Toy with spring-loaded, pop-off appendage assemblies

• US 20060111013A1
• Filed: 10/24/2005
• Published: 05/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mattel Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Mattel Incorporated
• Inventors: Cheung, Jamie, Lau, Leon
• Granted Patent: US 7,575,496 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 446/308
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 3/20 with parts moved due to movements of other parts, e.g. limbs
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 3/46 Connections for limbs

Abstract

A toy locking mechanism, a toy releasing mechanism, and action figure toys that include the same. The toy locking mechanism may include first and second members having at least one corresponding pair of first and second locking elements forming nip regions. The locking mechanism may also include a third member having an end portion adapted to be retained in a nip region when the second member is in a locked position. A fourth member may be adapted to bias the second member toward the locked position. A fifth member may be adapted to be moved by a user relative to the first and second members, and may be adapted to contact the second member during movement to urge the second member toward an unlocked position. Some embodiments include a releasing mechanism adapted to urge the end portion of a third member away from an associated nip region.

Claims

1. A toy locking mechanism comprising:

a first member having at least one first locking element;

a second member, moveable relative to the first member between locked and unlocked positions, the second member having at least one second locking element disposed at a position opposing the at least one first locking element and forming with the at least one first locking element at least one nip region;

at least one third member having an end portion adapted to be retained in the at least one nip region when the second member is in the locked position;

a fourth member adapted to bias the second member toward the locked position; and

a fifth member that is adapted to be moved by a user relative to the first and second members, and that is adapted to contact the second member during movement in a first direction to urge the second member toward the unlocked position.

2. The toy locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the at least one third member is free to rotate about an axis when the end portion is retained in the at least one nip region.

3. The toy locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the first member includes a plurality of first locking elements, the second member includes a plurality of second locking elements that are each paired with a corresponding first locking element and that are disposed at a position aligned to the corresponding first locking element forming a plurality of nip regions to retain the end portion of a corresponding end portion of each of a plurality of third members.

4. The toy locking mechanism of claim 3, wherein the second member includes a locking plate having and an aperture with a dimension;

and

wherein the fifth member includes an elongated portion having a wide segment with a dimension larger than the dimension of the aperture, and a narrow segment with a dimension smaller than the dimension of the aperture such that, when the fifth member contacts the second member, the narrow segment extends through the aperture, and the wide segment contacts the locking plate without extending through the aperture.

5. The toy locking mechanism of claim 4, wherein there are two opposing second locking elements each having a midpoint, and the wide segment is adapted to be moved relative to the locking plate along an axis that is spaced from a line drawn between the midpoints of the two opposing second locking elements.

6. The toy locking mechanism of claim 1, which further comprises a releasing mechanism adapted to urge the end portion of each of the at least one third member away from the associated nip region.

7. The toy locking mechanism of claim 6, wherein the releasing mechanism comprises:

a sixth member that is movable relative to the first, second, and fifth members between releasing and non-releasing positions, such that, when the sixth member moves toward the releasing position in a second direction, the sixth member pushes against the end portion of the one or more third member to propel the end portion away from the associated nip region; and

a seventh member adapted to bias the sixth member toward the releasing position.

8. The toy locking mechanism of claim 7, wherein the seventh member is disposed between the fifth member and the sixth member such that movement of the fifth member in the first direction increases the bias that the seventh member imparts on the sixth member.

9. The toy locking mechanism of claim 8, wherein the sixth member includes an ejecting plate having at least one edge which is angled relative to the second direction, such that the at least one edge presses against the end portion of the associated at least one third member to propel the end portion of the associated at least one third member away from the at least one nip region in a direction transverse to the second direction.

10. The toy locking mechanism of claim 9, wherein the first member includes a plurality of first locking elements, the at least one third member includes a plurality of third members, and the second member includes a plurality of second locking elements that are each paired with a corresponding first locking element and that are disposed at a position aligned to the corresponding first locking element and forming a plurality of nip regions to retain the end portion of a corresponding third member of the plurality of third members;

and

wherein the ejecting plate has plural edges that each press against the end portion of an associated third member to propel the end portion away from the nip region in a direction transverse to the second direction.

11. An action figure toy comprising the toy locking mechanism of claim 1 and a torso, wherein the torso encloses the locking mechanism, and wherein the third members are appendage assemblies.

12. A toy releasing mechanism for releasing parts of a toy, comprising:

a first member;

at least one second member releasably supported on the first member;

a third member that is movable relative to the first member between releasing and non-releasing positions, such that, when the third member is moved toward the releasing position, the third member pushes against the at least one second member to propel the at least one second member away from the third member when the second member is released from the first member; and

a fourth member that biases the third member toward the releasing position.

13. The toy releasing mechanism of claim 12, wherein the third member moves in a first direction toward the releasing position, and includes an ejecting plate having at least one edge that presses against an end portion of the at least one second member in a direction transverse to the first direction.

14. The toy releasing mechanism of claim 12, wherein the third member includes plural elements which each push against the end portion of a corresponding second member of a plurality of second members.

15. The toy releasing mechanism of claim 14, wherein the third member moves in a first direction toward the releasing position, and includes an ejecting plate having a plurality of edges with each pressing against an end portion of an associated second member in a direction transverse to the first direction.

16. An action figure toy comprising the toy releasing mechanism of claim 12 and a torso, wherein the torso includes the first member, and wherein the second members are appendage assemblies.

17. A combination locking and releasing mechanism for a toy comprising:

a first member having a plurality of first locking elements;

a second member that moves relative to the first member between a locked position and an unlocked position, the second member including a locking plate having a plurality of second locking elements that each have a midpoint, the second locking elements each being paired with a corresponding first locking element, and each being disposed at a position aligned to the corresponding first locking element forming a plurality of nip regions, the locking plate also having an aperture having a dimension and a center, the center being spaced from a line drawn between the midpoints of two opposing second locking elements;

a plurality of third members each having an end portion adapted to be retained in a corresponding nip region when the second member is in the locked position;

a fourth member adapted to bias the second member toward the locked position;

a fifth member that is moved by a user relative to the first and second members and that is adapted to contact the second member during movement in a first direction to urge the second member toward the unlocked position, the fifth member including an elongated portion having a wide segment with a dimension larger than the dimension of the aperture, and a narrow segment with a dimension smaller than the dimension of the aperture such that, when the fifth member contacts the second member, the narrow segment is inserted through the aperture until the elongated portion contacts the locking plate without the wide segment entering the aperture;

a sixth member that is movable relative to the first, second, and fifth members between a releasing position and a non-releasing position, the sixth member including an ejecting plate having plural edges that are each associated with the end portion of a corresponding third member, the edges being angled relative a the second direction such that, when in the sixth member is moved in the second direction toward the releasing position, the edges each push against the end portion of the associated third member to propel the associated third member away from the associated nip region in a direction that is transverse to the second direction; and

a seventh member that biases the sixth member toward the releasing position, the seventh member being disposed between the fifth member and the sixth member such that movement of the fifth member in the first direction increases the bias that the seventh member imparts upon the sixth member.

18. An action figure toy comprising the toy combination mechanism of claim 17 and a torso, wherein the third members are appendage assemblies.

19. The action figure toy of claim 18, wherein the torso has an exterior, a hollow interior, and an interior surface, wherein the first locking elements are disposed on the interior surface of the torso, wherein the second, fourth, sixth, and seventh members are disposed in the hollow interior of the torso, and wherein the fifth member is exposed on the exterior of the torso.

20. The action figure toy of claim 19, wherein the torso is human shaped.

21. The action figure toy of claim 20, wherein the appendage assemblies include a head, two arms, and at least one leg assembly.

22. The action figure toy of claim 20, wherein at least one of the appendage assemblies includes at least one articulating joint.