Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
TOY GUN/ROBOTIC-HUMANOID ASSEMBLY
WITH BULLET PROPELLING APPAR~TUS
BACKGROUND OF T~IE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present in~ention relates to a toy gun~robotic-
humanoid assembly with a bullet propelling apparatus and,
more particularly, to a toy gun/robotic-hu~anoid assembly
which forms a toy gun when folded, and is reconfigured
into a toy robotic-humanoid when unfolded.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, such a reconfigurable toy assembly is
known that is adap~ed to be reconfigurable into different
kinds of shape through a combination of block members.
However, if such a toy assen~ly has been complicated in
construction so as to allow a unique structure to be enjoyed,
the toy assen~ly frequently becomes difficult for infants to
handle. On the other hand, if the construction is simplified,
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the toy becomes monotonous, which also makes it difficult to
interest infants therein. In addition, any loss of block
members makes it impossible to form a predetermined shape, and
it becomes troublesome to take care that any of the block
members is not lost. ~hus, the conventional reconfiguration
toy assembly is unfavourable for infants.
SUMMARY OF THE INVE~TION
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It is an object of the present invention to
provide a toy gun/robotic-humanoid assembly which forms
a toy gun when folded and is reconfigured into a toy
robotic humanoid when unfolded, the toy gun/robotic-
humanoid assembly comprising: a trunk of the toy robotic
humanoid which constitutes the central portion of the
gunbarrel of the toy gun when the assembly is folded; a
head of the toy robotic humanoid which is provided on the
upper side of the trunk and is housed within the trunk when
the assembly is folded; right and left arms of the toy robotic
humanoid which are rotatably as well as extendably mounted
on the right and left sides of the trunk and constitute
the front and rear portions of the gunbarrel of the toy gun,
respectively, when the assembly is folded; a waist unit of .-
the toy roboti.c humanoid which is pivotally provided at the
lower end of the trunk and constitutes a trigger portion
of the toy gun when the assembly is folded; legs of the
toy robotic humanoid which are pivotally mounted on the
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lower end of said trunk and together constitute a grip of
the toy gun when the assembly is folded; and feet of the
toy robotic humanoid which are pivotally provided at the
lower ends of the legs and are folded into the legs of the
toy gun when the assembly is folded.
- Another object of the invention is to provide
a bullet-propelling apparatus for the toy gun/robotic-
humanoid assembly wherein one of the lower arm portions
has a muzzle which is formed so that a toy bullet can fit
therein, and a lever device which locks the toy bullet so
that the bullet can be propelled by an external operation,
and wherein an interlocking device actuates the lever device
while interlocking with the trigger device, is provided
between the lever device and trigger device, so that the
bullet-propelling apparatus is constituted of the inter-
locking device, trigger device and lever device.
The object and features of the present invention
which are believed to be novel are set forth with particu-
larity in the appended claims. The present invention, both
as to its organization and manner of operation, together with
further objects and advantages thereo~ may best be under-
stood by reference to the following description, taken in
connection with the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of
the present invention forming a configuration of the toy
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gun with the various parts thereof folded;
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal,sectional view of the
embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the bullet-propelling apparatus
thereof before the bullet is propelled;
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the
embodiment of FIG. 1 showing the bullet propelling ~pparatus
thereof after the bullet is propelled;
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the configuration
of the toy robotic humanoid formed by the embodiment of the
present invention with the various parts thereof unfolded;
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the embodiment
while being reconfigured from the toy gun formed by the
embodiment with the various parts thereof folded, to the
toy robotic humanoid formed by the embodiment with the
various parts thereof unfolded; and
FIG. 6 is a partial sectional view taken parallel to
the longitudinal section of FIG. 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF_THE PREFERRED_EMBODIMENT
An embodiment of the invention will be described
hereinunder in detail with reference to the accompanying
drawings.
FIGS. 1 to 5 in combination show a toy pistol/
robotic-humanoid assembly having a bullet-propelling appara-
tus which will be taken as one embodiment of the toy gun~
robotic-humanoid assembly in accordance with the invention.
A toy pistol/robotic-humanoid assembly 1 acting as a toy
gun robotic-humanoid assembly is formed into a toy pistol
in external appearance, as shown in FIG. 1, when all of the
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parts thereof is folded. On the other hand, when the parts
are unfolded, the assembly is reconfigured into a toy
robotic humanoid in external appearance, as shown in FIG. 4.
Thus, the configuration of the assembly can be reversibly
changed between the toy pistol and the toy robotic humanoid.
Additionally, a toy pistol/robotic-humanoid assernbly, which
can be reversibly changed in configuration from a toy pistol
formed by the assembly with the various parts thereof folded
to a toy robotic humanoid formed by the assembly with the
various parts thereof unfolded, is constructed such that
a bullet can be propelled by operating a trigger lever
when the assembly is in the form of the toy pistol, and by
operating a 'ocking lever when the assembly is in the form
of the toy robotic humanoid.
The toy pistol/robotic-humanoid assembly 1
comprises, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5: a trunk 2; a head 3
provided at the upper end of the trunk 2; left and right arms
4, 5 pivotally mounted on the left and right sides of the
trunk 2, respectively; a waist unit 6 pivotally provided at
the lower end of the trunk 2; left and right legs 7, 8
pivotally attached to the lower end of the waist unit 6;
and a pair of feet 9, 10 pivotally provided at the lower ends
of the legs 7, 8, respectively.
The trunk 2 is composed of a trunk body 21 which
constitutes the central, gunbarrel portion of the toy
pistol when the assembly is folded, and a stay 22 which
is slidably fitted into the lower part of the trunk body
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21. The head 3 is formed 50 as to have the shape of the
head of the toy robotic humanoid and is arranged so that
it is housed in the trunk body 21 when the assembly is
folded, and is forced from the upper end of the trunk
body 21 when the asembly is unfolded by means of the resilient
force of a spring. The left and right arms 4, 5 are composed
of; left and right upper arm portions 41, 51 which are
attached to the left and right sides of the trunk body 21,
respectively, so as to be able to pivot vertically leftward
and rightward as well as rotate vertically forward and back-
ward, and which have upper-half parts that cover the upper
surface of the trunk body 21 when the assembly is folded;
left and right forearm portions 42, 52 slidably provided at
the ends of the upper arm portions 41, 51, respectively~
and left and right hands 43, 53 which are detachably provided
at the ends of the forearm portions 42, 52, respectively.
The left and right arms 4, 5 constitute the front and rear
portions of the gunbarrel of the toy pistol when the assembly
is folded. A muzzle 52a is bored thrcugh the center of the
front end of the forearm 52 so that a toy bullet la can
fit therein. The waist unit 6 is composed of: a waist body
61 provided on the lower side of the stay 22 so that it can
pivot the trunk body 21 horizontally and which is formed into
the shape of a frame constituting a trigger-mounting frame for
the toy pistol when the assembly is folded; and a trigger
device 62 which is movably provided in the frame constituted
by the waist body 61 and which constitutes the trigger of the
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toy pistol when the assembly is folded. The left and right
legs 7, 8 are composed of: left and right upper leg portions
71, 81 provided on the lower end of the waist body 61 so
that they can pivot horizontally and vertically forward and
backward; and left and right lower leg portions 72, 82
which are slidably provided on the upper leg portions 71,
81 so that they can be extended along the upper leg portions
71, 81~ respectively. The legs ?, 8 in combination constitute
the grip of the toy pistol when the assembly is folded.
The lower leg portions 72, 82 engage with the forearm portion
42 by engagement members 72a, 82a, respectively, as shown in
FIG. 1. The left and right feet 9, 10 are composed of:
left and right toe portions 91, 11 which are provided at
the lower front corners of the left and right lower leg
portions 72, 82, respectively, on pins 91a so that they
can pivot vertically forward and backward and be folded
into the vertical sides of the lower leg portions 72,
82, respectively, when the assembly is folded~ and left
and right heel portions 92, 12 which are provided on the
left and right lower leg portions 72, 82, respectively,
on the pins 91a which are also used by the toe portions 91,
11, respectively, so that they can pivot vertically forward
and backward and be folded into the undersides of the lower
leg portions 72, 82, respectively, when the assembly is folded.
The feet 9, 10 together constitute the peripheral sides of
the grip of the toy pistol when the assembly is folded.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, a bullet-propelling
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apparatus 13 comprises: the trigger device 62 which is
operated to propel the toy bullet la; a lever device 54 which
locks the toy bullet la so that the bullet la can be propelled
by an external operation; and an interlocking device 63
which is adapted to propel the toy bullet la by act~ating
the lever device 54 while interlocking with the trigger
device 62.
The trigger device 62 is composed of: a trigger
shaft 62a secured to the waist body 61; and a trigger lever
62b of which the lower halF portion projects ou-twardly,
and which is provided on the trigger shaft 62a so that it
can pivot vertically forward and backward. The lever device
54 is composed of: a lever shaft 55 secured to part of the
forearm portion 52 close to the upper arm portion 51; a
locking lever 56 adapted to lock the toy bullet la and
which is provided on the lever shaft 55 so that it can pivot
vertically forward and backward within the forearm portion
52; and a lever spring 57 of which one end is retained by
the locking lever 56 and which is provided so that it urges
the toy bullet la in the direction in which it is propelled.
The locking lever 56 is formed as a bent plate which has: a
base portion 56a of a substantially C-shaped cross-section for
retaining the lever spring 57; a hook-shaped locking portion
56b adapted to lock the toy bullet la and whicll extends
forward from the upper part of the base portion 56a; and a
projectiOn 56c provided on the upper part of the base portion
56a so as to extend outward beyond the upper part of the
forearm portion 52. The interlocking device 6~ is composed
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of: a thin, round trigger rod 63a provided so that it can
slide forward and backward while in contact with ~he front
end part of the trigger lever 62b which is above the trigger
shaft 62a; a substantially stair-shaped trigger arm 63b
provided so that it can slide forward and backward with its
rear end against the front end of the trigger rod 63a; a
trigger spring 63c wound around the periphery of the trigger
rod 63a between a spring seat 61a formed on an inner front
part of the waist body 61 and the trigger lever 62b so as
to urge the trigger lever 62b in the clockwise direction;
and a thin, round, rod--shaped trigger piston 63d provided
so that it can slide forward and backward with its ends
against the front end of the trigger arm 63b and the rear
surface of the locking lever 56, respectively.
The operation of the toy pistol~robotic-humanoid
assembly having a bullet-propelling apparatus will be described
hereinunder:
The toy pistol/robotic-humanoid assembly 1 when
in the shape of a toy pistol, with the various parts thereof
folded as shown in FIG. 1, can be reconfigured into the
shape of the toy robotic humanoid, as shown in FIG. 4, by
successively unfolding the parts, as shown in FIG. 5.
First of all, the toy pistol/robotic-humanoid
assembly 1 in the form of a toy pistol, with the various
parts thereof folded as shown in FIG. 1, is unfolded.
More specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, the left and right
forearm portions 42, 52 are slid outward with respect to
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the upper arm portions 41, 51, respectively, to release the
vertical engaqement between the left and right lower leg
portions 72, 82 and the forearm portion 42. Then, as shown
in FIG. 5, the stay 22 is slid downward with respect to the
trunk body 21 to extend the trunk 2 and thereby release
the horizontal engagement between the lower leg portions
72, 82 and the forearm portion 42. Subsequently, the trunk
2, together with the arms 4, 5, is rotated clockwise through
90 with respect to the waist unit 6 so as to cross the
waist unit 6 at ri~ht angles. The left and right lower
leg portions 72, 82 are slid downward with respect to the
left and right upper leg portions 71, 81 to extend the left
and right legs 7, 8 so that the legs 7, 8 can pivot horizontally
and vertically forward and backward. Then the left and
right legs 7, 8 are rotated through 180 horizontally forward
so as to be reversed parallel to each other.
Referring to FIG. 6, a pivot arm 101 is connected
through a pin 102 to the upper leg portion 71. An equivalent
pivot arm and pin that operates in the same manner is connected
to the upper leg portion 81~ though not shown herein. The pivot
arm 101 includes a pin 103 that is rotatably connected to the
wai~;tbody 61. This pin 103 can rotate relative to the waistbody
61 to permit the leg 7, when in the extended condition, to pivot
horizontally and vertically forward from the view shown in FIG.
6. Referring to FIG. 4, the other side of the pin 102 and the
pivot arm 101 is shown rotated to the forward position. FIG. 6
shows the arm 101 rotated to the backward position.
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Subsequently, the left and right upper arm portions 41,
51, together with the forearm portions 42, 52, are rotated
through 90 vertically downward so that each crosses the trunk 2
at right angles, to form a substantially channel-like shape in
combination. While this happens, the head 3 is released from
its engagement with the upper arm portions 41, 51 as the upper
arm portions 41, 51 rotate~ and is therefore moved upward by
the resilient force of the spring to project beyond the
upper surface of the trunk 2 and allow the greater part
of its face to appear. Then left and right hands 43, 53
are fitted and locked into the lower ends of the forearm
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portions 42, 52 to form the arrns 4, 5, respectively. The
left and riqht toe portions 91, 11 are each rotated vertically
forward about the pins 91a, and the left and right heel
portions 92, 12 are also each rotated vertically d~wnward
about the pins 91a, so that the heel por-tions 92, 12 and
the toe portions 91, 11 are on the respective horizontal
straight lines, to form left and right feet 9, 10.
Thus the various parts of the toy pistol/robotic-
humanoid assembly in the shape of the toy pistol are un-
folded to reconfigure the assembly into a toy robotic
humanoid shown in FIG. 4.
Meanwhile, the bullet-propelling apparatus 13
is adapted to be able to propel the toy bullet la when the
assembly is either in the form of the toy pistol or in
the form of the toy robotic humanoid.
More specifically, when the assembly is in the
form of the toy pistol, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a finger
i5 placed on the trigger lever 62b to pivot it counter-
clockwise. In consequence, the trigger piston 63d is slid
forward by the trigger rod 63a and the trigger arm 63b,
causing the locking lever 56 to pivot clockwise about the
lever shaft 55. As a result, the locking of the toy bullet
la by the locking portion 56b of the locking lever 56 is
released, so that the toy bullet la is propelled toward
the target by the resilient force of the lever spring 57.
On the other hand, when the assembly is in the
form of the toy robotic humanoid, as shown in FIG. 4, the
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interlocking device 63 and thelever device 54 are not
linked to each other. For this reason, the toy bullet la
cannot be propelled by the operation of the trigger lever
62b; so the lock lever 56 can be directly operated to allow
the toy bullet la to be propelled. More specifically,
pivoting the projection 56c rearward (clockwise) undoes the
locking of the toy bullet la by the locking portion 56b, to
allow the toy bullet la to be propelled toward the target
by the resilient force of the lever spring 57r
Thus it is possible to propel the toy bullet la
toward the target by operating the trigger lever 62b when
the assembly is in the form of the toy gun, as
shown in FIG. li or by directly operating the locking lever
~6 when the assembly is in the form of the toy robotic
humanoid, as shown in FIG. 4.
After the toy bullet la has been propelled as
described above, the trigger lever 62b is returned to its
former position by a clockwise pivotal force by the resilient
force of the trigger spring 63c.
When loading the toy bullet la, fitting the toy
bullet la into the muzzle 52a enables a lock between the toy
bullet la and the locking portion 56b of the locking lever
56, thereby allowing the toy bullet la to be loaded into
the toy pistol/robotic-humanoid assembly 1.
It is to be noted that the toy pistol/robotic-
humanoid assembly, ~Ihen in the shape of the toy robotic
humanoid, can be reconfigured into the shape of the toy
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pistol, as shown in FIG. 1, by folding the various parts
thereof in the reverse order to that above. In other
words, it is possible to effect a reversible change in configu-
ration between the toy pistol formed by the assembly with the
various parts thereof folded, and the toy robotic humanoid
formed by the assembly with the various parts thereof
unfolded.
It is also to be noted that the configuration
of the toy gun including the toy bullet-propelling apparatus
in accordance with the invention is not limited to that of
the pistol type of gun in accordance with the above embodiment,
and may be that of a rifle, machine gur. or other type of
gun, although these are not shown. In addition, the toy
robotic humanoid in accordance with the invention is not
limited to the non-powered type of toy robotic humanoid
in accordance with the above embodiment, and may be powered,
although this is not shown. Moreover, the toy robotic
humanoid may have other accessories, such as a gun or the
like, as required.
The invention with the above construction offers
the following practical advantages:
tl) The toy gun/robotic-humanoid assembly is
extremely surprising and very interesting, since the assembly
effects a remarkable, totally unexpected change in configu-
ration from the shape of a toy gun formed with the various
parts of the assembly folded, to the shape of a toy robotic
humanoid folmed with the various parts of the assembly unfolded.
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(2) 'I'he operation is simple, since each o~ the
constituent parts can be folded and unfolded simply by rotat-
ing and sliding them, and therefore there is no need for
attaching or detaching each part.
(3) ~ince the constituent parts are connected
to each other so that they can be folded and unfolded as
desired, there is no possibility that individual parts
can corne off or be lost. In addition, by folding and
unfolding the constituent parts, it is possible to effect
a complicated change in configuration, so very advanced block
play is possible.
(4) The toy gun/robotic-humanoid assembly is
extremely surprising and very interesting, since the assembly
is able to propel the toy bullet even when it is in the form
of the toy robotic humanoid with the various parts of the
assembly unfolded, as well as when it is in the form of the
toy gun with the various parts of the assembly folded.
(5) Since the toy bullet can be propelled
either when the assembly is folded to form the toy gun or
when the assembly is unfolded to form the toy robotic
humanoid, range of play of the bullet-propelling assembly
is very wide.
(6) Since the assembly and the bullet-propelling
apparatus has a simple structure but a large change in
configuration obtained when folded or unfolded, its manufac-
ture is easy, and its cost low.
