Abstract:
A folding panel assembly includes a first panel having an interior surface and an exterior surface, and a second panel having an interior surface and an exterior surface. The first and second panels have respective adjoining first edges that together define a first gap between the panels. An interior image layer is fixed to the interior surfaces of the first panel and of the second panel. An exterior image layer is fixed to the exterior surfaces of the first panel and of the second panel. At least one of the image layers forms a first reversibly foldable hinge spanning the first gap.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/496,763 filed Jun. 14, 2011. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to folding displays. Particular embodiments relate to recreational articles for use as stages or backdrops during play with dolls. 
         [0004]    2. Related Art 
         [0005]    Doll houses became popular for the amusement of European adults more than four centuries ago, and had been built and used for various more solemn purposes over the past several millennia. The first known miniature houses have been found in the tombs of kings, in China and in Egypt, and presumably were placed there for posthumous use by the deceased. These early constructions were richly ornate and have been estimated to have cost as much as full size houses. 
         [0006]    Within the past two hundred years, doll houses have become playthings for children. Consequently, cost has become an issue, and efforts have been made to reduce it. Also, unlike dead kings, children carry their playthings about from one place to another. Therefore, portability has become an important consideration in the manufacture and sale of doll houses. 
         [0007]    For example, U.S. Pat. No. 513,688, issued Jan. 30, 1894 to Smith, discloses a doll house formed of two-piece folding modules having vertical walls supported by a central binding. Smith discloses that the horizontal floors of the modules fold up to the vertical walls, which are folded together around the binding. Smith&#39;s modules are hinged to fold at inside corners of the walls and floors. Accordingly, Smith&#39;s vertical walls are printed with images or “settings” on each side, while the horizontal floors are printed only on their upper sides. The floors can be variously shaped to provide segments that form a closed shape when all the modules are deployed from the binding. 
         [0008]    As another example, Mallgraf disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,232,953, issued Feb. 25, 1941, a series of fully enclosed model houses made by cutting down and re-folding specially printed cereal boxes. Mallgraf discloses the model houses may be sold as “giveaways” or consumer enticements provided in the disposable packaging of a primary product, and can be used as settings for outdoor play scenes. 
         [0009]    As a third example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,872,753 issued to Fenton on Feb. 10, 1959 discloses a collapsible doll house construction in which a single doll room, including furniture may be deployed from or folded into a carrying box configuration. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0010]    According to the present invention, a folding play stage is provided for use with dolls or other play figures. The inventive play stage may be assembled from one or more folding assemblies. Each such assembly includes planar segments or panels that form the stage. For example, a assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention may include two walls and a floor. The segments of each assembly may be reversibly decorated, in other words, each face of each segment or panel may be printed or otherwise decorated with an image. Each assembly folds reversibly, such that either of two scenes may be selected by appropriately folding the assembly. The reversibly folding hinges are formed by the decorative image layers so that a seamless image is presented across the fold. In select embodiments, assemblies may be stacked or arranged together to form a multi-scene, multi-level stage. Each assembly also may be folded in one way to a substantially flat configuration for ease of storage and transportation. In some embodiments, a assembly may include curtains, carpet, or other decorative items fastened to one or more of the panels. 
         [0011]    These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in light of the detailed description of the best mode embodiment thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  shows in perspective view a fully erect folding play stage, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  shows in perspective view the play stage shown in  FIG. 1 , partly folded according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3  shows in side view the play stage shown in  FIG. 1 , completely folded according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 4  shows in plan view the play stage shown in  FIG. 1 , fully spread flat. 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  shows in section view a hinge between a rear wall panel and a floor panel of the play stage shown in  FIG. 4 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  shows a wall image for a play stage, including a look through image, according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  shows in side view a photographic set up for obtaining a wall image including a look through image as shown in  FIG. 6 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  shows in perspective view a combination of a fully erect play stage with a second play stage spread flat to provide surrounding floor or landscape. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0020]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a folding play stage  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first or rear wall panel  12 , a second or side wall panel  14 , and a third or floor panel  16 . Each panel has an interior surface  12   a,    14   a,    16   a  as well as an exterior surface  12   b,    14   b,    16   b.  Each panel surface is decorated with a corresponding image, for example, two (2) interior wall images, two (2) exterior wall images, a floor image, and an exterior ground image. An exemplary interior wall image  60  is further discussed below with reference to  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
         [0021]    In embodiments, these images all are printed on a single image sheet  18  that overlaps the exterior sides of all three panels, is wrapped around an edge  12   c  of the rear wall panel  12 , and overlaps the interior sides of all three panels. The image sheet includes an interior portion  18   a  and an exterior portion  18   b.  On the interior sides of the wall panels, curtains  19  are attached. The curtains can be fastened by adhesive, by hook-and-loop fasteners, by stapling or pinning, or by other familiar modes. The floor panel is shown partly overlaid by a carpet segment  20 . However, in some embodiments, the curtains and/or the carpet segment may be omitted. 
         [0022]    The three panels  12 ,  14 ,  16  are joined by two live hinges  22 , which are formed in part by the image sheet  18 , as further discussed below with reference to  FIG. 5 . The three panels  12 ,  14 ,  16  can be positioned on the hinges  22  to provide a room or setting that is accessible from two sides for doll play, as shown in  FIG. 1 . Alternatively the panels can be folded together for carrying as shown in  FIGS. 2-3 .  FIG. 4  shows a spread flat configuration of the folding play stage  10 . 
         [0023]    In some embodiments, carrying handles  232  are fastened to the upper edges of the wall panels, for example by Chicago screws or by rivets  24 . Adhesive can also be used for fastening the carrying handles. The panels  12 ,  14 ,  16  may be formed from wood, metal, plastic, fiberboard, cardboard, heavy paper, or other suitable materials. The handles  23  may be natural or artificial fabric, or may be monolithic polymer straps cut from sheet material or molded. The handles  23  are considered to be flexible, but rigid handles are within the scope of the invention. Thus, in some embodiments, the handles may be integrally formed with the panels. Thicknesses and areas of the panels are chosen to maintain weight of the room  10  at less than about fifteen (15) pounds for easier carrying by a typical user. 
         [0024]      FIG. 5  shows in section view one exemplary construction of a laminated hinge  22  that is usable in the play stage shown by  FIG. 1 . The illustrated hinge is formed across a gap  26  between the closely-adjacent edges of the rear wall panel  12  and the floor panel  14 . As shown in  FIG. 5 , the hinge  22  includes a tape or ligament  28  adjacent the interior surfaces of the panels, also includes the interior and exterior portions  18   a,    18   b  of the unitary image sheet  18 , and also includes interior and exterior portions  30   a,    30   b  of a transparent overlay  30 . 
         [0025]    In embodiments, the ligament  28  is formed by fiber-reinforced tape of standard thickness. The image sheet  18  is printed on polyvinyl acetate of between about 0.100 mm and 0.150 mm thickness, preferably between about 0.125 and 0.135 mm thickness. The overlaid transparent material  30  is formed by polyvinyl acetate or by polypropylene of between about 0.010 mm and 0.015 mm, preferably about 0.012 mm thickness. 
         [0026]    As shown in  FIG. 5 , the ligament  28  is fastened at the interior surfaces of the rear wall panel  12  and the floor panel  14  so as to bridge the gap  26  between the adjacent edges of the two panels. Each of the laminar live hinges also includes one or more vinyl acetate sheets or films  30  that are overlaid on the sheet  18  of interior and exterior images. In one embodiment a single vinyl acetate sheet may be wrapped over the image sheet around the same edge(s) where the single image sheet is wrapped. 
         [0027]    Several dimensional choices effect reversible movement of the live hinge  22 . Key dimensions include: thicknesses of the panels  12 ,  14 , and/or  16 ; the width of the gap  26 ; and thicknesses of the ligament  28 , the image sheet  18 , and the transparent overlay  30 . 
         [0028]    In the construction shown in  FIG. 5 , thicknesses of the overlay  30  and of the image layer  18  play a role in determining appropriate width of each gap  26 . During assembly, the width of each gap is defined at the interior side by the spacing of the panels  12 ,  14  and/or  16 . After assembly, the width of each gap is maintained by the dimensions of the ligament, the image layer, and the overlay across that gap. In embodiments, the gap width is between about 5 mm and about 20 mm. In select embodiments, the gap width is between about 10 mm and about 15 mm. In embodiments, each hinge  22  is arranged with the gap  26  sufficiently wide so that the separate interior and exterior portions of the image sheet  18  can contact or adhere to the ligament  28  thus forming the reversible hinge  22 . 
         [0029]    In order to provide a high quality dollhouse product of acceptable cost, the image layer  18  can include trompe l&#39;oeil type images so as to substitute photography for solid components. For example,  FIG. 6  shows an exemplary trompe l&#39;oeil image  60  for use on an interior wall panel. Rather than showing a flat wall, the exemplary image  60  includes a window image  62  through which a distant scene  64  is visible with proper perspective (depth of field). The entire image  60 , including the inset “look through” image portion  64 , is achieved by scale photography of a modeled scene through a scale wall and window, as shown in  FIG. 7 . Similar images are produced for application to external walls, however, the external wall images have “look ins” to scenes matching the interior wall panels, so as to provide an illusion of actually looking into the play stage. 
         [0030]      FIG. 7  shows a photographic set up  70  for obtaining the exemplary image  60  as discussed above. The photographic set up includes a camera  72 , which is set facing a first window  74  formed in a first panel  76 . The first panel is decorated to display an interior setting, including three dimensional features such as window molding, foot molding, and optionally curtains  77 . Beyond the first panel is a scale modeled scenic section  78 . The camera views the scenic section via the first window, to produce the image  60  including window  62  and “look through” image portion  64 . In some embodiments, the curtains are omitted for photographing the image  60 , but are replaced on the panel for shooting a “look in” image as further discussed below. 
         [0031]    The photographic setup may also include a second panel  80 , also decorated to display an interior setting. By photographing this second panel  80  through the first window  74 , it is possible to obtain a “look in” image that maintains the illusion of a to-scale room. 
         [0032]    Alternatively, image processing software such as Adobe&#39;s PhotoShop™ may be used to obtain depth of field by manipulating stacked image layers based on full size photos of real landscapes or other exterior or interior images. This allows for visible changes to be made to the image viewed through the interior window. 
         [0033]    In one embodiment the external wall look-throughs are photographed with curtains  19  over the window  74 , while the internal wall look-throughs are photographed without curtains. Actual curtains  19  then are provided attached to the interior wall surfaces of the play stage, thereby enhancing the look-through illusion. The curtains may be attached by adhesive, by hook-and-loop fasteners, by pinning, by stitching, or by any other conventional mode. 
         [0034]    Similarly, the floor panel images may show wood, tile, or other common flooring materials photographed to scale. A carpet segment  20  of suitable shape and size may also be provided for additional play options. In example, when the room is inverted to show the “outdoor” side of the floor panel adjacent the two exterior wall images, the carpet segment may be positioned adjacent to one of the interior wall images to provide for two-sided play. 
         [0035]    In another embodiment, a panel assembly including panels  12 ′,  14 ′,  16 ′ may be made with exterior ground images to be laid flat adjacent the exterior walls  12 ,  14  of a standard panel assembly, as shown in  FIG. 8 . 
         [0036]    Although this invention has been shown and described with respect to the detailed embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.