This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-094323, filed on Jun. 7, 2023, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a deformable toy that can be deformed from a first form to a second form.
In recent years, deformable toys that can be deformed from one form to another have become popular. For example. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2014-144211 discloses a robot toy that can be deformed from a human shape to a car shape by remote control.
In the development of deformable toys, toys are required to be easily deformed from one form to another with simpler movements and in a shorter time. Other issues and novel features will become apparent from the description of the description and the accompanying drawings.
An aspect of the present disclosure relates to a deformable toy deformable from a first form to a second form different from the first form includes: a first component; a second component; a holding mechanism provided in the first component and capable of holding the second component in a first position; and a release mechanism provided in the first component and capable of releasing the second component from the holding mechanism by vibration. The second component released from the holding mechanism by the release mechanism is moved from the first position to a second position different from the first position to deform the deformable toy from the first form to the second form.
According to an embodiment, it is possible to provide a deformable toy that can easily deform from one form to another with simpler movements and in a shorter time.
Hereinbelow, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings for explaining the embodiments, the members having the same functions are designated by the same reference numerals, and the redundant description thereof will be omitted. In the following embodiments, the description of the same or similar components will not be repeated in principle except when it is particularly necessary. X, Y, and Z directions described herein intersect with each other and are orthogonal to each other.
A deformable toy 1 in the first embodiment will be described below with reference to
An opening 11 is formed in the component 10 to communicate the inside and outside of the component 10. Before deformation by vibration, the component 20 is positioned inside the component 10 (first position). After deformation by vibration, the component 20 is moved to a position outside the component 10 (second position) via the opening 11. Before the deformation by vibration, the component 30 is positioned to cover a part of an outer peripheral surface of the component 10 (first position, third position. After the deformation by vibration, the component 30 is moved to a position protruding from the component 10 such that a part of the outer peripheral surface of the component 10 is exposed (second position, fourth position).
Note that the deformable toy 1 after the deformation by vibration is in the form of a doll. The component 20 includes a main body 21, a displacement part 22 (third displacement part), and a placement part 23. The displacement part 22 and the placement part 23 are connected to the main body. The component 10 forms a head of the doll. The main body 21 forms a body of the doll. The displacement part 22 forms upper limbs of the doll. The placement part 23 forms lower limbs of the doll. The component 30 forms ears, hair, corner,
As such, with the deformable toy 1 according to the first embodiment, deformation from a spherical form to a doll shape can be achieved by a simple motion of applying vibration. By performing the deformation in a shorter time, it is possible to obtain a sudden and unexpected effect. The component 10 itself has a substantially spherical form. When the component 20 is held at a position inside the component 10, the placement part 23 is placed at the position of the opening 11 and covers substantially the entire opening 11. Therefore, the beauty of the spherical form before deformation by vibration is not impaired. Note that while it is preferable that substantially the entire component 20 is positioned inside the component 10 before deformation in terms of increasing the unexpectedness of deformation, there is no problem even when a part of the component 20 is positioned outside the component 10 before deformation, because the deformation still gives pleasure. Since the component 10 itself has the substantially spherical form and the component 30 is held along the outer peripheral surface of the component 10, the beauty of the spherical form before deformation by vibration is not impaired.
Hereinafter, the mechanism by which the deformable toy 1 is deformed upon application of vibrations will be described.
When the component 20 is positioned inside the component 10, the component 20 is housed inside the storage part 40. When the component 20 is moved to the outside of the component 10, the component 20 is moved from the inside of the storage part 40 to the outside of the storage part 40 via the opening 11.
The holding mechanism 50 can hold the component 20 inside the component 10. As illustrated in
The release mechanism 60 can release the components 20 and 30 from the holding mechanism 50 by vibration. The release mechanism 60 moves at least one of the holding part (the first holding part 51 and the second holding part 52) and the held part (the first held part 31 and the second held part 21a) to release the components 30 and 20 from the holding mechanism 50. In the present embodiment, the release mechanism 60 is configured to move the holding part. The component 20 released from the holding mechanism 50 by the release mechanism 60 can be moved from inside the component 10 to the outside of the component 10, and the component 30 released from the holding mechanism 50 by the release mechanism 60 can be rotated relative to the component 10 and moved to a position away from the outer peripheral surface of the component 10. The release mechanism 60 includes a rotating shaft member 61, and the component 20 (the main body 21) includes a groove 21b. When the holding mechanism 50 holds the component 20, the rotating shaft member 61 is housed inside the groove 21b. Note that the direction of vibration for releasing the components 20 and 30 from the holding mechanism 50 is a direction that is different from the moving direction (Z direction) of the component 20 from the first position to the second position and from the direction in which the component 30 is rotated, such as the X direction, for example. Since the components 20 and 30 are moved in a direction different from the vibration applied for deforming the deformable toy 1, the amusement during deformation is improved. Because deformation is possible by vibration in one direction, the operation to deform is simple and anyone can easily perform the operation to deform.
The holding mechanism 50 will be described with reference to
When the release operated part 53 is pressed, the second held part 21a held by the second holding part 52 and the first held part 31 held by the first holding part 51 are released, the components 20 and 30 are released from the holding mechanism 50, and the components 20 and 30 can be moved. For example, the release operated part 53 is provided at a position facing the surface of a disk 65 (first displacement part) illustrated in
The release mechanism 60 will be described with reference to
The pendulum 62 is attached to the rotating shaft member 61. The pendulum 62 includes a weight 62a and a protrusion 62b provided on the opposite side of the rotating shaft member 61 from the weight 62a. The protrusion 62b is provided at a position facing the surface of the disk 63.
The pendulum 62 swings back and forth around the rotating shaft member 61 using the rotating shaft member 61 as a support shaft. Note that the rotating shaft member 61 is not rotated by the swinging motion of the pendulum 62. The swing width (swing angle) of the pendulum 62 per reciprocation is 60 degrees, for example.
Both of the disks 63 and 65 have the rotating shaft member 61 as a central axis, and are fixed to the rotating shaft member 61 via a bearing, for example. Therefore, for example, when the disk 63 is rotated, the rotating shaft member 61 and the disk 65 are rotated in conjunction with the rotation of the disk 63. The present embodiment is described by illustrating the configuration in which the holding parts (the first holding part 51 and the second holding part 52) are moved as the disk 65 (displacement part) is displaced (rotated), releasing the components 30 and 20 from the holding mechanism 50, but a configuration is possible, in which the held parts (the first held part 31 and the second held part 21a) are moved as the disk 65 is displaced (rotated), releasing the components 30 and 20 from the holding mechanism 50.
As illustrated in
Here, the pendulum 62 is moved clockwise and counterclockwise within the range of swing width, but in the release mechanism 60 in the first embodiment, the rotating shaft member 61, the disk 63, and the disk 65 are rotated only in one rotation direction (counterclockwise) according to the displacement of the vibration of the pendulum 62. Note that “clockwise” and “counterclockwise” described herein are rotational directions seen from a direction from the disk 63 to the disk 65. Hereinafter, the reason will be described.
As illustrated in
Each of the plurality of protrusions 63b has an abutment surface S1 and an inclined surface S2. The abutment surface S1 is provided at an angle substantially perpendicular to the outer peripheral surface of the disk 63. The inclined surface S2 is inclined with respect to the outer peripheral surface of the disk 63 at an angle smaller than that of the abutment surface S1. The protrusion 64a has an abutment surface S3 and an inclined surface S4. The abutment surface S3 is provided at an angle substantially perpendicular to the surface of the disk control part 64. The inclined surface S4 is inclined with respect to the surface of the disk control part 64 at an angle smaller than that of the abutment surface S3.
When the disk 63 is rotated, the abutment surface S3 comes into contact with the abutment surface S1 in the clockwise direction, and the inclined surface S4 comes into contact with the inclined surface S2 in the counterclockwise direction. When the abutment surface S3 contacts the abutment surface S1, the rotation of the disk 63 is stopped. That is, since the disk 63 is not rotated in the clockwise direction, the rotating shaft member 61 and the disk 65 are also not rotated in the clockwise direction.
Although not illustrated, an elastic body such as a spring attached to the protrusion 64a is provided inside the disk control part 64. Therefore, when the inclined surface S4 contacts the inclined surface S2, the protrusion 64a is pushed down into the disk control part 64. Therefore, the disk 63 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and the rotating shaft member 61 and the disk 65 are also rotated in the counterclockwise direction.
To promote the rotation of the disk 63 only in the counterclockwise direction, the plurality of protrusions 63a on the surface of the disk 63 and the protrusion 62b on the surface of the pendulum 62 may also have an abutment surface and an inclined surface.
As illustrated in
When the disk 63 is rotated, the abutment surface S7 comes into contact with the abutment surface S5 in the counterclockwise direction, and the inclined surface S8 comes into contact with the inclined surface S6 in the clockwise direction. When the abutment surface S7 contacts the abutment surface S5, rotation of the disk 63 is promoted. That is, the disk 63 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, and the rotating shaft member 61 and the disk 65 are also rotated in the counterclockwise direction.
Although not illustrated, an elastic body such as a spring attached to the protrusion 62b is provided inside the pendulum 62. Therefore, when the inclined surface S8 contacts the inclined surface S6, the protrusion 62b is pushed down into the pendulum 62. Therefore, since the disk 63 is not substantially rotated in the clockwise direction, the rotating shaft member 61 and the disk 65 are also not substantially rotated in the clockwise direction.
As described above, according to the first embodiment, the swinging motion of the pendulum 62 is used to release the components 20 and 30, and the rotating shaft member 61, the disk 63, and the disk 65 may be rotated only counterclockwise. Since the swing width of the pendulum 62 per reciprocation is set to 60 degrees, the operation protrusion 65a of the disk 65 comes into contact with the release operated part 53 of the holding mechanism 50 every six reciprocation of the pendulum 62. That is, the release mechanism 60 releases the components 20 and 30 from the holding mechanism 50 in response to the disk 65 (displacement part) being displaced a plurality of times.
The mechanism by which the component 20 can be moved inside the storage part 40 will be described below with reference to
As illustrated in
Although the guide part 41 extends to near the lower end of the storage part 40 in the Z direction, the guide part 41 is not opened from the lower end of the storage part 40. Therefore, when the component 20 is moved, the component 20 may be prevented from being completely detached from the storage part 40.
A mechanism by which the component 20 does not automatically return to the inside of the component 10 when the component 20 is moved to the outside of the component 10 will be described below using
As illustrated in
The regulation part 25 includes a protrusion 25a inside the main body 21. A protrusion 22a is connected to the displacement part 22 inside the main body 21. As the component 20 is moved in a direction of advancing to the outside of the component 10, the protrusion 25a pushes the protrusion 22a by the weight of the component 20. Then, the displacement part 22 is displaced in a direction away from the main body 21. That is, the doll is in the form with its upper limbs spread out. In the doll form after deformation, the width of the component 20 positioned outside the component 10 in the direction in which the displacement part 22 is displaced is greater than the width of the opening 11 in the direction in which the displacement part 22 is displaced. If there is no displacement part 22, only the main body 21 smaller than the width of the opening 11 can be moved from the inside of the component 10 to the outside of the component 10, but because the displacement part 22 that is displaced in response to movement outside the component 10 is provided, the width of the component 20 after deformation is greater than the width of the opening portion 11, which can further improve the amusement from the deformation.
A mechanism for returning the deformable toy 1 after deformation by vibration to the form before deformation by vibration will be described.
When the user displaces the displacement part 22 to be closer to the main body 21, the protrusion 22a pushes the protrusion 25a. In conjunction with the displacement of the displacement part 22, the regulation part 25 is stored inside the component 20 (inside the main body 21). As a result, the component 20 moved outside the component 10 is displaced to a position where the component 20 can be moved from the outside of the component 10 (outside the storage part 40) to the inside of the component 10 (inside the storage part 40).
Then, the main body 21 and the displacement part 22 are stored inside the storage part 40. By pushing the component 20 into the storage part 40, the second held part 21a of the component 20 is held by the second holding part 52 of the holding mechanism 50. As a result, the deformable toy 1 is returned to the form before the deformation by vibration.
Regarding the component 30, the user moves the component 30 to the position before the deformation where the component 30 covers a part of the outer peripheral surface of the component 10, and the first held part 31 of the component 30 is locked and held by the first holding part 51 of the holding mechanism 50 such that the deformable toy 1 returns to the form before the deformation by vibration.
Although the present invention has been specifically described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.
The embodiments described above will be summarized below.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2023-094323 | Jun 2023 | JP | national |