US3445960A - Walking toy - Google Patents

Description

May 27, 1999 J. w. RYAN 3,445,990

WALKING TOY Original Filed Aug. 4, 1965 SheeI of 5 J. W. RYAN WALKING TOY May 27, 1969 Sheet IUriginal Filed Aug. 4, 1965 J. W. RYAN WALKING TOY May 27, 1969 Sheefl Original Filed Aug. 4. 1965 May 27, 1969 ffy/$527; MMM

J. W. RYAN WALKING TOY May 27, 1969 Sheet Original Filed Aug- 4, 1965 5y y r Tak #Eff 3,445,960 WALKING TY .lohn W. Ryan, Bel Air, Calif., assigner to Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif., a corporation of California @riginal application Aug. 4, 1965, Ser. No. 477,146, now

Patent No. 3,267,608, dated Aug. 23, 1966. Divided and this application Aug. 19, 1966, Ser. No. 573,570

Int. Cl. A63h .T3/02, 11/00 US. Cl. 46-247 13 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLSURE This application is a division of copending application Ser. No. 477,146, filed Aug. 4, 1965, now Patent No. 3,267,508, which in turn, was a continuation-in-part of copending application Ser. No. 326,544, filed Nov. 27, 1963, now Patent No. 3,267,607.

In general, the present invention relates to a walking toy. More specically, the present invention involves a doll adapted to walk independently with natural body and leg motions.

In the past, there have been many attempts to create walking toys, such as walking dolls, to simulate the actual behavior of people or animals. While generally satisfactory, these walking dolls do have certain disadvantages.

One disadvantage resides in the fact that, in power driven toys, walking action varies in accordance with the amount of power supplied to the toy.

Another disadvantage with certain prior art walking toys resides in the fact that the leg motion is usually a function of the angle between the body unit and the leg unit.

A further disadvantage with prior art walking toys resides in the fact that the entire length of each individual foot of the toy does not Contact the floor simultaneously with the result that the heel of the foot usually contacts the floor first giving a point Contact which is unstable.

In view of the foregoing factors and conditions characteristic of prior art walking toys, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a new and useful walking toy not subject to the disadvantages enumerated above and having a body unit, a leg unit and means connecting the body unit and leg unit together for relative rocking action between them.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and useful walking toy of the type described hav ing a leg motion which is not a function of the angle between the toys body unit and its leg unit, but is a function of the rocking angle between the leg unit and the ground.

Yet another object of the present invention is to pro vide a new and useful leg and foot arrangement for a walking toy which is so constructed and arranged that the foot will remain parallel to the lloor at all times during fore and aft motion of the associated leg, whereby the entire length of the foot contacts the floor uniformly during the ground-contacting portion of each leg stroke.

According to a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, a new and useful walking toy is provided in the form of a walking doll. The doll includes (1) a torso unit comprising a body shell, batteries and nited States Patent O miscellaneous switch elements and (2) a leg unit comprising a motor, a motor-gear housing having internal mechanism mounted therein for controlling the operation of the toy and legs which are attached by rigid pivots to the motor-gear housing. An action is provided between the body unit and the leg unit in such a manner that, when the motor is energized, the leg unit will rock, lifting first one foot and then the other oif the ground. This is accomplished by providing a fore and aft pivoting axis between the motor-gear housing and the body shell and by providing a crank. The center line of the crank is placed at a right angle to the pivot axis. This supplies a pure sine wave action to the rocking action between the motor-gear housing and the body shell. The motor is powered by a pair of dry cells which will produce a rocking action of approximately 120 cycles per minute when fully charged and of approximately cycles per minute when under charged. A clutch driven cam is employed to actuate the fore and aft motion of the legs in such a manner that leg motion is automatically oriented to the rocking action between the motor-gear housing and the body shell regardless of the amount of power being supplied to the motor. Each leg is connected to an actuator which is driven by the cam. The actuator is connected to its associated leg through a system of spring washers and detent means which are locked in position during the walking action, but which may be overcome to facilitate placing the doll in a sitting position. Each foot of the doll is connected to its associated leg and to the actuator assembly in such a manner that each foot is kept parallel with the ground during fore and aft motion of its associated leg, whereby each foot will contact the oor uniformly throughout the length of each step.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity of the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements in the several views.

In the drawings:

FIGURE l is a partial, side-elevational view of a walking toy constituting a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the walking toy of FIGURE l.

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 taken at right angles thereto;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional View taken along lines 4 4 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an elevational View of one of the legs of the toy of FIGURE 2 showing, in broken lines, the relationship of the foot of the toy with respect to the leg during a walking operation;

FIGURE y6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the rocking mode of the toy of FIGURE 2 at approximately 80 rpm.;

FIGURE 7 is a diagrammatic view similar to FIGURE 6 showing the rocking mode at approximately 120 rpm.;

FIGURE 8 is an exploded, perspective View showing a modified form for the toy of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged, exploded, perspective View of the leg structure and actuator of the toy of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10` is an enlarged elevational view, rwith parts shown in cross-section, of the toy of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 1l is an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view taken along line 11-11 of FIGURE l0; and

FIGURE 12 is an enlarged bottom view of one foot portion of the toy of FIGURE 8.

Referring again to the dra-wings, a bilaterally symmetrical walking toy constituting a presently preferred embodiment of the present invention, generally designated 10, includes a head 11, a body unit 12 having a torso or body shell 14, a pair of batteries 16 and a pair of arms, such as the one shown at 17. The toy 10 also includes a leg unit 18 having an electric motor 20, a motorgear housing 22 and a pair of legs 24.

The body shell 14 includes a front wall 26, a rear wall 28, a pair of spaced sidewalls and a bottom wall 32. The body shell 14 may be manufactured from any suitable material employing any suitable manufacturing technique such, for example, as by injection molding a suitable plastic in two operations. In a iirst molding operation, a front body half 34 (FIGURE 8) is formed including the front wall 26 and one-half of each side wall 30 as an integral unit. In a second molding operation, a rear body half 36 is formed including the rear wall 28 and one-half of each side wall 30 as an integral unit. The front body half 34 and the rear body half 36 may be joined together by engaging hollow, cylindrical bosses 37 provided on the rear body half 36 with pins 38 carried by the front body half 34. An adhesive weldment 39 may be used, if desired, to seal the body halves together. During the molding operation, the rear body half 36 is provided with (l) a pair of battery chambers 40 for housing the batteries 16, (2) a bracket 42 for supporting a crank slot 44, and (3) a cylindrical boss 46 for swingably mounting the rear portion 47 of lthe motor-gear housing 22. Also, during the molding operation, the front body half 34 is provided with a cylindrical boss 48 for swingably supporting the front portion 49 of housing 22 and each side wall 30 is provided with an upper arm-receiving aperture half 50 and a lower, legreceiving aperture-half 52.

The motor-gear housing assembly 22 shown in FIG- URES 2, 3 and 4 and a modilied housing 22a shown in FIGURE 8 are also preferably molded in two pieces by injection molding techniques employing a high-impact polystyrene plastic. The housing 22 differs from the housing 22a essentially only in that the housing 22 has a rectangular upper portion while the upper portion of housing 22a is cylindrical. The housing 22 includes a front wall 54, a top rwall 56, a rear wall 58, side walls and a bottom wall 62. The housing 22a includes an encompassing side wall 60a, a front wall 54, a top wall 56, a rear 'wall 58 and a bottom wall 62. An electric motor chamber 64 and a gear chamber 65 are formed in the housing assemblies 22 and 22a by providing them with a partition `66 intermediate their respective top walls 56 and the bottom walls 62. The electric motor 20 may be resiliently mounted in either chamber 64 on rubber grommets 68 which are carried by the motor 20` and which are disposed within suitable apertures 70 and 72 provided in the top wall 56 and the partition 66, respectively. The electric motor 20 includes a rst end plate 74 which carries one grommet 68 and a second end plate 76 which carries the other grommet 68. The motor 20 also includes an armature shaft 78 having a rst end `80 extending through the end plate 74 `and a second end 82 extending through the end plate 76. The end 80 carries a Hy wheel 84 and the end 82 carries a driving gear 86. The driving gear 86 drives a gear reduction system which is indicated generally at 88 and which includes a lirst, second and third gears 90, 92 and 94, respectively, adapted to obtain an output-shaft rate in the range of 120 to 80 r.p.m., depending upon the strength of batteries 16. The gear is preferably manufactured from a rubber-like material, such as a rubber-like plastic, to minimize noise in the toy 10. The gear 90 is rotatably mounted on a crank shaft 96 and includes a large-diameter portion 102 on the gear 92. The gear 92 includes a shaft 103 which is rotatably mounted in a pair of brackets 104 carrie-d by the front wall 54 of the housing assemblies 22 and 22a. The gear 92 also includes a small-diameter portion 108 meshing with a set of teeth 110 provided on the gear 94. The gear 94 is keyed to the crank shaft 96 by a key 112 for imparting rotation thereto. The shaft 96 is preferably made of steel and includes a rst end 114 which is rotatably mounted in an aperture 116 provided in the partition 66 and a second end 118 which is provided with an enlarged head portion 120. A steel ball 122 is affixed to the head 120 near one edge thereof giving a crank effect.

Either housing assembly 22 or housing assembly 22a may be swingably mounted in, or centrally disposed in the plans of symmetry of, the body shell 14 by engaging a front boss 48 and the rear boss 46 by counter bores 124 and 126, respectively, which are provided on the portions 49 and 47 of housing assemblies 22 and 22a, respectively. The ball 122 works in the slot 44 in such a manner that rotation of the crank shaft 96 produces a relative rocking action between the housing assemblies 22 and 22a and the body shell 14 forcing a sine wave form. This is accomplished by placing the centre line of action of the crank 96 at a right angle to the pivot axis formed by the bosses 48 and 46 and their associated counter bores 124 and 126, respectively.

The legs 24 are connected to the housing assembly 12 by rigid pivots, indicated generally at 128 :so that the complete leg unit 18 will Irock with respect to the 'body unit 12 lifting rst one ifoot 130 and then the other foot 132 off the ground. This is accomplished lby the pivotal mounting of the housing assembly 22 coupled with the action of the crank 96. The `type of rocking action obtained by this forced rocking between the leg unit 18 (housing assembly 22 and legs '214) and the body unit 12 will be readily Iunderstood by referring to 'FIGURES 6 and v7. The action shown in FIGURE 7 is one normally encountered at high rocking speeds of approximately 120 cycles per minute. The rocking action shown in FIGURE 6 is one that is normally encountered at lower speeds of approximately 80 cycles per minute. Assuming that FIG- URES 6 and 7 are drawn from the back of the walking toy, it will be noted that in FIGURE 7 the left foot 130 is on the ground 134 when the body unit 12 is rocking to the right and the Iright `foot 132 is on the ground 134 when the body unit 12 is rocking to the left. In a rocking situation of this type, the right leg 24 must move forward when the body unit 12 is rocking to the right, relative to the leg unit 18. Contrary to this in the rocking system shown in FIGURE 6, 'the right foot is on the ground 134 when the body unit 12 is rocking to the right and the left @foot is on the ground 134 when the body unit 12 is rocking to the left. In this situation, the right foot i132 must move forward when the tbody unit 12 is rocking to the left, 'as viewed in FIGURE 6. Since the walking toy will move in both the 80 r.p.m. rocking mode and the 120 rocking mode, it can *be seen that the motion of legs 24 cannot `be a function of the rocking angle `between the legs 24 and the ground 34, or other surface, upon which the walking toy 10 travels. This situation is further complicated 'by the fact that there is no definite transition point between the two rocking modes, but rather a .smooth change as the walking speed increases.

Although various methods can be employed to coordinate the action of the legs 24 with the rocking of the leg unit 18 relative to the ground 134, the method shown and described herein for purposes of illustration, but not of limitation, may employ a clutch driven cam `assembly 136 to actuate fore and aft motion of the legs 24. The clutch driven cam -assembly 136 includes a plastic bearing 138 having a hub portion 140 ywhich is journaled in an aperture 142 provided in the bottom wall `62 and an enlarged annular portion 144 having an upper face 146 providing a clutch surface. The bearing 138 is keyed to the shaft 96 by a key 48 for rotation thereby.

The clutch driven cam assembly 136 also includes a cam 149 having an upper cam half 150 and .a lower cam half 152 which are rotatbly mounted on the shaft 96 in telescopic relation in :such a manner that they dorm a cam slot 154. The upper half 150 includes ya clutch face 156 which is 'biased into engagement `wi-th a like clutch face 158 provided on the gear 94 by a compression spring 160 which encompasses the shaft 96 and which engages Ithe cam halves 152 and 154 in such a manner that it tends to spread them apart. The cam half 152 is also provided with a clutching surface 162 which engages the clutch face 146 provided on the bearing 1138. The spring 160 is loaded against the `cam halves 150 and 152 with Ia spring load suliiciently light to allow the shaft 96 to continue rotation when the cam halves 1'50 and 152 remain stationary. In this way, the cam driven clutch assembly 136 can 'be oriented Ito the shaft 96 fin any position. Since the cam assembly 136 is used to drive the fore and aft motion of the legs 24, this motion can, therefore, be oriented to the rocking action bet-Ween the leg unit 18 -and the body 4unit 12 .at any position.

As best shown in FIGURE 4, each leg 24 `is rigidly connected to the housing 22 'by a leg actuating a-ssembly 128 which includes an axle 170 having an internally -threaded end 172 and an end 174 near which a flanged arm 176 is provided. The end 174 may be inserted through an aperture 178 provided in the side walls 60 of the housing 22 after which a washer 180 may `be placed over `the end 174 which is peened over against the washer 180 as indicated at 182. Each flanged arm 176 carries a pin 184 which engages an aperture 186 provided in the housing 22 Ito prevent the axle 170 from rotating. Each flanged arm 176 is provided with suitable detents, such as the one shown at 188, which rare positioned adjacent a 'hub 190 provided on the axle 170. An actuator link 192 having an arm 194 which carries a pin 196 and an apertured ange 198 may be installed on the hub 190 in such -a manner that a slot 200 is provided on the flange 198 engages an associated detent 188 provided on the axle 170.

The mechanism 128 also includes a detent ning 202 which is .provided with an annular flange 204 intermediate its ends 206 and 208. The flange 204 is provided with a plurality of detents, such as the one shown at 210, which are engageable with suitable slots, such as the one shown at 212, provided on an actuator assembly 214 when it is Iin posi-tion on the end 20'6 of fthe detent ring 202. The detents 188 are caused to engage their associated slots 200 and the detents 210 `are caused to engage their associated slots 21'2 by a pair of spring washers 216 eaoh of which has suitable resilient fingers, such as the one shown at 218 for each washer 216, ladapted to force the actuators 214 :and the `actuator links 192 finto engagement with their associated detent means. The :spring washers 216 exert a suicien-t force so that the actuator links 192 and t'he :actuators 214 will move Ithe legs 24 in a manner to be herein-after described, ibut are sufliciently light so that the legs 24 may be swung by hand to overcome the spring tension so that the toy maybe placed in a seated position wherein the legs 24 are at right Iangles to the body unit 12.

The legs 24 are connected to the mechanism 128 by a leg cap 220 having a hub portion 222 which is mounted on the end 208 of the detent ring 202 and which is prevented from sliding therefrom by lock washer 224. The detent ring 202 includes an axle sleeve 225 having a key 226 which engages a slot 228 provided in the hub 222 so that rotation of the sleeve 225 will impart rotation to the cap 220. The cap 220 is firmly aixed to the upper end 230 (FIGURE 3) of an inner leg assembly 232 and is also cemented to the upper end 234 of each outer leg portion 236 of the legs 24. With this arrangement, oscillation of the cap 220 will cause its associated leg 24 to swing back and forth. Such oscillation is caused by an up and down motion supplied by the cam 152 to the actuator 214 through a connecting pin 240 which is carried by the actuator 214 and which extends through an aperture 242 provided in the housing 22 into engagement with the cam slot 154. Thus, the cam slot 154 causes the pin 240 to move up and down oscillating the actuator 214 which, in turn, oscillates the cap 220 through the medium of the detent ring 202 and the axle sleeve 225. The cap 220 and the inner leg 232 may be made of injection molded, rigid plastic while the outer leg portion 236 is preferably made of a soft pliable plastic such as plastisol.

Each inner leg 232 also includes an end 244 carrying outwardly extending protuberances 246 which pivotally connect an associated foot and 132 to the inner leg 232 by engaging an aperture 248 provided on each side of the foot portion 130, 132 at the approximate location of an ankle. Each foot 130, 132 is connected by a suitable rod 250 to an actuator link 192 in such a manner that a parallelogram action is provided to keep each foot 130, 132 square with the ground I134 (FIGURE 5) during fore and aft motion of an associated leg 24.

As previously stated, the detent 188 on the actuator link 192 and the associated spring washer 216 are included in the assembly to facilitate the sitting action of the legs 24. However, during the walking action, the detents 188 are locked in position and the actuator link 192 is, for all practical purposes, a stationary point on the housing 22 while the actuator 214, driven by the cam 149, is a yfixed part of its associated leg 24. It should be noted that as the crank shaft 96 rotates in the housing 22, it supplies the aforementioned rocking action between the leg unit 18 and the body unit 12 as well as fore and aft motion of the legs 24. There is no orientation of this fore and aft leg motion with the rocking action since the cam 149 can be in any angular position on the shaft 96.

The leg unit 18 shown in FIGURES 2-4 may be modilied as indicated at 18a in FIGURES 8-11. The leg unit 18a includes a leg actuating assembly 128 which is identical to that shown and described in connection with FIG- URES 2-4, and which will not be described further in connection with FIGURES 8-11.

The major difference between the leg units 18 and 18a resides in the structure of the legs, which are indicated generally at 24a in FIGURES 8-11. Each leg assembly 24a includes an inner housing half 280' and an outer housing half 281 in which an inner leg member 250a is mounted. Each member 25011 is connected to an associated actuator link 192 by a right-angle portion 282 which extends through a slotted aperture 283 provided in a leg cap 220e formed integrally with the inner housing half 280. The cap 220a connects the leg 24a to an associated leg actuating mechanism 128 in the manner previously described for the leg 24. The housing halves 280 and 2-81 may be secured together by engaging pins 284 provided on each outer housing half 28-1 in hollow bosses 286 provided on each inner housing half 280. The assembled housing halves 280 and 281 may be pivotally connected to a left foot member 13011 and a right foot member 132a by a first set of pins 288 which pivotally Connect the ankle portions 289 of the housing halves 280 and 281 to an upper foot portion 290 at the rear portion thereof and by a set of pins 292 which pivotally connect the instep portions 293 of the members 250a to an associated upper foot portion 290 near the front portion thereof. This type of connection produces the parallelogram action previously described in connection with FIGURES 2-4 which maintains the foot 130@ and the foot 132a in parallel alignment with the ground 134 (FIGURE 10) in all positions of operation of each leg 24a as it is swung by the actuator mechanism 128 during walking operations. The feet 130a and 132er each includes a lower foot portion 294 having offset brackets 296 engageable with pins 298 for connectnig the lower foot portion 294 to the upper foot portion 2.90. The foot portions 2904 and 294 include inner edges 300 which are free to reciprocate with respect to each other as indicated by arrows 302 in FIGURE 1l. The edges 300 are biased apart by a spring member 304 which is cradled in notches 306 provided in an associated lower foot portion 294 and which is engaged by a depending tab 308 provided on the upper foot portion 290. The amount that the edges 300 may separate from each other is limited by a stop member 310 (FIGURE 1l) which depends from the upper foot portion 290 and which is engageable with the lower foot portion 294. This construction constitutes resilient means in the leg unit 18u which facilitates the raising of a particular foot 130a and 132a and results in more side-to-side motion of the leg unit 18a for a given angular relation between the body unit 12 and the leg unit 18a in a given rocking mode. In addition, as clearly seen in FIGURE l1, the lower foot portion 294 slopes downwardly and laterally from its edge 300 to an apex portion 294a which is positioned intermediate the inner edge 300 and an outer edge 30011 while lying closer to the inner edge 300.

It has been found that without such a resilient means, the toy is not self-starting in a forward direction at lower rocking frequencies. The doll 10 is provided with a 32.8:1 gear reduction and draws about 250 milliamps. With this gear reduction, it has a crank frequency of 116 r.p.m. at 3 volt terminal voltage. The toy will operate down to 67 r.p.m. at 1.9 volts terminal and the batteries 16 (2 D cells in series) will have a life of about 3.6 hours continuous duty. However, the toy is not selfstarting without the resilient means in the leg unit 18a. It has been found, on the other hand, that a gear reduction of 25:1 provides a sufficiently high crank frequency for making the toy self-starting. With this gear ratio, the toy will rock at 150 r.p.m. at 2.8 volts and 72 r.p.m. at 1.9 volts terminal. The current draw then increases to 370 milliamps and the useful life of the batteries decreases to about 1.5 hours. Thus, the resilient means in the leg unit 18a is an important feature of the invention because it permits increasing battery life and reducing power consumption by employing a higher gear ratio for driving the leg unit 18a. The rocking action creates a side-to-side motion which, in conjunction with the mass of the toy, is sufficient to lift the feet olf the ground. This appears to meet the objective of dening a region of operating range of the toy 10 for minimum power requirement and maximum rocking stability. A configuration that is self-starting is associated with a large momentum of the body unit 12. This means either a heavy body unit, large amplitude of driving function or high speed of rocking. This, on the other hand, is not compatible with the requirement of low power input or broad region of operating range. It is to be noted that this feature could either be sacrificed or a mechanism could be built into the toy to boost the amplitude or speed temporarily during the starting sequence and returning it to normal design condition after a motion is established. Since it is not desirable to sacrifice this feature and since it would be expensive to build such mechanism into the doll to boost the amplitude or speed temporarily, it is preferred to employ the resilient means in the leg unit 18a.

A shoe sole 312 having a high coefficient of friction is aixed to the bottom of the lower foot portion 294 to increase traction between the ground 134 and an associated foot 130a, 132:1. The feet 130a and 132a are each covered with a housing member 314 which is suitably decorated to simulate a shoe. The lower portions of the legs 24a are also covered with a housing member 316 in the form of a sock which may be folded down over the housing member 314 as shown in FIGURES 10 and 11.

Referring now to FIGURE 8, power is supplied to the motor 20 through a first electrical lead 318 and a second electrical lead 320 which may be connected to a switch mechanism, indicated generally at 322, and an electrical leaf spring 324 respectively. The leaf spring 324 and the switch 322 each include battery-engaging portions 326 for completing a circuit from the batteries 16 (FIGURE 2) to the motor 20 through the switch 322 and the leads 318 and 320.

The switch 322 includes a toggle 328 having a fingerengaging portion 330 which extends through the back of the body unit 12 as shown in FIGURE l0 and a weightengaging portion 332 which is engageable with a weight 334. The weight 334 includes pins 336 for swingably mounting the weight 334 in the body shell 14 on brackets 33S provided in the upper portion thereof. The switch 322 also includes a leaf spring 340 which may be mounted in the body shell 14 in such a manner that it completes a circuit through the battery engaging portion 326 of switch 322 when the switch is actuated to lift the weight 334. Should the body unit 12 fall over when the motor 20 is energized, the weight 334 will trip the switch 322 de-energizing the motor 20.

What is claimed is:

1. A walking figure comprising:

a substantially upright torso;

a leg assembly comprising a frame portion pivotally mounted in said torso on a generally fore and aft axis and a pair of legs depending from and pivotally mounted on said frame portion for fore and aft swinging movement thereon; and

drive means on said frame portion drivingly connecting said frame portion and said torso together to cyclically oscillate them relative to each other about said fore and aft axis so that the weight of said figure is thrown onto one of said legs by an oscillation of said torso and said frame portion while the other leg is lifted free of a supporting surface for forward movement, said drive means including electric motor means and dry cell means supplying power to said motor means, said drive means including means for oscillating said torso and said frame portion at a rate of approximately cycles per minute when said dry cell means is fully charged;

said drive means including crank means connecting said frame portion to said torso for producing said cyclical oscillation, said torso being provided with a crank slot engaging said crank means, said drive means further including actuator means connected to said legs for cyclically swinging said legs in fore and aft directions in timed relation with said cyclical oscillation.

2. A walking figure as stated in claim 1 wherein said torso includes a front body half and a rear body half and wherein one of said body halves is provided with chamber means for housing said dry cell means.

3. A walking figure as stated in claim 2 wherein said rear body half includes a rear wall provided with a rst pivot means and wherein said front body half includes a front wall provided with a second pivot means, said frame portion being connected to said pivot means on said fore and aft axis.

4. A walking figure as stated in claim 1 including cam means connecting said actuator means to said legs for controlling said cyclical swinging, said cam means having a predetermined configuration for swinging each leg in one direction relative to said torso more slowly than it is swung in the other direction, said drive means and said actuator means being arranged to relatively oscillate said torso and frame portion and to swing said legs in such timed relation that the weight of said figure is thrown onto one of said legs by an oscillation of said torso and frame portion while the other leg is being swung forwardly.

5. A walking figure as stated in claim 4 including slip clutch means connecting said actuator means to said cam means, said slip clutch means controlling said actuator means in such a manner that said legs cannot be swung by said actuator means unless the weight of said figure is supported by only one leg.

6. A walking gure as stated in claim 5 wherein said actuator means is drivingly connected to each of said legs through resilient releasable detent means, whereby said legs may be manually swung to a generally sitting position.

7. A walking gure as stated in claim 6 including a motor control switch means for de-energizing said motor in response to tilting of said figure an amount substantially greater than any tilt thereof caused by walking movements of said figure.

8. A walking igure as stated in claim 7 wherein each of said legs includes an upper end and a lower end, said lower ends being engageable with said surface, said walking figure including resilient means associated with each of said legs, said resilient means having a predetermined bias which is overcome when the lower end of an associated leg engages said surface, whereby energy is stored in said resilient means for assisting said drive means in lifting said lower ends from said surface.

9. A walking gure as stated in claim 8 wherein said drive means includes gear reduction means and crank means, said crank means connecting said frame portion to said torso for producing said cyclical oscillation, said electric motor means driving said crank means through said gear reduction means, said gear reduction means having a gear ratio adapted to drive said crank means at approximately 116 r.p.m. when said dry cell means supplies approximately 3 volts terminal voltage to said motor means.

10. A figure toy as stated in claim 9 wherein said lower ends of said legs include ground-engaging portions, wherein said drive means also includes connecting means for maintaining said ground-engaging portions in parallel relation with said surface in all positions of said groundengaging portions during said swinging of said legs and wherein each of said ground-engaging portions includes a lower foot portion having an inner edge and an outer edge, said lower foot portion sloping downwardly and laterally from said inner edge to an apex portion intermediate said inner edge and said outer edge, said apex portion being closer to said inner edge than to said outer edge.

11. The method of walking a doll figure having an upright torso, a leg assembly pivoted to said torso adjacent the bottom thereof on a generally fore-and-aft axis and laterally spaced supporting legs carried by said assembly for fore-and-aft swinging movement thereon, comprising the steps of: cyclically rocking said torso and leg assembly, angularly about said axis, in opposite directions; maintaining the speed of said cyclic rocking at such value that the inertia of said torso causes said axis to move laterally to thereby shift the weight of said gure to one leg while said torso swings relative to said one leg but n a direction toward the other leg whereby said torso remains substantially upright and said leg assembly tilts laterally whereby to lift the other leg free of a supporting surface; and causing each leg to swing forwardly when it is lifted free of said supporting surface.

12. The method dened in claim 11 including the further step of causing each leg to swing rearwardly when the weight of said figure is thereon and while the lifted leg is swinging forwardly.

13. The method defined in claim 11 including the further steps of causing the shifting of the weight of said figure to one leg to store releasable energy in said legs; and causing said energy to apply an upward force to said leg to assist in lifting the same as the weight of said ligure is shifted to the other leg.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,243,916 4/ 1966 Ryan 46-247 3,267,607 8/ 1966 Ryan 46-247 3,267,608 8/ 1966 Ryan 46-247 F BARRY SHAY, Primary Examiner. ROBERT F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 46-140

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