amusement devices of the animated type have been known for many years. These current devices provide for signal means whereby performing a particular act sets off a sound or light signal that announces the act. A typical example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,460,146 issued to .I.M. Prentice wherein an electric light bulb or buzzer is connected to a battery and to the housing with a conductor leading from the housing to a player operated gripping device. The gripping device is manipulated through apertures in the cover of the housing in such a way that contact of the gripping device with the edges of the aperture will complete the circuit and will light the bulb or sound the buzzer.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, this invention is directed to an amusement device or game wherein the accomplishing of some act either of the desired type or of the undersired type completes an electrical circuit which causes a message to be broadcast in either a visual or audible medium. In the illustrated form of the invention a tone arm which is positioned in the sound track of a recording plays an audible message through a speaker. The tone arm is indexed so that each time the electrical circuit is completed a different recorded message is broadcast to the players which message can be humorous, instructional, insulting or the like. The device provides for resetting the tone arm to an initial starting position after the last message has been played.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an amusement device incorporating the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 5-5 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of two of the operative gears showing their relationship during the tone arm return position of the mechanism;

FIG. 7 is a broken away enlarged perspective view of the running and stop position of part of the mechanism relative to opening and closing a switch in the electrical circuit;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view taken along the lines 9-9 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the operative parts of the invention in generally vertically aligned relation; and

FIG. 11 is a schematic electrical circuit diagram of the type employed in an amusement device of this invention.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference numerals will refer to the same or to similar parts throughout the several views, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 an amusement device or game 10 having a base portion 11 for supporting a hollow housing 12 upon which is balanced a cage 14 in which is trapped a FIG. 15. The amusementdevice includes a play maker card 16 upon which is pivotally mounted a pointer 18 which can be spun about its axis to point to one of a set of instructions printed in-a segment of a circle on the card. The instruction indicated by the pointer informs the player of the action he is to take as a result of his spin of the pointer. A pair of tweezerlike members 20 are provided for each player which,

LII

in the illustrated form, have spaced hands 22 on the extended end portion thereof which hands 22 are adapted to be squeezed together to grip a portion of the FIG. 15 in the cage 14 in an attempt to remove the figure from the cage without unbalancing the cage 14 relative to the housing 12. Several different colored or shaped men 24 are provided, one for each player, which each player inserts in one of a plurality of holes or apertures 25 around the edge of the base 11 so as to record the progress of each player as a result of the action taken after each spin of the pointer 18.

In the illustrated form of the amusement device, the various instructions on the card 16 relate to the various parts of the figure 15 in the cage 14. For instance, the pointer 18 could point to the word beak in which case the player would use his tweezers 20 and grasp the figure 15 by the beak and attempt to remove the figure from the cage without unbalancing the cage 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cage 14 has a floor 26 with a downwardly depending skirt 27 around the outer periphery thereof and has an aperture 28 through the geometrical center thereof with a downwardly depending sleeve 29 surrounding said aperture 28. A plurality of bars 30 extend from the floor 26 to the roof 32 of the cage 14. The roof 32 has a central portion 34 with an inverted cone 35 in the center of the inside thereof. The base 11 and housing 12 have an upstanding rod 38 which passes through the sleeve 29 and nests in the inve'rted cone shaped bearing opening 35 such that the cage 14 when empty will be perfectly balanced relative to said rod 38 with the rod 38 passing through the center of the sleeve 29. The rod 38 is electrically conductive and has its bottom end in engagement with one blade 40 of an electric switch 42. The other blade 44 of the switch 42 is connected to a coil spring 46 which projects upwardly within the sleeve 29 and encircles the rod 38 in spaced relationship therewith. In use, when the cage 14 is moved out of a balanced position, the sleeve 29 will contact the spring 46 and move it into engagement with the rod 38 so as to close the switch 42 which will energize a circuit to be described hereinafter. It is to be understood that the form of the amusement device can vary as long as it requires some act that closes a switch such as switch 42 during the use of the game by a player.

Within the housing 12 is mounted an animated display device 50 which, in the illustrated form, is an audible signal device or recording. Specifically, an electric motor 52 is mounted in a resilient mounting means 54 which has three enlarged guides 55 axially extending from the outer wall thereof and which guides 55 slide in the hollow coacting rods 55 carried by the housing. The motor 52 drives a pulley 56 mounted on the output shaft 58 of said motor. The motor 52 and mounting means 54 form the subject matter of a separate application in the name of Gordon A. Barlow filed Aug. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 753,423 and assigned to the common assignee of the present application. The pulley 56 is drivingly connected by a belt 60 to a turntable 62 rotatably mounted on a spindle 64 journaled in the bottom wall 65 of the housing. The spindle 64 has a small diameter pinion 66 integrally formed in the outer wall therewith for rotation therewith. The pinion 66 could be a separate member keyed to the spindle 64 if desired. A recording 68 is carried on the top surface of the turntable 62 and, if desired, can be changed from time to time. The small vdiameter pinion 66 has teeth 67 which mesh with the teeth 69 formed in the outer periphery of a first large diameter gear 70 which is mounted for rotation about the stub shaft 72 projecting upwardly from the bottom wall 65 of the housing 12. In one operative device the ratio between the number of the teeth 67 on the pinion 66 and the number of teeth on the gear 70 was such that every 10 revolutions of the pinion 66 resulted in one revolution of the gear 70.

An intermediate diameter gear 74 is carried by the upper face of the gear 70 and can be formed integral with said gear 70 or can be secured to the upper face of the gear 70 as by a key, by welding or the like. The intermediate diameter gear 74 has a plurality of teeth 76 formed in its outer periphery and is mounted for simultaneous rotation about the same axis as the gear 70. In one short segment of the gear 74 the teeth 76a extend axially beyond the plane containing the axial ends of the remaining teeth 76b which cover the rest of the periphery of the gear 74. Accordingly, in the illustrated example of FIG. 5, four teeth 76a form a small segment of the gear 74 which teeth 76a are approximately twice the axial length of the remaining teeth 76b of a large segment of the gear 74.

A second large diameter gear 80 is rotatably mounted on the stub shaft 82 upwardly projecting from the wall 65 of the housing 12. The gear 80 has a hollow axially extending sleeve 84 which projects above and below the plane of one planar face of the gear 80. The downwardly depending portion 84a of the sleeve 84 acts as a spacer for positioning the second gear 80 in spaced relationship with respect to the wall 65 and for aligning said gear in meshing relationship with the intermediate diameter gear 74 hereinabove described.

The gear 80 has two rows of

teeth

86a and 86b formed around the outer periphery thereof. The top or upper row of teeth 86a are formed in a plane near the upper planar face of the gear 80 with the bottom or lower row of teeth 86b being formed in a plane near the lower planar face of the gear 80. The upper teeth 86a are formed in a plane throughout a major or top gear segment of the periphery of the gear 80 with the lower teeth 86b being formed in an axially spaced plane throughout the remaining minor or lower gear segment of the periphery of the gear 80. The upper teeth 860 do not extend axially or radially into overlapping relationship with the lower teeth 86b and vice versa. In one operative device, the segment 86a had 58 teeth and the segment 86b had 32 teeth. The lower teeth 86b formed in the lower portion of the gear 80 mesh with the lower teeth 76b and with the lower portion of the long teeth 760 on the gear 74. The upper part of the teeth 76a on gear 74 mesh with the teeth 86a formed in the upper portion of the gear 80. Since there are only a few long teeth 76a on gear 74, the gear 80 will only be rotated a few degrees each time the gear 70 rotates a full revolution during part of the cycle of rotation of the gear 80 as will appear more fully hereinafter.

A cylindrically shaped speaker mounting member 90 is carried by the wall 65 of the housing 12 and has appropriate openings and projections to support not only the operative parts of an indexing means 100, but also a speaker 95. One horizontal wing 91 of the mounting member 90 has a opening 93 which seats down over the upper end of the spindle 64 on the turntable 62. The speaker housing 90 is open at the top for receiving a diaphragm 94 of the speaker 95. A pair of parallel arms 96 project outwardly from the sidewall of the cylindrical housing 90 and have stub shafts 98 projecting toward each other near the outer end thereof. The indexing means or member 100 has a pair of spaced apart and

parallel side members

101 and 102 each of which has a socket 104 for engagement with said shafts 98 for pivotally mounting said indexing member 100 about the axis of said shafts. An arcuate'. shaped bridge 106 spans the space between the

parallel members

101 and 102 and has a plurality of uniform side-by-side grooves 108 formed in the top surface thereof. The side member 102 has a cam follower 110 downwardly depending from the edge remote from the pivot socket 104 and has a lifting finger 112 projecting downwardly from a point relatively close to said pivot socket 104 between the socket 104 and the cam follower 1 l0.

The second large diameter gear 80 has a circular shaped camming groove 83 cut into the upper planar surface of the gear. The groove 83 extends a little more than three-quarters of the distance around the surface of the gear and has inclined surfaces 85, 85' extending from the bottom of the groove to the planar surface of the gear 80. The inclined surface 85' is located several gear teeth counterclockwise from the start of the top or upper teeth 86a of the gear 80 with the groove 83 continuing therefrom around the gear 80 to the other inclined surface 85 which is located a little more than halfway in a counterclockwise direction between the ends of the segment of the lower teeth 86b of the gear 80. The cam follower 110 of the indexing member 100 nests in the camming groove 83 in the gear so that as the gear 80 is rotated the cam follower 110 will ride up the inclined surface which will pivot the indexing member clockwise about the shafts 98. As the cam follower slides down the inclined surface 85, the indexing member 100 will pivot counterclockwise about the shafts 98 into the lowered position of the indexing member 100.

The tone arm 92 has a mounting end portion 114 in the shape of a vertically oriented hollow cylindrical sleeve 116 with a transverse wall 118 formed therein. Projecting upward from a lug 122 on the wall 65 is a pivot rod 120 which extends through a pivot hole 123 in the transverse wall 118. Above the wall 118 is formed a guide passage 121 in alignment with the hole 123. A coiled spring 124 surrounds the lug 122 and pin 120 and engages the underside of the transverse wall 118 within the sleeve 116. The spring 124 resiliently supports the one end of the tone arm 92 in a vertical direction. The guide passage 121 has sides lying parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tone arm and is adapted to receiver the upper end of the rod 120 therebetween so as to prevent tilting of the tone arm laterally as it is raised and lowered. The tone arm can pivot horizontally and can move up and down. The intermediate portion of tone arm 92 between the sleeve 116 and a pickup needle 126 is positioned so as to operatively engage the base of the diaphragm 94 of the speaker 95 so as to transmit the sound from said recording 68 through the pickup needle 126 to the speaker. The diaphragm 94 has a rib 127 lying across the lower end portion thereof in a position to always engage the tone arm as it moves across a recording. Near the end of the tone arm 92 supporting said needle 126 and on the underside of said arm 92 is a wedge shaped or beveled following 128 which corresponds to and is adapted to periodically nest ir one of the various grooves 108 formed in the top edge of sair bridge 106 in the indexing member 100.

The upper portion 84b of the sleeve 84 of the second gear 80 has a crank arm 130 radially projecting from the upper end thereof and said arm has a vertically projecting tone arm return member or lug 132 on the outer end portion thereof with the axis of the lug 132 lying substantially parallel to the axis of the sleeve 84. The tone arm return member or lug 132 as shown in solid lines in FIG. 4 lies forward of and in the path of movement of the arm 92. The crank arm 130 and lug 132 are principally intended for use in returning the tone arm 92 from the most extreme clockwise position such as shown at 133 in FIG. 3 to the initial or start position such as shown as 135 in FIG. 3. Specifically, at the position 133 of the tone arm 92 the last message has been played from the recording 68 and the

gears

70 and 80 will be in the position of FIG. 6 with the tone ann return member or lug 132 in a position designated S in FIG. 3 just ahead of the arm 92. The teeth 76b on gear 74 mesh with teeth 86b on gear 80 which will rotate the gear 80 and tone arm return member or lug 132 continuously clockwise until the member or lug 132 is just ready to engage the arm 92 at position T of FIG. 3. The cam follower 110 will engage the incline surface 85 which will raise the indexing member 100 and move the arm 92 in raised position with the needle 126 out of contact with the record 68 so that as the lug 132 applies pressure on the floating and raised tone arm 92 the wedge shaped surface 128 of the arm 92 will jump form one groove 108 to the next until the lug 132 passes to location R of FIG. 3. The wedge shaped surface 128 will be in the first or top groove 108 of the indexing member 100 and in position when lowered to traverse the first of the plurality of messages on the recording 68 again.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, the first large diameter gear 70 has a short upwardly extending arcuately shaped stop lug 136 formed on its upper surface which is carefully located relative to the teeth 76a on the intermediate diameter gear 74. A double-bladed switch 138 is positioned close to the edge of the gear 70 and has one blade 140 of the switch extending in overlapping relation with respect to the gear 70 and in position to be engaged by and urged upwardly by said lug 136 so as to open the switch 138 by separating said blade 140 from the blade 142. The indexing member 100 has the lifting finger 112 located in such a position relative to the gear 70 that the point of said finger 112 overlies the blade 140. As the stop lug 136 engages with and urges the blade 148 upward to break the contact in the switch 138, the blade 140 engages the shaped finger 112 and pivots the indexing member 100 upward about the shafts 98 which engages one of the aligned grooves'108 with the level edge 128 on the arm to raise the needle 126 from the recording. The indexing member 100 will hold the needle off the record 68 until the gear 70 moves the stop lug 136 from beneath the blade 140 of the switch 138 whereupon the needle 126 will be lowered into playing position in the sound track of the recording 68.

The electrical circuit includes a battery 144 mounted in a molded case 145 in the housing 12 by means of the pivoted spring clip 146 (FIG. 9) which makes it possible to replace the battery without opening the housing 12. The battery is connected into the circuit by contacts 148, 150 (FIG. 11). A wire 152 leads from the battery contact 148 to one post on the motor 52 while a wire 154 leads from the battery contact 150 to the lower blade 142 of the switch 138. Another wire 155 connects to the wire 154 at the blade 142 and to the contact 44 of switch 42 on the housing 12. A wire 156 leads from the other contact 40 of switch 42 to another post on the motor 52 while wire 158 leads from the third post on the motor 52 to the other blade 140 of the switch 138. The wiring of

switches

42 and 138 is such that closing either switch will run the motor even though the other switch is open. That is, when switch 42 is closed, the motor will run even though switch 138 is open. When switch 138 is closed, it makes no difference that switch 42 is open-the motor will likewise run.

In operating the electrical parts of the invention, the switch 42 is closed by an unbalancing force of the cage 14 which energizes the motor 52 for a period of time which may be mementary or it may be longer depending upon how quickly the player rebalances the cage 14. The short energization of the motor 52 rotates the gear 70 a short distance which may or may not be sufficient for the lug 136 to move out from beneath the blade 140 of the switch 138 so as to permit the switch to close. Eventually, either on the first unbalance of the cage or on some subsequent unbalancing, the switch 138 will be closed. With the switch 138 closed the motor 52 will run until the lug 136 on the gear'70 again opens the switch 138 by raising the blade 140 from its contact with blade 142 and against the point of the element 112 of the index member 100 to again raise the tone arm 92 by engaging the bevel 128 in the appropriate groove 108 of the bridge 106.

The description of the mechanical operation of the invention will start with the gear 70 positioned with the cam member 136 positioned in the dotted position of FIG. 7 beneath the blade 140 of the switch 138 for holding the switch open. The cam follower 110 will be raised from the cam groove 83 by the lifting action created by the blade 140 engaging with the finger 112 to pivot the indexing member 100 into position to hold the needle off the record 68 even though said follower 118 will have just moved down the inclined surface 85'. That is, the follower 110 will have moved down the surface 85' into the groove 83 so that the grooves 108 of the bridge 106 would be out of contact with the tone arm 92, but almost simultaneously. with the follower 110 going down the surface 85', the lug 136 contacts the blade 140 and finger 112 and raises the indexing member 100 to raise the needle 126. The tone arm 92 will be in the position designated 135 (FIG. 3) with the needle 126 held above the first groove of the sound track on the recording 68. The finger element 112 of the indexing member 100 will be in the dotted line position of FIG. '7 urging indexing member, arm 92 and needle 126 out of contact with the record 68. As shown in FIG. 5, which is the start position of the mechanism, the long teeth 76a of a gear 74 are just meshing with the top gear segment 86a of the gear 80 and the tone arm return lug 132 is in a position just clockwise ahead of the tone arm 92.

Movement of the cage 14 by an amount sufficient to close the contacts 40, 44 of switch 42 will complete a circuit from contact 40, wire 156, motor 52, wire 152, contact 148, battery 144, contact 150,

wire

154, 155 to contact 44 which will provide a short impulse to the motor 52. If the switch is held closed long enough, the turning of the motor 52 will rotate the gear 70 enough to move the segment 136 from beneath the blade 140 which will permit the switch 138 to close and will pivot the indexing member 100 to lower the arm and needle 126 in contact with the record 68. At this point, it will make no difference whether or not the cage 14 is in balance because the switch 42 is bypassed bythe switch 138. The circuit will now be through switch 138 to the motor 52 and battery 14.4. The continuously running motor 52 will rotate the turntable 62 with the recording 68 which, since the needle 126 of tone arm 92 is in the sound track of the recording, will produce the broadest of the first message through the speaker 95. The needle 126 on the arm 92 will ride in the spiral sound track of the recording and will advance the arm 92 a few degrees of revolution in a clockwise direction around its pivot axis 120. At the same time that the record is being played, the gear 74 with the teeth 76a in mesh with teeth 86a will advance the gear 80 and tone arm return lug 132 a few degrees clockwise. The teeth 76a will then disengage from teeth 86a in gear 80 so that gear 80 and lug 132 will remain stationary while

gears

70 and 74 complete the revolution with lug 136 coming in contact with blade 140 to open the switch 138 and stop the motor 52. The tone arm 92 will have moved a few degrees clockwise just out of contact with lug 132 and will have the wedgeshaped surface 128 aligned with the second groove 108 in bridge 106 of the index member 100. As the blade 140 is raised by the lug 136, the finger 112 is contacted which will pivot the indexing member 100 and raise the bridge 106 and groove 108 into contact with the surface 128 to raise the tone arm 92 and needle from the record 68, and to hold said tone arm in alignment with substantially the same part of the recording from which the needle was raised.

Each successive time that the cage 14 makes an electrical contact by closing the switch 42, the motor 52 will move the gear 70 an amount commensurate with the length of time the switch 42 has been held closed by the unbalance of the cage 14. It is possible for instance to only unbalance the cage instantaneously so that the motor will only advance the gear 78 a small amount not sufficient to move the segment 136 from beneath the blade 140. When segment 136 moves from beneath the blade 140 the switch 138 is closed, the needle 126 is lowered to the record 68 and the motor rotates the record 68 and the next message is played through the speaker 95. The teeth 76a mesh with the teeth 86a in the top gear segment of gear 80 to advance the lug 132 a few degrees clockwise ahead of the tone arm 92.

After successive operations created by sufficient unbalancings of the cage 14 to run the mechanism the number of times needed to play all of the messages on the recording 68, the tone arm 92 will be in the position 133 as shown in FIG. 3, and the teeth 76a will have advanced the lug 132 to the position S ahead of the arm 92. The bottom gear segment teeth 86!) gear 80 will now mesh with the bottom gear teeth 76b of gear 74 as shown in FIG. 6. The gear 74 will rotate gear 80 several degrees while the last recorded message is being played which rotation of gear 80 will move the tone arm return lug 132 from position S to position T of FIG. 3 with the cam follower 110 still in the cam groove 83. As the last message is finished the cam follower 110 will ride up inclined surface and will pivot the indexing member about the shafts 98 and engage the last groove 108 with the wedgeshaped surface 128 of the tone arm 92 to raise the tone arm and needle 126 from the sound track of the recording 68. The cam follower rides across the planar face of the gear 80 holding the tone arm in raised position. The teeth 7612 on gear position 135. The wedge-shaped cam surface 128 on the arm 92 will jump from groove 108 to groove 108 as the arm is urged back to the starting position 135. The tone arm return lug 132 will be in the position R in FIG. 3 with the arm in position 135 as the teeth 76b mesh with the last of the bottom segment teeth 86b of gear 80 and the cam follower l 10 rides from the planar surface of gear 80 down the inclined surface 85 to lower the tone arm 92 and needle 126. At that point, the lug 136 urges the blade 140 upward to open the circuit and at the same time the blade 140 contacts finger 112 to pivot the indexing member and raise the needle 126. The device is now ready for replaying the series of messages again.

Having described the invention as related to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, it is the intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description, unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

We claim:

1. An amusement device having a base, a manipulatable member on said base, a switch on said base normally held in open position, means for manipulating said member for closing said switch, a motor in said housing electrically connected to a source of power and to said switch, a turntable rotatably driven by said motor, a recording having at least two recorded messages thereon carried by said turntable, a speaker, tone arm means for transmitting sound from the recording to the speaker, means for stopping the motor after each message has been broadcast, means for returning the tone arm means to the starting position after all the messages on the recording have been played, said last named means comprises an indexing member pivotally mounted on said base and having a portion adapted to contact said tone arm to raise said tone arm from the sound-transmitting position on said recording, means for raising said indexing member and said tone arm from said recording, and means driven by said motor and contacting said raised tone arm to move said tone arm to the starting positron.

2. An amusement device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for raising said indexing member comprises a cam follower carried by said indexing member in operative engagement with a movable camming means in the base whereby the camming means causes the cam follower to raise the indexing means for lifting the tone arm.

3. An amusement device having a base, a member balanced on a support on said base, a switch in said base having electrical contacts normally in open position and mounted such that movement of said member closes said electrical contacts to close the switch, a motor in said base electrically connected to a source of power and to said switch, a turntable rotatably driven by said motor, a recording on said turntable, a speaker, a tone arm pivotally mounted in said base and having a pickup needle selectively engageable with said recording, first means positively driven by said turntable, a. second switch for opening the circuit to said motor, said second switch overriding said first switch when said second switch is closed, actuating means carried by said first means for opening said second switch to shut off the motor, indexing means pivotally carried by the housing and being contacted by said actuating means for raising and lowering said tone arm and needle from said recording for starting and stopping the broadcasting of the message on said recording through said speaker, and means for returning said tone arm and needle to the initial starting position relative to the recording after the recording has been played.

4. An amusement device as claimed in claim 3 wherein said recording has several successive messages thereon, said indexing means raising said needle from said recording after each individual message is played and said means for returning said tone arm and needle to the initial position is effective only after the last message has been played.

5. An amusement device having a housing, means on said housing for closing a normally open switch, a speaker in said housing, a tone arm operatively engaging said speaker, a motor in said housing electrically connected to said switch and to a source of power, a turntable rotatably driven by said motor, a recording on said turntable, a pickup needle on said tone arm selectively engageable with said recording for playing a message on said recording, first means operatively driven by said turntable and having means thereon for opening a second switch for stopping the motor, indexing means carried by the housing and having a portion adapted to engage with the tone arm to raise and lower the tone arm relative to the recording, said means for opening said second switch engaging with said indexing means for raising the tone arm and needle from said recording, and means operatively driven by said first means for raising said tone arm when the needle reaches the end of the recording and returning the tone arm to its start position.

6. An amusement device as claimed in claim 5 wherein said first means comprises a gear and wherein said means on said first means for opening the second switch comprises a raised portion which engages with one blade of the second switch for opening the switch to stop the motor.

7. An amusement device as claimed in claim 6 wherein said recording has a plurality of successive messages thereon and wherein said indexing means lifts the tone arm and needle from the recording each time a message is completed.

8, An amusement device having a housing, a member balanced on said housing, a switch in said housing normally in open position and mounted such that an unbalancing force ap plied to said member will close said switch, a speaker in said housing, a tone arm operatively engaging said speaker and having a pickup needle on one end thereof, a motor in said housing electrically connected to a source of power and to said switch, a turntable rotatably driven by said motor, a recording on said turntable having at least two separate recorded messages, said pickup needle operatively engaging said recording for playing one of said messages at a time through said speaker, a pinion rotatable with said turntable, a large diameter gear engaging with said pinion and being rotatably driven thereby, an intermediate diameter gear rotatable with said large diameter gear and having teeth formed around the outer periphery thereof. a small segment of said intermediate gear having said teeth extending in an axial direction beyond the plane of the ends of the remaining teeth on said gear, a second large diameter gear having teeth around the outer periphery thereof, one segment of said teeth on said second large diameter gear extending in one direction and the remaining segment of said teeth extending in the opposite direction from a plane through the center of said gear, the teeth on said second large diameter gear that extend in the one direction engage only with the teeth in said small segment of said intermediate gear for advancing said second large diameter gear a small segment of revolution with each revolution of the intermediate gear during part of the cycle of operation of the device, the teeth on said second large diameter gear that extend in the opposite direction engage with the teeth on said intermediate gear for advancing said second large diameter gear a substantial segment of rotation during the last part of the cycle of operation of the device, a camming groove formed in the upper face of said second large diameter gear, an indexing means pivotally mounted in said housing and having a cam follower engaging in said camming groove, said camming groove urging said cam follower and indexing means upwardly during said last part of the cycle of operation, a plurality of index grooves on said indexing means adapted to selectively engage with said tone arm to raise the tone arm from the record playing position and to hold said tone arm in alignment with substantially the same part of said recording from which the needle was raised, stopping means carried by said first large diameter gear for engaging with and opening a second switch to stop the motor, means carried by said indexing means adapted to be activated by said stopping means for raising the indexing means and tone arm to stop the playing on one of the recorded messages, and a tone arm return member carried by said second large diameter gear for rotation therewith, whereby as the last recorded message is completed the cam follower will be forced by the camming groove to raise the indexing member and the tone arm whereupon the tone arm return member will return the tone arm to the start ing position ready to replay the first message on the recording.

Claims

1. An amusement device having a base, a manipulatable member on said base, a switch on said base normally held in open position, means for manipulating said member for closing said switch, a motor in said housing electrically connected to a source of power and to said switch, a turntable rotatably driven by said motor, a recording having at least two recorded messages thereon carried by said turntable, a speaker, tone arm means for transmitting sound from the recording to the speaker, means for stopping the motor after each message has been broadcast, means for returning the tone arm means to the starting position after all the messages on the recording have been played, said last named means comprises an indexing member pivotally mounted on said base and having a portion adapted to contact said tone arm to raise said tone arm from the sound-transmitting position on said recording, means for raising said indexing member and said tone arm from said recording, and means driven by said motor and contacting said raised tone arm to move said tone arm to the starting position.

3. An amusement device having a base, a member balanced on a support on said base, a switch in said base having electrical contacts normally in open position and mounted such that movement of said member closes said electrical contacts to close the switch, a motor in said base electrically connected to a source of power and to said switch, a turntable rotatably driven by said motor, a recording on said turntable, a speaker, a tone arm pivotally mounted in said base and having a pickup needle selectively engageable with said recording, first means positively driven by said turntable, a second switch for opening the circuit to said motor, said second switch overriding said first switch when said second switch is closed, actuating means carried by said first means for opening said second switch to shut off the motor, indexing means pivotally carried by the housing and being contacted by said actuating means for raising and lowering said tone arm and needle from said recording for starting and stopping the broadcasting of the message on said recording through said speaker, and means for returning said tone arm and needle to the initial starting position relative to the recording after the recording has been played.

8. An amusement device having a housing, a member balanced on said housing, a switch in said housing normally in open position and mounted such that an unbalancing force applied to said member will close said switch, a speaker in said housing, a tone arm operatively engaging said speaker and having a pickup needle on one end thereof, a motor in said housing electrically connected to a source of power and to said switch, a turntable rotatably driven by said motor, a recording on said turntable having at least two separate recorded messages, said pickup needle operatively engaging said recording for playing one of said messages at a time through said speaker, a pinion rotatable with said turntable, a large diameter gear engaging with said pinion and being rotatably driven thereby, an intermediate diameter gear rotatable with said large diameter gear and having teeth formed around the outer periphery thereof. a small segment of said intermediate gear having said teeth extending in an axial direction beyond the plane of the ends of the remaining teeth on said gear, a second large diameter gear having teeth around the outer periphery thereof, one segment of said teeth on said second large diameter gear extending in one direction and the remaining segment of said teeth extending in the opposite direction from a plane through the center of said gear, the teeth on said second large diameter gear that extend in the one direction engage only with the teeth in said small segment of said intermediate gear for advancing said second large diameter gear a small segment of revolution with each revolution of the intermediate gear during part of the cycle of operation of the device, the teeth on said second large diameter gear that extend in the opposite direction engage with the teeth on said intermediate gear for advancing said second large diameter gear a substantial segment of rotation during the last part of the cycle of operation of the device, a camming groove formed in the upper face of said second large diameter gear, an indexing means pivotally mounted in said housing and having a cam follower engaging in said camming groove, said camming groove urging said cam follower and indexing means upwardly during said last part of the cycle of operation, a plurality of index grooves on said indexing means adapted to selectively engage with said tone arm to raise the tone arm from the record playing position and to hold said tone arm in alignment with substantially the same part of said recording from which the needle was raised, stopping means carried by said first large diameter gear for engaging with and opening a second switch to stop the motor, means carried by said indexing means adapted to be activated by said stopping means for raising the indexing means and tone arm to stop the playing on one of the recorded messages, and a tone arm return member carried by said second large diameter gear for rotation therewith, whereby as the last recorded message is completed the cam follower will be forced by the camming groove to raise the indexing member and the tone arm whereupon the tone arm return member will return the toNe arm to the starting position ready to replay the first message on the recording.

9. An amusement device as claimed in claim 8 wherein said tone arm is resiliently urged into continuous engagement with said speaker for transmitting the message from the recording to an audible signal.