US3867785A

US3867785A - Object identifying doll

Info

Publication number: US3867785A
Application number: US335852A
Authority: US
Inventors: John W Ryan; Melvin R Kennedy; James E Marshall
Original assignee: Mattel Inc
Current assignee: Mattel Inc
Priority date: 1973-02-26
Filing date: 1973-02-26
Publication date: 1975-02-25
Anticipated expiration: 1992-02-25
Also published as: ES418066A1; CA978743A

Abstract

A doll which can hold any of several objects and which plays a message corresponding to the particular object being held, including a hand with an aperture for receiving posts on the objects, a group of elements with holes aligned with the aperture, a slide for pulling the elements out of alignment with the aperture if they are not held against movement by the post of an object, and a cable extending from the slide to a phonograph in the body to select one of several messages.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Ryan et al. Feb. 25, 1975 [5 1 OBJECT IDENTIFYING DOLL 3,362,103 1/19'68 Neumann 46/116 3,514,899 6/1970 Bonanno et al..... [75] Inventors: John W. Ryan, Los Angeles; Melvin 3,636,655 H1972 Porter at al n Kennedy, Harbor y; James E. 3,667,136 6/1972 Goodkind et al. 35/8 A Marshall, Santa Ana, all of Calif. [73] Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif. Z y j lf al ay Sh k [I t, 22 Filed: Feb. 26, 1973 omey ax [21] Appl. No.: 335,852 [57] ABSTRACT A doll which can hold any of several objects and 52 US. Cl. 46/117, 35/8 A, 46/175 AR which Plays a message corresponding to the particular 51 Int. Cl A63h 5/00 Object being held, including a hand with an aperture [58] Field 6: Search 46/118, 117, 116, 175 AR; for receiving Posts on the objects, a group of elements 35 /g A with holes aligned with the aperture, a slide for pulling the elements out of alignment with the aperture if they 5 References Cited are not,held against movement by the post of an ob- UNITED STATES PATENTS ject, and a cable extending from the slide to a phonograph in the body to select one of several messages. 2,710,489 6/1955 Myers 46/116 X 3,289,325 12/1966 Schreck 35/8 A X 3 Claims, 11 Drawing Figures /40 1 I 1 Il jflj U001 000600 ,r-rl 63 1 I SHEE PATENTEB FEB25 I975 l OBJECT IDENTIFYING DOLL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a toy which can identify different objects.

Dolls which are animated in a manner that indicates intelligence make very entertaining toys. If the intelligence testing situations and responses of the doll corre spond to what one would expect in young children, then the doll can be played with as one would play with a child. One type of animation which has proven very popular and which can be constructed at low cost is the apparent speaking of short sayings, which can be performed, by inexpensive phonographs that have been developed A doll which can provide a saying in a manner indicating intelligence appropriate to a young child may provide a highly entertaining toy.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention,'a doll is provided which can hold any one of several objects-and which produces a saying appropriate to theparticular object being held. Each of the objects has a major portion representing a common article, such asa flower or an apple, and a post of a length differing from the length of the post on any other object. The doll has a hand with an aperture for receiving the post of the object, to hold the object. Several elements are slideably mounted in the hand at different distances below the aperture. Each element has a hole normally aligned with the aperture, so that when a post is inserted through the aperture the post projects through one or more of the holes of the elements, dependingupon the length of the inserted post. This prevents movement of those elements. A mechanism slides within the arm of the doll and progressively engages and begins moving the different elements, until it engages an element that is prevented from movement because a post projects through its hole. The slideable mechanism isconnected through a cable to a phonograph in the body of the doll to select one of several recordings to be played.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will best be understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a partial front view, partly in section, of a doll constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 isa sectional side view of the doll of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 4; FIG. 6 is a partial enlarged view of the arm of FIG. 4, showing details of the mechanism thereof;

FIG. 7 is a view taken on the line 77 of FIG. 6; FIG. 8 is a view taken on the line 88 of FIG. 6; FIG. 9 is a partial, exploded perspective view of the photograph mechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 10-l0 of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view taken along line ll-ll of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in FIG. 1, a doll 10 includes a body housing portion 12 with a phonograph or recorded message player 14 therein, and a doll arm 16 which includes an object-receiving portion 18. Referring also to FIG. 4, a group of objects including the object 20 are provided which each include a main object portion 22 representing a common object such as a flower, an apple, or a book, and a postlike identifying portion 24 extending from the main portion 22 and having a length peculiar to the particular main object portion 22. The object is installed on the doll arm by inserting the objectidentifying portion or post 24 through an aperture 26 in the object-receiving portion 18 of the doll. A child then activates the doll by pulling on a drawstring 28 (FIG. 1) and then releasing the string, to cause the phonograph 14 to play one of several messages or sayings. The particular saying which will be played closely corresponds to the particular object 20 which is received in the doll hand. For example, when the object 20 representing a flower is inserted into the hand, the doll may play the saying Oh, look at the pretty flower." The doll 10 may be formed to represent a pre-school age child, and the apparent ability of the doll to hold ordinary objects and orally describe them is highly appropriate to such a doll and greatly increases its entertainment value.

Doll 10 basically includes an object-engaging mechanism 30, in arm 16, phonograph 14, in body 12, and a selector mechanism 32, which connects the objectengaging mechanism 30 to phonograph 14 to select the sayings to be played by the phonograph. The selector mechanism 32 includes a cable 34 which extends through arm 16 and body 12 and which may be pulled into the bodyprior to each playing of the phonograph. The object-engaging mechanism 30 controls the amount by which the cable may be pulled, if any, to thereby determine which of the sayings will be played by the phonograph.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 4-8, it can be seen that the object-engaging mechanism 30 includes three

slider elements

40, 42, 44 that are mounted for sliding forwardly and rearwardly in arm 16. The element 40 (FIG. 7) includes a head 46 with an aperture 48 therein, that may receive the post 24 of an object, a stem 50 extending rearwardly from the head, and a stop 52 at the rear end of the stem. If element 40 is urged rearwardly while a post 24 projects through the aperture 48, the front wall portion 48f of the element will engage the post and prevent any further rearward movement of element 40. The

other elements

42, 44 are similarly constructed, the element 42 having a head 54 at its front end and a stop 56 at its rear end, and the element 44 having a headSS at its front end and a stop 60 at its rear end. The

elements

40, 42, 44 are all slideably mounted on a carrier 62 that is, in turn, slideably mounted in arm 16, and which is attached at its rear end to the cable 34. A spring 63 has a first end 63A bearing against a fixed partition 16A in arm 16 and a second end 63B bearing against carrier 62 for urging carrier 62 forwardly.

The carrier 62 has a slot 64 (FIG. 7) at its front end 65, and the stems of the three

slider elements

40, 42, 44 all extend through this slot. Carrier 62 also has three front wall portions with inner or

rear surfaces

66, 68

and 70 that face the

stops

52, 56, 60 of the three slider elements. When carrier 62 is pulled rearwardly in the directionof arrow 71, these

rear surfaces

70, 68, 66 progressively engage the

stops

60, 56, 52, respectively, to pull the slider elements rearwardly unless they are held by the post 24 of an object 20.

When a child inserts the post 24 of an object 20 through the aperture 26 in the object-receiving portion 18 of arm 16, the post 24 projects through one or more of the holes in the

elements

40, 42, 44, depending upon the length of the post. Four different lengths of object posts 24 are provided, with the longest length being sufficient to project through all of the elements and also through a hole 72 formed in a forwardly-extending flange 74 of the carrier 62. If the object post 24 is long enough to project through all of the slide elements and into the carrier flange 74, then the carrier will not move rearwardly to any substantial degree when the cable 34 is urged rearwardly. if the post 24 is slightly shorter so that it projects through the three

slider elements

40, 42, 44 but not through the carrier flange 74, then the carrier 62 can slide rearwardly until its wall surface 70 abuts the stop 60. The post 24 of the object will hold the element 44 and its stop 60 from moving rearwardly, so that carrier 62 bottoms out without moving rearwardly any further.

' In a similar manner, a post which just passes through the first two

elements

40, 42 permits a slightly greater rearward movement of carrier 62 until its wall 68 abuts the stop 56, while a post which projects only through the first element 40 permits an even greater carrier movement until. thecarrier wall surface 66 abuts the stop 52. If no object is present when the carrier is urged rearwardly, then it will move back even further until the rear surface 76 of the carrier abuts a wall 78 (FIG. 4) in arm 16. Thus, the final position of carrier 62 is determined either by the particular object post which lies in the path of the

elements

40, 42, 44 or by the absence of a post.

The phonograph 14 may play five types of messages, four of which depend upon the length of post 24 and the fifth corresponding to a condition where no object is being held by the doll. The particular type of message to be played is determined by how far the cable 34 is pulled rearwardly prior to each playing of the phonograph. The phonograph 14 is generally similar to the phonograph described in detail in US. Pat. No. 3,636,655. As best shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 9, the phonograph 14 includes a record 80 which may be provided with ten grooves or sound tracks 81 in which are recorded eight sayings related to four objects and two sayings signifying the absence of an object. Thus, there are two sayings related to each of the objects. For example, in addition to the saying given above which relates to a flower, another saying such as May I put the flower in my hair may be used.

The phonograph includes a turntable 82 which carries the record 80, and a playing head or tone arm 84 with a needle 86 that may engage one of the grooves 81 to pick up sounds from it and transmit them through a speaker cone assembly 88 to the air. Turntable 82 is rotated in a clockwise or forward direction, as indicated by arrow F, during playing of record 80 by a spring 90. The spring has an end 90A anchored in housing 12 by fixed pins 12A (FIG. 1) and is wound prior to playing the record by a child pulling on a ring 92 at the end of the pullstring 28. The inner portion of the string may be wound about the string-receiving portion ofa drum 96 so that, as the string is pulled, drum 96 rotates in a counterclockwise or reverse direction, as indicated by arrow R, and winds spring 90 onto a springreceiving portion of drum 96. As drum 96 rotates in this reverse direction, it also urges the turntable 82 to rotate in reverse, as will be described below.

Each of the'ten grooves 81 on record has a starting or leadin portion 97 (FIGS. 1 and 9) circumferentially spaced about the outer periphery 80A of record 80 from the leadin portions 97 of the other grooves. The leadin portions 97 of each pair of grooves that correspond to the same object are spaced 180 apart. Pull string 28 slideably engages tone arm 84 through a clip 84A so that, when a child-user pulls string 28 prior to each playing of the phonograph, tension in the pullstring lifts tone arm 84 and swings it against a tone arm stop 843 for positioning needle 86 adjacent the periphery 80A of record 80. Then when the child releases the pull-string, a spring 88A, in speaker cone assembly 88, pushes the tone arm toward the record so that the me dle 86 enters the first leadin groove 97 which it encounters. Release of the pull-string 28 also permits the power spring to begin rotating the turntable 82 in forward direction F so that the needle plays the saying defined by the groove in which the needle has fallen.

Turntable 82 carries a spindle 828 having a first end 82A journalled in a bearing 98 provided in housing 12 and a second end 828 connected to drum 96 by a oneway, needle-bearing-type clutch 99. During playing of record 80 by spring 90, drum 96 rotates turntable 82 in the forward direction F through clutch 99, while needle 86 follows along a record groove 81 to play a saying. However, during the time when a child pulls on the pull-string 28 to rewind spring 90, drum 96 rotates in the reverse direction R, clutch 99 disengages and a slipclutch assembly 100 urges turntable 82 and record 80 to also rotate in reverse.

Clutch 100 permits drum 96 to continue rotating in reverse even though further reverse-rotation of tumtable 82 is prevented by certain stop means, including a latch 102 (FIGS. 2, 9 and 10) which may be engaged by either of two selector stops 104, 106 mounted on a selector plate 108. At the beginning of reverse rotation, the selector plate 108 moves toward turntable 82 so that selector stops 104, 106 are brought into the path of a latch stop 102A carried by latch 102 and extending through an opening 82C in turntable 82 to a position directly beneath turntable 82. The selector stops 104, 106 limit reverse rotation of turntable 82 and record 80 and, therefore, detennine the initial record position at the beginning of forward record rotation.

The selector plate 108 is mounted to rotate with a selector gear 110, the

stops

104, 106 projecting through corresponding

holes

112, 114 in the selector gear. A spring 116 normally urges the plate 108 away from the turntable sufficiently that the

stops

104, 106 do not project far enough through

holes

112, 114 to be engaged by latch stop 102A. However, when plate 108 is pushed towards turntable 82, the

stops

104, 106 project into the path of the latch stop 102A for preventing further reverse-rotation of the turntable. A bevel plate or ramp member 118 is used to push plate 108 toward turntable 82 during pulling of the pullstring 28.

The bevel plate 118 is mounted for siding up and down, perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the turn- I an eyelet 124 on the bevel plate. When a child pulls the pull-string, friction between the string and the eyelet 124 causes the bevel plate 118 to move upwardly and therefore causes bevel members 120 to move selector plate 108 so that

stop

104, 106 move into the path of the latch stop 102A.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 9, as a child pulls the pull-string 28, the turntable rotates a fraction of a turn in reverse direction R until the latch stop 102A engages one of the selector stops 104, 106. The turntable then begins rotating the selector plate 108 and selector gear 110 in direction R. Such rotation of gear 110 resultsin pulling of the selector cord 34 in the direction of arrow 125. This is due to-the fact that the selector gear 110 is engaged with a selector pinion 126 rotatably mounted in body 12 on a shaft 128. A pulley 130 is carried by shaft 128 and rotates with selector cord 34 is fixed to pulley 130 and is wound thereon as the selector gear 110 rotates in direction R, thereby rotating pinion 126 and pulley 130 in the direction of arrow 132. This pulls the slide 62 of the object-engaging mechanism 30 in the direction of arrow 71 until the slide 62 is prevent from further rearward movement so that cord 34 cannot be wound any further onto pulley 130, and therefore the selector gear 110 cannot rotate any further in reverse. As a result, the selector stops 104, 106 are prevented from further reverse rotation and they prevent any further reverse rotation of the latch stop 102A and of the turntable and record. Thus, the position at which the record is stopped during reverse rotation depends upon how far back the slide 62 of the object-engaging mechanism can move.

The selector plate 108 could be provided with a single stop, such as the stop 104, instead of two

stops

104, 106. However, this would result in the same record track being played when a particular object was being held, instead of permitting either of two record tracks to be played. The phonograph 14 is constructed so that, if the same object is retained in the hand of thedoll while the phonograph is repeatedly operated, the two record tracks corresponding to the object will be alternately played. This is accomplished by choosing a length of the pull-string 28 so that the drum 96 rotates in the reverse direction by a whole number of revolutions plus approximately one-half revolution. Thus, if a child pulls out the string 28 as far as possible, and then releases it to permit forward turntable rotation during playing of the record, the turntable 82 normally will come to rest at a location wherein latch stop 102a will be in a position to engage a different one of the selector stops 104 or 106 than wasengaged during the previous playing.

- As best seen in FIG. 1, selector gear 110 carries a finger 134 engageable with fixed stops 136, 138 mounted in body 12 at locations lying 140 from each other. This permits gear 110 to rotate a maximum of 70 in each direction from the intermediate position shown in FIG. 1. The stops 66, 68 and 70 (FIG. 6) cause the selector system to bottom out before finger 134 engages either one of the stops 136, 138. However, when there is no object in position in aperture 26 (FIG. 4) finger 134 will engage one of the stops 136, 138 to position record 80 for the playing of a suitable recorded message. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that suitable stops could have been positioned in arm 16, in place of finger 134 and stops 136, 138, for controlling the situation where no pin is engaged in apertures 26. However, it is easier to hold tolerances by using finger 134 and stop 136, 138 than it would be to control tolerances through cable 34. Since gear never needs to rotate more than l40, it is feasible to use finger 134 and stops 136, I38 instead of using additional stops in arm 16.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the playback speed of phonograph 14 is controlled by a governor assembly (FIG. 2) having a rotor 142 journalled in a first hollow boss 144 provided in body 12 and in a second hollow boss 146 provided on the governor-housing portion 148 of a phonograph frame assembly 150. Rotor 142 is connected to turntable 82 by a belt 152 trained about a first groove 154 on turntable 82 and a second groove 156 on rotor 142. Tension in belt 152 may be controlled by an idler pulley 156 rotatably mounted in body 12 by a gusset plate 158.

Phonograph frame assembly includes a first end 160, which is secured to body 12 by a finger 162 which. in turn, is engaged in a hollow boss 164 provided in body 12, and a second end 166 secured to a boss 168 in body 12 by a finger 170. Frame assembly 150 carries tone arm stop 84B. tone arm 84 and a string guide 174 and also includes a bearing plate 176 journalling the end 828 of turntable spindle 828 above a string retainer 172. String retainer 172 includes a body portion 178, which rides on pulley 96, and a clip portion 180, which engages pull-string 28 to hold it in a proper position with respect to tone arm 84.

As best seen in FIGS. 2, 9 and 10, latch 102 is swingably mounted on an upstanding pin 182 in a cavity 184 formed by a hub 185 on turntable 82 and includes a curved body portion 186 having a pawl 188 biased by a spring 190 into engagement with a notched hub 192 on drum 96 for selective engagement with any one of three

notches

194, 196, 198 provided thereon. Latch 102 is maintained in position in cavity 184 by a washer 200 staked to turntable hub 185, as shown at 202 in FIG. 2. Spring 190 is mounted in slots 202, 204 (FIG. 10) formed in hub 185 and exerts only sufficient force to maintain drum 96 in coupled relation with turntable 82 for reverse rotation thereof until latch stop 102A engages one of the

stops

104, 106 whereupon pawl 188 is disengaged from hub 192 so that drum 96 may continue its reverse rotation under the influence of pullstring 28 until spring 90 is fully would while turntable 82 remains stationary. Latch 102 also includes a substantially straight portion 206 extending from the curved portion 186 through an opening 208 in hub 185 to a position over opening 82C in turntable 82. Latch stop 102A then depends from the free end of straight portion 206 and passes through turntable opening 82C, as previously described.

Thus, the invention provides a toy which can engage different objects and provide an output animation corresponding to the particular object which is engaged. In particular, a figure toy or doll is provided which can hold an object and whose animation is the playing of a recorded message corresponding to the object. so as to simulate intelligence in the doll. This is accomplished by providing objects with identifying posts of different lengths, and an'object-engaging mechanism with several elements spaced at different distances from an aperture through which a post is received. The particular elements that will engage the object are therefore determined by the length of the post. The recordedmessage player or phonograph can be constructed with more than one saying for each object, and with an apparatus for playing different sayings corresponding to the same object in sequence when the same object is being engaged during successive playings of the phonograph.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art and consequently it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. A figure toy comprising:

a body;

an arm on said body;

means on said arm for removably holding an object at a particular location on said arm;

' object-engaging means including an element mounted to be movable on said arm in a direction across said location so as to move against an object when one is held thereon by said holding means;

a recorded message player mounted in said body for playing a plurality of messages corresponding to different objects, said recorded messages corresponding to different objects, said recorded message player including a rotatable turntable with a record having a plurality of tracks defining said messages, said tracks having circumferentially spaced leadin portions, playing head means for playing the track whose leadin portion lies at a predetermined circumferential position when the turntable rotates in a predetermined forward direction, a spring for rotating the turntable in the forward direction, turntable stop means, and manually operable means for winding the spring and simultaneously urging the turntable and said stop means to rotate in reverse; and

selector means extending through said arm into said body and having opposite ends coupled to said object-engaging means and said recorded message player, for selecting a different message to be played when said object-engaging means moves to different positions on said arm, said selector means including selector stop means engageable by said turntable stop means to rotate said selector means with said turntable when the latter moves in reverse, and means coupling the selector stop means to said object-engaging means to move said engaging means against an object, so that when the object-engaging means is prevented from further movement by abutment of an object it prevents further reverse rotation of the selector and turntable stop means and of the turntable.

2. A figure toy comprising:

a body;

an arm on said body;

aperture means on said arm for removably holding an object at a particular location on said arm;

object-engaging means including a plurality of elements, each of said elements being provided with an aperture;

carrier means slidably mounted on said arm;

means slidably mounting said elements on said carrier means with said apertures normally aligned with said aperture means, each of said elements being individually movable by said carrier means in a direction across said location so as to move the aperture on a particular element out of alignment with said aperture means, said object-engaging means and said carrier means including stop means for stopping each of said elements at a predetermined, different position with respect to said aperture means when said elements are moved by said carrier means, whereby the position of said carrier means depends upon the cumulative positions of said elements; plurality of objects each including a post differing in length from the post on any other object, said posts being individually insertable into said aperture means and being adapted to extend through one or more of the element apertures, depending on the length of the particular post inserted into said apertures, whereby said posts will selectively block said elements for controlling the position to which said carrier means may be moved on said arm; a recorded message player mounted in said body for playing a plurality of messages corresponding to different objects; and selector means extending through said arm into said body and having opposite ends coupled to said carrier means and said recorded message player, for selecting a different message to be played when said carrier means moves to different positions on said arm.

3. In a toy, the combination comprising:

housing means including a wall having an aperture provided therein;

a carrier mechanism slidably mounted in said housing means, said carrier mechanism including first wall means; a plurality of elements mounted in said carrier mechanism, each of said elements having a stop provided thereon and an opening provided therein; means normally biasing said first wall means into engagement with said stops for urging each of said elements to a position where its opening is aligned with said aperture;

animating means for producing a plurality of output animations corresponding to different objects;

cable means connecting said animating means to said carrier mechanism for conditioning said animating means to produce a different output animation for each of several positions of said carrier mechanism;

a plurality of objects each having a post different in length from any other said posts, each of said posts being insertable in said aperture and being adapted to pass through one or more of said openings, depending upon the length of the particular post inserted into said aperture, whereby each post will block movement, relative to said housing wall, of any said element having an opening through which a post passes; and

second wall means provided on said carrier mechanism for engaging said stops on said elements, said second wall means and said stops on said elements being constructed and arranged relative to each other so that said carrier mechanism will be stopped at a different predetermined position for each blocked element.

Claims

1. A figure toy comprising: a body; an arm on said body; means on said arm for removably holding an object at a particular location on said arm; object-engaging means including an element mounted to be movable on said arm in a direction across said location so as to move against an object when one is held thereon by said holding means; a recorded message player mounted in said body for playing a plurality of messages corresponding to different objects, said recorded messages corresponding to different objects, said recorded message player including a rotatable turntable with a record having a plurality of tracks defining said messages, said tracks having circumferentially spaced leadin portions, playing head means for playing the track whose leadin portion lies at a predetermined circumferential position when the turntable rotates in a predetermined forward direction, a spring for rotating the turntable in the forward direction, turntable stop means, and manually operable means for winding the spring and simultaneously urging the turntable and said stop means to rotate in reverse; and selector means extending through said arm into said body and having opposite ends coupled to said object-engaging means and said recorded message player, for selecting A different message to be played when said object-engaging means moves to different positions on said arm, said selector means including selector stop means engageable by said turntable stop means to rotate said selector means with said turntable when the latter moves in reverse, and means coupling the selector stop means to said object-engaging means to move said engaging means against an object, so that when the object-engaging means is prevented from further movement by abutment of an object it prevents further reverse rotation of the selector and turntable stop means and of the turntable.

2. A figure toy comprising: a body; an arm on said body; aperture means on said arm for removably holding an object at a particular location on said arm; object-engaging means including a plurality of elements, each of said elements being provided with an aperture; carrier means slidably mounted on said arm; means slidably mounting said elements on said carrier means with said apertures normally aligned with said aperture means, each of said elements being individually movable by said carrier means in a direction across said location so as to move the aperture on a particular element out of alignment with said aperture means, said object-engaging means and said carrier means including stop means for stopping each of said elements at a predetermined, different position with respect to said aperture means when said elements are moved by said carrier means, whereby the position of said carrier means depends upon the cumulative positions of said elements; a plurality of objects each including a post differing in length from the post on any other object, said posts being individually insertable into said aperture means and being adapted to extend through one or more of the element apertures, depending on the length of the particular post inserted into said apertures, whereby said posts will selectively block said elements for controlling the position to which said carrier means may be moved on said arm; a recorded message player mounted in said body for playing a plurality of messages corresponding to different objects; and selector means extending through said arm into said body and having opposite ends coupled to said carrier means and said recorded message player, for selecting a different message to be played when said carrier means moves to different positions on said arm.

3. In a toy, the combination comprising: housing means including a wall having an aperture provided therein; a carrier mechanism slidably mounted in said housing means, said carrier mechanism including first wall means; a plurality of elements mounted in said carrier mechanism, each of said elements having a stop provided thereon and an opening provided therein; means normally biasing said first wall means into engagement with said stops for urging each of said elements to a position where its opening is aligned with said aperture; animating means for producing a plurality of output animations corresponding to different objects; cable means connecting said animating means to said carrier mechanism for conditioning said animating means to produce a different output animation for each of several positions of said carrier mechanism; a plurality of objects each having a post different in length from any other said posts, each of said posts being insertable in said aperture and being adapted to pass through one or more of said openings, depending upon the length of the particular post inserted into said aperture, whereby each post will block movement, relative to said housing wall, of any said element having an opening through which a post passes; and second wall means provided on said carrier mechanism for engaging said stops on said elements, said second wall means and said stops on said elements being constructed and arranged relative to each other so that said carrier mechanism will be stopped at a different predetermineD position for each blocked element.