US3892087A

US3892087A - Doll carrying a marking means, with paint receptacle and accessory having movable marking surface

Info

Publication number: US3892087A
Application number: US483366A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jeffrey D Breslow; Eugene Jaworski
Original assignee: Glass Marvin and Associates
Current assignee: Glass Marvin and Associates
Priority date: 1973-01-26
Filing date: 1974-06-26
Publication date: 1975-07-01
Anticipated expiration: 1992-07-01

Abstract

A combination doll and accessory set wherein the doll has a movable body portion and a movable arm connected to the body portion and adapted to hold a paint brush or the like. The accessory set includes a platen on which paper or the like may be positioned to receive paint from the paint brush. The platen is mounted on a base structure in front of the doll, and a manually actuatable mechanism within the base structure is operatively connected to a mechanism on the doll whereby the mechanism within the platen base structure can be operated by a user, as by a crank. Rotation of the crank rotates the platen and simultaneously moves the doll''s body portion and arm back and forth to carry the paint brush therewith alternately between the platen and a paint container positioned alongside the doll but spaced from the platen.

Description

United States Patent Breslow et al. 1 July 1, 1975 [54] DOLL CARRYING A MARKING MEANS, 3,325,902 6/1967 Schuman 33/18 B WITH PAINT RECEPTACLE AND 3,343,281 9/1967 Greer et 31.. 46/117 X 3,629,971 12/1971 Antell el al, 1 46/116 X ACCESSORY HAVING MOVABLE 3,680,254 8/1972 Glass a a1. 4. 46/116 x MARKING SURFACE [75] Inventors: Jeffrey D. Breslow, Highland Park; FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS E g Jaworski, P Ridge both 80,545 7/1919 Swnzerland 46/118 of 111. Primary Examiner-Barry Shay [73] Ass1gnee: Marvm Glass & Assoclates, Attorney, Agent, or FirmCoffee & Sweeney Chicago, 111.

[22] Filed: June 26, 1974 [57] ABSTRACT Appl. No.: 483,366

Related [1.8. Application Data A combination doll and accessory set wherein the doll has a movable body portion and a movable arm connected to the body portion and adapted to hold a paint brush or the like. The accessory set includes a platen on which paper or the like may be positioned to receive paint from the paint brush The platen is mounted on a base structure in front of the doll, and a manually actuatable mechanism within the base structure is operatively connected to a mechanism on the doll whereby the mechanism within the platen base structure can be operated by a user, as by a crank. Rotation of the crank rotates the platen and simulta' neously moves the dolls body portion and arm back and forth to carry the paint brush therewith alternately between the platen and a paint container posi' tioned alongside the doll but spaced from the platen.

6 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures DOLL CARRYING A MARKING MEANS, WITH PAINT RECEPTACLE AND ACCESSORY HAVING MOVABLE MARKING SURFACE CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS This is a division of application Ser. No. 326,874, filed .Ian. 26, I973, now US. Pat. No. 3,834,070.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to dolls, and more particularly to a combination doll and accessory apparatus.

In recent years a great number of different types of dolls have been developed and marketed which are capable of performing simulated human functions. These include dolls that walk, dance, apparently verbally respond to external stimulus, and the like. There has further been the development of dolls which can apparently participate with the child in some sort of an activity. These include dolls that repeat or simulate writing in unison with writing movements of the child by interconnecting mechanism, as well as dolls which apparently perform such activities as operating an electric mixer within a mixing bowl. Those dolls which appear to be capable of simulating human functions in response to instructions, usually in the form of instructional manual manipulations, are of greater fascination to children as well as furthering their education and developing manual dexterity. This invention is directed towards contributing to the continuing need and desire in the art to provide an improved doll which is capable of simulating human functions and participating with a child.

This invention is directed, in brief, to the provision of an improved doll and related auxiliary apparatus for performing a simulated human function.

The principal object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide a combination doll and accessory set of the character described.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention, a dished out platen is rotatably mounted on top of an upright supporting structure which, in turn, is mounted on a generally flat support base. A crank member is pivotally mounted on the front of the upright support structure and protrudes forwardly from the front thereof for rotation by a child. The crank is connected to a gear train on the inside of the support structure for rotating the platen. The platen is a dished out structure having a generally flat bottom wall for receiving a sheet of paper, or the like, on which painting markings are made.

The doll itself is positionable behind the platen and has an upper torso portion movable relative to a lower torso portion, an arm member movable relative to the upper torso portion, and a head reciprocally movable on top of the upper torso portion. The arm member has a hand portion for receiving a paint brush or the like for painting on a sheet of paper positioned on top of the platen. A paint receptacle is mounted on the flat base alongside of the doll. Mechanism which is mounted on the inside of the doll is operatively connected through a flexible cable to the operative mechanism on the inside of the platen support structure so that the various parts of the doll are moved in response to a user rotating the aforementioned crank member. In particular, the doll is made to alternately turn and move the paint brush between a painting position above the platen and a paint dipping position above the paint receptacle, all in response to rotation of the crank member which also rotates the platen and the sheet of paper positioned thereon.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of the combination doll and accessory set of this invention, with the doll components facing forward in a painting position;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to that of FIG. I but with the doll upper torso portion and arm pivoted to receive paint from the paint receptacle;

FIG. 3 is a front to rear vertical section, on an enlarged scale, through the platen, its support structure and the doll, with the dolls head broken away;

FIG. 4 is a vertical section taken generally along the line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section taken generally along the line S-5 of FIG. 4',

FIG. 6 is a horizontal section taken generally along the line 6-6 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of a portion of the base structure taken generally in the direction of line 77 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The combination doll and related accessories of the present invention includes a doll, generally designated 10, and accessory components, generally designated 12a and [2b, which are mounted on a generally flat base structure 14. The doll I0 is positionable on the flat base structure 14. The accessory 12a defines a painting area and, as described in greater detail hereinafter, has a platen, generally designated 16, for receiving a sheet of paper 18, or the like, on which the doll apparently paints a design. The accessory 12b is a paint receptacle and, as best seen in FIGS. I and 2 and as described in greater detail hereinafter, the doll is movable between positions where it apparently paints designs in the posi tion shown in FIG. I and where it accumulates paint onto a paint brush 20 in a dipping" motion when in the position shown in FIG. 2.

The platen accessory 12a is shown best in section in FIG. 3 where it can be seen that the platen I6 is a dished out structure having a generally flat bottom wall 22 on which the paper 18 is positionable, with a frustoconical side wall 24 surrounding the paper. The platen 16 is rotatably mounted on top of an upright support structure in the form of a housing 26 within which is mounted mechanism for rotating the platen.

More particularly, a crank member 28, having a manually manipulatable handle portion 30, protrudes for wardly from the support structure or housing 26 and extends into the housing through an aperture 32. The crank 28 is connected at its inner end to a gear member 34 which is part of a gear train, generally designated 36, rotatably mounted within the housing 26 on a generally U-shaped bracket 38. Gear member 34 is in mesh with a smaller diameter gear member 40 rotatably mounted within the bracket 38 by a shaft member 42. Thus the speed of rotation is stepped up from the larger gear 34 to the smaller gear 40. The front end of the shaft 42 is fixed to a cup gear 44 having a circular row of gear teeth 44a which are in mesh with a smaller gear 46 fixed to an upright rotatable shaft 48. Again, there is a step up of speed from gear 44 to gear 46. The upright shaft 48 is journalled in the bracket 38 and extends upwardly through an aperture 50 in the top of the housing 26. The shaft is connected to the platen 16 by means of an irregularly shaped plug 52 positioned within a complementarily shaped socket 54 on the underside of the bottom wall 22 of the platen.

Thus, as the crank 28 is rotated by a user grasping the handle portion 30 thereof, that rotational motion is transmitted through the gear train 36, particularly gears 34 and 40, to the platen [6 through the

gears

44 and 46, the latter of which is connected to the shaft 48. Due to the speed step-up from the gears, the platen I6 is caused to rotate at a substantially faster speed than the crank 28. In fact. due to the mass of the platen, somewhat of a flywheel effect is created and, if the crank is rotated sufficiently fast, paint deposited on the sheet 18 will be caused to spread radially outwardly under centrifugal force as the platen is rotated.

The upright housing or support structure 26 for the platen 16 has a flat base 56 which is positioned on top of the generally flat base structure I4. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 7, a pin 58 protrudes upwardly from the base structure 14 through an elongated slot 60 in the base 56 for the platen whereby the entire housing or support structure 26, and thus the platen 16, can be moved back and forth between limit positions defined by the ends of the slot 60. This movement affords a degree of pattern changing for the design which is painted on the paper 18, by being able to adjust the platen bodily relative to the doll l and paint brush 20.

The doll has the usual head 62, torso, generally designated 63, a pair of arms 64a and 64b, and a pair of legs 66. The torso 63 is comprised of an upper torso portion 68 mounted for limited pivotal or twisting movement relative to a lower torso portion 70. The legs 66 are rotatably mounted to the trunk of the lower torso portion 70 by means of cylindrical portions 72 received within apertures 74 in the lower torso portion, with a circular or annular flange 76 extending radially outwardly from each of the cylindrical portions 72 on the inside of the lower torso portion 70.

The arms 64a and 64b are rotatably mounted on the side of the upper torso portion 68 by means of a ball and socket type joint, with an enlarged ball portion 78 snap fit within a smaller diameter aperture 80 in the shoulder areas of the upper torso portion 68.

Before going into the operating mechanism for the doll. it should be pointed out briefly that the dolls right arm 64a is mechanically movable relative to the upper torso portion 68, the upper torso portion 68 is mechanically movable relative to the lower torso portion 70 in a twisting type action, and the head 62 is reciprocally movable in a limited up and down bobbing motion.

The mechanism for moving the various components of the doll is shown best in FIGS. 3, 4 and 6. Referring first to FIG. 3. the doll is operatively connected to the crank 28 by means of a flexible stub-like rotatable cable 82. The cable 82 has an irregularly shaped socket 84 on the front end thereof for receiving a complementarily shaped plug 86 which is fixed to the rear end 88 of the crank 28. Thus, as the crank is rotated by a user, the cable 82 also is rotated at the same speed.

The rear end of the cable 82 has an irregularly shaped plug 90 which is received within a complementarily shaped socket 92 rotatably mounted in the front of the lower torso portion within an aperture 94 in the lower torso portionv The inner end of the socket 92 is fixed to a plate 96 which has a shape best shown in FIG. 4. A shaft member 98 is fixed to the plate 96 for rotation therewith. The shaft 98 is spaced radially outwardly from the axis of rotation of the socket 92 so as to be eccentric thereto as best seen in FIG. 4. The shaft 98 extends rearwardly within the lower torso portion 70 and is connected at its rear end to another plate 100 which is similar to plate 96 and which is pivotally mounted by means of a pin 102 to a boss 104 formed integrally with the inside of the lower torso portion 70. The pin 102 is concentric with the axis of rotation of the socket 92. Thus, as the socket 92 is rotated in response to rotation of the crank 28, the shaft 98 rotates in an eccentric path which is shaped in the form of a cylinder about the axis of pin 102 and socket 92.

In order to rotate the upper torso portion 68 relative to the lower torso portion 70 between the positions shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a frame piece 106 is fixed to the upper torso portion and extends downwardly into the lower torso portion through an enlarged opening 108, as best seen in FIG. 4. The frame piece 106 has an inverted U-shaped portion at the lower end thereof defining downwardly depending ears 110a and I 10b posi tioned on opposite sides of the shaft 98. The shaft 98 is shown in FIG. 4 in one extreme side position bearing against the ear 110a which defines the forwardly facing position of the doll as shown in FIGS. I and 4. As the shaft 98 is rotated by the crank 28, away from the position shown in FIG. 4, the shaft 98 will come into abutment with the ear [10b and move the frame piece 106 in the direction of arrow A (FIG. 4) to cause the upper torso portion 68 of the doll to move or twist sideways relative to the lower torso portion 170 to the position shown in FIG. 2.

Simultaneously with the movement of the upper torso portion 68, the right arm 64a of the doll is caused to move upwardly lifting the paint brush 20 away from the platen l6 and then move the arm and brush back downwardly toward the paint receptacle 12b when the doll reaches the side facing position shown in FIG. 2. More particularly, a flexible strap 112 extends through apertures I14 and 116 in the upper torso portion 68 and an aperture 118 in the lower torso portion 70. A lever member 120 is pivotally mounted by a pin I22 to a pair of tabs 124 on the inside of the lower torso portion 70. The lever is connected to the lower end of strap 112 by a pin 126. The upper end of the strap 112 is connected to a pin 128 which protrudes rearwardly from an enlarged shaft portion I30 fixed to the ball portion 78 of the dolls right arm 64a on the inside of the upper torso portion 68. The weight of the arm 640 should be sufficient to normally bias the enlarged shaft portion 130 in the direction of arrow B (FIG. 3) to bias the lever member 12 against the underside of the eccentric plate l00 which rotates with the crank 28, as described above. Thus. as best seen in FIG. 4, as the shaft 98 is rotated clockwise from the position shown in FIG. 4, the "eccentric portion of the plate 100 will come into abutment with the top of the lever I20 and cause the lever to move downwardly about pivot pin 122. This causes the flexible strap 112 to move downwardly in the direction of arrow C (FIG. 4) which, in turn, pulls on the pin 128 to rotate the shaft 130 opposite the direction of arrow B (FIG. 3) and raise the dolls right arm 640 along with the paint brush 20. As the shaft 98 continues to rotate, it will bear against the ear 110!) to pivot the upper torso portion 58 to the right toward the paint receptacle 12!), while at the same time the eccentric portion of plate 100 will move upwardly off of the lever 120 and permit the arm 64a to move downwardly to pick up paint at the paint receptacle 12b. As the shaft 98 continues to rotate to come back to the position shown in FIG. 4, it will bear against ear 110a and move the upper torso 68 back to the forwardly facing position and move the paint brush into paint depositing position above the platen. However, the paint brush must be raised slightly to lift it out of the paint at receptacle 1212 before the shaft 98 engages ear 110a to pivot the upper torso. This is accomplished by shaping plate 100 so that the radial distance between the axis of pin 102 and the perimeter of the plate 100 at point 1000 (FIG. 4) is slightly greater than the radial distance between the axis of pin 102 and the perimeter of the plate 100 at point l00b (FIG. 4).

Movement of the head 62 relative to the upper torso portion 68 is effected by means of a lever member 131 having an inverted U-shaped portion at the lower end thereof defining downwardly depending ears 132a and l32b. A tab 134 is fixed to the shaft portion 130 for the dolls right arm 64a and extends upwardly between the

ears

132a and 132b. The upper end of the lever member 131 is fixed to a shaft 136 which also is fixed to a cylindrical portion 138 on the inside of the dolls head 62. The cylindrical portion loosely surrounds a cylindrical member 139 on the top of the upper torso portion 68. Thus, as the dolls right arm 64a is raised, the tab 134 on the shaft portion 130 of the arm engages ear [32b and causes the dolls head to tilt slightly forward. As the dolls arm again is lowered, the tab 134 will abut against ear 132a and cause the dolls head again to tilt back upwardly.

Thus it can be seen that the relative movement of the doll's upper and lower torso portions, the relative movement between the doll's right arm and the upper torso portion, and the movement of the dolls head portion relative to the upper torso portion, all are synchronized for movement in response to rotation of the crank 28.

The paint receptacle 12b is shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 and includes an upright post member 140 fixed to the top of the flat base [4 and extending upwardly therefrom. A receptacle plate 142 is rotatably mounted by means of a screw 144 and washer 146 to the top of the post 140 for rotation in the plane of the plate 142 about the upright axis of the post. The plate has a plurality of recesses I48 spaced thereabout for receiving different colors of paint 150. The paint receptacle 12b is positioned so that the paint brush will be dipped into a particular one of the recesses [48 as shown in FIG. 2. In order to change the color of paint to be applied to the paper 18, the receptacle plate 142 simply is rotated to bring another of the recesses 148 into the position of the particular recess as shown in FIG. 2.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as some modifications will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

We claim:

1. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising:

an accessory comprising means defining a marking area including means defining a movably mounted marking surface for holding material to be marked;

means defining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking area including a torso having a head mounted on the top thereof and arms connected to said torso with a hand at the end of at least one of the arms, said one arm being mounted for move ment relative to said torso, said doll and accessory including selectively actuatable drive means for moving said arm between a first position wherein said hand is generally over said marking surface and a second position away from said marking surface defining a substantially constant path of travel therebetween;

a paint brush mounted on the hand of the movable arm for movement therewith so that said paint brush will contact material on said marking surface when said arm is in said first position;

said drive means being operably connected to said movable arm and said marking surface for moving said arm between said positions while, at the same time, moving said marking surface relative to said paint brush when said movable arm is in said first position; and

means defining a receptacle for paint positioned adjacent said doll, the paint brush receiving paint from said receptacle when said movable arm is in the second position.

2. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising:

an accessory comprising means defining a marking area including a movably mounted marking surface for holding material to be marked;

a receptacle spaced from said marking area for receiving paint therein,

means defining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking area and said receptacle, said doll body including a torso having a head mounted on the top thereof and arms connected to the torso with hands at the ends of the arms, one of said arms being mounted for movement relative to said torso; paint brush mounted on the hand of the movable arm for movement therewith so that said paint brush will contact said marking surface when said arm is in the first position and dip into said receptacle for receiving paint therefrom when said arm is in said second position; and

selectively actuatable drive means for moving said movable arm between a first position wherein said hand is generally over said marking surface and a second position wherein said hand is generally over said receptacle, and for moving said marking surface, said drive means including a rotatable manually manipulatable member on said accessory, rotating means mounted on said accessory operatively associated between the manually manipulatable member and the marking surface for rotating the marking surface relative to the paint brush when the movable arm is in the first position, and doll moving means mounted in the torso operatively associated between said manually manipulatalbe member and said movable arm for moving said arm between its two positions in response to the rotation of said manipulatable member.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said doll body includes upper and lower relatively movable torso pormeans includes a connecting member for connecting the rotating means with said doll moving means so that rotating of the manipulatable member causes actuation of said rotating means which causes actuation of said doll moving means.

6. The combination of claim 2 wherein said doll moving means includes means for alternately raising and lowering said doll arm and hand to lift the paint brush off of said marking surface and to dip" the paint brush into the paint at said receptaclev

Claims

1. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising: an accessory comprising means defining a marking area including means defining a movably mounted marking surface for holding material to be marked; means defining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking area including a torso having a head mounted on the top thereof and arms connected to said torso with a hand at the end of at least one of the arms, said one arm being mounted for movement relative to said torso, said doll and accessory including selectively actuatable drive means for moving said arm between a first position wherein said hand is generally over said marking surface and a second position away from said marking surface defining a substantially constant path of travel therebetween; a paint brush mounted on the hand of the movable arm for movement therewith so that said paint brush will contact material on said marking surface when said arm is in said first position; saId drive means being operably connected to said movable arm and said marking surface for moving said arm between said positions while, at the same time, moving said marking surface relative to said paint brush when said movable arm is in said first position; and means defining a receptacle for paint positioned adjacent said doll, the paint brush receiving paint from said receptacle when said movable arm is in the second position.

2. In combination, a doll and accessory set, comprising: an accessory comprising means defining a marking area including a movably mounted marking surface for holding material to be marked; a receptacle spaced from said marking area for receiving paint therein; means defining a doll body positionable adjacent said marking area and said receptacle, said doll body including a torso having a head mounted on the top thereof and arms connected to the torso with hands at the ends of the arms, one of said arms being mounted for movement relative to said torso; a paint brush mounted on the hand of the movable arm for movement therewith so that said paint brush will contact said marking surface when said arm is in the first position and dip into said receptacle for receiving paint therefrom when said arm is in said second position; and selectively actuatable drive means for moving said movable arm between a first position wherein said hand is generally over said marking surface and a second position wherein said hand is generally over said receptacle, and for moving said marking surface, said drive means including a rotatable manually manipulatable member on said accessory, rotating means mounted on said accessory operatively associated between the manually manipulatable member and the marking surface for rotating the marking surface relative to the paint brush when the movable arm is in the first position, and doll moving means mounted in the torso operatively associated between said manually manipulatalbe member and said movable arm for moving said arm between its two positions in response to the rotation of said manipulatable member.

3. The combination of claim 2 wherein said doll body includes upper and lower relatively movable torso portions, said doll moving means being operatively connected to said torso portions for effecting relative movement between the torso portions simultaneously with the movement of the marking surface and the arm and hand.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said head is relatively movable with respect to the torso portions and is operatively connected to said doll moving means for effecting simultaneous relative movement between the head and body and between the torso portions.

5. The combination of claim 2 wherein said drive means includes a connecting member for connecting the rotating means with said doll moving means so that rotating of the manipulatable member causes actuation of said rotating means which causes actuation of said doll moving means.

6. The combination of claim 2 wherein said doll moving means includes means for alternately raising and lowering said doll arm and hand to lift the paint brush off of said marking surface and to ''''dip'''' the paint brush into the paint at said receptacle.