US2159293A - Doll - Google Patents

Description

May 1939' E. G. SCHAEFFER 2,159,293

DOLL

Filed July 24, 1936 2 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented May 23, 1939 UNlTED STATES PATENT ()FHQE DOLL Application July 24, 1936, Serial No. 92,333

9 Claims.

This invention relates to dolls and more particularly to a doll structure having eyeballs pivotally mounted therein with automatic mechanism for moving the eyeballs into closed, sleeping position and into open, waking position.

In accordance with this invention, an eyeball assembly is provided which includes one or more eyeballs pivotally mounted for movement into open and closed position having associated there- 10 with eyeball-operating mechanism assembled as a complete unit before it is inserted into the doll head. The unit may be suitably clipped, fixed, or otherwise attached within the doll head, or, if desired, the unit may be incorporated with the doll head mold and then molded into place as the doll head itself is molded or formed.

In one form of my invention the eyeballs are fixed to a suitable rock shaft which is pivotally supported in a bracket fixed, secured, clamped,

or otherwise secured within the doll head. A suitable weighted pendulum is fixed to the rock shaft so that when the pendulum is acted upon by gravity, it will move the eyes into closed or open position upon predetermined rocking or lifting movement of the doll body. A guide rack for the pendulum is integrally formed with or secured to the bracket. The guide rack is provided with an elongated slot through which the pendulum member extends. The rack is provided with a series of barbs which successively interrupt the movement of the pendulum when it swings the eyeballs to closing position so as to require sidewise rocking of the doll head to suecessively advance the pendulum into eye-closing position. This operation takes place as the doll is rocked in its crib or in the arms of its childmother. When the doll is raised into vertical or aroused position, the pendulum will return to its eye-opened position without obstruction from the barbs.

The eyeball and eyeball-operating unit can be inexpensively made and assembled with a minimum of operations, and largely by unskilled labor, and can be advantageously assembled in doll heads designed to retail at comparatively low cost. The movement of the eyeballs is such as to closely simulate the eyeball movement in the human baby when it is rocked to sleep and when picked up and aroused. The child-mother obtains great happiness and delight from the doll as herein constructed, since its eye performance, to which the child is immediately attracted, is very similar to that of a natural baby.

55 An object of this invention is to provide a sleeping doll having eyeballs which can be closed by a solicitous rocking movement of the doll.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved eyeball mounting and eyeball-operating mechanism which may be assembled as a 5 complete unit and the unit thereafter inserted, attached, or otherwise applied to the doll head.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved eyeball unit having eyeballmounting and operating mechanism associated l0 therewith which can be produced at low cost, which is substantially foolproof and positive in operation, and which is sturdy and strong in construction.

Other objects of this invention will become 15 apparent as the disclosure proceeds.

Various other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following particular description and from an inspection of the accompanying drawing. 20

Although the novel features which are believed tobe characteristic of this invention will be particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto, the invention itself, as to its objects and advantages, and the manner in which it may be 25 carried out, may be better understood by referring to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional View through 30 a portion of a doll head, showing particularly the eyeballs, the mounting therefor, and the mechanism for manipulating the eyeballs to closed and open position, this view being taken on line l-l 0f Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view looking into the front section of the doll head and showing a rear elevational view of the dolls eyeballs, the mounting therefor, and the eyeball-manipulating mechanism, this View being taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of the eyeball mounting and the eyeball-manipulating mechanism, one of the eyeballs being removed to show the structure to the rear of same;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged plan view of the eyeballs, the mounting therefor, and operating mechanism, this view being taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

Fig. 5 is a front elevational view looking directly at the eyeballs, this view showing the eyeball mounting and the operating mechanism therefor.

Similar reference characters refer to similar the iris.

parts throughout the several views of the drawing and specification.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, there is shown for purposes of illustration the front half I of a doll head, having facial features 2. The doll head may be made from porcelain, phenol resins, vulcanized rubber, or other earthy, metallic, fibrous, resinous, or moldable materials well known in the art. The eyeballs 5, the mounting therefor, and the eyeballoperating mechanism, are assembled as a complete unit and then inserted within the doll head. Where the doll head is molded, stamped, or otherwise formed, the eyeballs, eyeball mounting and eyeball-operating mechanism may be quickly inserted through the opening 3 in the neck portion of the doll and affixed in position. If desired, the unit may be molded into position as the doll head is formed or cast.

The eyeballs 5 are colored or otherwise formed so that the pupil 6a, the iris 6b, and the sclerotic coat to will have the appearance and likeness to the human eye. Eyelashes l comprising a plurality of parallel-arranged hairs or fibers are cemented or otherwise secured to the eyeball over The upper portion 6d of the eyeball 5 is suitably coated or decorated to give the appearance of the human eyelid when closed. The eyeballs 5 are fixed to the respective ends of a shaft 8 which is suitably mounted on the flange portions it of a supporting bracket i0. Flange portions l 1 extending from the bracket it are provided with inwardly extending prongs !E which are adapted to be pressed or clamped into gripping engagement with an inwardly extending projection it molded or otherwise secured to the interior of the skull I. The bracket ill may be quickly secured in position by means of a suitable clamp-ing tool so as to rigidly support the eyeballs 5 in proper position within the doll head, so that" the opening 5a in the facial portion 2 provides a realistic frame for the eyeball.

The shaft 8 supporting the eyeballs 5 preferably extends through elongated slots E2 in the flange portions H, the shaft 8 being retained therein by a bent over nose portion i3 which substantially closes the outer ends of the slots. The nose portion l 3 may be bent over after the shaft 8 has been inserted into the slots l2. The shaft 8 is frictionally retained in the fixed position by means of a suitable spring element I? having one end l8 thereof fixed to-the bracket l0 and the other end 19 frictionally engaging the shaft 8 so as to resiliently press shaft 8 against the nose portion 13. The frictional grip of the spring element l7 should be such as to normally retain the eyeballs in fixed position until the eyeball-moving mechanism now to be described is brought into play.

The eyeball-motivating mechanism may comprise a bar 22 having a weight 23, such as a piece of lead, secured to the one end thereof. The other end of the bar is connected to the shaft 8 by means of a suitable loop 24 which extends through an opening or hole in the shaft 8. Thus it is seen that the bar 22 and the weight 23 which it supports is normally free to swing as a pendulum in a plane substantially perpendicular to the shaft 8.

The swinging movement of the pendulum, comprising the bar 22 and associated weight 23, is definitely limited by an elongated slot 2! cut into a guide rack 20 through which the bar 22 extends. The guide rack 25 may be provided with elements 26 clamped to a projection 21 extending from the lower end of the bracket It]. It is understood,

however, that the guide rack- 20 may be formed integrally with the bracket iii, if desired. The slot 2! extends in a direction generally transverse to the shaft 8, as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and the movement of the eyeballs 5 from open to closed position and vice versa is measured by the length of the slot 2i.

It will be noted that the slot 2i is provided with a plurality of inwardly extending barbs 39 or projections which are designed to cause the bar 22 to partake of a zigzag path as it passes from one end 25a of the slot to the other end 2th of the slot. This zigzag movement of the bar 22 can be effected, when the eyeball-operating mechanism is mounted within the head of the doll, by giving the bar 22 and its associated weight 23 a pendulum swinging movement. This pendulum swinging movement is effected by rocking the doll sidewise back and forth as it lies in its cradle or in the arms of its child-mother. The eyeballs are thus given a gradual closing movement during which the eyelashes l gradually drop downward, concealing the pupil to. and iris 6b from View, so that the eyelid portion 801 only is visible through the opening 500 in the facial portion 2. It will be noted that the barbs are so shaped as to provide seats on their upper faces and cam surfaces on their lower faces.

The operation of the eyeball-closing mechanism is as follows: When the doll head and associated doll body is given a sidewise rocking movement such as is customary in putting to sleep the human baby, the bar 22, motivated by gravity acting on the weight 23, will swing ofi from the seat 3! which it occupies when the dolls eyes are in open position, and will move onto the opposite seat 32. A rocking movement in the opposite direction will cause the bar 22, motivated by the action of gravity to slip off from its seat 32 and onto the opposite seat 33, which is one stage closer to the eye-closed end 2th of the slot 2|. Continued to-and-fro rocking movement of the doll will cause the bar 22, motivated by gravity acting upon its weight 23, to drop successively onto the seat 3 5, the seat 35, the seat 38, the seat 31, and so on until the pupil and iris, 6a. and lib respectively, are no longer visible and only the eyelid portion (id is visible through the eye opening 5a. The dolls eyeballs in this position closely simulate the closed lids of a sleeping baby, and the eyeballs are supported in closed, sleeping position by the seat it at the end of the slot 2!. It is thus seen that the eyelashes l and eyelids 6d are brought into closing position by gradual stages, which closely simulates the gradual closing of a babys eyes as sleep approaches. When the doll is to be aroused from its slumber all that is necessary is to lift the doll into upright position or partially upright position, which will cause the weight 23 attached to the bar 22 to leave its seat 4 and move forwardly to the other end 2 la of the slot. The inwardly projecting barbs do not interfere with this movement inasmuch as they are provided with lower cam surfaces ll, which permit the bar 22 to move forwardly substantially unobstructed. It is understood that the slot 2i may be as long as is necessary to effect complete closing and opening of the dolls eyes and as many inwardly projecting barbs 36 may be provided as desired to effect closing of the dolls eyes by successive stages or intervals. The more barbs there are, the greater number of sidewise rocking movements will be required to completely close the eyes, and it is evident that if a large number of closely spaced barbs areprovided the closing can be effectuated Without substantially visible jerking movement, so that the closing of the eyes appears to the child-mother entirely natural and similar to the gradual closing of a natural babys eyes.

Since the eyeball mounting and operating mechanism is all formed as an integral unit before insertion into the doll head, the same can be inexpensively manufactured from stamped parts and quickly and easily assembled. The entire eyeball-supporting and manipulating unit may be assembled within the doll head and suitably secured in position by clamps or other securing means at a high rate of speed, thus assuring a low cost of manufacture and positive operation of the parts. Herctofore eyeball-operating mechanism comprising several parts has been separately assembled in the doll head, and doll heads as thus constructed are expensive since much time and considerable skill are required to assemble the parts in the doll head in the proper relationship.

The eyeball mounting and operating mechanism herein described can be used with many different varieties of dolls. Heretofore, so-called sleeping dolls have been expensive due to the fact that the eye-operating mechanism has been unduly complicated and difficult to assemble in the 'doll head. The eyeball-operating mechanism herein disclosed is assembled with the eyeball as a complete, integral functioning unit, thus avoiding the difficulty of assembling the parts under cramped conditions within the doll head. The complete eyeball-operating unit may be inserted into the doll head through the neck opening, or if the head is assembled in two parts the eyeballoperating unit can be inserted in the head prior to the application of the back portion of the head to the facial portion, or if desired the unit may be placed in a suitable head-shaping mold and the head molded around the unit. In such cases the molding material would be made of disintegratable material so that it can be removed after the head has been cast.

Since the eyeball, eyeball mounting and operating mechanism are first formed as an assembled unit prior to the insertion thereof into the doll head, the same can be made and assembled on a mass production basis substantially entirely by automatic machinery and with a minimum amount of labor. The unit can thus be made at very low cost and can be embodied as a feature in doll bodies marketable at a price considerably below the price of dolls heretofore made having eyes which are rocked to sleep. The unit is sturdy and strong in construction, positive in operation, and the functional parts are so correlated as to operate efficiently and effectively. The moving parts are so supported that jars given to the doll body or doll head will not displace or disarrange the parts. The eyeball-operating mechanism can be associated with doll bodies of innumerable shapes and forms and made from all the various materials commonly used in the art.

While certain novel features of the invention have been disclosed and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various modifications, omissions, substitutions. and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A sleeping doll including, a doll head having a facial portion and an eye opening in said facial portion, mounting means positioned above said eye opening, and providing a single point of suspension and an integrally assembled eyeball unit fixedly "suspended from said mounting means, said unit including a pair of eyeballs, means pivotally mounting said eyeballs, and mechanism forming a part of said unit for closing said eyes by stages when the doll is rocked.

2. A sleeping doll including in combination, a doll head, and an integrally assembled eyeball unit mounted within said doll head, said unit including a bracket having clamping jaws gripping a portion of the doll head, eyeballs pivotally mounted on said bracket, means operably connected to said eyeballs designed to pivot said eyeballs into open and closed position, a guide rack associated with said pivot means fixed to and supported by said bracket, said guide rack including a plate member having an elongated slot therein, barbs projecting inwardly into said slot so as to cause said pivot means to describe a zigzag path as it moves along said slot, and means resisting pivotal movement of said eyeballs which may be overcome by gravity operating upon a weighted element associated with said pivot means.

3. A sleeping doll including, a doll head having a facial portion, an eye opening in said facial portion, and a projection integrally formed with said doll head positioned above said eye opening, and an integrally assembled eyeball unit fixedly suspended from said projection, said unit includ ing a pair of eyeballs, a bracket pivotally mounting said eyeballs, and mechanism forming a part of said unit for closing said eyes by stages when the doll is rocked, said bracket having spaced elements adapted to be pressed into gripping engagement with said projection to suspend said eyeball unit in fixed position within the doll head.

4. A sleeping doll including in combination, a doll head, and an integrally assembled eyeball unit fixedly suspended from a single point within said doll head, said unit including a bracket fixed within the doll head, eyeballs pivotally mounted on said bracket, a pendulum operatively connected to said eyeballs designed to pivot said eyeballs into open and closed position, and a guide rack associated with said pendulum fixed to and supported by said bracket, said pendulum including a stem portion extending through said guide rack, a weight fixed to the end of said stem portion exterior to said guide rack, and resilient means resisting pivotal movement of said eyeballs which may be overcome by the swinging movement of said pendulum.

5. In combination with a doll head having a facial portion, eye openings in said facial portion, mounting means in said head positioned between said eye openings, and a unitary integrally assembled eyeball and eyeball-operating mechanism within the doll head, said mechanism including a bracket stamped from a single piece of sheet metal having spaced prongs adapted to be laterally pressed into gripping engagement with said mounting means to retain said bracket in fixed suspended position within the doll head, an eyeball positioned adjacent each of said eye openings, means pivotally mounting said eyeballs on said bracket, means for pivoting said eyeballs, and means fixedly secured to said bracket for controlling in successive stages the pivoting movement of said eyeballs into closed sleeping position.

6. A sleeping doll including in combination, a doll head having a facial portion and eye openings in said facial portion, mounting means positioned between and above said eye openings, and an integrally assembled eyeball unit fixedly suspended from said mounting means, said unit including a bracket having spaced prongs adapted tdbe laterally pressed into gripping engagement with said mounting means to retain said bracket in fixed suspended position within the doll head, eyeballs pivotally mounted on said bracket, a pendulum from said mounting means, said unit including a bracket fixedly suspended from said.mounting means, said bracket having clamping jaws gripping said mounting means, eyeballs pivotally mounted on said bracket, a pendulum operably connected to said eyeballs designed to pivot said eyeballs into open and closed position, a guide rack associated with said pendulum fixed to and supported by said bracket, and means resisting pivotal movement of said eyeballs which may be overcome by the swinging movement of said pendulum.

8. A sleeping doll including in combination, a doll head having a facial portion and an eye opening in said facial portion, mounting means positioned above said eye opening and formedas a portion of the doll head, and an integrally assembled eyeball unit fixedly suspended from said mounting means, said unit including a bracket fixedly suspended from said mounting means, a shaft pivotally supported by said bracket, an eyeball fixed to said shaft, a pendulum operably connectedto said shaft designed to pivot the shaft and said eyeball into open and closed position, and a guide rack associated with said pendulum fixed to and supported by said bracket.

9. A sleeping doll including in combination, a doll head, and an integrally assembled eyeball unit fixedly suspended from a single point within said doll head, said unit including a bracket having clamping jaws gripping a portion of the doll head, a rock shaft pivotally mounted on said bracket, 9. pair of eyeballs fixed to said rock shaft, a pen dulum connected to said rock shaft and designed to pivot the eyeballs into open and closed position, a guide rack associated with said pendulum fixed to and supported by said bracket, and a resilient element integrally formed with said bracket for resisting pivotal movement of said eyeballs which may be overcome by the swinging movement of said pendulum. I

EDWARD G. SCHAEFFER.

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