Patent Publication Number: US-2023140639-A1

Title: Toy for figure play

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-179539 filed on Nov. 2, 2021, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to a toy for figure play which can be played together with a figure by presenting configurations matching various imaginary scenes. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     In the related art, there is a toy for figure play which allows figure play by presenting configurations matching various imaginary scenes. For example, JP2525505Y2 discloses a merry-go-round baby carriage as a toy for figure play including a seat frame configured to rotate as the baby carriage travels and hold a figure thereon. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     A child who is a user plays using a plurality of types of figures. As a result, the related-art toy for figure play may hardly handle figures of different sizes. For example, when a small figure is placed on the seat frame, the figure may fall off from the seat frame, and the figure play may become uninteresting. 
     An object of the present disclosure is to provide a toy for figure play which can be played with fun even a plurality of types of figures having different shapes and sizes are used. 
     The present disclosure provides a toy for figure play including: a rotating body provided rotatably; and a figure holder provided on the rotating body and configured to hold a figure, wherein the figure holder includes: a seat surface on which a figure is allowed to be placed; a first wall portion erected on a first direction side of the seat surface, the first wall portion including a bulging portion that bulges toward the seat surface; a second wall portion erected on a second direction side of the seat surface so as to face the first wall portion, the second wall portion including a recess portion that corresponds to the bulging portion; and an arm member provided in the first wall portion and provided pivotally on a seat surface side. 
     According to the present disclosure, a toy for figure play can be provided which can be played with fun even a plurality of types of figures having different shapes and sizes are used. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is an overall perspective view of a toy for figure play according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  2    is a perspective view of a figure holder of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure as viewed from front. 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective view of the figure holder of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure as viewed from rear. 
         FIG.  4    is a perspective view of an arm member of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    is a top view of the figure holder in which the arm member is omitted in the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is a cross-sectional view of the figure holder taken along a line IV-IV in  FIG.  5   , in which the arm member of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is omitted. 
         FIGS.  7 A to  7 C  are side views showing states in which figures of various sizes are held in the figure holder of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure,  FIG.  7 A  shows a state in which a medium-sized figure to be played with the toy for figure play is held,  FIG.  7 B  shows a state in which a large-sized figure is held, and  FIG.  7 C  shows a state in which a small-sized figure is held. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
     An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.  FIG.  1    is a view showing a toy for figure play  1  imitating an undersea castle as viewed from front. The toy for figure play  1  includes a figure toy main body  5  including a plate-shaped base portion  2  to be placed on a floor or the like and a support main body portion  3  provided on the base portion  2 . The support main body portion  3  includes a central support plate  31  formed to be high, and a first playing portion  100  serving as a playing portion is provided on a top of the central support plate  31 . The first playing portion  100  is detachably provided with a ship  120  including a balloon portion  110 . In the support main body portion  3  below the first playing portion  100 , a door  3   a  and stairs  3   b  imitating those of the castle, and seaweed  3   c  at predetermined positions are provided. In the toy for figure play  1 , a part below a corrugated wave portion  130  at a central top portion of the support main body portion  3  on which the ship  120  is placed imitates a castle on a seabed. The toy for figure play  1  is set to be played with a figure whose height is smaller than a height of the door  3   a , for example, about two-thirds of the height of the door  3   a.    
     As seen in  FIG.  1   , a second playing portion  200  is provided on an upper portion of a support post  32  on a left side of the support main body portion  3 , and a third playing portion  300  is provided on an upper portion of a branch-shaped support portion  33  extending in a branch shape on a right side of the support main body portion  3 . The second playing portion  200  includes a rotating body  210  and three suspension bodies  220  which are suspended from the rotating body  210  and on which figures can be placed. The rotating body  210  is a playing portion that can be manually rotated and enjoyed by swinging the suspension bodies  220  on which the figures are placed. The third playing portion  300  is a playing portion in which a merry-go-round play can be enjoyed by manually rotating a substantially disk-shaped rotating body  320  provided with three figure holders  310  in forms of a crab, a dolphin, and a fish. 
     Next, the figure holder  310  of the third playing portion  300  which is a main part of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to  FIGS.  2  to  6   . Three figure holders  310  are provided on the rotating body  320 , and the figure holder  310  having a dolphin shape will be described below as an example. 
     As shown in  FIGS.  2  and  3   , the figure holder  310  includes a seat surface  318  which is formed in a flat surface shape in order to place a figure thereon. The seat surface  318  is formed to be slightly higher than a floor surface  318   a . Thus, it is easy for a child who is a user to recognize that the seat surface  318  is a place where the figure is to be placed. On a dolphin head side (hereinafter also referred to as “front side”) which is a first direction side of the seat surface  318 , a first wall portion  311  is erected so as to have a wall surface substantially perpendicular to the seat surface  318 . In other words, the first wall portion  311  is provided on a back surface side (hereinafter also referred to as “rear side”) of a dolphin head. 
     A bulging portion  311   a  bulging toward the seat surface  318  is provided at a substantially central portion (a substantially central portion in a left-right direction when a figure is seated on the seat surface  318 ) of the first wall portion  311 . The bulging portion  311   a  is formed from an upper end to a lower end of the first wall portion  311 . An opening portion  311   a   1  which extends from an upper surface of the dolphin head to a lower end of the first wall portion  311 , and which is opened in the bulging portion  311   a  is formed in the bulging portion  311   a . An arm member  317  is provided in the opening portion  311   a   1 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  4   , the arm member  317  is formed in a substantially T shape. The arm member  317  includes an abutting bar  317   a  corresponding to a horizontal bar part of the T shape and a rotating bar  317   b  corresponding to a vertical bar part of the T shape. The abutting bar  317   a  extending in the left-right direction is formed to be slightly curved. At a tip end portion of the rotating bar  317   b , two cylindrical rotating shafts  317   c  protruding in the left-right direction are provided facing each other. 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , support plates  311   c  extending from an upper end of the opening portion  311   a   1  downward to a substantially intermediate position in an upper-lower direction of the opening portion  311   a   1  are provided on both sides (both left and right sides of the seat surface  318  when a figure is seated) of the opening portion  311   a   1  of the bulging portion  311   a . At a lower end of the support plate  311   c , a shaft support portion  311   d  having a rectangular shape with rounded corners, which is long in the upper-lower direction and has a semicircular shape on an upper side, is provided. The shaft support portions  311   d  rotatably support the rotating shafts  317   c  of the arm member  317 . 
     Further, as shown in  FIGS.  5  and  6   , a sliding resistance portion  311   e  protruding in a substantially rectangular shape which is long in the upper-lower direction is provided on a seat surface  318  side of the support plate  311   c . The sliding resistance portions  311   e  are provided at the two support plates  311   c  so as to face each other. A distance S 1  between the facing sliding resistance portions  311   e  is set to be slightly smaller than a width S 2  of the rotating bar  317   b  of the arm member  317  shown in  FIG.  4   . Therefore, the arm member  317  pivots such that side surfaces of the rotating bar  317   b  slide relative to the sliding resistance portions  311   e  while being in pressure contact therewith. Therefore, the arm member  317  is pivoted toward the seat surface  318  side while receiving predetermined resistance from the sliding resistance portions  311   e.    
     With reference to  FIGS.  2  and  3    again, a second wall portion  312  erected on a second direction side of the seat surface  318  is provided on the figure holder  310 . Here, the second direction side is a side different from the first direction side, and is an opposite side with respect to the first direction side in the present embodiment. The second wall portion  312  faces the first wall portion  311  and is formed in a recessed curved surface shape on the seat surface  318  side. In the second wall portion  312 , a concave spherical recess portion  312   a  is formed from an upper surface of the second wall portion  312  to a surface on the seat surface  318  side. The recess portion  312   a  corresponds to the bulging portion  311   a  of the first wall portion  311  and is provided at a substantially central portion (a substantially central portion in the left-right direction when a figure is seated on the seat surface  318 ). 
     The figure holder  310  is opened on lateral sides of the seat surface  318  (that is, between the first wall portion  311  and the second wall portion  312 ), and a figure can be placed easily. Further, the first wall portion  311  and the second wall portion  312  are disposed in a front-rear direction of the figure holder  310  along a rotation direction of the rotating body  320  (a rotation direction around a center of the rotating body  320  in  FIG.  1   ) 
     As shown in  FIGS.  7 A to  7 C , the figure holder  310  can hold figures of various shapes and sizes. For example, in  FIG.  7 A , a  figure D 1    which is an anthropomorphic animal abuts the first wall portion  311  with leg portions thereof and abuts the second wall portion  312  with a back thereof. Then, the arm member  317  is pivoted and abutted with a region from a chest to an abdomen of the  figure D 1   . The abutting bar  317   a  of the curved arm member  317  allows the abdomen or chest of the  figure D 1   , which normally has a substantially circular cross-section, to suitably abut and press the  figure D 1   . According to a form of the  figure D 1   , the bulging portion  311   a  can be pressed between the leg portions of the  figure D 1   . In this way, the  figure D 1    can be held such that the  figure D 1    does not fall off from the figure holder  310 . 
     Further, in  FIG.  7 B , a large-sized  figure D 2    is held by the figure holder  310 . In a case of the  figure D 2   , the  figure D 2    can be held in a manner of being sandwiched between the bulging portion  311   a  and the second wall portion  312  by pulling up the arm member  317  to cause the bulging portion  311   a  to abut between leg portions of the  figure D 2    and a back of the  figure D 2    to abut with the second wall  312 . 
     Further, in  FIG.  7 C , the small-sized  figure D 3    is held by the figure holder  310 . In a case of the  figure D 3   , even if leg portions of the  figure D 3    do not reach the first wall portion  311  or the bulging portion  311   a , the  figure D 3    can be held by abutting a head of the  figure D 3    with the recess portion  312   a  of the second wall portion  312  and pressing the arm member  317  around an abdomen of the  figure D 3   . 
     According to the embodiment of the present disclosure as described above, it is possible to provide a toy for figure play of the following aspects. 
     A toy for figure play according to a first aspect includes: a rotating body provided rotatably; and a figure holder provided on the rotating body and configured to hold a figure, and the figure holder includes: a seat surface on which a figure is allowed to be placed; a first wall portion erected on a first direction side of the seat surface, the first wall portion including a bulging portion that bulges toward the seat surface; a second wall portion erected on a second direction side of the seat surface so as to face the first wall portion, the second wall portion including a recess portion that corresponds to the bulging portion; and an arm member provided in the first wall portion and provided pivotally on a seat surface side. 
     According to the configuration, since figures of various shapes and sizes can be reliably held, the figure does not fall off from the rotating body, thus providing a toy for figure play including a playing portion such as a merry-go-round. In particular, in a case of a figure which is an anthropomorphic animal, since the figures have different shapes for various animal motifs, even when a wide variety of figures such as figures in a small baby state to grown-up state are used, the figures can be played without falling off from the figure holder. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a second aspect, the first wall portion and the second wall portion are provided along a rotation direction of the rotating body. 
     According to the configuration, the figure can be placed on the seat surface with the first wall portion on a front side and the second wall portion on a rear side, thus providing a toy for figure play including a playing portion such as a merry-go-round. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a third aspect, the arm member is formed in a T shape. 
     According to the configuration, depending on a shape of the figure, a horizontal bar part of the T shape can be abutted with an abdomen or a chest, so that the figure can be held more reliably. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a fourth aspect, the arm member is provided in an opening portion formed in the bulging portion. 
     According to the configuration, it is possible to hold the figure while providing a larger area of the seat surface. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a fifth aspect, a sliding resistance portion is provided in the opening portion, the slide resistance portion being configured to slidably contact the arm member to apply a resistance force against a pivotal movement of the arm member. 
     According to the configuration, the resistance force is applied against the pivotal movement of the arm member, whereby the figure can be securely held. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a sixth aspect, the figure holder is opened between the first wall portion and the second wall portion. 
     According to the configuration, the figure can be placed on the figure holder easily. 
     Although the embodiment of the present disclosure have been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, three figure holders  310  are provided on the rotating body  310 , but it is sufficient that one or more figure holders  310  are provided.