Improvements in Mechanical Toys.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Jan., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 25th Oct., 1894-Accepted, 1st Dec., 1894
PROVISIONAL
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanical Toys.
We HERBERT CROSSLEY of 78 Portland Place, Marylebone, in the County of
London, Gentleman, and THEODORE BIRNBAUM of Wick Lane Rubber Works,
Bow, in the County of Middlesex, India Rubber Manufacturer do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows
-
This invention has reference to certain constructions of parts of mechanical toys
so as to enhance the pleasure and amusement afforded by their exhibition, by
enlarging the range of their performances without so increasing their cost as to
preclude their general sale.
The improved toys may take any desired form and the limbs or parts are
so constructed and applied to the bodies that by means of an elastic vessel,
or vessels, therein contained and connected by tubes and passages to other
vessels, or spaces, in the joints, or other parts of the limbs, or connections to the
body, or main part, and a tube, or tubes, to a pump, or distender, which may be
concealed in the hand, or about the person, or otherwise, of the performer,
relative motions appropriate to the natural modes of progression of the animal
imitated may be produced, aided in some cases by weights, springs, mechanical
joints and valves or stops; or other motions may be produced in a similar way
to other parts of the toys.
Taking as an illustration, as a practical embodiment of the invention, a frog
which is to be made at will to crawl, spring, swim, or dive, the operator may hold
the distending device or inflator and deflator and by a tube effect inflation and
deflation of an invisible bladder or vessel within the body so that specific gravity
of the toy may be made less or greater than that of the water, (or being so desired
the body may distend also) and the toy be caused to swim, or sink. At the same
time, the inflating fluid may pass to vessels which when inflated or deflated control
by strings or connections, the jointed or connected limbs, or parts, suitable valvular
stops operated by the performer enabling selection of the parts operated to be
effected.
In practice however it is not always necessary to have mechanical operative
parts for the limbs as by forming the limbs or parts with spaces or chambers
suitably located therein, with a normal tendency to keep a contracted form, as when
a frog has his limbs tucked up ready for a jump and providing fluid passages con-
nected either through the body bladder or directly to the distender held by the
performer, a slow crawling progression or a sudden jump or swimming or diving
action can with a little practice be readily obtained by the adjustment of the force
of distention.
The distender may be provided with a set of tubes connecting it to the toy,
the selected tubes being put into or kept out of use by valves acted on by the
performers fingers. In a diving toy, the body by suitable inlets becomes more
or less filled with water which the inflation of the vessel within more
displaces allowing the toy to rise or fall therein whilst the impulses to the
Jimbs produce motion.
or less
By emission of air from suitably formed orifices and chambers a series of sounds
as croaks, or the call appropriate to the animal illustrated may be produced.
The body or main bladder may be fed by a separate tube, or by means of a
suitably constructed and adjusted valve, the surplus air used for working the limbs
may be made to pass into the bladder at will according to the amount of
pressure to be applied.

page_text: The toes or parts of the limbs may be made so as to have a tendency to grip the
ground or hold the water in one direction of motion whilst they slide over, or
through the supporting medium in the other direction.
Dated the 30th day of January 1894.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Mechanical Toys.
We HERBERT CROSSLEY of 78 Portland Place, Marylebone, in the County of
London, Gentleman and THEODORE BIRNBAUM of Wick Lane Rubber Works,
Bow in the County of Middlesex, India Rubber Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to certain constructions of parts of mechanical toys
especially adapted for toys made wholly or mainly of india rubber so as to enhance
the pleasure and amusement afforded by their exhibition, by enlarging the range of
imitativeness and life like appearance in their performances, without so increasing
their cost as to preclude their general sale.
Our improved toys can be varied considerably as to the outward form whether they
are made to resemble an animal, a bird, a reptile, or any other animate or inanimate
moving object-although in explaining the construction and operation of our improved
toys we have selected. as an illustration a frog, we do not by any means intend
thereby to limit the range of application of the invention.
The material which we have found most conveniently to lend itself to our
purpose is india rubber but other suitable elastic material can be employed alone
or in combination therewith.
Where it is merely desired to protract and retract the limbs or parts of the
animal or toy the body and parts are formed either in one main hollow con-
struction, or in separately inflateable chambers, and by pressure of fluid passed
thereinto as hereafter described the normally cramped, folded, or retracted
positions of the limbs, parts or like connections, are altered to more or less
protracted, extended or unfolded positions.
The rate or rapidity of such expansion can also be readily adjusted, controlled
and adapted to imitate the habits of the object portrayed.
In the body or parts of the toy may be spaces or chambers which in the case of
a toy designed to be caused to dive are normally accessible to the liquid in which
the toy is to sink, whilst within the toy is an elastic chamber-say an inflatable
india rubber bag or diaphragm connected by tube and passage to the pump
or inflating means, so that on pressure being applied a lighter fluid may be
caused to distend this bag or diaphragm-expel the heavier liquid from the toy-
cause its rise in or flotation upon the liquid, whilst movements to the limbs or parts
of the natant toy may be given by means of the pump or fluid pressure. The access
of pressure distending the limbs or parts, by the enlargement or distending of the
joints and the withdrawal of the pressure allowing them to retract. The manipu-
lation of the pressure affording means of imitating the characteristic movements.
The pump, or distender being capable of concealment in the hand, or about the
person or under the foot of the operator and the pipes of communication being
capable of being made very small and inconspicuous, an element of reality is given
to the movements of the elastic distendible toy not before attainable by such
simple means.
So far as we are aware pneumatic inflation in toys has only been utilised to
distend an elastic body as in the case of a balloon, or equivalent bladder like

page_text: cause relative movements to the body and limbs of mechanical toys, but we make
no claim to any such constructions as on the contrary we have found that levers
and springs are liable to get out of order and detract from the naturalness of
the construction imitated.
Weighting of some of the parts of the toys may be adopted but separately
considered this forms no part of our invention.
The separate chambers may be separately inflated by separate passages to
which pressure from the pump, or forcer, is conveyed by tubing, or one chamber
may be in fluid connection with the tube conveying the fluid pressure and another
chamber say an inflateable bag for the driving regulation may only receive its
access of air or fluid when a certain amount of pressure is reached sufficient to
over-come the resistance offered by the valve controlling the passage way
between these chambers, and stops applied to the fluid pressure tubes may afford
means of selecting those to be operated.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shews a plan view partly in section, of a toy frog embodying our
invention. The right hand half shewing the rear limb protracted and the left hand
half shewing it retracted. a is the head of the case, or skin of the frog and said
skin is removed over the greater portion of the upper body and upper side of one
leg so as to disclose the inner construction.
Fig. 2 shews the body in section, except the head portion, with the internal
bladder or distension chamber e partly broken away to shew the valve, said bladder
being here indicated in its inflated condition.
Fig. 3 shews one of the hind legs separately, looking towards the joints on the
outside.
Figs. 4 and 5 shew sections taken relatively at right angles to each other to
shew the method of forming the joints by building up superposed thicknesses of
rubber sheet and cutting or removing portions of the inner tube at places where in
the moulding the joints or expansible vessels are to be formed.
b is the body of the frog containing the air vessel c. This body chamber 6 has
passages for inlet and exit of water when the frog is in that medium.
d is an air passage which is continued down the hind legs; and by the tube c¹ is
in communication with the chamber c, such communication being controlled by a
valve at c³.
e is a tube leading from this passage d to a suitable air forcing means (as an air
injector rubber ball see f in Fig. 6).
Fig. 6 shows by a similar view to Fig. 1 a modification in construction. Here
the body is divided into two chambers by the inclined elastic partition 6 shewn
more clearly by the two cross sections Figs. 7 and 8. d being an air receptacle
capable of dilation and 9 being water space contractible by the dilation of the
partition 2. In the tube e we prefer to insert a short length of rigid and heavier
tubing, so as to aid in the sinking of the said tube below and free of the frog
body and generally to facilitate correct operation.
Fig. 9 shews a cross section of the leg at (1), (1) Fig. 10 shews a plan and Fig. 11
a similar cross section at (2), (2) of the corresponding leg at its lower end in order
to shew how the same becomes dilated under the air pressure.
Taking as an example the foregoing illustration of a practical embodiment of
the invention in a frog which is to be made at will to crawl, spring, swim, or
dive, the operator holds the distending device or inflator and deflator and by the
tube e effects inflation and deflation of an invisible bladder or vessel c within the
body b so that specific gravity of the toy may be made less or greater than that of
the water, (or being so desired the body may distend also) and the toy be caused
to swim, or sink. Gradual deflation may be provided for by a pin hole in the

page_text: vessel c.
At the same time the inflating fluid may pass to vessels which when
inflated or deflated control the connected limbs, or parts, suitable valvular stops
operated by the performer enabling selection of the parts operated to be effected.
By forming the limbs or parts h with spaces or chambers h¹ suitably located
therein, with a normal tendency to keep a contracted form, as when a frog has his
limbs tucked up ready for a jump (as shewn by the left hind leg in Figs. 1 and 6)
and providing fluid passages connected either through the body bladder or directly
to the distender f held by the performer, a slow crawling progression or a sudden
jump or swimming or diving action can with a little practice be readily obtained,
by the adjustment of the force of distension.
According to a modification the distender f may be provided with duplicate tubes
or a set of tubes connecting it to the toy, the selected tubes being put into or kept
out of use by valves acted on by the performers fingers.
Fig. 12 shows by a horizontal sectional view a body of a frog according to this
modification and having two tubes leading from the distender f.
Fig. 13 is a section of the bi-tubular distender separately.
In this instance the hind legs are operated in the manner already described,
whilst the front legs i, which are formed with collapsible recesses i¹, are in commu-
nication with the distender by a separate tube e¹, here shown as connected by a
branch tube e for supply of air.
1
Stop pieces or valves f'/' are provided adjacent to the junction of the tubes e, et
with the distender by which the performer may close one or other tube thereby.
regulating the supply of air to the selected limb or limbs.
By such means varied movements may be given to a selected limb or limbs and
they may be operated as desired.
In using the examples already described as a diving toy, the body b by suitable
inlets 6 becomes more or less filled with water which the inflation of the vessel d
or bladder c within more or less displaces allowing the toy to rise or fall theṛein
whilst the impulses to the limbs produce motion.
Or in some cases the inlet and exit 'see Figs. 7 and 8 may be at about the
point 3 so that emission of water thereabout may aid progression in the water in
which the toy is swimming.
Fig. 14 shews by a section of half a frogs body in its retracted position and
Fig. 15 by exterior view of the opposite half of a like body in a protracted
position a modified construction in which the inflation and deflation of the whole
body and limbs of the toy is effected from one tube connected at e¹.
The body or main bladder may be fed by a separate tube, or by means of a
suitably constructed and adjusted valve, the surplus air used for working the limbs
may be made to pass into the bladder at will according to the amount of pressure
to be applied.
The toes or parts of the limbs may be made so as to have a tendency to grip the
ground, or hold the water in one direction of motion whilst they slide over or
through the supporting medium in the other direction see Figs. 9, 10 and 11.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The construction, arrangement and use of parts of a mechanical toy consisting
of a hollow inflatable part or parts such as a body and hollow inflatable limbs joined.
thereto formed of elastic material, in communication by a tube or tubes with a
means of air or fluid supply under pressure, so that upon air or fluid being
forced therein or allowed to return the limbs may be protracted or retracted in an
adjustable and natural manner substantially as set forth.
2. The construction arrangement and use of parts of apparatus forming a
mechanical toy as set forth in Claim 1 with an air vessel or vessels capable of
inflation and deflation in the body or elsewhere so as facilitate variations of specific
gravity of the toy or other effects, substantially as set forth.

page_text: 3. The construction of the limbs or protractible parts of inflatable toys as
set forth.
Dated the 23rd day of October 1894.
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicants.