Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
This invention is directed to a mechanical walking
vehicle primarily designed for use as an amusement device. The
vehicle has beerl designed so that if appropriately sized and
powered it is capable of carrying a rider.
The vehicle which will be described herein
is skeletal, so that the mechanical operation of the vehicle
will be more readily understood. The invention includes, in
addition, the provision of a skin adapted to cover the skeleton
disclosed, so that the walking vehicle may represent any desired
animal such as a horse, dog, or the like. The provision of such
a skins, molded of any suitable material, or of soft fabric
which may be draped over the supporting skeleton will be readily
understood by those skilled in the art.
An object of the invention is to provide a mechanical
walking vehicle which may be costumed to represent an animal,
real or fictional, and which has four legs adapted to move the
vehicle in a step-by-step manner. A further object of the
invention is to provide mechanical means to steer the walking
vehicle, through the medium of reins, if the vehicle is carrying
a rider, and alternatively by remote control such as radio
control or mechanical umbilical cord controls.
A principal object of the invention is to provide
a mechanical walking vehicle comprising a
chassis de~ining an elongate rectangle; a pair o~ legs mounted
near the front and near the rear of said rectangle and
adapted for simultaneous vertical and horizontal movement;
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each of said pairs of legs having a crank means to impart
said movement there~o; drive means are provided and are
adapted to rotate both of said crank means
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simultaneously; said crank means are synchronized to effect
simultaneous vertical and horizontal movement of diagonally
opposed legs, whereby a walking movement of said mechanical
vehicle is effected under the urging of said drive means, and
said front and said rear pairs of legs are mounted on support
means on the chass:is adapted for selective horizontal pivotal
movement to provide steering control during said walking
movement.
In a broad aspect, the present invention relates to a
mechanical walking vehicle comprising: a chassis defining an
elongate rectangle; a pair of legs mounted near the front and
near the rear of said chassis and adapted for simultaneous
vertical and horizontal movement; each of said pairs of legs
having a crank means to impart said movement thereto; drive means
adapted to rotate both of said crank means simultaneously; said
crank means being synchronized to effect simultaneous vertical
and horizontal movement of diagonally opposed legs whereby a
walking movement of said mechanical vehicle is effected under the
urging of said drive means, and steering means associated with
said front and said rear pairs of legs including front and rear
leg support means pivotally joined to said chassis to permit
steering of said vehicle during said walking movement by the
simultaneous pivoting of said front and rear leg support means.
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These and other objects of the invention will become
apparent with reference to the following description. Reference
will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a mechanical walking vehicle
according to the invention;
Figure 2 is a top plan of the mechanical walking vehicle;
Figure 3 i5 an end elevation;
Figure 4 is a detail, partly in section, of a leg attachment
and crank arm assembly for use with the invention;
Figure 5 is a side elevation of a leg and wheel assembly for
use with the invention, the assembly being shown in two
positions; and
Figures 6 and 7 are top plans of a steering mechanism for
use with the invention.
Detailed reference will now be made to the drawings wherein
~ e reference numerals will identify like parts.
;~ Referring to Figures 1 and 2 a chassis indicated generally
by the numeral 10 comprises elongate parallel horizontal frame
members 14 and 14a, spaced apart by a plurality
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of vertical frame mernbers 16, 18, 20. Horizontal frame members
14 and 14a include end vertical frame members 22, seen in broken
lines in Figure l and more clearly in Figure 3.
Chassis lO supports a power source such as a storage
battery 24, connected by cables not illustrated to a drive mo-tor
26. Drive motor 26 includes a V pulley 28 connected by V belt 30
to a speed reducing pulley 32 also having an axially connected
drive pul.ley 34, so that further speed reduction is effected via
second drive belt 36 connected to V pulley 38. Pulley 38 is
mounted on vertical frame members 20, and its axle 40 dr.ives a
cog wheel 42 fixed thereto between vertical frame members 20.
Referring now to Figures 3 and 4 a crank shaft 44 is
mounted for rotation between vertical frame members 22 and has
centrally affixed thereto a drive sprocket 46.
Referring again to Figure 1, frame members 16 and 20
each support adjustable idler sprocket wheels 48 and 50
respectively. A drive chain 52 passes part way round drive
sprocket 42, around the rear portion of leg crank shaft sprocket
46, thence around the forward portion of front crank shaft
sprocket (illustrated in phantom in Figure l), under idler cogs ..
48 and 50, thence continuing upwardly around the portion of drive
sprocket 42. Drive chain 52, therefore is driven at the
appropriate speed under the urging of drive motor 26 through the
speed reducing pulleys 28, 32, 34 and 38, and then drive sprocket
42, as is believed evident.
Each leg is mounted to chassis lO for movement under
the urging of crank shaft 44, so that each leg of the mechanical
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vehicle follows a motion which can be generally described as
simultaneously up and down and to and fro. The leg motion is
achieved -through a mechanism most clearly illustrated in Figure 4
where an upper leg portion 54 is illustrated partly in section.
The upper leg portion 54 is splayed outwardly away from the
chassis frame member 22 and includes a face plate 56, on both the
front and rear thereof. Mounted within plates 56 is a vertical
leg support member 58 having a bearing adapted to receive the end
of crank 44a of crank shaft 44. Leg plate 58 also includes a
vertical elongate opening 60, near its upper end, opening 60
being adapted to receive a slide block 62. Slide block 62 is
pivotally mounted on a pivot pin 64 secured to vertical frame
member 22 and projecting therebeyond, as illustrated. Opening 60
in leg plate 50 permits up and down movement thereof, under the
urging of the rotation of crank 44a. The rotation of crank 44a
will simultaneously cause the leg assembly to be pivoted on a
slide block 62, so that to and fro motion occurs simultaneously
with the up and down movement.
The lower portion of each leg will now be described,
with specific reference to Figures 3 and 5. Leg 54 has a ground
engaging wheel 66 rotatably fixed to leg 54 by a pair of pivot
arms 68 and 70, pivotally mounted to a vertical bottom portion of
leg 54 by a pivot pin 72. Each leg includes a stop block 76 at
the lower rear corner thereoE, so that when each leg is in its
rearmost position pivot arms 70 abut thereagainst, and prevent
wheel 66 frorn encountering the bottom of a leg 54, wheel 66 thus
being free to rotate.
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When leg 54 is in its forwardmost positionl however, as
seen clearly in Figure 5, the forward top portion of wheel 66
makes contact with the bottom forward corner of leg 54l to cause
a braking eEfect, that is, to prevent rotation of wheel 66.
A steering mechanism is illustrated most clearly in
Figures 6 and 7, and includes a pair of left and right steering
arms 80 and 82, respectively, pivotally attached at one end near
the outer ends of upper horizontal leg frame member 22a, which in
turn is centrally pivotally connected to the upper chassis frame
rnember 14, at a4. A notched guide block 86 .is fixedly attached
to chassis frame member 14, so that the inboard ends of steering
arms 80 and 82 may be engaged in said notches, selectively, as
will become clear hereinafter. Steering arms 80 and 82 are
connected by a coil spring 88, so that the inboard ends of
steering arms 90 and 82 are normally urged toward notched guide
block 86. An L-shaped pi~ot block 90 is pivotally attached to
chassis frame member 14 at 92, L-shaped pivot block 90 having its
short end 90a directed to the right hand side of chassis member
14. A rein 94 is affixed to the forward end of pivot block 90,
and passes through a pair o~ screw eyes 94a and 94b near each end
of leg support frame member 22a. Manual tension on rein 94, to
the right hand side thereof, will thus urge the forward end of L-
shaped pivot block 90 toward the righ~, so as to displace the
inboard end of steering a.rm 82 from a notch in notch plate 86,
the tension of coil spring 88 simultaneously causing the inboard
end of steering arm 82 to engage in a forward notch in notched
steering block 86. The upper members 22a of each leg support
Erame are interconnected by a diagonal steeriny control arm 96,
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pivotally attached to each of frame members 22a, at opposite ends
thereof, and as seen most clearly in Figure 7, as the forward leg
assembly is turned to the right under the urging of rein 94, the
rear leg assembly will be correspondingly urged to the left, so
as to achieve a controlled turning attitude. Thus, in Figure 6
the steering assembly is shown in a position to ef~ect a turn to
the lef-t, while in Figure 7 the steering assembly is shown in a
position to effect a turn to the right.
It will be observed that the crank shafts 22a are
connected with each of legs 54 so that diagonally opposed legs
will follow a simultaneous synchronous path, under the urging of
crank shaft 44. Thus, in Figure 2 the right front and right rear
legs are in the forwardmost position, while the left front and
right rear legs are in the rearmost position. ~s drive motor 26
is actuated, and drive sprockets 46 beginning to rotate under tbe
urging of drive chain 52, both the front and rear leg assemblies
will begin an identical and synchronized motion. Each of the
left front and right rear legs illustrated in Figure 2 will begin
to move upwardly and forwardly following an arcuate path, while
right front and left rear wheels 66 remain motionless and
supported on the ground, with wheels ~6 being locked against the
leading edge of leg 54. The chassis of the vehicle will undergo
a slight twisting effect, as the left front and right rear legs
are elevated and being to swing Eorward. For this reason bracing
and diagonal members have been illustrated in the enclosed
drawings, but it will be understood that with appropriate steel
or plastic frame members the diagonal bracing can be eliminated.
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As the left front and right rear legs of Figure 2 pass
through the vertical they will be momentarily parallel with the
right front and left rear legs respectively, and will continue to
advance on rotating wheels 661 as contact with the ground is
made, until the legs are advanced to the point where wheels 66
become locked against the forward corner of legs 54, and the
position of the respective legs illustrated in Figure 2 is
reversed. Each revolution of the crank shaft causes each of its
two associated legs to make one complete stride, and because
there are two legs per crank shaft, each revolution of the crank
shafts effects two strides.
In the event the mechanical vehicle described herein is
to be controlled by remote, such as by an umbilical or radio
control, a solenoid 100 may be provided (see Figure 6), to
control L-shaped steering pivot block 90, that is, to cause
pivoting of the block to effect right or left hand turns, in the ~-
manner already described. Similarly, drive motor 26 may also be
controlled by remote.
It will be evident that the chassis assembly steering
arrangement and leg drive mechanisms disclosed herein may be
modified, without departing from the scope or spirit of the
invention disclosed. The foregoing is therefore by way of
example only and should be limited only by the scope of the
appended claims.
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