US20140011421A1

US20140011421A1 - Decorative and Interactive Toy

Info

Publication number: US20140011421A1
Application number: US13/937,611
Authority: US
Inventors: Ronald S. Martinez; Bruce N. Lemons; Robin Peng
Original assignee: ZUE HOLDINGS LLC
Current assignee: ZUE HOLDINGS LLC
Priority date: 2012-07-09
Filing date: 2013-07-09
Publication date: 2014-01-09

Abstract

The present invention is a decorative and interactive toy which may be used to enhance user involvement with an environment. The toy features a figurine attachable to a mount which is then utilized to attach the figurine to a number of different familiar items and other toys, games, decorations, etc. The toy may be manufactured with circuitry and/or processors which allow the addition of the toy to an element of the environment, another toy as an example, to modify the behavior of the environmental element. The distinctive mount may also the utilized as a general motif to enhance brand awareness.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority as a non-provisional perfection of prior filed U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/669,595, filed Jul. 9, 2012 and incorporates the same herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of toys and more particularly relates to a figurine capable of interacting with clothing, other toys, computers, and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Toys are a mainstay of childhood development. Not only do they provide entertainment, but they also facilitate social interaction and training for roles later assumed in adult life. As such, toys which are more interactive, which is to say toys that utilize environmental aspects and spur activities with others, tend to help social development in ways that more isolated toys and games do not.
The present invention is a decorative and interactive toy which is customizable for use in a user's environment. The toy features a mount structure that enables attachment to myriad items and thereby facilitates identification and interaction with other similarly minded children. The toy may also feature interactive circuitry to further facilitate environmental and/or computer and virtual interaction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of toys, this invention provides a decorative and interactive toy which interfaces with a broad segment of a user's environment. As such, the present invention's general purpose is to provide a new and improved toy that is usable with multiple items that may be found in a user's environment. Such items would include readily found generic items in a user's environment and specially purchased items made to interaction with the toy.
To accomplish these objectives, the decorative and interactive toy of the present invention, in its most basic embodiment, comprises at least one selectable figurine from a set of figurines and a mount which accommodates at least one figurine. The mount then interfaces with various other items, both specially constructed for the mount and regular, non-modified household and clothing items. Circuitry may be added for increased utility as identification and memory storage capacity is then enabled.
The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.
Many objects of this invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical figurine and a mount for the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the figuring and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned on a wristband.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the mount of FIG. 1, demonstrating the locking mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a wrist mounted toy.

FIG. 5 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a belt.

FIG. 6 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a headband.

FIG. 7 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a shoe.

FIG. 8 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a backpack. FIG. 9 is a front plan view of the a deck of cards, utilizing the mount of FIG. 1 as a decorative motif.

FIG. 10 is a front plan view of the mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a radio controlled toy.

FIG. 11 is a front plan view of multiple figurines and mounts of FIG. 1, being used in a board game.

FIG. 12 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a suction cup for environmental decoration.

FIG. 13 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a toy car.

FIG. 14 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a book.

FIG. 15 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a ring.

FIG. 16 is a front plan view of a number of mounts of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a fork in a tableware set utilizing the disclosed mount as a decorative motif.

FIG. 17 is a front plan view of a bottle utilizing the figurine and mount of FIG. 1 as a decorative motif.

FIG. 18 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a toothbrush.

FIG. 19 is a front plan view of the figurine and mount of FIG. 1, being positioned upon a pencil.

FIG. 20 is a sectional view of the figurine of FIG. 1

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference now to the drawings, the preferred embodiment of the decorative and interactive toy is herein described. It should be noted that the articles “a”, “an”, and “the”, as used in this specification, include plural referents unless the content clearly dictates otherwise.
With reference to FIG. 1, a figurine 10 is positioned upon a mount 20 to create the base unit 1 of the invention. The mount 20 may be of any shape or size, but the depicted preferred embodiment mount 20 has a central body defined by a central mounting peg 22 and a plurality (in this case, four) arms 24 extending radially therefrom. Each arm 24 presents an auxiliary mounting peg 26 and a hooked foot 28. Figurine 10 resides on and locks onto either the central mounting peg 22 or one of the auxiliary pegs 26, having a receiving port 18 (FIG. 20), to accept each peg until the user desires removal.
At this point, the base unit 1 may be positioned upon another article, such as wristband 34, shown in FIG. 2. In this case, wristband 34 features a mounting plate 30 with a plurality of slots 32 which accommodate the hooked feet 28 of each leg 24. The base unit may then be locked into position by a simple twisting motion, as shown in FIG. 3. It is, of course, to be understood that additional mounting structures are possible; however, the mount as described in this instant application is preferred as it may be utilized in multiple settings, as shown in the figures, and presents an interesting iconography which may also be utilized in brand awareness. This is actually illustrated in the examples of the dinner set, FIG. 16, and the deck of cards, FIG. 9, where the mount is used as a motif for the items.
The mounts 20 and figurines 10 may also include basic circuitry 21 that allow for a measure of control of items with which the decorative toy interfaces (FIGS. 1 and 20). Power may reside inside the figurine 10 or be provided by the base unit 20 or by to whatever the base unit 20 is attached. Likewise, a processor may also be internal or in some other component of the system, such as the base unit 20. Such circuitry would include anything known in the art presently, such as RFID chips, processors, and other integrated circuits 12 and magnets, or methods later developed. Such construction may also then be developed so that the decorative toys may interact with each other directly or through computer interfaces, such as by a wireless transceiver 16 as two figurines are shown interacting wirelessly in FIG. 11. In so doing, the decorative and interactive toy of the present invention may be utilized in educational and media settings, where the figurines may be used as access keys, virtually as avatars, or, of so equipped, as EEPROM or flash memory 14 so that data may be transferred from one location to another or so that data can be shared between individuals utilizing the toys. The base 20 my be equipped with a USB or other interface, or may interface with a computer dock.
Many alternative use settings are possible; in fact the only limits to use settings are the imagination. The Figures depict many suggested uses and include attachment to clothing, such as the belt of FIG. 5, the headband of FIG. 6 and the shoe of FIG. 7. The toy may be added to a backpack (FIG. 8) or even attached to any type of strap, such as a VELCRO fastened shoe. For attachment to a strap, the arms 24 of an alternate mount 20 a may be connected by a cross-beam 29 or similar structure around which the strap may thread. The toy and decorative construction may be made to interface with other toys, such as the wrist toy of FIG. 4, the RC top of FIG. 10 and the car of FIG. 13 and may be use to modify toy behavior or control. Decorative purposes may be accomplished by the creation of different base mounts, such as the suction cup in FIG. 12 or the book strap of FIG. 14, to attach the toy thereto. Household items may be manufactured to interface with the mount, such as the toothbrush of FIG. 18, so that children may further personalize their own items with the figurines. Different sizes of mounts 20 and figurines 10 may be manufactured and used, as can be seen with the service set in FIG. 16, the pencil top in FIG. 19, and the ring in FIG. 15. Games may also be developed that utilize the figurine toys (FIG. 11) either as pawns and tokens or as a control module for the game itself. Similarly to the board game, playsets may be developed that utilize the base units or just the figurines. Entire figurines and mounts may also be utilized as a decorative motif, such as with the bottle in FIG. 17.
The figurines 10 may be of any shape or character. As such, numerous opportunities are presented for promotional ties with other established or later developed brands and characters.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, numerous modifications and variations can be made and still the result will come within the scope of the invention. No limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An interactive toy comprising a base mount and a figurine attachable thereto, the base mount further comprising:

a central body;

at least one attachment point for the figurine;

a plurality of arms extending from the central body;

a plurality of hooks, one located at a foot of each arm.

2. The interactive toy of claim 1, further comprising a carrier unit, the carrier unit still further comprising a plurality of slots, corresponding in number to the plurality of arms, into which the hooks slide and lock, thereby connecting the base mount to the carrier unit.

3. The interactive toy of claim 2, the carrier unit being selected from the set of carrier units consisting of: toy vehicles, book binders, articles of clothing, jewelry, pencils, pens, suction cups, backpacks, board games, computer docking stations, and play sets.

4. The interactive toy of claim 1, the figurine and base mount having circuitry activated when the figurine and base mount are mutually attached.

5. The interactive toy of claim 4, further comprising a carrier unit, the carrier unit still further comprising a plurality of slots, corresponding in number to the plurality of arms, into which the hooks slide and lock, thereby connecting the base mount to the carrier unit, the carrier unit also further comprising circuitry activated when the base mount and carrier unit are mutually attached.

6. The interactive toy of claim 5, the carrier unit being selected from the set of carrier units consisting of: toy vehicles, book binders, articles of clothing, jewelry, pencils, pens, suction cups, backpacks, board games, computer docking stations, and play sets.

7. The interactive toy of claim 1, the figurine further comprising a means for wireless communication.

8. The interactive toy of claim 1, at least two adjacent arms being connected to each other by a cross-beam, leaving space for a strap to be threaded over the cross-beam.

9. The interactive toy of claim 8, further comprising a carrier unit, the carrier unit still further comprising a plurality of slots, corresponding in number to the plurality of arms, into which the hooks slide and lock, thereby connecting the base mount to the carrier unit.

10. The interactive toy of claim 9, the carrier unit being selected from the set of carrier units consisting of: toy vehicles, book binders, articles of clothing, jewelry, pencils, pens, suction cups, backpacks, board games, computer docking stations, and play sets.

11. The interactive toy of claim 8, the figurine and base mount having circuitry activated when the figurine and base mount are mutually attached.

12. The interactive toy of claim 11, further comprising a carrier unit, the carrier unto still further comprising a plurality of slots, corresponding in number to the plurality of arms, into which the hooks slide and lock, thereby connecting the base mount to the carrier unit, the carrier unit also further comprising circuitry activated when the base mount and carrier unit are mutually attached.

13. The interactive toy of claim 12, the carrier unit being selected from the set of carrier units consisting of: toy vehicles, book binders, articles of clothing, jewelry, pencils, pens, suction cups, backpacks, board games, computer docking stations, and play sets.

14. The interactive toy of claim 8, the figurine further comprising a means for wireless communication.

15. An interactive toy comprising a base mount and a figurine attachable thereto, the base mount further comprising:

a central body;

at least one attachment point for the figurine;

a plurality of arms extending from the central body;

at least one cross-beam, connecting adjacent arms in a manner to allow a strap to be threaded over the cross-beam.

16. The interactive toy of claim 15, the figurine and base mount having circuitry activated when the figurine and base mount are mutually attached.

17. The interactive toy of claim 16, the carrier unit being selected from the set of carrier units consisting of: toy vehicles, book binders, articles of clothing, jewelry, pencils, pens, suction cups, backpacks, board games, computer docking stations, and play sets.

18. The interactive toy of claim 15, the figurine further comprising a means for wireless communication.

19. The interactive toy of claim 15, further comprising a carrier unit, the carrier unit still further comprising a plurality of slots, corresponding in number to the plurality of arms, into which the hooks slide and lock, thereby connecting the base mount to the carrier unit.

20. The interactive toy of claim 19, the carrier unit being selected from the set of carrier units consisting of: toy vehicles, book binders, articles of clothing, jewelry, pencils, pens, suction cups, backpacks, board games, computer docking stations, and play sets.