US3696552A

US3696552A - Retractable hair figure toy

Info

Publication number: US3696552A
Application number: US214939A
Authority: US
Inventors: Gregory M Gunther; J Stephen Lewis; Masakatsu Nishiguchi; George E Robson; Raymond P Wagner; William R Yarbrough
Original assignee: Mattel Inc
Current assignee: Mattel Inc
Priority date: 1972-01-03
Filing date: 1972-01-03
Publication date: 1972-10-10
Anticipated expiration: 1989-10-10
Also published as: GB1376800A; DE2300016A1; DE2300016B2; JPS4879050A; DE2300016C3; IT976317B; JPS516591B2; CA943345A

Abstract

A lock of hair is arranged in protruding relation through an opening in a figure toy head with one end of the lock rooted about the opening and with a pull ring encompassing the lock inside the head intermediate the ends of the lock. A pull cord is connected to the ring and may be mechanically pulled to retract the lock after the lock has been manually pulled from the head. A friction clip engages the pull cord to impart drag to the cord.

Description

United States Patent Gunther et al. [451 Oct. 10, 1972 [54] RETRACTABLE HAIR FIGURE TOY 3,477,170 11/1969 Lilienstem ..46/135 n e o Gregory M. Gunther Palos Verdes Beebe et a1- Estates; J. Stephen Lewis, Pacific Palisades; Masakatsu Nishiguchi Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Gardena; George Robson, Top Assistant Examiner-D. L. Weinhold rance; Raymond P- wagner Attorney-Seymour SChOlniCk Rollings Hills Estates; William R. Yarbrough, Cerritos, all of Calif. ABSTRACT [73] Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif. A lock of hair is arranged in protruding relation through an opening in a figure toy head with one end [22] Flled' 1972 of the lock rooted about the opening and with a pull [21] Appl. No.: 214,939 ring encompassing the lock inside the head intermediate the ends of the lock. A pull cord is connected 52 US. Cl ..46/135 the ring and may be mechanically Pulled retract [51] Int. Cl. ..A63h 11/00 the lock after the lock has been manually Pulled from [58] Field of Search ..46/135, 172 the head- A friction p engages the P cord to part drag to the cord. [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 2,537,536 1/1951 Lilienstern ..46/ 172 RETRACTABLE HAIR FIGURE TOY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The background of the invention will be set forth in two parts.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to the field of retractable hair figure toys and more particularly to such a toy having an improved hair retracting mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART U. S. Pat. Nos. 3,162,976 and 3,477,170 are two prior art examples of retractable hair figure toys having a hollow head, a lock of hair arranged with one end protruding through an opening in the head and the other end connected to means for varying the length of the protruding portion.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION:

It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a new and useful retractable hair figure toy exemplifying improvements over the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a figure toy of the type described having an improved hair retracting mechanism.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a figure toy of the type described including a hairretracting mechanism capable of retracting a protrud ing lock of hair on a 2:1 ratio.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a retractable hair figure toy having a hollow head, a lock of hair arranged in protruding relation through an opening in the head, means rooting one end of the lock about said opening and retraction means engaging said lock intermediate its ends for varying the length of the protruding portion.

According to the present invention, an improved retracting mechanism for a retractable-hair figure toy is shown for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, in combination with a hair-grooming figure toy head rotatably mounted on a stand. The improved retracting mechanism is completely disposed within the head and is connected to a lock of hair having a portion protruding through an opening provided in the head.

The lock of hair has one end rooted about the opening and its other end protruding from the opening so that the retracting mechanism may be connected to an intermediate portion of the lock in such a manner that a predetermined length of pull on the retraction mechanism retracts a length of the lock equal to twice the length of the pull.

The means connecting the retracting mechanism to the lock may conveniently comprise a ring which encompasses the lock. One end of a pull cord is connected to this ring and the other end of the cord is connected to a similar ring located outside the doll head.

The head is rotatably connected to a fixed base with a special neck plug arrangement which maintains the head in a proper position relative to the base so that the hair on the head may be groomed.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of use, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a retractable-hair figure toy of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view of the figure toy shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3. is an enlarged perspective view of the neck plug and hair retracting portions of the figure toy shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:

Referring again to the drawing, a retractable-hair figure toy constituting a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, generally designated 10, includes a stand 12 having a fixed base 14 and an upstanding neck 16 which may be integrally formed from a suitable plastic material during a molding operation.

Neck 16,includes an encompassing side wall 18 into which a frusto-conical sleeve 20 (FIG. 2) depends from the open top portion 22 of neck 16.

Toy 10 also includes a hair-grooming head 24 pivotally connected to neck 16 by a neck plug 26 having resilient fingers 28 releasably engaging the lower, open end 30 of sleeve 20 with locking tabs 32 provided on the lower end 34 of fingers 28.

Neck plug 26 includes an upper end 36 which is closed by a circular platform 38 having a peripheral edge 40 of larger diameter than the circle formed by fingers 28 for afiixing neck plug 26 to the upper end 42 of an upstanding, frusto-conical sleeve 44 formed on head 24 during the molding thereof from a suitable plastic material. Head 24 includes a rear wall 46 formed integrally with a skull portion 48. A first aperture 50 is provided in skull 48. Skull 48 is provided with rooted, simulated hair 54 of a type commonly used for retractable-hair dolls. The rooting pattern for hair 54, on the other hand, differs from that used for other retractable-hair dolls in that no attempt is made to root the area immediately surrounding aperture 52. On the contrary, hair 54 is purposely kept back from aperture 52 so that the annular area 56 surrounding aperture 52 may be rooted with one end 58 of a lock of hair 60.

Lock 60 includes a free end 62 extending from head 24 as part of a protruding portion 64 which may be manually pulled from head 24 in the direction of arrow Protruding portion 64 may be manually pulled into head 24 by a hair retracting means 68 including a pull ring 70 encompassing lock 60 inside head 24 and a pull cord 72 having a first end 74 affixed to ring 70 and a second end 76 affixed to a second pull ring 78 disposed on the outside of head 24. Cord 72 is threaded through a drag clutch 80 and aperture 50 and may be pulled in the direction of arrow 82 for retracting protruding portion 64 into head 24. An eyelet 84 may be provided in aperture 50 for minimizing wear caused by cord 72.

Drag clutch 68 is mounted on an L-shaped bracket 86 having a horizontal leg 88, which is affixed to platform 38, and a vertical leg 90. Clutch 68 may be stamped from a suitable metal, such as brass, and includes a first leg 92, which is affixed to vertical leg 90 of bracket 86, and a second leg 94 having a first end 96 formed integrally with leg 92 and a free end 98 having a rounded pressure foot 100 pressing cord 72 against leg 92. Cord 72 is trained through a first aperture 102, which extends through

legs

90, 92 and 94, a second aperture 104, which is provided in leg 94, and a third aperture 106, which is provided in an extended portion 108 of leg 92 lying normal thereto. Leg 94 is of a resilient nature and, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, exerts more pressure against cord 72 when cord 72 is moved in the direction of arrow 66 than when cord 72 is moved in the direction of arrow 82. Thus, more force will be required to pull lock 60 from head 24 than to retract lock 60 back into head 24. This is a desirable feature because child-users of toy may brush and comb protruding portion 64 without the inconvenience of an additional portion of lock 60 being pulled from head 24 with each stroke of the comb or brush and may then easily retract protruding portion 64 back into head 24 by pulling the second pull ring 78 in the direction of arrow 82.

Rooting end 58 of lock 60 to head 24 around aperture 62 minimizes the likelihood that protruding portion 64 will snag on the portion of skull 48 surrounding aperture 52 and of tangling the portion of hair 54 surrounding aperture 52.

Additionally, by anchoring end 58 of lock 60 and connecting retraction means 68 to lock 60 intermediate its

ends

58 and 62, the effective length-of-pull of cord 72 is doubled. A maximum differential in hair length may be obtained with the particular arrangement herein shown and described by locating drag clutch 68 as close to the chin portion 1 10 of head 24 as possible.

While the particular retractable-hair figure toy herein shown and described in detail is fully capable of attaining the objects and providing the advantages hereinbefore stated, it is to be understood that it is merely illustrative of the presently preferred embodiment of the invention and that no limitations are intended to the details of construction or design herein shown and described other than as defined in the appended claims, which form a part of this disclosure.

What is claimed is:

l. A retractable-hair figure toy and the like including a hollow head, a lock of hair arranged in protruding relation through an opening in the head and retraction means for varying the length of the protruding portion of said lock of hair, characterized in that:

one end of said lock of hair is anchored adjacent said opening.

2. A retractable-hair figure toy as stated in claim 1 opening b said retraction means.

4. A re ractable-ha1r figure toy as stated in clalm 3 wherein said means connected to said lock of hair intermediate its ends comprises a pull ring and wherein said retraction means includes a pull cord connected to said pull ring and having an end extending to a position outside said head for manual grasping by a user of said toy.

5. A retractable-hair figure toy as stated in claim 4 including a drag clutch mounted inside said head in operative association with said cord for imparting a drag thereto.

6. A retractable-hair figure toy as stated in claim 5 including:

a stand for said head, said stand including a base and an upstanding neck having an open top;

a plug connecting said head to said open top of said neck; and

means connecting said drag clutch to said plug inside said head.

7: A retractable-hair figure toy, comprising:

a hollow head having first and second apertures provided therein;

a lock of hair having a first end connected to said head and a second end located outside said head; and

a retraction mechanism located inside said head and including first means slidably engaging said lock of hair intermediate said ends for pulling a protruding portion of said look into said head through one of said apertures and second means connected to said first means and extending through the other of said apertures to a position outside of said head for manual actuation by a user of said toy.

8. A figure toy as stated in claim 7 wherein said first end of said lock of hair is rooted to said head about said one of said apertures.

9. A figure toy as stated in claim 7 including a neck plug connecting said head to a stand, said retraction mechanism including a drag clutch mounted on said neck plug inside said head in operative association with said retraction mechanism for imparting a predetermined drag to said lock during manual withdrawal of said lock through said one of said apertures.

10. A figure toy as stated in claim 9 wherein said first means comprises a pull ring encompassing said lock and said second means comprises a pull cord extending through said clutch and said other of said apertures.

Claims

1. A retractable-hair figure toy and the like including a hollow head, a lock of hair arranged in protruding relation through an opening in the head and retraction means for varying the length of the protruding portion of said lock of hair, characterized in that: one end of said lock of hair is anchored adjacent said opening.

2. A retractable-hair figure toy as stated in claim 1 wherein said one end of said lock of hair is rooted about said opening.

3. A retractable-hair figure toy as stated in claim 1 further characterized in that said retraction means includes means connected to said lock of hair intermediate its ends for exerting a retracting force to said lock of hair, whereby at least a portion of said protruding portion may be drawn into said head through said opening by said retraction means.

4. A retractable-hair figure toy as stated in claim 3 wherein said means connected to said lock of hair intermediate its ends comprises a pull ring and wherein said retraction means includes a pull cord connected to said pull ring and having an end extending to a position outside said head for manual grasping by a user of said toy.

6. A retractable-hair figure toy as stated in claim 5 including: a stand for said head, said stand including a base and an upstanding neck having an open top; a plug connecting said head to said open top of said neck; and means connecting said drag clutch to said plug inside said head.

7. A retractable-hair figure toy, comprising: a hollow head having first and second apertures provided therein; a lock of hair having a first end connected to said head and a second end located outside said head; and a retraction mechanism located inside said head and including first means slidably engaging said lock of hair intermediate said ends for pulling a protruding portion of said lock into said head through one of said apertures and second means connected to said first means and extending through the other of said apertures to a position outside of said head for manual actuation by a user of said toy.