Toy stove

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a toy stove 1 comprising one or more hobs 3 and at least one control 5 for imitating regulating of the hobs. At least one of the hobs comprise an iris diaphragm 7 located flush with or beneath the surface of the hob 3 and a transfer mechanism 31, 57 connecting the iris diaphragm to a control 5. The control can change an opening of the iris diaphragm 7 and correspondingly the appearance of the hob 3.

Description

[0001] TOY STOVE

[0002] Technical field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a toy stove comprising one or more hobs and at least one control for imitating regulating of the hobs.

[0004] Such toy stoves are common and are suitable for pre-school children. To make the toy stove resemble a real stove to a greater extent, it is possible to provide some feedback function connected to the control. For instance, a number of light emitting diodes could be controlled by the control, such that when switched on a hob lights up or changes colour.

[0005] One problem with such functions is that they require the toy stove to be battery operated which, in addition to costs, require batteries and electronics to be recycled in a proper manner.

[0006] One object of the present disclosure is therefore to provide a toy stove which accomplishes a feedback function without using batteries. This object is achieved with a toy stove as defined in claim 1 . More particularly, in a toy stove of the initially mentioned kind, at least one of the hobs comprises an iris diaphragm located flush with or beneath the surface of the hob and a transfer mechanism connecting the iris diaphragm to a control, such that the control can change an opening of the iris diaphragm and correspondingly the appearance of the hob.

[0007] This provides a feedback function where the appearance of the hob can be changed with the control, even making a continuous change of the hob appearance possible. This is achieved without any electronic circuitry, such that no batteries or the like are needed.

[0008] The control may be a control knob, located on a top surface of the toy stove, which control knob is rotatable about a vertical axis. This allows the provision of a very simple transfer mechanism as the axis of the control knob will be parallel with the axis of the device controlling the iris diaphragm. The iris diaphragm may comprise a plurality of elongate and curved blades, preferably a plurality of blades each of which is flat, elongate, and curved. Each blade may comprise an upper pin located on a top surface and at one end thereof, and a lower pin located on a bottom surface and at the other end thereof. Then, either of the upper pin or the lower pin of each blade may be configured to engage with an opening in a fixed holding part, and the other of the upper pin and the lower pin is configured to run in a respective radial slot of a rotatable part, the fixed holding part and the rotatable part making up a parts of the transfer mechanism. Thereby, all the blades of the iris diaphragm may be controlled by means of a single rotatable part.

[0009] Typically, the upper pin may be configured to engage with the opening in the fixed holding part, and the lower pin may be configured to run in the radial slot of the rotatable part.

[0010] The transfer mechanism may comprise a first gear meshing with a second gear, the first gear being arranged coaxially with the control and the second gear being arranged coaxially with the rotatable part. This provides the transfer function with only two gears in a simple and robust configuration.

[0011] The second gear may comprise cogs arranged on the periphery of the rotatable part.

[0012] Alternatively, the transfer mechanism may comprise a belt connecting the control and the rotatable part and / or a bevel gear unit connecting the control and the rotatable part. This provides for additional options of locating the control in relation to the hob.

[0013] The top surface of the hob may be transparent, and an indicator area may be visible through the open part of the iris diaphragm.

[0014] Thus, the top surface of the hob may be transparent, the iris diaphragm black, and the area covered by the iris diaphragm red. This gives the visual appearance that a heated part of the hob grows from the centre thereof as a control knob is turned, for instance.

[0015] Alternatively, the top surface of the hob may be transparent, the iris diaphragm red, and the area covered by the iris diaphragm is black. This instead gives the impression that the heated part grows from the periphery of the hob towards the centre thereof. Brief description of the drawings

[0016] Fig 1 schematically illustrates a toy stove.

[0017] Figs 2A and 2B show a bottom view and a side view of a blade for an iris diaphragm.

[0018] Figs 3A-3C show the blades of an iris diaphragm in three different positions.

[0019] Fig 4 shows an exploded view of a toy stove cooktop according to an example of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figs 5A and 5B show a top view of the cooktop of fig 4 with three different settings of the iris diaphragms.

[0021] Detailed description

[0022] The present disclosure relates to a toy stove 1 as is schematically illustrated in fig 1. Such a toy stove is usually about 500 mm tall to suit a pre-school child. It may comprise one or more hobs 3 and an oven 4. There may be provided controls 5 typically in the form of knobs that resemble controls on real stoves for the child to play with together with pots and pans.

[0023] In the following, a feedback function based on an iris diaphragm is disclosed. This allows the child to change the appearance of hobs 3 on the cooktop 6 by acting on its controls 5. This may resemble a hob lighting up when activated on a real stove and aims at providing a toy stove 1 with a more interesting play experience.

[0024] The iris diaphragms are built with a plurality of blades such as the one illustrated in figs 2A and 2B, illustrating a bottom view and a side view, respectively, of a blade 15.

[0025] Each blade 15 is flat, elongate, and curved, and comprises an upper pin 17 located on a top surface of the blade 15 and at one end 19. The blade further comprises a lower pin 21 located on a bottom surface and at the other end 23 of the blade 15.

[0026] Figs 3A-3C show the blades 15 of an iris diaphragm 7 in three different positions. In the illustrated case, the iris diaphragm 7 is built with 11 such blades 15. The blades 15 are arranged in a circular stack where each of the blades presents its upper pin 17 at the top of the stack and reaches in under the adjacent blades in a clockwise direction to present its respective lower pin 21 at the bottom of the stack.

[0027] By simultaneously moving said respective other end 23 of the blades 15, by acting on the respective lower pin 21 while keeping the respective upper pin 17 stationary, the size of the central opening 18 can be changed. It would also be possible, as an alternative, to instead move the upper pin 17 and keep the lower pin 21 stationary, or even to move both the upper and lower pins to some extent and achieve the same effect.

[0028] In fig 3A a minimal opening 18 is formed which grows radially to an intermediate position in fig 3B, and to a maximum size in fig 3C. Such iris diaphragms 7 are known per se, for instance from photography where they are used to control an optical aperture.

[0029] The exploded view of a toy stove cooktop 50 in fig 4 illustrates how an iris diaphragm 7 is incorporated therein. The cooktop 50 is built on a base plate 51 which can be fitted on the top of a toy stove and has two controllable hobs 3. The hobs may be formed as translucent areas in an otherwise optionally non-translucent or opaque top plate 53 forming the top surface 13 of the cooktop 50, and typically being made of plastic. Two control knobs 5 are located on the top surface 13 of the toy stove cooktop 50 and are rotatable about a respective vertical axis 55. The control knobs 5 are each connected to a knob gear 57 located below the top plate 53, and a respective screw 59 connects with the respective knob 5 from below the base plate 51 and through the knob gears 57. The base plate 51 has protrusions 61 with the function of a shaft on which the knob gear 57 can turn. Thereby, the knob 5 and the knob gear 57 can rotate in relation to the base plate 51 and the top plate 53. Each control knob 5 controls the appearance of a corresponding hob 3.

[0030] The blades 15 of each iris diaphragm 7 are sandwiched between a fixed holding part 27 arranged on top of the blades 15 and a rotatable part 31 arranged below the blades.

[0031] The rotatable part 31 , which in the illustrated example is circular, rests on the base plate 51 on an indicator area 33 that will be more or less covered by the iris diaphragm 7. The fixed holding part 27 is attached to the base plate 51 for instance by means of a number of screws 63 and partly surrounds the rotatable part 31 such that the rotatable part 31 has a fixed centre axis but is allowed to rotate about this axis within the fixed holding part 27.

[0032] The blades 15 of each iris diaphragm 7 as mentioned are sandwiched in between the fixed holding part 27 and the rotatable part 31. The upper pin 17 of each blade engages with an opening 25 in the fixed holding part 27. The lower pin 21 of each blade 15 on the other hand is configured to run in a respective radial slot 29 of the rotatable part 31 . When the rotatable part 31 is rotated within the fixed holding part 27, the lower pins 21 of the blades 15 run radially inwards or outwards in the respective radial slots 29 of the rotatable part 31 while the upper pins 17 turn slightly in their respective openings 25 in the fixed holding part 27. This causes the iris diaphragm 7 formed by the blades 15 to change gradually from the condition illustrated in fig 3Ato the one in fig 3C, or vice versa.

[0033] A configuration where instead the upper part is rotatable would be conceivable. More generally therefore, either of the upper pin 17 or the lower pin 21 of each blade 15 is configured to engage with an opening 25 in a fixed holding part 27, and the other of the upper pin 17 and the lower pin 21 is configured to run in a radial slot 29 of a rotatable part 31.

[0034] There is provided a transfer mechanism between the control knob 5 and the rotatable part 31 . The knob gear 57 comprises a first gear in the form of cogs 9, and as mentioned is arranged coaxially with the control knob 5, and is meshing with a second gear in the form of peripheral cogs 11 arranged on the periphery of the rotatable part 31 . Thereby, turning the control knob 5 makes the rotatable part 31 turn to change the appearance of the iris diaphragm 7.

[0035] Other transfer mechanisms between the control knob 5 and the rotatable part 31 are conceivable. For instance, instead of the illustrated axially directed cogs 9, 11 , radially directed cogs could be used, and it would also be possible to provide an intervening gear. Further, the transfer mechanism could comprise a belt or the like, connecting the control knob 5 and the rotatable part 31 . A bevel gear unit could also be used to transfer rotation from a control knob, rotatable about a horizontal axis and located on the front of the stove as illustrated in fig 1 , to a hob on the cooktop top of the stove.

[0036] Figs 5A and 5B show a top view of the cooktop 50 with three different settings of the iris diaphragms 7 of the hobs 3. In Fig 5A, the left hob 3 is in its most closed position, while in fig 5B, that hob is moved to an intermediate position by turning the left control knob 5. The iris diaphragm 7 of the right hob 3 is in its most open position in both figures. The iris diaphragms 7 can be continuously changed between a most closed and a most open position by turning the relevant control knob 5 to imitate regulating the hobs’ heating function. The iris diaphragms 7 are located beneath the top surface of the cooktop 50 or at least flush therewith.

[0037] As it is considered to imitate a halogen lamp type hob, it will typically have a more red or orange appearance when turning on the hob is imitated. This may be accomplished in at least two ways.

[0038] In a first example, the top surface of the hob 3 is transparent, the iris diaphragm 7 is black, i.e. at least the upper surface of the blades 15 are in black colour, and the indicator area 33 (cf. fig 4) covered by the iris diaphragm 7 is red. Then, when imitating turning on the hob 3, a red circle grows from the centre of the hob 3 the more the control knob 5 is turned and more of the red indicator area 33 is exposed.

[0039] In an alternative version, the top surface of the hob is transparent, the iris diaphragm 7 is red, i.e. at least the upper surface of the blades 15 are in red colour, and the indicator area 33 covered by the iris diaphragm 7 is black. Then instead, a red ring at the periphery grows towards its center and covers more and more of the hob surface as the control knob is turned and more of the red iris diaphragm 7 is exposed.

[0040] The present disclosure is not restricted to the above described examples and may be varied and altered in different ways within the scope of the appended claims. For instance, it is not necessary to provide the stove with an oven as illustrated in fig 1 , configurations of a stove or cooktop built separately or together with other functions are possible.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . Atoy stove (1 ) comprising one or more hobs (3) and at least one control (5) for imitating regulating of the hobs characterized by at least one of said hobs comprising an iris diaphragm (7) located flush with or beneath the surface of the hob (3) and a transfer mechanism (57, 31 ) connecting the iris diaphragm (7) to a control (5), such that the control (5) can change an opening (18) of the iris diaphragm (7) and correspondingly the appearance of the hob (3).

2. Toy stove according to claim 1 , wherein said control is a control knob (5), located on a top surface (13) of the toy stove, which control knob is (5) rotatable about a vertical axis (55).

3. Toy stove according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the iris diaphragm (7) comprises a plurality of elongate and curved blades (15), each blade comprising an upper pin (17) located on a top surface and at one end (19) thereof, and a lower pin (21 ) located on a bottom surface and at the other end (23) thereof.

4. Toy stove according to claim 3, wherein either of the upper pin (17) or the lower pin (21 ) of each blade (15) is configured to engage with an opening (25) in a fixed holding part (27), and the other of the upper pin and the lower pin (17, 21 ) is configured to run in a radial slot (29) of a rotatable part (31 ), the fixed holding part (27) and the rotatable part (31 ) making up a parts of the transfer mechanism.

5. Toy stove according to claim 4, wherein the upper pin (17) is configured to engage with the opening (25) in the fixed holding part (27), and the lower pin (21) is configured to run in the radial slot (29) of the rotatable part (31 ).

6. Toy stove according to any of claims 4 or 5, wherein the transfer mechanism (57, 11) comprises a first gear (9) meshing with a second gear (11 ), the first gear (9) being arranged coaxially with the control (5) and the second gear (11) being arranged coaxially with the rotatable part (31 ).

7. Toy stove according to claim 6, wherein the second gear comprises cogs (11 ) arranged on the periphery of the rotatable part (31 ).

8. Toy stove according to any of claims 4 or 5, wherein the transfer mechanism comprises a belt and / or a bevel gear unit connecting the control (5) and the rotatable part (31 ).

9. Toy stove according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the top surface of the hob is transparent, and an indicator area (33) is visible through the open part of the iris diaphragm (7).10 Toy stove according to claim 9, wherein the iris diaphragm (7) is black, and the indicator area (33) covered by the iris diaphragm (7) is red.

11. Toy stove according to claim 9, wherein the iris diaphragm (7) is red, and the indicator area (33) covered by the iris diaphragm (7) is black.

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