Life size jack in the box

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,712
Use a hinged lid. Jack's head is attached to the bottom of the lid. The lid is pulled shut against the tension of a coil spring or elastic cord.

Use an automotive wiper motor that pulls the lid shut with a piece of cord. After the lid is secured with a latch the motor returns to the starting position.

The latch is released with a solenoid triggered from IR/motion sensor. A 30-second timer triggers the motor to close the lid.
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
Forget the lid or build the box with the lid fixed open. Get a 4x4 piece of cardboard for an experiment and try running with it held against the wind to get a "feel" for the forces you'll have to deal with.

I would use hydraulics driving a lever action to pop up the head. If this is a DIY for a yard decoration, you can modify door closers to build your own hydraulic cylinder.

I don't have access to my favorites on my desktop, but google "the Halloween list" for a forum on how to build these type of devices. Edit: I googled for the link and its at http://www.halloweenmonsterlist.info

FYI, I ran a Haunted House for about ten years and designed a lot of these mechanisms.
 
Last edited:

sirch2

Joined Jan 21, 2013
1,037
How about you make a simple pneumatic cylinder with two solenoid valves and use a cheap electric car tyre pump to pump up an air receiver (e.g. an old car tyre/wheel). A proximity sensor then a opens the valve that connects the air receiver to the cylinder, Jack Jumps Up and then a short time later a timer closes the first valve and opens the second which allows the air out of the cylinder allowing the weight of Jack to push the piston back down.
 

Markd77

Joined Sep 7, 2009
2,806
If it's fully automatic it's a good idea to consider how safe it is; if a kid stands behind it and it gets triggered, how hard will he get hit in the face?
 
If it's fully automatic it's a good idea to consider how safe it is; if a kid stands behind it and it gets triggered, how hard will he get hit in the face?
Absolutely correct. Safety should ALWAYS be the paramount consideration. I cannot think of a single situation when it isn’t.

:) joe
 

djsfantasi

Joined Apr 11, 2010
9,156
The safety consideration is one of the reasons I suggested building it with the lid open. The second is that in one of our Haunted Houses, we used the same idea (with a live clown, though) and found that the lid couldn't open fast enough to startle, due to wind resistance once it gets to about 4x4 in size. Secondly, with a hydraulic arm and the lid open, the back of the jack in the box is disguised and if the mechanism is painted black and covered with black cloth - the arm - and hence speed advantage - can be larger and protected from guests.

We used a compressor (whose sound was another startle factor and was used in another scene - as the sound effects for a chain saw murderer, sound triggered by the compressor noise)

For more details, I am curious, how big is the clown? How much (distance) do you want it to pop up?
 
For more details, I am curious, how big is the clown? How much (distance) do you want it to pop up?
I think the OP has disappeared. I too am interested in the clown specifics.


Safety and "entertaining fright" do not have to be mutually exclusive. But I believe you know that already. :) Haunters know TOT's must be protected. It must be FUN (and safe!) for the haunters as well as the TOT's.


:) joe
 
Top