Motion toy

A motion toy, which includes a toy body, and a power drive unit, the toy body having a front body shell and a rear body shell fastened together, two arms coupled to the body shells at two opposite lateral sides, a head pivotably mounted in the body shells at a top side by a pivot and coupled to the arms, two feet, and two legs coupled between the body shells and the feet, wherein two elongated links are coupled between the arms and a rocker, which is turned back and forth about a pivot between the body shells by a center gear of the power drive unit, for enabling the arms to be synchronously turned back and forth when the legs are moved back and forth by the center gear of the power drive unit relative to the feet, and two Z-shaped links are coupled between the arms and a bottom coupling rod at the head for enabling the head to be oscillated upon the motion of the arms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention relates to toys, and more particularly to a motion
 toy which comprises a toy body, and a power drive unit installed in the
 toy body and controlled to turn the head, arms and legs of the toy body.
 A variety of motion toys have been disclosed, and have appeared on the
 market. These motion toys commonly use a reversible motor to turn a set of
 gears and an eccentric rod or wheel, so as to move movable parts of the
 toy body. The driving mechanisms for the conventional motion toys are
 commonly complicated and expensive. Further, the motion of the movable
 parts of the toy body are unstable. FIGS. 8 and 9 show another structure
 of motion toy, which is an invention of the present inventor, and was
 patented in Taiwan under Patent No. 334837 issued on Jun. 21, 1998. The
 power drive unit of this structure of motion toy comprises a reversible
 motor, a drive gear securely mounted on the output shaft of the reversible
 motor, two main sector gears and four auxiliary sector gears respectively
 mounted in the legs and the front and rear body shells of the toy body and
 meshed with the drive gear for enabling the legs to be turned leftwards
 and rightwards alternatively. This structure of motion toy is designed to
 let the legs be turned leftward and rightwards relative to the body
 shells. Because the arms of the motion toy are not relatively turned when
 the legs are moved by the power drive unit, the motion of this structure
 of motion toy is less attractive.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 According to one aspect of the present invention, the motion toy comprises
 a toy body, the toy body comprising a front body shell and a rear body
 shell fastened together, two arms coupled to the body shells at two
 opposite lateral sides, a head pivotably mounted in the body shells at a
 top side by pivot means and coupled to the arms, two feet, and two legs
 coupled between the body shells and the feet, an a power drive unit
 controlled to turn the arms, legs and head of the toy body, wherein two
 elongated links are coupled between the arms and a pivot at a rocker,
 which is turned back and forth about a pivot between the body shells by a
 center gear of the power drive unit, for enabling the arms to be
 synchronously turned back and forth when the legs are moved back and forth
 by the center gear of the power drive unit relative to the feet. According
 to another aspect of the present invention, two Z-shaped links are coupled
 between the arms and a bottom coupling rod at the head, for enabling the
 head to be oscillated upon the motion of the arms. According to still
 another aspect of the present invention, the elongated links which are
 coupled between the rocker and the arms each comprise a respective hooked
 middle part connected to each other by spring means, a first elongated
 sliding slot at one end coupled to the pivot at the rocker, and a second
 elongated sliding slot at an opposite end coupled to a respective coupling
 rod at one of the arms. According to still another aspect of the present
 invention, the Z-shaped links which are coupled between the arms and the
 coupling rod at the head each comprise a respective hooked middle part
 connected to each other by spring means, a first elongated sliding slot at
 one end coupled to a respective coupling rod at one of the arms, and a
 second elongated sliding slot at an opposite end coupled to the coupling
 rod at the head.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
 Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a motion toy in accordance with the present
 invention is generally comprised of a toy body 1, a power drive unit 2,
 and a plurality of pivots 3.
 The toy body 1 comprises a head 11, a front body shell 12, a rear body
 shell 13, two arms 14, two legs 15, and two feet 16. The head 11 comprises
 a pivot hole 111 near its bottom side pivotably connected between a top
 pivot hole 123 at the front body shell 12 and a top pivot hole 131 at the
 rear body shell 13 by a pivot 3, and a coupling rod 112 downwardly
 extended from its bottom side. The coupling rod 112 is coupled to the arms
 14 by two Z-shaped links 113. The Z-shaped links 113 each comprise a first
 elongated sliding slot 1131 at one end, a second elongated sliding slot
 1132 at an opposite end, and a hook 1133 on the middle. The second
 elongated sliding slots 1132 of the Z-shaped links 113 are respectively
 coupled to the coupling rod 112 of the head 11 by one pivot 3. The first
 elongated sliding slots 1131 of the Z-shaped links 113 are respectively
 coupled to the arms 14. A spring 114 is connected between the hooks 1133
 at the Z-shaped links 113 to pull the Z-shaped links 113 toward each
 other. The arms 14 each comprise a fixed ball 141 at one end, two coupling
 rods 143 raised from the fixed ball 131 and arranged in parallel, and an
 axle 142 extended across the fixed ball 141. The axle 142 at the fixed
 ball 141 of each arm 14 is coupled between a respective sliding groove 122
 at the front body shell 12 and a respective axle supporting plate 132 at
 the rear body shell 13. One of the coupling rods 143 at the fixed ball 141
 of each arm 14 is respectively coupled to the first elongated sliding
 slots 1131 at the Z-shaped link 113. The other of the coupling rods 143 at
 the fixed ball 141 of each arm 14 is respectively coupled to two elongated
 links 27. The elongated links 27 each comprise a first elongated sliding
 slot 271 at one end, a second elongated sliding slot 272 at an opposite
 end, and a hook 273 on the middle. A spring 28 is connected between the
 hooks 273 at the elongated links 27 to pull the links 27 toward each
 other. The second sliding slots 272 of the elongated slinks 27 are
 respectively coupled to one of the coupling rods 143 at the fixed ball 141
 of each arm 14. The first elongated sliding slots 271 of the elongated
 links 27 are respectively pivoted to a rocker 26 of the power drive unit
 2. The rocker 26 is turned about a pivot 3 at a base frame 21 of the power
 drive unit 2, having a top end pivotably coupled to the first elongated
 sliding slots 271 at the elongated links 27, and a bottom end formed with
 a smoothly arch rack meshed with a center gear 25 of the power drive unit
 2. The axle 142 at the fixed ball 141 of each arm 14 is coupled between a
 respective sliding groove 122 at the front body shell 12 and a respective
 axle supporting plate 132 at the rear body shell 13. The center gear 25 is
 turned about one pivot 3 near the bottom side of the base frame 21. A
 speaker 29 is mounted in a perforated speaker seat 121 inside the front
 body shell 12. The power drive unit 2 further comprises a reversible motor
 22 mounted in the base frame 21, a belt transmission mechanism 23, a
 transmission gear 24 meshed with the center gear 25 and coupled to the
 motor 22 by the belt transmission mechanism 23. The legs 15 are
 respectively pivoted to the feet 16 by a respective pivot 3. Each of the
 legs 15 comprises a sector-like rack 1511 disposed at the top and meshed
 with the center gear 25, and a shaft 151 formed integral with the
 sector-like rack 1511 and pivotably coupled between the front body shell
 12 and the rear body shell 13 by a respective pivot 3.
 Referring to FIGS. from 3 through 5 and FIGS. 1 and 2 again, the reversible
 motor 22 is controlled by a control circuit (not shown) to turn the belt
 transmission mechanism 23 alternatively forwards and backwards, causing
 the center gear 25 to be rotated by the transmission gear 24 clockwise and
 counter-clockwise alternatively. Because the center gear 25 is meshed with
 the sector-like racks 1511 at the legs 15 and the smoothly arched rack at
 the rocker 26, rotating the center gear 25 causes the legs 15 and the
 rocker 26 to be oscillated. When the sector-like racks 1511 of the legs 15
 are moved back and forth by the center gear 25, the legs 15 are
 synchronously bent rightwards and leftwards relative to the feet 16 and
 the body shells 12 and 13. During the motion of the legs, the rocker 26 is
 driven to move the elongated links 27, thereby causing the arms 14 to be
 turned back and forth. Because the fixed balls 141 of the arms 14 are
 coupled to the coupling rod 112 at the head 11 through the Z-shaped links
 113, the head 11 is oscillated reversed to the body shells 12 and 13
 during the motion of the rocker 26.
 Referring to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 again, as indicated above, when the power
 drive unit 1 is operated, the legs 15, the body shells 12 and 13, the arms
 14, and the head 11 are respectively moved back and forth, simulating the
 dancing of a person. Further, because a spring 114 or 28 is provided to
 pull the links 113 or 27 toward each other, the links 113 or 27 are
 automatically returned after each outward movement. Therefore, the links
 113 or 27 can be smoothly moved relative to each other.
 Referring to FIGS. 2, 4 and 5 again, the pitch between the shafts 151 at
 the legs 15 can be narrower than the pitch between the pivots 3, which
 couple the legs 15 to the feet 16.
 While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and
 described, it will be understood that various modifications and changes
 could be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the
 invention disclosed.