The present invention relates to a toy assembly unit including a first component unit and a second component unit that are connected via a connecting mechanism, and also relates to a transformable toy using the same.
A toy assembly unit of this kind and a transformable toy using the same have been proposed by the applicant in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-423874. In the toy field, there are no prior patent applications which have proposed the configuration of a connecting mechanism employed in the toy assembly unit and the transformable toy proposed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-423874.
As shown in
The engaging portion 3 is constituted by one of an engagement raised portion 9 and an engagement depressed portion 11 into which the engagement raised portion 9 is detachably engaged. The engaged portion 7 is constituted by the other of the engagement raised portion 9 and the engagement depressed portion 11. In
The engagement raised portion 9 includes a plate-like base 13, a plate-like portion 15 integrally formed with the base 13 and orthogonally extending away therefrom in a plate-like shape, and a cylindrical expanded portion 17 integrally formed with the plate-like portion 15 in such a manner that the expanded portion 15 is disposed along an end portion of the plate-like portion 15. The engagement depressed portion 11 is formed, being surrounded by a pair of side walls 21, 21 which have flexibility and are disposed at a given interval to sandwich the plate-like portion 15 and the expanded portion therebetween, and a bottom wall 23 connecting base portions of the pair of side walls 21, 21, each of the side walls 21, 21 having a projecting portion 19 formed integrally therewith at an end portion thereof for preventing the expanded portion 17 from coming off.
The engagement raised portion 9 and the engagement depressed portion 11 are formed with a synthetic resin material. When engaging the engagement raised portion 9 with the engagement depressed portion 11, the expanded portion 17 of the engagement raised portion 9 is pushed into between the projecting portions 19, 19 respectively located on either side of the interval. Then the expanded portion 17 is inserted between the projecting portions 19,19 by bending outwardly the end portions of the pair of side walls 21, 21 by means of the inserted expanded portion 17. In this manner, the plate-like portion 15 of the engagement raised portion 9 is sandwiched between the projecting portions 19, 19 respectively located on the either side, thereby preventing the expanded portion 17 from coming off. Thus, the engaging portion gets into engagement with the engaged portion.
[Patent Document 1]
In the conventional engagement depressed portion 11, the pair of side walls 21, 21, or the bottom wall 23 may be cracked if the expanded portion 17 of the engagement raised portion 9 is repeatedly pushed into and pulled out from between the projecting portions 19, 19 of the engagement depressed portion 11, namely, if engagement/disengagement is repeated.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a toy assembly unit in which a bottom wall or base portions of a pair of side walls of an engagement depressed portion can be prevented from being cracked even if engagement/disengagement is repeated.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy assembly unit in which an expanded portion of an engagement raised portion can easily be inserted into between projecting portions of an engagement depressed portion respectively located on the either side at a longitudinal end thereof.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toy assembly unit in which end portions of a pair of side walls of an engagement depressed portion can easily be bent outwardly, and mechanical strength of a bottom wall can be improved.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a toy assembly unit in which a pair of side walls of an engagement depressed portion can easily be bent.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a transformable toy in which a bottom wall or base portions of a pair of side walls of an engagement depressed portion in a connecting mechanism can be prevented from being cracked.
A toy assembly unit according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a first component unit including an engaging portion and a second component unit including an engaged portion into which the engaging portion is detachably engaged. The engaging portion is constituted by one of an engagement raised portion and an engagement depressed portion. The engaged portion is constituted by the other of the engagement raised portion and the engagement depressed portion. The engagement raised portion includes a base, a plate-like portion integrally formed with the base and extending away therefrom, and an expanded portion integrally formed with the plate-like portion in such a manner that the expanded portion is disposed along an end portion of the plate-like portion. The engagement depressed portion is formed, being surrounded by a pair of side walls and a bottom wall. The pair of side walls have flexibility and are disposed at a given interval to sandwich the plate-like portion and the expanded portion therebetween. The bottom wall connects base portions of the pair of side walls, each of the side walls having a projecting portion formed integrally therewith at an end portion thereof for preventing the expanded portion from coming off. In particular, the bottom wall has one or more through-holes which extend along a gap formed between the pair of projecting portions respectively formed with the pair of side walls, and pass through the bottom wall toward the gap.
When one or more through holes are provided in the bottom wall constituting the engagement depressed portion, portions of the bottom wall in the periphery of the through holes may easily be curved convexly toward the above-mentioned gap so as to narrow the interval or gap in a width direction, thereby bending end portions of the pair of side walls outwardly. As a result, the pair of side walls can be bent more easily than ever, thereby preventing the bottom wall and the pair of side walls of the engagement depressed portion from being cracked when pushing or puling out the expanded portion of the engagement raised portion into or from between the projecting portions of the engagement depressed portion respectively located on either side of the interval or gap. Therefore, according to the present invention, the life of the engagement depressed portion can be extended and reliability can be increased.
Preferably, the length of the projecting portion in a direction along the gap is smaller than that of the pair of side walls in the direction along the gap, and the projecting portions do not exist at both ends, in the direction along the gap, of the end portions of the side walls. With such configuration, once one end of the expanded portion of the engagement raised portion has got into a space which exists on both sides of the end portions of the side walls in the direction along the gap, where the projecting portions do not exist, the engagement raised portion can smoothly be inserted into between the pair of projecting portions. In this manner, the engagement raised portion can be engaged with or inserted into the engagement depressed portion with no difficulty even if both portions are not exactly opposed to each other.
Preferably, a plurality of through holes are formed side by side along the gap. With such arrangement, namely, due to the existence of the through holes in the bottom wall, the end portions of the pair of side walls of the engagement depressed portion can readily be bent outwardly.
Preferably, the pair of side walls and the bottom wall are integrally formed with a synthetic resin material. In the above-mentioned configuration, flexibility of the synthetic resin material can be utilized most, thereby readily bending outwardly the pair of side walls partially surrounding the engagement depressed portion.
The present invention is, of course, applicable to a transformable toy comprising a plurality of component units and one or more connecting mechanisms respectively including an engaging portion and an engaged portion to be engaged with the engaging portion for connecting the component units to each other. The transformable toy is transformed from one figure into another figure by changing a combination of the plurality of component units connected to each other, or replacing some of the component units with a prepared separate component unit using the connecting mechanism, or adding a prepared separate component unit to the plurality of component units using the connecting mechanism.
In a transformable toy according to an embodiment of the present invention, the engaging portion is constituted by one of an engagement raised portion and an engagement depressed portion; and the engaged portion is constituted by the other of the engagement raised portion and the engagement depressed portion. The engagement raised portion includes a base, a plate-like portion integrally formed with the base and extending away therefrom, and an expanded portion integrally formed with the plate-like portion in such a manner that the expanded portion is disposed along an end portion of the plate-like portion. The engagement depressed portion is formed, being surrounded by a pair of side walls which have flexibility and are disposed at a given interval to sandwich the plate-like portion and the expanded portion therebetween; and a bottom wall connecting base portions of the pair of side walls, each of the side walls having a projecting portion formed integrally therewith at an end portion thereof for preventing the expanded portion from coming off. The bottom wall has one or more through-holes which extend along a gap formed between the pair of projecting portions respectively formed with the pair of side walls, and pass through the bottom wall toward the gap.
Preferably, in the transformable toy according to the present invention, the length of the projecting portion in a direction along the gap is smaller than that of the pair of side walls in the direction along the gap, and the projecting portions do not exist at both ends, in the direction along the gap, of the end portions of the pair of side walls. Preferably, a plurality of the through-holes are formed side by side along the gap. Preferably, the pair of side walls and the bottom wall are integrally formed with a synthetic resin material.
The best mode for carrying out the invention will be described in detail hereinafter with reference to the drawings.
In the present embodiment, an engagement raised portion 109 constitutes the engaging portion provided in a first component unit, not shown, and an engagement depressed portion 111 constitutes the engaged portion provided in a second component unit, not shown.
The engagement raised portion 109 is integrally formed with a synthetic resin material. As shown in
The engagement depressed portion 111 is formed, being surrounded by a pair of side walls 121,121 which have flexibility and a bottom wall 123, as shown in
The bottom wall 123 constituting the engagement depressed portion 111 has a through hole 129 of a rectangular shape. The through hole 129 extends along a gap 127 formed between the pair of projecting portions 119 respectively formed with the pair of side walls 121,121, and passes through the bottom wall 123 toward the gap 127.
The length of the projecting portion 119 in a direction along the gap 127 is smaller than that of the pair of side walls 121, 121 in the direction along the gap 125. As a result, the projecting portions 119 do not exist at both ends, in the direction along the gap 125, of the end portions of the side walls 121, 121. Thus, spaces (slits) 131, 131 are formed.
The pair of side walls 121,121 and the bottom wall 123, as thus constituted, are integrally formed with a synthetic resin material. The engagement raised portion 109 is also integrally formed with the synthetic resin material. A typical example of the synthetic resin materials that form the engagement raised portion 109 and engagement depressed portion 111 is polyacetal (POM).
As shown in
In the toy assembly unit thus configured, since the bottom wall 123 partially surrounding the engagement depressed portion 111 has one through-hole 129 which extends along the gap 127 formed between the pair of projecting portions 119, 119, and passes through the bottom wall 123 toward the gap 127, the bottom wall 123 curves convexly toward the gap 127 when the end portions of the pair of side walls 121,121 are bent outwardly. As a result, the pair of side walls 121,121 are easily bent outwardly, thus preventing the bottom wall 123 and the base portions of the pair of side walls 121,121 of the engagement depressed portion 111 from being cracked when the expanded portion 117 of the engagement raised portion 109 is inserted between the projecting portions 119,119 of the engagement depressed portion 111 respectively located on the either side. Consequently, the life of the engagement depressed portion 111 is extended and reliability is increased.
Once one end of the expanded portion 117 of the engagement raised portion 109 has got into one of spaces 131, 131 respectively formed on either side of the end portions of the pair of side walls 121, 121 in the direction along the interval or gap 125, where the projecting portions do not exist, the engagement raised portion 109 is smoothly inserted between the pair of projecting portions 119, 119. In this manner, the engagement raised portion 109 can readily be engaged with or inserted into the engagement depressed portion 111 with no difficulty even if both portions are not exactly opposed to each other.
Preferably, a plurality of through holes 129 may be formed side by side in the bottom wall 123 at a given interval along the gap 127. In this manner, flexibility of the bottom wall 123 is adjustable by defining the number of the plurality of through hole 129. Since portions between the adjoining through holes 129 formed in the bottom wall 123 are connected to each other in a width direction thereof, mechanical strength of the bottom wall 123 is also adjustable by appropriately determining the number of the through holes.
In the present embodiment, the transformable toy is transformed into the large robot toy shown in
As shown in
The large robot toy 143 is constituted by mounting a plurality of divided components 145,147, which have been obtained by dividing another robot toy into components, onto the core robot toy 133 used as a core, as shown in
The divided component 145 includes a box-shaped assembly component 145a that works as a chest section, another box-shaped assembly component 145b disposed on the front side of the assembly component 145a, an assembly component 145c disposed on an upper portion of the assembly component 145a to work as a head section, and assembly components 145e that are attached to both sides of the assembly component 145a via joint portions 145d to work as arm sections. The lower portion of the box-shaped assembly component 145a is removably connected to the upper portion of the folded core robot toy 133 via the male-and-female connecting mechanism, not shown.
The divided component 147 is constituted by a box-shaped assembly component 147a that works as a waist and a pair of assembly components 147b connected to lower portions of both sides of the assembly component 147a.
The core robot toy 133 is folded and incorporated in the large robot toy 143, with the light-emitting display portion 138 being exposed from between the assembly component 145a and the assembly component 147a, or being exposed through a window portion, not shown, provided in the assembly component 145a.
The divided component 145 is configured to allow the switch disposed in the core robot toy 133 to be operated by operating an operation portion 149 of the divided component 145 when the core robot toy 133 is mounted with the divided components 145, 147 to form the large robot toy 143. The divided component 145 including the operation portion 149 incorporates an operation mechanism 151 that allows direct operation of the switch when the divided component 145 is mounted on the core robot toy 133. The operation mechanism 151 is divided into three operation mechanism portions 151a, 151b, and 151c which are included in the assembly components 145a and 145b. The operation mechanism portion 151a is included in the assembly component 145a and is configured to move up and down longitudinally so as to press a keytop of the switch. The operation mechanism portion 151b is included in the assembly component 145a and is configured to move laterally in a direction orthogonal to an extending direction of the operation mechanism portion 151a so that the operation mechanism 151b is pushed to slide, which in turn pushes down the operation mechanism portion 151a. The operation mechanism portion 151c is included in the assembly component 145b and is aligned with a base end of the operation mechanism portion 151b so that pressing the operation mechanism portion 151c may move backward the operation mechanism 151b.
The assembly component 145b, which is disposed in the front side of the divided component 145 that constitutes the chest section, is configured in the shape of a lion head.
In the present embodiment, when the inside of a widely opened mouth of the lion head is lighted by emission of the light-emitting display portion 138 disposed in the core robot toy 133, the large robot toy 143 is in a light-emitting display state.
The engagement raised portion 109 and the engagement depressed portion 111 may be disposed interchangeably.
According to the present invention, since one or more through holes are formed in the bottom wall that constitutes the engagement depressed portion, portions of the bottom wall in the periphery of the through holes may easily be curved convexly toward the gap, and the gap is accordingly narrowed. Namely, the pair of side walls may be bent more easily than ever. This prevents the bottom wall and the pair of side walls of the engagement depressed portion from being cracked when pushing or pulling out the expanded portion of the engagement raised portion into or from between the projecting portions of the engagement depressed portion respectively located on either side of the gap. According to the present invention, the life of the engagement depressed portion is extended and reliability is increased.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2005-176818 | Jun 2005 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP2006/312022 | 6/15/2006 | WO | 00 | 12/13/2007 |