Toys with view ports

• US 8,376,806 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2006
• Issued: 02/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 11/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mattel Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Mattel Incorporated
• Inventors: Sun, Steed, Martinez, Ruben, Fan, Peter
• Primary Examiner(s): Kim, Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cegielnik, Urszula M
• Application Number:
  US11/555,091
• Publication Number:
  US 20070173174A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,303 Days
• Field of Search: 446/219, 446/431, 446/435
• US Class Current: 446/431
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/006 Missile-launching means on toy vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/008 Launching devices for motorless toy vehicles start mechanisms for trackways A63H18/026; for toy aircraft A63H27/14
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 27/004 Means for launching objects from aircraft, e.g. pilot, missiles

Abstract

A toy including a housing and at least one view port disposed within the housing and adapted to permit a user to view objects through the at least one view port.

Claims

1. A toy, comprising:

a housing including a first portion, a second portion, a connecting mechanism joining the first and second portions together, and at least one view port disposed within the housing and adapted to permit a user to view objects external to the toy through the at least one view port, the at least one view port including an elongate passage having first and second ends to allow a user to view objects adjacent to the second end by placing the first end adjacent to an eye of the user and the user looking toward the second end through the elongate passage, wherein the first and second portions are configured to be selectively manipulated between a closed configuration and an open configuration;

a projectile; and

a launching mechanism coupled to the housing and configured to engage and retain the projectile within the housing when the housing is in either a closed configuration and an open configuration, and selectively forcefully eject and thereby launch the projectile away from the housing only when the housing is in an open configuration, the launching mechanism including a trigger and an internal biasing mechanism, the trigger configured, when activated by a user, to operatively release the projectile such that the internal biasing mechanism forcefully ejects and launches the projectile away from the housing;

wherein in the closed configuration, the first and second portions enclose the projectile and the trigger within the housing so that a user cannot access and activate the trigger and the projectile cannot be launched from the housing, and in the open configuration, the first and second portions are spaced apart to reveal the trigger and the projectile within the housing so that a user may access and activate the trigger and the projectile may be launched from the housing.

2. The toy of claim 1, wherein the projectile is a toy vehicle.

3. The toy of claim 1, wherein the housing is a toy vehicle.

4. The toy of claim 3, wherein the projectile is a toy vehicle.

5. The toy of claim 1, wherein the at least one view port includes a first view port disposed within the first portion and a second view port disposed within the second portion.

6. The toy of claim 1, wherein the at least one view port is configured to magnify objects viewed through the at least one view port.

7. A toy, comprising:

a housing in the form of a toy vehicle, the housing including a first portion, a second portion, and a connecting mechanism joining the first and second portions together, wherein the first and second portions are configured to be selectively manipulated between a closed configuration wherein the portions are substantially adjacent each other and in a relative physical orientation with respect to each other and an open configuration wherein the portions are spaced from each other but remain in the same relative physical orientation with respect to each other; and

first and second view ports disposed within the housing and adapted to permit a user to view objects external to the toy through the first and second view ports, the first view port including a first elongate passage having first and second ends, the second view port including a second elongate passage having third and fourth ends, the first and second view ports configured to allow a user to view objects adjacent to the second and fourth ends by placing the first end adjacent to the user'"'"'s left eye, placing the third end adjacent to the user'"'"'s right eye, the user looking toward the second end through the first elongate passage with the left eye, and the user looking toward the fourth end through the second elongate passage with the right eye;

wherein the housing includes a launching mechanism configured to selectively engage and retain a projectile within the housing when the housing is in either a closed configuration and an open configuration, the launching mechanism including a propulsion spring and a trigger configured to be selectively actuated by a user to allow the propulsion spring to forcefully eject and launch the projectile away from the housing;

wherein in the closed configuration, the first and second view ports are adjacent to each other and the first and second portions generally enclose the projectile and the trigger within the housing so that the trigger cannot be actuated and the projectile cannot be launched from the housing, and

wherein in the open configuration, the first and second view ports are spaced from each other relative to the closed configuration and the first and second portions are spaced apart to reveal the trigger and the projectile within the housing so that the trigger can be actuated and the projectile may be launched from the housing.

8. The toy of claim 7, wherein the first and second view ports are adapted to magnify objects viewed through the first and second view ports.

9. The toy of claim 7, in combination with the projectile.

10. The toy of claim 7, wherein the projectile is a second toy vehicle.

11. The toy of claim 7, wherein the first view port is disposed within the first portion of the housing and the second view port is disposed within the second portion of the housing.