JP7684268B2 - Assembly toys - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an assembly toy.

There are known assembly toys that can be easily assembled even by beginners and young people. For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an assembly toy that does not have a runner, but has two adjacent main parts connected by a gate, and can be almost completed simply by bending the gate. Because there is no need to detach the part from the runner before assembling it, there is no need to figure out which part the detached part belongs to, and it can be easily assembled.

Patent Document 2 also proposes an assembly toy in which multiple components that can be arranged in a straight line are stacked and assembled by inserting rod-shaped support members into each through-hole. With this assembly toy, each component can be locked by inserting a support member and rotating it around an axis. This provides an assembly toy that is easy for even young people to assemble, and is safe, fun, and educational.

Publication number 8-7915 JP 2012-148172 A

Although the above-mentioned conventional technology allows easy assembly, it is difficult to arouse interest in assembling multiple parts, and it is difficult to give a desire to assemble more complicated parts. For example, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, two main parts arranged adjacent to each other are almost completed by simply bending the gate that connects them. Although this allows easy assembly because there is no need to separate the parts, it is too easy to assemble and it is difficult to arouse interest in the assembly itself. On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, multiple parts are stacked and each part can be locked by inserting a rod-shaped support member, providing an interesting educational toy. However, each part is assembled at once by inserting the support member, and the fun and sense of accomplishment of assembling multiple parts to create a product cannot be felt, and the motivation to challenge more difficult assembly toys cannot be given. With such conventional technology, it is not possible to know the fun of the assembly process of plastic models, etc., and to obtain the effect of promoting sales of the next toy.

The present invention aims to provide a mechanism that is easy to assemble and that enhances the interest of the assembly process.

The present invention is, for example, a construction toy comprising a primary assembly which is assembled from a plurality of parts and forms one part of the construction toy, and assembly members which are combined with the primary assembly to form a final assembly of the construction toy, the primary assembly being characterized in that when the plurality of parts are accurately assembled, it forms a model of a predetermined object.
The present invention also provides, for example, an assembly toy comprising a primary assembly which is assembled from a plurality of parts and is one component of the assembly toy, and assembly members which are combined with the primary assembly to form the assembly toy, the primary assembly having a first surface and a second surface different from the first surface, the first surface being formed by a portion of each of the plurality of parts on the first surface side, the second surface being formed by a portion of each of the plurality of parts on the second surface side, a part of the assembly toy being formed on the first surface of the primary assembly, and a model of a specified object different from the assembly toy being formed on the second surface.
The present invention also provides, for example, a construction toy comprising a primary assembly which is assembled from a plurality of parts and is one component of the construction toy, and an assembly member which is combined with the primary assembly to form the construction toy, the primary assembly having a first surface and a second surface different from the first surface, a part of the construction toy being formed on the first surface, and a model of a predetermined object different from the construction toy being formed on the second surface, and when the primary assembly and the construction member are combined, at least a portion of the first surface is exposed to the outside of the construction toy, and the second surface is not exposed to the outside of the construction toy.
The present invention also provides, for example, an assembly toy comprising a primary assembly which is assembled from a plurality of parts and is one component of the assembly toy, and assembly members which are combined with the primary assembly to form the assembly toy, the primary assembly having a first surface and a second surface different from the first surface, the first surface being formed by a portion of each of the plurality of parts on the first surface side, the second surface being formed by a portion of each of the plurality of parts on the second surface side, the first surface of the primary assembly having a part of a first predetermined object which the assembly toy imitates formed thereon, and the second surface having a model of a second predetermined object which is different from the first predetermined object formed thereon.
The present invention also provides, for example, a construction toy, comprising a primary assembly which is assembled from a plurality of parts and is a part of the construction toy, and an assembly member which is combined with the primary assembly to form the construction toy, the primary assembly having a first surface and a second surface different from the first surface, a part of a first predetermined object which the construction toy imitates is formed on the first surface, and a model of a second predetermined object which is different from the first predetermined object is formed on the second surface, and when the primary assembly and the assembly member are combined, at least a part of the first surface is exposed to the outside of the construction toy, and the second surface is not exposed to the outside of the construction toy.

The present invention provides a mechanism that is easy to assemble and further enhances the interest of the assembly process.

1A and 1B are diagrams showing an example of the exterior front and side views of a construction toy according to one embodiment; FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a waist portion of the construction toy according to one embodiment. 1A and 1B are rear views of a primary assembly in a construction toy according to one embodiment. FIG. 2 is an exploded view of a primary assembly of a construction toy according to one embodiment. FIG. 13 illustrates an embodiment of a primary assembly being covered by a final assembly housing. FIG. 13 illustrates a variation of the final completed part.

The following embodiments are described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Note that the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims, and not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the invention. Two or more of the features described in the embodiments may be combined in any combination. In addition, the same reference numbers are used for the same or similar configurations, and duplicate descriptions are omitted.

<Exterior of assembly toy>
First, an example of the external configuration of a constructional toy 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1(a) shows the external front view of the constructional toy 100, and Fig. 1(b) shows the external side view of the constructional toy 100. Note that up-down, left-right, and front-rear arrows indicate the orientation of the constructional toy in the drawing, and the same applies to the other drawings.

The assembly toy (doll toy) 100 shows the final assembly product after assembly. The assembly toy 100 is composed of a main body 101, which includes left and right eyes 102a, 102b, a mouth 103, and left and right cheeks 104a, 104b. As shown in the external side view of FIG. 1(b), the main body 101 is composed of a front member 101a, which is a first assembly member, and a back member 101b, which is a second assembly member, which are combined together. Note that, in this embodiment, an example in which the housing of the assembly toy 100 is composed of two assembly members will be described, but this is not intended to limit the present invention. For example, the assembly toy may be composed by combining one assembly member with a primary assembly product 200, which will be described later, or by combining even more assembly members with the primary assembly product 200, which will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 1(a), the eyes 102a, 102b, the mouth 103, and the cheeks 104a, 104b can be seen on the surface of the front member 101a. However, the front member 101a itself only has openings that follow the outer shapes of the eyes 102a, 102b, the mouth 103, and the cheeks 104a, 104b, and the eyes 102a, 102b, the mouth 103, and the cheeks 104a, 104b are formed by fitting other parts into the respective openings. Furthermore, the other parts visible from the respective openings are part of the primary assembly 200 described later, and are fitted from the inside of the front member 101a and covered by the front member 101a and the back member 101b, so that they cannot be seen from the outside.

<Assembly configuration of final assembly>
Next, the assembly structure of the constructional toy 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shows an exploded view of the constructional toy 100.

The front member 101a has openings 112a, 112b, 113, 114a, and 114b. 200 indicates a primary assembly, and protrusions (not shown) are fitted into the corresponding holes of the front member 101a along the dotted lines. When the primary assembly 200 is fitted, a part of the primary assembly 200 is exposed from the openings 112a, 112b, 113, 114a, and 114b, and the eyes 102a, 102b, the mouth 103, and the cheeks 104a, 104b are visible from the front of the assembly toy 100. The primary assembly 200 is a part that is assembled in the first stage when assembling the assembly toy 100, which is the final assembly. In this way, the assembly toy 100 according to this embodiment includes the primary assembly 200 as one part. If the primary assembly 200 is not assembled accurately, the assembly toy 100 cannot be assembled accurately. Details of the primary assembly 200 will be described later using FIG. 3, and its assembly configuration will be described later using FIG. 4.

<Appearance of primary assembly>
Next, the external configuration of the primary assembly 200 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3(a) shows the external rear view of the primary assembly 200, and Fig. 3(b) shows the external front view of the primary assembly 200.

As shown in Fig. 3(a), the rear surface of the assembled primary assembly 200 is provided with members 122a, 122b, 123, 124a, and 124b, which respectively correspond to the openings 112a, 112b, 113, 114a, and 114b shown in Fig. 2. In addition, the rear surface of the primary assembly 200 is provided with protrusions 125a, 125b, and 125c for assembly to the front member 101a. When the primary assembly 200 is assembled to the front member 101a, the members 122a, 122b, 123, 124a, and 124b are exposed to the front of the construction toy 100 from the openings 112a, 112b, 113, 114a, and 114b, respectively. The exposed members 122a and 122b form the left and right eyes 102a and 102b of the construction toy 100, the member 123 forms the mouth 103 of the construction toy 100, and the members 124a and 124b form the left and right cheeks 104a and 104b of the construction toy 100. Thus, according to this embodiment, a part of the primary assembly 200 constitutes a part of the construction toy, and if the primary assembly 200, which is made up of a plurality of parts, is not assembled accurately, the parts of the primary assembly 200 will not be formed accurately and will not be exposed accurately from each opening. In other words, the construction toy 100 will not be assembled accurately.

As shown in FIG. 3B, models 201-205 of predetermined objects are formed on the front of the primary assembly 200 after assembly. Here, the "model of the predetermined object" refers to a specific design, for example, an object, figure, letter, symbol, pattern, etc. that can be identified by the assembly user. In other words, the model of the predetermined object according to this embodiment is a component made of multiple parts assembled during the assembly of an assembly toy, but unlike, for example, the waist and joints of a doll body, which have no meaning in themselves, it is a model that embodies a predetermined object that is completed by itself. In this embodiment, these models show, for example, a tomato 201, a candy 202, a candy ball 203, an apple 204, and a rice ball 205. These models 201-205 are examples of models of predetermined objects and are not particularly limited, and various other objects may be represented. These models 201-205 of predetermined objects are formed when the primary assembly 200 is assembled accurately, that is, they do not appear unless the assembly is performed accurately. Therefore, for a user assembling the assembly toy 100, when the models 201-205 of the above-mentioned predetermined objects are formed, the user can recognize that the assembly process up to that point has been performed accurately, and furthermore, for young children and the like, a sense of accomplishment can be obtained midway through the assembly process, which can arouse interest in the assembly process. Note that, although an example in which there is only one such primary assembly item is described in this embodiment, multiple primary assembly items may be provided. As a result, even for assembly toys that are more complex and include many parts, an assembly user can easily complete the assembly toy by repeatedly combining a small number of parts.

<Assembly configuration of primary assembly>
Next, an assembly configuration of the primary assembly 200 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the primary assembly 200.

As shown in FIG. 4, the primary assembly 200 is composed of multiple parts 401-404. The multiple parts 401-404 are assembled in the direction of the dotted arrow. Each part includes a part of the models of the specified object 201-205 described using FIG. 3(b), and does not represent any of the models of the specified object 201-205 by itself. In other words, the models of the specified object 201-205 are formed only by accurately assembling the multiple parts 401-404. This allows the user to assemble the toy 100 from the beginning while being aware of the smaller models of the specified object 201-205, making the assembly work easier.

<Relationship between primary assembly and final assembly>
Next, the relationship between the primary assembly 200 according to this embodiment and the assembly toy 100 which is the final assembly product will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5(a) shows the final assembly process of the assembly toy 100, and Fig. 5(b) shows the rear appearance of the assembly toy 100 after assembly.

As shown in FIG. 5(a), first, the protrusions 125a, 125b, and 125c on the back surface of the primary assembly 200 are fitted into the corresponding holes from the inside of the front member 101a, and the two parts are assembled. In this state, the front surface of the primary assembly 200 is exposed because it is not in contact with the back side of the front member 101a. After that, with the primary assembly 200 fitted into the front member 101a, the back member 101b is finally assembled to the front member 101a. This completes the final assembly of the assembly toy 100 as shown in FIG. 1. In this embodiment, the front member 101a and the back member 101b are assembled to form the main body of the spherical assembly toy. In addition, at least a part of the inside of the spherical main body is hollow, and the front surface of the primary assembly 200, i.e., the models 201 to 205 of the specified object, are exposed in the hollow. However, as shown in FIG. 5(b), in the assembled construction toy 100, the primary assembly 200 is covered by the front member 101a and the back member 101b, and cannot be seen from the outside. In this way, since the primary assembly 200 is contained inside the construction toy 100, even if a model of a specific object unrelated to the construction toy 100 is formed, the final assembly of the construction toy 100 does not give a sense of incongruity.

As described above, the assembly toy according to this embodiment includes a primary assembly that is assembled from a plurality of parts and is a part of the assembly toy, and an assembly member that is combined with the primary assembly to form a final assembly of the assembly toy. The primary assembly forms a model of a predetermined object when the plurality of parts are accurately assembled. Furthermore, if the plurality of parts are not accurately assembled, the model of the predetermined part will not be accurately formed, and furthermore, it will not function as a part of the assembly toy. Therefore, the user can assemble the assembly toy 100, which is the final assembly, from the beginning, while being conscious of the smaller primary assembly 200, and can easily perform the assembly work. Furthermore, the user can feel a sense of accomplishment by accurately assembling the model of the predetermined part, and can confirm that the assembly process so far has been performed accurately. Thus, according to this embodiment, a mechanism that allows easy assembly and further increases the interest of the assembly process can be provided.

<Modification>
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications and alterations are possible within the scope of the gist of the invention. In the above embodiment, a configuration in which the primary assembly 200 is completely hidden by being covered with the front member 101a and the rear member 101b has been described. On the other hand, after finally assembling the assembly toy, a young child or the like may wish to check the primary assembly 200 that was assembled during the process again. To satisfy such a desire, a peep hole may be provided in a part of the housing of the assembly toy. Details will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

Figure 6(a) shows a modified example of a construction toy with a peephole. As shown in the figure, a peephole 601 is provided in a part of the back member 600. The shape and size of the peephole 601 are not intended to be particularly limited, and any shape or size may be applied. By looking inside the construction toy through the peephole 601, the user can check the front of the primary assembly 200, i.e., the models 201-205 of the specified object.

On the other hand, FIG. 6(b) shows a modified example in which, instead of the peephole 601, a part of the member is made of a transparent material. As shown in the figure, the back member 610 is molded from a transparent material (or a translucent material), and allows the front of the primary assembly 200, i.e., the models 201-205 of the specified objects, to be confirmed. Note that while an example is shown in which the entire back member 610 is molded from a transparent material, this is not intended to limit the present invention, and for example, only a part of it may be molded from a transparent material.

In this way, by providing a peephole in part of the back member or by molding at least a part of the back member from a transparent material, the completed primary assembly 200 can be confirmed even after the assembly of the construction toy has been completed during the assembly process.

The shape of the assembly toy is not particularly limited and includes a variety of shapes such as people, animals, robots, insects, dinosaurs, etc.

100: assembly toy, 101a: front part, 101b: back part, 102a, 102b: eyes, 103: mouth, 104: cheeks, 200: primary assembly

Claims (11)

A construction toy comprising:
A primary assembly that is assembled from a plurality of parts and is a part of the construction toy;
and a construction member that is combined with the primary assembly to form the construction toy;
the primary assembly has a first surface and a second surface different from the first surface;
the first surface is formed by a portion of each of the plurality of parts on the first surface side, and the second surface is formed by a portion of each of the plurality of parts on the second surface side,
An assembly toy, characterized in that a part of a first predetermined object which the assembly toy imitates is formed on the first surface of the primary assembly, and a model of a second predetermined object different from the first predetermined object is formed on the second surface. A construction toy comprising:
A primary assembly that is assembled from a plurality of parts and is a part of the construction toy;
and a construction member that is combined with the primary assembly to form the construction toy;
the primary assembly has a first surface and a second surface different from the first surface;
A part of a first predetermined object that the assembly toy imitates is formed on the first surface, and a model of a second predetermined object different from the first predetermined object is formed on the second surface,
When the primary assembly and the assembly member are combined, at least a portion of the first surface is exposed to the outside of the assembly toy, and the second surface is not exposed to the outside of the assembly toy. 3. The assembly toy according to claim 1, wherein the model of the second predetermined object cannot be formed unless the plurality of parts are assembled accurately. 4. The assembly toy according to claim 1, wherein the primary assembly does not function as a part of the assembly toy unless the model of the second predetermined object is accurately assembled. The assembly members include at least a first assembly member and a second assembly member;
5. The assembly toy according to claim 1, wherein the assembly toy is formed by combining the first assembly member and the second assembly member to cover the primary assembly with the primary assembly fitted from the inside of the first assembly member. The construction toy according to claim 5, characterized in that a portion of the primary assembly is exposed through an opening formed in a portion of the first assembly member. The construction toy according to claim 6, characterized in that the portion of the primary assembly exposed through the opening forms a part of the construction toy. 8. The assembly toy according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the part of the primary assembly exposed through the opening is provided on a rear surface of the formed model of the second predetermined object. 9. The assembly toy according to claim 5, wherein a peephole is provided in a part of the second assembly member, through which a model of the second predetermined object of the primary assembly can be viewed. 9. The assembly toy according to claim 5, wherein a part of the second assembly member is formed of a transparent material through which a model of the second predetermined object of the primary assembly can be seen. 11. The assembly toy according to claim 1, wherein the model of the second predetermined object includes a plurality of predetermined objects.

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