US3927883A

US3927883A - Boxing apparatus for figure toys

Info

Publication number: US3927883A
Application number: US538699A
Authority: US
Inventors: Denis Vernon Bosley; Alan Ralph Pitkanen
Original assignee: Mattel Inc
Current assignee: Mattel Inc
Priority date: 1975-01-06
Filing date: 1975-01-06
Publication date: 1975-12-23
Anticipated expiration: 1992-12-23
Also published as: AU476800B2; IT1051611B; FR2296447B1; AU8450975A; ES442163A1; CA1031958A; DE7531854U; GB1456357A; SE7514718L; FR2296447A1

Abstract

Each simulated boxer is maintained in an upright position on a rotatable platform by a swingable pedestal which is locked in an upright position through all but two sectors of the circular path of the platform. Two players compete by maneuvering the boxers into position adjacent each other with arms at least partially extended so the arm of one boxer will strike the other boxer during oscillation of the platforms. The struck boxer will fall down only if its supporting pedestal is at one of the sectors where the pedestal is unlocked. The platforms are oscillated by rack-and-pinion arrangement operated by the players.

Description

[ Dec. 23, 1975 1 BOXING APPARATUS FOR FIGURE TOYS [75] Inventors: Denis Vernon Bosley, Palos Verdes Peninsula; Alan Ralph Pitkanen, Manhattan Beach, both of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif.

[22] Filed: Jan. 6, 1975 [21] Appl. No.: 538,699

[52] US. Cl. 273/85 B; 46/142 [51] Int. Cl. A63F 9/14 [58] Field of Search 273/85; 46/142, 143, 148

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,320,606 11/1919 De 273/90 1,481,105 1/1924 Levy 273/88 1,569,334 1/1926 Flack 273/87.4

1,657,388 1/1928 Gorman 273/87.4

1,926,980 9/1933 Gorman 273/87.4 2.088,510 7/1937 Frasca 46/142 2,638,348 5/1953 Arenson et al. 46/148 2,809,039 10/1957 46/142 3,564,764 2/1971 Crosman et a1 46/142 3.845.956 11/1974 Goldfarb et a1v 273/85 F 3,856,304 12/1974 Matsumoto 273/85 F 3,864,870 2/1975 Breslow et al. 46/142 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Harry G. Strappello Attorney, Agent, or Firm-John M. May; Stephen L. King; Max E. Shirk [57] ABSTRACT Each simulated boxer is maintained in an upright position on a rotatable platform by a swingable pedestal which is locked in an upright position through all but two sectors of the circular path of the platform. Two players compete by maneuvering the boxers into position adjacent each other with arms at least partially extended so the arm of one boxer will strike the other boxer during oscillation of the platforms. The struck boxer will fall down only if its supporting pedestal is at one of the sectors where the pedestal is unlocked. The platforms are oscillated by rack-and-pinion arrangement operated by the players;

8 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 2 of2 3,927,883

BOXING APPARATUS FOR FIGURE TOYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The background of the invention will be set forth in two parts.

I. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally to the field of boxing apparatus for figure toys and more particularly to a new and useful device for supporting a figure toy in an upright position on a rotatable platform which may be rotated by a user of the device in competition with a second user having a similar device supporting an opposing boxer.

2. Description of the Prior Art The prior art known to applicants is listed by way of illustration, but not of limitation, in separate communications to the United States Patent Office. The present invention exemplifies improvements over this prior art.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful boxing apparatus for figure toys which are maintained in an upright position on a rotatable platform connected to a suitable rotating means manipulated by a user of the apparatus.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a new and useful boxer toy including means for moving a pair of simulated boxers into contact with each other.

According to the present invention, a pair of boxers are each releasably supported by a suitable pedestal means connected to retainer means for locking the pedestal means in a substantially upright position during movement of the simulated boxers along at least one first portion of a boxing path.

The toy includes release means connected to the pedestal means for releasing the simulated boxers from the substantially upright position during movement of the simulated boxers along at least one second portion of the boxing path differing from said first portion, whereby contact of one of the boxers by the other of the boxers while the one boxer is in the first portion of the boxing path fails to score a knock-down and contact of one of the boxers by the other of the boxers while the one boxer is in the second portion of the boxing path scores a knock-down.

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 operation, 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 DRAWINGS FIG. I is a perspective view of a pair of boxing apparatuses for figure toys in operating position with a figure toy connected to each apparatus;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, plan view, with parts broken away to show internal construction, of one of the apparatuses shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, vertical cross-sectional view of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. I with a figure toy in position on the apparatus; and

FIG. 5 is a partial, cross-sectional view of the boxing apparatus of the present invention with its pedestal in an unlocked position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring again to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1, a pair of figure toys 10, I2 simulate boxers each having at least one arm 14 extending outwardly therefrom and carrying a simulated boxing glove [6 on the end thereof. Each figure toy I0, 12 is releasably supported in a substantially upright position on a boxing apparatus 18 by a suitable pedestal means 20 pivotally connected to a rotatable platfonn 22 adapted to be oscillated about a circular path by an actuating lever 24 slidably mounted in a base member 26.

Users of the devices 18 may maneuver figure toys l0, 12 adjacent each other while actuating levers 24 to oscillate figure toys l0, 12 so that the simulated boxing glove 16 of one figure toy will strike the other figure toy. Pedestal means 20 is locked in an upright position in all rotated positions of platform 22 with the exception of two positions which are considered to be positions of vulnerability" where pedestal means 20 is unlocked so that the figure toy attached thereto will fall down when struck by the other figure toy.

Referring now to FIG. 4, since each boxing apparatus 18 is identical, only the one associated with figure toy 12 will be described in detail. Figure toy 12 is conneeted to pedestal means 20 by a belt 28 encompassing the waist 30 of figure toy 12 and including a rearwardly-extending portion 32 affixed to the upper end 34 of pedestal means 20. The feet 36, 38 (FIG. 1) of figure toy 12 rest on platform 22 and are prevented from becoming dislodged therefrom by centrifugal force when platform 22 is oscillated by suitable toe cups, like the one shown at 40 in FIG. 4.

Pedestal means 20 includes a lower end 42 which carries a suitable pin means 44 journalled in a bracket 46 affixed to platform 22 adjacent an opening 48 provided therein. The lower end 42 of pedestal means 20 is provided with a suitable retainer means 52 for locking figure toy 12 in a substantially upright position during movement of figure toy 12 along at least one first portion of a boxing path defined by the oscillating path-of-travel of platform 22 and for releasing figure toy 12 during movement thereof along at least one second portion of the boxing path differing from the first portion so that contact of figure toy 12 by figure toy 10 while figure toy I2 is in the first portion of the boxing path fails to score a knock-down and contact of figure toy 12 by figure toy 10 while figure toy I2 is in the second portion of the boxing path scores a knockdown. Retainer means 52 includes a tab 54 extending outwardly from end 42 of pedestal means 20 and an upstanding annular rib 56 which may be engaged by tab 54 in all positions of rotation of platform 22 except two. In these two positions, annular rib 56 is cut away as shown at 58, 60 in FIG. 2 so that tab 54 will clear rib S6 and move to the broken line position shown in FIG. 5 where tab 54 engages a stop member 62 depending from platform 22 in opening 48.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-5, base member 26 includes a housing 64 having a closed bottom wall 66,

and encompassing, upstanding side wall 68 and an open top 70. Base member 26 also includes a fixed hand grip 72 connected to housing 64 by a fixed way 74 in which lever 24 is reciprocably mounted.

Lever 24 includes a first end 76, which carries a thumb-engaging member 78, and a second end 80, which is provided with a rack 82 and a pair of outwardly-extending

stop fingers

84, 86. Rack 82 engages a pinion 88 depending from platform 22 and rotatably mounted on a post 90 extending upwardly from bottom wall 66 of base member 26. Lever 24 is biased to the extended position shown in FIG. 2 by a spring 92 having a first end 94, which is affixed to a pin 96 depending from fixed hand grip 72, and a second end 98, which is affixed to lever 24. Stop

fingers

84, 86 engage reinforcing

ribs

100, 102, respectively, which are provided on bottom wall 66 for reinforcing annular rib 56, to prevent spring 92 from pulling rack 82 out of engagement with pinion 88. A child-user may move lever 24 in the direction of arrow 104 (FIG. 2) against the bias of spring 92 by engaging hand grip 72 with two fingers and thumb-engaging member 78 with a thumb. Rack 82 will then rotate pinion 88 and will move in the direction of arrow 104 until end 80 of lever 24 bottoms-out against side wall 68. It should be noted that annular rib 56 is interrupted sufficiently to permit end 80 to pass beyond rib 56 while straddling a T-shaped member 106 serving as a continuation of rib 56 to prevent pedestal means 20 from moving to its FIG. 5, broken-line position. The child-user may then release thumb-grip 78 so that spring 92 will rapidly move lever 24 in the direction of arrow I08 causing rack 82 to reversely-rotate pinion 88. Thus, lever 24 may be reciprocated to oscillate platform 22 through about 180 in opposite directions.

Referring now to FIGS. 4 and 5, platform 22 includes a depending, encompassing side wall 110 which carries an outwardly-extending annular flange 112 adapted to ride on a similar flange 114 provided on side wall 68 of housing 64 at open top 70. Platform 22 is prevented from becoming disengaged from housing 64 by three clips I16, 118, and 120 (FIG. 2) which engage flange 112, as shown in FIG. 4 for the clip 118.

Operation of the boxing apparatus of the present invention will be described in connection with FIG. 1. One child-user may select figure toy l and another child-user may select figure toy 12. Each child-user may place his fingers on finger grip 72 and his thumb on thumb grip 78 and maneuver his apparatus 18 adjacent the apparatus I8 of the other user while reciprocating lever 24 to oscillate platform 22 and its associated figure toy so that the arm 14 of one figure toy will strike the other figure toy. lfa figure toy is struck while tab 54 is over one of the cut out

portions

58, 60, retainer means 52 will release pedestal means 20 from its locked position so that the struck figure toy will be knocked down. If, on the other hand, a struck figure toy is in a rotated position where tab 54 will engage annular rib 56 or T-shaped member 106, retainer means 52 will remain locked and the struck figure toy will remain in a substantially upright position.

While the particular boxing apparatus for figure toys 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 other than as defined in the appended claims which form a part of this disclosure.

Whenever the term means" is employed in these claims, this term is to be interpreted as defining the corresponding structure illustrated and described in a base member;

a platform member movably connected to said base member;

means for producing relative motion between said base member and said platform member;

upright pedestal means hingeably connected to said platform member for providing a support for a boxer figure toy; and

release means associated with said pedestal means and said base for preventing hinged motion of said hinged pedestal means when said platform is in a first range of positions with respect to said base and for permitting hinged motion of said pedestal means to a non-upright position when said platform is in a second range of positions with respect to said base,

whereby a boxer figure toy supported by said pedestal means is rigidly supported in a substantially upright position when said platform is within said first range of positions and therefore is invulnerable if hit, and

whereby said figure toy may fall to a knocked-down position when said platform is within said second range of positions and therefore is vulnerable if hit. 2. The improvement as stated in claim I wherein said relative motion is oscillatory and said release means comprises:

an annular rib upstanding from said base member beneath said platform, said annular rib having at least one uninterrupted portion defining said first range of positions and at least one interrupted portion defining said second range of positions; an opening in said platform adjacent the lower end of said pedestal means; and a tab on said lower end of said pedestal means, said LII tab extending through said opening in said platform and into sliding engagement with said annular rib, whereby said tab and said rib cooperate to lock said boxer figure toy in said substantially upright position until said tab reaches an interrupted portion of said rib.

3. The improvement as stated in claim 2 wherein said annular rib has at least two interrupted portions defining two distinct regions of vulnerability.

4. The improvement as stated in claim I wherein:

said base member has an upstanding post provided thereon; said platform is rotatably mounted on said post; and said means for producing motion comprises a lever and gear means for oscillating said platform.

5. The improvement as stated in claim 4 wherein said lever and gear means further comprises a spring connected to a lever for rapidly returning said lever to a normally-extended position after said lever has been moved away from said normally-extended position.

6. The improvement as stated in claim 4 wherein said lever and gear means further comprises:

a pinion gear on said platform in encompassing relationship with said post; and

a rack on said lever in driving engagement with said pinion.

7. Boxing apparatus for use with a removeable figure toy, comprising:

a base member having an upstanding post and an annular rib encompassing said post, said rib having at least one interrupted portion;

a lever reciproeably mounted on said base member;

a platform rotatably mounted on said post. said platform being provided with an opening overlying said rib;

connecting means drivingly connecting said lever to said platform for oscillating said platform when said lever is reciproeated;

a pedestal having an upper end and a lower end;

hinge means swingably connecting said lower end of said pedestal to said platform adjacent said opena tab mounted on said lower end of said pedestal, said tab extending through said opening in said platform and into sliding engagement with said annular rib,

whereby said tab will retain said pedestal in an upright position until said tab reaches said at least one interrupted portion; and means provided at the upper end of said pedestal for removeably attaching a figure toy to said pedestal. 8. A boxing game comprising a pair of the boxing apparatuses as claimed in claim 7, and further comprismg:

a pair of toy boxing figures, each associated with a respective one of said boxing apparatuses; and a pair of belts, one for each of said boxing figures, for

attaching the respective boxing figure to the respective attachment means provided at the upper end of the respective pedestal, whereby the first figure falls to a knockdown position when its respective pedestal means swings down from its upright position upon being hit by the oscillating second figure, provided said first figure is in a vulnerable position at the moment of impact.

Claims

1. In a boxing apparatus toy for use with a boxer figure toy, the improvement which comprises: a base member; a platform member movablY connected to said base member; means for producing relative motion between said base member and said platform member; upright pedestal means hingeably connected to said platform member for providing a support for a boxer figure toy; and release means associated with said pedestal means and said base for preventing hinged motion of said hinged pedestal means when said platform is in a first range of positions with respect to said base and for permitting hinged motion of said pedestal means to a non-upright position when said platform is in a second range of positions with respect to said base, whereby a boxer figure toy supported by said pedestal means is rigidly supported in a substantially upright position when said platform is within said first range of positions and therefore is invulnerable if hit, and whereby said figure toy may fall to a knocked-down position when said platform is within said second range of positions and therefore is vulnerable if hit.

2. The improvement as stated in claim 1 wherein said relative motion is oscillatory and said release means comprises: an annular rib upstanding from said base member beneath said platform, said annular rib having at least one uninterrupted portion defining said first range of positions and at least one interrupted portion defining said second range of positions; an opening in said platform adjacent the lower end of said pedestal means; and a tab on said lower end of said pedestal means, said tab extending through said opening in said platform and into sliding engagement with said annular rib, whereby said tab and said rib cooperate to lock said boxer figure toy in said substantially upright position until said tab reaches an interrupted portion of said rib.

4. The improvement as stated in claim 1 wherein: said base member has an upstanding post provided thereon; said platform is rotatably mounted on said post; and said means for producing motion comprises a lever and gear means for oscillating said platform.

6. The improvement as stated in claim 4 wherein said lever and gear means further comprises: a pinion gear on said platform in encompassing relationship with said post; and a rack on said lever in driving engagement with said pinion.

7. Boxing apparatus for use with a removeable figure toy, comprising: a base member having an upstanding post and an annular rib encompassing said post, said rib having at least one interrupted portion; a lever reciprocably mounted on said base member; a platform rotatably mounted on said post, said platform being provided with an opening overlying said rib; connecting means drivingly connecting said lever to said platform for oscillating said platform when said lever is reciprocated; a pedestal having an upper end and a lower end; hinge means swingably connecting said lower end of said pedestal to said platform adjacent said opening; a tab mounted on said lower end of said pedestal, said tab extending through said opening in said platform and into sliding engagement with said annular rib, whereby said tab will retain said pedestal in an upright position until said tab reaches said at least one interrupted portion; and means provided at the upper end of said pedestal for removeably attaching a figure toy to said pedestal.

8. A boxing game comprising a pair of the boxing apparatuses as claimed in claim 7, and further comprising: a pair of toy boxing figures, each associated with a respective one of said boxing apparatuses; and a pair of belts, one for each of said boxing figures, for attaching the respective boxing figure to the respective attachment means provided at the upper end of the respective pedestal, whereby the first figure falls to a knockdown position when its respective pedestal means swings down from its upright position upon being hit by the oscillating second figure, provided said first figure is in a vulnerable position at the moment of impact.