Animated toy

An animated toy figurine includes a simulated head and torso portion and the latter portion contains arms which carry a simulated broom. A hollow support member extends through the interior of the torso portion. The head is mounted to one end of the support member and the torso is rotatably mounted to the support member beneath the head. A plunger is carried within the support member for reciprocative movement therein. Mechanism is included which, responsive to reciprocative movement of the plunger, revolves the torso about the axis of the support member, clockwise and then counterclockwise, a predetermined arcuate extent, whereby the broom is moved simulating a sweeping action.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to animated toy figurines, more particularly, 
to articulated toy figurines in which a simulated appendage is moved to 
simulate some common human act. Animated toy figurines of the type in 
which an arm or other appendage are moved by means of a reciprocative 
plunger actuating means or other mechanism in order to perform some common 
act are now generally known. More particularly, animated toys of the type 
containing a plunger-operated mechanism extending from the figurine's base 
or pedestal whereby a portion of the figurine may be held in hand and 
bounced or hopped along a surface to effect the plunger reciprocation have 
been manufactured by the assignee of the present invention, Mattel, Inc., 
Hawthorne, California. Moreover, the Mattel prior art figurine referred to 
may be mounted on a base in which the plunger associated with the figurine 
is received within an opening to engage an eccentric and a hand-operated 
crank and eccentric combination in which rotation of the eccentric 
reciprocates the engaged plunger. This permits animation of the figurine 
by remote operation of the hand crank as an alternative. 
The present invention is directly related to the aforedescribed types of 
toy figurines, and, more particularly, a toy of the aforedescribed type 
capable of simulating the act of sweeping. It is thus an object of the 
present invention to provide a toy figurine carrying a simulated broom 
which can be animated manually by holding a head portion and hopping same 
along a surface or, alternatively, animated remotely through operation of 
a hand crank to permit the toy figurine to simulate a sweeping action. A 
further object of the invention is to provide a novel and inexpensive 
structure for accomplishing the conversion of a reciprocative motion to a 
rotary motion, particularly for the purpose of rotating the torso portion 
of a toy figurine which carries a broom and simulates the act of sweeping. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In accordance with the foregoing objects, the invention is characterized by 
a toy figurine having a hollow torso portion, a head portion, a hollow 
support member which at one end is connected to and carries the head 
portion and extends through and rotatably supports the torso portion under 
the head and at its other end contains a pedestal or base. A plunger means 
is carried by the support member partially extensible from said base for 
reciprocative movement, and means are provided for converting the 
reciprocative movement of the plunger along an axis to a rotating movement 
of the torso about the axis. The torso portion of the figurine suitably 
carries a broom and the rotational movement, clockwise and 
counterclockwise, produces a sweeping action. In a specific aspect of the 
invention the plunger carries endwise an elongated, relatively rigid, 
axially twisted weblike member. The web is formed into the geometry of a 
twist about the axis of the plunger of approximately 90.degree.. The torso 
carries a radially inwardly directed forklike member within the hollow 
thereof. The forklike member extends through an arcuate slot in the 
support member and its prongs hug and fit about the twisted weblike 
member. Axial movement of the plunger in one direction effectively moves 
the web edgewise along the axis which forces the forklike member and hence 
the attached torso to rotate in one direction about the axis of the 
plunger. Movement of the plunger in the reverse direction in like manner 
moves the torso back to its former position. 
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention as well as 
the structure characteristic of the invention and equivalents thereto are 
more apparent from a consideration of the detailed description of a 
preferred embodiment which follows, taken together with the figures of the 
drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Reference is made to FIG. 1 which shows the toy figurine having a simulated 
head portion 1, a simulated covered torso portion 3, with arms carrying a 
simulated broom 5. The torso includes a full length dress that extends to 
the bottom and covers underlying elements. The figurine is seated in a 
well 9 situated atop a base 7, partially illustrated. A shaft, not 
illustrated in this figure, is connected to a hub 11 to which a crank arm 
assembly 12 is attached. As indicated by the arrow, the figurine torso is 
to move counterclockwise and clockwise and the broom 5 simulates a 
sweeping action responsive to rotation of the crank 12. 
The elements with which such operation is performed are better illustrated 
in the additional figures drawn to different scale and reference is thus 
made to FIG. 2. The head 1 is partially illustrated and in section. The 
head is essentially of a hollow shape, suitably formed from two mating 
portions of injection molded plastic material, and contains a radially 
inwardly projecting rim 13 within the neck portion. The torso portion 3 
likewise contains a hollow interior and extends to the bottom of the 
figurine. The torso portion is suitably formed in two mating halves of 
injection molded plastic material which are attached together by means of 
sockets and prongs, such as the prongs 14, formed in the plastic injection 
molding process, as is conventional. A support member 17 of generally 
hollow cylindrical geometry is located within the interior of the body. 
The support member 17 includes an enlarged base portion or pedestal 19 at 
the lowermost end. The pedestal includes a grooved portion 21 with which 
to engage a peripheral lip 23 integrally formed in base 7 surrounding the 
well 9 within which the figurine is received. Beneath the lip member, a 
washerlike support base 24 serves as the well bottom. This contains an 
opening 25 within which to receive a plunger 27, which extends out from 
within the interior of support member 17. 
At its other end, support member 17 includes a first pair of spaced 
radially outwardly directed rims 29 and 31 extending about the outer 
periphery to form an annular groove about the axis of member 17. The torso 
portion includes a radially inwardly directed rim portion 15 at the upper 
end, which is engaged within the annular groove. Suitably the fit is such 
that the torso portion is easily revolved in such formed groove so as to 
be both supported and rotatably mounted. Additionally, further at the 
upper end another pair of spaced radially outwardly directed rims 33 and 
35 extend from and about the outer surface of support member 17 to form 
another circumferential channel with which to engage the projecting member 
13 of head 1 which attaches the head to the support member. 
As is later described more fully, the base with which the figurine is used 
includes an eccentric 36 which engages plunger 27, that is mounted about a 
shaft 38. Certain elements contained within the hollow of the support 
member or which are obstructed in this view are represented in dash lines 
to show location and these elements are more fully described hereinafter. 
Reference is made to FIG. 3 which is a partial section view of the 
embodiment of FIG. 2 taken along the lines 3--3. For convenience, the 
description of elements previously described in connection with FIG. 1 
need not be fully repeated. As is shown in this figure, the torso 3 
includes a projecting forklike member 40 which, suitably, is integrally 
formed in the inner torso surface. The forklike member contains two 
prongs, as later becomes apparent, and extends radially inward, orthogonal 
to the axis of the plunger, to a distance slightly beyond the axis of 
plunger 27. The fork extends through an arcuate slot 41 in the support 
member 17. The plunger assembly includes a plunger 27, containing two 
axially extending protruding flanges 26 and 28, which extends through a 
small opening in the pedestal 19 of support member 17 and further contains 
an axially extending enlarged portion 44, which cannot extend through the 
pedestal opening and, hence, serves as a stop to outward movement of 
plunger 27. 
The enlarged portion 44 of the plunger assembly contains a passage 46 of a 
keyhole-like cross-section. An elongate axially twisted weblike member 48 
of a relatively stiff construction includes a pinlike member 49 attached 
at one edge received within the cylindrical portion of keyhole slot 46, 
and a second pinlike member at its other end 50. The web is seen to be of 
an axially twisted configuration so that the axis of the pins are 
approximately 90.degree. apart. A prong of fork member 40 is seen to 
straddle the surface of twisted web 48. Additionally shown in this figure 
is the shaft support member 34 and an end wall shaft support member 32 in 
base 7 as well as another view of the shaft 38 and eccentric 36. 
Turning now to the exploded view of FIG. 4, the pertinent elements are seen 
in a more realistic perspective. Thus, fork member 40 consists of two 
spaced prongs 42 and 43 separated by a small distance. Only a portion of 
the supporting torso 3 wall is illustrated. The geometry of the twisted 
weblike member 48 and end pins 49 and 50 are shown. Thus the axis of pin 
50 and the axis of pin 49 are at an angle of 90.degree. to one another. 
The web 48 is of a smooth surfaced plastic material that is essentially 
rigid so as to provide a guiding surface and be able to exert a force, 
either clockwise or counterclockwise, upon one or the other of the prongs 
42 and 43 which straddle the web. The enlarged element 44 is of a 
blocklike shape, as is shown, and is made from an essentially rectanguloid 
plastic part having the axially extending edges chamfered so that the 
enlarged portion fits within and is easily movable within the internal 
hollow of cylindrical support member 17 shown below. 
The cylindrical passage and connected slot 46 and 47, which formed a 
keyhole-like opening in the view of element 44 presented in FIG. 3, is 
more clearly visible in this figure. As is shown, slot 47 is of a width 
smaller than the diameter of the passage 46 and smaller than the diameter 
of pin 49. As is shown by the dotted lines, pin 49 is slid into and 
received within the cylindrical passage 46 while the web portion 48 
extends through slot 47 so as to support the web on the plunger assembly. 
Plunger 27 includes the two axially extending radially projecting flange 
portions 26 and 28, as was earlier described. Turning now to the support 
member 17, the support member, which for purposes of clarity of 
illustrations has had a quarter section removed, is seen to be of an 
elongate hollowed out construction within which is received the plunger 
portion 44. The outer periphery of the support member includes the 
projecting rims 29 and 31 with which to rotatably mount the torso portion, 
and the rim portions 33 and 35 with which to support and hold in place the 
figurine's head. The slot 41 in the side wall of member 17 extends 
circumferentially around the periphery of the support member 17 over a 
predetermined angle such as 90.degree.. The height of the slot is suitably 
great enough to receive fork member 40, previously described. 
A restricted wall portion 18 borders the bottom end of support member 17. A 
smaller diameter opening 16 and a pair of radially directed extending 
slots 14 and 12 are shown. 
Opening 16 is large enough to allow the plunger 27 to extend therethrough 
but because of the larger size of the element 44 the plunger cannot fall 
out. Moreover, the projecting flanges 26 and 28 of plunger 27 fit 
slideably within the slots 12 and 14 to form a key-slot arrangement. Thus 
the plunger is permitted to move along the axis of support member 17, 
reciprocally, but is prevented from turning or rotating in the support 
member. All of the aforedescribed parts are made of suitable plastic 
material, preferably by injection molding processes. In assembly, the 
twisted web member 48 is fitted within the end of plunger 27. The plunger 
assembly, in turn, is dropped into place in the support member. 
Subsequently the assembly may then be inserted in one half of the torso 
section containing the fork member which is inserted through slot 41 into 
engagement with the surfaces of web member 48. The other torso portion, 
not illustrated, is then joined in place and the entire assembly rotated 
slightly to ensure that the support is relatively friction free enough to 
allow rotation. The head member, suitably formed, is snapped into position 
in the grooves formed by rings 33 and 35. As is illustrated to enlarged 
scale in the section view of FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the teeth essentially 
straddle the surfaces of the twisted web member 48. Relating to the 
illustrations of FIGS. 2 and 3, the illustration of FIG. 5 corresponds to 
a position where the plunger 27 is fully extended and the eccentric 36 is 
at its low point. When the eccentric is rotated, such as by hand crank 12 
in shaft 38, to its high point it pushes the plunger 27 upwardly. In so 
doing, the surface of the web as grasped by the teeth of prong 40 appears 
to rotate about the axis of the plunger. Thus, for example, in FIG. 6 the 
surface of web 48 forces fork 40 to revolve in the direction of the arrow. 
Inasmuch as fork 40 is attached to the torso 3 and the torso 3, as was 
described, is rotatably mounted to the support member 17, the fork and the 
torso 3 are rotated counterclockwise about the axis of the plunger. 
Conversely, as the crank is rotated further back to the position shown in 
FIG. 2, the plunger due to its inherent weight reciprocates out of the 
member 17 and the web member 48 appears to rotate back to its original 
position guiding the tooth 43 in a clockwise direction until the plunger 
is fully withdrawn to the position shown in FIG. 2. 
The arrangement of the fork and the twisted web is seen to provide the 
means to convert the reciprocal or axial movement of the plunger to an 
arcuate or revolving movement of the torso 3. 
Suitably, the engagement between the rim 23 and the groove in the pedestal 
base of support member 17 is sufficient to hold the figurine in place 
during cranking operation. 
Additionally, as is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the torso is draped downwardly 
about the pedestal but is not attached to the outer periphery of the 
support member or to the surface 7 of the base so as to completely clothe 
the figurine and allow free rotation. Suitably the amount of friction 
between the projecting member 15 and the support member is less than that 
caused by the forces due to the gravitational downward pressure upon the 
plunger when the plunger is released, such as when the cam returns to its 
low position so that the foregoing action occurs. In other practical 
embodiments of the foregoing invention, where a greater amount of friction 
exists or is required in the rotatable mounting of torso portion 3, the 
outward movement of the plunger, accomplished by gravity in the foregoing, 
may require the assistance of additional force. Thus, for example, a 
compression spring may be added within the head or support member and 
engages the upper pin 50 so that when the plunger is raised to its high 
position the spring is compressed and when withdrawn the compressive force 
of expansion assists the plunger in moving downward. As in the case of the 
prior art devices, a figurine may be withdrawn from the base revealing a 
toy figurine with an extended plunger. The head of the figurine may be 
grasped by the child playing with the toy and the figurine hopped along a 
floor or other surface to alternately insert and then allow withdrawal of 
the plunger. This in turn allows rotation counterclockwise and then 
clockwise of the figurine's torso and the resulting sweeping movement of 
the carried broom. 
It is believed that the foregoing description of a preferred embodiment of 
the invention is sufficient in detail to enable one skilled in the art to 
make and use same. However, it is expressly understood that the details 
disclosed for the foregoing purpose are not intended to restrict the 
invention in any way since various alternatives, substitution of 
equivalents, modifications and even improvements, all of which incorporate 
the invention, become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading 
this specification. Accordingly, it is expressly requested that the 
invention be broadly construed within the full spirit and scope of the 
appended claims.