They Invented What? (No. 244)

U.S. Patent N0. 6,053,798: Structural improvement of toy Christmas tree.

JW Note: Wishing a Happy Holidays to all!  See you in 2016!

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What is claimed is:

1. A toy Christmas tree, comprising:
a base having an interior portion;
a foundation unit installed on top of said base;
branches disposed on an outside of said foundation unit to simulate an exterior appearance of a Christmas tree;
a power source disposed inside said base;
a control circuit board coupled to said power source and having a control circuit;
a transmission device installed at a lower part of said foundation unit, said transmission device including:
a motor coupled to said control circuit board, said control circuit causing said motor to intermittently switch on and off, said motor being fixed to one side of the lower part of said foundation unit, said motor having a rotatable shaft that is intermittently caused to rotate as said motor is intermittently switched on and off, said shaft having teeth;
a reduction gear in engagement with the teeth of said shaft, and being rotatably driven by said shaft as said shaft rotates;
a pushing rod eccentrically located on a side of said reduction gear, said pushing rod being caused to move as said reduction gear is rotated; and
a spring linked to said pushing rod, said spring being stretched when said motor is switched on and said reduction gear is rotated in a first direction, said spring retracting when said motor is switched off thereby causing said reduction gear to rotate in a second direction that is opposite to the first direction;
a lower jaw part located at a front of the lower part of the foundation unit, and including:
a jaw plate extending away from the foundation unit; and
a support plate disposed at a bottom of the jaw plate, said support plate having a middle section serving as a hinge, the jaw plate being attached to a top of said support plate in front of the hinge, said support plate having a slide channel disposed at a rear of the hinge, said slide channel being penetrated by said pushing rod; and
an eyebrow part located at the front of an upper part of the foundation unit, and including:
two eyeballs respectively fitted to two sides of the foundation unit;
an eyebrow rod;
an L-plate pivotally connected to the front of the upper part of the foundation unit, said eyebrow rod being connected to a front end of the L-plate; and
a driving rod linking a rear end of said L-plate to said pushing rod, said driving rod being driven by said pushing rod as said reduction gear is rotated;
wherein the on-and-off rotation of the motor is controlled by pulses emitted by the control circuit board, so by means of the rotation of the pushing rod via the reduction gear and the stretching and retracting of the spring, the jaw plate and the eyebrow rod will be intermittently driven to move up and down.