Patent Publication Number: US-2023139900-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. 2021-179540 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 store toy as a toy for figure play disclosed including, on a main body in a form of a store, a rotating merchandise display part provided with an endless belt on which hangers are provided at predetermined intervals. The endless belt can be rotated by a rotating member. With the toy for figure play, a child who is a user can hang clothes for a figure on the hangers and play with the figure as if buying clothes at a clothing store. 
     SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
     A situation in which the rotating member is manually rotated and the clothes hung on the hangers are moved in a shaking manner is enjoyed by the child who is the user. However, for example, an infant who has difficulty in adjusting a rotating operation of the rotating member may vigorously rotate the rotating member, and the hangers or clothes hung on the hangers may collide with a member of the store main body around the endless belt. In such a case, the members that collide with each other may be damaged, and the enjoyment of play may be impaired. 
     An object of the present disclosure is to provide a toy for figure play that can be played with fun while reducing damage to a member. 
     The present disclosure provides a toy for figure play including: a shaft portion; a rotating body including: a bearing portion supported by the shaft portion so as to be rotatable in a circumferential direction of the rotating body around the shaft portion; a suspension portion; and a protrusion portion provided on an outer side than the suspension portion in a radial direction of the rotating body; and a suspension body including: a suspension connecting portion connected to the suspension portion to allow the suspension body to swing at least in the radial direction; a figure placement portion; and an abutting portion configured to be allowed to abut with the protrusion portion. 
     According to the above aspect, a toy for figure play that can be played with fun while reducing damage to a member can be provided. 
    
    
     
       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 shaft portion of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  3    is a perspective view of a rotating body of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure as viewed from below. 
         FIG.  4    is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along a line IV-IV in  FIG.  1    and showing an engaged state of a bearing portion and the shaft portion of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  5    is a perspective view showing a suspension body of the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  6    is cross-sectional view taken along a line VI-VI in  FIG.  1    and showing a state in which a suspension connecting portion of the suspension body is connected to a suspension portion of the rotating body in the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG.  7    is a cross-sectional view corresponding to a cross section taken along a line VI-VI in  FIG.  1   , and showing a state in which the suspension body is swung in a radially outward direction of rotation of the rotating body by a centrifugal force in the toy for figure play according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     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  resembling 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  resembling 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 resembles a castle on a seabed. The toy for figure play  1  is set to be played with a figure (not shown) whose height is smaller than a height of the door  3   a , for example, about ⅔ 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  includes a rotating body  320  provided with three figure holders  310  in forms of a crab, a dolphin, and a fish. The figure holder  310  can hold a figure. By holding a figure in the figure holder  310  and manually rotating the rotating body  320 , the user can play merry-go-round in the third playing portion  300 . 
     Next, the second playing portion  200 , which is a main part of the present disclosure, will be described in detail with reference to  FIGS.  2  to  7   .  FIG.  2    shows a shaft portion  230  provided at a top portion of the support post  32  of the support main body portion  3 . A bearing portion  211  (see  FIG.  3   ) of the rotating body  210  is rotatably engaged with the shaft portion  230 . 
     The shaft portion  230  has a cross-shaped leg portion  233  erected in a cross shape with a disk-shaped portion  232  protruding from a flat surface portion  231  formed at the top portion of the support post  32  interposed. The cross-shaped leg portion  233  includes plate portions  233   a  and  233   b  orthogonal to each other. Upper surfaces  233   a   1  and  233   b   1  of the plate portions  233   a  and  233   b  are formed in a convex arc shape having an intersection portion as a top portion. Outer peripheral surfaces  233   a   2  of the plate portion  233   a  are provided at two positions facing each other, outer peripheral surfaces  233   b   2  of the plate portion  233   b  are provided at two positions facing each other, and the outer peripheral surfaces  233   a   2  and  233   b   2  are formed in a convex arc shape in a top view. A shaft support point portion  234  is provided at a portion of the cross-shaped leg portion  233  at which the plate portions  233   a  and  233   b  intersect with each other. An upper surface of the shaft support point portion  234  is formed in a substantially convex spherical shape. 
       FIG.  3    is a perspective view of the rotating body  210  as viewed from below. The rotating body  210  is formed in an umbrella shape, has a decorative shape opening opened from a front surface side to a back surface side, and a shell-shaped decorative piece  218  (see  FIGS.  1  and  4   ) is provided at an central upper portion on the front surface side. The cylindrical bearing portion  211  is provided at a central portion on the back surface side. The bearing portion  211  includes a cylindrical portion  211   a  and a shaft-supported surface portion  211   b  having a concave spherical shape, which is a bottom portion of the cylindrical portion  211   a.    
     As shown in  FIG.  4   , the cross-shaped leg portion  233  is inserted into the cylindrical portion  211   a  of the bearing portion  211 . The bearing portion  211  is rotatably supported by the shaft portion  230 , and the rotating body  210  is rotatable around an axis of the bearing portion  211 . More specifically, the substantially convex spherical upper surface of the shaft support point portion  234  is abutted with the substantially concave spherical shaft-supported surface portion  211   b  to support the rotating body  210 . Further, an end edge portion  211   a   1 , which is a tip end portion of the cylindrical portion  211   a , is provided in the vicinity of or to contact the flat surface portion  231  to allow the end edge portion  211   a   1  to sliding contact the flat surface portion  231 . Then, an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion  211   a  is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surfaces  233   a   2  and  233   b   2  of the cross-shaped leg portion  233 . 
     In this way, the rotating body  210  is rotatable due to the shaft support point portion  234  and the shaft-supported surface portion  211   b , which are spherical surfaces. Here, a curvature of the convex spherical shape of the shaft support point portion  234  is larger than a curvature of the concave spherical shape of the shaft-supported surface portion  211   b . Therefore, since the rotating body  210  is supported at one point on the upper surface of the shaft support point portion  234 , frictional resistance is reduced, and the rotating body  210  can be rotated with a small force. Then, the end edge portion  211   a   1  of the cylindrical portion  211   a  is in sliding contact with the flat surface portion  231 , the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical portion  211   a  is in sliding contact with the outer peripheral surfaces  233   a   2  and  233   b   2  of the cross-shaped leg portion  233 , and thus the rotating body  210  can rotate smoothly without rattling. 
     Referring back to  FIG.  3   , three suspension portions  212  and three protrusion portions  213  are provided radially with respect to an axis on a back surface of the rotating body  210 . The suspension portion  212  is provided with suspension shaft portions  212   a  and  212   b  that face each other at a predetermined interval in a radial direction in a rotation direction of the rotating body  210 . The suspension shaft portions  212   a  and  212   b  are each formed in a substantially columnar shape, and are disposed such that axes thereof are in the radial direction in the rotation direction of the rotating body  210 . The suspension shaft portions  212   a  and  212   b  are chamfered in a C-chamfered shape on lower sides of surfaces thereof facing each other. The suspension shaft portion  212   a  is provided on a radially inner side in the radial direction in the rotation direction of the rotating body  210 , and the suspension shaft portion  212   b  is provided on a radially outer side. The suspension shaft portions  212   a  and  212   b  are respectively provided at tip end portions of plate-shaped suspension shaft support plates  212   c  and  212   d  erected from the back surface of the rotating body  210 . The suspension shaft support plates  212   c  and  212   d  are respectively supported by ribs  212   e  and  212   f.    
     On an outer side of the suspension portions  212  (on the radially outer side of the suspension portions  212  in the rotation direction of the rotating body  210 ), the protrusion portions  213  are provided corresponding to the suspension portions  212 . The protrusion portion  213  is formed in an arc plate shape. 
     As shown in  FIG.  5   , the suspension body  220  includes a basket-shaped figure placement portion  222  and an umbrella-shaped abutting portion  223 . The figure placement portion  222  includes a bottom plate  222   a , side plates  222   b  and  222   c  erected from the bottom plate  222   a  so as to face each other, and a back plate  222   d  erected from the bottom plate  222   a  so as to connect the side plates  222   b  and  222   c . Further, the figure placement portion  222  includes an opening and closing door  222   e  at a position facing the back plate  222   d . The opening and closing door  222   e  has one end portion connected to the side plate  222   c  via a hinge portion  222   f  so as to be openable and closable. A frame-shaped opening lock portion  222   g  is provided at the other end portion of the opening and closing door  222   e , and by inserting a protrusion  222   b   1  of the side plate  222   b  into the opening lock portion  222   g , the opening and closing door  222   e  can be locked with a click feeling. A figure can be placed on the bottom plate  222   a  of the figure placement portion  222 . 
     A suspension connecting portion  221  is erected from a substantially central upper portion of the abutting portion  223 . The suspension connecting portion  221  is formed in a substantially plate shape and has a hole portion  221   a . The side plates  222   b  and  222   c  of the figure placement portion  222  and the abutting portion  223  are connected to each other by two vertically elongated connecting portions  224  which extend upward from the side plates  222   b  and  222   c , respectively. 
     As shown in  FIG.  6   , the suspension connecting portion  221  of the suspension body  220  is inserted from the chamfered portions of the suspension shaft portions  212   a  and  212   b  in the suspension portion  212 , and the suspension shaft portions  212   a  and  212   b  are loosely fitted in the hole portion  221   a . Thus, the suspension body  220  is swingable in the radial direction of the rotation of the rotating body  210  (a left-right direction when viewed in  FIG.  6   ), and is swingable around axes of the suspension shaft portions  212   a  and  212   b . That is, due to the rotation of the rotating body  210 , the suspension body  220  rotates around an axis of the shaft portion  230  (bearing portion  211 ) while swinging in left-right and front-rear directions from the view of a figure facing a front toward an opening and closing door  222   e  side. Therefore, the user can play while imagining that the figure is enjoying rotation swing play. 
     Here, the rotating body  210  can be rotated by rotating the decorative piece  218  by hands. Then, when the rotating body  210  is rotated vigorously, as shown in  FIG.  7   , tip end portions of the protrusion portions  213  are abutted with corresponding portions on surfaces of the abutting portion  223 , and swinging of the suspension body  220  toward a radially outward direction of the rotation of the rotating body  210  due to a centrifugal force is restricted. Therefore, even for an infant who has difficulty in adjusting the rotation of the rotating body  210 , stop of the rotation of the rotating body  210  or damage to members due to collision of the toy for figure play  1  with another member (the central support plate  31  in the present embodiment) when the suspension body  220  swings toward the radially outer direction of the rotation of the rotating body  210  due to the centrifugal force is reduced. 
     As described above, since at least the suspension body  220  that swings in the radial direction of the rotation of the rotating body  210  is less likely to collide with other members, the second playing portion  200  can be provided close to the central support plate  31  without forming the toy for figure play  1  large to avoid collision between the swinging suspension body  220  and the central support plate  31 . Therefore, a degree of freedom in design, such as disposing the playing portion close to the center, can be increased and the design of the toy for figure play  1  can be improved. 
     Further, since the protrusion portion  213  of the rotating body  210  is formed in a convex arc plate shape, even when the suspension body  220  swings around the axes of the suspension shaft portions  212   a  and  212   b , swinging motion can be enjoyed without restricting the swinging motion. 
     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 shaft portion; a rotating body including: a bearing portion supported by the shaft portion so as to be rotatable in a circumferential direction of the rotating body around the shaft portion; a suspension portion; and a protrusion portion provided on an outer side than the suspension portion in a radial direction of the rotating body; and a suspension body including a suspension connecting portion connected to the suspension portion to allow the suspension body to swing at least in the radial direction; a figure placement portion; and an abutting portion configured to be allowed to abut with the protrusion portion. 
     According to the configuration, even when the rotating body is rotated and the suspension body swings to the radially outer side of the rotation of the rotating body, a swing angle of the suspension body can be appropriately regulated, so that collision of the suspension body with another playing portion, a support portion supporting the playing portion, or the like can be reduced. Therefore, a toy for figure play that can also be played by an infant who has difficulty in adjusting a force with fun while reducing damage to a member can be provided. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a second aspect, the shaft portion includes: a cross-shaped leg portion having a cross shape and erected from a flat surface portion, the cross-shaped leg portion including an upper surface having an arc shape; and a shaft support point portion protruding from an intersection portion of the upper surface of the cross-shaped leg portion, the shaft support point portion having a convex spherical shape, and the bearing portion includes: a cylindrical portion including and end edge portion configured to sliding contact the flat surface portion and an inner peripheral surface configured to sliding contact an outer peripheral surface of the cross-shaped leg portion; and a shaft-supported surface portion having a concave spherical shape and provided on a bottom portion of the cylindrical portion, the shaft-supported surface portion being configured to be abutted with the shaft support point portion. 
     According to the configuration, the cylindrical portion of the bearing portion of the rotating body is guided in the rotation direction by the outer peripheral surface of the cross-shaped leg portion and the flat surface portion, and the rotating body is spherically supported by the shaft support point portion of the cross-shaped leg portion of the shaft portion and the bottom portion of the cylindrical portion, so that rattling can be reduced and the rotating body can be rotated smoothly. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a third aspect, the suspension portion includes a suspension shaft portion having an axis extending in the radial direction, and the suspension connecting portion has a hole portion in which the suspension shaft portion is loosely fitted. 
     According to the configuration, the suspension body is rotated by the rotating body while swinging not only in the front-rear direction but also in the left-right direction with respect to a figure placed in the suspension body, so that the child can further enjoy playing. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a fourth aspect, the figure placement portion include an opening and closing door and is formed in a basket shape, the abutting portion is formed in an umbrella shape, and the suspension connecting portion protrudes from a central upper portion of the abutting portion, and the suspension body includes two elongated connecting portions which connect side portions of the figure placement portion and the abutting portion and which are long in an upper-lower direction. 
     According to the configuration, since the suspension body can be formed as a figure placement portion hanging from the abutting portion having a shape such as an umbrella via the connecting portions, the design can further enhance an imaginary scene for a child playing with figures. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a fifth aspect, the shaft portion is provided on a main body of the toy for figure play including a plurality of playing portions. 
     According to the configuration, since the playing portion including the rotating body and the suspension body can be provided in the main body of the toy for figure play including a plurality of playing portions, collision of the suspension body with other members can be reduced, and thus the playing portions can be provided close to each other, and a toy for figure play having a high degree of freedom in design can be provided. 
     In the toy for figure play according to a sixth aspect, the protrusion portion protrudes downward from the rotating body, and the abutting portion is positioned below a tip end of the protrusion portion. 
     According to the configuration, when the rotating body is rotated vigorously, the tip end of the protrusion portion is abutted with the abutting portion, and swinging of the suspension body toward a radially outward direction of the rotating body due to a centrifugal force is restricted. 
     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, although three suspension bodies  220  are provided in one rotating body  210  in the present embodiment, the number of suspension bodies  220  may be one or two or more. Further, the suspension body  220  may swing only in the front-rear direction of a figure to be placed.