This invention relates to toy kits in general, and new and improved kits in which the container for the decorative elements of the toy kit also functions as the main body for the toy.
Various toy kits have been developed which allow a user to adorn a main body of a toy such as a doll body by allowing elements having free ends to be placed into apertures on the main body. For example, the Mr. Potato Head doll was developed which allows users to add facial features, limbs and accessories to a three-dimensional potato-shaped plastic body by placing free ends of these adorning elements into preexisting apertures on the potato-shaped body. The attachment of the adorning elements to the potato-shaped body allows the user to customize the appearance of the toy and provide a variety of amusing appearances.
However, a disadvantage of known prior art kits is that they are limited in the customization that the user is able to perform. As an example, the Mr. Potato Head toy has only several apertures on the body for receiving adorning elements and the user is limited in the locations where they can place adorning elements on the main body. Furthermore, many of the prior toy kits do not securely hold the elements on the body and elements inadvertently fall out when the toy is inverted.
Several prior art toy kits have tried to overcome this disadvantage by providing improved retention of connectable elements. For example U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,681 to Matos (the “Matos '681 Patent”) teaches a construction kit featuring connectors having tongues, slots and notches for attachment to other connectors. The width of the notches and slots on the connectors are substantially equal to the thickness of the connectors in order to provide a frictional fit inside the slots or on the notches when a connector is attached thereby providing a secure retention of the connectors to each other. However, this type of toy kit is expensive to manufacture and requires precise dimensions of the connectible elements to provide secure retention of the connectors to the main body. Therefore, the toy kit taught by Matos may be ineffective in retaining connectors if the dimensions of the connectors deviate slightly from the intended dimensions due to a manufacturing problem or normal wear.
A separate container for holding adorning elements adds to the expense and bulkiness of toy kits. Several prior toy kits have been developed which eliminate the need for a separate container to hold the adorning elements. As an example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,520,078 to Klamer teaches a self storage multicharactered toy having a main body and interchangeable parts. The main body in the Klamer '078 Patent comprises a hollow, egg-shaped box member comprising two hemi-ovate sections that detach to allow storage of the interchangeable pieces within the main body. The disadvantages of the toy taught in the '078 Patent are that the main body is expensive to manufacture and the interchangeable parts are not sufficiently held in the apertures on the main body. Further, the main body of this device is not stackable for further customization.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toy kit that has a container that also functions as the main body for the toy.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a toy kit that securely retains adorning elements to the main body of the toy.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy kit that has a main body that can house the remaining components of the toy.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a toy kit with improved portability.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy kit that has an improved ability to be customized.
Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a toy kit that is lightweight and economical to manufacture.
The present invention comprises a self-storing toy kit having a container that serves as the main body and adorning inserts for securement to the main body. The main body has a plurality of walls forming a closed geometric shape that defines an interior storage compartment for holding the adorning inserts. The walls have narrow slits on its exterior surface for receiving adorning inserts. The slits have a substantial length to provide a large area for the user to secure the adorning inserts to the main body for improved customizability.
The adorning inserts are dimensioned to fit tightly within the slits of the main body to ensure secure retention of the adorning inserts. The adorning inserts have a distal end that is resilient to allow the distal end to penetrate the walls surrounding the slit. The resiliency of the adorning inserts allows the adorning inserts to cantilever from the slits and maintain its spatial orientation to give the toy a three-dimensional presentation. The flexibility of the adorning inserts allows the adorning inserts to be manipulated by the user. The adorning inserts contain indicia and are shaped to convey the appearance of body parts, garments, accessories, or other objects that are desirable for a toy kit.
The main body has closing means for closing the interior storage compartment. The compartment allows for storage of the adorning inserts within the main body and eliminates the need for a separate carrying case for the adorning inserts.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein
With reference to
The adorning inserts 10 are fabricated out of a flexible and resilient material such as plastic. The adorning inserts 10 contain indicia and are shaped to convey the appearance of body parts, garments, accessories, or other objects that are desirable for a toy kit. In the embodiment shown, the adorning inserts 10 comprises legs 20, arms 22, eyes 24, a nose 26, a hair piece 28, and a tongue 30.
The adorning inserts 10 have a distal end 12 having a length and width sufficient to allow the adorning inserts to fit tightly within the slits 8 of the main body so that the adorning inserts can be securely cantilevered in the slits. The distal end 12 of the adorning inserts is fabricated out of a strong material to allow the distal end to penetrate the walls 3 surrounding the slits 8. When the adorning inserts 10 are inserted into the slits 8, the distal end 12 of the adorning insert is clamped down by the edges of the slits 8 to firmly secure the inserts in a cantilevered manner. The resiliency of the adorning inserts 10 allows them to protrude from the slits 8 in a cantilevered manner and maintain its spatial orientation to give the toy a three-dimensional presentation. For example, the arms 22 shown in
In alternative embodiments, the distal end 12 of the adorning inserts may be constructed out of a resilient material but the insert body 11 is fabricated out of a non-resilient material. For example, an adorning insert simulating hair may have a rigid distal end 12 while the insert body 11 has soft strands of a hair-like material.
While
The slits 8 may be arranged in a variety of configurations and may be on some or all of the walls 3 of the main body. In the embodiments shown in
When the adorning inserts 10 shown in
In a preferred embodiment shown in
Corrugated board is an inexpensive material and the main body 2, slits 8 and adorning inserts 10 are easily manufactured by conventional machinery. This allows the toy kit to be manufactured economically and efficiently. The main body 2 comprising a six-sided box as shown in
The storage compartment 4 allows the adorning inserts 10 to be housed within the main body 2 and eliminates the need for a separate carrying case for the adorning inserts. The interior storage compartment 4 has closing means 15 to close the interior compartment and prevent the adorning inserts 10 from falling out of the compartment. As shown in
The planar main body 2 is stackable with one or more additional main bodies in accordance with the present invention for improved customizability.