Abstract:
A toy with folding retractable wings includes a body and wings connected to the body via snap-in pivot articulations that allow the folding of the wings in a space minimizing nesting configuration. Various springs, latches, triggers and stopping mechanisms ensure that the folded wings deploy in a spring-loaded fashion, with minimal user effort. The pivot articulations can release the wings in a non-destructive manner when exposed to high mechanical stress loads, thus preventing destructive wing breakage.

Description:
This application is a 35 U.S.C. 371 national stage filing from International Application No. PCT/CA2010/000690 filed May 3, 2010, and claims priority to Canadian Application No. 2665217 filed May 1, 2009, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to toys with retractable wings or similar extensions. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the field of toys, it is known to have retractable wings or similar extensions. Owing to the materials and the structures used, however, such wings had the tendency to break when extended, or to bend unduly, or to be overly heavy to avoid such breakage. For example, resistance to breakage in the prior art has been effected by making the wings out of soft or elastic material such as foam or rubber, with the unavoidable side effect of being unable to provide a crisp and precise wing deployment and a long wing that would not wobble. Alternatively, a rigid, long, crisp and breakage-resistant toy wing construction is known in the prior art but it generally involves either using thin and very expensive materials of construction, or using extra thick, less expensive materials that impart undue bulkiness to the toy. 
     Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a toy with wings which avoided these problems with prior art toys. In particular, it would be desirable to have a toy with folding and retractable wings that could be simultaneously:
         crisp and precise in their deployment (folding, unfolding, retracting, extending);   long, wide, thin and lightweight;   of a high longitudinal rigidity when extended;   unobtrusive and compact when folded and retracted;   resistant to breakage or permanent deformation upon abusive bending/twisting and upon high energy impact with hard surface;   amenable to tool-less, fool-proof, snap-in-place assembly and disassembly;   amenable to push-button, instant deployment;   difficult to misplace or lose when disassembled from the toy body;   made of common and inexpensive plastics that are economical to manufacture and easy to process.       

     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention answers, to a substantial degree, the long felt need for folding and retractable toy wings that combine all of the above mentioned desired characteristics into one package. 
     Accordingly, in a principal aspect of the present invention, a toy is provided with folding and retractable wings that are:
         crisp and precise in their deployment (folding, unfolding, retracting, extending);   long, wide, thin and lightweight;   of a high longitudinal rigidity when extended;   unobtrusive and compact when folded and retracted;   resistant to breakage or permanent deformation upon abusive bending/twisting and upon high energy impact with hard surface;   amenable to tool-less, fool-proof, snap-in-place assembly and disassembly;   amenable to push-button, instant deployment;   difficult to misplace or lose when disassembled from the toy body;   made of common and inexpensive plastics that are economical to manufacture and easy to process.       

     These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a rear elevation view of the preferred embodiment, with the wings folded and retracted. 
         FIG. 2  is a rear elevation view of the preferred embodiment, with the wings unfolded and extended. 
         FIG. 3  is a rear elevation view of the preferred embodiment, with the wings folded and extended. 
         FIG. 4  is a rear elevation view of the preferred embodiment, with the wings folded and retracted, and the backpack cover in place. 
         FIG. 5  is a rear elevation view of the preferred embodiment, with the wings unfolded and extended, and the backpack cover in place. 
         FIG. 6  is a side perspective view of the preferred embodiment, with the wings unfolded and extended, and the backpack cover in place. 
         FIG. 7  is a rear elevation view of an alternative embodiment, showing the strings tethering each wing to the toy body. 
         FIG. 8  is an exploded view of the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 9A  is an exploded view of the wing section of the preferred embodiment, showing an outside surface of the backpack cover. 
         FIG. 9B  is a perspective view of the backpack cover shown in  FIG. 9A  showing an inside surface of the backpack cover. 
         FIG. 10  is an exploded 3D view of a preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  is another 3D exploded view of a preferred embodiment. 
         FIGS. 12 ,  13 ,  14 ,  15 ,  16  and  17  are rear elevation views depicting a typical sequence of positions of the wings, starting from a fully folded and retracted position, then fully unfolded and extended and then back to fully folded and retracted. Instructions and arrows are added to each image, to describe the movement of toy parts and the typical actions of the user. 
         FIG. 18  is a rear elevation view of the preferred embodiment, with the wings extended and removed from the pivot articulations. 
         FIG. 19  is a rear elevation view of the back cover of the preferred embodiment. 
         FIG. 20  is an exploded view of the wing section of an embodiment fitted with electric wingtip lights. 
         FIG. 21  is a perspective view of the underside of a wing that has been partially removed from the pivot articulation, so as to expose the functional features on the underside of the wing. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       FIG. 1  shows a toy  2  in accordance with a preferred embodiment. The toy  2  has a body  4 , a head  6  with a space helmet  8 , two arms  10 A,  10 B, two legs  12 A,  12 B, and two folding and retractable wings  14 A,  14 B. When folded and retracted as shown in  FIG. 1 , the wings  14 A,  14 B are nested one under the other on the back of the toy  2 . A backpack cover  16  substantially covers the wings  14 A,  14 B in their nested position, to hide the folded wings from sight and to impart a more esthetically pleasing and streamlined look to the toy  2 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 9B , the backpack cover  16  has an outside surface  18 , and an inside surface  20  normally facing the wings  14 A,  14 B. In alternative embodiments, the backpack cover  16  can be absent, without substantially affecting the functioning of the toy  2 .  FIG. 9B  also illustrates a view of the inside surface  20  of the backpack cover  16 , showing a knob  13  positioned to engage a retraction latch release lever  15  (shown in  FIG. 18 ) on the wings  14 A,  14 B. 
     In the preferred embodiment shown in  FIGS. 4 to 6 , the backpack cover  16  is positioned on the toy body so as not to impede the deployment (folding, unfolding, retracting, extending) of the wings  14 A,  14 B. As shown in  FIGS. 9A and 9B , the backpack cover  16  has, attached to its inside surface  20 , two pins  22 A,  22 B with spherical heads  24 A,  24 B (shown in  FIG. 19 ). The spherical heads  24 A,  24 B releasably snap into appropriately sized respective resilient receptacles  26 A,  26 B fixed on the back of the toy body, to hold the backpack cover  16  in place. When access to the folded wings  14 A,  14 B and to the back of the toy body is desired, for example in order to access a battery compartment door or battery pack cover  28 , the backpack cover  16  can be relatively easily snapped off by the application of an outward pulling force. The backpack cover  16  can be snapped back on by the application of a pushing force. The backpack cover  16  can also snap off by itself, without breakage, should the wings themselves snap off from the body for example resulting from abusive bending/twisting, or from high energy impact with a hard surface such as occurs when dropped on the floor. 
     Each individual wing  14 A,  14 B has an underside surface piece  30 A,  30 B and a top surface piece  32 A,  32 B. The respective underside pieces  30 A,  30 B have a respective underside piece aperture  34 A,  34 B. The respective top surface pieces  32 A,  32 B have a respective top surface piece aperture  36 A,  36 B. The respective underside surface pieces  30 A,  30 B are connected to the respective top surface pieces  32 A,  32 B with the respective apertures aligned. The wings  14 A,  14 B can pivot about articulation posts  38 A,  38 B which are positioned through the respective apertures to connect the respective wings  14 A,  14 B with the back of the toy body. 
     The wings  14 A,  14 B have respective wing tip sections  40 A,  40 B which slidably extend or retract from a space formed between the respective underside surface piece  30 A,  30 B and respective top surface piece  32 A,  32 B. 
     Several springs, latches and stopping mechanisms cooperate to define two stable angular positions of each wing  14 A,  14 B relative to the longitudinal axis of the body: a folded and an unfolded position. In the folded position shown for example in  FIGS. 1 and 3 , a wing&#39;s longitudinal (base to tip) axis is generally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the toy body. In the unfolded position shown for example in  FIG. 2 , a wing&#39;s longitudinal (base to tip) axis is generally at a transverse angle with the longitudinal axis of the toy body, resembling the position of an airplane wing relative to an airplane&#39;s body. The springs impart to the wings  14 A,  14 B a permanent bias toward the unfolded position, while the folding latches serve to retain the wings locked into the folded position. When folded, the wings are thus spring-loaded, and will spring into the unfolded position when the folding latches disengage. 
     For increased compactness with both wings  14 A,  14 B in the folded position, the pivoting articulations between the wings  14 A,  14 B and the body  4  allow and impart a slight movement on a direction perpendicular to the wings&#39; angular rotation plane. When one wing is angularly rotated on its pivot towards its folded position, its pivot slides axially inward towards the body of the toy, to bring the folded wing slightly closer to the back surface of the toy. When the second wing is angularly rotated on its pivot towards its folded position, its pivot slides axially outward from the body of the toy, to bring the second folded wing slightly away from the back surface of the toy. The combined result of the two acts described above is that, when folding both wings, one wing is able to slide under the other wing and nest compactly thereunder. This helps maintain a streamlined body profile while accommodating wider wings on a narrower body, due to the increase in compactness of the wings&#39; folded configuration. 
     Independent from its angular position (folded/unfolded), each individual wing  14 A,  14 B is also retractable in length. Each wing is of a telescopic construction and consists of two sections: the base section, comprising the respective underside surface pieces  30 A,  30 B and the top surface pieces  32 A,  32 B and the tip section which telescopes from within the base section. Several springs, latches and stopping mechanisms cooperate to define two stable states for each wing: a retracted state, for example shown in  FIG. 1 , and an extended state, for example shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . The extension springs impart to each wing a permanent telescoping bias toward the extended state, while the retraction latches serve to retain a wing locked into the retracted state. The retraction latches have release levers  15  which protrude from the wing surface and which, when engaged, can release the latches and cause a wing to spring into its extended state. To engage these release levers  15 , knobs  13  and protuberances are provided on the inside face of the backpack cover (as shown in  FIG. 19 ) and/or on the back of the toy body. The knobs and protuberances are positioned so as to catch and engage the release levers  15  on the wings during the sweeping movement of the wings into their unfolded position.  FIG. 21  shows a wing  14 , partially removed from the pivot articulation  38  to expose the functional features of the underside of the wing  14 , namely the retraction latch release lever  15  on the underside surface of the wing  14 , a knob  13  that engages the retraction latch release lever  15 , and a pivot articulation  38  that connects the wing  14  with the toy body. 
     In a preferred embodiment, such as illustrated in  FIG. 12 , a user triggers the unfolding of the wings  14 A,  14 B by pressing a button  60  on a chest  62  of the toy to release the latch that holds the spring-loaded wings in the folded position. Pressing the button  60  is shown as action “A” in  FIG. 12 . Once the unfolding of the wings  14 A,  14 B is underway, knobs  13  and protuberances, positioned on the backpack cover and/or on the back of the toy body, engage the release levers  15  of the retraction latches on each wing, and automatically cause each wing to telescopically expand to its full extended length, without any extra input from the toy user. The swinging out of wings  14 A and  14 B is shown as action “B”, and the popping out of wing tip sections  40 A,  40 B is shown as action “C” in  FIG. 12 .  FIG. 13  shows the result of the actions of  FIG. 12 , with both wings  14 A,  14 B extended out. Turning now to  FIG. 14 , a toy according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, with backpack removed and wings  14 A,  14 B fully extended. A user may then rotate both wings  14 A,  14 B inward until a click is heard, shown as action “D” in  FIG. 14 , and then push the wing tip sections  40 A,  40 B of the wings  14 A,  14 B upward until they are locked in position, shown as action “E” in  FIG. 15 .  FIG. 16  shows the result of the actions of  FIGS. 14 and 15 , with both wings  14 A,  14 B locked, folded and retracted, and  FIG. 17  shows the result of a user putting back the backpack cover  16 . 
     Turning now to  FIG. 18 , in a preferred embodiment, one wing has its retraction latch release lever  15  positioned on the underside surface of the wing (facing the back of the toy body) so that it could be engaged by a knob (not shown) placed on the body of the toy. The other wing has its release lever (not shown) on its top surface (facing the backpack cover) so that it could be engaged by a knob  13  placed on the inside face of the backpack cover. In alternative embodiments, the wings  14 A,  14 B can have their retraction latch release levers on either their underside or on their top surfaces, so as to be able to engage the corresponding knobs placed either on the inside of the backpack cover or on the body of the toy. 
     In an alternative embodiment, there is no button to trigger the spring-loaded unfolding of the wings  14 A,  14 B, and the user has to initiate the unfolding by pulling each wing outwardly until the latches on each wing disengage and each wing proceeds to complete its spring-loaded unfolding, followed by spring-loaded wing expansion into its extended state, as described in the previous paragraph. 
     With reference to  FIG. 20 , in another alternative embodiment, the tips of the wings have operational electric light-bulbs or LEDs  202 . Thin, flexible electrical cables  206 , routed through the interior space of each wing, connect the wingtip lights with the battery pack  204  located preferably within the body of the toy. Integrated circuit means, also located preferably within the body of the toy, can be used to control the operation of the wingtip lights and of various other body lights and accompanying sounds. In another alternative embodiment, there is no integrated circuit, and simple contact switches turn on the wingtip lights upon wing deployment and turn off the lights when the wings are folded and retracted. 
     Retracting and folding back the wings  14 A,  14 B is done manually in all embodiments, by rotating each wing inward until the folding latches on each wing engage, followed by pushing the tip section of each wing into its base section until the retraction latches on each wing engage. 
     The pivoting articulations between the wings and the toy body are constructed to allow snap-in-place assembly and disassembly of the articulation, without the need to use any tools or an excessive force beyond what a typical user of the toy (a child) would possess. The pivoting articulations are constructed to withstand high mechanical stress and to provide crisp, precise movement during wing unfolding, as well as robust rigidity during energetic operation of the toy with the wings in a fully extended position. However, the pivoting articulations between the wings and the toy body are designed to automatically release (i.e., snap off) the wings from the pivot articulation in the event that the mechanical stress load would approach a level that could cause breakage or destructive disassembly of the wing components, such as upon abusive bending/twisting, dropping the toy on the floor, or other high energy impact with a hard surface. The backpack cover  16  is also designed to snap off whenever one of the wings  14 A,  14 B is released from the pivot articulation, thus ensuring that a wing  14 A,  14 B becomes non-destructively detached from the toy body well before the stress load would cause that wing  14 A,  14 B to break. 
     This precise, non-destructive, safety release action allows the toy to be fitted with long, thin and lightweight rigid wings constructed of common and inexpensive plastics, yet it allows the toy to pass all safety and drop tests designed to ensure that the toy is resistant to breakage or that its breakage will not result in sharp edges. After any incident resulting in such a safety release of a wing from the pivot articulation, the toy can be easily reassembled into its original configuration by snapping back in place any part that previously snapped off, for example the wings  14 A,  14 B or the backpack cover  16 . Furthermore, in a preferred embodiment such as shown in  FIG. 7 , the respective wings  14 A,  14 B are unobtrusively tethered to the body by a length of thin string  50 A,  50 B that ensures that a detached wing cannot be lost, misplaced or taken away from the general proximity of the toy  2 . In an alternative embodiment, the tethering string  50 A,  50 B can be omitted. In another alternative embodiment, the reinforced, thin, electrical wires connecting the wingtip lights with the battery pack inside the toy&#39;s body can also serve the role of tethers for the wings. 
     It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, after reviewing this description, that many changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications for the subject folding and retractable wing toy, in addition to those which have been disclosed are possible and contemplated, and all such changes, modifications, variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention are deemed to be covered by the invention which is limited only by the claims which follow.