US3269056A

US3269056A - Swimming doll

Info

Publication number: US3269056A
Application number: US349197A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mary E Hockman; Rachel M Walker; Frank K Allen
Original assignee: RACHAEL M WALKER
Current assignee: RACHAEL M WALKER
Priority date: 1964-03-04
Filing date: 1964-03-04
Publication date: 1966-08-30
Anticipated expiration: 1983-08-30

Description

Aug. 3a, 1966 SWIMMING DOLL Filed March 4, 1964 M. E. HOCKMAN ETAL 2 Sheets$heet 1 Fig.2

Mary E. Hockman Rachael M. Walker Frank K. Allen INVENTORS 0, 1966 M. E. HOCKMAN ETAL 3,269,056

SWIMMING DOLL 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 4, 1964 E. Hockman Mar Rac ael M Walker Frank K. Allen INVENTORS T M ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,269,056 SWIMMING DOLL Mary E. Hockman, Imola, and Rachel M. Walker and Frank K. Allen, Vallejo, Calif., assignors, by direct and mesne assignments, to Raymond J. Hockman and Mary E. Hockman, both of Imola, Calif., and Rachael M. Walker, Vallejo, Calif.

Filed Mar. 4, 1964, Ser. No. 349,197 Claims. (Cl. 46247) This invention relates generally to animated dolls and similar amusement devices, and more particularly to such devices as are fioatable in a liquid and adapted for being propelled therein.

One object of the present invention is to provide an animated doll resembling a human being and which is capable of performing various swimming strokes for propelling it in a liquid so that its motion imitates that of a person swimming.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a swimming doll of the type described that is readily and inexpensively constructed, yet which is higher durable for rugged use by a child in a swimming pool or the like.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a swimming doll as described which can be readily adjusted to make it perform different types of swimming strokes.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which of the foregoing will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification. It is to be understood however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawings and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings (two sheets):

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation view, shown partly in cross section, of a doll embodying the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view, shown partly in cross section, of the doll illustrated in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view illustrating the connection of the arm of the instant doll to its body portion.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a doll embodying the present invention shown in use while floating on water with the arms positioned to simulate a crawl stroke.

FIGURE 5 is an electrical schematic diagram illustrating the control and power circuit of the instant doll.

A doll embodying the present invention is shown in the drawings, and is seen to include a buoyant body member 12 having a pair of

arms

13 and 14 mounted for rotation on a torso portion 16 of the body member 12, and power means such as an electric motor 17 housed within the body member 12 and coupled to the

arms

13 and 14 for producing continuous rotary movement thereof. The body member 12 also includes a pair of

legs

18 and 19, and a head 21, so that the doll is seen to resemble the shape of a human body.

In more detail now, the

arms

13, 14,

legs

18, 19 and torso portion 16 are all made of 'hollow or buoyant construction so that the body member 12 when placed in a liquid is floatable at the surface thereof. A drive shaft 22 is driven by the motor 17, and has worm gear 23 at one end thereof operably coupled to a pinion gear 24 mounted on driven shaft 51. A pair of

bracket members

26, 27 serve to journal the pinion gear 24 for rotation thereon. A pair of

arm shafts

28, 29 extend respectively from the

arms

13, 14 and are coupled to the pinion gear 24 so that rotational movement of the drive shaft 22 is utilized to rotate the

arms

13, 14 in relation to the torso portion 16 of the body member 12. A pair of batteries 31 are housed Within the body member 12 and coupled 'ice electrically through a switch 32 to the motor 17, as depicted in FIGURE 5, so that the motor is energized when the switch 32 is closed. As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, the switch 32 is disposed in a position corresponding to that of a persons navel. Preferably, the switch 32 is of the push-push type, so that the motor can be turned either on or off by a simple pressure motion at the dolls navel. A cover plate 33 is releasably secured in water tight relation over an opening 34 in the dolls back, so that the batteries 31 can be replaced as may be necessary and also to provide easy access to the motor and gear mechanism housed within the body member 12.

An important feature of the present invention relates to the mounting of the

arms

13 and 14 on the dolls torso portion 14, and to the relative positioning of the two arms with respect to one another. As best shown in FIGURES l and 3, each arm is provided with a flange portion 36 that is rotatably mounted in an annular recess socket 37 in the torso portion 16. More specifically, the sockets 37 are provided on the outer opposite sides of the torso portion 16, and each socket is defined by a neck or annular flange portion 38 positioned outwardly adjacent an inner annular groove 39, with the neck portion being of lesser diameter than the groove. The flange 36 of each arm fits complementarily into the corresponding groove 39. By the foregoing construction, each arm is adapted to rotate about an axis generally transverse to the longitudinal extent of the torso portion 16, while being securely mounted thereon. By forming the arms and torso portion of a flexible resilient material, as for example rubber or plastic compounds, the flange and socket construction described enables the arm selectively to be removed outwardly relative to the torso portion, by means of resilient deformation of the flange 36 and neck portion 38. The arm shafts on

members

28, 29 have

first ends

53 and 54 respectively connected to the arms and are seen to extend through

shaft openings

41, 42 that transpierce the side walls of the torso portion 16, and as best shown in FIGURE 3 each shaft has a rectangular cross sectional configuration at the inner or second ends 42 thereof. Pinion gear 24 is provided with

socket members

44 and 46 on either side thereof, with each socket member having a recess 47 of rectangular configuration complementary to the inner ends of the

arm shafts

28, 29. When the arms are mounted as shown in FIGURE 1 for rotation on the body, the arm shafts are seen to engage the socket members so that rotation of the pinion gear is productive of rotation of the arms. When the arm 13 is pulled away from the torso portion 16, as shown in FIGURE 3, the arm shaft 29 is seen to disengage the socket member 44 so that the arm is freely rotatable relative to the body. In addition to providing a sturdy releasable rotational mounting of the arms on the torso portion, the flange portion 36 and complementary annular recess socket 37 serve the additional function of forming a water tight connection so that liquid does not leak into the interior of the body through the

shaft openings

41 and 42.

In operating the doll 11, same is placed in the water as shown in FIGURE 4, and the switch 32 closed to energize the motor 17, whereupon the

arms

13 and 14 rotate continuously relative to the body member.

With the

arms

13, 14 extended in diametrically opposed relation to one another as best seen in FIGURES 1 and 4, the doll will simulate a crawl stroke when placed in the water on its stomach. The type of stroke performed by the doll can be selectively varied by changing the relative positions of the two arms in relation to one another. More particularly, one of the arms can be disengaged from the body as described hereinabove, and then rotated to a position so that it extends in the same direction as the other arm. The newly positioned arm can then be re-engaged in the torso portion with its arm shaft again coupled to the pinion gear. With both arms now extending in the same direction, the doll when placed on its stomach will perform with both arms moving in unison and in the same position in relation to one another, thus simulating a butterfly swimming stroke. The arm can also be placed at 90 angular relation to provide an even further variation of swimming strokes.

By placing the doll on its back in the water, various types of backstrokes can be performed by the doll. In this regard, it is noted that the two

arms

13, 14 can be completely disengaged from the body and interchanged from the positions shown in the drawings. In this manner the disposition of the hands on each arm is exactly reversed, so that the palms of the hands are properly positioned for propelling the doll in the water by means of a backstroke.

It will be appreciated that the configuration of the socket recesses 47 and complementary ends 43 of each arm shaft need not necessarily be rectangular, but can be constructed of other noncircular configurations so as to enable coupling the arms to the drive shaft 22 for rotation at any selected relative angular position. Thus by using, for example, hexagonal or octagonal configurations, even greater degrees of angular positioning of the arms can be obtained.

We claim:

1. A swimming doll comprising:

a buoyant body member simulating a human body and being formed with a pair of annular flanges disposed on opposite sides of said body member;

a pair of arms, each having a flexible resilient annular flange said first mentioned flanges providing means for interlocking engagement releasably connecting each of said arms to said body member and permitting free relative rotational movement thereon;

a transverse driven shaft mounted on said body coaxially of said annular flanges;

power means housed within said body member coupled to said driven shaft for selectively producing rotary movement thereof; and

coupling means releasably connecting each of said arms to opposite ends of said shaft at varying positions of rotational displacement relative to one another for joint driven rotation of said arms.

2. A swimming doll as characterized in claim 1 wherein:

said coupling means includes a pair of members;

each of said members having a first end connected to one of said arms and a second end; and

said second ends of said members and said driven shaft having interlocking registering noncircular configurations providing a plurality of rotated positions of said arms relative to one another.

3. A swimming doll comprising a hollow body member simulating the torso portion of a human body, a pair of hollow leg members secured adjacent one end of said body member, a head member secured adjacent the other end of said body member, said body member having a pair of recesses provided on the outer sides thereof adjacent said other end, said recesses being defined by an inner annular groove and a neck portion of lesser diameter than said groove disposed outwardly adjacent said groove, said body member having shaft openings transpiercing the Walls thereof concentrically with said recesses, a pair of hollow arm members each having a circular flange portion rotatably and remova'bly mounted in one of said annular grooves whereby each arm is rotatable in relation to said body member, said flange and neck portions being constructed of deformable resilient material whereby said arms are selectively removable from engagement with said body member, a pair of arm shafts each rigidly secured respectively to one of said arm members and eXtending concentrically from said flange thereof through said corresponding shaft opening into the interior of said body member, an electric motor mounted within said body member and having a rotatable drive shaft, means for selectively energizing said motor, a worm gear secured to said drive shaft, a pinion gear rotatably mounted within said body member and operably engaged With said Worm gear for rotation thereby, said pinion gear having socket means including a pair of sockets disposed one on each side of said pinion gear and said socket means being positioned for removable engagement with the respective inner ends of said arm shafts for rotating the latter in response to rotation of said pinion gear, and said body member, leg members, and arm members being constructed of sufliciently light weight material to make said doll floatable in a liquid.

4. A doll as described in claim 3 wherein said arm shafts are selectively engageable with said sockets at different relative rotational positions.

5. A doll as described in claim 3 wherein said socket is of rectangular configuration and said inner end of said arm shafts are of complementary rectangular configuration to said sockets.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,894,356 7/1959 Sala 46150 X FOREIGN PATENTS 447,125 4/1949 Italy.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

F. B. LEONARD, L. I. BOVASSO,

Assistant Examiners.

Claims

1. A SWIMMING DOLL COMPRISING: A BUOYANT BODY MEMBER SIMULATING A HUMAN BODY AND BEING FORMED WITH A PAIR OF ANNULAR FLANGES DISPOSED ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID BODY MEMBER; A PAIR OF ARMS, EACH HAVING A FLEXIBLE RESILIENT ANNULAR FLANGE SAID FIRST MENTIONED FLANGES PROVIDING MEANS FOR INTERLOCKING ENGAGEMENT RELEASABLY CONNECTING EACH OF SAID ARMS TO SAID BODY MEMBER AND PERMITTING FREE RELATIVE ROTATIONAL MOVEMENT THEREON; A TRANSVERSE DRIVEN SHAFT MOUNTED ON SAID BODY COAXIALLY OF SAID ANNULAR FLANGES; POWER MEANS HOUSED WITHIN SAID BODY MEMBER COUPLED TO SAID DRIVEN SHAFT FOR SELECTIVELY PRODUCING ROTARY MOVEMENT THEREOF; AND COUPLING MEANS RELEASABLY CONNECTING EACH OF SAID ARMS TO OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID SHAFT AT VARYING POSITIONS OF ROTATIONAL DISPLACEMENT RELATIVE TO ONE ANOTHER FOR JOINT DRIVEN ROTATION OF SAID ARMS.