Patent Application
20190143235
The present invention relates to a transforming block toy which changes in shape, and more particularly, to a transforming block toy which changes into various shapes by providing a drive mechanism to an internal structure.
Hitherto, a block toy has been known which forms various shapes by using a block main body having recessed portions and protruding portions on surfaces and by combining the blocks.
As a standard shape of the block toy, several protruding portions are formed on a top surface of a rectangular block main body at regular intervals, and several recessed portions engaging with the protruding portions are formed on a bottom surface thereof. When a plurality of block main bodies are connected to one another by superimposing the recessed portions and the protruding portions, various block toys can be completed.
PTL 1 discloses a block toy capable of assembling various objects by using blocks having different numbers of protrusions provided at predetermined intervals.
{PTL 1}: JP 2010-172568 A
In the invention described in PTL 1, a plurality of columnar protrusions (37) having the same shape is provided on an upper surface of a rectangular parallelepiped base portion (31) at intervals of several millimeters, the base portion (31) has a rectangular parallelepiped inner space which opens downward and can accommodate the protrusions (37) of another block, and a plurality of blocks (11) capable of holding the columnar protrusions (37) of other blocks by side wall plates (33) of the base portion (31) is combined.
The invention described in PTL 1 makes it possible to join and assemble a large number of blocks into a shape of a precise object and to easily combine the blocks as a combination of plural kinds of small blocks based on a rectangular parallelepiped. However, since the shape obtained is to be arranged by increasing blocks or changing positions to be engaged, or the like, and the shape of the block main body is not transformed, the change would be poor.
An object of the present invention is to provide a transforming block toy having high unexpectedness and endless amusement, which can engage with other blocks as a normal block and has a movable structure or a transformable part provided in a single block at the same time, and in which the block itself is transformed into a toy of another shape by turning on a single trigger to automatically move the structures and each part.
The invention described in claim 1 is a transforming block toy including: an engagement protruding portion formed on an upper surface; an engagement recessed portion formed on a lower surface; a trigger provided on one side surface; and a movable structure and a transforming part moving and transforming itself by the trigger being operated, the movable structure and the transforming part not protruding from the surface of the transforming block toy in a block state, and by turning the trigger on, the movable structure moving and the transforming part automatically transforming itself into a toy of another shape.
The invention described in claim 2 is a transforming block toy including: a trigger provided on a front plate of a base body; a wheel operating unit configured to vertically move a wheel provided inside the base body; a freely undulating unit pivotally supported at an upper end portion of the base body; an engagement protruding portion formed on the upper surface of the undulating unit; and an engagement recessed portion formed on a lower surface of the base body, the trigger, the wheel operating unit and the undulating unit being accommodated in the transforming block toy and do not protrude from the surface in a block state, and by turning on the trigger, each part cooperated with the trigger moving to be transformed into a toy of an automobile.
The invention described in claim 3 is a transforming block toy including: a trigger provided on a rear plate of a cover member; a leg mounting unit formed inside a base body provided in a lower portion of the cover member; a nose operating unit projecting from a front plate of the cover member; an ear operating unit which opens outward from both side surfaces of the front part of the cover member; an engagement protruding portion formed on an upper surface of the cover member; and an engagement recessed portion formed on a lower surface of the base body, the leg mounting unit, the nose operating unit and the ear operating unit being accommodated in the transforming block toy and not protruding from the surface in a block state, and by turning on the trigger, each part cooperated with the trigger moving to be transformed into a toy of an animal.
The invention described in claim 4 is a transforming block toy including: a trigger provided in a front part of the base portion; a body portion pivotally provided on the base portion; a head portion pivotally provided on the body portion; a wing portion pivotally provided on the body portion; an engagement protruding portion formed on the upper surface of the body portion and the wing portion; and an engagement recessed portion formed on the lower surface of the base portion, the head portion and the wing portion, the base portion, the body portion, the head portion, and the wing portion being accommodated in the transforming block toy and do not protrude from the surface in a block state, and by turning on the trigger, each part cooperated with the trigger moving to be transformed into a toy of a bird.
According to the transforming block toy described in claim 1, as in the conventional block, it is possible to play with the transforming block toy in a block state by engaging with other blocks.
By turning on a single trigger, each internal movable structure moves in cooperation with the movement of the trigger and each transforming part transforms itself so that the block main body is transformed into a toy of another shape. Accordingly, there is an interest that the block changes into an unexpected shape. Further, it is possible to play with transformed toys.
According to the transforming block toy described in claim 2, as in the conventional block, it is possible to play with the transforming block toy in a block state by engaging with other blocks.
By turning on the trigger, each internal movable part cooperates with the movement of the trigger, the undulating unit undulates, the slide body advances forward, and the wheels further move downward to form the shape of the automobile. Accordingly, there is an interest that the block is transformed to change into an unexpected shape. It is possible to play as the toy of the automobile after transformation.
According to the transforming block toy described in claim 3, as in the conventional block, it is possible to play with the transforming block toy in a block state by engaging with other blocks.
By turning on the trigger, each internal movable part cooperates with the movement of the trigger, the leg portion comes out downward, the nose portion advances forward, and the ear portions further open to both sides to form the shape of the elephant. Accordingly, there is an interest that the block is transformed to change into an unexpected shape. It is possible to play with the block as the toy of the elephant after transformation.
According to the transforming block toy described in claim 4, as in the conventional block, it is possible to play with the transforming block toy in a block state by engaging with other blocks.
By turning on the trigger, each internal movable part cooperates with the movement of the trigger, the head portion undulates and the wing portions open to both sides to form the shape of a bird. Accordingly, there is an interest that the block is transformed to change into an unexpected shape. It is possible to play with the block as the toy of the bird after transformation.
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
A transforming block toy A of the first embodiment changes into a shape of an automobile after transformation, and includes a base portion 1, a wheel operating unit 2 accommodated in the base portion 1, and a control unit 3 and an undulating unit 4 of a slide body provided above the wheel operating unit 2.
In the base body 10, eight engagement recessed portions 15 are formed in the bottom plate 10d, and the engagement recessed portions 15 are engaged with the engagement protruding portions of another block toy.
The trigger 11 is formed on the front plate 10a of the front part (the left part in
A spring 12 is interposed between the pressing unit 11a and a spring supporting portion 10s of the front part of the base body 10 to always bias the pressing unit 11a forward. Therefore, the engagement portion 11d of the tip of the operating unit 11b is biased so as to always pivot backward and maintains an engaged state with an engagement portion 42 of a top plate 40 to be described later.
The wheel operating unit 2 is formed in a lower part of the base body 10.
The wheel operating unit 2 is constituted by connecting a wheel mounting base 20 and a lifting body 29 with a link 22 via the spring 21. Axles 18 are inserted through the bearings 20a at the front and rear ends of the wheel mounting base 20 to mount the wheels 19.
The link 22 includes a bearing 22a at the center and has an engaging hole 22b and an engaging hole 22c provided on both sides thereof.
Two recessed portions 20b for accommodating the bearings 22a of the links 22 are formed on the upper surface of the wheel mounting base 20, and protrusions 20c are formed at four locations on both side surfaces of the front part of the recessed portions 20b, respectively. Similarly, two recessed portions 29b for accommodating the bearings 22a of the links 22 are formed on the lower surface of the lifting body 29, and protrusions 29c are formed at four locations on the both side surfaces of the rear part of the recessed portions 29b.
When the wheel operating unit 2 is assembled, the wheel mounting base 20 and the lifting body 29 overlap each other with the spring 21 interposed therebetween, and the two links 22 are combined with the recessed portion 20b of the wheel mounting base 20 and the recessed portion 29b of the lifting body 29 and are pinched therebetween.
Further, the front engaging hole 22b of the link 22 is fitted to the protrusion 20c of the wheel mounting base 20, and at the same time, the rear engaging hole 22c is fitted to the protrusion 29c of the lifting body 29. Thereafter, the shafts 23 and 23 are inserted through the bearings 22a and 22a of the links 22 and 22 and are fixed to the base body 10.
The control unit 3 of the slide body is formed above the wheel operating unit 2.
The control unit 3 of the slide body includes an operation plate 30, and an engaging member 44 engaged with a recessed portion 39 formed on the front part of the operation plate 30.
The engaging member 44 includes a seat plate 44b accommodated in the recessed portion 39, and two pins 44a fixed to the seat plate 44b.
The pins 44a are movably mounted to two elongated holes 41b provided on the top plate 40, and the upper ends of the pins 44a are fixed to mounting units 46 and 46 provided on the bottom portion of the slide body 45.
The spring 31 is interposed to the bearing 29a at the rear part of the lifting body 29 of the wheel operating unit 2, and the shaft 32 is mounted to the inner side of the operation plate 30 through the bearing 30a of the operation plate 30. By fixing the shaft 32 to the rear part of the base body 10, the operation plate 30 is biased so as to always rotate upward about the shaft 32 by the resilient force of the spring 31.
The undulating unit 4 is formed above the control unit 3 of the slide body.
The undulating unit 4 includes a top plate 40, a slide body 45 and the like.
A recessed portion 41 for accommodating the slide body 45 is formed on the upper surface of the top plate 40, two rails 41a for causing the slide body 45 to slide are formed on the surface of the recessed portion 41, and two elongated holes 41b for causing the pin 44a to penetrate and move along the slide body 45 are provided.
The slide body 45 is stopped in a state of being always biased forward by the spring 43 in the recessed portion 41.
The rear end of the top plate 40 is pivotally supported on the base body 10 by inserting the shaft 34 into the bearing 40a via the spring 33 and by inserting the shaft 34 into the bearing 10e of the base body 10 at the same time, and the rear end of the top plate 40 is biased to always pivot upward about the shaft 34 by the spring 33.
The operation of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described.
Although the upward rotational force is imparted to the top plate 40 by the spring 33, since the engagement portion 42 at the tip is engaged with the engagement portion 11d of the trigger 11 in the block state, the pivoting of the top plate 40 is restricted.
When the pressing unit 11a of the trigger 11 is pushed inward (to the right side in
Along with this, since the upper end of the engaging member 44 is fixed to the mounting unit 46 of the bottom portion of the slide body 45, the engaging member 44 rises together with the top plate 40 and is disengaged from the recessed portion 39 of the operation plate 30, and at the same time, the engaging member 44 moves forward together with the slide body 45 by resilient force of the spring 43.
Simultaneously with the upward pivoting of the top plate 40, the operation plate 30 pivots upward about the shaft 32 by the resilient force of the spring 31. Accordingly, the lifting body 29 moves forward and upward by the resilient force of the spring 21 and the operation of the link 22.
Since the link 22 pivots about the shaft 23 at the same time, the wheel mounting base 20 and the wheel 19 move downward. A state in which the transforming block toy A is transformed into an automobile in this way is illustrated in
The effect of the present embodiment which operates as described above is that, since the engaged state of each internal mechanism is released only by pushing the trigger 11, each part moves, undulates, or slides by the force of the spring and the block itself is transformed, and since the block is transformed into a completely new shape such as an automobile which cannot be imagined from the block state, there is an interest that the block changes into an unexpected shape.
Further, since the transforming block toy can be played by engaging with another block as a normal block in a non-transformed state, and can be played as an automobile toy after transformation, it is possible to enjoy a single block many times.
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
A transforming block toy B of the second embodiment changes into the shape of elephant of an animal after transformation, and includes a cover member 90, a base portion 5 accommodated in the cover member 90, a leg operating unit 6 formed in the lower part, and a nose operating unit 7 and an ear operating unit 8 which are formed in the front part.
Therefore, although the internal structure is a rectangular parallelepiped that is accommodated in the transforming block toy B and does not protrude to the surface, by turning on the trigger 56, the respective constituent parts move in cooperation with each other and are transformed as illustrated in
Eight engagement recessed portions 53 are formed in the bottom plate 50d of the base body 50, and the engagement recessed portions 53 are engaged with engagement protruding portions of another transforming block toy.
A trigger 56 is built in the rear plate 90c of the cover member 90. An engaging claw 57 is formed on the inside of the upper portion of the trigger 56, a shaft 59 is inserted through a hole 56a in the central portion and the trigger 56 is pivotally supported by a support 51 of the rear part of the base body 50.
On the inside of the base body 50, a leg operating unit 6 including a leg connecting unit 60 and leg mounting units 61 and 61 are formed. The shaft 65 is inserted through the shaft hole 61a of the tip and the shaft hole 60b of the leg connecting unit 60, and the leg mounting unit 61 is pivotally mounted to the leg connecting unit 60.
On the other hand, the leg mounting unit 61 is pivotally mounted to the base body 50 by inserting the shaft 66 into the bearing 61b of the tip. Reference numeral 54 denotes a pin which fixes the base body 50 and the cover member 90.
A nose operating unit 7 is provided in the front part of the base body 50.
The nose operating unit 7 represents a nose of an elephant, and includes a case 71 which is bent downward and has a hollow inside, a spring support rod 73 accommodated inside the case 71, and a spring 72 wound around the spring support rod 73.
As illustrated in the drawings, in the block state, the case 71 of the nose operating unit 7 is placed on the slope 50a at the front end of the base body 50, and the engagement portion 73a of the upper end of the spring support rod 73 is fixed to the upper end of the cover member 90.
At the same time, an upper end protrusion 71a of the case 71 is engaged with the engaging protrusion 60a of the tip of the leg connecting unit 60 to lock the case 71 inside the base body 50 against the resilient force of the spring 72.
A pair of ear operating units 8 is provided on both sides of the front end of the cover member 90.
The ear operating unit 8 includes ear portions 80 representing elephant's ears, and a spring 82 and a shaft 83 for pivotally mounting the ear portions 80 to the cover member 90.
The bearing 80a is formed on the inner side of the front end of the ear portion 80, the engaging member 81 horizontally extends to the inner side of the ear portion 80, and an engaging claw 81a facing downward is formed at the tip of the engaging member 81. The engaging claw 81a is engaged with an engagement portion 61c provided on both sides of the tip of the front leg mounting unit 61.
The operation of the transforming block toy B configured as described above will be described.
When the rear trigger 56 is pivoted upward about the shaft 59 from the block state of
Along with the backward movement of the leg connecting unit 60, the leg portion 62 pivots downward about the shaft 66 and protrudes from the hole 53 of the bottom plate 50d.
Also, by the backward movement of the leg connecting unit 60, the engagement between the upper end 71a of the case of the nose operating unit 7 and the engaging protrusion 60a of the tip of the leg connecting unit 60 is disengaged, and the case 71 moves downward by the resilient force of the spring 72.
Along with this, the engagement between the engaging claw 81a of the ear operating unit 8 and the engagement portion 61c of the leg mounting unit 61 is disengaged, and the ear portion 80 pivots outward by the resilient force of the spring 82. In this way, the transforming block toy B enters the state illustrated in
The effect of the present embodiment is that, since the engaged state of each internal mechanism is released only by pulling the trigger 56, each part moves, slides or opens by the force of the spring, and the block main body is transformed into a shape that cannot be imagined at all such as animal which imitates an elephant, and thus, there is an interest that the block changes into an unexpected shape. Further, in a state in which the transforming block toy is not transformed, it is possible to play with the transforming block toy by engaging with other blocks as a normal block.
A third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to
A transforming block toy C of the third embodiment changes into the shape of an eagle of a bird after transformation and includes a base portion 100, a body portion 120 provided on the base portion 100, a head portion 140 and wing portions 160 and 160 provided on the body portion 120.
In the transforming block toy C, eight engagement protruding portions 200 are provided on the upper surface, and engagement recessed portions 201 are formed on the lower surface.
As illustrated in
Further, two triggers 102 imitating legs of an eagle protrude from both sides of the front part of the base body 101. A gap 109 is formed between the two triggers 102. The head portion 140 is accommodated in the gap 109 in a block state, and the protrusion 151 of the head portion 140 comes into contact with the base body 101 (see
The body portion 120 includes a lower member 121 and an upper member 131.
The lower member 121 is provided with support bases 122 on both sides, and the support bases 122 are connected with a connection plate 123 to form an H shape, and a bearing plate 126 is erected on the front and rear parts of the support base 122. The bearing plate 126 is provided with a bearing 127 through which a shaft 172 is inserted.
The upper member 131 has four engagement protruding portions 200 formed on the upper plate 132, and side plates 133 are provided on both sides of the upper plate 132. Four bearing plates 137 protrude outward and are mounted to both sides of the front end and the rear end of the side plate 133. The bearing plate 137 is provided with a bearing 138 through which the shaft 172 is inserted.
The head portion 140 has a beak 144 formed at the tip of the head main body 141, and the engagement portion 150 is accommodated in the inner part 143 of the head main body 141.
The engagement portion 150 includes a protrusion 151 at the tip, and a spring 153 wound around a support rod 152 provided inside.
Reference numeral 142 denotes a bearing through which the shaft 129 is inserted with the spring 128 interposed therebetween, and the head portion 140 is pivotally supported inside the upper member 131 by the shaft 129.
The wing portion 160 includes left and right wing portions mounted to both sides of the body portion 120, but since the shapes are objects, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals.
The wing portion 160 includes a mounting unit 161 to the body portion, and a tip portion 181 pivotally mounted to the mounting unit 161.
The mounting unit 161 is divided into two members, an engaging protrusion 200 is formed on the upper surface, a bearing 162 for being pivotally mounted to the body portion 120 is formed on one side, and a bearing 164 for being pivotally mounted to the tip portion 181 is formed on the other side.
The mounting unit 161 is disposed inside the bearing plate 137, and the shaft 172 is mounted by being inserted into the bearing 162 and the bearing 138 via the spring 171.
The tip portion 181 has a hollow inside to accommodate the engagement portion 183, and a bearing 182 is provided at an end portion. The shaft 174 is inserted through the bearing 182 and the bearing 164 of the mounting unit 161 via the spring 173 and is pivotally mounted to the mounting unit 161.
The engagement portion 183 includes a protrusion 184 of the tip, and a spring 186 wound around a support rod 185 provided inside, and a covering body 187. The protrusion 184 is in contact with and engaged with the recessed portion 104 provided on both side portions of the base body 101.
The operation of the transforming block toy C configured as described above will be described.
When the front trigger 102 pivots downward about the shaft 119 from the block state of
At the same time, the mounting unit 161 is pivoted outward by the resilient force of the spring 171, the engagement portion 183 is subsequently separated from the recessed portion 104 of the base body 101, and the tip portion 181 is pivoted outward by the resilient force of the spring 173, and the transforming block toy C enters the state of
Further, the body portion 120 pivotally supported by the shaft 119 can be further manually undulated.
The effect of the present embodiment is that, since the engaged state of each internal mechanism is released only by pulling the trigger 102 downward, each part moves, undulates or opens by the force of the spring, and since the block main body is transformed into a shape which cannot be imaged at all such as an animal imitating the eagle, there is an interest that the black changes into an unexpected shape. Further, in a state in which the transforming block toy is not transformed, it is possible to play with the transforming block toy by engaging with other blocks as a normal block.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-175982 | Aug 2014 | JP | national |
The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/506,925, filed on Feb. 27, 2017, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. The Ser. No. 15/506,925 application is a U.S. national stage of application of No. PCT/JP2015/074180, filed Aug. 27, 2015. Priority under 35 U.S. C. § 119(a) and 35 U.S.C. § 365(b) is claimed from Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-175982, filed Aug. 29, 2014, priority to which is also incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 15506925 | Feb 2017 | US |
| Child | 15974044 | US |
