U.S. patent application number 13/319058 was filed with the patent office on 2012-06-07 for one-piece toy figure having changeable expressions.
This patent application is currently assigned to HOME FOCUS DEVELOPMENT LIMITED. Invention is credited to Jacob Ranis Stokholm Andersen.
Application Number | 20120142250 13/319058 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 43050402 |
Filed Date | 2012-06-07 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120142250 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Andersen; Jacob Ranis
Stokholm |
June 7, 2012 |
ONE-PIECE TOY FIGURE HAVING CHANGEABLE EXPRESSIONS
Abstract
One or more toy figures are described herein, as is a method for
making such toy figures. The toy figures preferably include a
changeable facial image. The figures include injection molded,
single-piece body portions, including a head having a sticker
receiving area. The sticker receiving area is provided as a
recessed portion of the body portion. A sticker is placed on the
sticker receiving area. The sticker is provided as a sticker having
a lenticular image, the sticker including an image having at least
one first image and having at least one second image as part of the
lenticular image. The sticker will show the first image if held in
a first position (or first orientation or first angle), and the
second image if held in a second position (or second orientation or
second angle).
Inventors: |
Andersen; Jacob Ranis Stokholm;
(Hong Kong, CN) |
Assignee: |
HOME FOCUS DEVELOPMENT
LIMITED
Road Town (Tortola)
VG
|
Family ID: |
43050402 |
Appl. No.: |
13/319058 |
Filed: |
May 4, 2010 |
PCT Filed: |
May 4, 2010 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/US10/33564 |
371 Date: |
February 16, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61175634 |
May 5, 2009 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/321 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H 13/005 20130101;
A63H 3/365 20130101; A63H 3/40 20130101; A63F 2009/0633
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
446/321 |
International
Class: |
A63H 3/00 20060101
A63H003/00 |
Claims
1. A toy figure comprising: a body portion, the body portion
including a base portion, a middle portion, and a head portion; the
head portion including a recessed portion sized and dimensioned to
form a sticker receiving portion; a sticker positioned in the
recessed portion including a lenticular image, the lenticular image
including at least one first image, and at least one second image,
the first image being different from the second image.
2. The toy figure of claim 1, wherein the sticker is configured to
form at least a portion of the face of the toy figure, and wherein
the first image depicts a first facial expression and the second
image depicts a second facial expression different from the first
facial expression.
3. (canceled)
4. (canceled)
5. A toy figure comprising: a one-piece molded body portion having
no moving parts; a face portion including a picture, the picture
having at least two images, the images viewable from different
viewing angles.
6. The toy figure of claim 5, wherein the picture is provided as a
sticker including a lenticular picture.
7. The toy figure of claim 5, wherein the picture is provided as a
sticker including a holographic image.
8. The toy figure of claim 1, wherein the body portion includes a
base portion, a middle portion, and a head portion.
9. The toy figure of claim 1, wherein the body portion or head
portion includes a recessed portion sized and dimensioned to form a
sticker receiving portion.
10. The toy figure of claim 1, further including a sticker
positioned on the body portion including a lenticular image, the
lenticular image including at least one first image, and at least
one second image, the first image being different from the second
image.
11. The toy figure of claim 1, wherein the sticker is positioned in
a recessed portion of the body.
12. The toy figure of claim 1, wherein each sticker is configured
to form at least a portion of the face of a toy figure, and wherein
the first image depicts a first facial expression and the second
image depicts a second facial expression different from the first
facial expression.
13. The toy figure of claim 1, wherein the toy figure includes a
holographic sticker showing one of a plurality of different facial
expressions, images showing movement and images showing 3D.
14. (canceled)
15. (canceled)
16. A toy figure comprising: a body portion, the body portion
including a base portion, a middle portion, and a head portion; the
head portion including a slot leading to a recessed portion sized
and dimensioned to form a lenticular image receiving portion, the
head portion also includes a fixed lens arranged in front of the
recessed portion, the lenticular image including at least one first
image, and at least one second image, the first image being
different from the second image.
17. The toy figure of claim 16, wherein the lenticular image will
show the at least one first image if held in a first position, and
the at least one second image if held in a second position.
18. The toy figure of claim 16, wherein the lenticular image will
show the at least one first image if held in at a first angle, and
the at least one second image if held in at a second angle.
19. The toy figure of claim 16, wherein the lenticular image is a
coded game piece.
20. The toy figurine of claim 17, wherein during game play, a
player inserts the coded game piece into the slot to read
instructions from the coded game piece, which are displayed through
the lens.
21. The toy figure of claim 19, wherein the game piece is used in
one of: role-playing games, sweepstakes, puzzles or board
games.
22. The toy figure of claim 16, wherein the lenticular images is
included in product packaging, as trading cards, as promotional
items.
23. The toy figure of claim 16, wherein the lenticular image is
designed by a user using their own images on a personal computer or
is downloaded from a computer network and printed by the user.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Patent Application No. 61/175,634, filed May 5, 2009, which is
incorporated by reference as if fully set forth.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to toy figures.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Children often like to play with toys that have some aspect
that changes or moves. Toy figurines or figures are often provided
having moving parts, such as moving arms and legs, or rotating
heads. Such toy figures may be shaped like or resemble, for
example, animals, robots, creatures, people, or characters. Having
several moving parts makes construction and manufacturing more
expensive and more difficult.
[0004] One-piece toys have some drawbacks. One draw-back is that
the toy is completely static or motionless.
[0005] Even toy figures, such as action figures, that have moveable
limbs are stuck with a single facial expression. Thus, a toy
resembling, for example, a superhero character will have one
unchanging expression. A child could easily grow bored with such a
toy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0006] The present invention includes a novel design that has a
one-piece molded body portion, yet has a face portion with a
changeable expression.
[0007] One or more toy figures or "figures" are described herein,
as is a method for making such toy figures. The toy figures
preferably include a changeable facial image, as described
herein.
[0008] The figures include injection molded, single-piece body
portions, including a head having a sticker receiving area. The
sticker receiving area is provided as a recessed portion of the
body portion. A sticker is placed on the sticker receiving area.
The sticker is provided as a sticker having a lenticular image, the
sticker including an image having at least one first image and
having at least one second image as part of the lenticular image.
The sticker will show the first image if held in a first position
(or first orientation or first angle), and the second image if held
in a second position (or second orientation or second angle).
[0009] In another embodiment, the figures include injection molded,
single-piece body portions, including a head having a sticker
receiving area. The sticker receiving area is provided as a
recessed portion of the body portion. A sticker is placed on the
sticker receiving area. The sticker is provided as a sticker having
a holographic image, the sticker including an image having at least
one first image and having at least one second image as part of the
holographic image. The sticker will show the first image if held in
a first position, and the second image if held in a second
position.
[0010] The sticker receiving area is preferably located where the
face portion of the body portion is located. The images of the
sticker are preferably of a first facial expression and a second
facial expression, thereby providing a toy figure having a
changeable facial expression.
[0011] There is no limit to the number of different images or
different facial expressions that a sticker may include, thereby
imbuing a toy figure with many different images viewed from
different angles, including, but not limited to, different facial
expressions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] FIG. 1 shows a front view of an illustrative character
including a sticker according to the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 2 is an illustration showing the toy figure held by a
user shown in FIG. 1 positioned so that the toy figure shows a
first facial expression.
[0014] FIG. 3 is an illustration showing the toy figure held by a
user shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, positioned so that the toy figure
shows a second facial expression.
[0015] FIG. 4 shows a group of toy figures according to embodiments
of the present invention, each showing a first facial
expression.
[0016] FIG. 5 shows the group of toy figures according to
embodiments of the present invention shown in FIG. 4, each showing
a second facial expression.
[0017] FIG. 6 shows one of the toy figures of FIG. 4 in closer
detail showing a first facial expression
[0018] FIG. 7 shows the toy figures of FIG. 6 in closer detail
showing a second facial expression.
[0019] FIG. 8 shows a cross section of a head portion of a toy
figure according to the present invention, showing the recessed
portion.
[0020] FIG. 9 shows the figure of FIG. 1, without a sticker placed
in the recessed portion.
[0021] FIG. 10 shows a sticker according to the present invention
showing a first image or first facial expression.
[0022] FIG. 11 shows the sticker of FIG. 10 showing a second image
or second facial expression.
[0023] FIG. 12 shows a close up from the top of s sticker of the
present invention.
[0024] FIG. 13 shows an alternate embodiment of the figure of FIG.
1, which incorporates a slot for receiving the lenticular
image.
[0025] FIG. 14 shows an alternate embodiment of the figure of FIG.
1, which incorporates a fixed lens and a slot for receiving the
lenticular image.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0026] As used herein, the term "toy figure" or "figure" means a
small molded or sculptured toy figure, figurine or statuette.
[0027] As used herein, the term "user" means a person, including
but not limited to a child, playing with or otherwise using a
figure.
[0028] As used herein, the term "lenticular image" is an image that
shows depth and/or motion and/or different images when viewed from
different angles or when the image is moved in different
orientations.
[0029] As shown in FIGS. 1-7 a toy FIG. 10 is provided. The toy
FIG. 10 includes a body portion 12. The body portion 12 preferably
includes feet or base portion 14, a middle portion 16, and a head
portion 18. The base portion 14 provides a flat bottom so that the
FIG. 10 can be free-standing.
[0030] FIGS. 4 and 5 show a series of five different toy FIGS. 10a,
10b, 10c, 10d, and 10e. The figures may resemble, by way of example
and not by way of limitation, robots, aliens or science
fiction-type characters (10a, 10b and 10d), super hero type
characters (10c), and/or monster-type characters (10e).
[0031] The body portion 10 is preferably constructed as a single
piece of injection molded plastic. The body portion 10 may include
molded details, including but not limited to: feet 20, arms 22,
helmets 24, wheels 26, etc., as shown in the Figures.
[0032] The head portion 18 includes a recessed portion 28, shown in
cross-section in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 9, the recessed portion
28 forms a sticker receiving area 30.
[0033] A sticker 32 is provided. The sticker is preferably formed
having a lenticular image 34. A lenticular image is the combination
of two or more images viewed with a special lens to create a
desired animated effect. Images are interlaced or combined and then
placed under a specially designed lens. Such a lenticular image may
be produced by overlaying specially printed graphics with a plastic
lenticular sheet which is molded to form a series of lenses that
coincide with the different parts of a changing graphic or image.
Lenticular printing is a multi-step process consisting of creating
a lenticular image from at least two existing images, and combining
it with a lenticular lens. This process can be used to create
various frames of animation (for a motion effect), offsetting the
various layers at different increments (for a 3d effect), or simply
to show a set of alternate images which may appear to transform
into each other. Once the various images are collected, they are
flattened into individual, different frame files, and then
digitally combined into a single final file in a process called
interlacing. Those skilled in the art will appreciate other methods
of forming a lenticular image, and this is but one example.
[0034] A lenticular image 34 for use with a toy FIG. 10 of the
present invention preferably includes at least one first image 36
showing a first facial expression 38 of the character of the toy
figure, and at least one second image 40 showing a second facial
expression 44 of the character of the toy figure. For example, FIG.
10 shows a sticker 32 according to the present invention, with the
sticker oriented so that a first facial expression 38 can be seen
at the depicted angle by a user or another viewer. FIG. 11 shows
the same sticker 32 in a different orientation, so that a user or
viewer would see a second facial expression 42.
[0035] The sticker 32, as shown in FIG. 12, includes an image side
46 and an adhesive side 48. The sticker 32 is sized to match the
dimensions of the sticker receiving area 30, as shown by FIG. 9.
The sticker 32 is placed in the recessed portion 28 and affixed to
the sticker receiving area 30 by means of the adhesive.
[0036] According to this embodiment, placing the sticker 32 on the
sticker receiving area 30 provides the toy figure with different
facial expressions that can be viewed by moving the toy from one
orientation, such as shown in FIG. 2, and in another orientation,
such as shown in FIG. 3. Thus, a user playing with the toy FIG. 10
of the present invention has a way to have the appearance of action
or movement of the facial features of the toy FIG. 10 without
having to have additional moving parts, or without having to change
parts of the toy FIG. 10.
[0037] In an embodiment of the present invention, the toy FIG. 10
has contrasting facial expressions. Contrasting facial expression
would show, for example, a first facial expression depicting a
first emotion such as fear, and a second facial expression
depicting a second contrary emotion such as excitement of triumph.
Thus, as shown in FIG. 6, a "superhero" character toy figure may
begin with a first facial expression 38 depicting fear or terror.
When a user is playing with this toy figure, the user may imagine
that the superhero is in grave danger. When the superhero character
is victorious, the user can orient the toy figure so that the
second facial expression 42 shown in FIG. 7 can be seen.
[0038] Therefore, the toy figures of the present invention can show
different or contrasting moods, and a user can play with the toy
figures in a manner consistent with the different or contrasting
moods. This increases the play value of toy figures according to
the present invention.
[0039] Toy figures according to the present invention can be sold
or offered as a group of various characters, as shown in FIGS. 4
and 5. As can be seen from the Figures, a set of characters of
varying design, for example, robots, aliens, monsters, etc., have a
first facial expression 38 as shown by the respective stickers 32
in a first orientation, and a second facial expression 42 as shown
by the stickers 32 in a second orientation. In addition, a sticker
or set of stickers can be offered so that a user can select which
stickers are affixed to which toy figures, allowing for
user-selectable facial expressions and personalities.
[0040] As shown in FIG. 13, the toy FIG. 10, includes a slot 50 for
receiving the lenticular image 52. The lenticular image 52 is not
configured as a sticker adhered to the figure, rather it is kept in
the toy FIG. 10 by grooves in the receiving area that are sized to
substantially correspond to the size of the lenticular image 52
inserted into the slot 50 of the toy FIG. 10. This provides for
quicker exchange of the images 52 as well as reduces manufacturing
costs of the images since the images do not require adhesive or
release backing layers.
[0041] In a further embodiment shown in FIG. 14, the toy FIG. 10
includes a slot 50, as in FIG. 13, as well as a fixed lenticular
lens 54. This allows for a greater variety of lenticular images 52'
to be used, e.g. images 52' can be included in packaging, as
trading cards, as promotional items or users can design their own
images 52' on a personal computer or download them from a computer
network, print them using a standard printer. Further, the fixed
lens 54 also provides greater depth when used with lenticular
images having integral lenses.
[0042] The addition of a fixed lenticular lens 54 allows the toy
figurine 10 to be used in role playing games as a decoder for game
pieces that are not readily readable by the naked eye. During game
play a player inserts a game piece 52' into the slot 50 to receive
instructions which are displayed through the lens 54. Similarly,
the game piece can also be configured for use in sweepstakes,
puzzles or board games.
[0043] It is appreciated that more than two images may be included
as part of the lenticular images depicted on the stickers. A
sticker can hold numerous lenticular images to show many different
expressions at different orientations and angles.
[0044] In addition, the stickers can be formed so as to be
removable and replaceable. This, sticker kits can be offered with
stickers having lenticular images depicting new and different
facial expressions or images. Thus, a set of toy figures of the
present invention can produce many options for play.
[0045] The recessed portion 28 that holds the stickers is
preferably dimensioned so that the stickers cannot accidentally be
removed during play. The stickers preferably have a depth that is
less than or equal to the depth of the recessed portion 28.
[0046] A sticker may include a holographic image or hologram that
shows different images from different angles. A lenticular hologram
may also be used. A lenticular hologram is a specialized printing
technology offering various effects like morphing, 3D, or zooming.
Lenticular holograms can show depth, HD video, motion, film or
combinations of these.
[0047] A toy figure of the present invention is formed by injection
molding the body portion using a mold. The body portion is molded
forming the recessed portion as a sticker receiving area. A sticker
is then applied and affixed to the sticker receiving area.
[0048] A toy figure of the present invention can include images
showing facial expression, motion, depth, or any other visual
image.
[0049] It is thus believed that the operation and construction of
the present invention will be apparent from the foregoing
description. While the apparatus shown and described has been
characterized as being preferred, it will be readily apparent that
various changes and modifications could be made therein without
departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the
following claims.
* * * * *