US3645038A - Figure toys - Google Patents

Figure toys Download PDF

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Publication number
US3645038A
US3645038A US6795A US3645038DA US3645038A US 3645038 A US3645038 A US 3645038A US 6795 A US6795 A US 6795A US 3645038D A US3645038D A US 3645038DA US 3645038 A US3645038 A US 3645038A
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United States
Prior art keywords
tubing
length
corrugated
hinge
toy
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.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US6795A
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English (en)
Inventor
Howard J Morrison
Marvin I Glass
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Glass Marvin and Associates
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Glass Marvin and Associates
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Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Glass Marvin and Associates filed Critical Glass Marvin and Associates
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Publication of US3645038A publication Critical patent/US3645038A/en
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    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
    • A63H3/00—Dolls
    • A63H3/04—Dolls with deformable framework

Definitions

  • the present invention relates generally to toys, and is more particularly directed to figure toys having movable body portions.
  • Figure toys such as dolls, toy animals and the like have been very popular with children heretofore, and many such toys have included movable body portions which have permitted the child to pose the toy figure in any of several positions. Furthermore, the prior art has included dolls having telescoping body sections which permit extension and contraction of such portion to simulate growing of the toy figure.
  • the present invention is particularly directed to novel means whereby the child may selectively extend or contract portions of the body, such as the arms and legs, and also move such extendable portions in almost any desired direction to pose the figure.
  • a further object of the invention is to provide a figure toy having body portions thereof formed of corrugated plastic tubing, wherein the length of such body portion can be selectively changed and the curvature of such portion varied, and the body portion will retain its length and/or curvature until manipulated to a different length or curvature.
  • FIG. I is a view of a doll incorporating arms, legs and a neck portion made in accordance with the present invention.
  • FIG. 2 is an enlarged front plan view of the doll, with portions broken away and in section in order to illustrate details of the structure;
  • FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of one of the doll arms, showing the corrugated plastic tubing in its collapsed or shortened condition;
  • FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 3 but illustrates the corrugated tubing in its intermediate position
  • FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIGS. 3 and 4, but showing the corrugated tubing in its fully extended position;
  • FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the mandrel tubing and corrugation-forming block used in making of the corrugated tubing;
  • FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the mandrel and forming block showing the formation of corrugations in a length of tubing disposed on the mandrel;
  • FIG. 8 is a fragmentary, longitudinal sectional view of the tubing in place on the mandrel after the corrugations have been formed therein;
  • FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of structure used in the formation ofthe tubing, and;
  • FIG. 10 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the structure seen in FIG. 9, together with a section of compressed, corrugated tubing.
  • the figure toy l0 embodying the present invention comprises a doll having a generally hollow body portion 12 and a head 14 supported on the upper part of the body portion by a corrugated plastic tubular neck 16.
  • a pair of arms 18 and a pair of legs 20 are also formed of the corrugated plastic tubing and secured to the body portion.
  • the corrugated tubing portions of the doll are formed of a suitable thermoplastic material, such as polypropylene, and are made in a novel manner which substantially eliminates any springback of the plastic tubing and permits posing of the dolls arms, legs. and head in any of a variety of positions.
  • the corrugations in the plastic tubing are formed so that the tubing may be extended and compressed through a substantial distance and will maintain the length selected. The extension or contraction of the tubing may be along its longitudinal axis or at angle thereto.
  • the corrugated plastic tubing portions of the doll are formed or..provided with well defined annular hinge sections, designated as .x" and y", which afford axial movement of the individual corrugations as well as relative angular movement therebetween.
  • the hinge sections .r" and y are formed with the characteristics of the familiar plastic living hinge", which permits free flexing of the two sections joined together at each of the hinge lines, and wherein the flexing of the plastic along the living hinge" line increases the strength of the plastic at the hinge line.
  • the corrugations are formed with sides 11" and b of unequal length, and compression of the corrugated tubing causes the shorter side b" to nest within the longer side a".
  • the hinge arrangement permits bending of the corrugated tubing relative to its longitudinal axis.
  • the individual corrugations snap into a-nested relation (FIG. 3) and maintain such arrangement until a force is applied to draw the corrugations out of their nested positions. Consequently, the corrugated body portions will retain any length desired between thetotally compressed condition and the totally extended condition.
  • the corrugated tubing is curved or bent to any position, within the limits defined by the angular relationship between the long sides a and 'the short sides b" of the corrugated sections, the tubing will retain such bent configuration until forces are exerted thereon to change the configuration of the tubing.
  • the corrugated tubing used to provide arms, legs and a neck for the doll can be bent to pose the doll in any of numerous positions.
  • the corrugated body portions can be extended or contracted as desired to alter the length of the limbs and position of the head, and such portions will retain any selected length until altered through further manipulations of the tubing.
  • the corrugated tubing provides end sections which are readily inserted in the openings of the doll body and head and which provide a frictional engagement therewith to either removably retain the connected tube and body portions together or the two can be secured together with a suitable adhesive.
  • each of the latter are provided with a conical part 26 having a reduced shoulder 28 so that the hands and feet can be readily inserted on the end of the corrugated tubing.
  • a method of forming the corrugated plastic tubing is illustrated in FlGS.6-l0 of the drawings.
  • a hollow piece of thermoplastic tubing 30 of the desired length is placed over a metal mandrel 32 having circumferential or annular corrugations formed thereon along its length, with the maximum outside diameter d (FIG. 6) of such corrugations being preferably slightly less than the inside diameter of the cylindrical tubing 30, so as to permit slipping of the tubing over the mandrel.
  • the plastic tubing 30 has a relatively thin wall section and is of a sufficiently resilient material to permit stretching or distortion of the tubing during formation of the corrugations therein.
  • the mandrel was provided with a series of double bevelled, similar annular portions, each having an axial length 1" of 0.100 inches and provided with a bevel of 20 with respect to the longitudinal axis along the length of the'annular portion and a face'angle of 5 relative to the transverse axis, as illustrated in FIG. 6 of the drawings.
  • the maximum outside diameter was 0.240 inches at both the corrugated and plain cylindrical portions of the mandrel.
  • the forming block 34 was provided with transverse serrations complimentary in length, depth and angles to the annular beveled portion on the mandrel, and each of the transverse serrations on the forming block therefore also have a length of 0.100 inches, with the major face 36 of-the serrations disposed at 20 relative to the plane of the block and the minor face 38 disposed at 5 with respect to a plane normal'to the block.
  • the plain cylindrical polypropylene tubing 30' was placed on the forming mandrel 32 and heated in-a' preheated oven at 240 F. for 15-20 minutes.
  • the heated mandrel with tubing was then placed on the forming block 34 with the annular beveled portions of the mandrel 32 indexed to mate with the serrated portions of the block, and the mandrel supported tubing was rolled back and forth across the block under manual pressure until the tubing 30 was distorted to conform with the beveled portions of the mandrel, as generally illustrated in FIG. 8.
  • the mandrel 32 was then placed in axial alignment with a plane cylindrical mandrel 40 (FIG.
  • the collar 42 includes a set screw 44, so that the tubing could be held in its collapsed position by tightening of the set screw.
  • a cylindrical cup 46 was fixed to the lower end of the smooth mandrel 40 in order to hold the collapsed corrugated tubing on the smooth mandrel for further processing and a metal block 48 provided with a cylindrical recess 50 served to hold cup 46 and mandrel 40 in position during the transfer of the corrugated tubing to mandrel 40.
  • the collapsed corrugated tubing and mandrel 40 was then placed in a preheated oven at about 240 F. for about 15-20 minutes. After such further heating, the mandrel 40 and corrugated tubing 30 was removed from the oven and cooled to room temperature. The collapsed tubing was then removed from the mandrel 40 and was ready for use in the formation of the figure toy 10 or the like.
  • the preheating of the plain plastic tubing 30 at the beginning of the process conditions the polypropylene for distortion alongits length to conform with the corrugations on the mandrel 32.
  • the heating of the collapsed or compressed tubing, after the formation of the corrugations, provides for a setting of the polypropylene along the two hinged lines x" and y (FIG. 8) formed during the corrugations process.
  • the resulting corrugated tubing was thereby provided with two annular hinge sections x and y" which perform in the wellknown manner of a living hinge wherein the molecular structure of the plastic along the hinge lines increases in strength with each longitudinal movement of the tubing portions at opposite sides of the hinge line.
  • the described nun treatment eliminates any resiliency or springback characteristic of the polypropylene, so that the tubing will retain substantially any axial or angular position it is placed in.
  • a figure toy including relatively movable body portions formed at least in part by a corrugated plastic tubing, said corrugated plastic tubing being formed with a series of well defined circumferential hinge sections joined by an essentially linear hinge and forming a plurality of circumferential grooves, with each groove having sides of unequal length joined at one of said linear hinge so that the shorter side section is nestable within the longer side section.
  • plastic tubing is of a length sufficient to permit selective positioning of the body portion at various lengths and positions by expansion and contraction of the tubing and by bending the tubing.
  • a toy including two members joined together by a length of corrugated plastic tubing, said tubing being formed with a series of circumferential hinge sections along its length defining grooves having sides of unequal length and joined along an essentially linear hinge so that the shorter side section is nestable within the longer side section, and each of said two members is provided with means affording removable connection with an end of said tubing.

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  • Toys (AREA)
  • Shaping Of Tube Ends By Bending Or Straightening (AREA)
US6795A 1970-01-29 1970-01-29 Figure toys Expired - Lifetime US3645038A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
US679570A 1970-01-29 1970-01-29

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US3645038A true US3645038A (en) 1972-02-29

Family

ID=21722626

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US6795A Expired - Lifetime US3645038A (en) 1970-01-29 1970-01-29 Figure toys

Country Status (6)

Country Link
US (1) US3645038A (enExample)
JP (1) JPS4940657B1 (enExample)
CA (1) CA919426A (enExample)
DE (1) DE2100927A1 (enExample)
FR (1) FR2075077A5 (enExample)
GB (1) GB1319800A (enExample)

Cited By (18)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4579538A (en) * 1983-01-17 1986-04-01 Tomy Kogyo Co. Inc. Construction toy
US4643691A (en) * 1984-07-06 1987-02-17 Kawada Co., Ltd. Articulated doll arrangement
US4696655A (en) * 1986-08-15 1987-09-29 Andrade Bruce M D Toy vehicle with adjustable suspension system
US5310380A (en) * 1992-04-13 1994-05-10 Levy Richard C Adjustable height play toy with movable body portion
US5415580A (en) * 1993-07-19 1995-05-16 Onilco Innovacion S.A. Variable height double-faced doll, adaptable to the body and height of the user
USD404439S (en) 1998-04-03 1999-01-19 Tomy Company Ltd. Doll
US6000990A (en) * 1997-03-04 1999-12-14 T. K. Wong & Associates Ltd. Tumbling toy with freely movable limbs
US6174216B1 (en) 1999-08-03 2001-01-16 Mattel, Inc. Stretchable two-headed toy figure
US6648717B1 (en) 2002-05-10 2003-11-18 Mattel, Inc. Adjustable hoop and method of using the same
US6808437B2 (en) * 2003-02-04 2004-10-26 Senario Llc Extendible link soft or plush toy
US20060217032A1 (en) * 2005-03-22 2006-09-28 Wen-Chuan Kuo Flexible toy
US20140199912A1 (en) * 2013-01-14 2014-07-17 Peter Alan Fish Toy figure having reconfigurable portions and methods of using the same
US20150122073A1 (en) * 2012-06-01 2015-05-07 Aldebaran Robotics Spinal column for a humanoid robot
US9345982B2 (en) * 2014-09-01 2016-05-24 Joseph Farco Building block universal joint system
US20190038982A1 (en) * 2017-08-07 2019-02-07 Randy Wayne Clark Expandable and collapsible plush toy
US20220401846A1 (en) * 2021-06-22 2022-12-22 Wonderfuljungle LLC Extendable toys
US20230211249A1 (en) * 2021-12-30 2023-07-06 Stargo Brands LLC Expandable digit-operapble therapeutic toy
US20240226765A9 (en) * 2022-10-25 2024-07-11 Godd Ip Llc Interactive toy

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPS5048754U (enExample) * 1973-08-29 1975-05-14
GB8432814D0 (en) * 1984-12-31 1985-02-06 Lifeline Ltd Catheter mount assembly
JPS6371846U (enExample) * 1986-10-29 1988-05-13
IT1227516B (it) * 1987-12-15 1991-04-12 Waeschle Maschf Gmbh Tubo convogliatore per il trasporto di materiale sfuso
GB9503938D0 (en) * 1995-02-28 1995-04-19 Dalatek Ltd Flexible piping

Cited By (23)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US4579538A (en) * 1983-01-17 1986-04-01 Tomy Kogyo Co. Inc. Construction toy
US4643691A (en) * 1984-07-06 1987-02-17 Kawada Co., Ltd. Articulated doll arrangement
US4696655A (en) * 1986-08-15 1987-09-29 Andrade Bruce M D Toy vehicle with adjustable suspension system
US5310380A (en) * 1992-04-13 1994-05-10 Levy Richard C Adjustable height play toy with movable body portion
US5415580A (en) * 1993-07-19 1995-05-16 Onilco Innovacion S.A. Variable height double-faced doll, adaptable to the body and height of the user
US6000990A (en) * 1997-03-04 1999-12-14 T. K. Wong & Associates Ltd. Tumbling toy with freely movable limbs
USD404439S (en) 1998-04-03 1999-01-19 Tomy Company Ltd. Doll
US6174216B1 (en) 1999-08-03 2001-01-16 Mattel, Inc. Stretchable two-headed toy figure
US6648717B1 (en) 2002-05-10 2003-11-18 Mattel, Inc. Adjustable hoop and method of using the same
US6808437B2 (en) * 2003-02-04 2004-10-26 Senario Llc Extendible link soft or plush toy
US20060217032A1 (en) * 2005-03-22 2006-09-28 Wen-Chuan Kuo Flexible toy
US20150122073A1 (en) * 2012-06-01 2015-05-07 Aldebaran Robotics Spinal column for a humanoid robot
US20140199912A1 (en) * 2013-01-14 2014-07-17 Peter Alan Fish Toy figure having reconfigurable portions and methods of using the same
US9345982B2 (en) * 2014-09-01 2016-05-24 Joseph Farco Building block universal joint system
US10258897B2 (en) 2014-09-01 2019-04-16 Joseph Farco Posable interlocking building block connector
US11014015B2 (en) 2014-09-01 2021-05-25 Joseph Farco Posable toy linkage system
US20220008835A1 (en) * 2014-09-01 2022-01-13 Joseph Farco Posable wire connector for building blocks
US20190038982A1 (en) * 2017-08-07 2019-02-07 Randy Wayne Clark Expandable and collapsible plush toy
WO2019032505A1 (en) * 2017-08-07 2019-02-14 Randy Wayne Clark EXTENDABLE AND COMPRESSIBLE PLUSH TOY
US11738280B2 (en) * 2017-08-07 2023-08-29 Randy Wayne Clark Expandable and collapsible plush toy
US20220401846A1 (en) * 2021-06-22 2022-12-22 Wonderfuljungle LLC Extendable toys
US20230211249A1 (en) * 2021-12-30 2023-07-06 Stargo Brands LLC Expandable digit-operapble therapeutic toy
US20240226765A9 (en) * 2022-10-25 2024-07-11 Godd Ip Llc Interactive toy

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
DE2100927A1 (de) 1971-08-05
CA919426A (en) 1973-01-23
JPS4940657B1 (enExample) 1974-11-05
FR2075077A5 (enExample) 1971-10-08
GB1319800A (en) 1973-06-06

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