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US 6,547,632 B2Granted
Shuttlecock lockout mechanism
AssigneeMattel, Inc.
InventorsJon C. Marine, Simon Chow
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An interactive, animated, and robotic doll having movable appendages, such as a head, arms, and legs. The doll includes motors, gears and other linkages to actuate the movement of these appendages. A lockout mechanism is operatively incorporated into the doll for preventing conflicting forces from occurring. The lockout mechanism may include a shuttlecock interposed two independent linkages that drive motion in a single appendage. The shuttlecock slides between two positions, each of which limits the movement of a corresponding one of the two linkages when the other of the two linkages is actuating motion in the appendage.
Claims37
A toy comprising:
- a body having a movable body appendage;
- a first and second motor each including a rotatable motor output operatively connected to the movable body appendage;
- and
- a lockout subsystem configured to move between two positions, a first position blocking operative connection of the first motor to the movable body appendage, and a second position blocking operative connection of the second motor to the movable body appendage.
1 more element
A toy comprising:
- a body having a movable appendage;
- a gear assembly configured to drive movement in the movable appendage and having a first drive gear with a first contact region configured to travel along a first path and a second drive gear with a second contact region configured to travel along a second path;
- a motor assembly including a first motor having a first motor output and a second motor having a second motor output, wherein the first drive gear is mounted on the first motor output and the second drive gear is mounted on the second motor output and wherein the first and second motor outputs are positioned to selectively drive opposed movement in the appendage;
- and
- a lockout mechanism interposed the first and second drive gears for engagement with the contact region of each of the drive gears, wherein the lockout mechanism is configured to be moved by the first contact region when the second contact region is not engaged by the lockout mechanism, and to block movement of the first contact region when the second contact region is engaged by the lockout mechanism.
2 more elements
A toy comprising:
- a body having a movable appendage;
- a gear assembly configured to drive the motion of the movable appendage, wherein the gear assembly includes at least two independent drive gears configured to selectively drive the movable appendage in opposed directions;
- and
- a lockout mechanism configured to limit drive motion of the independent drive gears preventing the drive gears from driving the movable appendage in opposed directions at the same time,
- wherein:
- the lockout mechanism includes a shuttlecock that is moveable to a first position in which the shuttlecock prevents a first of the two independent drive gears from moving through a first predefined angular sweep;
- and
- the shuttlecock is moveable to a second position in which the shuttlecock prevents a second of the two drive gears from moving through a second predefined angular sweep.
5 more elements
A toy comprising:
- a body having a movable body appendage;
- a first and second motor each including a rotatable motor output operatively connected to the movable body appendage;
- and
- a lockout subsystem configured to prevent the movable body appendage from being driven in opposed directions,
- wherein the lockout subsystem comprises:
- a first drive gear configured to drive a first movement in the movable body appendage and to include a first contact region that travels along a first path;
- a second drive gear configured to drive a second movement in the movable body appendage and to include a second contact region that travels along a second path;
- and
- a lockout mechanism interposed the first and second drive gears, and configured:
- to be engaged by the first contact region and to respond by moving to extend over a portion of the second drive gear obstructing the travel of the second contact region along the second path while the first contact region engages the lockout mechanism, thereby limiting the rotation of the second drive gear;
- and
- to be engaged by the second contact region and to respond by moving to extend over a portion of the first drive gear obstructing the travel of the first contact region along the first path while the second contact region engages the lockout mechanism, thereby limiting the rotation of the first drive gear.
9 more elements
A toy comprising:
- a body having a movable body appendage;
- a fist motor including a rotatable motor output operatively connected to the movable body appendage through a first drive gear having a first axis of rotation;
- a second motor including a rotatable motor output operatively connected to the movable body appendage through a second drive gear having a second axis of rotation;
- a lockout subsystem configured to prevent the movable body appendage from being driven in opposed directions, wherein the lockout subsystem includes a shuttlecock interposed the first and second drive gears and aligned with the first axis of rotation and the second axis of rotation.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.