Patents by Inventor Donald F. Nix

Donald F. Nix has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 4304063
    Abstract: A figure toy is disclosed including apparatus for retaining the eyes alternatively in an eye open position or an eye closed position. The toy includes eyeball means disposed behind eyeball openings in the head and are longitudinally moveable with respect to the toy to an eye open position or an eye closed position and means are provided for longitudinally moving the eyeball means alternatively to an eye open position or an eye closed position. The eyeball means are mechanically retained in an eye open position until the bladder, forming the body portion of the doll, is compressed thereby expanding a bellows to longitudinally move the eyeball means to a position above or below the eye openings in the doll's head to simulate an eye closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 1980
    Date of Patent: December 8, 1981
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Allison W. Katzman, Donald F. Nix, Burton C. Meyer
  • Patent number: 4282848
    Abstract: Batting practice apparatus for projecting balls upwardly into the air to be hit by a bat comprises trough for holding a plurality of balls to move in a sequence toward a feed position adjacent a stop at a lower end. A holding ring is mounted adjacent the stop for supporting a single ball in a ready position to be projected upwardly into the air. A feeder is provided for sequentially moving the balls from a feed position in the trough adjacent the stop into a ready position in the holding ring and a motor in the form of a foot operated lever and a time delay mechanism is operable for forcefully propelling the balls upwardly out of the holding ring so that a batter may step into position and swing at the balls as they pop-up into the air.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 21, 1979
    Date of Patent: August 11, 1981
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Ralph J. Kulesza, Burton C. Meyer, Donald F. Nix
  • Patent number: 4279100
    Abstract: A sounding toy for producing musical tones and other sounds includes a reciprocating element which may be repetitively struck by the user in order to produce the sounds. The sounding toy includes a vertically reciprocating cylindrical member which moves within an aperture in the housing in a generally vertical direction. The travel of the cylindrical member is defined by the longitudinal axis of a piston secured to the interior of the housing. A deformable, hollow engagement member is mounted on the top of the cylindrical member and allows for repeated contact by the hand or a hand-held tool of the user. A sound producing mechanism, such as a whistle, is mounted or formed integrally on the cylindrical member in fluid communication with the deformable engagement member. A downward vertical force on the engagement member will cause compression or deformation thereof and force air or other fluid through the whistle moving the cylindrical member downwardly within the housing over the piston.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1979
    Date of Patent: July 21, 1981
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Denni F. Rivette, Burton C. Meyer, Donald F. Nix
  • Patent number: 4226423
    Abstract: A game apparatus is disclosed including a generally vertically extending playing surface including front and back walls, a projectile launching station, and a projectile receiving station. The front wall of the apparatus bears partial or incomplete illustrations of objects, such as head-less bodies, and the projectiles include illustrations of the missing portions of the objects illustrated on the front playing surface wall, such as the missing heads. The front playing surface wall is generally transparent or includes an aperture at the locations of the missing portions of the illustrations so that when a projectile is launched into the proper location in the projectile receiving station, the projectile will complete the illustration on the front wall of the apparatus. The projectiles are weighted eccentrically to aid in landing the projectiles in the projectile receiving station in an upright position such that the projectiles properly complete the illustrations on the front wall on the apparatus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1979
    Date of Patent: October 7, 1980
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Donald F. Nix, Howard J. Morrison
  • Patent number: 4143482
    Abstract: An amusement device provides a skating rink for use with figure toys or the like. The amusement device includes a plurality of rotatable disc-shaped rink portions mounted on the base adjacent a panoramic setting. The setting includes a recirculating device which receives the figure toys from one end of the rink and elevates the figure toys to a chute which delivers the figure toys generally to a position at the opposite end of the rink. A ski lift mechanism including a plurality of chairs is adapted to carry the various figure toys at an elevated position over the top of the rink. A common linkage drives the rotatable rink portions, the recirculating system, and the ski lift mechanism.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 6, 1977
    Date of Patent: March 13, 1979
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Burton C. Meyer, Donald F. Nix, Allison W. Katzman
  • Patent number: 4031659
    Abstract: A toy pick-up vehicle combination including a plurality of playing objects positionable upon a supporting surface such as a floor or the like. A toy vehicle is provided for picking up the playing objects and includes a vehicle body having a playing object receptacle. Wheels are provided for the vehicle body for moving the vehicle over the supporting surface. A spongy, resilient paddle wheel is rotatably mounted on the vehicle body for rotation with the wheels for engagement with the playing objects on the supporting surface and for moving the objects upwardly into the receptacle.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 10, 1975
    Date of Patent: June 28, 1977
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Albert G. Keller, Donald F. Nix, Howard J. Morrison
  • Patent number: 4020588
    Abstract: An action accessory for use with a model train, or the like. The accessory includes a first figure toy in the shape of a toy horse, and a second figure toy such as a cowboy for riding the horse and for removal therefrom. A frame is provided having an inclined ramp portion for rollably supporting the horse for movement on a path of travel generally parallel with the tracks of the model train. The frame includes a dismounting cam device at the lower end of the inclined ramp portion, which engages the foot of the cowboy figure on the side of the horse opposite the train tracks thereby causing the cowboy to dismount or alight from the horse directly onto a moving train, particularly a certain car thereof. A selectively operable lock is provided on the frame to maintain the horse and rider at the top of the ramp and for releasing the horse, causing him to travel down the ramp, in a timed relationship so that the rider successfully boards the moving train.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 1975
    Date of Patent: May 3, 1977
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Gordon A. Barlow, Donald F. Nix
  • Patent number: 3998001
    Abstract: A toy bathtub device for simulation of giving a doll a shower or bubble bath, or the like. The device includes a base tub portion having an upstanding post supporting a showerhead which includes a spray nozzle. A shower curtain is mounted on the post for preventing undue splashing of water from the nozzle and tub. The nozzle is supplied with water through a conduit by a bellows-like pump which operates in combination with a check valve to pump water in a recycling fashion from a tub water reservoir through the conduit and thence from the nozzle. The tub is provided with a drain plug for draining water from the tub into the water reservoir for reuse. The floor of the tub also is provided with an aeration system in the form of a peripheral series of perforations or ports through the tub bottom wall which are interconnected by a manifold. The manifold is supplied with air under pressure from another bellows pump acting against a check valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 5, 1976
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1976
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Burton C. Meyer, Donald F. Nix, Derek A. Brand
  • Patent number: 3932957
    Abstract: A self-propelled toy vehicle wherein at least one driving wheel also provides a gyroscopic effect on the travel of the vehicle. In the preferred embodiment, the toy vehicle has a single supporting and driving wheel in the form of a rotatable flywheel which is capable of storing sufficient energy to provide a gyroscopic directional effect on the vehicle. The axle of the flywheel is rotatably mounted in a frame which is pivotally mounted about a vertical axis on and relative to the toy vehicle body. Rapid rotation of the flywheel to drive and direct the vehicle is achieved by the use of a flexible rack engageable with a pinion gear on the axis of the wheel. During travel, the vehicle body can rotate in a horizontal plane about said vertical axis relative to the flywheel and its frame, and thus give the impression of a vehicle skidding out of control even though the flywheel continues to move along a straight line under the gyroscopic effect of the flywheel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 12, 1975
    Date of Patent: January 20, 1976
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Howard J. Morrison, Donald F. Nix
  • Patent number: D248119
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 16, 1976
    Date of Patent: June 6, 1978
    Assignee: Marvin Glass & Associates
    Inventors: Donald F. Nix, Howard J. Morrison