GB2273554A

GB2273554A - Hand-held toy

Info

Publication number: GB2273554A
Application number: GB9226461A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kwong Fai Mak
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1992-12-18
Filing date: 1992-12-18
Publication date: 1994-06-22
Also published as: GB9226461D0

Abstract

A hand-held toy (10) which comprises a body (11) formed by a hollow translucent or transparent front part (12/14) and a elongate rear part (13) providing a handle for the toy (10), a battery-powered lighting circuitry (22 to 25) contained within the body (11) for illuminating the front part (12), and loose pieces (29) trapped inside the front part (12/14), the loose pieces (29) and the inner surface of the front part (12/14) being of appropriate materials such that contact action between the loose pieces (29) and the inner surface of the front part (12/14) effected by rattling or shaking of the toy (10) will produce electrostatic attraction for the loose pieces (29) to be held on the inner surface of the front part (12/14). <IMAGE>

Description

HAND-HELD TOY The present invention relates to a hand-held toy.

According to the invention, there is provided a hand-held toy which comprises a body formed by a hollow translucent or transparent front part and a elongate rear part providing a handle for the toy, a battery-powered lighting circuitry contained within the body for illuminating the front part, and loose pieces trapped inside the front part, the loose pieces and the inner surface of the front part being of appropriate materials such that contact action between the loose pieces and the inner surface of the front part effected by rattling or shaking of the toy will produce electro-static attraction for the loose pieces to be held on the inner surface of the front part.

In a preferred embodiment, the hollow front part is provided with a translucent or transparent internal part and the lighting circuitry is arranged to emit light through the internal part, said loose pieces being trapped in the space between the wall of the front part and the internal part.

Preferably, the internal part is in the shape of a human or animal figure.

The hand-held toy may further comprise colour filter means contained within the body for changing the colour of the light emitted by the lighting circuitry.

It is preferred that the colour filter means is operable upon rattling or shaking of the toy.

In a specific construction, the colour filter means comprises a plurality of loosely held filters.

In one preferred embodiment, the front and rear parts of the body are separable and the lighting circuitry is provided within the rear part such that the separated rear part can be used as a lighting device.

Conveniently, the front and rear parts of the body are releasably connected together by friction.

In another preferred embodiment, the front and rear parts of the body are connected together by a length of coil spring, thereby permitting the front part to flip back and forth when the toy is held by the rear part and rattled or shaken.

The front part may be made of plastic material, and the loose pieces are made of polystyrene material.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a front view of an embodiment of a hand-held toy in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is partly cut-away front perspective view of the hand-held toy of Figure 1; and Figure 3 is cross-sectional right side view of the handheld toy of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a hand-held toy 10 embodying the invention, which toy 10 comprises a body 11 formed by a top (front) part 12 and a bottom (rear) part 13. The top part 12 includes a plastics translucent or transparent two-part spherical shell 14 supported on a vertical plastics tubular sleeve 15. The sleeve 15 has a trumpet-like upper end 16 glued to the bottom of the shell 14. The shell 14 contains therein a hollow plastics Santa Clause figure 17 which is supported on a vertical plastics tubular connector 18 snap-fitted from below into a bottom hole of the figure 17. The connector 18 is clamped at a lower position by the shell 14 between two hemispherical halves thereof adhered together forming the shell 14.

The bottom part 13 of the toy body 11 is essentially a conventional torch having a typical construction, namely including a tubular body 20 closed at the lowermost end and a head assembly 21 screw-threadedably engaged on and around the open end of the tubular body 20. The tubular body 20 serves to accommodate two dry battery cells 22 and is provided with an electrically-conducting circuit path 23 closable/openable by means of a slide switch knob 24 to switch on/off the battery power. The head assembly 21 carries therein a light bulb 25 which is located to come into electrical contact with the upper battery cell 22 and the circuit path 23, thereby forming a complete standard torch circuitry.

Referring back to the top part 12 of the toy body 11, the sleeve 15 has a transversely-extending partition wall 19 which is centrally apertured at 28. Between the partition wall 19 and the lowermost end of the tubular connector 18, there is entrapped a pair of transparent circular plates 26 which sandwiches a plurality of relatively smaller colour filter discs 27. The filter discs 27 are freely slidable between the plates 26 over the central aperture 28 of the partition wall 19.

The head assembly 21 of the bottom body part 13 has an external diameter generally the same as the internal diameter of the lower end portion of the sleeve 15 such that the head assembly 21 can be push-fitted from below into the sleeve 15 until abutting the internal partition wall 19 and held engaged therein by friction. In this position, the light bulb 25 of the head assembly 21 is directly behind the central aperture 28 of the partition wall 19, through which light from the light bulb 25 can pass and further through the pair of plates 26 and filter discs 27 and finally through the tubular connector 18 into the interior of the figure 17. The figure 17 has a thin wall and thereby glows to illuminate the interior of the shell 14.Upon rattling or shaking of the hand-held toy 10, the colour filter discs 27 slide in a random manner over the central aperture 28 of the partition wall 19, thereby changing the colour of light passing therethrough.

The shell 14 further contains numerous small polystyrene beads 29 which are loosely trapped in the space between the wall of the shell 14 and the figure 17. Upon rattling or shaking of the hand-held toy 10, the beads 29 are caused to hit and bounce back from the inner surface of the shell 14 and/or rub with or otherwise slide against the shell inner surface. Such contact action produces electro-static attraction which results in the polystyrene beads 29 being loosely held in a random manner on the inner surface of the shell 14. The light weight of the beads 29 permits them to stay on the shell inner surface for a considerable period of time. More interestingly, the beads 29 will rock, vibrate or wobble and may even roll on the shell inner surface when the toy 10 is held in hand.

It is appreciated that upon removal of the top body part 12, the bottom body part 13 could be used as a torch.

In a different embodiment, the top and bottom parts of the toy body may be permanently connected together by a length of coil spring which enables the front body part to flip back and forth when the toy is hand-held by the bottom body part and rattled or shaken. In this construction, opposite ends of the coil spring are directly connected to the corresponding body parts. The light bulb is located at the top end of the coil spring and slightly protruding into the internal figure of the top body part, with a pair of electrical wires leading up through the coil spring to supply battery power to the light bulb from the bottom body part which holds the battery cells and the on/off switch.

Colour-changing effect remains possible, in that the loosely-held colour filter discs may be provided right in front of the light bulb such that light from the light bulb has to pass through the filter discs before illuminating the interior of the internal figure.

It is to be understood that the internal figure may be translucent or transparent and in the shape of human, animal or other objects and is optional, albeit preferred to enhance visual appearance.

The invention has been given by way of example only, and various other modifications of and/or alterations to the described embodiments may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as specified in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A hand-held toy comprising a body formed by a hollow translucent or transparent front part and a elongate rear part providing a handle for the toy, a battery-powered lighting circuitry contained within the body for illuminating the front part, and loose pieces trapped inside the front part, the loose pieces and the inner surface of the front part being of appropriate materials such that contact action between the loose pieces and the inner surface of the front part effected by rattling or shaking of the toy will produce electro-static attraction for the loose pieces to be held on the inner surface of the front part.

2. A hand-held toy as claimed in claim 1, wherein the hollow front part is provided with a translucent or transparent internal part and the lighting circuitry is arranged to emit light through the internal part, said loose pieces being trapped in the space between the wall of the front part and the internal part.

3. A hand-held toy as claimed in claim 2, wherein the internal part is in the shape of a human or animal figure.

4. A hand-held toy as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising colour filter means contained within the body for changing the colour of the light emitted by the lighting circuitry.

5. A hand-held toy as claimed in claim 4, wherein the colour filter means is operable upon rattling or shaking of the toy.

6. A hand-held toy as claimed in claim 5, wherein the colour filter means comprises a plurality of loosely held filters.

7. A hand-held toy as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the front and rear parts of the body are separable and the lighting circuitry is provided within the rear part such that the separated rear part can be used as a lighting device.

8. A hand-held toy as claimed in claim 7, wherein the front and rear parts of the body are releasably connected together by friction.

9. A hand-held toy as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the front and rear parts of the body are connected together by a length of coil spring, thereby permitting the front part to flip back and forth when the toy is held by the rear part and rattled or shaken.

10. A hand-held toy as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the front part is made of plastic material.

11. A hand-held toy as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the loose pieces are made of polystyrene material.

12. A hand-held toy substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.