Abstract:
Embodiments of the present invention relate to toys that have a pixel-like appearance, giving the impression of having been generated by a computer. Embodiments of these toys can have the shape of a character, an animal, an object such as a vehicle or a bridge, a building, or the like. The embodiments are free-standing, and do so without being attached to a support platform. A toy configured as a character has a moveable head, and can have two arms, one or both of which are moveable. The head is rotatable and removable, and the heads of different toys are interchangeable. Embodiments can be distributed individually, or a group can be bundled as either a play set or collection. Toys are formed of molded plastic, and include various accessories appropriate to the particular toy. A spaceman character could have an accessory ray-gun that fits within a hand.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    Embodiments of the present invention relate to toys that have a pixel-like appearance, giving the impression of having been generated by a computer. Embodiments of these toys can have the shape of a character, an animal, an object such as a vehicle or a bridge, a building, or the like. The embodiments are free-standing, and do so without being attached to a support platform. A toy configured as a character has a moveable head, and can have two arms, one or both of which are moveable. The head is rotatable and removable, and the heads of different toys are interchangeable. Embodiments can be distributed individually, or a group can be bundled as either a play set or collection. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    During the earlier stages of video game development, particularly in the 1970s-1980s, video game characters had a pixelated appearance, due in part to the low resolution of the monitors and/or video terminals on which they were displayed, and the limited computing power available at that time. As the computing power of the personal computer increased from that time period, accompanied by an increase in screen resolution, graphic cards and computing power, this increased resolution has resulted in more life-like graphics and video game characters having more realistic appearances. 
         [0003]    There is currently a trend underway towards more things that have a “retro” appearance, to remind one of earlier days. Examples of such a retro trend are the resurgence of interest in typewriters (whether manual or electric) instead of computer printers, vinyl records and turntables in lieu of compact disk recordings (“CDs”), and older video games, such as SPACE INVADERS® (Registered trademark of Taito Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) or PAC-MAN® (Registered trademark of Banda Namco Entertainment, Inc., Tokyo, Japan), which were played on display screens generated from an 8 bit computer. Embodiments of the present invention are designed to take advantage of this trend, and include characters having an image that resembles those generated by 8 bit computers. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0004]    An object of the present invention is to provide a toy that has the appearance of being generated by a computer using 8 bit graphics. 
         [0005]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy having a rotatable head. 
         [0006]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy having a removable head. 
         [0007]    Still another object of the present invention is to provide a toy having a movable component other than or in addition to the head. 
         [0008]    Embodiments of the present invention relate to toys that have a pixel-like appearance, giving the impression of having been generated by a computer. Embodiments of these toys can have the shape of a character, an animal, an object such as a vehicle or a bridge, a building, or the like. The embodiments are free-standing, and do so without being attached to a support platform. A toy configured as a character has a moveable head, and can have two arms, one or both of which are moveable. The head is rotatable and removable, and the heads of different toys are interchangeable. Embodiments can be distributed individually, or a group can be bundled as either a play set or collection. Toys are formed of molded plastic, and include various accessories appropriate to the particular toy. A spaceman character could have an accessory ray-gun that fits within a hand. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
         [0009]      FIG. 1  is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0010]      FIG. 2  illustrates the components of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 3  illustrates the arm connectors of the embodiment of  FIG. 1   
           [0012]      FIG. 4  illustrates the receiver for the arm connector shown in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 5  is a rear view of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 6  is a plan view of a second embodiment of the present invention, a spaceman holding a ray gun in the left hand. 
           [0015]      FIG. 7  is a plan view of a third embodiment of the present invention, the character holding a briefcase in the left hand. 
           [0016]      FIG. 8  is a schematic drawing of the glasses on the embodiment in  FIG. 7 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 9  is a plan view of an alternate embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    Given the current trend towards things that have a “retro” appearance, to remind one of earlier days. embodiments of the present invention are designed to take advantage of this trend, and include characters having an image that resembles those generated by 8 bit computers. 
         [0019]    An embodiment of the present invention is shown in  FIG. 1 . The toy  100  is a free-standing character with accessories, such as headphones  200  and a sword  300 . The character  100  is assembled from components ( FIG. 2 ) that include a body  110 , legs  120 , head  130 , and arms  140 , each arm  140  including a pivotable fastener  144  extending from the shoulder  142  of each arm ( FIG. 3 ). 
         [0020]    The head  130  is formed to give the appearance of a mouth  132 , a nose  134  (that extends outward from the head  130  when seen in  FIG. 2 ), cheeks  136 , eyes  138  and projections  139 . The projections  139  can also be considered as either ears or horns, depending upon how one views this particular character. 
         [0021]    The body  110  includes a neck  112 , a rod-like projection onto which the head  130  is attached. The head  130  includes an opening  131  in its bottom, into which opening  131  the neck  112  is received. The head  130  is rotatable about the neck  112 , and can be rotated; multiple rotations and reverse rotations are possible. Alternate embodiments not only allow rotation, but allow the head  130  to slide up and down the neck  112  for height adjustment, and to be out of the way when the arms  140  in some of these embodiments are raised and consequently block movement of the head  130 . In the embodiments, the head is removable, and the heads of different toy embodiments are interchangeable with each other, subject to the imagination of the user. 
         [0022]    The character  100  is assembled by attaching the body  110  to the legs  120 , followed by attaching the head  130  to the body. The shoulder portion  114  on each side of the body  110  includes an opening  116  therein, the opening  116  sized to receive the semi-circular end  146  of the fastener  144  therein, such that the arm  140  can pivot freely in a forward and backwards movement. Replacement of the pivotable fastener  144  by a fastener having a ball joint or similar structure at each end can result in the arms  140  being capable of movement in an up and down or roundabout movement as well as forward and backward movement. In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 , the legs  120  are stationary, however, the legs  120  could be manufactured separately from the body, and a set of pivotable fasteners or pivot pins or fasteners with a ball joint could be added to provide movement of the legs  120 . Similarly, both the arms  140  and legs  120  could be manufactured such that there is movement of the elbows and wrists, and knees and ankles, respectively, or combinations thereof. The character  100  is free standing, standing on feet  122 . 
         [0023]    The arms  140  include a hand portion  148  that has an opening  150  therethrough, the opening  150  sized to receive the handle  310  of the sword  300 . In other embodiments, the opening  150  may extend partially into the hand portion  148 . 
         [0024]    Depending upon manufacturing considerations, components such as the body  110  and legs  120  could be manufactured as a single component. 
         [0025]    When seen from the rear ( FIG. 5 ), the character has the pixel appearance, and may have an accessory, such as a cape  118  attached to it. The cape  118  may contain indicia  119 . 
         [0026]    The components are generally formed from injection molded plastic, using conventional processes. The inside of the mold contains projections, such that once the component is released from the mold, the grid-like appearance and rounded corners of each grid have been formed. Alternatively, the components could be manufactured in a mold without internal projections, and after molding, the grids can be formed either by machining the molded component, or by impressing a grid pattern onto the molded component to form the grid, such as by the use of a heating and pressing process. The head  130  is generally hollow, and the other components generally solid, although depending upon manufacturing and other parameters, the head may be more solid than hollow, and the other components may contain some hollow regions inside, and have varying amounts of solidity. 
         [0027]    Some of the color gradation seen in the drawings is due to components having different coloration. Generally the character is molded in a single color, and additional colors to distinguish the eyes, mouth or other component are added later on in the manufacturing process by painting or finishing processes known to those skilled in the art. 
         [0028]    The types of characters can range from representations of an individual person, animals, cartoon characters, cowboys, astronauts or spacemen, airplanes, rocket ships and the like. These toys can (as shown in  FIGS. 1-2 ) include accessories appropriate to the particular toy; for example, a spaceman character could have an accessory ray-gun that fits within a hand. 
         [0029]      FIG. 6  illustrates a second embodiment  400  of the present invention. This second embodiment  400  is a free-standing spaceman  400  with a raygun  320  accessory in its left hand. The character  400  is assembled from components (similar to those shown in  FIG. 2 ) that include a body  410 , legs  420 , head  430 , and arms  440 , each arm  440  including a pivotable fastener (not shown) extending from the shoulder  442  of each arm. 
         [0030]    The head  430  is formed to give the appearance of a mouth  432  (that extends outward from the head  430 ), eyes  438  and projections  439 . The projections  439  could be considered as either ears (because of their coloration) or antennae, depending upon how one views this particular character. 
         [0031]    The body  410  includes a neck  412 , a rod-like projection onto which the head  430  is attached. The head  430  includes an opening (not shown) in its bottom, into which opening the neck  412  is received. The head  430  is rotatable about the neck  412 , and can be rotated; multiple rotations and reverse rotations are possible. Alternate embodiments not only allow rotation, but allow the head  430  to slide up and down the neck  412  for height adjustment, and to be out of the way when the arms  440  in this embodiment are raised and consequently block movement of the head  430 . In the embodiments, the head is removable, and the heads of different toy embodiments are interchangeable with each other, subject to the imagination of the user. 
         [0032]    The character  400  is assembled in the same manner as has been described for the character shown in  FIGS. 1-5 . In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 6 , the legs  420  are stationary, however, the legs  420  could be manufactured separately from the body, and a set of pivotable fasteners or pivot pins or fasteners with a ball joint could be added to provide movement of the legs  420 . Similarly, both the arms  440  and legs  420  could be manufactured such that there is movement of the elbows and wrists, and knees and ankles, respectively, or combinations thereof. The arms may include an elbow, and the legs may include a knee. Placement of an articulating joint in either the elbow or the knee would provide the user the ability to bend either the arms or the knees of the character. 
         [0033]    The arms  440  include a hand portion  448  that has an opening  450  therethrough, the opening  450  sized to receive the handle  330  of the raygun  320 . In other embodiments, the opening  450  may extend partially into the hand portion  448 . 
         [0034]    Depending upon manufacturing considerations, components such as the body  410  and legs  420  could be manufactured as a single component. 
         [0035]    A third embodiment  500  ( FIG. 7 ) shows the character  500  with a briefcase  350  ( FIG. 7 ) in its left hand. This character  500  is also free-standing, like the previously described embodiments of the present invention. Character  500  is assembled from components that include a body  510 , legs  520 , head  530 , and arms  540 , each arm  540  including a pivotable fastener (not shown) extending from the shoulder  542  of each arm. 
         [0036]    The head  530  is formed to give the appearance of a mouth  532 , eyes  536 , glasses  538  and projection  539 . The projection  539  can be considered as a hat or other function, depending upon how one sees this character. 
         [0037]    The arms  540  include a hand portion  548  that has an opening  550  therethrough, the opening  550  sized to receive the handle  360  of the briefcase  350 . 
         [0038]    The glasses  538  (shown enlarged in  FIG. 8 ) include a set of rims  560 , and within the rims  560  are a set of braces  562  within the corners to aid in maintaining the glasses&#39; shape. 
         [0039]    Character  600  ( FIG. 8 ) is similar to the characters previously described, comprising a body  610 , legs  620 , head  630 , and arms  640 , each arm  640  including a pivotable fastener (not shown) extending from the shoulder  642  of each arm. 
         [0040]    The head  630  is formed to give the appearance of a mouth  632 , cheeks  636 , eyes  638  and projections  639 . The projections  639  can also be considered as either hair or a hat, depending upon how one views this particular character. The construction of this character  600  is similar to that of the embodiments described previously, and will not be described further. 
         [0041]    Referring to  FIG. 5 , in which indicia  119  are on the back of the character, and  FIGS. 5-6  showing one or more accessories attached to or being held by the character, accessories such as wings, a backpack, an oxygen tank (for example, firefighter or SCUBA diver) or other items could also be attached to the character&#39;s back. In such instances, one or more openings (not shown) may be formed at different location on the back, into which a pin attached to the accessory would be placed to attach that accessory to the back. An alternate type of pin could be one to which a swivel is attached, allowing the attached accessory to be swiveled by a user. 
         [0042]    Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by the way of illustration, and that numerous changes in construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.