US3600845A

US3600845A - Animated toy figure

Info

Publication number: US3600845A
Application number: US776460A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert Mendigal
Original assignee: PETITCOLLIN COMP
Current assignee: PETITCOLLIN Cie; PETITCOLLIN COMP
Priority date: 1968-02-02
Filing date: 1968-11-18
Publication date: 1971-08-24
Anticipated expiration: 1988-08-24
Also published as: FR1560590A; ES361525A1; GB1247167A

Abstract

Animated toy figure, of the doll or puppet type, capable of producing at will the realistic and different movements of the lower limbs comprising, symmetrically relative to the longitudinal axis of said figure, an upper limb which may be articulated, deformable under pressure and playing the role of an air syringe, connected inwardly by a tube to bellows bearing on the one hand on an inner stationary part of the body of said figure and, on the other hand, on a lever extending, inside said body, the homologous lower limb of the upper limb beyond its articulation axis. The upper limb, the connecting tube and the bellows are made of a flexible, elastic and airtight material.

Description

United States Patent inventor Robert Mendigll Paris, France W 1 Appl No 776.460 21 Filed Nov. 18, 1968 J! Patented Aug. 24. I97] 1 I t Assignee Complgnie Petitcollln Paris, France 12) Priority Feb. 2, 1968 I l France I' l [38,600

(54l ANIMATED TOY FIGURE 2 Claims, 1 Drawing Fig.

U2] US. Cl v v i s v v i 46/44 [*1] lnt.Cl v r s i r i. ...A63h 29/16 1 0} FleldotSearch.... y r a 4 46/44 l 56] Relerences Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2526.619 10/1950 Gamache 46/44 UX 2.854.783 l0/l958 Baggott 46/44 FOREIGN PATENTS 714, l 5| 3/1954 Great Britain 46/44 Primary ExaminerLouis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Di L. Weinhold Attorney- Karl W. Flocks ABSTRACT: Animated toy figure. of the doll or puppet type, capable of producing at will the realistic and different movements of the lower limbs comprising, symmetrically relative to the longitudinal axis of said figure, an upper limb which may be articulated, defonnable under pressure and playing the role of an air syringe, connected inwardly by a tube to bellows bearing on the one hand on an inner stationary part of the body of said figure and on the other hand, on a lever extending. inside said body, the homologous lower limb of the upper limb beyond its articulation axis. The upper limb, the connecting tube and the bellows are made ofa flexible, elastic and airtight material.

ANIMATED TOY FIGURE The present invention relates to a toy figure of the animated doll or puppet type, capable of reproducing in particular the movements ofthe lower limbs.

At the present time are known articulated puppets, with wires, sleeves, rods or bars, as well as walking dolls" of which the movements are controlled by motor and lever units.

In the case of dolls, for example, in addition to their high cost price, the mechanical devices employed confer on said toys a relative fragility and, further, the movements produced are not varied nor always realistic.

The present invention eliminates these disadvantages by providing a figure capable of reproducing movements in a varied manner and of great simplicity of production.

The toy figure according to the invention is essentially characterized by the fact that it comprises, symmetrically, an upper limb which may be deformed through pressure, con nected inwardly by a tube to bellows bearing on the one hand on an inner stationary part of the body and on the other hand on a lever extending, inside the body, the lower homologous limb beyond its articulation axis.

According to other characteristics:

the upper limbs, the connecting tube and the inner bellows are made of a flexible, elastic and airtight material;

the upper limbs may be articulated.

Other characteristics and advantages resulting from the present invention will be more apparent from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawing showing a longitudinal section of an advantageous embodimerit ofa doll according to the invention.

Referring to said drawing, the upper limb or arm 1, which may be deformed under pressure, is extended beyond the shoulder articulation by a flexible tube 2 housed inside the body 3. This tube 2 is connected to bellows 4 themselves bearing, on the one hand, on the stationary, abdominal wall 5 and, on the other hand, on a lever 6 extending inwardly the lower limb or leg 7 hinged on the pin 8 at the level of the pelvis.

The upper limb thus plays the role of an air syringe and, when pressure is exerted thereon, materialized by the arrow F,

the air is driven therefrom towards the bellows which expand and cause the rotation of the lever 6 integral with the lower limb, thus the displacement of the latter.

The syringe-tube-bellows-lever unit is applied to the two homologous limbs and two of these units are thus disposed in a symmetric manner relative to the longitudinal axis of the body of the figure. Thus, a large variety of movements may be realized, whether one acts simultaneously or alternately on the upper limbs.

The lower limbs will thus be animated in various different ways, due to the fact that the pressure exerted on the upper limbs may be more or less great. One can thus obtain, at will, steps of variable dimensions and a walk of similarly variable speed,jerl y or gliding. One may also act only on one side so as to reproduce other movements.

Of course, the embodiment described above by way of illustration but in no [imitative manner, applied to a doll, may be applied to other figures and the movements obtained may also be applied to other elements than the lower limbs, as for example the head, the face and its different movable members, to the expansion of the chest, to the gripping by the hands, as well as to the setting in motion of any mechanical, electrical or electronic equipment.

It is moreover obvious that the present invention has been described and illustrated in an explanatory but by no means [imitative manner, and that any useful changes may be made therein, without coming out of its scope.

I claim:

1. An animated doll capable of producing at will the realistic and different movements of the lower limbs, comprising, symmetrically relative to the longitudinal axis of said doll,

an upper limb which may be articulated and deformable under pressure to actuate an air syringe in the form of a tube connected inwardly to bellows bearing at one end on an inner stationary part of the body of said doll and at the other end on a lever extending inside said body and inside the lower limb beyond its articulation axis, whereby articulation of said upper limb effects animated motion of the homologous lower limb.

2. An animated toy figure according to claim 1, in which the upper limb, the connecting tube and the bellows are made of a flexible, elastic and airtight material.

Claims

1. An animated doll capable of producing at will the realistic and different movements of the lower limbs, comprising, symmetrically relative to the longitudinal axis of said doll, an upper limb which may be articulated and deformable under pressure to actuate an air syringe in the form of a tube connected inwardly to bellows bearing at one end on an inner stationary part of the body of said doll and at the other end on a lever extending inside said body and inside the lower limb beyond its articulation axis, whereby articulation of said upper limb effects animated motion of the homologous lower limb.