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US 5,399,115 AGranted
Blinking doll with power storage mechanism
AssigneeToy Biz, Inc.
InventorsAvi Arad, Robert W. Jeffway, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A doll with an eyeblink mechanism includes an eye with a reciprocatable eyelid, a drive providing intermittent slow rotary motion, and a torsion spring for accumulating such rotary motion, as necessary, and converting each predetermined quantity of such rotary motion into intermittent, relatively rapid reciprocating motion of the eyelid to blink the eye. A safety mechanism precludes overwinding of the torsion spring, e.g., when movement of the eyelid is physically blocked.
Claims9
A doll with an eyeblink mechanism, comprising:
- (A) an eye with a reciprocatable eyelid movable between an eye open position and an eye closed position;
- (B) drive means for providing intermittent slow rotary motion;
- (C) driven means for intermittently relatively rapidly reciprocating said eyelid to blink said eye through one complete cycle from an eye open position, through an eye closed position and back to the open eye position, with the eye remaining in the eye open position for a greater period of time than in the eye closed position;
- (D) torsion spring means operatively secured to both said drive means and said driven means for developing torque therebetween, said torsion spring means accumulating a predetermined threshold quantity of such rotary motion and converting each accumulated predetermined threshold quantity of such rotary motion into intermittent, relatively rapid reciprocating motion of said driven means, said torsion spring means being wound by such rotary motion when such reciprocating motion is blocked and unwound by the conversion of such rotary motion to such reciprocating motion, said torsion spring means additionally including means for releasably blocking such reciprocating motion until a predetermined threshold quantity of such rotary motion is accumulated.
1 more element
A doll with an eyeblink mechanism, comprising:
- (A) an eye with a reciprocatable eyelid;
- (B) rotary disk means;
- (C) drive means for intermittently slowly rotating said rotary disk means in a given direction;
- (D) rotatable crank disk means for intermittently relatively rapidly reciprocating said eyelid when said crank disk means rotates, thereby to blink said eye;
- (D) fixedly disposed stop means engageable with said crank disk means for normally precluding rotation of said crank disk means;
- (E) biasing means biasing one of said stop means and said crank disk means into engagement with the other;
- (F) torsion spring means secured to both said rotary disk and said crank disk means for developing torque therebetween and causing relatively rapid rotation of said crank disk means in a given direction when the engagement of said stop means and said crank disk means is released;
- and
- (G) means for overcoming said biasing means once per revolution of said rotary disk means, thereby to release the engagement between said stop means and said crank disk means and thus permit rotation of said crank disk means and blinking said eye once per revolution of said rotary disk means.
6 more elements
A talking doll with an eyeblink mechanism, comprising:
- (A) an eye with a reciprocatable eyelid;
- (B) rotary disk means;
- (C) drive means for intermittently slowly rotating said rotary disk means in a given direction;
- (D) rotatable crank disk means for intermittently relatively rapidly reciprocating said eyelid when said crank disk means rotates, thereby to blink said eye;
- (D) fixedly disposed stop means engageable with said crank disk means for normally precluding rotation of said crank disk means;
- (E) biasing means biasing one of said stop means and said crank disk means into engagement with the other;
- (F) torsion spring means secured to both said rotary disk and said crank disk means for developing torque therebetween and causing relatively rapid rotation of said crank disk means in a given direction when the engagement of said stop means and said crank disk means is released;
- (G) means for overcoming said biasing means once per revolution of said rotary disk means, thereby to release the engagement between said stop means and said crank disk means and thus permit rotation of said crank disk means and blinking said eye once per revolution of said rotary disk means;
- and
- (H) safety mechanism means for precluding overwinding of said torsion spring means, said safety mechanism means including a soft connection between said crank disk means and said eyelid which enables rotation of said crank disk means without reciprocating said eyelid, and means for causing a full rotation of said crank disk means at least once per full rotation of said rotary disk means regardless of whether or not rotation of said crank disk means reciprocates said eyelid.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.