Moving and dancing doll

A doll (10) that dances by reciprocating a hip portion (20) and that simultaneously moves along a surface (S) in a generally curving path. The doll has a base (40) with a drive wheel assembly (70) and a crank (55) that reciprocates the hip portion (20). Preferably, the doll (10) also has sound emitting means (110).

DESCRIPTION 
1. Technical Field 
This invention relates to a doll that moves along a surface and dances. 
Preferably, the doll moves along the surface in a generally curving path. 
2. Background Art 
There has been a long felt need to make dolls that dance in a lifelike 
manner. Many patents have been issued for dolls that dance, usually by 
reciprocating their hips. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,485 to Strauss discloses a motor driven support 
representing a boat, vehicle or other object upon which is mounted a 
figure arranged to dance or jig while the support is in motion. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,775 to Kim discloses a dancing hula doll that 
alternatively moves its hips left and right and rotates on a stationary 
base while playing music. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,764 to Yeu discloses a dancing doll with hip movement 
using a cranking shaft to move an actuator up and down in a bracket, which 
in turn moves an actuator rod. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,787,999 to Ayton discloses a device for receiving a doll's 
feet and reciprocating them which includes a wheel that is swiveled by a 
mounting ring that can be grasped and pushed to move the device over a 
supporting surface. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,430,811 to Johnson discloses a doll having movable limbs to 
be used in connection with the operation of phonographs. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,516 to Ensmann discloses a toy doll to simulate the 
skating movements of an ice skater which is positioned on a stand where 
movement of the stand will cause the torso to pivot about one leg. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,482 to Sapkus discloses a doll that simulates roller 
skating having a motor in each leg to drive the roller skates. 
U.S Pat. No. 3,984,939 to Wolgamot discloses a toy automobile having a 
figure detachably attached thereto and a skid inducing wheel. 
U.S. Pat. No. 1,422,855 to Haskell discloses a shimmy doll having a wind up 
motor that operates a shaker bar to agitate a skirt sideways. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,886 to Sung discloses a hula doll that sways from right 
to left about a pivot point in a stationary interior upper torso portion, 
oscillates slowly clockwise and counter clockwise about a vertical axis 
and has arms that wave up and down in opposite directions and also 
includes a sound emitting device. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,432 to Yeu discloses a doll simulating a drummer that 
appears to beat a drum with its hands and rotate its head, while a melody 
is playing. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,285 to Yeu discloses a hula doll with a three position 
switch that moves its hips left and right while turning counter clockwise 
and that generates a Hawaiian melody. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,824,416 to Chun-Hoi discloses two dancing keiki dolls in 
which one of the dolls shakes its hips left and right while the other 
simultaneously moves its legs towards and away from each other. 
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 294,057 to Kim, U.S. Des. Pat. No. 315,933 to Sung, 
Copyright Registration VAu 67-029 to J. H. Upsun, Co., Ltd. and Copyright 
Registration VA 245-560 disclose ornamental designs for hula dolls. 
Except for the patent to Strauss, all of the dancing dolls disclosed by the 
foregoing patents remain stationary on a surface while dancing, although 
some rotate while remaining in a fixed location on that surface. However, 
it is well known that real dancers do not remain stationary while dancing, 
but rather move along a surface, usually the floor. Strauss requires an 
additional device, such as a boat or other vehicle, which prevents the 
doll from having the realistic appearance of a person dancing on a 
surface. The skating dolls disclosed by the foregoing patents do not dance 
by moving their hips. 
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a doll that both 
dances and moves along a surface to provide a more realistic simulation of 
a real dancer. 
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION 
The doll of this invention comprises a base, base moving means operatively 
connected to the base for moving the base along a surface, a hip portion 
reciprocatably supported above the base and hip reciprocating means 
operatively connected to the hip portion for reciprocating the hip 
portion. Preferably the base moving means and hip reciprocating means are 
driven by an electric motor through base movement reduction means and hip 
reciprocation reduction means to obtain reciprocation of the hip portion 
and movement of the base at desired speeds. Preferably the hip portion 
resembles the hip portion of a human and the doll also includes an upper 
portion supported above the hip portion that resembles the torso of a 
human, with a head and arms movably attached. Preferably, also, sound 
emitting means are provided in the base for emitting sounds while the doll 
is in operation, preferably music. Preferably the base moving means moves 
the base in a generally curving path and away from any obstacles it might 
encounter while moving along the surface. Preferably, also, the hip 
reciprocating means comprises a transmission member connected to a crank 
at one end and to the hip portion at the other end. 
Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will 
become more fully apparent from the following detailed description of a 
presently preferred embodiment for carrying out the invention, the claims 
and the accompanying drawings.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT INVENTION 
The best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the present invention 
is illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 1-4. 
Referring to FIG. 1, shown is a front perspective view of a doll 10 
according to the present invention having clothing 12 covering a hip 
portion 20 and a base 40. The base 40 preferably is in the shape of a 
truncated cone. A support member 50 is mounted on top of the base 40 and 
the hip portion 20 is reciprocatably mounted above the base by being 
pivotably attached at an intermediate part of the support member 50 at 
pivot point 54. An upper body portion 60 resembling the torso of a human 
is attached to the top of the support member 50. A head portion 66 
resembling the head and neck of a human, and two arms 62 and 64 are 
attached to the upper body portion. Preferably the arms 62 and 64 and the 
head 66 are movably attached to allow a variety of poses. The arrow H 
generally designates the reciprocating motion of the hip portion 20 
transverse to the support member 50. 
The base 40 preferably includes a drive wheel assembly 70 (shown generally 
in a cut away view) and two support wheels 92 and 94 (thus defining a 
triangle with the drive wheel assembly 70) that allow the base 40 to move 
along a surface S in the manner generally indicated by the arrow M, thus 
following a generally curving path. 
Preferably the base 40 also is provided with conventional sound emitting 
means (generally designated as 110) for emitting sound, preferably music, 
while the doll is in operation. Such sound emitting means could include an 
integrated circuit chip (IC chip) connected to a speaker, as taught, for 
example, by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,545,775 to Kim, 4,801,285, 4,778,432, and 
4,676,764 to Yeu and 4,875,886 to Sung, all of which are incorporated 
herein by reference. 
The doll 10 preferably includes a conventional slide switch 120 and a 
conventional battery compartment 130 in the bottom 140 of the base 40. 
Referring to FIG. 2, generally shown is the hip reciprocating means. The 
hip portion 20 is reciprocatably supported above the base 40 by being 
pivotably attached at pivot point 54, as noted above. A crank 55 in the 
base 40 is driven into rotation by a motor through hip reciprocation 
reduction means (see FIG. 3) and the rotational motion of the crank 55 is 
transmitted to the hip portion 20 by transmission member 57 which is 
rotatably attached to the crank 55 at a crank end 58 and rotatably 
attached to one end of the hip portion 20 at a hip end 59. Thus, the 
rotational movement of the crank 55 causes the hip portion 20 to 
reciprocate. 
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, shown is the presently preferred embodiment of 
the base moving means, base movement reduction means, hip reciprocating 
means and hip reciprocation reduction means, with the base 40 and other 
supporting structure (which is conventional in any event) omitted for 
clarity. 
Preferably the base moving means and hip reciprocating means are driven by 
a single conventional electric motor 72 that rotates a shaft 74 (although 
separate motors could obviously be employed). However, the rotational 
speed of a conventional electric motor 72 is usually too high for a 
dancing doll, and therefore the rotational speed of the electric motor's 
shaft 74 must be reduced to obtain reciprocating motion of the hip portion 
20 at the desired speed and generally curving motion of the base 40 at the 
desired speed. Thus, base movement reduction means and hip reciprocation 
reduction means that reduce the rotational speed of the electric motor's 
shaft 74 are operably connected between the shaft 74 of the electric motor 
72 and the hip reciprocating means (crank 55 and transmission member 57) 
and the base moving means (drive wheel assembly 70). 
Although any base movement reduction means for driving the base moving 
means at the desired speed and any hip reciprocation reduction means for 
driving the hip reciprocating means at the desired speed (as well as any 
base moving means and any hip reciprocating means) can be used, described 
is the presently preferred embodiment of such reduction means (and such 
moving and reciprocating means). The described embodiment is preferred 
because it minimizes the number of parts necessary to simultaneously 
perform the desired functions of reducing the rotational speed of the 
shaft 74 of the electric motor 72 to the desired speed, translating that 
reduced rotational speed into reciprocating motion of the hip portion 20, 
and transmitting that reduced rotational speed to the drive wheel assembly 
70. However, the following description is deemed to encompass any 
equivalents of the disclosed means (such as pulleys and belts or different 
combinations of gears) that would be recognized by a person of ordinary 
skill in the art. 
A motor spur gear 76 is preferably mounted on the shaft 74 of the electric 
motor 72 and is drivingly engaged with a motor crown gear 78 that has a 
motor pinion gear 80 coaxially attached. The motor pinion gear 80 in turn 
is drivingly engaged with a motor drive gear 82. Thus, the rotation of the 
shaft 74 becomes reduced and transformed into rotation of the motor drive 
gear 82. 
The provision of a clutch mechanism between the motor drive gear 82 and the 
hip reciprocating means and base moving means is preferred in case parts 
of the hip reciprocating means or base moving means are jammed or do not 
operate smoothly. Accordingly, a clutch crown gear 84 is preferably 
coaxially mounted on the motor drive gear 82 and a doll movement crown 
gear 86 complementary to the clutch crown gear 84 is slidably mounted 
coaxially with the clutch crown gear 84. Biasing means, such as a spring 
87, then biases the doll movement crown gear 86 into driving engagement 
with the clutch crown gear 84. 
The doll movement crown gear 86 is preferably provided with an integrally 
formed coaxial doll movement pinion 88, which is in driving engagement 
with a doll movement main gear 90 mounted for coaxial but independent 
rotation from the motor crown gear 78 and motor pinion gear 80. A hip 
movement pinion gear 92 and a base movement transmission shaft 94 are 
coaxially attached to the doll movement main gear 90. The hip movement 
pinion gear 92 is in driving engagement with a crank crown gear 95 that is 
mounted on crank 55. The crank crown gear 95 thus drives crank 55 into 
rotation, which drives hip portion 20 into reciprocation through hip 
transmission member 57. Thus, the motor 72 is in driving engagement with 
the hip reciprocating means through a hip reciprocation reduction means. 
Referring to FIG. 4, a drive wheel pinion gear 96 is mounted on the end of 
the base movement transmission shaft 94 and drivingly engaged with a drive 
wheel crown gear 98 that is mounted on one of a pair of drive wheels 100a 
and 100b that is coaxially mounted with the drive wheel crown gear 98. 
Thus, the motor 72 is in driving engagement with the base moving means 
through a base movement reduction means. In addition, the drive wheels 
100a and 100b are mounted in a drive wheel bracket 102 that is swivelably 
mounted so that the drive wheels 100a and 100b can swivel about a vertical 
axis. 
In order to allow the base movement transmission shaft 94 to rotate 
independently of the motor crown gear 78 and the motor pinion gear 80, the 
motor crown gear 78 and motor pinion gear 80 are preferably mounted on a 
sleeve 79 rotatably mounted on the base movement transmission shaft 94. 
Of course, gears different from the various gears described above can be 
used and are considered to be equivalents. For example, the drive wheel 
pinion gear 96 and drive wheel crown gear 98 can be replaced with bevel 
gears, or can be switched so that the drive wheel pinion gear 96 becomes a 
crown gear and the drive wheel crown gear 98 becomes a pinion gear. 
In use, batteries (not shown) will be inserted in the battery compartment 
130 and the motor 72 will be activated by the switch 120. Through the 
disclosed hip reciprocation reduction means and base movement reduction 
means, the motor 72 will simultaneously drive the crank 55 to reciprocate 
the hip portion 20 and the drive wheels 100a and 100b to cause the doll 10 
to move along the surface S in a generally curving path. Further, because 
of the cooperation between the drive wheel pinion gear 96, the drive wheel 
crown gear 98, and the swivelable mounting of the drive wheel bracket 102, 
if the doll 10 strikes against an obstacle, the drive wheels 100a and 100b 
will cause the drive wheel bracket 102 to rotate and the doll 10 will be 
driven in a different direction, thus moving around the obstacle. 
It is advantageous and desirable to have the doll 10 move in a generally 
curving path in order to effect a more life like movement. Further, it is 
preferred that the doll 10 follow a generally curving path so that it will 
tend to remain in a limited region of the surface S while in use; if the 
doll 10 moved in a straight path, then it would quickly reach any boundary 
of the surface S or would bump into obstacles. If a generally curving path 
is followed, then it will take longer for the doll 10 to bump into any 
obstacles. Optimally, the generally curving path will have a small radius 
of curvature, comparable to the radius of the bottom 140 of the base 40 so 
that the doll 10 does not move far from its initial position after being 
activated. 
Using the preferred embodiment, the doll 10 follows a circular path a 
significant portion of the time, but often the doll 10 follows an almost 
randomly curving path. This results in an aesthetically pleasing and 
lifelike motion along the surface S with the doll 10 sometimes dancing in 
a circle for a significant part of the time, but then sometimes following 
a different curving path, including retracing a previously travelled path. 
When the doll 10 retraces a portion of its previously travelled path, the 
doll 10 appears to be dancing in one direction, and then in the opposite 
direction (for example, forwards and then backwards), thus undulating 
along its general direction of motion, again creating a very pleasing and 
lifelike effect. Also, the doll sometimes appears to move in one 
direction, and then to stop, and then to start again, and might repeat 
this cycle several times, giving the impression of moving along a 
generally curving path, but stopping and starting while moving. 
Accordingly, a doll has been provided that is more life like in imitating 
the movements of a hula dancer because the doll both reciprocates its hips 
and moves along a surface in a generally curving path, instead of merely 
rotating about a stationary base. 
While the present invention has been disclosed in connection with the 
preferred embodiment described above, it should be understood that there 
may be other embodiments that fall within the spirit and scope of the 
invention as defined by the claims. For example, and not by way of 
limitation, the doll could also be provided with a mechanism to make the 
arms or head move, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,886 to Sung. For a 
further example, different reduction, reciprocating and moving means (such 
as spur gears, bevel gears, crown gears, belts or pulleys) or transmission 
means (such as shafts, rods, chains, or other members) could be used to 
accomplish the same results, but such different means are deemed to be 
equivalent to the disclosed means. Accordingly, no limitations are to be 
implied or inferred except as expressly and specifically set forth in the 
attached claims. 
INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
This invention is applicable to dancing dolls of all types.