US58922A - Toy walking-figure - Google Patents

Description

' to the axle g.

UNrrED Samaras PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT VEIR, OF COHOES, NEW' YORK.

TOY WALKING-FIGURE.

Speeiiication forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,922, dated October 1G, 1866.

To all whom it 'may concern Be it known that I, Ronnnr Wma, ot' (hr hoes,in thecounty of' Albanyand State ot' New York, have invented anew and Improved Toy; and I do hereby declare that the vfollowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reterence being had to the accompanying drawings, making part ot' this speeitication.

The nature ot' this improvement consists in making a ligure of a man or other animal per form motions of the limbs to resemble walking orrunning. This is accomplished, for the tignre of a man, by mounting the body upon a carriage in such a manner that the legs are asti-fide ofapairof carriage-wheels, and the t'e'et are lifted and carried forward at each revolution ofthe wheels, to imitate nature, by opposite crank-pins attached to the wheels and feet, the arms being alternately thrown backward and forward by a connection from each tothe opposite leg.

The object ot this improvement is to make a toy which shall be useful by furnishing occu pation, amusement, and interest to all, especially the young, without tending to demorat ize them or deprave their tastes, and the meehanism employed, although simple, comprises a combina-tion of mechanical devices and movements sufiicient to make the toy not alone a properand amusing plaything, as above stated, but an attractive study, to waken and develop the mechanical tastes ofthe young and direct their thoughts and exertions into uset'ul and instructive channels.

The drawings represent the improvement applied to the figure of a man.

Figurel represents,in perspective, the whole toy complete, except that one wheel is removed to show other portions more clearly. Fig. 2 is a rear view, and Figs. 3 and l side views, which will be referred to more particularly hereinafter.

The same letters of reference refer to like parts in all the figures.

The legs of the figure are constructed with jointsat the hips and knees, and are pnt asti-ide of two wheels, D D, which are secured rigidly The axle y passes through and turns in a hole in handle or stick E. The handle E is made in one or more pieces ofconvenient length, so that one end may be held in the hand, while the wheels D I) rest upon the iloor or a table. The body A ol' the ligure is supported in the proper position bya wire, Wr, one end of which is secured to the body between the legs, and the other enters a socket on stick E.

Each ofthe feet oi' the ligure is pivoted through the heel to the nearest wheel l) by means oi' a crank-pin, h, which is attached to wheel l) near the circumference, the two crankpins h and It, on either side ofthe ligure, heilig opposite to each other in relation to the axis g. The arms F l? ot' the tigure are pivoted at the shoulder. Across the back of the bodyr A, from each hip to the shoulder on the opposite side, are rut grooves, crossing each other, as shown in Fig. 2. Lying' in these diagonal grooves are wires i i', which conneeteach thigh with the arm on the other side ot' the body. A small eye on the lower end of each wire couples with another eye driven into the back part of the thigh, as represented. The other end ot' the wire is secured in like manuel' to the back part of the arm, near the shoulderjoint.

'hen the thigh is moved up to the position shown in Fig. 3, the wire `i pushes up the opposite armwhich istheonly one shown-and the same connection 'i pulls down the arm when the thigh is moved to the position in Fig. 4.

The knee-joint is constructed to bend in only one direction. The drawings represent this joint made by jaws on the boot grasping a tenen on the upper part. The tlanks ot' the tenon and jaws on the boot are made to touch when the leg is straight, but are rounded on the back side, permitting' t'ree motion ot' the leg in that direction.

The ligure is dressed according to taste, and the mechanism is put in operation by taking the stick E in the hand and pushing the toy, with the wheels 1) l) in contact with the Hoor or other surface. This causes the wheels to re volvo, and each one of the pins h h lifts the t'oot to which it is attached, and carries it up, forward, and down in a curve varyin g but littlc fronra cycloid, the opposite connections with the shaft causingl the feet to alternate in each movement.v Tile movement ofthe legs by means ot' the connections it' causes the arms to swing, so that the general eleetis thatot'aman walking, trotting, or ruiming, lifting the feet high and swinging the arms in a ludicrous but not unnatural manner.

The details of construction may be modified greatly. rlhe connections `i 'i can be evidently placed either in front or rear of the bodyiand may consist, in the first case, of stift' sticks or wires merely, to push the arms up when they would fall by gravity; or, in the second case, strings may be substituted for the wires shown in the drawings, as they would pull the arm up and allow it to fall, as before. Strings might be put both front and back to pull the arm in both directions.

When the clothing permits, either kind of connection above mentioned may be used to canse a thigh to move the arm on the same side in the opposite direction, by making such connection from the front of thigh to the back of arm, or vice versa.

The wheels D D may be set either forward or back ot' the figure, and from the crankpins hl l1` connecting-rods be run out horizontally, or nearly so, and the feet be pivoted to the rods at a certain distance from the wheels. In this case the movement of the limbs will appear more natural, as the feet will not be lifted so high, and yet will receive the same horizontal movement as before.

The figure may be that of a soldier running, with his hands grasping his musket. An ofcer may be made to brandish his sword or a civilian swing his cane, when walking', by suitably connecting the arms and legs on the principles above stated.

It is proposed, in some cases, to make the head of the iig-ure movable, and cause it to turn or nod by connections to the other meehanisni, or bythe oscillations of an attached weight, which can be concealed in the body.

Combinations of two or more figures can be made-as, for instance, one man chasing another-in which ease, by varying the size of the wheels, either pursuer or pursued can be caused to take more steps.

The legs ot' animals, both front and rear, may be moved by the same kind of mechanism, and in all combinations it will generally be possible, by simple connections, to make one pair of wheels or one revolving shaft operate several pairs of legs.

A figure may be made pushing a wheelbarrow or pulling a cart.

Clock-work operated by a spring or weight maybe adapted to make the movements of the figure automatic. Such spring may either operate the wheels l) D, and thus propel the figure and move the limbs at the same time, orit may propel the carriage by separate drivingwheels, when the shaft or axle g can be turned by gearing', or by allowing the wheels l) D to run upon the surface moved over.

By properly supporting the ligure-as, for instance, mounting it on three or four wheelsthe spring and necessary clock-work may be concealed in the body; or such moving-power may be placed in a cart or wheelbarrow which the ligure seems to be pulling` or pushing.

It will. be observed that if the figure and carriage be stationary and the wheels l) D revolved, the feet will merely be carried about in a circle but it' the axle gbe turned while the figure progresses along any surface, the coinbined movements produce the proper eiect. The propulsion of the carriage may therefore be accomplished in any manner, so long as the axle g is made to revolve; and if the attachments to such revolving axle lit't the feet but a little distance While the figure is propelled the full length of a step, the combined movements will very accurately represent those ot' nature.

Cams may be substituted for crank-pins h` h on axle g, and the lnotion of the limbs be thereby performed more natnrall y, but with less simplicity.

It will be observed that the hip-joints of the figure are maintained at a certain fixed distance from the axle g,for the body is supported (by wire W) from the carriage, and the axle turns therein; also, the thighs, being pivoted at the hip, cannot slide or yield, except to turn on the pivot. Therefore, when either foot or any part ofthe leg below the knee is lifted by its corresponding crank-pin h, attached to axle g, the knee-joint necessarily bent and the knee thrown forward in imitation of nature, the hip-joint turning on its pivot in the body and the leg on h in the wheel. This is a distinctive feature of my invention.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- Uombining the body and jointed limbs of a figure with a revolving axle, g, by means of crank-pins li h, and wire W, or their equivalents, in such a manner as to produce an alternate bending of the knee-joints and other movements ot the limbs, substantially as herein de- :ribed and set forth.

ROBT. VEIR.

Witnesses:

Unas. E. EMERY, M. M. LlviNGs'roN.

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