Abstract:
There is provided in one embodiment a twisting figure that includes a head and body having a pair of arms and a lower leg section separately extending therefrom. A housing formed in the body contains a motor secured between a pair of horizontal plates. The plates are pivotally secured to the lower leg section. A combo gear is secured to the upper plate and in communication with the motor. The combo gear is arranged to reciprocate against a bumper that is secured to the lower leg section. When the combo gear reciprocates against the bumper, the pair of plates pivots back and forth causing the twisting figure to move therewith. The figure may also include a worm gear in communication with the motor and the pair of arms, such that when the motor rotates the pair of arms move upwardly or downwardly.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to animated toys and more particularly to dolls and figures that are mechanically animated to simulate movements. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Toy dancing figures are well known in the art and have employed many various aesthetic novelty designs, from flowers (U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,249) and soda cans to fish (U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,351). However, these lack the innovation to create complex animated movements needed for dolls and for various other standing figures. 
     While the prior art is not devoid of dancing dolls, toys or other figures, there are disadvantages in the prior art and areas that need improvement. For instance, one disadvantage that exists is most animated figures employ reciprocating motors to the direction of the movement. When employing reciprocating motors to change the direction of the movement, the figures and especially the mechanics exhibit extreme wear and tear caused by the constant direction change. 
     Another disadvantage is that most of the dolls are fixed on a base in order to provide stability, lacking a more lifelike appearance that free-standing figures provide. These non-free standing figures typically include mechanisms in the base and are often comprised of moveable rods that travel through the legs that create or control the movements of the figure. These dancing toys may be represented in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,163,992; 6,126,508; 5,601,471; and 5,273,479. Other non-free standing figures incorporate the mechanisms in the upper or lower torso, but since this type of arrangement causes the figure to be top-heavy, the figures rely on the base to keep the figures upright. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,148 discloses a twisting figure; U.S. Pat. No. 6,071,170 discloses a figure that vibrates and moves side to side; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,735,726 illustrates an animated figure that stands and sits. 
     While free-standing animated dolls are present in the art, these dolls limit the movement to the legs or reduce the speed or rate of animation so the figures do not fall. As such these dolls typically only walk, illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,441; tap dance, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,238; or sway from one side to another, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,911,617. 
     Another interesting disclosure is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,560, which discloses a free-standing dancing doll. While the mechanism that powers the movement is situated in the torso of the doll, rods are used to transfer the movement to the legs. This will increase the instability of the doll, which will require the speed of the movement to reduce. 
     As such there exists a need to improve upon the prior art without the disadvantages outlined above. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with the present invention, there is provided in one embodiment a twisting figure that includes a head and body portion having a pair of arms and a lower leg section separately extending therefrom. The figure also has a housing formed in the body portion that contains a motor secured between upper and lower horizontal plates. The horizontal plates are further pivotally secured to the lower leg section. The housing contains a combo gear secured to the upper horizontal plate and in communication with the motor. The combo gear is arranged to alternately push against a bumper, which is secured through the lower horizontal plate to the lower leg section. As such when the combo gear alternately pushes against the bumper, the pair of horizontal plates pivots back and forth along a horizontal plane causing the body portion to move therewith. The figure may also include a worm gear in communication with the motor. The worm gear is meshed to a pair of arm drive gears that are separately in communication with one of the arms, such that when the arm drive gears rotate the pair of arms move upwardly or downwardly. 
     The figure may further include a slider gear in communication with the motor and positioned to engage and rotate the combo gear only when the motor is operating in a forward direction. It is important to note that a reciprocating motor does still not control the twisting of the body and it is used such that the doll may move its arms independently of the twisting movement. The figure may also include a pair of shoes attached to the lower leg section and a pair of freely rotatable rollers attached under the shoes, such that legs may move when the body twists. In addition thereto, the figure may also include a speaker that emits pre-programmed sounds and music. 
     Numerous other advantages and features of the invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and the embodiments thereof, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     A fuller understanding of the foregoing may be had by reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 illustrates a twisting and dancing figure in accordance with the present invention, and shows a portion of the internal components; 
     FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of the internal components; and 
     FIG. 3 a  illustrates the figure twisting to the right and the cams rotating as viewed from the top; 
     FIGS. 3 b ,  3   b . 1  and  3   b . 2  illustrate the figure twisting to the right and the cams rotating until the right cam hits the bumper; 
     FIG. 3 c  illustrates the figure twisting to the left and the cams rotating as viewed from the top; and 
     FIGS. 3 d ,  3   d . 1  and  3   d . 2  illustrate the figure twisting to the left and the cams rotating until the left cam hits the bumper. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     While the invention is susceptible to embodiments in many different forms, there are shown in the drawings and will be described herein, in detail, the preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be understood, however, that the present disclosure is to be considered an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the spirit or scope of the invention and/or claims of the embodiments illustrated. 
     Referring now to FIG. 1, a twisting and dancing figure 100 is illustrated in accordance with the present invention. The figure 100 has a body  101  defined in upper and lower torso sections  102  and  104 , respectively. Attached to the upper body  102  is a pair of arms  106  and  108  that are driven up and down. A head  110  is freely attached to the upper torso section  102  such that when the body  101  twists, the head swivels to the left and right independently of the twisting body  101 . A pair of legs  112  is attached to the lower torso section  104  and includes a pair of shoes  114 . The shoes  114  and legs  112  provide support for the figure 100 such that the figure 100 is free-standing or does not require a base or platform for support in order to maintain balance when moving. 
     Referring now to FIG. 2, as mentioned above the twisting and dancing figure 100 includes a lower torso section  104  and a pair of legs  112  that attaches separately to a pair of shoes  114 . A pair of rollers  116  is placed on the bottom of each shoe  114  to accentuate the twisting action of the figure  100  and to add to the realism of the figures&#39;  100  movement. An activation button  118  and corresponding switch  119  may be attached to one of the shoes  114 . However, the exact placement of the activation button  118  and switch  119  may be moved without changing the scope of the invention. 
     Rotatably or pivotally attached to the lower torso section  104  is a lower plate  120 . The lower plate  120  connects to an upper plate  122  (defined in the upper torso sections  102 ) to form a midsection region  124 . The upper plate  122  is secured to the lower plate  120  by a plurality of rods  126  (shown in FIG.  1 ). A circuit board  128  attached to the underside  130  of lower torso sections  104  may be in communication with other components attached to the upper plate  122  by wires or connections (not shown). The figure 100 further includes a power supply (not shown) that when activated provides power to operate the figure  100 . 
     The twisting and dancing motion of the figure 100 is created by a motor  132 , secured between the plates  120  and  122 . The motor  132  drives a lower pulley  134 , which rotates a small pinion  136  that is secured to an axle  138  that is also secured to the lower pulley  134 . The small pinion  136  drives a slider gear  140  that engages and drives a combo gear  142 , only when the motor  132  is operating in a forward direction. The combo gear  142  includes a left and right cam gear  144   a  and  144   b , respectively. Moreover, the combo gear  142  drives the cam gears in opposite directions. The cam gears  144   a  and  144   b  are aligned so that lobes  146   a  and  146   b , extending downwardly from the respective cam gears are out of phase with each other, preferably by 180°. As the cam gears  144   a  and  144   b  rotate, one of the lobes will hit a bumper  148 , which is secured to the lower torso section  104  such that the bumper  148  does not move. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 3 a  the figure 100 is rotating to the right or counterclockwise (as viewed from the top) indicated by arrow  200 . The left cam gear  144   a  is rotating counterclockwise and the right cam gear  144   b  is always rotating clockwise. As the figure 100 continues to rotate counterclockwise, illustrated in FIGS. 3 b ,  3   b . 1  and  3   b . 2 , the right lobe  146   b  attached to the right cam gear  144   b  eventually comes into contact with the bumper  148  (FIG. 3 b . 2 ), which stops the counterclockwise rotation of the figure  100 . However, since the motor is still rotating the combo gear  142  and hence rotating the cam gears  144   a  and  144   b , the right lobe  146   b  pushes against the bumper  148 . This causes the horizontal plates  120  and  122  (and the upper body  102 ) to pivot about the lower torso section  104  in the opposite direction as the force, or in the clockwise direction, indicated by arrow  202  in FIG. 3 c . The upper body  102  will continue to pivot in the clockwise direction, FIGS. 3 d  and  3   d . 1  and  3   d . 2 , until the left lobe  146   a  attached to the left cam  144   b  comes in contact with the bumper  148 , stopping the clockwise direction of the upper body  102  (FIG. 3 d . 2 ). Upon which, the left cam  144   b  still being forced to rotate counterclockwise causes the upper body  102  to pivot in the opposite direction, counterclockwise, as illustrated in FIG. 3 a . The movement will continue to alternate as the lobes  144   b  and  146   b  alternately push against the bumper. 
     To create movement in the arms, the axle  138  projects through the upper plate  122  to drive an upper pulley  150 . The upper pulley  150  drives a second upper pulley  152  via a second upper pulley drive belt  156 . The second upper pulley  152  is connected to a worm gear  154 , which drives an arm drive gear  158 . Connected to the arm drive gear,  158  on an arm drive gear axle  160  are left and right arm cams  162 . A crank  164  connected to each arm cam  162  is further connected to a lever  166 , which is connected to an arm mount disc  168 . Each arm  106  and  108  is then connected to one of the arm mount discs  168 . As the arm worm gear  154  rotates the arm drive gear  158 , the arm cams  162  rotate, which moves the cranks  164  up and down. The up and down motion is transferred through the lever  164  to the arm mount discs  168  and ultimately to the arms  106  and  108 . The arms are preferably aligned so that one arm is always moving up when the other arm is moving down, or 180° out of phase with each other. However, the phase may be changed without changing the scope of the invention. 
     Moreover, the arms  106  and  108  are driving up or down regardless of which direction the motor  132  is running (forwards or backwards). However, the figures&#39;  100  body will only twist to the left or right when the motor  132  is running in the forward direction, because the slider gear  140  only engages the combo gear  142  when the motor  132  is run forwards. 
     To activate the twisting and dancing figure 100 a user presses the activation switch  119  on the shoe  114 . The figure 100 will then begin to emit music or sounds through a speaker  170  mounted within a speaker housing  172  on the upper plate  122 . The motor  132  will then begin to run in a forward direction causing the mid-section  124  to twist to the left and right and the arms  106  and  108  to move up and down. The motor  132  may also run in a reverse direction. As mentioned above, the motor  132  only rotates the body when running forwards, as such when the motor  132  operates in a reverse direction the slider gear  140  disengages the combo gear  142 , whereby the body  101  of the figure 100 will not twist. However, the arms  106  and  108  will continue to move up and down, since the arms are continuously driven by the motor  132  regardless of the direction the motor  132  is running. When the body  101  twists the momentum may also cause the legs  112  to slide across a surface, since the shoes  114  include rollers  116 . As noted herein, the twisting or motion of the body is not controlled by having a reciprocating motor, the motion is created by the combo gear alternating against the bumper. 
     In addition thereto, a sound activation chip (not shown) or motion activation chip with appropriate sensors (not shown) may also be incorporated into the figure 100 separately or in combination therewith. While the sound activation chip would activate the motor  132  upon the detection of a sound, the motion activation chip would activate the figure 100 upon detecting motion. In the instance of motion activation chip the figure 100 would still require pre-programmed sounds or music to play when activated. 
     From the foregoing and as mentioned above, it will be observed that numerous variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concept of the invention. It is to be understood that no limitation with respect to the specific apparatus illustrated herein is intended or should be inferred. It is, of course, intended to cover by the appended claims all such modifications as fall within the scope of the claims.