US3061948A - Magic writing toy - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 6, 1962 A. STUBBMANN 3,061,948

MAGIC WRITING TOY Filed April 4, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 14466191- Srussmwn Arm rs ing adhesively pressure-sensitive.

York

Filed Apr. 4, 1961, Ser. No. 100,627 18 Claims, (Cl. 35-63) This invention relates to a magic writing toy.

It is an object of the invention to provide a toy of the character described having a single actuating member which a child can manipulate to inscribe writing, marks etc. with a concealed stylus upon a display surface remote from said member.

It is another object of the invention to provide a toy of the character described in which the writing, marks etc. are applied by a stylus bearing upon the rear, i.e. under, surface of a horizontal substantially plane display member.

It is another object of the invention to provide a toy of the character described in which the writing, marks etc. can quickly and easily be removed from the display member.

It is another object of the invention to provide a toy of the character described in which the stylus may quickly and easily be disengaged from or brought into engagement with the writing surface of the display member.

It is another object of the invention to provide a toy of the character described which constitutes relatively few and simple parts, is inexpensive to make, and is of a sturdy and rugged construction so that it can Withstand severe and even abusive handling by children.

Other objects of this invention in part will be obvious and in part will be pointed out hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified in the toy hereinafter described, and of which the scope of application will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one of the various possible embodiments of this invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective View of the major components of the toy;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary rear perspective view of the toy, the same being shown with the writing surface of the display member as lowered preparatory to the inscription of marks thereon;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the writing surface raised;

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the line 55 of FIG. 1 and illustrating the toy in writing position;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 5 but illustrating the toy in skip position;

FIG. 7 is a view similar to FIG. 6 but showing the toy with the writing surface raised to erase previous marks; and

FIG. 8 is a highly enlarged view showing the member which provides the writing surface adjacent the member that is engaged by the writing implement.

One of the components necessary to achieve the several objects of the present invention is a display member in the form of an inverted magic pad, that is to say, a magic pad which has a pellucid, preferably translucent, rigid, i.e. stiff, substantially plane uppermost member and a pliable colored preferably opaque member therebeneath with one of the facing surfaces of one of the members he- The magic pad is resiliently supported above a second rigid (stiff) member which is substantially parallel to the rigid member of said pad and between the two rigid members there is interposed a writing implement, to wit a stylus, which rides on, i.e. is slidable over and in contact with the second rigid member and which is adapted to engage the pliable member of the magic pad in order to locally press the same against the rigid member of said pad.

if the magic pad is in depressed position, the stylus will press a spot on the pliable member against the under surface of the translucent rigid member whereby as the stylus moves it will leave behind it a linear path (locus) of adhesively retained contact between the pliable and rigid members of the magic pad. This path will appear visually as a line when viewed from above the display member (the magic pad).

By urging the magic pad either toward or away from the second rigid member, depending upon the direction of bias of the resilient support for said pad, the stylus can be caused to engage or disengage the magic pad at will whereby, when desired, to create a skip (interruption) in the inscribed line. Furthermore, the two members of the magic pad are mounted for relative movement toward and away from one another so that by manipulation of a suitable auxiliary element the rigid member of the pad can be either moved away from the pliable member in order to erase writing, marks etc. previously caused by movement of the stylus or the rigid member can be brought in juxtaposition with the pliable member to prepare the toy for writing.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the reference numeral 10 denotes a toy embodying the present inven tion. Said toy includes a base 12 which is constituted of two relatively movable parts, that is to say, two parts which are so constructed and relatively arranged that certain portions thereof can experience relative movement toward or away from one another under the manipulation of an operator, e.g. a child. One part of the base is a lower part 14 and the other an upper part 16.

The two parts of the base and preferably all of the rigid (not easily flexed, bent, distorted or deformed) operating members of the toy, with the exception of parts made from special materials hereinafter described, are fabricated from any suitable self-form-m aintaining, or, in other words, rigid, material which is capable of withstanding the normal rough handling that may be expected from a child. For example, the various rigid parts of the toy can be made of materials such as metal, e.g. sheet metal, wood, plastic, impregnated paper, or molded or shaped plastic. In one preferred form of the invention the various rigid parts which form the working elements of the toy and which only function to provide mechanical movements are made of a high impact injection molded polystyrene, i.e. a polystyrene modified with butadiene, e.g. about 20% by weight of butadiene. It is to be understood of course that this material only has been mentioned by way of illustration and is not to be considered as a limitation on the invention.

The lower part 14 of the base is in the form of a shallow tray having a bottom wall 18, side flanges 20, 22 and end flanges 24, 26. The bottom wall 18 is substantially plane, preferably being as flat as it is convenient to mold. It will be understood, however, as the description proceeds that considerable latitude may be allowed with respect to deviations from flatness. In other words said wall need not be absolutely plane.

The upper part 16 of the base likewise is in the form of a shallow tray. However the upper part is an inverted shallow tray which comprises a top wall 28 from which there depend side flanges 30 and end flanges 3'2, 34.

The shapes of the lower and upper parts are similar, or, phrased dilferently, matching, and may be of any desirable configuration, this depending entirely upon the appearance to be imparted to the toy. For example, as shown herein the base, and therefore the lower and upper parts thereof, has the configuration of an oblong one half of which is tapered so that one half (the wide half) of the oblong is approximately rectangular and the other half (the narrow half) is approximately trapezoidal.

The two parts of the base are telescopically arranged, one part fitting or nesting within the other. For the sake of appearance and in general to prevent foreign objects from being caught between the two parts, the lower part of the base is nestably received within the upper part, the lower part of the base being sufficiently smaller than the upper part of the base for its side and end flanges 20, 22, 24, 26 to be received within the side and end flanges 30, 32, 34 of the upper part of the base. The fit is desirably a close one although the clearance is sufficiently great to permit free slidable movement of either part relative to the other.

Means are provided for interengaging the two parts 14, 16 of the base 12 so that they are resiliently movable with respect to one another. For example, the two parts of the base may be pivotally interengaged at the narrow end of the base and spring means may be included for biasing the other ends of the base away from one another, the biasing means being light enough to be easily overcome by a child whereby to bring the two parts of the base in telescopic interengagement. Alternatively, and as shown, the two parts 14, 16 of the base are pivotally interengaged at a transverse medial axis and spring means is provided to urge the wide ends of the two parts of the base toward one another the spring means being sufficiently light to be easily counteracted by a child.

More particularly the side flanges 2t), 22, 30 of the two parts of the base are formed with transversely registered central openings 36 and in the associated pairs of openings at the opposite sides of the base parts hollow metal rivets 38 are threaded, said rivets lying on a common transverse horizontal medial axis and thereby pro; viding a medial transverse pivotal connection between the two parts of the base whereby said parts can be rocked relative to one another.

In FIG. 5 the two parts of the base are shown in one extreme rocked position wherein the wide ends of said parts are closest to one another and in FIG. 6 the two parts are shown in the other extreme rocked position wherein the wide ends thereof are furthest away from one another. It should be observed that the extent of such rocking movement is quite small and in general will be limited in any suitable manner, as by abutment between the end flange of one of the parts against either the top or bottom wall of the other part. For example the movement toward one another of the two wide portions of the parts of the base is limited by abutment of the end flange 24 of the lower part 14 against the undersurface of the top wall 28 of the upper part 16 and the movement of the wide portions of the two parts away from one another is limited by abutment of the top edge of the end flange 26 against the under surface of the top wall 28.

To urge the wide portions of the two parts of the base toward one another resilient means is included such for example as three helical metal springs 40, 42, 44. The springs 40, 44 are held in position as by bosses 46, 48 protruding from the bottom wall 18 of the lower part 14 of the base at the corners of the narrow end of said bottom wall. The means for locating the intermediate spring 42 will be described hereinafter. Said springs are compression springs and are held under compression between the bottom wall of the lower part and the top wall of the upper part of the base so as to urge apart the narrow ends of the two parts of the base and thereby resiliently urge together the wide ends of the two parts Of the base to the position illustrated in FIG. 5. Pressing down on the narrow portion of the upper part 16 of the base will move the two wide portions of the base away from one another as illustrated in FIG. 6.

The top wall 28 of the upper part 16 of the base is formed with a large display aperture 50 (see FIG. 7) which may be of any suitable configuration. Desirably, in order to obtain a maximum display surface, this aperture is rectangular but the indicated shape is merely given by way of example. Said wall 28 further includes a second manipulating aperture 52 which may be of the same contour as the display aperture 50 but preferably is smaller for a reason which will become apparent later.

The display aperture 50 is covered at the lower surface of the top wall 23 by the pliable member of an inverted magic pad. Said member comprises a sheet 54. The sheet is pliable, i.e. flexible, and has an upwardly facing surface which is of a tacky consistency, i.e. which is adhesively pressure-sensitive. In other words the tacky surface of the pliable sheet will locally adhere, when locally pressed, to another surface, but the adhesion is light so that said tacky surface can be disengaged, i.e. stripped away, from such other surface when pulled away therefrom. The tacky surface conveniently is formed by a coating layer 56 of a pressure-sensitive adhesive.

By way of example, the pliable sheet 54 and its pressure-sensitive adhesive coating layer 56 may constitute a wide strip of No. 800 Scotch brand black acetate tape, a well known pressure sensitive adhesive tape made by the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. of St. Paul, Minnesota. For instance the sheet 54 may be made of regenerated cellulose or cellulose acetate which is thin enough and/or heavily enough plasticized to be flexible. Such sheet is coated on its upper surface with a pressure-sensitive adhesive such for instance as a tacky, e.g. incompletely cured, natural or synthetic rubber.

The pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet 54 is disposed flatly across the bottom side of the aperture 52 completely covering the same and being held to the wall 28, as by a strong adhesive, around the peripheral margin of the aperture 52. Said adhesively pressure-sensitive pliable sheet of the inverted magic pad is permanently held to the top wall. For example, it may be heat bonded thereto. The pliable sheet is not tensioned so as to be drum-like, i.e. taut, but it is tight enough to be substantially fiat although capable of being locally deformed out of its general plane by the application of a very light pressure.

The pliable sheet 54 and/or the coating layer 56 is colored. Although any color can be used, e.g. pastel colors such as yellow, orange, pink, lavender, etc., the color employed preferably is a deep, i.e. dark, color and even more desirably the color approaches or is black inasmuch as the writing and marks which the toy is to display will be of this color and the deepness of the color increases the legibility (visibility) of the writings and markings.

The rigid member of the inverted magic pad comprises a panel 58. Said panel is substantially planar and, specifically, has a planarity which approximately matches the planarity of the wide portion of the bottom wall 18 of the lower part 14 of the base. The panel 58 must be made of a rigid, i.e. self-form-maintaining, material which is pellucid, preferably being translucent. Although glass is functionally suitable for this purpose it is too brittle and dangerous for use in a toy and therefore the panel 58 desirably is made of a synthetic plastic, conveniently the same plastic is used as that for the other parts, to wit, a high impact polystyrene. However, in the case of the panel 58 not enough molding pigments are used to make the panel opaque as they are, for instance, for the two parts of the base.

The panel 58 can be made translucent in any suitable fashion. For instance, a small amount of a light colored pigment can be incorporated in the molding powder for said panel. Alternatively said panel may be molded without any pigment so that it will be clear, i.e. transparent and water-white and the panel can be rendered translucent by making either or both of its broad surfaces translucent. This can be accomplished as by blasting, sanding, or etching one or both of its broad surfaces or by applying to one or both of its broad surfaces a frosting lacquer. This is a clear lacquer in which there is incorporated a small amount of a light colored or opalescent pigment. In the form of the invention herein shown the panel 58 is clear and its undersurface has applied thereto a coating of a frosting lacquer. The frosting lacquer is sutficiently dense to conceal the black or dark color of the pliable sheet 54 so long as there is an air space between said sheet and panel. However in the known manner of a magic pad if the pliable sheet is pressed locally into contact with the translucent panel the color of the sheet can be seen through the panel at such local area and the local area will therefore become visible (be displayed) through the panel as a mark.

To enable the pliable opaque adhesively pressuresensitive sheet 54 and the rigid translucent panel 58 to cooperate as an inverted magic pad, means is included to mount the panel 58 for movement toward and away from a position in which it immediately overlies the sheet. When it is immediately juxtaposed to the pliable sheet so as to place the magic pad in readiness for operation the rigid panel 58 is located in the display aperture 50 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. When it is remote from the pliable sheet so as to remove any previously inserted marks the rigid panel 58 is in the elevated position shown in FIG. 7. The aforesaid panel mounting means desirably is comparatively simple in construction and operation and may constitute a pivotal mount for the panel that permits the panel to rotate with respect to the top wall 28 of the upper part of the base. Thus, as shown, the rigid panel 58 is contoured to fit nicely within the display aperture 50 and is formed with three tabs 60 that protrude away from and parallel to the panel toward the narrow end of the base. Said tabs are loosely received in apertures 62 formed in an upstanding transverse flange 64 integral with the top wall 28. The tabs and apertures function as a horizontal transverse hinge for the rigid panel as can be seen by comparing FIGS. 5 and 7. To limit the lower position of the panel (the position closest to the pliable sheet) the peripheral edges of the panel are formed with an elevated shoulder 66. In addition, and for a reason which soon will be apparent, the edge of the panel 58 remote from the tab 60 includes a protuberant horizontal finger 68.

Attention is called to the fact that the magic pad as thus provided and which includes the pliable adhesively pressure-sensitive sheet 54 and the rigid panel 58 is an unconventional magic pad in various respects. Thus, it is the reverse of an ordinary magic pad in that it is upsidedown. In the usual magic pad the pliable sheet is located above the rigid or backing panel, whereas in the present magic pad the pliable sheet is located below the rigid panel sheet. Also, in a conventional magic pad the rigid panel is colored and opaque, whereas in the instant magic pad the rigid panel is translucent. In a conventional magic paid the pliable sheet is pellucid, usually translucent, whereas in the magic pad of the present invention the pliable sheet is opaque and colored. Furthermore in an ordinary magic pad it is customary for the rigid panel to be adhesively pressure-sensitive, the same usually being covered with wax for this purpose, whereas in the instant magic pad the rigid panel is not adhesively pressure-sensitive but the pliable sheet is. Still further, in a conventional magic pad there are three elements, these constituting a bottom rigid panel, and intermediate pliable sheet which is adapted to be locally adhered to the rigid panel and a third uppermost pliable sheet which covers and protects the intermediate pliable sheet. In the new magic pad there are only two members, to wit,

the rigid panel 54 and the pliable adhesive sheet, the protective sheet being omitted.

It should be observed that in the lowermost position of the magic pad, that is to say, the position in which the panel 58 is received within the display aperture 50 and in which the wide portions of the two parts of the base are closest to one another, the magic pad constituting the sheet 54 and panel '58 is substantially uniformly spaced from the bottom wall 18 i.e. the two are substantially parallel. Both said panel and the corresponding portion of the bottom wall of the lower part of the base are as has been pointed out heretofore self-form-maintaining, to wit, stiff, so that they will maintain such parallel relationship even when a spreading pressure is locally imposed therebetween.

Optionally to make the top more attractive by calling attention to its display area through a frame delineating the same and also to increase visibility by masking low angle impingement of light on the display surface, a framing mask 74B is provided around the display aperture 50. The framing mask 70 includes the transverse flange '64 and further includes other flange portions which protrude from the top wall 28 around the display aperture. For the sake of appearance the flanges at the side of the display aperture progressively increase in height away from the tabs 60 so that the flange 72 opposed to the flange 64 has a height substantially in excess of that of the flange 64.

Although the two members of the magic pad can be separated for the purpose of erasure (removing marks) by simply lifting the rigid panel 58 by means of the finger 68, the neatness and attractiveness of the toy is enhanced by including mechanical means for such purpose. Such means comprises a slider 74 which is suitably mounted on the flange 72 so as to be captively restrained for movement lengthwise thereof, that is to say, transversely of the base 12. Said slider comprises a broad thin flat handle '76 which is the manipulating portion thereof. The handle is located atop the flange 72 and is generally horizontally disposed. It overhangs both sides of the flange 72. Said handle is provided on the lower face thereof with a pair of gib-like shoes 78 slidably engaging a horizontal flange or track 80 formed on the upper edge of the flange 72 and protruding from the inner surface of the framing mask 70. The cooperation between the shoes 78 and the track 80 captively retains the slider 74 on the flange 72 and limits the movement of the slider to longitudinal translation with respect to said flange.

Also aiding to obtain this captive retention and longitudinal movement is a downwardly extending wall 82 carried by the handle 76 and functionally integral therewith. Said wall 82 has formed therein a slot 84 including an inclined portion 86 a lower terminal horizontal portion 88 and an upper terminal vertical portion $0. The slot is dimensioned to snugly and slidably receive the finger 68 which extends therethrough. Said finger 68 also extends through a vertical slot 92 in the flange 72 which restrains the finger for vertical movement. The wall 82 is held against the outer vertical surface of the flange 72 by slidably captively disposing the lower edge of said wall in a track defined on the one hand by the flange 72 and on the other by a rib 94- projecting from the upper surface of the top wall 28 parallel to and a short distance away from the flange 72.

It will be apparent that when the finger 68 is located in the upper vertical portion 90 of the slot 84 the panel 58 will be in the raised position shown in FIG. 7. If then the slider 74 is translated to the left, as viewed in FIG. 1, the finger 63 will ride into the inclined portion 86 of the slot 84 whereby to cam the follower finger 68 downwardly. The slot is so configured that when the follower finger 68 enters the lower terminal horizontal portions 88 the panel 58 will be fully seated in the display aperture 50 with the shoulders 66 pressing against the upper face of the top wall 28 whereby the magic pad is ready for operation. If the motion of the slider 74 is reversed the camming slot 84 will lift the follower finger upwardly so as to raise the rigid panel 58 from the pliable sheet 54, stripping any points of adhesion therebeneath and thereby erasing any writing that might have been present on the magic pad. Thereby when the motion of the slider is once again reversed the rigid panel will be relocated into juxtaposition with the pliable sheet 54 ready to permit fresh inscriptions and marks to be made.

In order to locally press the adhesively pressure-sensitive pliable sheet 54 against the stiff translucent panel 58 in a telekinetic manner a remotely controlled inscription device is provided. Said device includes an actuating member (manipulating handle) 96 in the form, for example, of an upright shaft which may, if desired, be capped by a manipulating knob. The lower end of the shaft is located within the base 12, that is to say, between the bottom and top walls 18 and 28 said shaft extending through the manipulating aperture 52.

The actuating member 96 controls a pantograph 98 of any conventional type. For example, said pantograph constitutes plural pairs of cross-links 100. All of the pairs of intermediate cross-links are pivotally interconnected at their centers as by hollow metal rivets 102 and at their ends as by hollow metal rivets 104. The endmost links are shorter than the intermediate links and are pivotally interconnected to one another only at their ends.

One set of endmost links is pivotally interconnected by a hollow metal rivet 106 which in addition to interconnecting said links extends through the bottom wall 18 and the top wall 28. Said rivet 106 serves to pivotally fix the location of one end of the pantograph and also to position the intermediate helical spring 42.

The outer set of endmost links is pivotally interconnected by a hollow metal rivet 103 having enlarged plastic heads above and below the links. The enlarged head below the link is provided with a protuberance 110 adapted to slide on the upper surface of the flat bottom Wall 18. Optionally said protuberance may constitute a rolling ball captively held within the lower head and spring loaded downwardly. However it has been found that this is not necessary and that the invention will work in a satisfactory manner if the protuberance 110 simply is of rounded contour.

The upper enlarged head 112 of the rivet 108 is centrally bored to receive a metal ball 1 14 of small diameter which is captively located within said head 112. A metal coil spring 116 within the head 112 urges the ball upwardly. The bore in the head 112 has a constricted upper end to prevent the ball from escaping; however said ball protrudes from the head and can roll in any direction.

The distance between the bottom of the protuberance 1 and the protruding tip of the ball 114 is slightly in excess of the distance between the upper surface of the bottom wall 118 and the lower surface of the magic pad as constituted by the pliable sheet 54 and the stiff panel 58 when the finger 68 is located within the lower terminal horizontal portion 88 of the slot 84. Accordingly if, at this time, the actuating shaft 96 is moved it will cause the ball 114 to roll about under and in contact with the pliable sheet 54 and locally press the same under the action of the spring 116 against the rigid panel 58. This movement will leave a track (locus) of adhesion between the pliable sheet and rigid panel which track can be seen as a visible marking on the upper surface of said panel. Thus movement of the actuating handle 96 will write, draw or otherwise mark on the magic pad at a distance from said handle. The marks left will be an enlargement of the movement of the handle 96 due to pantographic action, the ratio of enlargement being the proportion of the distances from the ball 114 to the rivet 106 and from the handle 96 to the rivet 106. It is observed that said handle 96 is located on one of the central pivotingrivets 102.

To use the toy one moves the slider 74 back and forth leaving the same in the position wherein the finger 68 is received within the lower terminal horizontal portion 88 of the slot 84 so that the magic pad is ready to receive an inscription. The springs 40, 42, 44 urge the wide portions of the two parts 14, 16 of the base toward one another so that they are separated by a distance less than the overall height of the writing stylus which constitutes the rivet 108 and the parts carried thereby. Thereafter by moving about the actuating shaft 96, writings or marks will be inscribed upon the magic pad from beneath.

If it is desired to make a skip in the writings or marks thus formed the narrow end of the upper part of the base is pressed down against the action of the springs 40, 42, 44 thereby slightly elevating the wide portion of the upper part of the base which carries the magic pad to lift said pad away from the writing stylus as shown in FIG. 6. The stylus now can be moved to a fresh position without leaving a mark on the magic pad. Then when pressure is released on the narrow end of the base a mark will be made on the pad by the stylus which mark is unconnected to the previous mark.

To erase the writing, marks, etc. on the magic pad, the slider is shifted so as to raise the finger 68 as illustrated in FIG. 7.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a toy in which is achieved the several objects of this invention and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described the invention, there is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent:

1. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

2. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, the surface of the pliable pad member which faces the rigid pad member being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

3. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable opaque lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

4. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable dark-colored lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member;

5. A magic Writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid translucent upper member and a pliable dark-colored lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

6. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a rolling ball stylus for said pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

7. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, a handle remote from the stylus, and a telekinetic linkage interconnecting the handle and the stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

8. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, a rigid member below the stylus and parallel to the pad and providing a reaction member against which the stylus bears when pressing against the pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

9. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, a rigid member below the stylus and parallel to the pad and providing a reaction member against which the stylus bears when pressing against the pad, means to vary at will the distance between the rigid member and the pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

10. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, a rigid member below the stylus and parallel to the pad and providing a reaction member against which the stylus bears when pressing against the pad, resilient means interposed between said rigid member and pad, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

11. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, a rigid member below the stylus and parallel to the pad and providing a reaction member against which the stylus bears when pressing against the pad, resilient means interposed between said rigid member and pad and biasing said rigid member and pad toward one another, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

12. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, a rigid member below the stylus and parallel to the pad and providing a reaction member against which the stylus bears when pressing against the pad, said rigid member and pad being relatively movable toward and away from one another between extreme minimum and maximum distances, the height of the stylus being greater than the minimum distance, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper member and a pliable lower member, means to separate said pad members at will, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member.

13. A magic writing toy comprising a magic pad, a stylus for said pad, means to mechanically manipulate said stylus, said pad including a rigid pellucid upper memher and a pliable lower member, said lower pad member being juxtaposed to said upper pad member, one of the facing surfaces of one of said pad members being adhesively pressure-sensitive, said stylus being located below the pliable pad member, a frame functionally integral with the lower pliable pad member, means pivotally mounting the upper rigid pad member on said frame, a slider translatable on the frame, and cam and follower means interconnecting the slider and upper rigid pad member to pivot said upper member toward and away from the frame depending upon the direction of trans lation of the slider.

14. A magic writing toy comprising a base including an upper part and a lower part,- means pivotally interconnecting said parts, means biasing said parts for relative movement around said pivoting means, an opening in the upper part, a magic pad in said opening, said magic pad including a pliable lower member permanently attached across said opening and a rigid pellucid upper member mounted for movement toward and away from the pliable member, a stylus bearing against the lower part of the base and adapted to press against the pliable lower member, and means to mechanically manipulate said stylus from a point remote from said magic pad.

15. A magic writing toy as set forth in claim 14 wherein the pivoting means is located between the manipulating means and the magic pad and wherein the biasing means biases the magic pad toward the stylus.

16. A magic writing toy as set forth in claim 14 wherein the stylus includes a rolling ball.

17. A magic toy as set forth in claim 14 wherein the rbigid upper member is pivoted to the upper part of the ase.

18. A magic writing toy as set forth in claim 17 where. in a slider is provided which is translatable with respect to the upper part of the base and includes a cam and wherein the rigid upper member includes a follower actuated by the cam so that the upper member can be moved toward and away from the pliable lower member upon translation of the slider.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,881,140 Settel Oct. 4, 1932.

FOREIGN PATENTS 144,036 Australia Oct. 31, 1951 601,304 Canada July 5, 1960

Images