US2637936A - Animated figure - Google Patents

Description

y 1953 F. L. DALE ETAL 2,637,936

ANIMATED FIGURE Filed March 4, 1950 2 s e t -s t 1 DMWLM 4 7'70/P/VEYS y 2, 1953 F. L. DALE ET AL 2,637,936

ANIMATED FIGURE Filed March 4, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS Z7 flan/r z. azz 25 law 1. 1/6 flit/11 DWQQ LM HTTO/V/VEYS h Patented May 12, 1953 ANIMATED FIGURE Frank L. Dale, New York, and Levitt L. McMickle, Glendale, N. Y., assignors to Mechanical Man, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 4, 1950, Serial No. 147,648

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for providing a mechanical display and more particularly to a mechanism for providing motion to a model of a human form.

It is an object of this invention to provide a mannequin for display purposes which as lifelike motions.

It is another object of this invention to provide mechanism for actuating a doll to produce motions in the doll. I

It is a further object of this invention to provide mechanism for actuating motion in a mannequin which is suitable for an advertising display.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an animated doll having a mechanism which is simple in construction and reliable in operation.

These and other objects of this invention will be more fully understood upon consideration of the following description taken together with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the mannequin actuating mechanism of this invention showing the mannequin partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the mannequin of Fig. 1 taken on line 2-2 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a detailed view in vertical section of a part of the actuating mechanism seen from the rear;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section of Fig. 3 taken on line 5-5 in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is a top view of the slide assembly of the actuating mechanism;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of the slide assembly of Fig. 6 partly in section on line 1-1 of Fig. 6 taken in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the cruciform member of the slide assembly.

This invention involves the actuation of a dummy or mannequin made up of a flexible material and having a hollow interior which contains the actuating mechanism. The mannequin is suitably supported and the mechanism is driven from a motor source, either in said support or at some other location and the power is delivered to the mechanism in the mannequin by suitable covert means. The actuating mechanism contained within the mannequin is centered around a crank linkage supported on a stand and rotated by a shaft which delivers the power from the motor source. The linkage supports a sliding assembly which oscillates with the reciprocating motion of the linkage as it is rotated by the shaft. The sliding assembly is made up of an integral base having a slotted center and on it horizontal hoops are tiltably pivoted to seesaw through short arcs. The hoops lie across the hip section of the mannequin and are designed to form the outline of the hips of the mannequin. The oscillation of the sliding assembly causes the hoops to move horizontally across the axis of the mannequin body as well as the seesaw. With this horizontal oscillation, the hoops tilt on their pivoting supports. This pivoting causes the hoops to converge at one side of the mannequin body while they are separating at the other end to alternately separate at the first side while they are converging at the second.

The mechanism within the mannequin body also provides a swivel connection mounted on the crank linkage and rotated by it. The rotary motion of this swivel connection in turn provides a yoke in the shoulder section of the'mannequin with an oscillating motion. Thus, as the hoops oscillate and seesaw, the shoulder yoke is simultaneously pivoted on its axis to rotate back and forth through a short arc. The mannequin is covered with simulated clothing over the flexible material making up the hollow casing of the body. This clothing reacts to the movements of the body casing brought about by the actuating mechanism to produce a simulation of lifelike motions.

An embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings. Referring to Fig. l, a mannequin I0 is shown mainly in section and composed of a flexible material moulded into thin walls II forming a body having a hollow interior I2. The mannequin It is mounted on a turntable I3 which in turn is supported through a hub I4 on a platform I5 containing a motor I6 and two sets of chains and sprockets. The motor I6 turns dual sprockets and I5. Sprocket I'I drives a larger sprocket I9 through a chain 20 while sprocket I8 drives a smaller sprocket 2I through a chain 22. The sprocket I9 has mounted on it an axle 23 and is supported in a journal 24 which is hung from the inner surface of the top of the platform I5. The hub I4 in turn is mounted on the upper end of the axle 23 which, driven by the sprockets I! and I 9 and chain 20 rotates in journal 24 to rotate the hub I4, the turntable I3 and the supported mannequin I0. Simultaneously and independently, the sprocket 2| through sprocket I8 and chain 22 is driven to rotate a shaft 25 vertically mounted thereon. The shaft 25 is extended upward from the sprocket 2| through passages in the axle 23, the hub I4 and the platform I5 and the turntable I3 to a leg 26 of the mannequin. A hollow pole 27 mounted on the turntable I3 extends upward through the hollow interior of the leg 26 entering the leg through an aperture in the foot portion. The shaft 25 is encased inside but moves independently of 3 the pole 21. The shaft 25 and the pole 2T terminate at'the hip section of the mannequin iii.

As shown in Fig. 2, the hip section of the mannequin contains a cruciform member 28 shown also in perspective in Fig. 8. Referring again to Fig. 2, it is seen that the cruciform member 28 has a central slide 29 containing a central slot 30. The cruciform member 28 is also provided with a pair of crossarms 3i, the upper of which is seen in Fig. 2. The crossarms' 31 are joined together at their extremities by vertical plates 32 as shown in Fig. 8. R'eferringtoFig. 3. it is seen that the pole 27 has fitted on its upper end a horizontally extending arm 33, the upper surface of which forms a platform 34. The slide member 29 rests on or is adjacent to the-platform 34. The shaft protrudesa short distance from the upper end of the pole 27-. The upper end of the shaft 25 is encircled with a recess 35 which receives a link 3f fitted and pivotally held thereon. The recess 35 is formed in theshaft 25 at a point just above the position of the slide member'ZG on the platform 35 so that the link 3t may move independently of the slide '29 through an angle of 360 as seen in-Figs. 1 and 2, 6 and 7. The link 36 is thus rotatable to any position. In the opposite end of the link 36-from the indented recess 35, a crankpin 3'! is securely mounted extending upwardly parallel to the axis of the pole 21 and the shaft 25.

up its vertical dimension and holds another link 38. A pin through the opposite end of the link 38 from the pin 3'!" supports the upper crossarm 3| onthe link 38. cruciform 28 is integral with the slide 29 through the plates 32 and lower crossarms 3| as shown in- Fig. 8, the cruciform 23 as a whole is supported on the shaft 25 through the link 36, the crankpin 3i" and the link 38 as seen in Fig. 3. The-end of the shaft 25 which protrudes from the pole 2'1 extends through the slot 30 of the slide member 23 but does not engage it so that the slide is free to move with relation tothe shaft in-a crosswise direction as seen in'Fig. 3.

As'seen' in Fig. 4, the links 38 and 36 are lined up in-line with the slot Sal and the pint! is cell;- tered directly over the slot 30. A rod. 39 supported at the outer end of the arm 33.as'seen in Fig. 3 is at the extreme left end of the slot an in the position shown in Fig. 4. Figs. 2 and 6 are, top views'of the slideassembly shown with thefront facing the bottom of the sheet. In Fig. 6, the linkage formed by links 36 and 3t" is shown'in half extended position with the rod 39 positioned in the slot 30 halfway toward the crossarms 3|. In Fig. the linkage of links' 36 and 38 is shown in fully extended'positionand the rod 39 is adjacent crossarms'3i.

A hoop it-is supported on the cruciform- 28 being attached at each side at the upper endof thesplates 32 by a pin 41 to permit a'free-tilting movement. Similarly, the hoop 42' is supported on thecruciform 28' being fastened at each side by pins 43 to the lower ends of the plates 32 as shown in Fig. .1. Thehoop 42 isalso freely tiltable on its attaching pins 63.

The rod 39 extends upwardlyfroin the arm 33 through the slot 38 to a point in the shoulder section of the mannequin it. The upper end of the rod 39 supports a bracket 44 which extends horizontally across the hollow interior [2 of the mannequin Ill" and is centrally provided witha hub- 45 into the hollow center ofwhich 'fitt'ed a' bushing 46; At the end of the bracket oppo- The crank pin i 311s in turn girdled with a recess about halfway As the upper crossarmof the site from the rod 39 a ball socket 41 is suspended by a bolt 40 which is fastened? to the bracket 44. The ball socket-1'47 contains a ball end 49 of a swivel rod 50, the other end of which is formed into a second ball end 5! which seats in a socket 52 recessed in the upper end of the crankpin 31.

swiveling on the flat upper surface of the hub 45, a yoke 53 is formed to have shoulder portions 54- and a neck portion 55. The yoke 53 has a downwardly extending shaft 56 centrally positioned in its underside. The shaft 56 passes rotatably through the bushing 26 and extends downwardly parallel to the rod 39 and adjacent theswivel rod 50. At a point adjacent the upper end of the swivel rod 50, the shaft 56 has mounted on it a fork 57 by means of a collar 58; The fork 51, as seen in Fig. 5, has two horizontally extending prongs 59 extending in the direction of and engaging the swivel rod 58 in a slot Gilbetween the prongs 59; The collar 58 is fixed on the shaft Elise that the shaft 56 and its mounted yoke 53 move with the motion supplied to the fork 5'! by the swivel rod 50. The casing walls I l of the mannequin ID are parted at the hip section by a gap 6! which divides the mannequin into upper and lower parts. 7

In the operation of this embodiment of this invention, the motor l8 is-energized to turn-the sprockets I1 and i8 and through chains 2-8 and 22 the sprockets I9 and 2| respectively. The sprocket l9 turning axle 23 moves the hoop l4 and its super-imposed platform l5 upon which the mannequin iii stands. Thus, the mannequin is made to rotate with the platform [5. At the same time, the sprocket 2! drives the shaft 25 which is inside of the hollow pole 21 as best seen in Fig. 3. As described above, the shaft 25 r0- tates the link 36 which, in turn, carries the vertical crankpin 3?- at its free end and through this crankpin 3i swings-the free end of the link SSfIOm side to side'through a semi-circle.- The free end'of the link 38 is-attached' to the crank-- pin 31 and the fixed end of the link S'B'ds' en'- chored by a pin 63 to the center of the crossa-rm 31- of the cruciform 28'. The free end-of the link 38 thus swings back and forth through a semi circular a-rc' while" the fixed'end oscillates along a line with the oscillating cruciform- 28. The oscillating motion of the cruciform 28 is provided by the rotating link 36 as transmitted to the cruciform 2B through the swinging link 38. The cruciform 28 riding on-the platform 34 is held inline bythe pole'tl' and therod 39 acting as pins sliding in the central slot 30'. The-reciprocation of the cruciform'28is transmitted to the hoops 46 and 42 through the plates 32. The hoops 49 and 42 thus oscillate back and forth horizontally across the vertical axis of the mannequin l6. For the purpose of this description, the'position of the hoops '43 and Mwhenswung to theright, as seen in Fig. 1 or from'the front, is'termed the dexter position and correspondingly to the left will be termed the'levular position.

themannequin no is'covered with a cloth 62 madeup to simulate clothing. Thiscloth cover ing coversthegap tl'in the hip section ofth'e mannequin; As the hoops 4D and 42 are swung from'one' si'de'to the otherthey seesaw on their pivot pins 43; Theiplates 32 also move from side to side. When the plates 32 move the hoops 40' and 42to an extended position at' one side of the mannequin l0','.the flexiblematerial II at that side tends to pull the hoops away from each other in a vertical plane while the wall material H at the other side tends to push the hoops together in a vertical plane. Upon the reverse motion of the sliding assembly and the movement of the plates 32 carrying the hoops as and lf-Z to an extended position toward the other side, the opposite effect is obtained. Thus, as shown in Fig. 1, the hoops are shown in the dexter position separated at the right side and converged at the left side. When the plates 32 and the hoops ill and @2 2 are in central position as shown. in Figs. 6 and '1, the hoops are substantiaily parallel to each other. In every complete cycle, the sliding assembly and the crank linkage together with the hoops pass through the central position twice. Also, during each complete cycle, the hip actuating mechanism is extended once fully to the dexter position and. once to the levular position. In Fig. l, the hip actuating mechanism is shown in full dexter position. In the hip actuating mechanism is shown in full levular position. In Figs. 6 and '1 the hip actuating mechanism is shown in one of the two central positions.

The operation of the shoulder actuating mechanism is simultaneous and coordinated with the operation of the hip actuating mechanism. The operation of the shoulder actuating mechanism brought about by the rotation of the link 36 as translated through the crankpin 31, the swivel. rod and the shaft through the fork El.

The swivel rod shown in one position in lug. l in another position in Fig. 3. In being moved through these positions by the link 36 and the orankpin ti, the rotation of the swivel rod describes the surface of a cone with the ball end 5i forming the apex of the cone and the ball end it describing the base of the cone. By thus rotatin the rod 5'8 translates a re ciprocating mo on to the fork 5? which engages it with prongs This reciprocating motion is transl. ed into a reciprocating motion of the shaft which turns the shaft 55 back and forth on its axis for short rotational movements. The

yoke in turn is provided short back and forth rot tional movements and thus provides the The clothing is affected both by the hip '"atirg .cchanisin through its effect on the actuating mechanism through the effect wall material if of the mannequin l0. oulder yoke 53 engages the inner surface of the shoulder of the mannequin iii and moves back ard and forward along this inner surface for des ibing short arcs. The wall material ii is rov). ,ed with freedom to permit the trans ion of the motions of the actuating mechanism to the covering material 62 through the wall material it with the greatest efliciency. Consequently, as described above, side apertures iii are provided in the hip section by the hoops id and c2. Similarly, the bust section of the wall material it may be suitably apertured to provide a lifelike freedom of the wall material l i. It is a feature of this invention that a lifelike motion is provided a display mannequin by a simple rugged mechanism having a reliable mode of operation. It is another advantage of this invention that the motion supplied to the body of the mannequin may be adjusted by arrangement of the parts to provide a variety of interpretations of lifelike body movement.

Various modifications of the embodiment of this invention shown and described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For this reason, it is intended to limit this invention by the scope of the appended claims.

We claim:

1. An animated figure comprising a flexible hollow casing simulating a human form including an upper hollow body portion forming a simulated human trunk, arms, shoulders, neck, and. head portions; a lower hollow body portion composed of feet, legs, and lower hip portions; a lower edge encircling and terminating said upper body portion, an upper edge terminating and encircling said lower body portion adjacent to but spaced from said lower edge of said upper body portion; first hoop positioned within and contacting said lower edge, a second hoop positioned within and contacting said upper edge, a re -procable integral cruciform positioned within said casing, a cross arm on said cruciform pivotably supporting said hoops at their outer ends, shaft and link means attached to said cruciform, and means driving said shaft and link means to cause said cruciform to reciprocate whereby said pivotably mounted hoops are oscillated and contacted casin is provided an oscillatory motion.

2. An animated figure of the type set forth in claim 1 including a vertical plate at each end of said cross arm on which said hoops are pivoted, a rotatable shaft in said shaft means, a fixed platform mounted adjacent the upper end of said rotatable shaft, a rotatable end of said shaft protruding through said platform, a bod portion of said cruciform slidable on said platform, a central slot in said cruciform body receiving said rotatable upper end of said shaft, and a pair of links attaching said rotatable shaft end to said cross arm whereby rotation of said shaft causes said links to reciprocate said cruciform on said platform and to reciprocate said vertical plates which, in turn, oscillate said pivotably mounted hoops.

3. An animated figure of the type set forth in claim 1 including a swivel rod, a crank pin rotatably mounted on an end of said shaft means receiving one end of said swivel rod, a reciprocable fork engaged by said swivel rod, a shaft supporting said reciprocable fork and fixed thereto, and a yoke positioned in the shoulder portion of said upper body portion mounted on said shaft and contactable with said casing in said shoulder portion whereby rotation of said rotatable crank pin and said swivel rod reciprocates said fork, shaft and yoke to engage and disengage said yoke with said casing in the shoulder portion.

FRANK L. DALE. LEVITT L. MCMICKLE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 212,065 Stark Feb. 4, 1879 476,740 Gareis June 7, 1892 1,049,345 Dolman Jan. '7, 1913 1,423,383 Zaiden July 18, 1922 1,661,093 Rogers Feb. 28, 1928 1,685,358 Harcourt Sept. 25, 1928 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 370,473 Great Britain Apr. 11, 1932

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