US3473260A - Sound mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 21, 1969 KRIPAK ET AL scum: MECHANISM 5 1 N /4 a 3 m W Z 2 Filed April 19. 1967 ATTCENEYS d o 8 W Get. 21, 1969 L, KRIPAK E AL SOUND MECHANISM 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed April 19, 196".

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INVENTORS LEON/0 KP/P/JK M/l/PV/A/A 6.4455

United States Patent O US. Cl. 46232 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A doll having a motor activated crying mechanism including a cam driving a piston which supplies air to a reed in a series of pulses. A resonance chamber varies the pitch of the sound in a cyclical manner. The motor is controlled by a switch actuated by a pendulum and ratchet mechanism, the switch being shifted from open to closed position or vice versa by change of position of the doll. A rocking motion will shift the switch gradually from one position to the other. A friction mechanism moves one or both arms up to the face when the motor starts, and another cam mechanism changes the facial expression.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to sound producing mechanisms, particularly one adapted for use in dolls of the type which perform actions and emit sounds characteristic of children of the age represented by the dolls.

Dolls are known in which an air supplying device is actuated by direct pressure, gravity or some other force, the air sounding a reed or other type of sound producing device, and they have been arranged to articulate the sound so as to pronounce recognizable words such as mame. for example. Also it is known to produce dolls that will cry when changed from an upright to a prone position or vice versa.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A motor operated sound mechanism comprising a sound producing means, an electric motor operably connected with the sound producing means, a source of power for the motor, and an electrical circuit connecting the power source with the sound producing means and including switch means for interrupting the flow of current to the motor, said switch means comprising a stationary contact element and a second contact element movable under the influence of gravity relative to a position of engagement with the stationary contact.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide such mechanism for a doll which will change its reaction pattern from time to time so as to cry when it is laid down, and at other times to stop crying when it is laid down, but which will always stop crying when subjected to a rocking movement for a short time.

The invention also contemplates the provision of a crying mechanism which will produce an exceptionally realistic crying sound, and one in which the arms will perform in a manner characteristic of a crying infant, while the mouth and facial expression will change in an appropriate manner.

Other features and objects of the invention will become apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a doll embodying the invention, with the arm movement shown in broken lines;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary, vertical secice tional view through the body of the doll axially of the neck and shoulders, with the doll in an upright position;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view of the doll substantially on the line 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the line 44 of FIGURE 2; and

, FIGURE 5 is a view on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 2 showing the gravity operated switching mechanism.

The doll incorporating the invention includes a body portion 10, a head portion 12, arms 14 and 16, and legs 18 and 20, all as best seen in FIGURE 1. Body 10 is preferably made of suitable plastic materials, and may be formed of a front part 22 and a back part 24, as best shown in FIGURE 4, so that the internal mechanism can be readily inserted, after which the parts are removably or permanently secured together in any suitable manner. Back portion 24 and front portion 22 have matching recesses as 26 (FIGURE 2) which, when the portions are put together form openings for arms 14 and 16.

Arm 14 fits against the assembled body parts and has a hollow shank portion 28 pivotally engaged in recesses 26 and having a flange 30 within body 10, so that the arm is retained in place once the body is assembled, although freely swingable about the center of shank 28. Shank 28 has a bore 32 in which is frictionally engaged a plug-like journal 34 which is split at its outer end for part of its length by means of a slot 36, the resulting halves being spread apart slightly to have a dimension slightly greater than the diameter of bore 32, journal 34 beyond slot 36 being freely rotatable in shank 28. Journal 34 is fixed on the end of a rotatable shaft 38 which rotates slowly, as will be fully described, whenever the crying mechanism is activated, so that when the crying action starts, rotation of shaft 38 will cause rotation of journal 34, which, because of the frictional engagement of the slotted portion with bore 32, will carry with it arm 14. Arm 14 will continue to swing until it comes in contact with the face of the doll on head 12, whereupon journal 34 will slip within bore 32 and continue to rotate without appreciably retarding the rotation of shaft 38. The arm may be restored to its lower position at any time by merely forcing it down against the light frictional resistance.

A similar or identical construction is used in arm 16, so that the doll will lift both its hands to its face in a typical crying attitude whenever the crying mechanism is started.

Shaft 38 is preferably square or angular in cross section and is journaled in bearing portions 40 and 42 forming part of a stamped or other suitable metal chassis generally designated as 44 secured in back part 24 by body 10 by screws or the like engaging tabs 46 on the chassis. In this way the working parts are kept in proper alignment.

Power for driving the mechanism comes from an electric motor 48 (FIGURE 4) supported from chassis 44 on a panel 50 pivoted to chassis 44 on a hinge 52 and urged in a clockwise direction by a spring 54 connected to panel 50 and extended to an anchorage 56 on a forwardly extending portion of chassis 10. Motor 48 has a shaft 58 carrying a driving roller 60 frictionally engaging the soft face 62 of a driven wheel 64 fixed on a second shaft 66 joumaled in a portion of chassis 44 and in a bracket 68 fixed to chassis 44, as seen in FIGURE 3. Spring 54 swings motor 48 in such a direction as to urge and maintain roller 60 in frictional contact with face 62 so that a drive is effected which will be noiseless. Shaft 66 has fixed or integral therewith a pinion gear 70 (FIGURE 2) which drives a gear 72 on a third shaft 74 journaled in a portion of chassis 44 and a bracket 76 fixed thereon. Shaft 74 has a pinion gear 78 thereon which engages and drives a gear 80 fixed on above mentioned shaft 38. Therefore, by reason of the rapid rotation of roller 60 by motor'48, a

relatively slow rotation of shaft 38 is effected such as will raise arms 14 and 16 in a realistic manner, as hereinbefore described, and which will do a number of other things, as will now be set forth.

In view of the large speed reduction between motor 48 and shaft 38 there is the possibility of the development of very substantial force or torque therein, and the angular cross section of the shaft makes practical the connection of the driven units thereto in a manner to resist successfully such torque, if it develops. Furthermore, it is to be noted that, while a pinion and gear in place of roller 60 and wheel 64 would normally make an undesirable whirring sound at the high rate of rotation of shaft 58, gears 70 and 72 as well as gears 78 and 80 operate so much more slowly that they produce no noticeable sound.

Shaft 38 has fixed thereon a cam 81 having a plurality of lobes 82, 84 and 86, preferably of diflerent sizes, and spaced from each other circumferentially in a somewhat irregular manner for a purpose to appear, and when rotated by reason of rotation of shaft 38, the lobes engage and depress a follower 88 fixed to a lever 90. Lever 90 is pivoted on a fulcrum 92 supported on a bracket portion 94 of chassis 44 and has spaced from fulcrum 92 beyond follower 88 a pivot 96 connecting with an actuating rod 98 pivoted on a pin 100 to a portion of a piston 102 freely slidable in a substantially air-tight manner in a cylinder 104 fixed in any suitable manner on chassis 44. A spring 106 is connected to lever 90, spaced from fulcrum 92 and to a bracket portion 108 of chassis 44, and is stressed so as to urge lever 90 upwardly and follower 88 into continuous contact with cam 81. Thus 1'0- tation of shaft 38 will cause up-and-down movement of piston 102 in a pattern determined by the contours of cam 81. Piston 102 has a plurality of guiding shoes 110 which engage the wall of cylinder 104 and maintain proper alignment of piston 102 within cylinder 104.

Movement of piston 102 downwardly will compress air within cylinder 104, the air passing through a passageway 112 (FIGURE 2) into a combined air chest and resonance chamber 114 alongside cylinder 104. The air passes into a region beneath a plug or partition 116 in which is inserted a reed body 118 having a reed 120 which is vibrated by the air pressing past the reed through body 118 into the space 122 above plug 116. Reed 120 is pressed toward body 118 by the air pressure as piston 102 is forced down, and caused to vibrate, as stated, but during the upward stroke of piston 102 it is forced away from the body 118 by reason of the depression in cylinder 104, and the resulting superior pressure in the body 118. Reed 120 therefore also acts as a check valve to admit air freely into cylinder 104 during upward movement of piston 102.

Space 122 is defined at one end by plug 116 and at the other end by a piston 124 slidable freely in chamber 114 in a substantially air-tight manner, and has an opening 126 between plug 116 and piston 124 for the passage of air and sound. The volume of the air trapped in space 122 will influence the vibration of reed 120, so that a change in the pitch of the sound emitted through opening 126 will be produced by changing the position of piston 124 in chamber 114.

Piston 124 has a rod or stem 128, preferably rigid, which extends upwardly and connects at 130 with a lever 132, best shown in FIGURE 4, preferably formed of spring wire, extending backwardly from stem 128, coiled and fixed to a portion of chassis 44 at 134. At a point spaced forwardly from fastening 134, lever 132 rests on a cam 136 fixed on above mentioned third shaft 74. Rotation of shaft 74 will therefore cause up-and-down swinging of lever 132 and corresponding movement of piston 124. Lever 132 is maintained in rubbing contact with cam 136 by its inherent resiliency, and it is contemplated that the flexibility of the lever will cause an irregular or bouncing movement of piston 124 so as to produce a rapidly fluctuating pitch in the sound produced. resulting in a quavering effect enhancing the realism of the crying sound.

Piston 124 preferably has an outer periphery in the shape of a segment of a sphere so that the misalignment caused by the arcuate movement of lever 132 will not cause the piston to bind in chamber 114.

It is to be noted that third shaft 74 runs faster than square shaft 38, and that cam 81, with its plurality of lobes, will produce a series of impulses or puffs of air for each revolution of shaft 38, and it is contemplated that the movements of spring lever 132 may be synchronized with the movements of lever produced by earn 81, so that the variations in pitch of the sound produced by reed may correspond with the individual sounds produced by the separate lobes of cam 81. Also the irregular spacing and varying dimensions of lobes 82, 84 and 86 will cause the sounds to be slightly irregular in frequency and duration, much as in the case of a live baby. The irregularities, however, are not of such magnitude as to noticeably affect the synchronization. Variation in the phase relation of cam 81 and cam 136, on the other hand, will produce a wide variety of types of crying.

To further enhance the illusion of the crying baby, the mechanism is adapted tochange the facial expression of the doll. As stated, the body is made of a soft fleshlike plastic, as is the head 12, and a simulated tooth 138 projects into a mouth cavity 140 and is pulled backwardly by a link portion 142 pivoted at 144 to an upwardly directed lever 146. Lever 146 is pivoted on a fulcrum 148 supported on a brace 150 secured in head 12, and has a lower portion 152 in sliding contact with a cam 154 fixed on square shaft 38. As cam 154 rotates, lever 146 will be caused to oscillate about pivot 148 and will alternately pull the portion of head 12 including mouth opening 140 inwardly and release it, which action, owing to the flexibility of the material, will bring about a closing and opening of mouth opening 140 and a considerable change in the facial expression. Lever 146 is maintained in contact with cam 154 by the natural resiliency of the material of head 12. Thus a realistic crying action is effected whenever motor 48 is activated. Such activation is done by an automatic switch as will now be described.

Chassis 44 supports a pivot pin 156 shown in FIG- URES 2 and 5, on which is journaled a metallic toothed wheel 158 of a type having cut-out portions resulting in a pair of opposed spokes or segments 160 and 162 which are located in positions slightly displaced circumferentially from a diametrically opposed relation with each other. A battery cell 164 shown in FIGURE 3 is preferably grounded on chassis 44 by means of a spring leaf 166, while motor 48 has a wire 168 extending to a contact 170 engaged with terminal 172 of battery cell 164.

Contact 170 is supported on a cover plate or door 173 fitting flush with the dolls body and removably retained in any suitable or Well-known manner so that it can be taken out when it is necessary to replace battery 164.

Motor 48 has another wire 174 which connects with a metallic contact or brush 176 supported on a bracket portion 177 and insulated from chassis 44 as by insulating Washers 178 and 179. In the position of Wheel 158 shown in FIGURE 5, brush 176 is opposite one of the cut-out portions between segments 160 and 162 so that the circuit is open and the mechanism will not operate.

Pin 156 also has journaled thereon inwardly of wheel [58, a swinging weight or pendulum .180 of substantial mass so that it will tend to remain in a depending position whether the doll is in a sitting position or lying on its back. A resilient pawl 182 is fixed to Weight and gently pressed against the teeth of wheel 158 by its own resilience, and a back-up pawl 184 of resilient material is fixed to bracket portion 177 and is lightly pressed against the teeth of wheel 158 by its own resilience. The teeth,

while high enough to cooperate effectively with pawls 182 and 184, are preferably rounded sufiiciently that the pawls will ride them smoothly to avoid jumping from one to the next, and thus to avoid any unnatural and undesirable clicking sounds.

The stationary metal contact 176 and the rotatable metal wheel 158 thus comprise a switch means for interrupting the flow of current from battery 164 to motor 48, with wheel 158 being movable under the influence of gravity or motion imparted to Weight 180 so that contact is established between element 176 and a portion of metal wheel 158 or to break the circuit if contact 176 rests in one of the cut-out portions.

The operation of the device should be apparent from the foregoing, but it is pointed out that, if the doll is brought from the illustrated upright position to one lying on its back, the effect on the FIGURE 5 structure will be to swing weight 180 to the left or clockwise about ninety degrees, or more accurately perhaps, to swing bracket portion 177 counterclockwise about pin 156 that amount while weight 180 and wheel 158 remain stationary. Since wheel 158 cannot follow because of its engagement with pawl 182 (weight 180 remaining in its downwardly depending position) brush 176 will come into contact with segment 160, thus establishing a ground connection from motor 48 to battery 164. Since wire 168 is already connected to battery terminal 172, motor 48 will be started, and the crying action will begin. If the doll is now rocked, weight 180 will swing back and forth, pawl 182 urging wheel 158 a tooth or two in a clockwise direction upon each oscillation until segment 160 moves away from contact with brush 176 and the crying stops.

A variety of actions is possible with the disclosed device. For example, if the doll is placed in a sitting position after being rocked as above, the action of pawl 184 will turn wheel 158 against any drag from pawl 182 so as to keep the wheel in the same relation to brush 176, so that the doll will not start to cry. Laying it down may now bring brush 176 into contact with segment 162, again starting the crying. On the other hand the movement may not be sufficient to contact segment 162, so it is uncertain and unpredictable just what will start or stop the crying. The fact that one of the cut-outs between segments 160 and 162 is larger than the other makes it that much harder to predict what the doll will do, and thereby increases the realism and therefore the attractiveness of the doll.

When motor 164 starts, arms 14 and 16 are first swung up to the face by rotation of shaft 38 by reason of frictional engagement of journals 32 after which the journals slip in shanks 28. Rotation of cam 81 causes irregular rocking of lever 90 and irregular stroking of piston 102. The resulting puffs of air will sound reed 120 in an irregular and spasmodic manner, the action of cam 136 raising and lowering piston 124 to vary the pitch of the sound. At the same time the action of cam 154 will repeatedly distort the face on head 12 to give a grimmacing effect similar to a crying infant.

The crying may sometimes be stopped by laying the doll down, but whether such action will be effective is never certain or predictable. On the contrary, the crying may always be stopped by rocking the doll for a short period.

Although the invention has been described in connection with a specific device, modifications are likely to occur to those familiar with this art, and which modifications could be made without departing from the principles involved.

What is claimed is:

1. A doll including a body mounting a head portion and relatively movable arms, motor drive mechanism within said body comprising an electrically operated drive motor, means connecting said motor with at least one of said arms and operable to effect movement of said arm, a sound device within said body which is operable in response to operation of said motor, and switch means for controlling the flow of current to said motor, said switch means comprising a stationary contact element and a second contact element movable under the influence of gravity to a position of engagement with said stationary element, said second contact element comprising a metal wheel rotatably mounted on a shaft with said wheel having cut-out portions about the axis thereof, said stationary contact element including a portion in position for engagement with a side surface of said wheel and for disengagement therewith when aligned with one of said cutout portions, a pendulum weight rotatably supported on said shaft and having a frictional driving engagement with said wheel so that movement of said pendulum in response to movement of said body effects movement of said wheel about said shaft, whereby a change of position of said doll is effective to close said switch means and operate said motor to cause said sound device to operate and to cause said one arm to be raised to a position adjacent said head, and whereby a further change in the position of the doll will cause said switch means to open and stop the operation of said sound device.

2. A doll as set forth in claim 1, wherein said sound device comprises an air-operated reed, a cylinder in fluid communication with said reed, and a movable piston in said cylinder which is connected with said motor for reciprocating movement in response to operation of said motor.

3. A doll as set forth in claim 1, wherein said sound device comprises an air-operated reed disposed in a housing, and means connected with said motor and operative to effect a pulsating movement of air past said reed so as to vary the pitch and frequency of the sound created by said reed.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,953,869 9/1960 Collischan 46-118 3,136,089 6/1964 Gardel et al 46--1l7 XR 3,200,538 8/1965 Glass et al. 46-232 3,229,421 1/ 1966 Ostrander 46-247 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner H. DINITZ, Assistant Examiner U.S. c1. X.R.

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