Doll capable of walking with unsteady steps and with falling and upright recovery motions

The mechanism comprises an electric motor 12 capable of rotating in two directions and transmitting rotational movement through an endless belt 14 and two reducer trains 15, 16 to a clutch assembly 17 comprising a center drive wheel 18 and two driven wheels or pinions 19, 20, one on each side, which rotate in a mutually excluding manner depending on the rotational direction of drive wheel 18, its facing side surfaces presenting saw teeth 21, 22 of an appropriate configuration. When the mechanism is activated by removing the pacifier 5 from the doll's mouth, a first phase is executed, consisting in an unsteady walking motion generated by eccentric discs 25 and connecting rods 26, 27; after a specified time has elapsed, this passes on to a second phase consisting in a fall and subsequent upright recovery of the doll, driven by a central wheel 32. FIG. 7.

DESCRIPTION 
The object of the present invention consists in a mechanism for a doll that 
walks with unsteady steps and is provided with falling and upright 
recovery motions. 
This invention applies to the toy industry, specifically to dolls and toy 
figures, and to the internal moving mechanisms thereof. 
Movement of the doll starts when the pacifier is removed from the doll's 
mouth, in an initial phase in which the doll advance with unsteady steps 
while emitting a babbling sound. 
If at this moment the doll is held by both hands, the babbling noise turns 
to laughter while the doll continues to advance indefinitely with its 
unsteady walking motion. 
If one or both arms are released, after a time the doll stimulates a 
falling position by lowering its arms and resting them on the floor while 
tilting the trunk forwards. When the hands touch the floor, the arms seem 
to yield towards the front while the legs open, both at the same time, one 
towards the front and the other towards the rear. Simultaneous to this 
falling operation, the head lifts backwards so that the direction of the 
eyes is maintained substantially forwards. Finally, the overall movement 
is reversed and the doll manages to stand up. During the whole of this 
second phase of the movement, the doll calls for its mom. 
In order to achieve these complex movements, the doll is fitted with a 
mechanism installed in the trunk and driven by a small electric motor fed 
from batteries installed inside the shoes. The electric motor is able to 
drive, in both rotation directions, a clutch assembly comprising a central 
drive wheel and two side-driven wheels or pinions, one on each side, which 
rotate in a mutually excluding manner depending on the rotation direction 
of the drive wheel, in view that its laterally facing surfaces are fitted 
with saw teeth of an appropriate design. 
Thus, when the electric motor and the clutch assembly rotate in a first 
direction, this produces the previously described movement of the first 
phase as a result of the rotation of both opposite eccentric discs 
attached to two free connecting rods which consequently receive a 
substantially vertical reciprocating movement which is in turn transmitted 
to the legs through an intermediate auxiliary fork to provide the unsteady 
walking motion. 
When the timer-driven electric motor and clutch assembly rotate in a second 
direction, this generates the previously described second phase movements 
via an arm rotating wheel fitted with a side face channel in which is 
inserted a stub attached to a sliding rack along the diameter of the 
wheel. This rack in turn meshes with a coaxial pinion integral to the arm 
rotating shaft to produce arm movement. Parallel to this movement, a 
central wheel presenting respective channels on its sides for lodging the 
stubs fitted on two oscillating levers located one on each side of the 
central wheel and hinged at a point adjacent the doll's shoulders is 
turning. Each oscillating lever ends, at a lower part thereof, farthest 
from the oscillating shaft, in an oscillating toothed sector which meshes 
with a toothed circular sector joined in rotating fashion to a respective 
leg, although allowing for diametrical oscillation of same. This enables 
relative movement between the trunk and the legs, thereby achieving an 
absolute movement for the trunk or the legs as a function of the 
convenient immobilized condition of the other element. These movements are 
performed with a great deal of precision, smoothness and realism, deriving 
from the channel-stub coupling, and may be different for each leg in view 
that each has its own associated central wheel side channel. Furthermore, 
an outward movement of the legs is achieved, simultaneous to the rotation 
of the legs, as a result of the joint axes being substantially outward and 
downwards, as opposed to horizontally, oriented.

In the above figures, the numerical references correspond to the following 
parts and elements: 
1. Trunk 
2. Arms 
3. Legs 
4. Head 
5. Pacifier 
6. Arm shaft 
7. Leg joints 
8. Head fork 
9. Head fork protrusions 
10. Head spring 
11. Leg springs 
12. Electric motor 
13. Motor pulley 
14. Endless belt 
15. First reducer train 
16. Second reducer train 
17. Clutch assembly 
18. Drive wheel 
19. 1st phase driven wheel 
20. 2nd phase driven wheel 
21. 1st phase saw teeth 
22. 2nd phase saw teeth 
23. 1st phase shaft pinion 
24. 1st phase shaft 
25. Opposite eccentric discs 
26. Free connecting rod, left 
27. Free connecting rod, right 
28. 2nd phase shaft wheel 
29. 2nd phase shaft 
30. First 2nd phase pinion 
31. Second 2nd phase pinion 
32. Central wheel 
33. Arm wheel 
34. Arm channel 
35. Arm wheel shaft 
36. Rack stub 
37. Rack 
38. Arm pinion 
39. Rack grooves 
40. Trunk channel 
41. Trunk stub 
42. Oscillating lever 
43. Oscillating SHAFT 
44. Shoes 
45. Batteries 
46. Rectangular sliding zone 
47. Rectangular routing 
48. Screws 
49. Joint support 
50. Leg attachment stubs 
51. Joint bearing 
52. Circular toothed sector 
53. Leg stubs 
54. Leg forks 
55. Fork shaft 
56. Connecting rod stubs 
57. Head cam 
58. Indentations 
59. Driven stub 
60. Head auxiliary lever 
61. Head stub 
62. Head fork groove 
63. Sound device 
64. Stop microswitch 
65. Clutch spring 
66. Oscillating toothed sector 
67. Inner spring 
68. Leg spring support 
69. Hand switch 
70. Oscillating lever groove 
As shown in FIG. 1, the doll that is the object of the invention comprises 
a trunk 1 with jointed arms 2 and legs 3 capable of moving in response to 
orders from the internal mechanism. The head 4 moves in a front-to-rear 
direction, accompanying the movement of the trunk, as described further 
on, and may be rotated by hand to any desired lateral position. A pacifier 
5 activates the internal mechanism when removed from the doll's mouth. 
FIG. 4 shows the internal mechanism in the trunk 1 of the doll that is the 
object of the invention, the arms 2 being jointed over an arm shaft 6 and 
the legs 3 over respective leg joints 7. The head 4 is mounted on a head 
fork 8 that rotates over two fork protrusions 9 integral to the doll's 
trunk 1. A head spring 10 attaches the head 4 to the trunk 1 to provide it 
with improved smoothness of motion while a leg spring 11 partially 
balances the weight of the trunk 1 when the trunk is in a horizontal 
position. 
As can be seen in FIGS. 5, 6, 7, the trunk 1 is fitted with an electric 
motor 12, the motor pulley 13 of which couples onto an endless belt 14. 
The belt moves a set of reducer trains 15 and 16 which transmit movement 
to the clutch assembly 17, composed of a drive wheel 18, a driven wheel 19 
and a driven pinion 20 located one on each side of and coaxial to the 
drive wheel 18 which provides motion through facing front sides having 
respective surfaces in the form of associated saw tooth 21 and 22. 
It is evident that even though the cut of saw teeth 21 and 22 is the same, 
each driven wheel and pinion 19, 20 can be rotated only in opposite 
directions in respect to drive wheel 18. As a result of this, and 
depending on the rotation direction of the motor 12, which may be reversed 
by merely inverting the polarity of the electric supply, the first phase 
driven wheel 19 or the second phase driven pinion 20 are made to rotate. 
Meshed with the first phase driven wheel 19, the mechanism presents a first 
phase shaft pinion 23, the integral shaft 24 of which drives two opposite 
eccentric discs 25. Onto these discs are attached respective free 
connecting rods 26, 27; upon rotation of the first phase shaft 24 and the 
associated opposite eccentric discs 25, reciprocating vertical movement of 
the free connecting rods 26, 27 is generated. Furthermore, and meshing 
with second phase driven pinion 20, the mechanism presents a second phase 
shaft wheel 28 integral to the second phase shaft 29 bearing two 
integrally rotating second phase pinions 30, 31. 
The first 2nd phase pinion 30 meshes with a toothed arm wheel 33 with an 
arm channel 34 on its front face placed at a variable distance from shaft 
35 of arm wheel 33 (see FIGS. 7 and 10). In this arm channel 34 is 
inserted a stub 36 of a rack 37 which meshes with an arm pinion 38 coaxial 
and integral to arm shaft 6 and to arm 2 (for the purpose of clarity, FIG. 
7 shows an exploded view of rack 37 and arm 2). For a 360.degree. rotation 
of the arm wheel 33, the rack 37 performs a reciprocating linear movement 
in the direction of the arrow, thereby providing oscillating rotation to 
arm pinion 38, and consequently to both arms 2. The linear movement of 
rack 37 derives from the fact that the rack's movement is limited by the 
arm shaft 6 and the arm wheel shaft 35 which cross the rack 37 along 
respective aligned rack grooves 39 (see FIG. 10). 
Furthermore, and referring to FIGS. 7, 11 and 12, the second 2nd phase 
pinion 31 meshes with central wheel 32 which rotates freely around arm 
shaft 6. This central wheel 32 presents, on each of its faces, a trunk 
channel 40 placed at a variable distance from arm shaft 6, into which 
channel is inserted the trunk stub 41 of oscillating lever 42 that is 
hinged onto an oscillating shaft 43 fixed to the doll's trunk 1 and is 
provided with a groove 70 allowing the arm shaft 6 to pass. 
Referring to FIGS. 8, 9, 15 and 16, the doll's legs 3 finish at their lower 
end in a shoe 44 containing batteries 45 for electrically driving the 
doll's mechanism. The doll's overall center of gravity is thus lowered, 
improving the doll's stability and enabling it to raise itself back to an 
upright position. The upper end of the doll's legs 3 finish in a sliding 
zone 46 having the general form of a rectangular section plate strongly 
angled towards the exterior. This rectangular sliding zone 46 can move 
freely in an axial direction in view that it is housed in a rectangular 
routing 47 lodging the leg joints 7. In this manner, the leg 3 can rotate 
when driven by leg joints 7 and can furthermore slide in both directions 
of the leg joint 7 diameter. The legs 3 can thus move in a vertical 
directions when a leg stub 53 is acted on by a leg fork 54 which, being 
hinged to a fork shaft 55 attached to trunk 1, receives an oscillating 
movement through stubs 56 in the free connecting rods 26 and 27. When the 
trunk 1 is fully flexed, the leg stub 53 is located outside the leg fork 
54, and therefore the position of leg 3 is defined axially by the action 
of an inner spring 67 which presses the support 68 of leg joint 7 and acts 
downwards on the sliding zone 46 of leg 3. 
Leg joint 7, housing the sliding zone 46 of leg 3 in its rectangular 
routing 47, is mounted by means of two screws 48 on a joint support 49 
fitted with two attachment stubs 50 which penetrate in the corresponding 
holes in leg joint 7 and guarantee an exact angular positioning of the 
joint and consequently of the leg. 
Finally, joint support 49, capable of rotating freely inside a joint 
bearing 51 attached to trunk 1, presents a circular toothed sector 52 
which meshes with a toothed sector fitted on oscillating lever 42 (see 
FIGS. 11 and 16). 
Arm shaft 6 carries a freely rotating head cam 57 which is moved by the 
central wheel 32 through indentations 58 in the facing surfaces of both 
parts. This head cam 57 acts on a driven stub 59 in a head auxiliary lever 
60 hinged over an inner projection of head fork protrusions 9, enabling 
the head 4 to move when acted upon by head stub 61 in groove 62 of head 
fork 8 (see FIGS. 17 and 18). 
Trunk 1 is fitted with a sound emitting device 63 and a microswitch 64 
activated by central wheel 32. 
Operation of the mechanism is as follows: 
When the pacifier 5 is removed from the doll's head 4, the electric motor 
12 is activated by batteries 45. Movement is transmitted through motor 
pulley 13, endless belt 14, first reducer train 15 and second reducer 
train 16 up to drive wheel 18 of clutch assembly 17. Rotation of drive 
wheel 18 is counter-clockwise (as viewed in FIG. 5), causing the first 
phase driven wheel 19 to move by the action of the first phase saw tooth 
21 (see FIG. 7). It is apparent that second phase saw teeth 22 work in the 
direction of the slanting surfaces, so that the second phase driven pinion 
20 is not pulled in view that the overall assembly is offset towards the 
left, thereby pressing the clutch spring 65. As a result of this, the 
first phase shaft pinion 23 rotates, carrying with it the first phase 
shaft 24 and the opposite eccentrics discs 25, generating the vertical 
reciprocating movement of the free connecting rods 26, 27. Each of these 
free connecting rods 26, 27 is fitted with a free connecting rod stub 56 
which transmits reciprocating movement to leg fork 54 which, upon securing 
leg stub 53, conveys a vertical reciprocating movement to leg 3 in respect 
to the doll's trunk 1 and thus simulates an unsteady walking motion (see 
FIGS. 8 and 9). 
If in this situation both hands of the doll are held simultaneously in an 
attitude of helping the doll to walk, the electric switches 69 are 
activated inside the flexible hands, so that this first phase of the 
doll's movement is maintained indefinitely and without further variation, 
save for the sound emitted by the doll, which turns from a babbling noise 
to one of laughter expressing happiness. The sound device 63 is attached 
to the rear portion of trunk 1, as can be seen in FIG. 4. This device may 
correspond to any of the known types found in the market; we shall not 
describe its electrical connections to the various elements in view that 
these may be easily understood by any expert on the subject. 
If the doll's hands are released, the doll continues to walk for some time 
with its unsteady gait and babbling noise, while a conventional timer is 
activated which after a specified period of time reverses the rotation of 
electric motor 12 and thus starts the second phase of the doll's movement. 
In this second phase, in which the doll simulates a falling and recovery 
movement, the babbling becomes a call for its mom while the trunk acquires 
a tilting stance, the legs become separated and the arms lowered and ready 
to rest on the floor. These movements are achieved through the rotation of 
motor 12 in the direction opposite that of the first phase, transmitted 
through motor pulley 13, endless belt 14, first reducer train 15, second 
reducer train 16 and drive wheel 18 in clutch assembly 17. Since the drive 
wheel 18 is now rotating clockwise, as can be seen in FIG. 5, the second 
phase driven pinion 20 is driven by the second phase saw teeth 22 and the 
first phase driven wheel 19 rotation stops, the wheel moving to the right 
and pressing the clutch spring 65 as it is pushed by the movement of the 
first phase saw teeth 21. In this manner, the second phase shaft wheel 28 
and the first and second 2nd phase pinions 30, 31 rotate together with 
common second phase shaft 29. 
As shown in FIG. 10, the first 2nd phase pinion 30 moves the arms 2 via arm 
wheel 33, arm channel 34, rack stub 36, rack 37 and arm pinion 38, with 
arm channel 34 presenting an appropriate configuration designed to achieve 
the desired coordination of arms movement and simultaneous trunk and legs 
movement. 
As shown in FIGS. 11, 12, 13 and 14, the second 2nd phase pinion 31 
generates the initial forward movement of the trunk, up to a point where 
the arms rest on the floor, as shown in FIG. 13. This is achieved by the 
rotation of central wheel 32, the trunk channel 40 of which pulls the 
trunk stub 41 and with it the oscillating lever 42 which rotates around 
its oscillating shaft 43. The oscillating toothed sector 66 at the end of 
oscillating lever 42 thus varies its relative position in respect to the 
toothed circular sector 52 that is rotatingly attached to the legs 3; in 
view that the legs are unable to move because of the weight of the 
batteries 45 inside the shoes 44 and the leg's resting position on the 
floor, the whole of the doll's trunk 1 tilts forwards (see sequence in 
FIGS. 12 and 13). 
Once the arms 2 are resting on the floor, the doll's trunk 1 is unable to 
continue its lowering motion, so that, as the relative movement of 
oscillating toothed sector 66 and circular toothed sector 52 continues, 
this will necessarily cause the legs to move. Turning now to FIG. 14, 
corresponding to the doll's lowest falling stance, we see that several 
position changes have occurred in respect to FIG. 13. 
Arms 2 are raised in respect to trunk 1. However, since they continue to 
rest on the floor, the effect allows for greater absolute tilting on the 
doll's trunk 1, thus conveying the impression that, in the fall, the arms 
have given way after resting on the floor. 
Since each leg is fitted with an oscillating lever 42 with a trunk stub 41 
drawn by the different trunk channels 40 in each face of central wheel 32, 
a relative movement between both legs 3 can be achieved--up to the 
position shown in FIG. 13, the legs must remain static and free of 
relative movement between one another. Thus, as can be seen in FIG. 14, 
the doll's left leg moves forwards as opposed to the right leg, providing 
a feeling that it is moving outward in view that the leg rotation axes are 
not horizontal but directed downwards and outwards, as can be seen in FIG. 
6. 
In this manner, and through a single movement of the mechanism consisting 
in a change of the relative position of the oscillating toothed sector 66 
in respect to the circular toothed sector 52, three apparent movements are 
achieved. 
a) Forward tilting of the trunk. 
b) Opening of the legs 3 towards the exterior. 
c) Separation of the legs 3, one towards the front and the other towards 
the rear. 
When the doll reaches the maximum falling position shown in FIG. 14, the 
movement proceeds in reverse and achieves a first raised condition of 
trunk 1 by rotating arms 2 downwards to rest on the floor, followed by a 
mutual drawing near of the legs 3 and finally raising the trunk 1 when the 
shoes 44 are firmly resting on the floor. During this last raising 
movement of the trunk 1, the head, which had moved backwards during the 
fall, gradually returns to its natural position designed to maintain the 
doll's balance, in a manner similar to the actual raising movement it 
simulates. At this moment, the arm wheel 33 and the central wheel 32 have 
ended their cycle after a 360.degree. turn and the latter activates a stop 
microswitch 64 which cuts the electric supply to the motor 12, stops the 
second phase of the movement and activates a second timer which, after a 
specified time, once again connects motor 12 in reverse and again 
activates the unsteady walking of the first phase of the movement. These 
subsequent cycles between the first and the second movement phases cease 
only when the pacifier 5 is inserted in the doll's mouth.