Abstract:
In a mechanism for moving the lower limbs to enable a toy to walk in a manner similar to the way a human walks. A drive mechanism in the body of the toy imparts a pivoting movement to the limbs to make the toy walk. The movements make one limb to move 180° out of phase with the other limb. The toy counterbalances the reaction torque generated during the movement of the limb. A rod-shaped element slides freely in a recess housing within the body of the toy. A resilient helical spring acting on the rod-shaped element urges the limbs to move.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a mechanism for moving the lower limbs connected to the body of a toy figure to enable the toy figure to walk over a supporting surface in a similar manner to a human being, in which each of the limbs includes a thigh-shaped portion, a lower-leg-shaped portion connected to the adjacent end of the thigh-shaped portion by a knee joint, and a foot-shaped portion connected to the lower-leg-shaped portion by an ankle joint, and in which a drive means, housed in a compartment of the body of the toy figure, is connected to the thigh-shaped portion in order to impart thereto a pivoting movement in a vertical plane parallel to the direction in which the toy figure is made to walk, and a rectilinear translational movement in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the thigh-shaped portion between a lower dead-point position and an upper dead-point position and vice versa, the movements relating to one limb being out of phase by 180° with the homologous movements of the other limb and the toy figure having means for counterbalancing the reaction torque generated by the drive means during the movement of the thigh-shaped portion. 
     2. Description of the Released Art 
     Toy figures, particularly dolls of human or fantasy appearance, having limb-movement and walking mechanisms are known in the art. 
     Examples of these mechanisms are described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,641,964, WO-92/21416, EP-A-0743083, EP-A-0879625 and in J-A-63/163894. 
     However, the performance of known mechanisms is limited since the toy figures have simplified and rather stiff joints, producing regular walking movements very different from those of a human being. 
     Moreover, none of the known mechanisms mentioned above enables the toy figure to adopt positions in which the limbs are bent, for example, a sitting position with the limbs bent at a right angles to the torso, without causing damage or breakage such as to compromise the functionality of the mechanism. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a mechanism for moving the limbs of a toy figure, particularly a doll, which enables the toy figure to walk in a very similar manner to a human being and which, at the same time, enables the toy figure to adopt positions with bent legs, for example, a sitting position, without danger of compromising its functionality. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the appended drawings, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a toy figure in the form of a doll incorporating the mechanism of the invention, 
     FIG. 2 is a side view of the lower portion of the doll with one leg shown in section, in the extended position, 
     FIG. 3 is a side view similar to that of FIG. 2 with the leg in the bent position during walking, 
     FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the drive means for moving the thigh-shaped portion, in which the upper dead-point position which is adopted when the leg is extended as in FIG. 2 is shown in continuous outline, and the lower dead-point position is shown in broken outline, 
     FIG. 5 is a schematic side view of the drive means for moving the thigh-shaped portions, in the intermediate positions which are adopted when the leg is bent during walking, 
     FIG. 6 is a simplified, schematic, partially exploded and partially sectioned view of the left-hand and right-hand thigh-shaped portions of the doll with the left leg in the extended position and the right leg in the bent position, 
     FIG. 7 is a view similar to that of FIG. 6 with both legs in a partially bent position, 
     FIG. 8 is a view similar to those of FIGS. 6 and 7 with the left leg in the bent position which is adopted upon completion of the pivoting of the thigh-shaped portion when the drive means is in the lower dead-point position, 
     FIG. 9 is a side view of the lower portion of the doll, showing schematically the positions adopted by the rod-shaped element of the mechanism during the movement of the leg, 
     FIG. 10 is a side view of the doll in a sitting position with the thigh-shaped portion of one leg bent substantially at right angles to the torso. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     With reference to the drawings, the toy figure which, in the preferred but not exclusive configuration, has the appearance of a doll, is indicated 1 in FIG. 1. 
     To enable the doll 1 to walk independently, it is preferably connected to an accessory such as, for example, a shopping trolley, indicated 2, having an suitable weight, in the form of a package 3, to produce a torque for balancing the reaction torque produced by the drive means which is provided for moving the legs and which is housed, in conventional manner, in a compartment in the doll&#39;s body. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the hands 1a of the doll 1 are kept firmly fixed to the handle 2a of the shopping trolley 2 by means of connecting sleeves 1b. 
     Each connecting sleeve 1b is provided with a longitudinal cut 1c through which the wrist portion 1d of the upper limbs of the doll can be manually engaged and disengaged. 
     The sleeves 1b are fixed to the ends of a rod 2c which in turn is connected to the handle 2a. 
     Alternatively, in the absence of a supporting accessory, the doll 1 may be held by the user by gripping an upper limb with one hand. 
     Each of the legs of the doll 1 includes a thigh-shaped portion 4d, 4s, a lower-leg-shaped portion 5d, 5s, and a foot-shaped portion 6d, 6s. 
     The lower-leg-shaped portion 5d, 5s is connected to the end 4a of the portion 4d, 4s by a knee joint 7 and to the portion 6d, 6s by an ankle joint 8. 
     The knee joint 7 comprises a disk-shaped element 9 fixed to the end 5a of the portion 5d, 5s, and mounted for rotating about a pin 10 which is engaged in the end 4a of the thigh-shaped portion. 
     The disk-shaped element 9 is housed in a corresponding recess 11 formed in the end 4a of the thigh. 
     Inside each portion 4d, 4s there is a longitudinal housing 12 with a hole 13 facing towards the lower portion 14 of the torso 15 of the doll 1. 
     The housing 12 has a base 16 from which a hole 17 extends and opens in the vicinity of the recess 11. 
     A diaphragm 18 with an axial hole 19 is arranged transversely relative to the longitudinal axis of the housing 12 a predetermined distance from the base 16. 
     A rod-shaped element 20 is disposed in the housing 12 and in the hole 17 and a hooked end 21 thereof is connected to the disk 9 of the knee joint 7, engaging in a slot 22. 
     The connection is made at a point which is closer to the hollow 23 of the knee joint 7 than the pin 10. 
     The opposite end 24 of the element 20 is engaged for sliding in a recess 25 formed in the lower portion 14 of the dolls&#39; torso 15. 
     A helical spring 26, arranged coaxially on the rod-shaped element 20, bears on the base 16 of the housing 12 at one end and its other end abuts a collar 27 fixed to the rod-shaped element 20. 
     It is clear from the foregoing that the maximum extension of the spring 26 is reached when the collar 27 abuts the diaphragm 18 of the housing 12. 
     The thigh-shaped portion 4d, 4s of each leg is connected to a respective support element 28d, 28s by snap-engagement between a pin 29 projecting from each element 28d, 28s and a hole 30 formed in each portion 4d, 4s. 
     As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the support elements 28d, 28s constitute part of the drive means provided for moving the portions 4d, 4s of the legs. 
     This drive means is fitted, in known manner, in a compartment 31 in the doll&#39;s torso 15 and comprises a battery-operated electric motor, not shown, the shaft 32 of which transmits the rotary motion by means of a gear 33 to a second gear 34 which, as shown schematically, has, on its opposite faces, two eccentric pins 35d, 35s offset relative to one another by 180°. 
     The elements 28d, 28s which support the respective thigh-shaped portions 4d and 4s are connected to the pins 35d and 35s. 
     The thigh-shaped portions 4d and 4s are therefore subject to respective pivoting movements in accordance with the arrow F1 of FIG. 3, out of phase with one another by 180°, in the vertical plane parallel to the direction in which the doll 1 is made to walk, and to respective rectilinear translational movements in the direction of the longitudinal axes of the thigh-shaped portions, between an upper dead-point position indicated in continuous outline in FIG. 4 and a lower dead-point position indicated in broken outline, also in FIG. 4. 
     Further details of the structure of the connection between the thigh-shaped portions 4d, 4s and the respective drive means are described in the document EP-A-0879626 cited in the introductory part of the present description. 
     The overall length selected for the rod-shaped element 20 is such that, when the leg is in the extended position with the support element 28d or 28s at the upper dead point, its free end 24, which is housed in the recess 25, is in abutment with a closed end 25a thereof. 
     In this position, the spring 26 is in the state of maximum compression and the collar 27 is spaced axially from the diaphragm 18 as shown in FIG. 2. 
     As a result of the angular movement of the portion 4d or 4s with the support element 28d or 28s moving towards the lower dead-point position, the rod-shaped element 20 of the respective leg, which is acted on by the spring 26 reacting against the base 16 of the guide housing 12, exerts a pull on the lower-leg-shaped portion 5d or 5s, causing it to bend as when taking a step. 
     At the same time, the foot-shaped portion 6d or 6s is raised and is free to pivot about the respective pin 8. 
     Upon completion of the angular movement in one direction with consequent raising and forward movement of the foot, the movement in the opposite direction causes the portion 6d or 6s, respectively, to bear on the support surface P and the leg to be straightened and to return to the position shown in section in FIG. 2 and, more schematically, also in FIG. 6. 
     Since the end 24 of the rod-shaped element is connected to the torso 15 of the doll purely so as to be slidable in the cavity 25 which extends linearly in accordance with the longitudinal axis of the end portion 24, it is also possible to bend the portion 4d or 4s of each leg at right angles to the torso 15 without causing damage to the mechanism for moving the legs. 
     The angular movement is made possible by the frictional connection between the hole 30 and the pin 29. 
     The doll 1 can therefore adopt the sitting position at rest, as shown schematically in FIG. 10. 
     Although the end portion 24 of the rod-shaped element 20 can come out of the recess 25, the element 20 does not lose its operative positioning since it is restrained by the collar 27 in abutment with the diaphragm 18. 
     As soon as the legs are returned to the extended position, the end 24 of the rod-shaped element 20 is repositioned in the recess 25 and the mechanism is ready for subsequent operation.