US3484797A - Method and game for decorating eggs and other objects - Google Patents

Description

Dec. ,1 6, 1969 I/BARNETT ETAL 3,484,797

METHOD AND GAME FOR DECORATING EGGS AND OTHER OBJECTS Filed April 11, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG./

INVENTORS IRWIN BARNE1TT Y JAKE MILLARD WILLIAMS ATTORNEYS Dec 16, 1969 BARNETT ET AL 3,484,797

METHOD AND GAME FOR DECORATING EGGS AND OTHER OBJECTS Filed April 11, 1968 5 sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS IRWIN BARNETT BY JAKE MILLARD WILLIAMS AT TORNEYQ Dec. 16, 1969 1. BARNETT ET AL. 3,484,797

METHOD AND GAME FOR DECORATING EGGS AND OTHER OBJECTS Filed April 11, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,484,797 METHOD AND GAME FOR DECORATING EGGS AND OTHER OBJECTS Irwin Barnett, 534 Richmond Road, East Meadow, NY. 11554, and Jake Millard Williams, 211 E. 17th St., New York, N.Y. 10003 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 633,632, Apr. 25, 1967. This application Apr. 11, 1968, Ser. No. 732,471

Int. CL B431 13/10, 9/00, 11/00 US. CI. 33-21 15 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Apparatus for rotating an egg with a marker resting on it while reciprocating the marker relative to the axis of rotation of the egg to put a sinusoidal design on it. The marker can also be held at a fixed position along 'the axis to put a circular design on the egg. The egg can be driven through a member which also constitutes a gear which can rotate a table on which is placed a paper disc in substitution for the egg. In this event the paper disc is decorated.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 633,632 filed Apr. 25, 1967, now abandoned.

DRAWING FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a device for decorating an egg in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a side, partially hidden view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is an end view of said apparatus; and

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION This invention relates to games and more particularly to methods and apparatus for decorating eggs and the like. The invention also relates to games capable of being selectively set up for use with different geometric forms.

One object of the invention is to provide means and techniques for decorating Easter eggs and the like with sinusoidal and circular designs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively simple apparatus for placing decorations on eggshaped objects by means which are relatively simple to operate and which have simple adjustments for purposes of varying the applied designs.

Another object of the invention is to provide a decorating device which can be set up to decorate egg-shaped devices but which can be modified to decorate a different geometric form such as a disc.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a decorating device of the above-noted type which can be economically produced and which can be manufactured in accordance with mass production techniques.

In accordance with one embodiment of the invention there is provided an apparatus which comprises a means for supporting an egg-shaped object and rotating the same about an axis thereof, there being further provided decorating control means to hold a marking means for making contact with the object as the object rotates, the marking means being displaced along the axis of the object during the rotation of the latter for purposes of making sinusoidal designs on the object or being held at a position which is fixed relative to the axis of the object for purposes of making circular designs transversely aligned relative to said axis.

In accordance with a modification, the means for rotating the egg can be constituted by a gear and a rotatable table can be located to be driven by the gear adjacent the marking means so that a paper disc or the like can be decorated.

Various objects and advantages of the invention, as well. as features thereof, will become apparent from the following detailed description, reference being made to the drawing described above.

In FIGS. 13 is seen an apparatus which comprises generally a tray 10 on which is superposed a casing 12 and a wall 14 which is spaced from the casing. A pair of cup- shaped chuck members 16 and 18 are respectively and coaxially supported on the casing 12 and wall 14. These cup- shaped members 16 and 18 are replaceable, as will become apparent hereinafter and may be replaced by other similar cup-shaped members of greater or lesser dimension which are suitable for supporting various sizes of egg-shaped members or the like.

The cup-shaped member 18 is more particularly supported on a pin 20 slidably supported in wall 14 and provided with a knob 22 by means of which the pin 20 and member 18 can be manipulated. A spring 24 encircles pin 20 and is sandwiched between a washer 26 resting against wall 14 and the cup-shaped member 18, the spring 24 being under compression and thereby urging the cupshaped member 18 in the direction indicated by arrow 28. When the knob 22 is pulled against the action of the spring 24, the cup-shaped member 18 is displaced in a direction opposite to that indicated by arrow 28 whereby an egg-shaped object can be inserted or withdrawn from between the cup-shaped members.

Cup-shaped member 16 is supported on a shaft 30, in turn supported in a bushing 32 which is preferably integral with the tray 10. The tray 10 and bushing 32 may preferentially be fabricated of a suitable plastic material.

Shaft 30 includes an end 34 which extends outwardly from bushing 32 and has mounted thereon a spur gear 36. This spur gear is preferentially engaged by a drive pinion 38 rotatably supported on a wall 40 and engaged by an end 42 of a crank handle 44, the handle 46 of which is manually engaged for rotation of pinion 38 and thereby gear 36 and shaft 30.

. Also mounted on shaft 30 and driven by rotation of gear 36 is a crown gear 48, the teeth of which mesh with a pinion 50 which is connected with and dripes a Wheel or disc 52. The various gear ratios are such that for one rotation of shaft 30 the disc 52 rotates an integral number of times preferably greater than one.

Pinion 38 may, by way of example, have twelve teeth, while spur gear 36 has sixty teeth, the crown gear 48 having fifty-six teeth and pinion 50 having fifty teeth. This arrangement will provide for an integral number of rotations of the disc 52 for each rotation of the shaft 30.

' It is to be understood that the particular arrangement of gears is exemplary only and that various other arrangements of gears are possible. Particularly, it is within the scope of the invention to provide for replacement of one or more of these gears to effect a change in drive ratio as between the shaft 30 and the disc 52. For this purpose it is especially suitable that the gear or pinion 50 be affixed to the disc 52, the disc 52 being replaceable with a related pinion of a different number of teeth, whereby it becomes a very simple matter to vary the ratio of drive as between disc 52 and shaft 30.

The disc 52 is, by way of example, provided with a plurality of holes 54. These may be aligned in one or more radial arrays as indicated at 56 and 58. These holes are intended to receive a pin by means of which a rectilinearly-shaped link 60 is pivotally coupled to the 3 disc at various selected distances from the center or axis 62 of the disc.

The link is reciprocated, by means of this connection, back and forth in the direction indicated by arrow 64, which direction may be considered as being generally parallel to the axis 66 which constitutes the axis of rotation of shaft 30, as Well as the axis of rotation of the object to be decorated.

Link 60 has one end 68 which is provided with a number of holes 70 which can be selectively engaged with a pin 72 on a member 74. The holes 70 provide for varying the effective length of the link 60 to provide a function which will be hereinafter described in greater detail.

The member 74 is a hinge member which is provided with two flanges 76 and 78 by means of which slidable engagement is made with a slide 80, whereby the hinge member 74 is enabled to partake of a guided reciprocal movement in the direction indicated by arrow 64. Laterally extending from hinge member 74 are pins 82 and 84 which are engaged by straps 86 and 88 respectively, these straps being connected by a transverse member 90 having an opening 92 therein.

Straps 86 and 88, together with transverse member 90, collectively constitute a holder for a marking device 94 which is accommodated preferably by a force fit in the opening 92, the marking device 94 being constituted, for example, by a stylus, a crayon, a pen, or the like. The holder, constituted by said members 86, 88 and 90, is free to partake of a movement indicated by arrow 96, which is coaxially disposed relative to the axis of pins 82 and 84.

On the casing 12 is provided a flat area 98 in which is provided a rectilinear array of holes 100. It is possible to detach the link 60 from connection in holes 54 and to attach the link 60 by means of a pin to one of the holes 100 whereby the link 60 will be held in a fixed position relative to the axis 62 whereby the marking device 94 will only partake of movement indicated by arrow 96 with the partaking of movement indicated by arrow 64.

An egg-shaped object 102 is illustrated on which have been placed a plurality of designs in accordance with the invention. Two circular designs 104 and 106 are illustrated, these resulting from a rotation of egg 102 about its axis by manipulation of handle 46, with the link 60 being first connected in one of the holes 100 and then in another of said holes. For each hole in which link 60 is engaged, one of the circular patterns will be developed.

When the link '60 is coupled to one of the holes 54, rotation of handle 46 will not only rotate egg 102 about its axis, but will also rotate disc 52 and impart a reciprocating movement to link 60 as well as to hinge device 74. The marker 94 will move back and forth according to arrow 64 and will mark the egg with one of the sinusoidal designs 108 and 110, these two designs illustrating changes which occur by reason of changing the connection of link 60 with openings 54 and by reason of changing the gear ratios of gears 36, 38, 48 and 50 by replacing one or more of these gears.

The designs may be shifted towards one end or the other of the egg-shaped object 102 by means of openings 70 in the hinge device 74. This can be usefully employed for centering designs on eggs of various lengths.

Within the scope of the invention it is contemplated that the marking device 94 be substituted by other marking devices of different colors so that multi-color patterns can be developed. For this purpose, the tray is provided with a plurality of contiguous grooves 112 in which the idle marking devices can be stored.

As has been noted hereinabove, cup-shaped members 16 and 18 are replaceable. Although these members can be fabricated of materials such as rubber, flexible plastics and the like, it may sometimes occur that the shapes of the egg-shaped objects to be decorated vary too widely to be accommodated by the materials employed for the fabrication of said cup-shaped members. In this event,

cup-shaped members of different dimensions are made available, these cup-shaped members being attached to their respective supports by screws or by snap-on constructional features of known design. To this end there are provided a plurality of receptacles 114 in which the idle cup-shaped members can be stored.

It will be readily appreciated that the above construction can be fabricated almost entirely from plastic materials and that the construction is of such great simplicity as to warrant its use as a game or toy which can be manufactured very economically and with the use of mass production techniques.

It is to be understood that the marking device 94 preferably makes contact with the object to be decorated under the influence of gravity, this being a very simple manner of assuring a complete and continuous design application. The relatively free vertical displacement permitted the marking device 94 will assure that it will not only follow the curved surface of egg-shaped objects which are to be decorated, but that as well irregularities in the surface of the object to be decorated will as present no obstacle to the attaining of a complete design.

It will be further noted that both sinusoidal and circular designs are possible, the latter being afforded by the locking means which are inclusive of the holes 100.

It will be readily appreciated that the method of the invention comprises, for example, rotating an egg on its axis while reciprocating a marker back and forth along said axis with the marker resting on the egg under the in fluence of gravity.

In accordance with the invention a further feature is provided which has unique advantages with respect to decorating devices hereinbefore available. This aspect of the invention relates to the possibility of providing a decoration apparatus which will serve the purpose of decorating an egg-shaped object while at the same time additionally providing the possibility of decorating a disc of paper or the like. An embodiment of the invention suitable for this purpose is illustrated in FIG. 4.

The decoration apparatus illustrated in FIG. 4 comprises a base on which are mounted a casing 152 and a casing 154 serving the same purposes as have been hereinbefore indicated with respect to the the apparatus illustrated in FIGS. 1-3.

In the casing 154 is mounted a rod 156 on one end of which is supported a knob 158 and on the other end of which is mounted a cup 160 adapted for engaging one end of an egg-shaped object. Within the casing 154 and concealed from view is provided a spring which urges the cup-shaped member 160 towards the casing 152.

The casing 152 conceals an arrangement of gears or other such driving members which enables the application of a manual force on a handle 162 to drive the eggshaped member and to reciprocate simultaneously a marking means 164 supported by a frame 62 pivoted on a hinge 172 in the manner which has been described above for decorating an egg-shaped object.

A second cup-shaped member is indicated at 172 and is rotatable about an axis corresponding to that of cupshape member 160' by means of a rotational force generated by operation of the handle 162. Cup-shaped member 172 is, however, different from that illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 in that there is supported thereon and preferably integral therewith a spur gear 174.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 4, there is provided a projection 176 which is adapted to detachably support a hollow sleeve 178 fabricated, for example, of metal or of a plastic having suitable strength. The sleeve 178 is selectively mountable on the projection 176 and is adapted to accommodate a stub shaft 180 connected to and supporting a rotatable table 182, which in turn is adapted to accommodate a paper disc 184 or the like which rests atop said table.

The table- 182 may be provided with a plurality of clips 186, 188 and 190 which clamp the paper disc 184 to the table.

Assuming that it is desired to decorate a paper disc 184 rather than an egg-shaped object, the sleeve 178 is placed upon the projection 176 and the stub shaft 180 of the table 182 is inserted into the upper end of sleeve L188. This will bring the crown gear 192, provided on the lower periphery of table 182, into engagement with the stub gear 174, such that a rotation of the latter will cause rotation of the table 182 and the paper disc 184 thereon. Since at the same time marker 164 will be reciprocating back and forth in a direction parallel to the axes of holder 160 and 172, an interesting decoration will result on the paper disc 184.

If at any time it is desired to decorate an egg-shaped object, the table 182 can be readily detached and the cupshaped members 160- and 172 employed to support the egg-shaped object which will be decorated in the manner discussed hereinabove.

While there has been indicated a spur gear 174 which is connected to or preferably integral with the cupshaped member 172, it is possible that a cup-shaped member be provided which is wholly detachable from the device with a separate spur gear being substitutable therefor. In this event, the separate spur gear 174 will be driven by operation of the handle 16-2 and the device operated in a manner such as has been indicated hereinabove.

There will now be obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications and variations of the method and apparatus described above.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for decorating an egg-shaped object or the like, said apparatus comprising support means for supporting said object in a decorating zone and rotating the same about an axis thereof, marking means, decorating control means to hold said marking means for making contact with said object as the latter rotates, said decorating control means comprising means for displacing said marking means in parallel to said axis as said object rotates and holding said marking means for relatively free vertical displacement to engage said object under the influence of gravity whereby, as the marking means is displaced along said axis, the marking means readily follows the curve of said object, and drive means for simultaneously driving said support means to rotate said object and operating said control means to displace the marking means along said axis, said driving means and control means cooperatively including means for reciprocating said marking means along said axis during each rotation of said object, said control means including means to control the magnitude of the reciprocating movement of said marking means; said control means further including a disc coupled to and driven by said driving means, a link pivotally and selectively connectable to said disc at different distances from the center of the latter, a hinge device coupled to and driven by said link, and a holder hingeably connected to said hinge device and adapted to hold said marking means, said disc and hinge device having spaced and perpendicularly-related axes, said link being selectively connectable to said hinge device at different effective lengths of said link.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising means selectively engageable with said control means to lock the marking means at a selected position along said axis.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said driving means includes a rotatable shaft connected to said support means, a gear on said shaft for rotating the latter, a second gear for driving the first said gear, a handle for manually driving said second gear, and further gears drivin by the first said gear and adapted for driving said control means.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein at least one of said gears is replaceable for varying the drive ratio.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said support means includes two facing cup-shaped members one of which is mounted on said shaft, a wall, a pin displaceably mounted on said Wall and supporting the other of said members, and a spring yieldably urging the member on the pin towards the member on the shaft.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein said cupshaped members and marking means are replaceable.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 comprising a plastic casing supporting said support means and control means and including an apron provided with receptacles for substitute marking means and cup-shaped members.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 comprising means to guide said hinge device in parallel to the axis of the object.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said further gears include a crown gear and a pinion in interengaged relation and wherein said holder is an open frame.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a rotatable table adapted for being selectively positioned adjacent said decorating zone with said marking means superposed with respect thereto, said driving means engaging said support means and being adapted to rotate said table through the intermediary of said support means whereby an object on the table will be decorated in substitution for the first said object.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 wherein said table includes a peripheral crown gear and said support means includes a spur gear juxtaposed to support means for driving said crown gear.

12. Decorating apparatus comprising support means to support an egg-shaped object in a decoration zone, marking means adapted to rest on said object to decorate the same, driving means to drive said support means and rotate said object and for simultaneously reciprocating said marking means in parallel to the axis of said object, and a rotatable table selectively positionable in said zone such that the marking means can rest thereon, said table being adapted for being selectively coupled to and rotated by said driving means.

13. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein said driving means is coupled to said table through the intermediary of said support means.

14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 wherein said driving means includes means for manual operation.

15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 comprising a base supporting said support means and a detachable insert for supporting said table.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 537,125 4/1895 Rovensky. 842,447 1/1907 Cooley. 3,256,606 6/1966 Horta.

HARRY N. HAROIAN, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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