US20180200636A1

US20180200636A1 - Toy Figurine Mount Assembly

Info

Publication number: US20180200636A1
Application number: US15/408,820
Authority: US
Inventors: Brian Semling
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Pike Brands LLC
Priority date: 2017-01-18
Filing date: 2017-01-18
Publication date: 2018-07-19

Abstract

A toy figurine mount assembly includes a mounting block having a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter surface. The top side is planar and the bottom side comprises a female interconnection member to releasably and frictionally engage a male interconnection member from a building block system. A coupler releasably engages a foot of a toy figurine. The coupler is attached to the top side of the mounting block.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not Applicable
cl STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
Not Applicable

THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR AS A TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM.

Not Applicable

STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of the Invention

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98.

The disclosure and prior art relates to action figure support devices and more particularly pertains to a new action figure support device for allowing a person playing with a building block system to be able to stand a toy figurine upright in manner that retains and removably couples the toy figurine to the building block system.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a mounting block having a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter surface. The top side is planar and has a rectangular shape and the bottom side comprises a female interconnection member configured to releasably and frictionally engage a male interconnection member from a building block system. A coupler releasably engages a foot of a toy figurine. The coupler is attached to the top side of the mounting block.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top perspective view of a toy figurine mount assembly according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a bottom perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a top perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 7 is an in-use top perspective view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through 7 thereof, a new action figure support device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeral 10 will be described.
As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 7, the toy figurine mount assembly 10 generally comprises a mounting block 12 that has a top side 14, a bottom side 16 and a perimeter surface 18. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mounting block 14 may come in a variety of sizes. The top side 14 is planar and has a rectangular shape, through other shapes may be provided. The bottom side 16 comprises a female interconnection member 19 configured to releasably and frictionally engage a male interconnection member 20 from a building block system. Block systems utilizing similar structure as shown in FIGS. 3 and 7 for frictionally coupling together toy blocks 20 are ubiquitous in the toy arts and are found in multiple references such as U.S. Pat. No. 3,005,282. These toy blocks 20 may be found, for instance, being sold under the names Lego and Duplo. Generally, the male interconnection member 20 includes one or more male protrusions that extend upwardly from an upper surface of the toy block 22. The female interconnection member 19 includes one or more recesses 24 for receiving the male interconnection member 20. The recesses 24 are may be formed between a skirt 26 and interior walls 28 and cylinders 30 extending downwardly from an interior surface of a system block 22 upper wall. The number and sizes of the recesses 24 will depend on the size of the mounting block 12 and the size and numbers of the male interconnection members 20. Each of the mounting blocks 12 depicted will include a female interconnection member 19. The mounting block 14 of the assembly 10 utilizes this same structure as shown in FIG. 3 such that the mounting block 14 is interconnectable with the toy block 22 in a conventional fashion.
A coupler 32 is provided that is configured to releasably engage a foot 34 of a toy figurine. The term toy figurine may comprise any type of toy figure including action figures, dolls and the like. The term “foot” used herein may generally be interchanged with the term “shoe” so that the coupler 32 may either receive the foot 34 or a shoe 36, containing a foot of or integral with the toy figurine. The coupler 32 is attached to the top side 14 of mounting block 12. The mounting block 12 may then in turn be mounted to a conventional toy block 22 of a block system, wherein the coupler 32 allows the toy figurine to be positioned and held in an upright manner on the block system.
Generally, the coupler 32 may comprise a receiver 38 for extending the foot 34, or shoe 36, into. The receiver 38 comprises a panel 40 that has a first end 42 and a second end 44 each attached to the top side 14 such that the panel 40 forms an opening between the first 42 and second 44 ends which may be arc shaped. The portion of the panel 40 between the first 42 and second 44 ends is spaced from the top side 14. The panel 40 has a front edge 46 and a rear edge 48. The front edge 46 has a shorter length than the rear edge 46 such that the panel 40 forms a semi-frustom shape. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the mounting block 12 may include a pair of receivers 38. The panel 40 may be comprised of a rigid material or a resiliently elastic material.
Alternatively, or in combination with the receiver 38, the coupler 32 may comprise a peg 50 extendable into the foot 34 or the shoe 36 positioned on the foot 34. Toy action figures often include wells extending into their feet and the assembly 10 may be structured with the peg 50 to take advantage of such toys. As can be seen in FIG. 6, the mounting block 12 may combine the receiver 38 and the peg 50 to more securely couple the toy figure to the mounting block 12. Additionally, the peg 50 may be used to bias the foot upwardly against the panel 40 to increase the friction between the foot 34 and the panel 40.
In use, the mounting block 12 may be used with a conventional block system in a conventional manner. However, the coupler 32 is utilized with a toy figurine to retain the toy figurine in an upright position on the mounting block 12. This is useful since the male interconnection members 20 found on the toy blocks 22 typically make the standing of such toy figurines on block systems very difficult as they present an uneven and slippery surface. The coupler 32 overcomes this deficiency to enhance the playability experience of the block system and provides for means to interject toys into a block system which would otherwise be difficult and therefore less versatile and enjoyable.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

Claims

I claim:

1. A toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system, said assembly comprising:

a mounting block having a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter surface, said top side being planar, said bottom side comprising a female interconnection member configured to releasably and frictionally engage a male interconnection member from a building block system;

a coupler configured to releasably engage a foot of a toy figurine, said coupler being attached to said top side of said mounting block.

2. The toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system according to claim 1, wherein said coupler comprises a receiver for extending the foot into.

3. The toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system according to claim 2, wherein said receiver comprises a panel having a first end and a second end each attached to said top side such that said panel forms an arc between said first and second ends and being spaced from said top side.

4. The toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system according to claim 1, wherein said coupler comprises a peg extendable into the foot or a shoe positioned on the foot.

5. A toy figure supporting system comprising:

a toy figurine including a foot;

a mounting block having a top side, a bottom side and a perimeter surface, said top side being planar and having a rectangular shape, said bottom side comprising a female interconnection member configured to releasably and frictionally engage a male interconnection member from a building block system;

a coupler for releasably engaging the foot of a toy figurine, said coupler being attached to said top side of said mounting block.

6. The toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system according to claim 5, wherein said coupler comprises a receiver for extending said foot into.

7. The toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system according to claim 6, wherein said receiver comprises a panel having a first end and a second end each attached to said top side such that said panel forms an arc between said first and second ends and being spaced from said top side.

8. The toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system according to claim 7, wherein said coupler comprises a peg extendable into a shoe positioned on said foot.

9. The toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system according to claim 5, wherein said coupler comprises a peg extendable into said foot.

10. A toy figure supporting block assembly configured to engage a building block system, said assembly comprising:

a coupler configured to releasably engage a foot of a toy figurine, said coupler being attached to said top side of said mounting block, said coupler comprising a receiver for extending the foot into, said receiver comprising a panel having a first end and a second end each attached to said top side such that said panel forms an arc between said first and second ends and being spaced from said top side, said panel having a front edge and a rear edge, said front edge having a shorter length than said rear edge such that said panel forms a semi-frustom shape