Patent Publication Number: US-6905389-B2

Title: Toy top game unit

Description:
This is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 10/136,724, filed on Apr. 30, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,939. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a toy top game unit comprising a combination of a toy top and a game board, which allows spinning of the toy top thereon. 
   2. Description of the Related Art 
   Conventionally, toy tops have been very popular in the children&#39;s playgrounds, and children often play a game in which they strike their toy tops against those of their companions so as to drive out their companions&#39; toy tops from the game board. 
   Now, for such a toy game, a variety of novel plans have been proposed and put in practice in the Art. For example, the toy top is constituted in such a manner that the toy top can be disassembled so that replacement of parts thereof may be carried out to vary spinning characteristics thereof, to thereby enhance the performance of the toy top so that it has the advantage in a competition. Particularly, it is desired that parts for the toy top be developed which add a function to a toy top that permits it to more strongly attack a competitors&#39; toy top and more strongly defend against it. 
   However, the toy tops are spun and played on game boards and thus, even when the function of the toy tops are improved, since they move on game boards, the moving pattern thereof is dependent on the form of the game boards. For this reason, the game board disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 2001-385 has been proposed. This game board is provided thereon with a spinning plate, and this spinning plate is spun to change the performance characteristics of the toy tops, or a rebound plate is arranged on the game board, and by this rebound plate, the toy tops are rebounded so as to change the performance characteristics of the toy tops. However, it was not possible to change the performance characteristics of the toy tops unless the toy tops were definitely mounted on the spinning plate or the rebound plate. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to solve the foregoing problem and provide a toy top game unit in which operational modes can be changed without the spinning toy tops being influenced by players directly or indirectly and by which the toy top game undergoes a new development. 
   In order to solve the foregoing problem, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toy top game unit which comprises a toy top, driving means for rotating said toy top, a game board for receiving said toy top thereon, and means for interacting the toy top and the game board, and for imparting a change to an operational mode of the toy top on said game board, said interacting means including first magnet means arranged on the toy top and second magnet means arranged on the game board. 
   According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a game board for playing a toy top game using a toy top having a magnet arranged thereon comprising a base board having an upper surface, and a game board mounted on said upper surface of said base board, said upper surface of said base board being provided with a receiving means for receiving said second magnet means therein, said game board being detachably mounted on said upper surface of said base board. 
   According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a toy top having a rotational axis thereof comprising a toy body having a shaft arranged at a lowermost portion thereof nd a mount support means for supporting a plurality of blade members thereon; said blade members being laid to overlap each other and being detachably mounted through said mount support means; and magnet means being arranged on the rotational axis of said toy top. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a constitution of a toy top game unit according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the toy top; 
       FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view showing a structure of the toy top: 
       FIG. 4  is a perspective view showing a structure of a base member of the toy top: 
       FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of an attachment base; 
       FIGS. 6A ,  6 B, and  6 C are a perspective view, a front view and a bottom view of a shooter main body, respectively; 
       FIGS. 7A and 7B  are essential sectional views showing an inner structure of the shooter main body; 
       FIG. 8  is an exploded perspective view showing a structure of a spin imparting mechanism; 
       FIGS. 9A and 9B  are perspective views showing a structure of a game board; 
       FIGS. 10A and 10B  are bottom side perspective views showing a structure of magnets to be attached to the game board; 
       FIGS. 11A and 11B  are fragmentary plane views showing the relation between the toy top and the shooter; 
       FIGS. 12A  to  12 E are plane views of the game boards showing operational modes of the toy top using change means; 
       FIG. 13  is an exploded perspective view showing a base member in another embodiment; 
       FIG. 14  is a longitudinal sectional view showing the base member of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 13 ; 
       FIG. 15  is an exploded perspective view showing an assembly of the toy top having the base member of the embodiment shown in  FIG. 13 ; and 
       FIG. 16  is a perspective view of the toy top having the base member of the embodiment shown in FIG.  13 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIG. 1  shows one embodiment of a toy top game unit according to the present invention. This toy top game unit is constituted by a toy top  1 , driving means, i.e., a shooter  2  which spins the toy top  1  and a game board  3  where the toy top  1  is spun and competes with other toy tops  1  on the game board  3 . 
   The toy top  1  is, as shown in  FIG. 2 , integrated with a base member  5  and a deadweight member  6  and an attack ring  7  are placed thereon. 
   The base member  5 , as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , is formed in an inverted cone shape and is comprised of a base member main body  9  which is formed with a core rod  8  protruded from the lower end, and an attachment base  10  which is attached to the upper surface center thereof. 
   An opening portion  15  which opens laterally is formed on both sides of the upper portion of the base member main body  9 , and a fastener  17  having a pair of leg pieces  16  is detachably attached to the opening portion  15 . Reference numeral  18  designates a protrusion which strides over the leg pieces  16 , and a recessed groove  20  is formed on an upper leg piece  19  which constitutes the opening portion  15 . 
   The attachment base  10 , as shown in  FIG. 5 , is constituted by a frame  23  which can be divided into right and left divided frames  23   a ,  23   b  and a support  24  supported by this frame  23 . 
   The divided frames  23   a ,  23   b  have a fitting recessed portion  27  and a fitting convex portion  28  formed, respectively on a joining surface. The fitting convex portion  28  is joined and fit to the fitting recessed portion  27 , so that the frame  23  is formed. Further, engaging holes  30  engaging with engaging plates  43  which are protruded from both sides of the support  24  are formed on the inner peripheral surfaces of the divided frames  23   a ,  23   b , respectively. The attachment base  10  is constituted by joining the divided frames  23   a ,  23   b  together wherein their engaging holes  30  are engaged with the engaging plates  43 . 
   The divided frames  23   a ,  23   b  have protruding portions  33  formed continuously on the joining surface thereof, and an inserting groove  37  in which the fastener  17  is inserted is formed in the lower portion of the protruding portion  33 . Notch portions  34 ,  34  are formed orthogonal to the protruding portions  33 ,  33 . A support piece  35  which is a linkage portion linked with a spin imparting mechanism A of the shooter  2  to be described later is formed in the lower portion of the notch portion  34 . Attachment grooves  36  are formed in a clockwise direction of the peripheral surfaces of the notch portions  34  so as to extend to the other protruding portion  33 . 
   The support  24  is provided with a circular arc shaped nipping plates  41  on the upper surface of a disc shaped base plate  40 , and a fitting protruding portion  42  to fit with the fitting recessed portion  21  formed in the center of the base member main body  9  is protrusively formed on the lower surface of the disc shaped base plate  40 . The engaging plate  43  engaged with the engaging hole  30  of the frame  23  is protrusively formed on the outside surface of the nipping plate  41 , and a closed-end cylindrical container  26  which accommodates a magnet  25  as change means is nipped by the nipping plates  41 ,  41  and then covered by a lid  44 . The magnet  25  may be formed in a size of the container  26  so as to be directly supported by the support  24 . 
   When the engaging plates  43  of the support  24  are engaged with the engaging holes  30  of the divided frames  23   a ,  23   b  and the fitting convex portions  28  are fitted in the fitting recessed portions  27 , the divided frame  23   a  and the divided frame  23   b  are joined together so that the attachment base  10  can be constituted. 
   This attachment base  10  permits the protruding portion  33  of the attachment base  10  to engage with a recessed groove  20  of the base member main body  9 , and at the same time, permits the fitting protruding portions  41  of the lower portion of the attachment base  10  to fit in the fitting recessed portion  21  of the base member main body  9 . Further, the fastener  17  is inserted through the opening portion  15  of the base member main body  9  and thrust into a thrust groove  37  of the attachment base  10 , and a top end of the leg piece  16  of the fastener  17  is thrust on the base plate  40  of the support  24  so that the attachment base  10  is fixed on the base member main body  9 , thereby constituting the base member  5  as shown in FIG.  2 . 
   The deadweight member  6 , as shown in  FIG. 3 , is formed in a disc shaped plate or polygonal shape with the center opened, and has a pair of overhang portions  50  protruding to the inner portion of the deadweight member  6  in opposition to each other on the inner peripheral portion of the deadweight member  6 . Each of the overhang portion  50  is formed, in the center thereof, with an engaging groove  51  which engages with the protruding portion  33  of the attachment base  10 . The deadweight member  6  may be formed of any material having a heavier weight than other materials, and usually it is preferably formed of metal. 
   As shown in  FIG. 3 , the attack ring  7  is a disc shaped member with its center opened circularly, and a pair of overhang pieces  52  is formed in opposition to each other on the inside of the opening, the inner peripheral portion of each overhang piece  52  having a circular arc shape and a size to fit to the attachment base  10  of the base member  5 . An engaging piece  53  is protrusively formed in the center of the inner peripheral portion of each of the overhang pieces  52 . The distance between the two engaging pieces  53  is set in such a manner as to be substantially equal to the distance between the notch portions  34  of the attachment base  10 . Note that a plurality of attacking wings  54  to attack other toy tops are formed on the peripheral surface of the attack ring  7 , and an engaging portion  56  to engage with engaging pieces  55   a  which are protrusively formed in both side portions of a chip  55  pasted with a seal (not shown) painted with famous characters or symbols is formed on the upper surface of the attack ring  7 . 
   Next, in order to assemble the members structured as explained-above, first, the deadweight member  6  is put on the base member  5  and the protruding portion  33  of the attachment base  10  and the engaging groove  51  of the overhang portion  50  of he deadweight member  6  are engaged. The attack ring  7  is put on the deadweight member  6 , and the engaging piece  53  of the attack ring  7  and the notch portion  34  of the attachment base  10  of the base member  5  are positioned so as to conform to each other, and the attack ring  7  is pressed downward. In this way, the overhang piece  52  of the attack ring  7  abuts against the support piece  35  of the attachment base  10 , and the engaging piece  53  faces the attachment groove  36 . Then, the attack ring  7  is rotated clockwise and the engaging piece  53  is permitted to slide along the attachment groove  36  of the base member  5  up to the end portion thereof and the attack ring  7  is assembled into the base member  5 . According to the foregoing procedure, the toy top having the deadweight member  6  and the attack ring  7  mounted on the base member  5  can be constituted. 
   The shooter  2  is constituted by a shooter main body  60  and a rack belt  62 , which permits a rotating body  61  rotatably attached to the base portion of the shooter main body  60  to spin (see  FIGS. 6A  to  6 C). The shooter main body  60  is a hollow box, and on both side surfaces thereof, inserting hole  63  in which the rack belt  62  is inserted is formed. In the interior thereof, the spin imparting mechanism A to impart a torque to the toy top  1  and the locking mechanism B to lock this spin imparting mechanism A are arranged. 
   The spin imparting mechanism A is constituted by a driving shaft  66  which comprises a pinion gear  64  engaged with a rack gear  62   a  of the rack belt  62  and a ratchet gear  65  integrally formed on the same shaft with the pinion gear  64 , and the locking mechanism B is constituted by a ratchet claw  68  energized so as to be engaged with the ratchet gear  65  at all times by a spring  67 . 
   When the rack belt  62  is inserted, this ratchet claw  68  is pushed down in opposition to the spring  67  and disengaged from the ratchet gear  65 , and at the time of pulling out operation of the rack belt  62 , the pinion gear  64  is rotated. When the rack belt is pulled out until the rack belt  62   a  and the pinion gear  64  are disengaged from each other, pressing pressure of the ratchet claw  68  is released so that the ratchet claw  68  is energized by the spring  67  to rise up and be engaged with the ratchet gear  65  (the driving shaft  66 ) to immediately lock the rotation of the ratchet gear  65  (see FIGS.  7 A and  7 B). 
   As shown in  FIG. 8 , a shaft body  70  is formed in the lower portion of this driving shaft  66 , and this shaft body  70  is protruded downward from the base of the shooter main body  60 . This shaft body  70  is a square shaft with a top end portion  70   a  thereof being formed in a cylindrical shape, and the square shaft portion fits into an angle hole  72  formed in the center of an S letter shaped stabilizer  71 , the stabilizer  71  and the driving shaft  66  integrally rotating. 
   The top end portion  70   a  of the shaft body  70  is inserted into a shaft hole  73  which is formed in the center of the rotating body  61 , and a screw  76  is screwed into a screw hole  74  formed in the top end portion  70   a  via a washer  75  so that the rotating body  61  is attached to the shaft body  70  so as to freely rotate. 
   This rotating body  61  has a circular engaging recessed portion  77  formed on the upper surface thereof, and a waveform engaging groove  78  which engages with the stabilizer  71  is provided on the inner peripheral surface of this engaging recessed portion  77 , and two engaging plates  79  which engage with the toy top  1  being formed by being protruded downward (see FIGS.  6 B and  6 C). 
   As shown in  FIG. 9A , the game board  3  is constituted by a base board  80  which is formed in a trapezoid shape of raw material of non-magnetic substance such as plastic and a game board  81  which is stacked on this base board  80  so as to cover the same. The game surface which is the upper surface of the game board  81  is formed in a concave surface shape, and is formed to have a size enough to permit a plurality of toy tops  1  to spin simultaneously. 
   The base board  80  can be provided with a magnet  82  as a change means to act on the magnet  25 , this magnet  25  is a change means being provided in the toy top to impart a change to the operational mode of the toy top. An upper surface  83  of the base board  80  is formed in a concave shape and a large number of circular recessed portions  84  are formed on the upper surface  83  of the base board  80 , a disc shaped magnet  82  can be fitted into this recessed portion  84 . This magnet  82  is mounted on a magnet casing  85 , and the magnet casing  85  can be fitted into the recessed portion  84  on the game surface  83 . 
   The magnet case  85  is formed with a low cylindrical shape, and a circumferential wall  86  is notched at opposing positions, and a pair of nipping pieces  87  being provided in each notched portion. This magnet casing  85  is available in two types: one for a thick magnet  82  having a strong magnetic force as shown in FIG.  10 A and another for a thin magnet  82  having a weak magnetic force as shown in FIG.  10 B. The magnet casing  85  mounted with the magnet  82  having a strong magnetic force comprises the nipping pieces  87  which are long and the magnet casing  85  mounted with the magnet  82  having a weak magnetic force comprises the nipping pieces  87  which are short. 
   A game surface  90  of the game board  81  which is stacked on the base board  80  is formed with the same rate of curvature as that of the upper surface of the base board  80 , and the back of the game surface  90  is closely mounted on the upper surface of the base board  80 . Further, a plurality of wall surfaces  91  are protrusively formed on the outside of the game surface  90 . This wall surface  91  functions as a protective relief wall that returns toy tops  1 , which strike against one another and are driven out of the game board, to the game surface  90 . 
   This game board  81  is formed of transparent resin so that a position of the arranged magnet  82  can be seen by a player. However, it may be formed of opaque resin so that the position of the arranged magnet  82  cannot be seen by a player. 
   Note that in this embodiment the base board  80  has the recessed portion  84  formed therein to which the magnet  82  is attached. However, the game board  81  may be formed so that the magnet  82  may be pasted on the back thereof by adequate means such as double-coated tape and the like. 
   Next, the usage mode of the toy top  1  as constituted above will be described. 
   First, in order to spin the toy top, the toy top  1  is set on the shooter main body  60 . At this time, as shown in  FIG. 11A  in which the engaging plates  79  are cut away, the top end of the engaging plate  79  formed on the rotating body  61  of the shooter main body  60  is inserted into a space “a” formed between the attack ring  7  and the attachment base  10  of the toy top  1 , and as shown in  FIG. 11B , the rotating body  61  is rotated counter-clockwise so that the engaging plate  79  of the rotating body  61  engages with the support piece  35  of the attachment base  10 . At this time, the engaging plate  79  is positioned in the top end side of the space “a” and a space is formed in the rear end side of the space “a”. 
   In this state, the rack belt  62  is inserted sufficiently into the inserting hole  63  of the shooter main body  60 . In the state in which the rack belt  62  being inserted, the ratchet claw  68 , which is a locking mechanism, is pushed down by the rack belt  62  so that a locking state of the ratchet gear  65  is released. Next, when the rack belt  62  is operated to be pulled out with vigor, the pinion gear  64  engaged with the rack gear  62   a  is vigorously rotated and the rotating body  61  integrated with this pinion gear  64  is rotated, so that the toy top is also vigorously spun by being linked with the rotation of the rotating body  61 . When the rack belt  62  is pulled out, the rack gear  62   a  and the pinion gear  64  are disengaged from each other, and at the same time pressing pressure of the ratchet claw  68  by the rack belt  62  is immediately released so that, by being energized by the spring  67 , the ratchet claw  68  rises up (see  FIG. 7B ) to lock the ratchet gear  65 , thereby stopping rotation of the rotating body  61  immediately. 
   Even when the rotation of the rotating body  61  stops, the toy top  1  spins by inertia and spins counter-clockwise against the engaging plate  79 , and therefore, the engaging plate  79  relatively moves toward the rear end side of the space “a” and thus the engagement between the engaging plate  79  and the support piece  35  of the attachment base  10  is released. At the same time, since the rear edge of the engaging plate  79  is formed obliquely, the toy top spins vigorously to separate from the shooter main body  60  and drops on the game board  3  and spins on the game board  3 . 
   The toy top  1  which spins on the game board  3  changes its operational state due to the relationship between the magnet  25  in the toy top  1  and the magnet  82  arranged on the game board  3 . For example, when the toy top  1 , in which the lower part of the magnet  25  is set so as to have N polarity, is spun on the game board  3 , as shown in  FIG. 12A , with the upper surface of the magnet  82  having N polarity on the game board  3 , the toy top  1  moves like a flash of lightening so that it can smash against the toy top  1 ′ of the competitor. When the magnet  82  is arranged to have S polarity on the upper surface, as shown in  FIG. 12B , the toy top  1  can continuously spin in a steady state without being driven out by the toy top  1 ′ of the competitor even when hit by the same. Further, as shown in  FIG. 12C , in the case where the magnet having S polarity is arranged in the portion where there is no protective wall, even when the toy top  1  is driven out by the toy top  1 ′ of the competitor toward the portion where there is no protective wall, it is attracted by the magnet and its repelling force is weakened, and thereby it is not driven out of the game surface. 
   As shown in  FIG. 12D , by focusing the magnets having N polarity to the center of the game surface, the spinning position of the toy top  1  can be made much more steady. When the toy top  1  smashes against the toy top  1 ′ of the competitor, though it drives out the toy top  1 ′ of the competitor, it is not driven out by the toy top  1 ′ of the competitor. As shown in  FIG. 12E , by focusing the magnets having S polarity to the center of the game surface, the toy top  1  can be quickly moved to the center of the game surface on the recessed surface and quickly brought into contact with the toy top  1 ′ of the competitor, so that outcome of the game can be quickly decided. 
   As described above, when the magnet  82  is arranged on the game board  3 , by selecting the arrangement position of the magnet  82  and the polarity of the magnet  82 , the toy top can be permitted to have a variety of operational modes so as to increase the pleasure of playing the game. It is not necessary to set all the magnets  82  to have the same polarity. The operational modes of the toy top can be made even more rich in variety, and the pleasure of playing the toy top game can be further increased by setting the magnets on the game board so that S polarity and N polarity coexist. 
   Next, the toy top provided with the magnet, which is change means, in the shaft body will be described. As shown in  FIG. 13 , this toy top has a circular opening portion  101  formed on the base of a base member main body  100 , and a shaft body  102  can be protruded from this opening portion  101 . This shaft body  102  is made of a transparent ABS resin and has a housing recessed portion  104  to house a magnet  103 , which is a change means, formed on the upper surface. A deadweight portion  105  is formed the circumferential edge of the top of the shaft body  102 , and by inserting the shaft body  102  into the opening portion  101  from the inner side of the base member main body  100 , the shaft body  102  can be attached to the base member main body  100 . 
   Assembling of the toy top may be executed in such a manner that the shaft body  102  is inserted into the opening portion  101  from the inner side of the base member main body  100 , and after the top end of the shaft body  102  is protruded from the base of the base member main body  100 , the magnet  103  is housed in the housing recessed portion  104  and a fixing ring  106  is placed on the magnet  103 , and similarly to the toy top  1 , the attachment base  10  is fixed by the fastener  17  to constitute a base member  5 ′ (see FIGS.  14  and  15 ). 
   The base member  5 ′ (as shown in  FIG. 15 ) constituted in this way has, similarly to the toy top  1 , a deadweight member  6 ′ stacked thereon, the protruded portion  33  of the attachment base  10  and the engaging groove  108  of the overhang portion  107  of the deadweight member  6 ′ are brought into engagement, an attack ring  7 ′ is stacked on the deadweight member  6 ′, an engaging piece  110  of the attack ring  7 ′ and the notch portion  34  of the attachment base  10  are positioned so as to conform to each other and the attack ring  7 ′ is pressed downward. In this way, an overhang piece  111  of the attack ring  7 ′ abuts against the support piece  35  of the attachment base  10 , and the engaging piece  110  faces the attachment groove  36 . Then, the attack ring  7 ′ is rotated clockwise so that the engaging piece  110  is permitted to slide along the attachment groove  36  of the attachment base  10  to the end portion thereof, thereby assembling the attack ring  7 ′ into a base member  10 ′ (see FIG.  15 ). According to the above described procedure, the toy top  1 ′ having the deadweight member  6 ′ and the attack ring  7 ′ stacked on the base member  5 ′ can be constituted (see FIG.  16 ). 
   According to the toy top using the base member  5 ′ constituted as explained above, since the distance between the magnet  82  and the magnet  103  arranged on the game board  3  is close, the toy top is repelled or attracted by a strong force, and the movement of the toy top on the game board  3  becomes dynamic, thereby frequently causing the toy tops to smash into each other, to make the toy top game even more exciting. 
   According to the first aspect of the invention, the change means is provided for changing the operational modes of the toy top, without the spinning toy top being influenced by the player directly or indirectly. Hence, the toy top makes unexpected movements and thus the pleasure of playing the game is increased. By turning the change means into magnets, the magnet provided on the toy top and the magnet provided on the game board repel or attract each other. Therefore, when the magnets repel each other, the moving speed of the toy top is accelerated so that it can smash against the toy tops of the other competitors or avoid the attacks of the toy tops of the competitors. When the magnets are attracted to each other, even if the toy top is driven out by the toy tops of the other competitors, the brake is applied so that a force to inhibit the flying out of the toy top from the game board is imposed, thereby allowing the toy top to continue competing against the toy tops of the other competitors. 
   According to the second aspect of the invention, any fitting recessed portion can be selected from among the fitting recessed portions formed in the game board and the magnets can be arranged therein so that the operational modes of the toy top can be set to a variety of forms. Furthermore, when the game board is made opaque, the location of the magnet cannot be seen and, therefore, the movement of the toy top becomes mysterious, which can enhance interest in the toy top game much more. 
   According to the third aspect of the invention, the toy top can be spun only by the pulling out operation of the rack belt which is inserted into the shooter and therefore no difficult operation for spinning the toy top is required. Thus the toy top game can be enjoyed even by young people. 
   (Description of Reference Numeral) 
   
       
         1  toy top 
         2  shooter 
         3  game board 
         25  change means (magnet) 
         62  rack belt 
         80  game board 
         81  base board 
         82  change means (magnet) 
         103  change means (magnet) 
       A spin imparting mechanism 
       B locking mechanism