GB2266061A - Bubble toy - Google Patents

Abstract

There is disclosed a push bubble toy which includes a toy body 1 having wheels 10 mounted on the underside thereof. Bubble producing means 6 are mounted in the body 1 and connected to the wheels 10 whereby rotation of the wheels 10 drives the bubble producing means 6 to produce bubbles. An opening is provided in the body 1 for discharging bubbles therefrom. A cam mechanism (25 Figure 6) is preferably connected to the opening and to the wheels 10 whereby rotation of the wheels 10 drives the cam mechanism (25) to open and close the opening. The bubble producing means 6 includes a film forming mechanism, suitably in the form of a rotatable level wheel (51) having openings therein and partially immersed in a reservoir of bubble making liquid, and a blower mechanism for blowing air through the openings to produce bubbles. The toy may be in the form of a hippopotamus, other toy animals, dolls, toy cars and toy ships. <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION TOY The present invention relates to a bubble toy constructed in the form of an animal such as a hippopotamus which is designed to produce bubbles when pushed by hand on a floor.

There are known bubble toys such as a soap solution and a bubble producing ring used with the soap solution held in a container. With this type of bubble toy, a cover of the container is opened and the bubble producing ring is taken out from inside the container. Bubbles are produced by blowing on a film of the soap solution formed on the ring. Also known is a spray-type bubble toy, in which a soap solution container comprises a cylindrical body having an air inlet formed in one end and an air outlet formed in the other end. With this toy the soap solution is drawn up from the soap solution container by capillarity to form a film of soap solution at the air outlet, and bubbles are continuously produced from the air outlet with breath blown into the air inlet.

Another known bubble toy comprises a tray-like container for holding a soap solution and a large sized ring with a handle. This toy is designed to make large sized bubbles by immersing the large ring in the soap solution and then pulling the ring upwardly out of the soap solution.

The various bubble toys described above are simple in construction and have or do nothing interesting other than bubble making. They require such operations as blowing breath and holding the ring up quickly, which are unsuitable for little children.

Accordingly, these known bubble toys lack uniqueness and not only do not give any surprise to older children but also are not easy for younger children to use.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide a bubble toy which is easy to handle and gives children a pleasant surprise.

To accomplish the above-described object, the present invention provides a push bubble toy having wheels on the underside and comprises a toy body, a bubble producing means mounted in the toy body and driven by the rotation of the wheels, and an opening section for discharging bubbles produced by the bubble producing means to the outside of the toy body.

The toy body preferably is in the form of an animal with the wheels being located in positions corresponding to the legs of the animal, and the opening section being located in a position corresponding to the mouth of the animal.

Furthermore, a cam mechanism mechanically connected to the wheels is provided for opening and closing the part corresponding to the animal's mouth as the wheels rotate. When the toy body is moved as by pushing, the wheels turn to drive the bubble producing means and create bubbles, which are discharged to the outside from the opening section of the toy body.

The creation and discharge of bubbles simply by moving the toy body not only makes the toy interesting to the user but also prevents the user's hands from becoming dirty. Moreover, by having the toy body in the form of an animal and designed to blow bubbles from the animal's mouth while the animal is moving, a very unique operation is achieved.

A bubble toy embodying the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings, wherein like numerals refer to like parts, and in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view showing the outside appearance of a bubble toy according to the invention; FIGURE 2 is an exploded bottom perspective view of an outer shell of the upper half of the bubble toy according to the invention; FIGURE 3 is an exploded top perspective view of the outer shell of the upper half of the bubble toy according to the invention; FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of the bubble toy according to the invention; FIGURE 5 is an exploded horizontal perspective view of a bubble producing device forming part of the invention; and FIGURE 6 is an exploded vertical perspective view of the bubble producing device according to the invention.

A bubble toy embodying the invention will be explained hereafter with reference to the drawings.

As shown in Figure 1, the bubble toy is constructed in the form of an animal, in this case a hippopotamus.

The bubble toy includes a body 1 having a trunk and a head of a hippopotamus. The body 1 is formed to be a caricature of a hippopotamus and has a large head and short legs and is composed of a front outer shell 2 which constitutes the upper jaw and face of the hippopotamus, a rear outer shell 3 which constitutes the upper half of the trunk, and a lower outer shell 4 which constitutes the lower half of the trunk including the lower jaw and legs. The front outer shell 2 normally is positioned obliquely upwardly in relation to the front of the lower outer shell 4 whereby the mouth is half open. When the toy body is pushed, the mouth of the hippopotamus moves vertically between a half-open position and a wide-open position to thereby cause bubbles S to come out of the mouth as if the hippopotamus were blowing bubbles while walking.

As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the front outer shell 2 is attached to the rear outer shell 3, which in turn is attached to the lower outer shell 4. The front end section of the rear outer shell 3 is partially inserted into the rear end section of the front outer shell 2 for connection thereto by a hinge 5 which forms a part of a cam mechanism 25 to be described later. The hinge 5 is an intermediate member rotatably mounted inside of the front end section of the rear outer shell 3 and having the front outer shell 2 locked thereto by screws. The hinge further has a tail end section which extends into a bubble producing device 6.As the bubble producing device 6 is driven, the front outer shell 2 is rotated in a vertical direction due to its interconnection with the bubble producing device and the mouth of the hippopotamus is repeatedly moved between a half-opened position and a wide-open position.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 4, fitted in the front section of the lower outer shell 4 corresponding to the lower jaw of the hippopotamus are tusks and a tongue member 7. The tongue member 7 is provided with a solution reservoir section 8 formed in the inside area corresponding to the root of the tongue. In this solution reservoir section 8, a liquid L, such as a soap solution, for bubbles S can be stored. Also, as shown in Figure 1, the forward end of the bubble producing device 6 is positioned in the reservoir section 8 to make bubbles S which are blown forwardly out of the mouth of the hippopotamus. The front outer shell 2 and the front part of the lower outer shell 4 form the mouth of the hippopotamus and constitute the opening section of the body 1 through which the bubbles S are discharged.

The bubble producing device 6 is housed in a space formed by the rear outer shell 3 and the rear part of the lower outer shell. The bubble producing device is of a unitary construction and includes one front wheel 9 and two rear wheels 10. The front wheel 9 and the rear wheels 10 extend through bottom openings 4a provided in the lower outer shell 4. When the toy body 1 is moved across a surface, the bubble producing device 6 is driven by the wheels 9 and 10 to open and close the mouth of the hippopotamus. At the same time bubbles S are blown out from the mouth.

Referring to Figures 5 and 6, the bubble producing device will be explained in detail. As shown in these drawings, the bubble producing device 6 has a pair of chassis 21a and 21b of split construction. Inside and outside of these chassis 21a and 21b are mounted the front wheel 9, the rear wheels 10, a driving gear train 22 and various other parts.

The bubble producing device 6 is designed to be driven by power supplied from the rear wheels 10 when the toy body 1 is moved. The bubble producing device comprises a film forming mechanism 23 for forming a film of soap solution, a blower mechanism 24 for blowing air from the inside to the film of soap solution to produce bubbles S, a cam mechanism 25 for moving the mouth of the hippopotamus, and driving gear train 22 for transmitting power from the rear wheels 10 to each of these members.

The driving gear train 22 consists of, from the rear wheel 10 side, an input gear 31, a first intermediate gear 32, a second intermediate gear 33 (not illustrated in Figure 6), a third intermediate gear 34 and an output gear 35 which are meshed in the order mentioned. The input gear 31 is fixedly installed on an axle 36 on which the rear wheels 10 are mounted. The axle 36 is rotatably supported on the chassis 21a and 21b. The intermediate gears 32, 33 and 34 are fixedly mounted on the rotating shafts 37 which are rotatably supported on the chassis 21a and 2lib. The output gear 35 is freely rotatably mounted on a main shaft 66 of the blower mechanism 24 described later.The main shaft 66 extends through chassis 21a and is rotatably supported on the chassis 2 lea and 2lib. Pinions 38 are fixedly mounted on intermediate gears 32, 33 and 34. The intermediate gears 32, 33 and 34 are meshed with the pinions 38 and successively increase the speed, thus transmitting the power to the film forming mechanism 23, the blower mechanism 24, and the cam mechanism 25. The cam mechanism 25 receives the power through the input gear 31. The power is then branched off to the film forming mechanism 23 from the first intermediate gear 32, and to the blower mechanism 24 from the output gear 35.

The cam mechanism 25 includes a rotating arm 41 which is rotatably mounted in the intermediate lower part of the chassis 21a and 21b, and a cam lobe 42 secured coaxially on the axle of the input gear 31.

The forward end of the rotating arm 41 is engaged with the hinge 5 (see Figures 2 and 3) and the rear end of the rotating arm 41 is engaged with the cam lobe 42.

With the rotation of the rear wheels 10, the input gear 31 and the cam lobe 42 are turned through the axle 36, and the rotating arm 41 comes into engagement with the long diameter portion 42a and the short diameter portion 42b of the cam lobe 42, thereby turning the rotating arm 41 in a vertical direction.

As the rotating arm 41 turns, the hinge 5 which is in engagement with this rotating arm 41 is also turned, thus turning the front outer shell 2 in a vertical direction to operate the hippopotamus's mouth between the half-open position and the wide-open position.

The film forming mechanism 23 has a bevel wheel 51 for forming the film of soap solution, a power transmission shaft 52 having the bevel wheel 51 fixedly mounted on the forward end, and a pinion 53 fixedly mounted on the rear portion of the power transmission shaft 52. The pinion 53 meshes with a worm 54 fixed on the same shaft as the first intermediate gear 32, working as a worm and a worm wheel to slowly turn the bevel wheel 51 through the power transmission shaft 52. The bevel wheel 51 has many sectorial openings 55 in a circumferential direction in the edge area, half immersed in the soap solution in the solution reservoir section 8 and facing outwardly in the hippopotamus's mouth as shown in Figure 1. The bevel wheel 51 produces a film of soap solution in each of the openings 55 while rotating. The blower mechanism 24 blows on the film of soap solution to make bubbles S.

The blower mechanism 24 has a housing 61 formed on the outside of chassis 21a, a blower body 62 housed within housing 61, and a discharge cap 63 for leading the air blown out from housing 61 to the openings 55 of the bevel wheel 51. The housing 61 consists of a body 61a formed projecting outside of the chassis 21a and a cover 61b for covering the side face of the body 61a to form a space in the housing 61, and forms an air suction port 64 at the center of the cover 61b.

The blower body 62 consists of a fan section 65 and the main shaft 66 on which the fan section 65 is fixedly mounted. The end of the main shaft 66 is freely rotatably mounted to the output gear 35 through the chassis 21a. Between the inside of chassis 21a and the output gear 35 are located a collar 67 and a coil spring 68 which are both coaxially mounted with the output gear 35. Behind the output gear 35 is located a crown-shaped clutch 69 secured on the main shaft 66. Clutch 69 and output gear 35 each have a waved-tooth from in opposed faces, and are held in engagement with each other through the force of coil spring 68. The turning power of the output gear 35 is transmitted to clutch 69, from which the power is further transmitted to a fan section 65 through the main shaft 66, thus turning the fan section 65.

Therefore, in the event that rotational resistance and inertia increase at the fan section 65 when the fan starts and stops turning, the output gear 35 slips on the clutch 69, thereby preventing excess load application to the driving gear train 22.

The discharge cap 63 is installed such that it is connected to a bubble outlet 70 drilled in the forward end of the interior of the housing 61 from the inside of the chassis 21a, and the air outlet 63a formed in the forward end portion is exposed from inside into the openings 55 of the bevel wheel 51. With the rotation of the output gear 35, the fan section 65 is turned through the main shaft 66, drawing the air into the housing 61 through the air inlet 64. The air thus drawn in is blown through the air outlet 63a of the discharge cap 63 against the film of soap solution formed in the openings 55 of the bevel wheel 51, thus producing bubbles S.

A series of motions of the bubble toy will now be explained in order. When the toy body 1 is pushed, the rear wheels 10 turn, and the turning power is transmitted to the axle 36. The turning power transmitted to the axle 36 drives the gear train 22 through the input gear 31 and causes opening and closing of the hippopotamus's mouth through the cam lobe 42 and the rotating arm 41. The turning power inputted from the input gear 31 to the first intermediate gear 32 turns the bevel wheel 51 through the worm 54 and the pinion 53 of the film forming mechanism 23. The bevel wheel 51 rotates to bring up the liquid L of soap solution from the solution reservoir section 8, and a film of the liquid is formed in the openings 55. The turning power transmitted to the output gear 35 turns the fan section 65 of the blower mechanism 24 at a relatively high speed, blowing the air from the discharge cap 63 against the openings 55 of the bevel wheel 51. Thus the film of soap solution in each opening 55 forms a bubble S which is blown out forwardly. The bubble S thus blown out is discharged from the mouth of the toy body 1.

With the present invention, the bubble producing device 6 driven when the toy body 1 is moved, discharges bubbles S from the hippopotamus's mouth so that a child or other person playing with the bubble toy can enjoy the toy while moving the toy body. A unique toy is thus provided which even a child can push to make bubbles without getting dirty hands from the soap solution.

In the above-described embodiment, the bubble toy has been described as being in the form of a hippopotamus. The invention is not limited to only this embodiment, but is applicable to dolls, toy cars and toy ships, as well as other toy animals.

According to the bubble toy of the invention, the bubble producing means built in the toy body is driven by connection with the wheels of the toy, and bubbles produced are discharged from the opening section of the toy body. The bubbles come out of the opening section in response to movement of the toy body. A novel, interesting and extremely easy-to-use bubble toy is therefor provided. Furthermore, the toy body constructed in the form of an animal and designed to discharge bubbles from the animal's mouth results in a very unique and lasting toy. Moreover, the use of a cam mechanism for opening and closing the part corresponding to the mouth of the animal produces a much more interesting and appealing toy since it moves in a real and unique fashion.

Claims (7)

1. A push bubble toy comprising: a toy body; wheels mounted on an underside of said body; bubble producing means mounted in said body, connecting means connecting said bubble producing means to said wheels whereby rotation of said wheels drives said bubble producing means to produce bubbles; and an opening in said body for discharging bubbles therefrom.

2. A push bubble toy as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a cam mechanism connected to said opening; and connecting means connecting said cam mechanism to said wheels whereby rotation of said wheels drives said cam mechanism to open and close said opening.

3. A push bubble toy as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a liquid reservoir in said body for storing a bubble making liquid and wherein said bubble producing means comprises: a film forming mechanism for forming a film of bubble making liquid; and a blower mechanism for blowing air on the film to produce bubbles.

4. A push bubble toy as claimed in claim 3, wherein said film forming mechanism comprises a rotatable bevel wheel having openings therein, said bevel wheel being at least partially immersed in said liquid in said reservoir whereby a film is formed in said openings as said bevel wheel rotates.

5. A push bubble toy as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said connecting means comprises a driving gear train.

6. A push bubble toy as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein said body is constructed in the form of an animal, said wheels are located in positions corresponding to legs of the animal and said opening is the mouth of the animal.

7. A push bubble toy substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in any one of the accompanying drawings.