US20160001192A1

US20160001192A1 - Roly-Poly Toy Device Having Function of Illumination

Info

Publication number: US20160001192A1
Application number: US14/324,070
Authority: US
Inventors: Chih-Liang Wang
Original assignee: Pan Hua-Cheng
Current assignee: Pan Hua-Cheng; Pan hua cheng
Priority date: 2014-07-03
Filing date: 2014-07-03
Publication date: 2016-01-07

Abstract

A roly-poly toy device with function of illumination is provided. The roly-poly toy device comprises a weighted base, a middle base and a top housing. The weighted base with a bottom housing and a weighted object is combined with the top housing to enclose the middle base. The weighted object and the middle base are fixed onto the bottom housing. The middle base has light emitting device formed thereon. When the light emitting device inside the top housing is activated, the roly-poly toy device can emit light for illuminating.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention generally relates to a roly-poly toy, more particularly, to a roly-poly toy device having function of illumination, which is embedded with light emitting device.

BACKGROUND

A roly-poly toy, round-bottomed doll, tilting doll, tumbler or wobbly man is a toy that rights itself when pushed over. The bottom of a roly-poly toy is round, roughly a hemisphere. Many roly-poly toys are hollow, with a weight inside the bottom. They have a center of mass below the center of the hemisphere, so that any tilting raises the center of mass. When such a toy is pushed over, it wobbles for a few moments while it seeks the upright orientation, which has an equilibrium at the minimum gravitational potential energy.
The roly-poly toy can represent a person, an animal, or anything else. Different toy manufacturers and different cultures produce different-looking roly-poly toys, and the self-righting characteristic of the toy has come to symbolize the ability to have success, overcome adversity, and recover from misfortune.
A traditional roly-poly toy (RPT), or “tumbler” toy, is a passive toddler's toy that can manage to stay upright despite apparent attempts to topple it. When physically disturbed, the RPT rocks about its typically rounded base, and perhaps is incidentally displaced a very short distance from place to place, but does not topple over. Failure to topple is due to the toy's bottom-heavy weight distribution. When the toy's positioning is disturbed, the toy rocks in an interesting manner and ultimately, absent further disturbance, returns to an upright position.
As described above, the invention proposes a newly concept and function of roly-poly toy device different from conventional roly-poly toys. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the invention's roly-poly toy device is superior to prior art's roly-poly toys.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the invention, it proposes a roly-poly toy device with function of illumination, comprising a weighted base having a bottom housing and a weighted object, wherein the bottom housing has a first accommodating space for holding the weighted object; a middle base having at least one light emitting device, a circuit board and a switch fixed on the middle base, a control circuit coupled to the circuit board for controlling the at least light emitting device, wherein the middle base locates on the weighted object, and the switch coupled to the at least one light emitting device for selectively power on and power off the at least one light emitting device; and a top housing with transparent or translucent property, fixed on the bottom housing, wherein the top housing has a second accommodating space surrounding the middle base.
In an aspect, the roly-poly toy further comprises at least one decoration unit disposed on a bottom portion of the top housing. A spring is connected to the at least one decoration unit and the bottom portion of the top housing. The light emitting device is a light emitting diode.
In another aspect, the weighted object and the middle base are fixed on the bottom housing.
In yet another aspect, the weighted object has a third accommodating space for holding the middle base.
In one aspect, the roly-poly toy device further comprises a buzzer disposed on the middle base for coupling to the circuit board.
In one aspect, the roly-poly toy device further comprises a rock switch for coupling to the circuit board. The rock switch is ball-rolling switch, vibration ball switch or contact type vibration switch.
In another aspect, the roly-poly toy device further comprises a music IC for coupling to the circuit board.
In yet another aspect, the control circuit is an integrated circuit and is programmed with one or more patterns for flashing and/or maintaining illumination of the light emitting devices. The middle base includes a battery compartment. A battery may be disposed on the battery compartment. A bottom cover may be combined with or detachable from the middle base.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components, characteristics and advantages of the present invention may be understood by the detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments outlined in the specification and the drawings attached:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a roly-poly toy device having function of illumination according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an expanded view of a roly-poly toy device according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 illustrate an expanded view of the middle base and the weighted base of the FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of a roly-poly toy device having function of illumination according to another embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an expanded view of the middle base and the weighted base of the FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail. However, it should be recognized that the preferred embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration rather than limiting the present invention. In addition, the present invention can be practiced in a wide range of other embodiments besides those explicitly described, and the scope of the present invention is not expressly limited except as specified in the accompanying claims.
The present invention provides a roly-poly toy device having function of illumination, which is equipped with light emitting device. Purpose of the invention proposes a roly-poly toy device equipped with light emitting device capable of creating function of illumination.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a roly-poly toy device having function of illumination according to the invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a roly-poly toy device 100 includes a top housing 101 and a bottom housing 102, wherein one or more light emitting device(s) and one or more decoration unit(s) are fixed (disposed) on a middle base or a bottom portion (area) of the top housing 102, within internal space of the top housing 101 combined with the bottom spacing 102. For example, the bottom housing 102 has a first accommodating space for holding a weighted object. The top housing 101 is made of transparent or translucent material, fixed on the bottom housing 102, wherein the top housing 101 has a second accommodating space surrounding the middle base. When the light emitting device within the top housing 101 is activated (turned on), decoration unit(s) of the roly-poly toy device 100 may be seen from outside.
In one embodiment, the top housing 101 and the bottom housing 102 may be attached to each other.
For example, the light emitting device includes one or more light emitting diodes, or another type of light emitting unit or device.
FIG. 2 illustrates an expanded view of a roly-poly toy device according to one embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, a roly-poly toy device 100 includes a top housing 101 with one or more decoration unit(s) fixed thereon, a middle base 103, a bottom housing 102 and a weighted object 104. The weighted object 104 is for fixing on the bottom housing 102 to form a weighted base. The middle base 103 locates (attached) onto the weighted object 104. For example, size of the middle base 103 is the same as the weighted object 104. For example, the top housing 101 and the bottom housing 102 have spherical curvature surface. The middle base 103 is disposed between the top housing 101 and the bottom housing 102.
The middle base 103 is used for carrying the light emitting device 112, a circuit board 115 and a switch 114, shown in FIG. 3. In one embodiment, the circuit board 115 is disposed on the middle base 103. In one embodiment, the circuit board 115 is coupled to the light emitting device 112. In one embodiment, the circuit board 115 includes a control circuit for controlling light emitting device 112. The light emitting device 112 is activated by the control circuit. The control circuit may be disposed/configured on the circuit board 115. The circuit board 115 is for example a printed circuit board. The switch 114 may be coupled to a power source 111 and light emitting device 112, which is activatable by a user. The switch 114 may be coupled to the circuit board 115 for switching on/off state of the light emitting device 112. In one embodiment, the circuit board 115 may be integrated onto the middle base 103, and the switch 114 may be integrated onto the middle base 103, for coupling to the light emitting device. The circuit board 115 is electrically connected to the power source 111, such as battery. In one embodiment, the circuit board 115 is electrically connected to battery 111 via a connection line (wire) or electrical contact.
When the light emitting device 112 is activated, the roly-poly toy device 100 is then emitting light for illumination.
In one embodiment, the light emitting device 112 is embedded on the middle base 103. In one embodiment, the middle base 103 defines/ provides a battery compartment 118 configured to hold a miniature electric battery 111 which provides the energy for the light emitting device, shown in FIG. 4. In one embodiment, a metal sheet 116 is mounted on backside of the middle base 103. For example, the metal sheet 116 locates within the battery compartment 118 for electrical connection with the battery 111 and the circuit board 115.
For example, a bottom cover 110 may be combined with or detachable from the middle base 103. In this embodiment, the bottom housing 102 has a first accommodating space 105 for holding a weighted object 104. The weighted object 104 is shaped with the bottom housing 102 within first accommodating space 105. The bottom housing 102 has a first threaded nut (alignment hole, mounting recess) 107 and a second threaded nut 106 within first accommodating space 105 which are considered to be female. The weighted object 104 has an alignment hole (mounting recess) 109 and concave portion 108 for the second threaded nut 106 passing through. The middle base 103 has alignment hole (mounting recess) 113. The weighted object 104 is fixed to the bottom housing 102 by a screw threading into the first threaded nut 107 and the alignment hole 109. The middle base 103 is fixed to the bottom housing 102 by another screw threading into the second threaded nut 106 and the alignment hole 113. The weighted object 104 is made of metal.
In one embodiment, the weighted 104 has a third accommodating space 120 for holding the middle base 103, shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. In one embodiment, a buzzer 117 may be disposed on the middle base 103 for coupling to the circuit board 115, shown in FIG. 6.
In one embodiment, control circuit on the circuit board 115 is used for controlling the operation of the multiple LEDs housed within the top housing 101. Control circuit is typically an integrated circuit and is programmed with one or more patterns for flashing and/or maintaining illumination of LEDs. The switch 114 is used to power on and power off (power source providing for) the light emitting device 112. The switch 114 may also be used to cycle through any number of different light patterns of the light emitting device 112. For example, each light emitting device (LED) 112 may be turned on for a fraction of a second in the sequential order as they are positioned inside of the top housing 101. It should be understood that the number of patterns possible is only limited by the number of LEDs that are used in the top housing 101.
In one embodiment, the roly-poly toy device 100 further comprises a rock switch for coupling to the circuit board 115 to determine electrical connection of the circuit board 115. The rock switch is for example ball-rolling switch, vibration ball switch or contact type vibration switch. In another embodiment, the roly-poly toy device 100 further comprises a music IC for coupling to the circuit board 115. The rock switch is used to turn on electrical connection of the circuit board 115 to activate the music IC and LEDs 112. When the roly-poly toy device 100 swings, the music IC and LEDs 112 may be activated due to the rock switch turning on.
In this embodiment, the top housing 101 is combined with (fixed to) the bottom housing 102 to form the roly-poly toy device 100. For example, a bottom cover 110 may be combined with or detachable from the middle base 103.
The foregoing descriptions are preferred embodiments of the present invention. As is understood by a person skilled in the art, the aforementioned preferred embodiments of the present invention are illustrative of the present invention rather than limiting the present invention. The present invention is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims, the scope of which should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A roly-poly toy device having function of illumination, comprising:

a weighted base having a bottom housing and a weighted object, wherein said bottom housing has a first accommodating space for holding said weighted object;

a middle base having at least one light emitting device, a circuit board and a switch fixed on said middle base, a control circuit coupled to said circuit board for controlling said at least light emitting device, wherein said middle base locates on said weighted object and is fixed on said bottom housing, and said switch coupled to said at least one light emitting device for selectively power on and power off said at least one light emitting device; and

a top housing with transparent or translucent property, fixed on said bottom housing, wherein said top housing has a second accommodating space.

2. The roly-poly toy device of claim 1, further comprising at least one decoration unit disposed on a bottom portion of said top housing within said second accommodating space.

3. The roly-poly toy device of claim 2, further comprising a spring connected to said at least one decoration unit and said bottom portion of said top housing.

4. The roly-poly toy device of claim 1, wherein said weighted object is fixed on said bottom housing.

5. The roly-poly toy device of claim 1, wherein said at least one light emitting device is a light emitting diode.

6. The roly-poly toy device of claim 1, wherein said weighted object has a third accommodating space for holding said middle base.

7. The roly-poly toy device of claim 1, further comprising a buzzer disposed on said middle base for coupling to said circuit board.

8. The roly-poly toy device of claim 1, further comprising a music IC for coupling to said circuit board.

9. The roly-poly toy device of claim 1, further comprising a rock switch for coupling to said circuit board.

10. The roly-poly toy device of claim 9, wherein said rock switch is ball-rolling switch, vibration ball switch or contact type vibration switch.

11. The roly-poly toy device of claim 9, further comprising a music IC for coupling to said circuit board.

12. The roly-poly toy device of claim 11, wherein said control circuit is an integrated circuit and is programmed with one or more patterns for flashing and/or maintaining illumination of said light emitting devices.

13. The roly-poly toy device of claim 11, further comprising at least one decoration unit disposed on a bottom portion of said top housing.

14. The roly-poly toy device of claim 13, further comprising a spring connected to said at least one decoration unit and said bottom portion of said top housing.

15. The roly-poly toy device of claim 11, wherein said weighted object is fixed on said bottom housing.

16. The roly-poly toy device of claim 11, wherein said weighted object has a third accommodating space for holding said middle base.

17. The roly-poly toy device of claim 1, wherein said middle base includes a battery compartment.

18. The roly-poly toy device of claim 17, further comprising a battery disposed on said battery compartment.

19. The roly-poly toy device of claim 17, further comprising a bottom cover combined with or detachable from said middle base.

20. The roly-poly toy device of claim 19, wherein said at least one light emitting device is a light emitting diode.