US2739417A - Walking dolls - Google Patents

Description

March 27, 1956 R. K. OSTRANDER WALKING DOLLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 12 1951 INVENTOR. ROBERT K. OSTRANDER ATTORNEY March 27, 1956 R. K. OSTRANDER WALKING DOLLS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 12. 1951 lrllffllrflr fillfflll INVENTOR. ROBERT KQOSTRANDER ATTORNEY WALKING DOLLS Robert K. Gstrander, South Orange, N. 1., assignor to Uneeda Doll Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 12, 1951, Serial No. 236,364

3 Claims. (Cl. 46-149) This invention relates to walking dolls.

More specifically my invention pertains to a walking doll which does not contain any prime mover such as a spring or electric motor but, rather, derives a proper walking motion simply from a certain natural handling of the doll.

It is an object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described whose gait realistically duplicate that of a child learning to walk and whose hip joints are naturally located.

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described the manipulation of which to produce walking is so somple that the doll can be handled correctly and easily by a young child. 7

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described which is handled for walking in an extremely natural fashion, i. e..in the same manner that one would help a baby learning to walk.

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described which requires only a slight effort to manipulate the same so as to obtain a walking motion. 7

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described which, despite the absence of a prime mover, will stride forward vigorously thereby creating an illusion of life for the person handling the doll.

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described whose legs are of natural shape and proportions, the walking mechanism being such that it does not require distorted, unnatural, unsymmetrical legs and/ or feet for its operation.

It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described which, when rocked while lying in a persons lap will kick its feet back and forth in a realistic manner.

I} It is another object of my invention to provide a doll of the character described which is of simple, rugged and inexpensive construction.

Other objects of my invention will in part be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

My invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the device hereinafter described and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a front view of a doll constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side view of said'doll;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the walking mechanism incorporated in said doll;

Fig. 4 is a rear view of said walking mechanism;

Fig. 5 is 'a side view of said walking mechanism; and

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along the line 66 of Fig. 4. v

Referring now in detail tothe drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a walking doll embodying my in- States Patent 0 r 2,739,417 .?at;ent ed Mar. 27, I956 2' vention. Said doll includes a hollow torso 12'of conventional construction which has a stiff section for supporting the walkingmechanism and a sun pelvic region for oscillatably mounting the dolls legs. By way of example, the torso may constitute a shell of rosin and sawdust which has been compressed and baked in'a fashion well known to the art.

The torso conveniently comprises a front half 14 and a rear half, the latter b'eingcomposed of an upper section 16 and lower section,18.- The upper rear section 16 is permanently joined to the front half 14, e. g.. with glue,-

and serves to provide a support for a conventional head 20 and arms 22. The bottom rear section 18 is securedto the front half 14 independently of the upper rear sec-.

ti-on whereby to permit insertion of the walking mechanism. As is conventional, the front and 'rear halves meetat a vertical plane including or very near the geometric center of the torso. When the bottom rear section is in place it defines in conjunction with the front half 14 a pair of leg openings 24, 26 through which legs 28, 30 extend.

The legs .28, 30 are of any conventional construction sufiiciently strong to support the weight of the doll Without-collapse or appreciable buckling. For example, the legs can be fashioned from the same material as the torso,

or may be of soft material disposed over a stiff skeleton, or may constitute a thin rubber skin tightly stuffed with padding so as to impart a substantial degree of rigidity thereto. The latter type of leg is the one shown herein. The upper end of each leg comprises a plug 32 of rigid material, for example a baked and compressed sawdust-rosin mixture. Saidplug near its bottom is molded with an annular groove over which the upper end of therubber A constricting wire 34 forces the skin into facing cradles 40 integrallyformed on the interior sur face of the front half 14 and near but forward of the rear edge thereof. The bottom rear section 18 includes forwa-rdly extending cars 42 which block the open ends of the cradle when said section 18 is in place. The plugs 32 have through bores 44 in which the shaft 36 is received to permit rotation of the plugs about the shaft. .More firmly to support the shaft another cradle 46 is disposed in the'crotch of the front half, the center of the shaft being received in this cradle. The legs are prevented from shifting axially of the shaft 36 by washers or the like 48 located between the sides of each leg and the side and central cradles 40, 46. 7

Pursuant to my invention the horizontal pelvic axis of the doll is located in front of the geometric center ofthe dolls torso thus lendinga realistic appearanceto the walking movement of the doll. Moreover, and of greater importance, said axis is" located in front of the center of gravity of that portion of the dolls body .above the hips. This location of said axis cooperates with a uniform length of legs and other structural features of the walking mechanism described below to effect the desired walking movement.

The doll includes means to kinematically link the legs in such fashion that the legs will mutually oscillate in opposite directions; that is to say, the legs are so mechanically interconnected that as either leg is swung rearwardly the othe'r'leg will be swung forwardly. Any

suitable kinematic mechanism can be used to effect such. a connection. For example, a block 54) is secured rigid 1y to the interior surface of the front half 14 in the vicinity of the abdomen. Said block supports a bridge 52 on its rear surface. Depending from the lower edge of the bridge is a rearwardly oifset flange 54. A horizontal pivot pin 56 extends rearwardly from said flange. Osciilatableon the pin is a beam 58. Each end of the beam has pivoted thereto,'as by a horizontal rivet 60, the upper end of a different curved link 62. The lower end of each curved link is pivoted on a horizontal shaft, e g. a cotter pin 64, extending rearwardly from the back of the upper end of the associated leg plug SZ.

Thus when one leg, e. g. the leftleg 30, is swung forwardly the associated link 60 will j move downwardly as will the, as'sociatedend of the beam. The normal position of said link and beam is illustrated by the full lines in Fig. 4 and the alternative mentioned position by the dot-'and-dash linesin said figure. As one side of the beam rocks down, the other side will rock up causing the right leg 28 to move rearwardly.

The legs 28, 30 are mirror images of one another, i. e. are the same size and shape except for the differences necessary for one leg to look like a right leg and the other a left leg. It will be observed that the legs are ordinary in appearance and construction, in other words, they are conventional legs such as are commonly employed in any doll having articulated legs, regardless of whether the doll is a walking doll or not. It particular ly is pointed out that below the pelvic region the legs" are perfectly normal in outward appearance and in construction, including no mechanism, arrangement or construction of a special nature for carrying out the walkin'g function. Moreover the legs are the same lengths. Accordingly, to outward appearances the doll is not distinguishable from a conventional articulated doll and no additional expense is involved in making the legs.

For convenience in explaining the walking movement of the doll, assume that to start the doll is upright with the legs aligned, i. e. in a vertical or central position. The doll is held manually at any point except the legs, for example, by the arms, which may be extended forwa'rdly. The vertical position of the doll at this time preferably is such that the pelvic axis of rotation is substantially directly above the points or areas of contact of the feet with a horizontal supporting surface. The doll now is rocked slightly to one side or the other with one foot remaining in contact with the supporting surface. For the first step it makes no difference to which side the doll is ed. As the other foot clears the supporting surface the torso of the doll will tend to oscillate rearwardly about the pelvic axis inasmuch as the center of gravity of the doll above said axis lies to the rear of said axis. However, because the body of the doll is held manually it will not fail rearwardly. Instead the center of gravity of the doll above the pelvic axis will exert a torque about said axis and the dolls body will descend slightly thereby causing the pelvic axis to move forwardly. Consequently the torso of the doll experiences an oscillatory rearward movement with reference to this forwardly moving axis. Simultaneously, the leg in contact with the supporting surface experiences an oscillatory rearward movement with reference to the for wardly moving pelvic axis. In other words the torso and the leg in contact with the ground both experience a rearward oscillation with reference to the forwardly moving pelvic axis.

Due to the linkage connecting the two legs, as the leg in contact with the supporting surface oscillates rearwardly with reference to the pelvic axis, the opposite leg which is clear of said surface is swung angularly forward. That is to say, this leg which is clear of the supporting surface strides forwardly.

The walking mechanism also includes suitable means, hereinafter described in detail, for limiting the relative angular movement of the two legs to only a comparatively slight stride of about 15 forwardly or rearwardly of neutral position.

.. a small arc in the order of about 15 forwardly or rear- To recapitulate, when the doll is manually held in an erect position with both legs extending straight down and touching a supporting surface is rocked to one side, the leg clear of the surfaee will stride forwardly and the body of the doll will move forwardly with respect to the leg touching the surface.

When the first stride is completed the torso of the doll is manipulated manually to impart two movements to the same. One movement rocks the doll transversely in the opposite direction so that the leg which formerly was clear of the supporting surface touches said surface and the leg which formerly was on the surface is clear of the same. Prior to or subsequent to this movement or simultaneously therewith the doll is swung forwardly about whichever foot contacts the supporting surface until the pelvic axis of rotation is above or close to thepoint or area of contact of the forward leg with the supporting surface. H

Asthis position is reached the center of gravity of the portion of the doll above the pelvicjaxis will tend to oscillate the torso rearwardly with reference to this axis for the reasons stated above, provided that said center of gravity still is located behind the pelvic axis in the new position of the doll. Again, since the doll is'held manually, the actual movement experienced will be a forward one of the'pelvic axis, while the torso and for ward leg experience a relative oscillation rearwardly with respect to, the pelvic axis. This movement causes the leg which formerly extended forwardly toswin to a rearwardly extending position and the leg which formerly extended rearwardly but which was clear of the supporting surface, to swing to a'forwa'rd position. Thereafter the doll again is rocked to the opposite side and swung forwardly toeffeet the next stride, etc.

It thus will be seen that to walk a doll embodying my invention the user simply has to maintain the pelvic'ax'is above the point of contact of one foot afterianother with the supporting surface and rock the doll from one side to another after each step has been taken.

The forward swinging movement does not require any conscious effort on the users part and only amounts to holding the doll erect as it walks. Indeed in a user manipulating the doll the walking movement appears to be entirely spontaneous except for a slight side-to-side rocking.

As mentioned heretofore the walking mechanism includes means to limit the angular movement of the legs to wardly from the neutral position. More particularly, said means limits movement of the legs to an extent such that when a leg reaches its extreme forward position and the doll is swung forwardly about the bottom of said leg until the pelvic axis is above the placewhere the leg contacts the supporting surface, the center of gravity of the pornon of the doll above the pelvic axis will lie to the rear of said axis. In other words the center of gravity of the portion of the doll above the pelvic axis lies to the rear of a line running through said axis and the point of contact with the supporting surface of either leg in its extreme forward position. i A,

In the deli here illustrated, the means to limit angular movement of the legs includes a rod 66 oscillatable about a horizontal axis on a pin 8 extending rearwardly from the bridge 52:. The pin 68 is located above the pin 56 and the rod 66 is offset from the plane of the beam 58. Said rod carries a rearwardly extending finger 70 which is slidable in a generally vertical slot 72 formed in the beam 58. When the bear'n is rocked from its neutral osition the finger will move upwardly in the slot. Abutment of thefinger against the top end of the slot serves to limit oscillation ofthe beam and hence defines the extremef "rward and rear positions of the dolls legs.

In aceordance with a feature of my invention means is included to furnish an impetus to the forward strides of the dolls legs whereby to make the animation extreme- 1y lifelike. Said means is provided without the aid of any prime mover such for instance as a spring motor. Essentially this means comprises a mass which is linked to the beam and is so supported that during at least the second half of the forward stride of Whichever leg is moving forwardly the mass is in unstable equilibrium tending to fall in a direction corresponding to the striding movement of the forwardly moving leg whereby during this portion of a stride a forward pulse or impetus is supplied to the leg and it seems and feels as if the doll is striding forward of its own accord.

As shown herein, said last-named means comprises a weight 74 mounted on the rod 66 above the pin 68. Preferably the Weight is mounted adjacent the tip of the rod in order to attain a maximum impulse. However, if the weight is quite heavy it may be preferable to shorten somewhat its radius of action. The rod extends vertically upwards and the weight is directly above the pin 68 when the doll is vertical and the legs are in neutral position.

When the doll is walked in the manner aforesaid and a formerly rearwardly extending leg strides forwardly, the beam 58 will oscillate and in so doing will oscillate the rod 66. During the forward stride of the mentioned leg 21 point will be reached at which the weight 74 instead of impeding the forward motion of said leg, passes over the pin 68 and the torque engendered by the downward movement of the weight now will aid the forward movement of the leg, thus providing the impetus described above.

It thus will be seen that there is provided a device which achieves all the objects of the invention and is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein described, or shown in the accompanying drawings, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A walking doll comprising a body, a pair of normal legs of equal length, means to mount said legs on the body for pivotal movement relative thereto in the pelvic region, means kinematically interconnecting the legs for opposite angular movement, means to limit the angular movement of the legs to an extent such that, when either leg reaches its extreme forward position and the doll is swung forwardly about the point of contact between the bottom of said leg and a supporting surface until the axis of pivotal movement is above the place where the leg contacts the supporting surface, the center of gravity of all that portion of the doll above the pivotal axis lies to the rear of said axis, and means to impel the legs forwardly in alternation during at least the latter halves of their forward strides, said last-named means constituting a mass, and means to pivotally support said mass and link it to both the legs, the pivotal axis of said supporting means being located beneath the center of gravity of said mass, said mass being movable from a,

central position above said last-named pivotal axis to positions on opposite sides of said central position.

2. A walking doll comprising a body, a pair of normal legs of equal length, means to mount said legs on the body for pivotal movement relative thereto in the pelvic region, a beam, means to mount said beam on said body for pivotal movement about an axis intermediate the ends of said beam, means pivotally interconnecting said beam adjacent one of its ends to one of said legs, means pivotally interconnecting said beam adjacent its other end to the other one of said legs whereby when either leg is moved rearwardly the other leg is caused to stride forwardly, a member pivoted on said body, and pin-andslot means interconnecting said member and said beam for limiting angular movement of said legs to an extent such that, when either leg reaches its extreme forward position and the doll is swung forwardly about the point of contact between the bottom of said leg and a supporting surface until the axis of pivotal movement is above the place where the leg contacts the supporting surface, the centerof gravity of all that portion of the doll above the pivotal axis lies to the rear of said axis.

3. A walking doll comprising a body, a pair of normal legs of equal length, means to mount said legs on the body for pivotal movement relative thereto in the pelvic region, a beam, means to mount said beam on said body for pivotal movement about an axis intermediate the ends of said beam, means pivotally interconnecting said beam adjacent one of its ends to one of said legs, means pivotally interconnecting said beam adjacent its other end to the other one of said legs whereby when either leg is moved rearwardly the other leg is caused to stride forwardly, a rod, means to mount said rod for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis intermediate its ends, said rod extending in a substantially vertical direction, a weight on said rod above said horizontal axis, means interconnecting said beam to said rod below said horizontal axis and limiting the angular movement of the legs to an extent such that, when either leg reaches its extreme forward position and the doll is swung forwardly about the point of contact between the bottom of said leg and a supporting surface until the axis of pivotal movement is above the place where the leg contacts the supporting surface, the center of gravity of all that portion of the doll above the pivotal axis lies to the rear of said axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 882,403 Mikolasek Mar. 17, 1908 1,335,804 Trabert Apr. 6, 1920 1,352,933 Arnold Sept. 14, 1920 1,649,910 Mik Nov. 22, 1927 1,687,675 Lehman Oct. 16, 1928 1,854,202 Kraus Apr. 19, 1932 2,124,667 Davis July 26, 1938

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