Assembly toy

Abstract

The present invention provides a mechanism for suitably increasing the interest in the assembly process of, for example, a construction toy. [Solution] This assembly toy comprises a first assembly component that is assembled from multiple parts and whose assembly method is not indicated in the assembly instructions for the assembly toy, and a second assembly component that is assembled from multiple parts and whose assembly method is indicated in the assembly instructions, the assembly instructions including hint information for assembling the first assembly component, and the first assembly component including a shape that corresponds to the hint information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an assembled toy.

Background Art

[0002] There are known assembled toys that can be easily assembled even by beginners or children. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an assembled toy in which two adjacent main parts without runners are connected by a gate and can be almost completed by simply bending the gate. Since there is no need to separate and assemble from the runners, there is no need to grasp which part of the separated parts they are, and it can be easily assembled.

[0003] Also, Patent Document 2 proposes an assembled toy in which a plurality of components that can be arranged in a straight line are stacked, and a rod-shaped support member is inserted into each through hole for assembly. In this assembled toy, each component can be locked by inserting the support member and rotating it around the axis center. Therefore, an assembled toy that can be easily assembled by children, is safe, fun, and also serves as an educational play is provided.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In the above prior art, although it is easily assemblable, it is difficult to arouse interest in the mere act of assembling a plurality of parts, and it is even more difficult to satisfy the desire to assemble more complex parts. For example, in Patent Document 1 mentioned above, when two main parts arranged adjacent to each other are assembled, it is almost completed just by bending the gates connecting them to each other. In this case, since there is no need to separate the parts, it is easily assemblable. However, the assembly is too simple, and it is difficult to arouse interest in the act of assembly itself. On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, a plurality of parts can be locked by stacking them and inserting a rod-shaped support member, and an interesting educational toy is provided. However, the parts are assembled all at once by inserting the support member, and the fun and sense of accomplishment in the process of assembling and creating a plurality of parts step by step cannot be felt, and the motivation to challenge more difficult assembly toys cannot be given. In such prior art, the fun of the assembly process of plastic models and the like cannot be known, and the effect of promoting the sales of the next toy cannot be obtained. In addition, if one only assembles according to the assembly instructions, young people and the like may feel bored with the assembly work, and there is also a possibility that they cannot feel the fun of the assembly process itself.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide, for example, a mechanism that suitably enhances the interestingness of the assembly process in an assembly toy.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0007] The present invention relates to, for example, an assembly toy, comprising a first assembly part assembled from a plurality of parts, for which an assembly method is not shown in the assembly instructions of the assembly toy, and a second assembly part assembled from a plurality of parts, for which an assembly method is shown in the assembly instructions, wherein the assembly instructions include hint information for assembling the first assembly part, and the first assembly part includes a shape corresponding to the hint information. The present invention relates to, for example, an assembly toy, comprising a first assembly part assembled from a plurality of parts, for which an assembly method is not shown in the assembly instructions of the assembly toy, and a second assembly part assembled from one or more parts, for which an assembly method is shown in the assembly instructions, wherein the assembly instructions include hint information for assembling the first assembly part. Further, the present invention is, for example, an assembly toy, comprising: a first assembly part assembled from a plurality of parts, wherein an assembly method is not shown in the assembly instructions of the assembly toy; and a second assembly part assembled from one or more parts, wherein an assembly method is shown in the assembly instructions, wherein the assembly instructions include hint information for assembling the first assembly part, and the first assembly part includes a shape related to the hint information formed when a plurality of parts are accurately assembled.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a mechanism for suitably enhancing the interest of the assembly process in an assembly toy.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are essential for the invention. Two or more of the plurality of features described in the embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. Also, the same or similar configurations are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

[0011] <Appearance of the assembled toy> First, referring to FIG. 1, an example of the external configuration of the assembled toy 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 shows the front view of the appearance of the assembled toy 100. Note that the arrows indicating up and down, left and right, and front and back indicate the orientation of the assembled toy in the figure, and the same applies to other drawings.

[0012] The assembled toy (doll toy) 100 shows the final assembled product after assembly. The assembled toy 100 is composed of a plurality of assembled parts, and includes, for example, a right arm 102a, a left arm 102b, a torso 103, and a right leg 104a and a left leg 104b. The assembled parts according to the present embodiment refer to a part of the assembled toy 100 composed of a plurality of parts. Also, in the present embodiment, since a human assembled toy is taken as an example, these assembled parts are exemplified. However, the assembled toy according to the present invention is not limited to humans, and can model various objects, and the assembled parts also include various objects.

[0013] <Overall assembly configuration> Next, referring to FIG. 2, the overall assembly configuration of the assembled toy 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 shows an exploded perspective view of the assembled toy 100 from the front right.

[0014] The assembled toy 100 includes an assembled part 203 composed of a plurality of parts, and assembled parts 201, 202, 204, 205, 206, 207 composed of one or more parts. The assembled part 203 corresponds to the first assembled part, and there is no assembly method shown in the assembly instructions described later. Instead, it is a puzzle assembled part with hint information suggesting the assembly method. Details of the assembly instructions will be described later. On the other hand, the assembled parts 201, 202, 204, 205, 206, 207 correspond to the second assembled parts, and the assembly method for the assembled parts composed of a plurality of parts is shown in the assembly instructions described later. Note that the assembled part 205 is composed of one part.

[0015] The assembled part 201 corresponds to the head 101 of the assembled toy 100. The assembled part 202 corresponds to a part of the chest of the body part 103 of the assembled toy 100. The assembled part 204 corresponds to the front surfaces of the body part 103 and the right arm part 102a. The assembled part 205 corresponds to the back surfaces of the body part 103 and the right arm part 102a. The assembled part 206 corresponds to the left arm 102b of the assembled toy 100. The assembled part 207 corresponds to the lower body part of the assembled toy 100 (including a part of the body part 103, the right leg 104a, and the left leg 104b).

[0016] In FIG. 2, the assembled part 203 shows a state of being disassembled into a plurality of parts as shown by the dotted frame. When these plurality of parts are accurately assembled, they function as a connecting part for connecting one or more other assembled parts (the second assembled parts). That is, if the assembled part 203 is not accurately assembled, the assembled toy 100 cannot be completed. Therefore, the assembling user needs to accurately assemble the assembled part 203 based on the hint information described later shown in the assembly instructions.

[0017] Next, referring to FIG. 3, a part of the assembly instructions for the assembly toy 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 shows a part of the assembly instructions in which information about the assembly part 203 is described. For the other assembly parts 201, 202, 204, 205, 206, 207, the assembly method of each part is shown in the same manner as a normal plastic model, and the illustration thereof is omitted.

[0018] 300 shows a part of the assembly instructions. The assembly method for assembling the assembly part 203 is not directly shown, but hint information is shown. The assembly instructions 300 include characters 302, 303, 304, puzzle-solving information 305, 306, 307 corresponding to each character, an assembly area 308, and hint information 309a to 309f.

[0019] When the characters 302, 303, 304 are combined, they become information about the assembly toy 100. Here, as an example, they correspond to the characters of the name "Coin" of the model of the assembly toy 100. The character 302 corresponds to "Co", the character 303 corresponds to "In", and the character 304 corresponds to "n". The puzzle-solving information 305, 306 shows the puzzle-solving corresponding to each of the characters 302, 303. Also, a hint about this puzzle-solving 305, 306 is shown in the hint information 309a.

[0020] The puzzle-solving information 305, 306 shows dials, and the hint information 309a suggests that the characters 302 "Co" and 303 "In" are linked to the numbers of each dial. That is, here, it is shown that "Co" corresponds to "5" and "In" corresponds to "1". Therefore, when assembling the assembly part 203, the assembler can assemble it using "5" and "1" as clues. Details about the actual assembly will be described later with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

[0021] In addition, the puzzle-solving information 307 shows a directional magnet. In the hint information 309b, the directional magnet is upside down, suggesting that a part of it is broken. From this, it can be seen that the broken part is the "N" part, and "N" is located downward compared to a normal directional magnet. Therefore, when assembling the assembly part 203, the assembler can use the "N" located further downward as a clue in addition to the above "5" and "1" for assembly.

[0022] As shown in the hint information 309c, the assembly area 308 is an area for assembling the assembly part 203 and shows the outer shape of the assembly part 203 when it is assembled correctly. That is, when the assembly part 203 is assembled correctly, it will fit (or fit into) the assembly area 308. Therefore, the assembler can assemble the assembly part 203 by using the frame with the outer shape of the assembly area 308 as a clue.

[0023] In addition, the assembly instructions 300 show further hint information 309d to 309f, and the assembler can use this hint information as a clue to assemble the assembly part 203. In this way, by solving the puzzle and accurately assembling the assembly part 203, a sense of accomplishment can be obtained, and the interestingness in the assembly process can be improved. Also, these hint information may be presented in a content that makes it easier to lead to the answer step by step. Therefore, it is desirable that these hints be described at different positions so that not all hints can be confirmed at a glance. For example, when the assembly instructions 300 are described in a paper medium, each hint information is described on different pages or different sides, and when it is described on the box of the product package, each hint is described on different sides. This allows the assembler to obtain a higher sense of accomplishment if they can solve the puzzle with fewer hints. Also, assuming the case where the puzzle cannot be solved, the answer or the assembly method of the assembly part 203 may be directly described as the final hint. This can assist in completing the assembly toy 100 even when the puzzle cannot be solved.

[0024] Here, as information about the assembly toy, the name of the model targeted by the assembly toy 100 is described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the information about the assembly toy may include symbols, figures, patterns, etc. related to the model instead of the character string indicating the model. These pieces of information about the assembly toy only need to be information recognizable by the assembling user. Also, although details will be described later, these pieces of information about the model are such that at least a part of each character is included in each part of the assembly part 203. Therefore, the assembling user can accurately assemble the assembly part 203 by combining a plurality of parts so that the information obtained by solving the mystery, here, "5", " 1 ", "N" are formed.

[0025] <Puzzle-solving assembly part> Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the assembly configuration of the assembly part 203, which is a puzzle-solving assembly part according to the present embodiment, will be described. FIG. 4(a) is a perspective view of the assembly part 203 after assembly, FIG. 4(b) is an exploded view from the front, and FIG. 4(c) is an exploded view from below.

[0026] As shown in FIGS. 4(b) and 4(c), the assembled part 203 is composed of parts 401, 402, and 403. As described above, these parts 401 to 403 are composed of at least a part of "5", "1", and "N" obtained by solving the puzzle in the assembly manual 300. For example, part 401 is composed of the upper halves of the characters "5" and "1" respectively. Also, part 402 is composed of the lower half of the character "5" and the left half of the character "N". Further, part 403 is composed of the lower half of the character "1" and the right half of the character "N". In this way, each part is composed of at least a part of each character of the information related to the assembled toy obtained by solving the puzzle, and when they are accurately combined, as shown in FIG. 4(a), information corresponding to the hint information, here the characters indicating the information related to the assembled toy, is formed. Note that, as shown in FIG. 4(c), part 403 has the character "N" separately formed at the lower part. This suggests that when connecting the assembled part 203 to other assembled parts, it should be combined so that the N faces downward.

[0027] Also, parts 401 to 403 can be assembled to fit the shape of their frames using the assembly area 308 of the above-described assembly manual 300. Thus, according to this embodiment, it is possible to assist the assembly of the assembled part 203 in addition to the hint information. As shown in FIG. 5, when parts 401 to 403 are accurately assembled, they can be assembled to fit within the frame of the assembly area 308. In this way, if it can be assembled to fit within the assembly area 308, the assembly user can determine that the assembled part 203 has been accurately assembled, and subsequent assembly can be easily performed.

[0028] <Mounting of Puzzle Assembly Parts> Next, with reference to FIG. 6, the mounting of the assembled part 203 according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 6(a) is a perspective view showing the state of mounting the assembled part 203 to the assembled part 205, and FIG. 6(b) is a front view of the assembled part 203.

[0029] As shown in Fig. 6(a), the assembled component 203 is attached to the component 205 that serves as the back member of the assembled toy 100. Here, as shown in Fig. 6(b), an arrow 601 is formed downward on the component 205, and an "N" formed at the lower part of the component 203 is formed to correspond to this position. Note that the downward arrow 601 may be emphasized in a color different from other parts of the component 205 so that it is easier for the assembling user to recognize. Furthermore, it is desirable that the "N" formed at the lower part of the component 203 is formed in the same color. As a result, the assembling user can easily perform the assembly so as to align the parts of the same color.

[0030] As described above, the assembled toy according to the present embodiment includes a first assembled component assembled from a plurality of parts for which an assembling method is not shown in the assembling instruction manual of the assembled toy, and a second assembled component assembled from a plurality of parts for which an assembling method is shown in the assembling instruction manual. The assembling instruction manual includes hint information for assembling the first assembled component, and the first assembled component includes a shape corresponding to the hint information. In this way, the assembling user can perform the assembly based on the hint information for the assembled component for which the assembling method is not directly described in the assembling instruction manual, and can obtain a greater sense of accomplishment. Also, the hint information is, for example, hint information for solving a mystery, and the assembling user can perform the assembling process while solving the mystery, thereby improving the interestingness of the assembling process.

[0031] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention. Also, the shape of the assembled toy is not particularly limited, and includes various shapes such as a person, an animal, a robot, an insect, a dinosaur, etc.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0032] 100: Assembled toy, 101: Head, 102a: Right arm, 102b: Left arm, 103: Torso, 104a: Right leg, 104b: Left leg

Claims

1. An assembled toy, a first assembled part assembled from a plurality of parts, wherein an assembly method is not shown in the assembly instructions of the assembled toy, a second assembled part assembled from one or more parts, wherein an assembly method is shown in the assembly instructions, and comprising the assembly instructions include hint information for assembling the first assembled part, and the first assembled part includes a shape related to the hint information formed when the plurality of parts are accurately assembled. The assembled toy is characterized by this.

2. The assembled toy according to claim 1, wherein the first assembled part functions as a connecting part to which one or more of the second assembled parts are connected when the plurality of parts are accurately assembled.

3. The assembled toy according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the hint information is a puzzle.

4. The assembled toy according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the shape related to the hint information includes at least one of characters, symbols, figures, and patterns.

5. In the first assembled part, the shape related to the hint information formed when the plurality of parts are accurately assembled indicates information obtained by solving the puzzle. The assembled toy according to claim 3 is characterized by this.

6. The assembled toy according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the shape related to the hint information is a shape related to the assembled toy.

7. The assembled toy according to claim 6, wherein the shape related to the assembled toy is a shape indicating information related to the model targeted by the assembled toy.

8. The assembled toy according to claim 7, characterized in that each of the plurality of parts included in the first assembled part has a shape indicating at least a part of at least one character of the information regarding the model.

9. The assembled toy according to claim 8, characterized in that the assembly instructions include the hint information for each character of the information regarding the model.

10. The assembly instructions describe a frame showing the outer shape used when assembling the first assembled part. The assembled toy according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the first assembled part has a shape that fits into the outer shape when the plurality of parts are accurately assembled.

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