EP0256818A2 - Jouet - Google Patents

Jouet Download PDF

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Publication number
EP0256818A2
EP0256818A2 EP87307038A EP87307038A EP0256818A2 EP 0256818 A2 EP0256818 A2 EP 0256818A2 EP 87307038 A EP87307038 A EP 87307038A EP 87307038 A EP87307038 A EP 87307038A EP 0256818 A2 EP0256818 A2 EP 0256818A2
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
skeleton
toy
relatively narrow
members
head
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP87307038A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Other versions
EP0256818A3 (en
Inventor
John A. Dixon
Peter Manning
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
DIXON-MANNING SALES AND MARKETING Ltd
Original Assignee
DIXON-MANNING SALES AND MARKETING Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by DIXON-MANNING SALES AND MARKETING Ltd filed Critical DIXON-MANNING SALES AND MARKETING Ltd
Publication of EP0256818A2 publication Critical patent/EP0256818A2/fr
Publication of EP0256818A3 publication Critical patent/EP0256818A3/en
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
    • A63H9/00—Special methods or compositions for the manufacture of dolls, toy animals, toy figures, or parts thereof

Definitions

  • This invention relates to toys and in particular to articulated toys in which adjacent portions of the toy are jointed relative to each other.
  • articulated toy we intend to encompass not only toy figures representing human, humanoid, animal or similar creatures and robotic equivalents, but in addition construction toys of various kinds, as for examples toy space stations in which one part of the toy is selectively articulatable relative to an adjacent section of the toy.
  • the second moulding step moulds the same or a different material about the skeletal structures of the arms, the thorax and the lower legs.
  • the skeletal structures include a number of breakable joints which on breaking provide articulation including rotation and pivotal motion as appropriate in different joints.
  • the present invention arises from our work seeking to improve and simplify moulding and fabrication techniques for articulated toy figures.
  • a toy including a plurality of portions adapted for articulation relative to one or more adjacent said portions; the toy having a skeleton comprising, at least for each said portion of the toy other than portions at extremities of the toy, a skeleton member; said skeleton being moulded as a single integrated structure with each skeleton member generally rigidly connected to the (each) neighbouring skeleton member by a respective relatively narrow breakable region; and the toy additionally comprising for each said portion of the toy for which there is a corresponding skeleton member a body member injection moulded generally around an end part of the said corresponding skeleton member and also around the adjacent end part of the, each or any skeleton member to which the first mentioned end part is connected by a said relatively narrow breakable region.
  • the invention also extends to a toy as so defined in which each said breakable region is broken, thereby providing articulation between adjacent said portions of the toy.
  • a method for the construction of an articulated toy comprising moulding a single integrated skeletal structure comprising a plurality of members each generally rigidly connected to at least one other said member by a relatively narrow breakable region; carrying out a second moulding operation about a said skeletal structure whereby to provide a plurality of separate outer body portions about said skeletal structure adapted together to form a generally complete outer body for said toy figure apart from extremities thereof, each said outer body portion being formed generally about an end part of one said member and also about the adjacent end part of the, each or any other said member to which the first mentioned end part is connected by a said relatively narrow breakable region; and, at a time subsequent to completion of said second moulding operation and removal of said integrated skeletal structure together with said outer body portions from the mould employed for said second moulding operation, breaking said breakable regions to confer articulation to said toy.
  • skeleton as defined above incorporated in the aforesaid toy and the integrated skeletal structure defined above and employed in performing the construction method are essential elements for putting the invention in those respective aspects into practice.
  • Particular said skeletons are the subject of further aspects of the invention.
  • a skeleton for use in the construction of an articulated toy figure representing a human, humanoid, animal or similar creature or a robotic equivalent
  • the skeleton comprising a head member including a ball arranged to be located within the thoracic region of the finished toy figure and a plurality of additional skeleton members, the head member and the additional skeleton members being moulded as a single integrated structure with each said additional skeleton member being generally rigidly connected to the head member or to a neighbouring additional s keleton member via a tapered region terminating in a relatively narrow breakable region, which breakable regions are adapted to be broken without loss of material in the completed toy figure thereby to provide articulation between head and thorax, limbs and thorax and between respective segments of the limbs.
  • a skeleton for use in the construction of an articulated doll representing a human or humanoid figure or a robotic equivalent, the skeleton comprising a head member terminating in a ball, respective upper arm members connected to the ball by respective relatively narrow breakable regions, corresponding lower arm members connected to the upper arm members by respective relatively narrow breakable regions, a pelvic member connected to the ball by a relatively narrow breakable region, respective thigh members connected to the pelvic member by respective relatively narrow breakable regions and corresponding lower leg members connected to the corresponding thigh members by respective relatively narrow breakable regions; the skeleton being moulded as a single integrated structure, and the breakable regions being adapted to be broken without loss of material in the completed toy thereby providing movement in the completed toy doll simulating head and neck movement relative to the trunk, rotation of the trunk relative to the pelvis, movement of the legs relative to the pelvis, and shoulder, elbow and knee movement.
  • the head member of the skeleton may be formed as a projection over which a selected head and facial expression member representing a particular character may be pushed.
  • Hands and/or feet or footwear members may be similarly provided separately from the skeleton and adapted for coupling thereto either at the whim of a child in play with the finished toy or as a selected step in construction of a variety of character dolls utilising one and the same skeleton.
  • the skeleton with which the present invention is concerned is an essentially complete skeleton (with the possible exception of the extremities such as the hands, feet and head and face), for each main segment of the body such as lower arm, thigh or thorax in a toy figure there will be a body member moulded over and about the corresponding part of the skeleton; that body part may be formed of a different and significantly less rigid plastics material from the relatively rigid plastics material from which the skeleton is moulded. Accordingly, these outer body portions which, being moulded about the skeleton are not readily detachable, may be given a squashy or fleshy feel.
  • the skeleton 1 there illustrated is intended for use in the construction of a human doll. It has a head member 2 including a ball 3 at one end. As will be explained below, the ball 3 is arranged in the finished figure to be located within the thoracic region thereof. There are a plurality of additional skeleton members including respective upper arm members 4, lower arm members 5, hand members 6, a pelvic member 7, thigh members 8 and lower leg members 9 which in this embodiment terminate in fixed boots 10.
  • the skeleton is moulded as a unitary structure and, for this purpose, the ball 3 would be provided with an injection gate (not shown) for the introduction of molten plastics material into a mould, as described in more detail below with reference to Figs.
  • each of the additional skeleton members is generally rigidly connected either to the head member or to another of the additional skeleton members via a tapered region 11 which in each case terminates in a relatively narrow breakable region 12.
  • each upper arm member 4 includes a flange 13 which in the finished figure serves as half of a 360° rotation joint at the shoulder.
  • the upper arm member 4 also includes a longitudinally extending flange 14 from which protrude sideways extensions 15 which are generally mushroom shaped, having a stem 16 and a cap 17.
  • the lower arm members 5 have a generally similar configuration to the upper arm members 4 but with the respective proportions differing slightly as appropriate for a lower arm.
  • Extensions 15 of upper arm element 4 provide half of 180° rotation hinge joints positioned at the shoulders of the figure while the extensions 15 of the lower arm member 5 provide half of 180° rotation hinge joints at the elbows.
  • Flange 13 of lower arm member 5 forms half of a 360° rotation joint at the elbows.
  • the extensions 15 may be provided with detents (not shown) in the stem 16 or cap 17 of extensions 15.
  • the hand member 6 represents one example of a limb termination member and consists simply of a representation of a hand, the tapered portion 11 as aforesaid and an intervening extension 18 defining a gap between the tapered portion 11 and the hand representation for one half of the 360° hand rotation at the wrist.
  • Pelvic member 7 comprises a tapered portion 11 as aforesaid, a reduced section extension piece 19 best shown in Figs. 4 and 5 and a generally T-shaped piece defining sideways extending flanges 20 which, as best shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5 define a waist or belt region for the figure and a central flange 21 from which protrude respective sideways projections 22 similar in configuration but greater in size than the projections 15 mentioned above.
  • the breakable portions 12 intermediate the thigh members 8 and the pelvic member 7 are provided between the tapering regions 11 of the thigh members and caps 23 of the projections 22.
  • the thigh members 8 are generally similar in configuration to the upper arm members 4 and lower arm members 5 except that the longitudinal extension joining the tapered region 11 with the flan 13 in this case has rib extensions 24. In the completed joint these ribs 24 have the effect of preventing rotation at the knee, thereby better simulating real life.
  • the ribs 24 may be omitted.
  • the foot members 9 represent further examples of limb termination members and are generally similar in configuration to, while differing in detail and in proportion form, the hand portions 6. The term 'foot member' is to be taken to comprise feet whether clothed or not.
  • the skeleton 1 requires outer body portions. These are illustrated in Fig. 2, and comprise a full set of thorax 25, upper arm body members 26, lower arm body members 27, thigh body members 28 and lower leg body members 29. It should be understood that each of these body members is formed in a single piece by injection moulding by a method described below with reference to Figs. 4 and 5, the result being the figure 30 shown in Fig. 3. It will be noted in Fig. 3 that the flanges 13 and 20 all extend to the surface of the finished figure and serve to divide one outer body portion from the next.
  • all the bodily extremities namely the face and head 2 and the hands 6 and feet or footwear 10 are all formed as parts of the skeleton and so are necessarily formed of a relatively rigid plastics material.
  • the material of the body portions 25 to 29 inclusive may be substantially softer than the material of the skeleton giving a feel of flesh.
  • FIG. 4 shows a somewhat schematic view of the lower half of a mould suitable for forming the figure of Fig. 3.
  • the mould 30 comprises a main outer tool 31 having a generally T-shaped cavity 32 in which are received first and second stage mould blocks 33, 34, the first stage mould block 33 being shown on the left of the figure and the second stage mould block 34 being shown on the right of the figure.
  • the outer mould tool also includes cavities formed therein defining hands 35, footwear 36 and a head 37.
  • the mould should be of the kind which operates by a simple open and shut movement to open and shut the two halves of the tool.
  • the first stage mould block 33 has cavities formed therein defining the parts of the skeleton 1 apart from the cavities formed in the main outer tool for the head, hands and feet or footwear.
  • the second stage mould block 34 has cavities corresponding to the entire figure with the exception of hands 35, footwear 36 and head 37. Moulding is carried out as follows:
  • the material employed in the first stage for producing the skeleton and in the second stage for producing the outer body portions about the corresponding portions of the skeleton are suitably different.
  • the plastics material for the skeleton may be glass-filled to make the breakable portions relatively more brittle.
  • Any risk of fusing between the two plastics materials when the second stage moulding operation is performed can be reduced either by choosing a material for the second moulding operation which differs significantly from that of the first (for example nylon for the first and styrene for the second) or by washing the skeleton 1 with a mould release agent or lubricant before proceeding to the second stage of the moulding operation.
  • a material for the second moulding operation which differs significantly from that of the first (for example nylon for the first and styrene for the second) or by washing the skeleton 1 with a mould release agent or lubricant before proceeding to the second stage of the moulding operation.
  • Fig. 5 shows a variation of the mould of Fig. 4 for producing a skeleton with the hand member omitted and with bodily extremities in the form of mere projections at the feet and head rather than properly formed feet or footwear and head and face.
  • the outer mould member 31 is provided with cavities at the feet and head corresponding to the projections 38 at the feet and 39 at the head; and, in place of the hand cavities of the mould of Fig. 4, the mould of Fig. 5 has inwardly extending projections 40 at the positions of the hands.
  • shade lines have been added to Fig. 5 to show the parts of the outer mould 31.
  • the moulding procedure with the modified mould of Fig. 5 corresponds exactly with the moulding procedure for the mould of Fig. 4 described above.
  • the resultant figure however, has cavities (negative of the projections 40) left at the distal ends of the lower arm members 27 for the selective insertion either by the manufacturer or by a child in play with the toy of a desired hand, possibly wielding a weapon, or glove, etc. Where the feet would be in the finished toy there is a mere projection 38.
  • selected footwear, or alternatively the representation of a foot having a negative cavity corresponding to the projection 38 is pushed over the projection.
  • a selected head is pushed onto the projection 39, the head being provided with an internal cavity for receiving the projection.
  • the sides of the upper arm outer body portion 26 are provided with slots 41 in which the longitudinally extending flange 14 of the upper arm skeleton member lies. Since the material of the upper arm body portion 26 flows about the mushroom shaped extensions 15 of the upper arm skeleton member 4 in the second stage moulding operation, the result is that the upper arm body portion is held firmly in place on the upper arm skeleton member against detachment.
  • the mushroom shaped extensions serve as pillars for rotation of the upper arm to simulate shoulder movement.
  • the effect of the ribs 24 is to serve as keys preventing rotation within the thigh body portion of the thigh skeleton member 8 and thus of the lower leg relative to the thigh, again to simulate real life.
  • the neck opening 42 to the thorax is deliberately made wide so as to accommodate substantial movements left and right and up and down of the head relative to the body.
  • Detents or projections may be added to the neck opening 42 or to the ball 3 to prevent the head from making a complete 360° rotation.
  • the invention is also not restricted to the construction of figures. Its teachings may be applied to articulated vehicles, space stations in which parts of the space station articulate relative to each other, jointed crane elements, etc.
  • the invention can also be embodied in a wholly abstract fashion in which the "limbs" are simply abstract shapes and may be connected one to the other in any possible variation but with a degree of articulation relative to each other.

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  • Toys (AREA)
EP87307038A 1986-08-11 1987-08-07 Toys Withdrawn EP0256818A3 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB8619540 1986-08-11
GB8619540A GB2193650B (en) 1986-08-11 1986-08-11 Toys

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
EP0256818A2 true EP0256818A2 (fr) 1988-02-24
EP0256818A3 EP0256818A3 (en) 1988-04-27

Family

ID=10602551

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
EP87307038A Withdrawn EP0256818A3 (en) 1986-08-11 1987-08-07 Toys

Country Status (4)

Country Link
EP (1) EP0256818A3 (fr)
JP (1) JPS6343684A (fr)
GB (1) GB2193650B (fr)
HK (1) HK106990A (fr)

Cited By (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6638136B1 (en) 1998-06-01 2003-10-28 C.J. Associates, Ltd. Toy figure with articulating joints
US7021989B2 (en) 2002-11-12 2006-04-04 Mattel, Inc. Frictional joint for toys
US7037455B2 (en) 2001-12-21 2006-05-02 Mattel, Inc. Insert molding method
US7077717B2 (en) 2003-05-27 2006-07-18 Mattel, Inc. Doll with angled and jointed torso
US7736568B2 (en) 2006-09-19 2010-06-15 Mattel, Inc. Systems and methods of incorporating preformed items into a molded article
CN116372982A (zh) * 2023-01-17 2023-07-04 乐森机器人(深圳)有限公司 一种用于可直立双足行走的智能机器人的外壳结构

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US11565191B2 (en) 2020-10-19 2023-01-31 Plan C, LLC Low-cost jointed toy figure and its associated method of manufacture

Family Cites Families (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
GB636968A (en) * 1947-09-19 1950-05-10 Playlastic Toy Company Ltd Improvements in or relating to dolls or like toys
US4470784A (en) * 1982-05-28 1984-09-11 Mattel, Inc. Insert molding apparatus and retractable insert-molding pin
US4571209A (en) * 1983-05-06 1986-02-18 Manning Peter R Articulated toy figure
GB8333551D0 (en) * 1983-12-16 1984-01-25 Britains Ltd Toy article

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US6638136B1 (en) 1998-06-01 2003-10-28 C.J. Associates, Ltd. Toy figure with articulating joints
US6869331B2 (en) 1998-06-01 2005-03-22 C. J. Associates, Ltd. Toy figure with articulating joints
US7037455B2 (en) 2001-12-21 2006-05-02 Mattel, Inc. Insert molding method
US8834228B2 (en) 2001-12-21 2014-09-16 Mattel, Inc. Insert molding method
US7021989B2 (en) 2002-11-12 2006-04-04 Mattel, Inc. Frictional joint for toys
US7566256B2 (en) 2002-11-12 2009-07-28 Mattel, Inc. Frictional joint for toys
US7077717B2 (en) 2003-05-27 2006-07-18 Mattel, Inc. Doll with angled and jointed torso
US7736568B2 (en) 2006-09-19 2010-06-15 Mattel, Inc. Systems and methods of incorporating preformed items into a molded article
EP2196297A1 (fr) 2006-09-19 2010-06-16 Mattel, Inc. Jouet et vêtements pour le jouet
CN116372982A (zh) * 2023-01-17 2023-07-04 乐森机器人(深圳)有限公司 一种用于可直立双足行走的智能机器人的外壳结构

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
HK106990A (en) 1990-12-28
GB2193650A (en) 1988-02-17
JPS6343684A (ja) 1988-02-24
EP0256818A3 (en) 1988-04-27
GB8619540D0 (en) 1986-09-24
GB2193650B (en) 1990-08-01

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Inventor name: DIXON, JOHN A.