Modular transformable toy

Abstract

The present invention provides a building block type deformable toy that can achieve a complex shape with design, such as various animal shapes, while ensuring the freedom of folding. In this building block type deformable toy, adjacent building blocks are applied with a force by an elastic cord in the direction of making the adjacent building blocks contact each other. By resisting the force of the elastic cord, the relative positional relationship of the adjacent building blocks can be changed in such a way that different surfaces contact each other, and it can be deformed between a folded state with a compact outer shape and an extended state with the outer shape becoming the shape of the object to be represented. Furthermore, among the above-mentioned plurality of building blocks, at least two building blocks have a state where two surfaces of each of them contact each other simultaneously, thereby restricting the rotation around the elastic cord.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a deformable toy formed by connecting building blocks to each other using rubber ropes. Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, there have been block-type deformable toys of humanoid robots shown in the following Patent Documents 1 and 2.

[0003] These toys are basically formed by gathering regular hexahedron-shaped building blocks with the force of rubber ropes to constitute a deformable toy. That is, these deformable toys can be deformed between a state where they are folded into a box-shaped outer form and a state where they are extended into a humanoid robot shape.

[0004] Patent Documents

[0005] Patent Document 1: U.S. Patent No. 6482063 "Artiulating Blocks Toy"

[0006] Patent Document 2: U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012-0156960A1 "Transformable Toy Robot" Summary of the Invention

[0007] However, there is currently no building block deformable toy that has high design and represents complex shapes.

[0008] This is because existing block-type deformable toys focus on posing a humanoid robot in various poses to enhance playability. Therefore, in most cases, hexahedron blocks are used, and the angles formed by the respective faces of the blocks are basically 90 degrees. In the case of using such hexahedron blocks, the blocks that can make contact between the faces can rotate freely, so that the humanoid robot can be posed in various shapes. Therefore, existing block-type deformable toys can, for example, make the head pose in a direction that is actually impossible, and moreover, since such poses are allowed, they do not have the idea of enhancing design.

[0009] The present invention has been completed in view of such circumstances, and its object is to provide a block-type deformable toy that can achieve a complex shape with design while ensuring the degree of freedom of folding, such as various animal shapes.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide a block-type deformable toy that can reliably position the building blocks with respect to each other when folding a block-type deformable toy composed of building blocks having complex shapes, and thus can easily achieve a consistent outer shape.

[0011] In order to solve the above problems, according to the main idea of the present invention, the following inventions are provided.

[0012] (1) A building block type transformable toy, characterized in that,

[0013] The above-mentioned building block type transformable toy is a building block type transformable toy that shows the shape of an object through the combination of multiple building blocks,

[0014] Adjacent building blocks are subjected to the force of an elastic rope in the direction that makes the adjacent building blocks contact each other,

[0015] By resisting the force of the elastic rope, the relative positional relationship of the adjacent building blocks can be changed in such a way that different surfaces contact each other, and it can be deformed between a folded state where the outer shape becomes compact and an extended state where the outer shape becomes the shape of the object to be shown,

[0016] Furthermore,

[0017] Among the above-mentioned multiple building blocks, at least two building blocks have a state where their respective two surfaces are in contact with each other simultaneously, thereby restricting the rotation around the elastic rope.

[0018] (2) The building block type transformable toy as described in (1) above, characterized in that,

[0019] This building block type transformable toy is an animal-shaped building block type transformable toy, which shows at least a head, a torso, and feet through the combination of multiple building blocks.

[0020] (3) The building block type transformable toy as described in (1) above, characterized in that,

[0021] The above-mentioned folded state is that the outer shape becomes box-shaped.

[0022] (4) The building block type transformable toy as described in (1) above, characterized in that,

[0023] This building block type transformable toy is an animal-shaped building block type transformable toy,

[0024] The angle formed by the above-mentioned two surfaces is 30 degrees to 170 degrees, 190 degrees to 330 degrees.

[0025] (5) The building block type transformable toy as described in (1) above, characterized in that,

[0026] The above-mentioned two building blocks have a state where two or more of their respective two surfaces are in contact with each other simultaneously.

[0027] (6) The building block type transformable toy as described in (5) above, characterized in that,

[0028] The above-mentioned two or more states are respectively a folded state and an extended state.

[0029] (7) The building block type transformable toy as described in (2) above, characterized in that,

[0030] In the above-mentioned animal-shaped modular transformation toy, the above two building blocks are the building blocks that form the head and the torso. Through the above structure, the displacement of the head relative to the torso in the rotational direction is restricted.

[0031] It should be noted that features other than those described above are disclosed in the following description of the specific embodiments of the invention and the drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Figure 1 Figure 1 FIG. 13 is a front view of a monkey-shaped modular transformation toy showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[0033] Figure 2 Figure 2 FIG. 14 is a top view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy.

[0034] Figure 3 Figure 3 FIG. 15 is a rear view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy (the rubber cord is shown through perspective).

[0035] Figure 4 Figure 4 FIG. 16 is a bottom view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy.

[0036] Figure 5 Figure 5 FIG. 17 is a side view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy.

[0037] Figure 6 Figure 6 FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy.

[0038] Figure 7 Figure 7 FIG. 19 is a perspective view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy showing the folded state.

[0039] Figure 8 Figure 8 FIG. 20 is a side view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy showing the folded state.

[0040] Figure 9 Figure 9 FIG. 21 is a rear view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy showing the folded state.

[0041] Figure 10 Figure 10 FIG. 22 is a top view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy showing the folded state.

[0042] Figure 11 Figure 11 FIG. 23 is a front view of the monkey-shaped modular transformation toy showing the folded state.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

[0043] Figure 12 Figure 12 It is a bottom view showing the folded state of the monkey-shaped modular transformable toy.

[0044] Figure 13 Figure 13 A and B are schematic diagrams showing the head and torso of the monkey-shaped modular transformable toy.

[0045] Figure 14 Figure 14 It is a schematic diagram (sectional view) showing the head of the monkey-shaped modular transformable toy.

[0046] Figure 15 Figure 15 It is Figure 13 the top view of A.

[0047] Figure 16 Figure 16 It is Figure 13 the rear view of A.

[0048] Figure 17 Figure 17 A and B are schematic diagrams showing the state of the head of the folded Figure 13 A and B.

[0049] Figure 18 Figure 18 A and B are schematic diagrams showing the state of the head and torso of the folded Figure 13 A and B.

[0050] Figure 19 Figure 19 It is Figure 18 the top view of A.

[0051] Figure 20 Figure 20 It is Figure 18 the three-dimensional view of A.

[0052] Figure 21 Figure 21 It is Figure 18 the rear view of A.

[0053] Figure 22 Figure 22 A and B are schematic diagrams showing the transformation examples. Detailed implementation manners

[0054] Next, an implementation manner of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0055] Figure 1 ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Disclosed is a monkey-shaped modular transformable toy 1 of an animal-shaped modular transformable toy according to this embodiment.

[0056] (Extended state)

[0057] This monkey-shaped modular transformable toy 1 represents a monkey through the combination of multiple building blocks 2a, 3a - 3b, 4a - 4c, 5a - 5c, 6a - 6c, 7a - 7c that form the head 2, torso 3, right arm 4, left arm 5, right leg 6, and left leg 7. The modular transformable toys of the prior art are designed as humanoid robots, but in the example of the present invention, by making the above-mentioned respective building blocks 2a, 3a - 3b, 4a - 4c, 5a - 5c, 6a - 6c, 7a - 7c, including their mutual combination methods, into complex shapes, a specific type of animal can be represented.

[0058] Figure 2 The top view of this monkey-shaped modular transformable toy is shown, Figure 3 The rear view is shown, Figure 4 The bottom view is shown, Figure 5 The right view is shown. In addition, Figure 6 The perspective view is shown.

[0059] Here, as Figure 3 shown in the rear view, the first to third rubber cord members shown as 8a - 8c in the figure apply a force to each of the building blocks 2a - 7c in a direction that makes them approach each other. That is, the first rubber cord member 8a extends from the building block 2a that forms the head 2, passes through the building block 3a that forms the torso 3, and reaches the building block 3b at the hip of the torso 3. By engaging the raised portions formed at both ends thereof with the building blocks 2a, 3b at both ends, the head 2 and the torso 3 are assembled. It should be noted that each of the rubber cord members 8a - 8c is actually buried inside the toy and cannot be seen from the outside, but in this Figure 3 it is shown through perspective.

[0060] In addition, the second rubber cord member 8b extends from the building block 4a of the hand that forms the right arm, passes through the building blocks 4b, 4c, 3a, 5c, 5b, and reaches the building block 5a that forms the left arm. By engaging the raised portions formed at both ends thereof with the building blocks 4c, 5c at both ends, the building blocks 4a - 4c, 5a - 5c of the two arms 4, 5 are assembled and mounted on the torso 3.

[0061] In addition, the third rubber cord member 8c extends from the building block 6a of the foot that forms the right leg, passes through the building blocks 6b, 6c, 3b, 7c, 7b, and reaches the building block 7a that forms the left leg. By engaging the raised portions formed at both ends thereof with the building blocks 6a, 7a at both ends, the building blocks 6a - 6c, 7a - 7c of the two legs are assembled with the building block 3b of the above-mentioned torso 3.

[0062] (In the folded state)

[0063] Moreover, by resisting the biasing force of the rubber cord members 8a to 8c above, the relative positional relationship of the adjacent building blocks is changed in such a way that different surfaces come into contact with each other, and it can be deformed from the extended state as shown in Figures 1 to 6 to the folded state as shown in Figure 7 .

[0064] Here, Figure 7 is a perspective view showing the folded state of this monkey-shaped building block deformation toy, Figure 8 shows a side view, Figure 9 shows a rear view, Figure 10 shows a top view, Figure 11 shows a front view, Figure 12 shows a bottom view.

[0065] (Combination between building blocks)

[0066] In addition, as described in the technical solution of the present invention, among the above-mentioned multiple building blocks, at least two building blocks have a state in which two surfaces of each of them are in contact with each other simultaneously, thereby restricting the rotation around the rubber cord member.

[0067] Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in Figure 13 A Figure 13 B, the above two building blocks are the building block 2a that constitutes the head 2 and the building block 3a that constitutes the upper chest of the trunk 3. With this structure, the displacement in the rotational direction of the head 2 relative to the trunk 3 is restricted. That is, in this embodiment, the lower surfaces 10, 11 (the two surfaces described in the technical solution of the present invention) of the building block 2a that constitutes the head 2 are inclined at an angle θ of 160 degrees (refer to Figure 14 ), and the upper surfaces 12, 13 that are in contact with the two surfaces of the above head simultaneously are formed on the building block 3a that constitutes the trunk 3, and the upper surfaces 12, 13 form an angle of 200 degrees (this value is the value obtained by subtracting the angle of 160 degrees formed by the two lower surfaces 10, 11 of the head 2 from 360 degrees).

[0068] Further, since the rubber cord member 8a applies a force to the two building blocks 2a and 3a in the direction in which they abut against each other, if one attempts to rotate about the extension line of the rubber cord member 8a (the direction indicated by arrow α) starting from the state where the two surfaces are in contact with each other, the two surfaces 10, 11 and 12, 13 will interfere with each other, thereby resisting the force applied by the rubber cord member 8a and driving the two building blocks 2a and 3a in the direction in which they move away from each other (the direction indicated by arrow β). Therefore, rotation in the direction indicated by arrow α is restricted, and if one releases the hand, the two building blocks will return to their original positions, that is, to the position where the two surfaces 10, 11 and 12, 13 are in contact with each other.

[0069] It should be noted that Figure 15 is Figure 13 a top view of A, Figure 16 is Figure 13 a rear view of A.

[0070] In addition, Figure 17 A to Figure 21 shows the state in which the three building blocks 2a, 3a, and 3b shown in Figure 13 A are folded.

[0071] When folding in this way, first fold the head 2 in the manner shown in Figure 17 A.

[0072] In this state, on the front surface of the building block corresponding to the upper chest of the trunk 3, two surfaces 15 and 16 that engage with the two surfaces 10 and 11 formed on the head 2 are formed, thereby forming a state in which these surfaces are in contact with each other. That is, on the upper chest of the trunk, two adjacent surfaces 15 and 16 that form an angle of 200 degrees are formed, whereby the two surfaces 10, 11 and 15, 16 are in contact with each other.

[0073] It should be noted that, as shown in Figure 13 B, Figure 16 in the head 2, a groove 18 extending in the vertical direction is formed in the occipital region. In addition, a groove 19 that opens in the direction of the upper surfaces 12, 13 and the front surfaces 15, 16 is formed in the trunk 3. Thereby, the rubber cord member 8a can rotate without interfering with the building blocks 2a and 3a, and as shown in Figure 17 B, the head 2 can be folded.

[0074] In addition, as shown in Figure 13 A and 13B, below the building block 3a of the trunk 3 on which the head 2 is mounted, a building block 3b that constitutes the lower abdomen of the body is mounted. Moreover, this building block 3b is fixed to the other end of the rubber cord member 8a.

[0075] These two building blocks 3a and 3b are in contact with each other with one surface 20, 21. In Figure 13 the states shown in A and 13B, they can rotate freely around the above-mentioned rubber cord member 8a (arrow α). In this regard, since they do not contact with two surfaces like the above-mentioned head 2, the rotation angle is not restricted.

[0076] On the other hand, an inclined surface 22 is provided at the rear part (hip) of the building block 3b that constitutes the lower abdomen. The inclined surface 22 is inclined at about 15 degrees with respect to the direction of the above-mentioned rubber cord member 8a. And, an inclined surface 23 with the same angle is provided at the corresponding part of the abdomen of the building block 3a that constitutes the above-mentioned torso. Moreover, when folding, by making these two surfaces 22, 23 contact with each other, the building block 3b is forced upward along the inclination (arrow γ direction) to contact with the head 2 (2a), so that the lower surface after folding ( Figure 18 A, Figure 18 B shown) forms the same plane.

[0077] It should be noted that grooves 24, 25 are provided in the building blocks 3a, 3b across the above-mentioned surfaces 20, 21, 22, 23, and the rubber cord member 8a will not interfere with the building blocks during folding.

[0078] Therefore, as Figures 19 to 21 shown, the building blocks can be positioned and folded to form a rectangular outer shape.

[0079] (Variant example)

[0080] In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned one embodiment and variant example, and can be deformed within the scope of not changing the main idea.

[0081] For example, Figure 22 A, Figure 22 B is a schematic diagram showing the head of a giraffe-shaped building block type transformable toy.

[0082] As Figure 13 A, Figure 13 B shown, in this variant example, the two building blocks that are in contact with each other between two surfaces at the same time are the building block 26a that constitutes the head 26 and the building block 27a that constitutes the upper end of the neck 27. As Figure 22 B shown, this structure restricts the displacement of the head 26 relative to the neck 27 in the rotation direction. That is, in this variant example, the lower surfaces 28, 29 (the two surfaces described in the technical solution of the present invention) of the building block 26a that constitutes the head 26 are inclined at an angle θ of 30 degrees (refer to Figure 22B), and the building blocks 27a that make up the neck 27 are formed with upper surfaces 30 and 31 that come into contact with two surfaces of the above-mentioned head simultaneously. The upper surfaces 30 and 31 form an angle of 330 degrees (this value is the value obtained by subtracting the 30-degree angle formed by the two lower surfaces 28 and 29 of the above-mentioned head 22 from 360 degrees).

[0083] It should be noted that if the angle formed by the two surfaces of the building block on the side with the sharp part is too small, this part will become relatively fragile and there will be no space for the rubber cord to pass through. Therefore, the angle formed by the above two surfaces is preferably 30 degrees to 170 degrees, 190 degrees to 330 degrees.

[0084] In addition, although in the above-mentioned embodiment, the animal-shaped building block transformable toy is a monkey shape, it can also be a giraffe shape as in the transformation example, or it can be other animals or human shapes.

[0085] Furthermore, it is not limited to the animal type, and it can also be a building block transformable toy that represents the form of artificial products such as a car or an airplane.

[0086] Symbol Explanation

[0087] 1 ··· Building block transformable toy

[0088] 2 ··· Head

[0089] 2a ··· Building block

[0090] 3 ··· Trunk

[0091] 3a, 3b ··· Building blocks

[0092] 4 ··· Right arm

[0093] 4a~4c ··· Building blocks

[0094] 5 ··· Left arm

[0095] 5a~5c ··· Building blocks

[0096] 6 ··· Right leg

[0097] 6a~6c ··· Building blocks

[0098] 7 ··· Left leg

[0099] 7a~7c ··· Building blocks

[0100] 8a~8c ··· First to third rubber cord components

[0101] 10, 11 ··· Lower surfaces of the head

[0102] 12, 13 ··· Upper surfaces of the trunk

[0103] 15, 16 ··· the front surface of the trunk

[0104] 18 ··· groove

[0105] 19 ··· groove

[0106] 20 ··· the lower surface of the trunk

[0107] 21 ··· the upper surface of the buttocks

[0108] 22, 23 ··· inclined plane

[0109] 24 ··· groove

[0110] 25 ··· groove

[0111] 26 ··· the head of the giraffe

[0112] 26a ··· building block

[0113] 27 ··· the neck of the giraffe

[0114] 27a ··· building block

[0115] 28, 29 ··· the lower surface of the head of the giraffe

[0116] 30, 31 ··· the upper surface of the neck of the giraffe

Claims

1. A building block type transformable toy (1), characterized in that, the building block type transformable toy (1) is a building block type transformable toy that represents the shape of an object by combining multiple building blocks, and includes a head (2) and a trunk (3), adjacent building blocks are applied with a force by an elastic cord in a direction that makes the adjacent building blocks contact each other, by resisting the force applied by the elastic cord, the relative positional relationship of the adjacent building blocks can be changed in such a way that different surfaces contact each other, and it can be deformed between a folded state where the outer shape becomes compact and an extended state where the outer shape becomes the shape of the object to be represented, among the multiple building blocks, at least two building blocks have a state where two surfaces of each of them contact each other simultaneously, whereby the rotation around the elastic cord is restricted, the at least two building blocks are the building blocks (2a) of the head (2) and the building blocks (3a) of the trunk (3), and the two surfaces are two adjacent lower surfaces (10, 11) of the building blocks (2a) of the head (2), two adjacent upper surfaces (12, 13) of the building blocks (3a) of the trunk (3), and two adjacent front surfaces (15, 16), wherein, in the extended state, the two lower surfaces (10, 11) of the building blocks (2a) of the head (2) abut against the two upper surfaces (12, 13) of the building blocks (3a) of the trunk (3), in the folded state, the two lower surfaces (10, 11) of the building blocks (2a) of the head (2) abut against the two front surfaces (15, 16) of the building blocks (3a) of the trunk (3).

2. The building block type transformable toy (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the building block type transformable toy (1) is an animal type building block type transformable toy that represents at least a head (2), a trunk (3), and feet (6, 7) by combining multiple building blocks.

3. The building block type transformable toy (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the folded state is that the outer shape becomes box-shaped.

4. The building block type transformable toy (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that, the building block type transformable toy (1) is an animal type building block type transformable toy, the angle formed by the two surfaces is 30 degrees to 170 degrees, 190 degrees to 330 degrees.

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