US20220126220A1 - Portable puppet theater - Google Patents

Portable puppet theater Download PDF

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Publication number
US20220126220A1
US20220126220A1 US17/423,161 US202017423161A US2022126220A1 US 20220126220 A1 US20220126220 A1 US 20220126220A1 US 202017423161 A US202017423161 A US 202017423161A US 2022126220 A1 US2022126220 A1 US 2022126220A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
theater
walls
cover element
slits
front wall
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US17/423,161
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English (en)
Inventor
Arturo Ferrara
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Individual
Original Assignee
Individual
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Individual filed Critical Individual
Publication of US20220126220A1 publication Critical patent/US20220126220A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63J—DEVICES FOR THEATRES, CIRCUSES, OR THE LIKE; CONJURING APPLIANCES OR THE LIKE
    • A63J19/00—Puppet, marionette, or shadow shows or theatres

Definitions

  • the present invention generally finds application in the field of board games and particularly relates to a portable puppet theater.
  • the theater In order to emulate a real theater experience, the theater must be composed of a given number of basic components which are designed to be later assembled in the place in which the theater will be used.
  • a need felt by the users of such object is its portability, i.e. the possibility to assemble and disassemble and easily carry the theater from one place to another and when traveling, with no risk of damage and loss of essential components.
  • a further need is to minimize dimensions hence the entropic impact on the relevant space, e.g. a child's room, especially when it has a small size. Indeed, such objects typically have a bulky and permanent structure, and are not easily transportable.
  • This need can be only fulfilled by accepting small sizes but also using the foldable structures that can be orderly stored in a generally flat container.
  • U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,837,863 and 1,600,554 disclose portable puppet theaters comprising a carrying case and a structure in the case to assemble the puppet game.
  • the structure comprises side walls, a rear curtain, a roof and a front portal, which are joined together by tabs and also by fastening means.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 2,368,188 discloses a theater that comprises a box-like element obtained from a flat die-cut blank with pre-fold lines and a separate sheet for the floor, which can be coupled to the bottom of the structure by means of tabs fitting into slots.
  • the theater has a book applied proximate to the rear wall, with pages changing by rotation about a spiral.
  • U.S. Pat. No. 3,961,426 discloses a portable theater comprising a base, hinged and folding side and bottom walls, a front portal, a base and a series of side panels or curtains. The latter hang from rod-like support elements whose ends may rest on the recesses formed along the upper edges of the side walls of the foldable structure.
  • KR20100008300 discloses a theater having a pair of side walls and a front wall hinged together to form a foldable structure that is adapted to alternate from a collapsed configuration to an upstanding configuration. Furthermore, in the upstanding configuration, the side walls are joined to the front wall by resilient support means that are adapted to hold the structure in the upstanding configuration.
  • the technical problem addressed by the present invention may be deemed to be the provision of a compact and easily transportable portable puppet theater having a very simple and effective structure.
  • the object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problem by providing a portable puppet theater that is highly efficient and relatively cost-effective.
  • a particular object of the present invention is to provide a theater that takes up a very little space, while providing all the features of a typical puppet puppet theater.
  • a portable puppet theater as defined in claim 1 , which comprises a pair of side walls and a front wall having a central opening designed to face the audience, a plurality of inner walls defining one or more sceneries and a curtain, a substantially horizontal cover element, which is adapted to cover said side walls and said front wall in a substantially vertical position, said side walls and said front wall being hinged together to form a foldable structure that is adapted to alternate from a collapsed configuration with said walls in mutually overlapping relationship, and an upstanding configuration with said walls at right angles and substantially vertical, and vice versa.
  • the cover element is in the form of a lid with a flat central portion and edges folded upwards to receive therein said inner walls and said load-bearing structure in the collapsed configuration, said cover element being adapted to be turned upside down with its edges facing downwards and contacting said side walls and said front wall in the vertical position, said flat central portion of said cover element having a plurality of slits to allow said inner walls to be removably introduced therein from the top to positions facing said central opening.
  • the slits are substantially parallel, a series of rear slits are designed to receive th3e sceneries and a front slit of the cover element is designed to receiver the curtain.
  • the slits extend to a length that is slightly greater than the width of the inner walls to facilitate introduction thereof from the top into the corresponding slits.
  • the inner walls have appendages at a top edge thereof, which extend beyond the ends of the slits to rest on the flat portion and hold the inner walls that have been introduced into the slits in a hanging state.
  • the slits of the series designed to receive the sceneries are suitably spaced apart from the slit designed to receive the curtain to facilitate the introduction of one or more puppets.
  • the front wall and the side walls of the foldable structure are formed from a unit panel of a sheet material, such as cardboard, plastified paper or a plastic laminate, which is suitably die-cut and formed with fold lines to define adjacent mutually hinged partial panels that can be folded upon themselves.
  • a sheet material such as cardboard, plastified paper or a plastic laminate
  • the partial panels have corresponding upwardly extending tabs adapted to fit into corresponding slots formed in the flat portion of the cover element to stabilize the foldable structure with its side and front walls in the upstanding configuration.
  • FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the portable puppet theater of the invention in the upstanding configuration
  • FIGS. 2 and 3 are front and rear perspective views of the theater respectively
  • FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the theater of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIGS. 5 to 7 are plan views of the theater of FIG. 4 ;
  • FIGS. 8 and 9 are perspective views of the puppets of the theater of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the theater of FIG. 1 and the container;
  • FIG. 11 is a plan view of a detail of the theater of FIG. 7 .
  • a portable puppet theater generally designated by numeral 1 , which is designed for use by by users such as children and adults for entertainment and education of an audience of children of various ages.
  • the theater 1 comprises a pair of side walls 2 , a front wall 3 having a central opening 4 which is designed to face the audience, a plurality of inner walls 5 defining one or more sceneries 5 A and a curtain 5 B, and a cover element 6 , which is adapted to cover the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 .
  • the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 are substantially vertical and hinged together to form a foldable structure 7 which is adapted to alternate from a collapsed configuration with the walls 2 , 3 in mutually overlapping relationship, and an upstanding configuration with the walls 2 , 3 at right angles and substantially vertical, and vice versa.
  • the term “collapsed configuration” is intended to designate a folded configuration in which the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 of the foldable structure 7 overlap to form a folded flattened structure during storage to minimize bulk.
  • the term “upstanding configuration” is intended to designate a configuration in which the theater 1 forms a deployed structure for use, which is vertically arranged, substantially orthogonal to a support surface.
  • the front wall 3 and the side walls 2 of the foldable structure 7 are formed from a unit panel 8 of a sheet material selected from the group comprising cardboard, plastified paper or a plastic laminate or a similar material, as long as it has high ductility properties.
  • unit panel 8 is suitably die-cut and formed with fold lines 9 to define adjacent mutually hinged partial panels 10 that can be folded upon themselves, to alternate from the collapsed configuration to the upstanding configuration.
  • the partial panels 10 may be at least four in number, a first pair of adjacent partial panels 10 A defining the front wall 3 and a second pair of end partial panels 10 B being adapted to define the pair of side walls 2 , as shown in FIG. 7 .
  • the unit panel 8 has a bottom edge 11 and a top edge 12 .
  • the top edge 12 faces upwards, and the bottom edge 11 rests on a support surface, the latter not being shown.
  • the fold lines 9 of the partial panels 10 may extend from the bottom edge 11 to the top edge 12 and orthogonal thereto.
  • the cover element 6 is in the form of a lid with a flat central portion 13 and edges 14 folded upwards to receive therein the inner walls 5 and the foldable structure 7 in the collapsed configuration and is adapted to be turned upside down with the folded edges 14 facing downwards and contacting the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 in the upstanding configuration.
  • the flat central portion 13 of the cover element 6 has a plurality of slits 15 to allow the inner walls 5 to be removably introduced therein from the top to positions facing the central opening 4 .
  • the cover element 6 is also suitably die-cut and formed with fold lines 9 to define the flat central portion 13 . It shall be noted that the edges 14 are folded at right angles to the central portion 13 .
  • the partial panels 10 of the foldable structure 7 have corresponding upwardly extending tabs 16 adapted to fit into corresponding slots 17 formed in the flat central portion 13 of the cover element 6 to stabilize the foldable structure 7 with its side walls 2 and front wall 3 in the upstanding configuration.
  • the tabs 16 are formed on the top edge 12 of the unit panel 8 and each partial panel 10 comprises a respective tongue 16 aligned with the corresponding slot 17 when the foldable structure 7 is in the upstanding configuration.
  • the slots 17 are formed proximate to the fold lines 9 of the cover element 6 , between the flat central portion 13 and the folded edges 14 such that, in the upstanding configuration, the cover element 6 will not extend beyond the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 , as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 .
  • the plurality of slits 15 of the cover element 6 are substantially parallel, and the cover element 6 comprises a series of rear slits 15 A designed to receive the sceneries 5 A and a front slot 15 B designed to receive the curtain 5 B.
  • the slits 15 may also not be parallel, without departure from the scope of the present invention.
  • the slits 15 extend to a length l 1 that is slightly greater than the width l 2 of the inner walls 5 to facilitate introduction thereof from the top into the corresponding slits 15 .
  • the inner walls 5 have appendages 18 at a top edge thereof, which extend beyond the ends of the slits 15 to rest on the flat central portion 13 and hold the inner walls 5 that have been introduced into the slits 15 in a hanging state.
  • the appendages 18 are large enough to extend the length of the inner walls to a length l 3 which is slightly greater than the length l 1 of the slits 15 , to prevent the inner walls 5 from slipping into the theater 1 as they are being introduced into the slits 15 .
  • the slits 15 A of the series designed to receive the sceneries 5 A are suitably spaced apart from the slit 15 B designed to receive the curtain 5 B to facilitate the introduction of one or more puppets 19 between the curtain and the scenery.
  • the central opening 4 has a substantially rectangular shape and comprises dimensions adapted to allow the user of the theater 1 to introduce one hand and facilitate the introduction of the puppets 19 between the curtain 5 B and sceneries 5 A.
  • an additional series of openings may be formed in the side walls 2 and at the bottom edge 11 of the unit panel 8 , for the puppets 19 to be dynamically positioned and moved without exposing the hands of the user to the view of the audience through its central opening 4 .
  • the puppets 19 may comprise substantially L-shaped figures with an elongate body 20 having a strip 21 of flexible material extending therefrom, with one end 21 ′ adapted to fit into longitudinal slots 22 to hold the strip 21 in a position perpendicular to the elongate body 20 and to retain the puppet 19 or hold it in an upright configuration, as schematically shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 .
  • the elongate body 20 of the puppets 19 may fit into the slots 17 of the cover element 6 and the strips 21 may be retained by the longitudinal slots 20 , resting on the flat central portion 13 , which will prevent them from falling into the theater 1 .
  • the puppets 19 are printed on a 2D sheet medium, but different media may be also used, such as 3D prints, without departure from the scope of the present invention.
  • the theater 1 comprises an outer container consisting of a base box 23 adapted to receive therein the cover element 6 which in turn stores the foldable structure 7 in the collapsed state, the inner walls 5 and the puppets 19 , as shown in FIG. 10 .
  • an upper box 24 is also provided, which is designed to be closed on the base box 23 for orderly transport of the theater 1 in a theater form without no risk of loss or damage of its essential components.
  • the theater 1 will take up very little space, while providing all the features of a typical puppet theater.
  • the outer container may contain editorial material selected from the group comprising stories, scripts, paper accessories for customization of the puppets or other equivalent material adapted to fulfill the purposes of the stories that will be proposed.
  • the first pair of panels 10 A defining the front wall 3 may be equipped with reinforcement means 25 adapted to hold the coplanar panels 10 a in an upstanding configuration, to thereby prevent the theater 1 to undesirably alternate from the upstanding configuration to the collapsed configuration.
  • the reinforcement means may comprise a strip of a sheet material 25 A with ends adapted to fit into buckles or pockets 25 B formed on each of the adjacent partial panels 10 A of the first pair.
  • the theater 1 is assembled as follows.
  • the upper box 24 is detached from the base box 23 to allow the user to access the container, and then the puppets 19 , the inner walls 5 and the foldable structure 7 are removed from the cover element 6 .
  • the foldable structure 7 is deployed from a collapsed configuration with the walls 2 , 3 in mutually overlapping relationship, to an upstanding configuration with the side walls 2 at right angles to the front wall 3 and the bottom edge 11 of the unit element 8 resting on a support base.
  • the cover element 6 is turned upside down with the folded edges 14 facing downwards and contacting the side walls 2 and the front wall 3 in an upstanding configuration, such that the tabs 16 of the first pair of adjacent panels 10 A and the second pair of end panels 10 B will fit into the respective slots 17 of the cover element 6 .
  • the curtain 5 B will be simply introduced into the front slit 15 b of the cover element 6 , the sceneries 5 A will be introduced into the corresponding rear slits 15 A and the puppets 19 will be mounted by fitting the end 21 ′ of the strip 21 into the longitudinal slots 22 of the elongate body 20 to arrange it on the support surface.
  • the strip of sheet material 25 A may fit into the reinforcement means 25 B to hold the coplanar partial panels 10 A in the upstanding configuration.
  • the theater 1 fulfills the intended objects and particularly has a compact and easily transportable configuration and a very simple and effective structure.
  • the theater of the invention is susceptible of a number of changes and variants, within the inventive concept disclosed in the appended claims.
  • the present invention may find application in industry, because it can be produced on an industrial scale in the field of board games.

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  • Toys (AREA)
  • Containers And Packaging Bodies Having A Special Means To Remove Contents (AREA)
  • Adornments (AREA)
  • Purses, Travelling Bags, Baskets, Or Suitcases (AREA)
US17/423,161 2019-01-18 2020-01-17 Portable puppet theater Abandoned US20220126220A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (3)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
IT102019000000807A IT201900000807A1 (it) 2019-01-18 2019-01-18 Gioco da tavolo portatile a forma di teatrino
IT102019000000807 2019-01-18
PCT/IB2020/050366 WO2020148713A1 (en) 2019-01-18 2020-01-17 Portable puppet theater

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20220126220A1 true US20220126220A1 (en) 2022-04-28

Family

ID=66286633

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US17/423,161 Abandoned US20220126220A1 (en) 2019-01-18 2020-01-17 Portable puppet theater

Country Status (12)

Country Link
US (1) US20220126220A1 (pt)
EP (1) EP3911427B1 (pt)
JP (1) JP2022517374A (pt)
CN (1) CN113490535A (pt)
AU (1) AU2020209023A1 (pt)
BR (1) BR112021014007A2 (pt)
CA (1) CA3126375A1 (pt)
CL (1) CL2021001875A1 (pt)
EA (1) EA202191853A1 (pt)
IT (1) IT201900000807A1 (pt)
MX (1) MX2021008670A (pt)
WO (1) WO2020148713A1 (pt)

Families Citing this family (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
IT202100019433A1 (it) * 2021-07-22 2023-01-22 Enfi Teatro S R L Kit trasportabile e metodo ad esso associato per la costruzione di scenografie ecologiche ed ecosostenibili
FR3129847A3 (fr) * 2021-12-08 2023-06-09 Sarahdessine Dispositif ludique comprenant un boîtier rétroéclairé

Citations (19)

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US1179163A (en) * 1915-12-27 1916-04-11 Christina Catrevas Book-theater.
US1215962A (en) * 1916-05-06 1917-02-13 Seymour Morrison Art-stage.
US1237161A (en) * 1914-11-25 1917-08-14 Arthur L Bowen Toy moving-picture theater.
US1419976A (en) * 1920-11-26 1922-06-20 Mathews Annie Toy punch and judy show
US1523284A (en) * 1921-03-29 1925-01-13 William F Powers Theatrical amusement, educational, and advertising device
US1535056A (en) * 1923-10-22 1925-04-21 Stoloff Wolf Educational appliance
US1800948A (en) * 1929-04-08 1931-04-14 William P Mchugh Miniature theater
US1808708A (en) * 1928-03-19 1931-06-02 Chicago Cardboard Company Stage display device
US2620591A (en) * 1949-01-19 1952-12-09 Scola Ernesto Toy theater stage
US2837863A (en) * 1957-10-02 1958-06-10 Marion R Duvall Combined puppet stage and carrying case
US3363360A (en) * 1964-06-11 1968-01-16 Mattel Inc Doll house structure including foldably connected portions
US3614840A (en) * 1970-04-27 1971-10-26 Herbert S Vadell Portable folding three dimensional scene
US3762788A (en) * 1972-05-08 1973-10-02 A Heller Convertible container puppet theatre
US3961426A (en) * 1974-06-03 1976-06-08 Brad Wallace Portable stage assembly
US4075780A (en) * 1976-10-21 1978-02-28 Linebaugh David T Marionette actuation
US5261849A (en) * 1993-02-12 1993-11-16 French Ellis L Puppet/marionette theater
US6506093B2 (en) * 2001-05-29 2003-01-14 Ami Avital Miniature puppet theater and book combination and case for storing and transporting the same
US7749041B2 (en) * 2006-08-18 2010-07-06 Lisa Annette Leleu Puppet theater and theater combination
US11325049B1 (en) * 2017-11-02 2022-05-10 William August Barrios Toy theater teaching tool

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US1600554A (en) * 1926-02-10 1926-09-21 Marquis Bernice Maud Amusement device
US2368188A (en) 1942-12-15 1945-01-30 Playette Corp Toy theater stage
GB713980A (en) * 1952-02-25 1954-08-18 Ernesto Scola Improvements in or relating to box-like containers
US3812611A (en) * 1973-05-23 1974-05-28 M Bierwiler Animated children{40 s marionette theatre
FR2298353A1 (fr) * 1975-01-23 1976-08-20 Ajena Sa Theatre de marionnettes formant conditionnement
US4560359A (en) * 1984-03-21 1985-12-24 Direct Broadcast Programs Inc. Watch and play activity kit
US4804348A (en) * 1987-08-05 1989-02-14 Bondi Francesco Animated toy puppet theater
DE8801401U1 (pt) * 1988-02-04 1988-04-21 John Gmbh, 8228 Freilassing, De
US5582135A (en) * 1995-06-05 1996-12-10 Bellows; Wallace L. Collapsible and disposable pet litter container
KR100953197B1 (ko) 2008-07-15 2010-04-15 박한일 공기 압축설비의 제어장치
KR200454247Y1 (ko) * 2009-02-12 2011-06-23 김애희 인형극 무대 장치
CN201719850U (zh) * 2010-07-14 2011-01-26 官锦华 新型玩偶剧场
CN205073689U (zh) * 2015-10-28 2016-03-09 谢志栋 一种折叠式戏偶剧场

Patent Citations (19)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1237161A (en) * 1914-11-25 1917-08-14 Arthur L Bowen Toy moving-picture theater.
US1179163A (en) * 1915-12-27 1916-04-11 Christina Catrevas Book-theater.
US1215962A (en) * 1916-05-06 1917-02-13 Seymour Morrison Art-stage.
US1419976A (en) * 1920-11-26 1922-06-20 Mathews Annie Toy punch and judy show
US1523284A (en) * 1921-03-29 1925-01-13 William F Powers Theatrical amusement, educational, and advertising device
US1535056A (en) * 1923-10-22 1925-04-21 Stoloff Wolf Educational appliance
US1808708A (en) * 1928-03-19 1931-06-02 Chicago Cardboard Company Stage display device
US1800948A (en) * 1929-04-08 1931-04-14 William P Mchugh Miniature theater
US2620591A (en) * 1949-01-19 1952-12-09 Scola Ernesto Toy theater stage
US2837863A (en) * 1957-10-02 1958-06-10 Marion R Duvall Combined puppet stage and carrying case
US3363360A (en) * 1964-06-11 1968-01-16 Mattel Inc Doll house structure including foldably connected portions
US3614840A (en) * 1970-04-27 1971-10-26 Herbert S Vadell Portable folding three dimensional scene
US3762788A (en) * 1972-05-08 1973-10-02 A Heller Convertible container puppet theatre
US3961426A (en) * 1974-06-03 1976-06-08 Brad Wallace Portable stage assembly
US4075780A (en) * 1976-10-21 1978-02-28 Linebaugh David T Marionette actuation
US5261849A (en) * 1993-02-12 1993-11-16 French Ellis L Puppet/marionette theater
US6506093B2 (en) * 2001-05-29 2003-01-14 Ami Avital Miniature puppet theater and book combination and case for storing and transporting the same
US7749041B2 (en) * 2006-08-18 2010-07-06 Lisa Annette Leleu Puppet theater and theater combination
US11325049B1 (en) * 2017-11-02 2022-05-10 William August Barrios Toy theater teaching tool

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EA202191853A1 (ru) 2021-11-23
CN113490535A (zh) 2021-10-08
WO2020148713A1 (en) 2020-07-23
EP3911427A1 (en) 2021-11-24
JP2022517374A (ja) 2022-03-08
CA3126375A1 (en) 2020-07-23
IT201900000807A1 (it) 2020-07-18
AU2020209023A1 (en) 2021-08-05
BR112021014007A2 (pt) 2021-09-21
CL2021001875A1 (es) 2022-03-25
EP3911427B1 (en) 2022-06-29
MX2021008670A (es) 2021-12-10

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