MXPA05009904A

MXPA05009904A - Ball segment and coupling elements which are used to form a functional ball.

Info

Publication number: MXPA05009904A
Application number: MXPA05009904A
Authority: MX
Inventors: Monika Hasbach Lugo; Jonatan Aguilar Velazquez; Jose Antonio Salas Perez
Original assignee: Monika Hasbach Lugo
Priority date: 2005-09-15
Filing date: 2005-09-15
Publication date: 2007-03-15
Also published as: EP1938874A1; EP1938874A4; CN101300052A; JP2009508568A; US20100009788A1; WO2007032658A1; BRPI0617570A2

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of ornamental and/or promotional articles and/or toys. More specifically, the invention relates to a promotional toy which is formed by ball segments and coupling elements which are used to produce a functional ball. The invention is advantageous over the prior art in that it enables a complete ball to be assembled by hand when all of the necessary segments are used. The aforementioned segments can be used as advertising means for consumer products and combined with coupling means to obtain the above-mentioned first objective and to enable the ball to be kicked. The assembly comprising the ball segment and the coupling elements that are used to form a functional ball is characterised in that it comprises a coupling system consisting of a fixed coupling element for connecting the ball segment and a coupling element. One end of the fixed coupling element comprises a short projection that is tangential to the periphery of the ball segment, while the oth er end thereof comprises a longer projection that is parallel to the periphery of the segment, with a clearance being formed between the peripheral edge of the segment and the inner face of the parallel projection.

Description

BALL SEGMENT AND UNION ELEMENTS FOR THE FORMATION OF A FUNCTIONAL BALL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is related to the field of toys and / or promotional and / or ornamental articles. More specifically it is referred to a promotional toy formed by ball segments and joining elements that give the final result a functional ball.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Because of the popularity of soccer and the skillful players of it, there have been many promotional toys related to this sport, its players the teams that practice it.

These toys range from stamps with the image of the players with which you can fill albums, to cards with peripheral projections that allow you to join with other cards and form bodies of different conformation. These cards are sensibly flat and obviously result in flat-faced geometrical bodies. On these faces different figures and characters can be printed.

Although these segments consisting of cards with peripheral projections perfectly fulfill the function of achieving the combination of a team, being able to have in a geometric body the figures of the members of a team, this geometric body is not a ball and can not gather the mechanical characteristics of a ball.

The characteristics of the means of union make that the bodies generated by the union of these cards make the body easily disassembled and any slip originates a deformation of the body that has to be corrected by someone.

The balloons of the state of the art are mostly inflatable, we have the examples of balloons described and protected in the US Patents 4,354,679, 5,752,890 and 6,402,647. These are ideal balls for official matches. However, they are not fit to fulfill other functions that could be given to these balls.

In some uses, it is required that the ball be easily disarmable and assemblable, for example with the hands alone, to fulfill the functions of publi-promotion. As it can not be easily disassembled and assembled, it can not be used as a container or container for consumer products, because it would have to be destroyed to extract the contents.

None of the functional balls of the state of the art can be formed from the collection of their parts, so that someone buying a product of relatively low price, can get a part of the ball and begin to gather all the segments required for the formation of said ball, buying several times these products.

Nor can the functional balls of the state of the art be formed by pieces comprising on their exposed faces various graphic elements that allow exchanging with other collectors trying to integrate in a single ball the segments with the printing of the figures of the players of a single team or a single selection.

Another of the needs of the product marketers is to give a second use to the packaging of their products and the balls of the state of the art do not allow this function.

There are products in the state of the art in the form of a soccer ball and there are products that come in balloon-shaped containers. However, they are not functional balls, that is, nobody would think to use a chocolate in the form of a ball to play a pecan, nor would the container serve to play football properly.

A soccer ball segment structure with the ability to achieve all of the aforementioned functions would signify an important advance in the state of the art.

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION The main objective of the present invention is to make possible a segment of soccer ball that allows to assemble a complete ball, only with the hands, when all the necessary segments are taken.

Another objective is to give characteristics to these segments so that they can be used as advertising media for consumer products.

Still another objective is to provide them with segments of union to achieve the first objective and also allow the ball to be used to kick it.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention may be apparent from the study of the following description and the accompanying drawings for illustrative purposes only and not imitative BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In short, the present invention consists of a balloon segment comprising a fastening system, which in one of the modes, are formed by fixed elements and accessory elements, on its periphery. Both the fixed elements and the accessory elements can form an integral part of the segment, or they can be, at least the accessory elements, independent of the balloon segment.

In some modalities these elements can be both elasor both rigid, depending mainly on this characterisin the segment. In another embodiment the fixed element may be rigid and the accessory element may be elas The fixed elements can be projections of any conformation and arrangement that allow them to be joined with other segments by simple sliding of the fixed connecting elements of a segment into an accessory element and the fixed joining element of the adjacent balloon segment, slid into the slot free of the accessory joining element.

These accessory connecting elements comprise two longitudinal grooves with a wall separating these. These slots are to be occupied by the fixed connecting elements of the neighboring balloon segments. One of the fixed elements slides in one of the grooves at one end and the other fixed element penetrates into the other groove at the opposite end to facilitate the assembly of the ball.

In addition to the characteris of flexibility and elasty that the accessory connecting element has, this element also comprises notches in the longitudinal middle part, on the faces that face the corresponding edge of the balloon segment.

On the other hand, as already mentioned, between the longitudinal grooves where the fixed joining elements are to be inserted, a wall is understood which maintains the separation between the fixed elements of union of a ball segment and the fixed joint element corresponding to the neighboring balloon segment, thus achieving a kind of buffer in the movements and dislocations of said fixed connecting elements.

The conformation of the segments can vary, and the numbers of elements of the joining system can also do so.

In a preferred embodiment the segments may be pentagons, but nothing prevents them from being circles, squares, triangles, etc. The rigid means may also have the conformation of the edge of the segment in which they are located. But it has even been possible to see that this can vary and although the edge of the segment is straight, the rigid connection means can have a curvature and nevertheless the invention continues to operate.

They can also be flat or curved segments, with concavity and convexity, and can also be hollow or solid, rigid, flexible and elas They can be simply the segment or can include certain recesses or certain projections on its concave or convex side, additional projections to those that form the joining system. These additional projections can be used to fix a product in said segment.

Obviously, certain combinations can be established between the joining means and the segments, for example the segment can be flexible and the joining system can be formed by rigid elements exclusively, but both can also be flexible, although in one of the applications, it is expected that at least one of these be flexible.

Also, when in addition to being flexible, the segment is hollow and elas this segment can be inflated to better fulfill the function of being functional in a match.

In order to better understand the characteristics of the invention, the present description, as an integral part thereof, is accompanied by the drawings, which are illustrative but not limitative, which are described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows an external view of the balloon segment with its fixed and accessory joining means.

Figure 2 illustrates one embodiment of a ball, in explosive, composed of 12 pentagonal segments and the fixed joining means one for each edge.

Figure 3 illustrates the balloon of Figure 2, armed with all the joining means in place.

Figure 4 shows one of the possibilities of using the balloon segment, as part of a lid of a container.

Figure 5 illustrates a balloon segment mode in which there are only four fixed joining means and the configuration of the segments is circular in its periphery.

Figure 6 illustrates an embodiment in which the balloon segment is hollow and comprises a lid to remove the product it contains from inside.

Figure 7 shows, in exploded view, a balloon formed by only six balloon segments.

Figure 8 illustrates the balloon of figure 7, this time armed.

Figure 9 shows how only two balloon segments can enclose a space in which some types of products can be contained.

Now, a detailed description will be made of some of the modalities thereof, shown in the drawings that are annexed to the present description with non-limiting illustrative purposes.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The characteristic details of this novel piece, called the balloon segment, will be shown with the detailed description of the modality illustrated in the attached drawings, indicating the same parts with the same reference signs to indicate them.

Figure 1 shows an exterior view of the segment 1 with its connecting members formed by fixed elements 2 to the segment and accessory elements 3. To facilitate the insertion of the fixed element 2 for joining the accessory elements 3, said accessory connecting elements 3 comprise notches to facilitate the deformation of these elements and allow the insertion of the fixed joining elements 2 in the slots 5 of said accessory elements.

The connecting element fixed to the balloon segment comprises a step or stop 6 where it touches the accessory element and prevents said accessory element from reaching the corner 7 and makes it difficult for the deformations that the joining elements have to undergo to assemble and to deform by effect of the blows that the ball receives when playing it.

This connecting element fixed to the balloon segment, is parallel to the edge of said balloon segment, joining only at one end. As you can also see, all these connecting elements fixed to the ball segment have their free end to the same side, that is, they all point to the same side, either in the clockwise direction, or in the opposite direction, eg - all towards the same direction. With this it is achieved that when assembling the ball, a correct coupling is achieved.

It was found that only three possibilities are practically acceptable to carry out the invention. One of the possibilities is that the fixed joining element is rigid and the accessory joining element is flexible, that both elements are flexible and that the fixed element is flexible and the accessory element is rigid.

There are also certain modalities in terms of fixed attachment means and accessory attachment means. In one of the embodiments, the accessory attachment means forms part of the balloon segment with an appropriate material, to achieve its flexibility when this is necessary.

Figure 2 illustrates an embodiment of a ball, in explosive, composed of 12 pentagonal segments 1 and the fixed joining means 2, one for each edge. In this modality of coupling of the ball segments, it is the coincidence of having on each of the exposed faces the photograph of each one of the players of a team or selection and in the 12th segment the team's coat of arms or the flag of the country of the selection in which these players play.

As can be seen, the elements present are the same as those described in figure 1, multiplied to join the balloon with the 12 segments, with their respective 5 joint elements fixed at the periphery of the segments and the appropriate number of accessory joining elements. to join the 12 segments and form the ball.

Figure 3 illustrates the balloon of Figure 2, armed with all the joining means in place. This figure allows to visualize the appearance that the ball will present when it is armed. Depending on the modalities, when a ball is kicked in the modality in which the segments and the fixed union elements are rigid, the accessory joining elements are deformed and return to their original shape and dimension giving a good pot.

As can be seen in the figures, the rigid connecting elements are inserted in the longitudinal grooves of the connecting accessory element. With the presence of a wall between each slot, said slots tightly wrap the corresponding fixed joint element and there is no direct contact between the fixed connecting elements of one of the segments and the corresponding fixed joint element of the neighboring balloon segment. .

With this tight wrapping and the separation between the fixed joint elements, sliding and de-functioning is achieved: training that allows a proper assembly and proper performance of the ball during, for example, a football game.

Figure 4 shows one of the possibilities of using the balloon segment, as part of, or as a cover 41 of a container 40. In the promotion the balloon segment can be in the mode in which the accessory attachment element can form a single piece with the connecting element fixed to the balloon segment.

Figure 5 illustrates a modality of balloon segment 1 in which there are only four fixed joining means 2 and the configuration of the segments is circular in its periphery. To facilitate the insertion of the accessory joining element, in the fixed joining element 2, the periphery of the segment has a diagonal recess 50.

Figure 6 illustrates an embodiment in which the balloon segment 1 is hollow and comprises a cover 60 for removing the product it contains from inside. In this mode, the lid can be of smaller dimensions to reduce the amount of material to be used to manufacture the segment and to give the segment another aspect. The hollow of the segment can be included in the fixed joining elements.

Figure 7 shows, in exploded view, a balloon formed by only six balloon segments. In the manner of a cube with convex faces, the balloon segments with four fixed connecting elements can be coupled to form a more or less spherical balloon.

Figure 8 illustrates the balloon of figure 7, this time armed. As can be seen, the disadvantage in a balloon formed only by 6 segments, is to leave gaps 80 in the periphery and not make this balloon useful to contain products of small dimensions. But it can be appreciated that this type of balloon segment is technically possible Figure 9 shows how only two balloon segments can enclose a space in which some types of products can be contained. This would be the minimum association of balloon segments for the marketing of some product packed inside the space formed by the union of the two segments.

Although this illustrated formation of two balloon segments is the one that uses the segments of four fixed joining elements, it is quite possible to put together two balloon segments of pentagonal configuration and any other configuration.

As already mentioned before, these segments can present different modalities in terms of the consistency of the balloon segments. These can be hollow and solid, flexible, rigid and elastic. They can even be segments that can be inflated to improve the performance of the ball.

Being hollow, these segments can serve to be filled with a consumer product and marketed as a container for these products, and if they come in an opaque or non-transparent plastic bag, it is possible to generate an uncertain result when buying this product, having to use the exchange of segments to join all printed segments for reasons or photographs of the players of a team.

The invention has been sufficiently described so that a person with average skill in the art can reproduce and obtain the results that we mentioned in the present invention. However, any person skilled in the art who is competent in the present invention may be able to make modifications not described in the present application, however, if for the application of these modifications in a certain structure or in the manufacturing process thereof, the subject matter claimed in the following claims is required, said structures should be understood within the scope of the invention.

Claims

R E I V I N D I C A C I O N S Having sufficiently described the invention, it is considered as a novelty and therefore it is claimed as property what is expressed and contained in the following claim clauses.

1. Ball segment and connecting elements for the formation of a functional ball, characterized in that it comprises a joining system composed of a connecting element fixed to the balloon segment and an accessory connecting element; the fixed connecting element consisting of a short projection tangential to the periphery of the balloon segment and at its end another longer projection parallel to the periphery, leaving a space between the peripheral edge of the segment and the internal face of the parallel projection.

2. Segment of balloon and connecting elements for the formation of a functional balloon, as claimed in the preceding claim, further characterized in that a combination selected from the set formed by flexible fixed joint element and flexible accessory joining element is given.; Rigid fixed joint element and flexible accessory joining element.

3. Segment of balloon and connecting elements for the formation of a functional balloon, as claimed in the preceding claim, further characterized in that the accessory connecting element and the fixed joining element form an integral body.

4. Segment of balloon and connecting elements for the formation of a functional balloon, as claimed in any of the claims 1 to 3, further characterized in that the segment may be hollow, rigid, flexible, convex to the outside or a combination of these.

5. Segment of balloon and connecting elements for the formation of a functional balloon, as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, further characterized in that the segment comprises a closing means that allows to remove the content that carries inside.

6. Segment of balloon and connecting elements for the formation of a functional balloon, as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5, further characterized in that the balloon segment comprises the printing of an image on its external face.

7. Segment of balloon and connecting elements for the formation of a functional balloon, as claimed in any of claims 1 to 6, further characterized in that the number of fixed connecting elements can vary between 3 and 7,

8. Segment of balloon and connecting elements for the formation of a functional balloon, as claimed in any of claims 1 to 7, further characterized in that several of these segments are joined by means of the insertion of the fixed elements of union in the longitudinal grooves of the accessory joining elements, the fixed element being attached to one of the segments in one of the longitudinal grooves of the accessory connecting element and in the other longitudinal groove of said accessory connecting element is the fixed element of the neighbor ball segment.

9. Segment of balloon and connecting elements for the formation of a functional balloon, as claimed in any of claims 1 to 8, further characterized in that between the longitudinal grooves of the attachment accessory element there is a wall separating both grooves. SUMMARY The present invention is related to the field of toys and / or promotional and / or ornamental articles. More specifically it is referred to a promotional toy formed by ball segments and joining elements that give the final result a functional ball. The advantages of this invention with respect to those of the state of the art are that the present invention allows assembling a complete balloon, only with the hands, when all the necessary segments are present; they can be used as advertising media for consumer products and with means of union to achieve the first objective and also allow the use of the ball to kick it. The segment of ball and connecting elements for the formation of a functional ball, is characterized by comprising a joining system composed of a connecting element fixed to the balloon segment and an accessory connecting element.; the fixed connecting element consisting of a short projection tangential to the periphery of the balloon segment and at its end another longer projection parallel to the periphery, leaving a space between the peripheral edge of the segment and the internal face of the parallel projection.