US20030017781A1

US20030017781A1 - Eye structure for dolls

Info

Publication number: US20030017781A1
Application number: US09/908,571
Authority: US
Inventors: Alex Chang
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-07-20
Filing date: 2001-07-20
Publication date: 2003-01-23
Also published as: GB0117794D0; GB2377654A; DE20114227U1

Abstract

An improved eye structure for dolls includes an outer shell, an inner shell located in the outer shell and a pattern of a pupil pattern of an eye located on the inner shell. The outer shell is made by injection forming to encase the inner shell and has a projection section to project the pupil pattern to imitate the real eye. When coupling to the dolls, the eye structure can create a vivid imitation effect.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved eye structure for dolls and particularly improved eyes for mounting to a doll for achieving a vivid and lifelike effect.

These days, when people selecting and buying dolls, the facial expression of the dolls is usually one of the main consideration factors. Hence the facial design of the dolls is very important to make the dolls acceptable to the general public.

The facial expression of a doll is generally defined by several elements. One is the contour of the face. Another key element is eyes. The expression of the eyes can reflect the mood of the doll, such as joy, angry, sad, happy, or other funny and comical conditions. Hence the design of eye expression is important to form the facial expression of dolls.

Conventional dolls shaped after cartoon figures usually have the eyes made by printing. First, an eye-shaped plastic flake is made by an injection forming process, and then it is printed with a selected eye expression and coated with a protective layer to prevent the printing ink from peeling off due to external factors. Finally, the eyes are attached to the face of the dolls to indicate the adorable or funny facial expressions desired. Whereas, the dolls designed in such a way cannot meet the satisfaction of the demanding consumers nowadays.

In order to make the dolls more realistic and vivid; some producers try to make the eyes of the dolls to imitate the true eyes. The imitated eye generally has a transparent outer shell housed an inner shell therein, and has a pattern of eye pupil interposed between the outer shell and inner shell. Once assembled to the dolls, it looks like a real eye and has a vivid and lifelike effect. The eye thus constructed generally has a round or boat-like shape. When assembled to the dolls, if the eye socket of the dolls is flattened or narrow, the embedded round eye will leave empty space at two ends of the eye socket. On the other hand, it is difficult to form an exact match or adjustment for the eye of a boat-like shape to the flattened or narrow eye socket. Hence the eye sockets of the dolls have to be shaped in round or boat-like to match the preformed eyes of the dolls. Because of this constraint, it is not widely adopted.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the invention is to resolve the foregoing disadvantages by providing an ellipsoidal eye structure that has an adjustable eye axis to suit various eye socket shapes of different dolls.

Another object of the invention is to provide an eye structure that is capable of projecting the pupil of the eye to imitate the real eye for creating more vivid and lifelike effects for the dolls.

To attain the foregoing objects, the eye structure of the present invention mainly includes an outer shell, an inner shell located in the outer shell and a pattern located on the inner shell to imitate a real eye. The outer shell is made by injection forming to encase the inner shell, and may project the pattern outwards to form an imitative eye that looks like a real eye. Hence the dolls coupled with the eyes of the invention will look vividly and have more appealing.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the present invention. [0010]
FIG. 2 is a top view of the present invention. [0011]
FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along line [0012] 3-3 in FIG. 2.
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along line [0013] 4-4 in FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view taken along line [0014] 5-5 in FIG. 2.
FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view taken along line [0015] 6-6 in FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the eye structure according to the present invention includes an [0016] outer shell 1, an inner shell 2 located in the outer shell 1, and a pattern 3 located on the inner shell 2 to form an imitative eye for creating a vivid and lifelike effect when mounting to a doll.
The [0017] outer shell 1 is transparent and has a solid projection section 11, and a hollow and arched mirror surface section 12 extending from the periphery of the projection section 11.
The [0018] inner shell 2 is encased in the outer shell 2 and has a flat or indented space 21 formed thereon, and a carrier section 22 extending outwards from the space 21. The carrier section 22 has an exterior shape and surface matching the interior shape and surface of the mirror surface section 12.
The [0019] pattern 3 is adhered to or printed on the space 21, and is printed with a pattern of the pupil of an eye. Once the inner shell 2 is assembled to the outer shell 1, the projection section 11 of the outer shell 1 will project the pattern 3 outwards to create an eye imitation effect.
Referring to FIGS. 2 through 6, the [0020] outer shell 1 may define an ellipse A which has an ellipsoidal center A1. The short radius A3 of the ellipse A may be defined from the center A1 to the outer surface A2 of the ellipse A. A second center B1 may be defined at about one half of the radius A3 for forming a circle B to contact the perimeter of the ellipse A. A tangential line C may be formed between the surfaces of the ellipse A and circle B. This tangential line C then may be used to define the projection section 11 of the outer shell 1. Moreover, the distance between the long and short axes from the center A1 and surface A2 of the ellipse A may be used to define the mirror surface section 12. Employing the relationship of aforesaid two conditions, the outer shell 1 may be defined and formed. Similarly, the inner shell 2 may be defined and formed by the aforesaid relationship and conditions.
During fabrication, making the inner shell (eye white portion) [0021] 2 first, then embedding the inner shell 2 in a mold and injecting transparent plastic material into the mold for forming the outer shell 1 to encase the inner shell 2 from exterior. The eye structure thus formed has a strong bonding strength between the outer shell 1 and inner shell 2. Another alternative is to make the outer shell 1 and inner shell 2 separately by injection forming process, and to couple and bond the two afterwards.
Before embedding the [0022] inner shell 2 in the mold, printing or adhering the pattern 3 (pattern of the eye pupil) on the space 21. After injection forming of the outer shell 1, the pattern 3 will be embedded between the outer shell 1 and inner shell 2. When assembled to a doll, the pupil pattern will be projected outwards from the projection section 11 to create a vivid and lifelike effect.
Furthermore, the eye structure of the invention may also be made in an ellipsoidal shape. When matching the eye sockets of the dolls, the eye axis may be adjusted to suit various eye socket shapes of different dolls. [0023]

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An improved eye structure for dolls, comprising:

an outer shell formed in an ellipsoidal shape having a projection section and an arched mirror surface section extending from the periphery of the projection section;

an inner shell formed in an ellipsoidal shape and encased in the outer shell having a space and a carrier section extending from the periphery of the space; and

a pattern located on the space having a pupil pattern of an eye formed thereon;

wherein the inner shell is bonded to the interior of the outer shell for projecting the pupil pattern through the projection section, and the eye structure has an adjustable eye axis and is engageable with various eye sockets of the dolls.

2. The improved eye structure of claim 1, wherein the outer shell is transparent.

3. The improved eye structure of claim 1, wherein the projection section is solid.

4.The improved eye structure of claim 1, wherein the arched mirror surface section is hollow.

5.The improved eye structure of claim 1, wherein the space is selectively flat or an indented recess.

6.The improved eye structure of claim 1, wherein the carrier section has same shape as the interior surface of the arched mirror surface section.

7. The improved eye structure of claim 1, wherein the pattern is selectively printed or adhered to the space of the inner shell.