Doll house with storage compartment

A doll house for use as a play and storage area for dolls and accessories has an exterior shell rigidly constructed as a modular unit with a pair of end walls, a side wall and a lower floor panel to define an interior with an open front. A ceiling panel is parallel to the floor panel and extends forwardly of the side wall. The ceiling panel is below the upper edges of the end walls to form end wall expanses, and a roof panel is rigidly mounted to extend between the expanses. A lid panel is hinged along a hinged edge of the roof panel and has a free edge opposite the hinged edge so that the expanses, the roof panel and the lid panel enclose a storage area. The lid panel may be opened to access the storage area. When closed, the free edge of the lid panel is proximate the front edge of the ceiling panel.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention broadly relates to children's playhouses, but 
specifically to miniature dwelling formats which may be utilized as an 
interactive play area in conjunction with dolls. The present invention 
specifically relates to a doll house construction which not only provides 
a multi-roomed play area, but which also has a combination storage 
compartment and play area which may be used as a staging area for dolls 
but which may also be used to store dolls and accessories in-between 
intervals of play. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The existence of dolls dates to pre-recorded history of human kind. Since 
these early times, dolls have enjoyed a unique place in human development 
not only as play objects but also as item of religious significance and 
healing. Even in modern times, the value of dolls both for recreational 
activity and for the physiological application in diagnosis and therapy is 
widespread. Virtually every culture in every part of the world realizes 
some benefits from dolls. 
With respect to the utilization of dolls as objects of play, their 
significance can not be over stated. Indeed, a substantial portion of the 
toy industry is founded on the provision of various dolls having differing 
attributes and in the provision of accessories for those dolls. Further, 
in order to create a realistic environment for play, various doll houses 
have been proposed in order to provide a simulated living environment 
which stimulates the imagination, especially of children. Thus, 
implementation of doll houses provides a realistic setting for play 
wherein a child may act out, through the doll media, everyday situations. 
Notwithstanding the existence of doll houses as a staging arena for the 
make believe, a problem remains when play time is over. Due to the various 
accessory items, such as articles of clothing and the miniature 
"possessions", concomitant with dolls, it is not uncommon for doll play 
and doll houses to have associated therewith substantial clutter and 
disarray. Thus, doll houses often exhibit an untidy appearance despite 
good intentions of adults and children. Common practice allows for storage 
of dolls and accessory items in special places such as drawers, boxes, 
toychests and the like. In many instances, though, such storage areas are 
somewhat inconvenient, especially for children. Accordingly, there has 
been a long felt need for a doll house which provides greater convenience 
for play with and storage of dolls and accessories. It is not believed 
that heretofore, this need has been adequately satisfied, and it is to 
this need that the present inventor directs his improvements to existing 
doll house technology. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful doll 
house construction that not only provides a staging area for doll play as 
opposed to gun play but also provides a self-contained storage compartment 
for dolls and their accessories. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a doll house which 
may be enclosed when not in use so as to present an uncluttered and tidy 
appearance. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a doll house 
structure that is relatively inexpensive to produce so that ownership is 
available to a substantial majority of families. 
Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a that 
has a self-contained storage compartment which may also function as an 
additional play area or room in the doll house. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a doll house having 
foldable sections allowing the doll house to expand into a larger play 
area yet collapse into a smaller storage area that also acts to store 
dolls and accessories. 
According to the present invention, then, a doll house structure is 
provided which structure is adapted to set on a support surface and 
provides both a play area for children's dolls and accessories in a 
concealed storage area for storing the dolls and accessories when not in 
use. The doll house structure broadly includes an exterior house shell 
that has an interior with an open front and which is formed by a sidewall 
panel having an upper side edge, a pair of opposite endwall panels having 
respective upper endwall edges and a lower floor panel. A ceiling panel 
extends between the endwalls parallel to the floor panel and forwardly of 
the sidewall so that the ceiling panel is positioned below the respective 
upper endwall edges to separate the endwalls into an upper endwall expanse 
and a lower endwall expanse. A first roof panel is mounted on the house 
shell between the upper endwall expanses and a lid panel extends between 
the upper endwall expanses so that the roof panel, the lid panel, and the 
upper endwall expanses form an enclosed storage region sized to receive 
and store dolls and accessories. The lid panel is hingedly secured to the 
roof panel and is movable between a closed position wherein the storage 
region is concealed and an open position wherein the storage region is 
accessible. Thus, when the lid panel is in the open position, the storage 
region becomes an attic play area for the doll house. 
Preferably, each of the upper endwall expanses is triangular in 
configuration with the ceiling panel oriented along the respective bases 
thereof. The roof panel then lays along the one side of the triangular 
configuration and the lid panel extends along a respective second side of 
the triangular configuration. These triangular configurations of the upper 
endwall expanses may be a right angle with the roof panel being oriented 
along the respective hypotenuse thereof. Alternately, the upper endwall 
expanses may have an isosceles triangular configuration with the roof and 
lid panels oriented along the respective leg edges of the isosceles 
triangular configuration. A rail element may be mounted proximate a front 
edge of the ceiling panel in order to form an upstanding rail in the front 
of the house shell and the storage region which upstanding rail is 
operative to help retain the dolls and the accessories in the attic play 
area and also to define a seat for the lid panel when it is in the closed 
position. 
Further, the doll house according to the present invention may include an 
intermediate floor panel positioned between and parallel to the floor and 
ceiling panels to separate the interior of the house shell into upper and 
lower levels, and an interior wall panel may extend between the floor and 
intermediate floor panels outwardly from the sidewall toward the front of 
the house shell thereby to separate the lower level into two room 
portions. The open front of the doll house may be enclosed by doors which 
pivot between door open and door closed positions along pivot axes 
proximate each respective endwall. The interior wall panel may have a 
doorway opening therein. If desired, the floor panels as well as an upper 
surface of the ceiling panel, in the attic play area, may be covered with 
a felt material to simulate carpeting. A deck structure may be pivotally 
mounted on one or more of the end panels on an exterior of the exterior 
shell, with this deck structure movable between a stored position against 
a respective endwall panel and an operative position parallel to the 
support surface. Deck railing may be provided around a deck floor that 
forms the deck structure, with the deck railings foldable with respect to 
the deck floor. One or more support legs may be pivotally mounted to the 
underside of the deck floor to support the deck floor when in the 
operative position. 
The exterior house shell may be strengthened by a reinforcement column 
along each endwall panel along the front and wall edge thereof, the door 
panels may include a latch structure, such as a key lock, for fastening 
the door panels in a closed position, and the latch means may be key 
actuated. The lid panel, as well as the roof panel, may be provided with 
skylight openings and door and window openings may be provided in the 
endwalls, in the sidewall and in the door panels, as desired. 
Further, according to one form of the present invention, the doll house 
structure may be formed by a pair of house sections which are pivotal to 
one another to be movable between an open house position exposing the 
respective interiors of each house section and a closed house position 
enclosing the respective interior. Each of these house sections include 
the exterior house shell, the respective roof panels and the respective 
lid panels similar to that described above. 
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily 
appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed 
description of the preferred embodiment when taken together with the 
accompanying drawings, in which:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The present invention broadly relates to playhouses, but particularly to 
doll houses which form a play area to be used be children when playing 
with dolls and their accessories. As noted above, the present invention is 
specifically directed to a new and useful doll house structure that 
provides a concealed storage area that performs as an attic play area when 
it is not being used for storage. Further, the preferred embodiment of the 
present invention contemplates a doll house that may have its interior 
completely enclosed, and which has an auxillary storage area, so that the 
doll house, the dolls and the doll accessories are maintained in a neat 
and tidy manner. 
As may be best shown in FIGS. 1-4, the basic construction of the doll house 
10 according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is 
formed by an outer house shell which may be defined to include a sidewall 
12, a first endwall 14, a second endwall 16 and a floor panel 18. A roof 
structure 20 forms a top for the housing shell and includes a ceiling 
panel 22 which extends between endwall Panels 14 and 16 in spaced apart 
parallel relation to floor panel 18. In this manner, ceiling panel 22 may 
be seen to separate first end panel 14 into a lower end panel expanse 30 
and a triangularly shaped upper end panel expanse 32. Similarly, ceiling 
panel 22 separates second end panel 16 into a lower end panel expanse 34 
and a triangularly shaped upper end panel expanse 36. Roof structure 20 
has a stationary roof panel 24 and a movable lid panel 26 which is 
pivotally secured to a forward edge of roof panel 24 by means of hinges 
28. 
As is seen in FIG. 2, the housing shell has an open front 38 which may be 
selectively closed by means of a pair of door panels 40 and 42 which may 
be moved between a door closed position, such as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 
3 to a door open position shown in FIG. 2. An intermediate floor panel 44 
may extend between end panels 14 and 16 in equidistantly spaced parallel 
relation thereto, and an interior wall panel 46, having a doorway opening 
48, may extend upwardly between floor panel 18 and intermediate floor 
panel 44 in parallel relation to end panels 14 and 16 and intermediate 
thereof. Accordingly, intermediate floor panel 44 separates the interior 
of the exterior shell of doll house 10 into upper and lower floor levels 
while inner wall 46 separates the lower level into a pair of rooms. Thus, 
in effect, the lower level has a pair of rooms each bounded by floor panel 
18 intermediate panel 44 inner wall 46 and a respective endwall panel 14 
and 16, which each of these two lower rooms being internally accessible to 
one another through doorway 48. The upper level is in the form of one 
large upper room bounded by ceiling panel 22, intermediate floor panel 44 
and endwall panels 14 and 16. 
Each of end panels 14 and 16 are constructed similarly, so, for purposes of 
greater specificity a description of one of these endwall panels, such as 
endwall panel 14, may be representative of this common construction For 
greater specificity, then, as is seen in FIG. 3, endwall panel 14 has a 
rear edge 50 which extends along sidewall panel 12 and a front edge 51 
which extends along door panel 40 in spaced apart parallel relation to 
edge 50. End panel 30 has a bottom edge 52 which extends along floor panel 
18 between rear edge 50 and front edge 51. End panel 30 has a top edge 
including a rearward top edge portion 53 and a forward top edge portion 54 
which define the leg portions of triangular upper endwall expanse 32. It 
may thus be appreciated that stationary roof panel 24 extends between and 
is supported by the respective rearward upper edge portion 53 of the 
respective end panel 14, 16 while lid panel 26 rests on and is supported 
by forward upper edge portions 54 of the respective end panels 14 and 16. 
Thus, roof panel 24 has a rearward edge 56 which extends behind and 
slightly below an upper side Panel edge 58 of side panel 50 and has a roof 
panel forward edge 60 at an apex of roof structure 20. Lid panel 26 has a 
rearward edge 62 which is hingedly secured to forward edge 60 of roof 
panel 24 by hinges 28. Lid panel 26 has a forward edge 64 opposite 
rearward edge 62. 
End panel 14 has upper and lower window openings 66 and 68. As is shown in 
FIGS. 1-4, reinforcement columns 70 and 72 extend between floor panel 18 
and ceiling panel 22. Door panel 40 is hingedly secured to support column 
70 by means of hinges 74. Door panel 40 includes a handle in the form of 
knob 76 and a key actuated latch mechanism 78 as is well known in the art. 
Further, door panel 40 includes a window opening 80 centrally located on 
an upper portion thereof. Door panel 42 is of a similar construction and 
is attached to column 72 by means of hinges 84. Door panel 42 has a handle 
or knob 86 and a key latch structure 88 as well as a window opening 82 
formed at an upper central portion of door panel 42. 
The construction of roof structure 20 may be best seen with respect to 
FIGS. 3 and 4, where it may be appreciated that roof structure 20 has an 
interior defined by an attic region 90 bounded by ceiling panel 22, upper 
endwall expanses 32 and 36, roof panel 24 and lid panel 26. Attic interior 
90 defines both a storage compartment when lid 26 is closed, as is shown 
in FIG. 3, and an attic play area for the dolls and accessories when lid 
26 is in the open position, such as shown in FIG. 4. To this end, ceiling 
panel 22 includes a fabric covering 23, such as a felt material, simulates 
carpeting for attic region 90. Similarly, floor panel 18 may have a felt 
covering 19, and intermediate floor panel 44 may have a felt covering 45, 
each to simulate carpeting. 
A railing 92 extends along a forward edge 94 of ceiling panel 22 and has an 
angled face 96 that forms a seat for lid panel 26 when lid panel 26 is in 
the closed position. Lid panel 26 may be provided with a skylight opening 
98, if desired. It may be seen that edge 64 of lid panel 26 extends to a 
location along front edge 94 and does not overhang ceiling panel 22. This 
allows doors 40 and 42 to be opened and closed regardless of the open or 
closed position of lid panel 26. 
In the construction of doll house 10, it is preferred that a side panel 12 
be constructed from 1/4" Indonesian plywood with end panels 14 and 16 
being constructed out of 3/8" plywood, for rigidity. To this end also, 
columns 70 and 72 are formed of 1".times.2" length of wood fastened to end 
panels 14 and 16 in any convenient manner, such as glue and nail. Each of 
floor panel 18 intermediate floor panel 44 and ceiling panel 22 are formed 
of 1/4" plywood, and doors 40 and 42 are preferably formed of 1/4" 
plywood. Stationary roof panel 24 may be formed out of a 3/8" piece of 
plywood while lid panel 26 is formed out of 1/4" plywood. Rail 92 is 
formed out of a 1".times.2" length of wood with face 96 being formed at an 
angle that corresponds to the angle of edge portion 54 of end panel 14 
with respect to ceiling panel 22. These various pieces are secured 
together in any manner known in the art, such as by hot glue and brad 
nails. Naturally, construction modification as known in the art is 
contemplated within the scope of this invention. 
If desired, an auxillary deck structure may be provided for doll house 10, 
as is best shown in FIG. 5-7. Here it may be seen that deck structure 100 
has a deck floor 102 that is hingedly secured to end panel 16 by means of 
hinges 104. A plurality of deck railings, including side railings 106 and 
end railing 108 are pivotally attached to deck floor 102, for example, by 
hinges 110 and 112. Thus, as is shown in FIG. 6, side railings 106 may be 
folded against deck floor 102 and end railing 108 may be folded against 
railings 106. Deck floor 102 is support against a support surface by means 
of legs 114 that are cross braced by braces 116. Braces 116 and legs 114 
are hingedly secured to deck floor 102 by means of hinges 118. Thus, after 
railings 106 108 are folded against deck floor 102 deck structure 100 may 
be folded upwardly against end panel 16, as is shown in FIG. 7 and latched 
thereto by means of releasable latch structure 120. This deck structure 
provides an additional doll play area and defines a carport structure for 
a doll vehicle. To this end, where deck structure 100 is provided, end 
panel 16 may include an optional deck doorway 101 that allows access 
between the upper level of the doll house and the deck. Thus, it may be 
seen that the deck floor is co-planar with intermediate floor 44 when the 
deck structure 100 is in the unfolded position shown in FIG. 5. Again, 
deck structure 100 may be fabricated of any suitable materials such as 
wood or plastic. 
An alternate embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 8 and 9. 
In these figures, doll house 210 includes a pair of doll house sections 
202 and 204 which are hingedly secured to one another by means of hinges 
208. The construction of each of house sections 202 and 204 is similar to 
the construction of doll house 10 with the exception of the roof structure 
220. Here, the end panels, such as end panels 214 and 216 have respective 
upper expanses 232 which are formed as right triangles instead of the 
isosceles triangles shown for expanses 232 and 236 in FIG. 4. Stationary 
roof panel 224 extends along the hypotenuse of the right triangular 
expanse 232, 236 with each movable lid panel 226, when in the closed 
position, being vertically oriented. To enable lid panels 226 to be 
manually pivoted on their respective hinges 228, openings 229 are formed 
therein. Each of lid panels 226 seat against a respective railings 292. 
As can be seen in FIGS. 8 and 9, house sections 202 and 204 may be pivoted 
between a house open position, shown in FIG. 8, and a house closed 
configuration, shown in FIG. 9. House sections 202 and 204 may be latched 
into the closed position by means of any convenient latch structure such 
as latch structure 278, known in the art. In use, when in the open 
position, roof structures 220 provide an auxillary play area in the form 
of attic regions 290 with these attic regions providing a convenient place 
for storage of dolls and accessories. Thus, when play is finished, dolls 
and accessories may be placed in the attic region 290 and lid panels 226 
moved to the closed position. House sections 202 and 204 may then be 
pivoted in to the closed position and latched so that the doll house 10 
presents a pleasing and neat appearance. 
Accordingly, the present invention has been described with some degree of 
particularity directed to the preferred embodiment of the present 
invention. It should be appreciated, though, that the present invention is 
defined by the following claims construed in light of the prior art so 
that modifications or changes may be made to the preferred embodiment of 
the present invention without departing from the inventive concepts 
contained herein.