US2788696A - Xylophone enclosed in figure - Google Patents

Description

April 16, 1957 A. A. ANTHONY 2,788,696

XYLOPHONE ENCLOSED IN FIGURE Filed Sept. 9, 1953 ATTORNEYS United States Patent XYLOPHONE ENCLOSED IN FIGURE Alfred A. Anthony, Westport, Conn. Application September 9, 1953, Serial No. 379,152 7 Claims. (Cl. 84-402) This invention relates to toys, a novelty Xylophone.

It is an object of the invention to provide a figure with a plurality of buttons, or other prominent features which are movable and which operate to transmit blows to the plates of a Xylophone. By striking the different buttons in the proper sequence, with a mallet, a child can play tunes on the Xylophone.

Another object of the invention is to provide a Xylophone, of the character indicated, in which the figure is a molded object with an open bottom and with the xylophone plates, hammers and other parts supported from bosses which are an integral part of the figure. This construction reduces the number of parts required for the invention, makes it more convenient to assemble, and thus reduces the cost of manufacture.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear or be pointed out as the description proceeds.

In the drawing, forming a part hereof, in which like reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all the views;

Figure l is a top view of a figure having buttons which serve as hammers for striking the plates of a Xylophone concealed within the figure;

Figure 2 is a side view of the structure shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a perspective view, broken away and partly in section, showing the construction inside of the figure; and

Figures 4 and 5 are detail views showing the way in which the Xylophone plates and the hammer supports, respectively, are held in place.

The invention is shown with a clown as the figure within which the Xylophone is concealed. There is a row of holes 11 extending down the center of the clown. The first hole 11 is located at the clowns nose, and all of the other holes 11 are located in the positions of the buttons of the clowns suit. There are hammer elements 12 located within the figure of the clown, and each of these hammer elements projects part way through one of the holes 11. Thus, one of the hammer elements 12 forms a nose for the clown, and the other hammer elements 12 form the buttons of the suit. In the construction illustrated, the hammer elements 12 are balls, and preferably wooden balls.

The figure of the clown is hollow, and is made with a raised body portion 15 that merges into downwardly extending side walls 16 having bottom edge faces 17 which rest on a table or other support on which the figure is placed.

Within the figure there are Xylophone plates 21; and one of these plates 21 is located under each of the hammer elements 12. The hammer elements 12 are supported at a small distance above the plates 21, and when the hammer elements are struck with a mallet, they move into contact with the plates 21 to sound the musical notes which the plates make when they vibrate. There are preferably and more especially to 2,788,696 Patented Apr. 16, 1957 eight plates 21 so that the toy can be used to play a full octave.

Figure 3 shows the way in which the plates 21 and hammer elements 12 can be supported within the figure and entirely by integral portions extending down from the top wall or body portion 15.

There are projections 25 located near the walls 16 and extending downwardly from the top Wall 15 for a distance substantially less than the height of the top wall 15 above the bottom edges 17. These projections 25 extend through openings 26 in the Xylophone plates 21; and there is a soft washer 27, such as a felt washer (Figure 4), on which the plate 21 rests. The washer 27 is supported by a spread end 28 of the projection 25.

When the figure is originally molded, each of the projection 25'has an end which extends downwardly as shown by the dotted lines in Figure 4. After the plate 21 and washer 27 have been placed on the projection 25, a hot tool is applied to the end of the projection to soften and spread the end to the contour shown in Figure 4. This is the equivalent of a rivet head for preventing the washer 27 and plate 21 from coming off the projection 25. The assembly is preferably made with the figure turned upside down so that the lower, free end of the projection 25 is uppermost, and the plate 21 and washer 27 drop away from the end which can be riveted without danger of harming the felt washer by the heat.

Referring again to Figure 3, each hammer element 12 is supported by a resilient dowel 31 to which the hammer element 12 is rigidly connected. The opposite end portions of each dowel 31 extend through projections such as lugs 33, which are located inward of the projections 25, and which are shorter than the projections 25. These lugs 33 are preferably of one piece construction with the molded figure.

There are recesses 35 (Figure 5) in the lower end faces of the lugs 33 for receiving the end portions of the dowel 31. When the toy is assembled, the molded figure is placed upside down, and the dowel 31 is placed in the recesses 35. A hot tool is then applied to the lower end of each lug 33 to soften and distort the bottom portion of the lug into the full line positions shown in Figure 5. This secures the dowel 31 in place and prevents movement of the dowel with respect to the lug 33 either axially or radially.

When the toy is being assembled, the hammer element 12 is centered with respect to the adjacent hole 11 before the lugs 33 are deformed into position to clamp the dowel 31 against further movement. The hammer element 12 is thus held in its centered position, with respect to the hole 11, and at a pre-determined distance above the Xylophone plate 21.

A mallet 40, shown in dot-and-dash lines in Figure 3, has a head 41, which is preferably made of rubber, and this head is used to strike the hammer elements 12. A wooden mallet, such as used for playing ordinary Xylophones, is not suitable with this invention because of the noise made by a wooden mallet when hit against the wooden hammer elements 12.

When each of the hammer elements 12 is struck by the mallet 40, the dowel 31 bends enough to allow the hammer elements 12 to strike a sharp blow against the Xylophone plate 21, and the resilience of the dowel 31 pulls the hammer element 12 away from the plate 21 quickly so as not to damp the vibration of the plate.

With this construction, the Xylophone is easier to play than a conventional Xylophone because it is not essential for the child to raise the mallet instantly from the hammer elements 12. The momentum of the mallet 40 depresses the hammer elements 12 into contact with the Xylophone plates, but the dowels 31 are stiff enough to ill srratea and described;- but chan es and"modificatioi'1s" I: a my invention:

7 15 A "my "musical "instrur'nntfineludih'g" a "shell having" ah-ep'eh 'beaem and 'a'"top" wan with a row of openings therein, a Xylophone comprising, aplu rali't ylj'of difi'rent plates located f within the shell with" a difierem' plate unaereaemef the" o enings hammerelement "located" iiithe' shell' above esenf tne yloph9heplatesandfex teasin -upwardly o the opening"andsubstantially'fili the cross -sectiono'f theqpening, resilient "mean's'holdin'g each ofithefh'am'mer elementssp'aced from the xylo phoii'e'plate beneath it; the "resilient rri'ean's being connected to the inside'fof' the' shellandhavin glsfifiicient yield' to'" ermit the-hammer element to mbveiinto eentaetwith the yl hene lape When" the"top'i of' thehain'nierele men 1 truck with'amal'lefwhichisusedfoi"playirig i the musical instrument I g 2. A toy musical instrument includiri'g 'aholloW'shell openat' thb'cittorr'iand'hrvingltoii and side wallsshaped to represent afig'ure" dfesse'd' in acbStiiine v having "a" row of"buttons" extending along the" longitudinal length of the shell: each of the buttons: consisting of V a separate hammer'erm'entflecated' within the shell" and extending pa-rt' w'ay"through"anopeningimthe top of the shella'nd' substantially fill-ing'th'e o ening, resilient means connected 'to the inside of the shell for holding the'hainmer'ele ments "'inposition, a" Xylophone located'withintheshell and' having separate platesloc'ated under there'sp'e'cti'vei hammer el'e'ment's that fo'rm'the'butt'ons' of the figure, each xylophonepla'te' being located at a slight distance'belowj the hammer el'em'en't so that "the: Xylophone "can be played bYsIeiQitiVly striking 'd'ifieient humans of the fcostumef 35 rhe tey musical instrument d'e'scribecl'in claim 2 and in which" there; are-supporting means for each xylo" e made"withoiit deparrih'g'from' th'dnV'ehtiOii" as" V phone plate extending inwardly from the inside surface of the topof"the"shell'i 4. The toy musical instrument described in claim 2 and in which the resilient means are held by supports extending inwardly from the inner surface of the shell.

5. A toy musical instrument comprising a hollow shell having a row of openings through a top surface thereof, Xylophone plates located wit hi'n the shell with each of the Xylophone plates located under a different opening in the shell, a plurality ofh'amrner elements'each of which is located above:oneof theXylophone plates, each-cf the hammer elements beingofdimitedvertical extent "and having at "least the greater part "of "its vertical height located below the top surface of the shell in which the openings are located, and resilient means supported from the shell and holding the respective hammer elements spaced from the plates but in position to contact with the plates when the surfaces of the hammer-elements, which are exposed through said openings, are struck with a mallet. I

6; Thewoy musicarinsrrusieni described in cIaim-- 5 a'rld' in whichthe'sliell is shapedton'ep'resent a clown having a costume with large buttons thereon, and the openings through thesh'ell'are' at the locations of the buttons and "the noseof the clown, and the hammer elements exposed through said openings'represent the but tons and nose of the clown.

7. Atoyjmusical instrument comprising an open-hot tom" shell shaped to represent a figure dressed in a COStiifnE: having arrow of buttons, an openingthrou'gh a top wall of the shell at 'the intended locationof each' button, a hammer elementpr'ojecting u wardly intoeachi of' theopenings and representing the button at that opening, a ditferent Xylophone plate under ea'chof the hammer element's," said hammer 'eleinehts being located Within'the shell" and having only a portion of their vertical "extent pi'oject'ihg into the openings, and" resilient means suported from the shell andholdi'ngtherespective h mmer elements spaced from the plates but in position. for each hammer elementto eontacrwith theplate b eneathit when the" resilient means yields in response to force against the hammer elements fro'n-r' above; 7

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED- STATES PATENTS 2,454,402 Okrain NOV. 23, 1948

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