Abstract:
A support structure for a toy character including a base, an expandable housing, a cap assembly, and at least one appendage is provided. The cap assembly includes at least two straps and a band for securing the cap assembly to the expandable housing. The at least one appendage extends from the cap assembly and includes a puncture surface. A rotation mechanism may be mounted to the base and have a receiving aperture sized to receive a portion of the expandable housing and include a lever to direct rotation of the rotation mechanism. The rotation mechanism may further include a rotation member having one or more hooks located adjacent the receiving aperture for securing the expandable housing thereto. The rotation member may be removeable from the base to provide access to the one or more hooks.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No. 62/359,276 filed Jul. 7, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference herein. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure relates to a battle system for toy character assemblies including an inflatable housing. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Toys and games with fighting or punching play patterns include several classic toy and game products that embody battling play. Some games have heads that spring up or off and many other variations of the same idea are also used. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    A support structure for a toy character may include a base, an actuator, an inflatable housing, and a retainer. The actuator may be mounted to the base movement. The retainer may be sized to cooperate with the inflatable housing. At least one movable appendage is provided. 
         [0005]    A toy character battle system may include a first character assembly and a second character assembly. The first character assembly may include a first inflatable housing mounted to a first base. The first base may include a rotation mechanism to direct rotation of the first inflatable housing and a first cap member mounted to the housing including a first appendage with a first puncture surface. The second character assembly may include a second inflatable housing mounted to a second base. The second base may include a rotation mechanism to direct rotation of the second inflatable housing and a second cap member mounted to the housing including a second appendage with a second puncture surface. 
         [0006]    A method of play for a toy character battle system may provide first and second toy character assemblies each including an inflatable housing, at least one appendage with a puncture surface, and a rotation mechanism to move the at least one appendage. The method may also include directing users to position the toy character assemblies proximate one another such that the puncture surfaces are within range of contacting the opposing inflatable housing. The method may further include directing the users to commence a battle between the first and second toy character assemblies until one of the inflatable housings is punctured via one of the puncture surfaces. 
         [0007]    A support structure for a toy character includes a base, an expandable housing, a cap assembly, and at least one appendage. The cap assembly includes at least two straps and a band for securing the cap assembly to the expandable housing. The at least one appendage extends from the cap assembly and includes a puncture surface. A rotation mechanism may be mounted to the base and have a receiving aperture sized to receive a portion of the expandable housing and include a lever to direct rotation of the rotation mechanism. The rotation mechanism may further include a rotation member having one or more hooks located adjacent the receiving aperture for securing the expandable housing thereto. The rotation member may be removeable from the base to provide access to the one or more hooks. The rotation mechanism may include a rotation housing to support the rotation member and define a first rack. The lever may define a second rack sized to mesh with the first rack so that movement of the second rack directs rotation of the rotation housing to rotate the expandable housing. The puncture surface may be at least one of a sand paper segment, an emery board, a silica-based grit, an aluminum based grit, a breakaway lancet, a pin, and a portion of gnarled metal. The puncture surface may be a strip of material extending through two slots defined by the at least one appendage. The band may be expandable to accommodate more than one size of the expandable housing. An indicia member may extend from the cap assembly and include a surface sized for displaying indicia. A toy character battle system may include the support structure for the toy character and a second support structure for another toy character including a second expandable housing and a second puncture surface located upon a second appendage extending from a second cap assembly. The support structure and the second support structure may be arranged with one another for a sparring sequence in which each of the support structure and the second support structure are rotated until one of the puncture surfaces punctures one of the expandable housings. The base and cap assembly may be stylized to have one of a medieval theme, an animal theme, a robot theme, and an alien theme. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an example of first and second toy characters of a battle system. 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of an example of structural elements of each of the first and second toy characters of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  is an exploded view of a portion of the structural elements of  FIG. 2  and a balloon. 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of one of the toy characters of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  is a front view of the toy character of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  is a rear view of the toy character of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  is a first side view of the toy character of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  is a second side view of the toy character of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  is a top view of the toy character of  FIG. 4 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 10A  is a perspective view of an example of a portion of a battle sequence between the first and second toy characters of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 10B  is a perspective view of another example of a portion of a battle sequence between the first and second toy characters of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0019]      FIG. 10C  is a perspective view of an example of slots which may be defined by an appendage of one of the toy characters of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0020]      FIG. 10D  is another perspective view of the example of slots of  FIG. 10A  showing a sand paper strip mounted via the slots. 
           [0021]      FIG. 10E  is another perspective view of the example of slots of  FIG. 10A  showing ends of the sand paper strip secured to one another. 
           [0022]      FIG. 11  is a flow chart showing an example of steps of a method of game play using the first and second toy characters of  FIG. 1 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0023]    Embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein. It is to be understood, however, that the disclosed embodiments are merely examples and other embodiments can take various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features could be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ embodiments of the present disclosure. As those of ordinary skill in the art will understand, various features illustrated and described with reference to any one of the figures can be combined with features illustrated in one or more other figures to produce embodiments that are not explicitly illustrated or described. The combinations of features illustrated provide representative embodiments for typical applications. Various combinations and modifications of the features consistent with the teachings of this disclosure, however, could be desired for particular applications or implementations. 
         [0024]    In a battle-oriented toy or game, a winner may be easily and dramatically obvious to players at the end of the competition.  FIG. 1  shows an example of a battle system for toy characters referred to generally as a system  10  herein. The system  10  includes a first toy character  14  and a second toy character  16 . Users may position the toy characters on an underlying surface for battle with one another. For example, the first toy character  14  and the second toy character  16  may battle with one another to puncture or pop the opposing character&#39;s inflatable housing as further described herein. 
         [0025]      FIGS. 2 and 3  show an example of a structure for an assembly of each of the toy characters  14  and  16 .  FIGS. 4 through 9  depict multiple views of the assembly for each of the toy characters  14  and  16  with a housing of a base  20  removed and with portions of a cap assembly removed to show internal components. The first toy character  14  and the second toy character  16  may each include the base  20  and a rotation mechanism  22 . The rotation mechanism  22  may be mounted for rotation to the base  20  and include a cylinder  26  defining a cavity sized to receive a rotation member  28 . While shown with a cylindrical shape, it is contemplated that other geometries are available for the cylinder  26  and the rotation member  28 . For example, the rotation member  28  may include a taper sized to match an interior surface of the cylinder  26  to create an interference fit therebetween. A lever  30  may direct rotation of the cylinder  26  and rotation member  28 . For example, the cylinder  26  may define a first rack  34  sized for meshing with a second rack  36  defined by the lever  30 . Movement of the lever  30  directs the cylinder  26  and rotation member  28  to rotate. 
         [0026]    It is contemplated that additional structures are available for the rotation mechanism  22 . For example, the rotation mechanism  22  may be motorized such that a user may press buttons to direct rotation of a motor in communication with the rotation member  28 . Alternatively, handles (not shown) or knobs (not shown) may extend from the base  20  to direct movement thereof and such that a flexible nature of the housings themselves allow for adequate punching oscillations. 
         [0027]    The rotation member  28  may define an aperture  40  sized to receive a portion of an expandable housing such as a balloon  42 . For example, a lower portion of the balloon  42  may extend through the aperture  40  and then the balloon  42  may be inflated. Alternatively, the balloon  42  may be inflated prior to extending the lower portion through the aperture  40 . The lower portion of the balloon  42  may be secured to one or more hooks  46  extending from the rotation member  28 . In one example, the lower portion of the balloon  42  may be wrapped around the one or more hooks  46  to attach the balloon  42  to the rotation mechanism  22  or the base  20  such that the balloon  42  rotates therewith. The balloon  42  may be of a flexible material such as latex or other suitable material to accommodate a gas or liquid within the balloon  42 . 
         [0028]    A cap assembly  54  may be sized for mounting to the balloon  42 . The cap assembly  54  may include an upper portion  56  and a band  58 . One or more appendages  60  may be secured to the band  58 . One or more straps  62  may extend from the upper portion  56  to the band  58 . One of the straps  62  may include a member  64  defining a surface for including indicia or other markings such as a game title or face. The band  58  and the straps  62  may be arranged with one another to receive a portion of the balloon  42 . For example, the band  58  and the straps  62  may be sized for positioning on the balloon  42  as a helmet. The band  58  may be of a flexible material with elastic characteristics to accommodate various sizes of the balloon  42 . Alternatively, the cap assembly  54  may be a mesh structure of plastic or fabric. The positioning on the balloon  42  may be such that the band  58  and straps  62  are snug against the balloon  42  without popping or damaging the balloon  42 . At least one of the straps  62  may include a feature, such as a vertical or horizontal rib (not shown), to assist in retaining the cap assembly  54  in position upon the balloon  42  and to assist in providing stability when the balloon  42  is rotated. 
         [0029]    Each of the one or more appendages  60  may be an arm including a hand. Each of the hands may include a feature to puncture the balloon  42  of the opposite toy character. For example, each of the one or more appendages  60  may include one or more puncture surfaces  70 . The puncture surfaces  70  may be oriented on the respective appendage  60  such that rotation of the rotation mechanism  22  directs movement of the puncture surfaces  70  to contact and puncture the balloon  42  of the opposing toy character. Examples of the puncture surface  70  include a sand paper segment, an emery board, a silica-based grit, an aluminum based grit, a breakaway lancet, a pin, or gnarled metal. Alternatively, each of the hands may define the puncture surface  70 . Components of each of the toy characters, aside from the balloon  42 , may be made of injection molded plastic such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), or nylon. 
         [0030]      FIGS. 10A and 10B  show an example of portions of a battle sequence between the first toy character  14  and the second toy character  16 . As mentioned above, users may position the first toy character  14  and the second toy character  16  upon an underlying surface for battle with one another. Each of the users may move the lever  30  of their respective toy character to rotate the appendages  60  back and forth as represented in  FIG. 10A .  FIG. 10B  shows a portion of a battle sequence in which the first toy character  14  has a popped balloon  42  of the second toy character  16  following contact by the puncture surfaces  70  of one of the appendages  60  of the first toy character  14 . 
         [0031]      FIGS. 10C through 10E  show an example of an attachment structure for the puncture surfaces  70 . A pair of slots  80  may be defined by each of the appendages  60 . The slots  80  may be spaced from one another and be sized to each receive a portion of a material piece, such as a sand paper strip  84 . The sand paper strip  84  may extend through each of the slots  80  and opposite ends of the sand paper strip  84  may be secured to one another. The slots  80  may be oriented on the respective appendages  60  such that the sand paper strip  84  is in a position to contact the opposing toy character&#39;s balloon  42  when the respective cap assembly is moved. 
         [0032]      FIG. 11  shows an example of a method of game play generally indicated by reference numeral  100 . In operation  104 , a first and second toy character, such as the first toy character  14  and the second toy character  16 , are provided. Each of the toy characters includes an assembly having an inflatable housing, at least one appendage with a puncture surface, and a rotation mechanism to move at least one appendage. In operation  108 , the users are directed to position the toy characters proximate one another such that the puncture surfaces are in range for contact with the opposing toy character&#39;s inflatable housing. For example, a sheet of directions may include instructions for game play set up. In operation  112 , the users may be directed to commence a battle sequence between the first and second toy characters. The users may rotate the rotation mechanism to swing the at least one appendage back and forth until one of the inflatable housings is punctured via one of the puncture surfaces. 
         [0033]    It is contemplated that the toy characters may be shaped as various other characters. For example, the toy characters may have a medieval theme in which the appendages  60  include a medieval weapon, such as a ball and chain. In other examples, the toy characters may have an animal, robot, or alien theme and appropriate appendages in line with the theme. It is contemplated that the appendages  60  may be mounted to the band  58  for rotation or of a flexible material to provide for additional elements of play. 
         [0034]    While various embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments can be combined to form further embodiments of the disclosure that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics can be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes can include, but are not limited to marketability, appearance, consistency, robustness, customer acceptability, reliability, accuracy, etc. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and can be desirable for particular applications.