Patent Publication Number: US-4482256-A

Title: Toy watch

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to a novel toy functioning as a wrist watch and a toy robotic humanoid at the same time. 
     A conventional wrist watch is intended originally for timekeeping and time indication only, and even such wrist watch as is particularly provided to cater to infants&#39; or children&#39;s application may be not so attractable to maintain a child&#39;s interest. Nevertheless, infants and children are prone to obtain a wrist watch of their own to imitate adult persons wearing a wrist watch. 
     In view of the above circumstances, this invention has been made to provide a toy watch capable of working as a normal wrist watch while worn on the wrist but also capable of serving as a robotic humanoid reconfigured for play when taken off the wrist, thereby encouraging an early nourishment of the infants&#39; or children&#39;s awareness of time on the watch. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention is to provide a toy watch comprising a wrist wearing band and a watch assembly installed detachably thereon, wherein the wrist wearing band is provided with a mounting base almost in the middle thereof longitudinally and a stopping means provided on the mounting base, and the watch assembly is provided with a watch body installed detachably on the mounting base through the stopping means. Arms, legs and a head which are coupled to the watch body constitute a robotic humanoid together with the watch body. 
     More particularly, a compact reconfigurable toy watch assembly is provided which includes a wristband member connected to a body member having an upper body surface with a time display and a robotic humanoid head. A pair of arm members are movably attached to the body member and form either robotic arms or form with the body member a portion of the upper surface of the watch assembly. The arm members also form outer perimetrical sides of the watch assembly when moved adjacent the body member. A pair of leg members are movably attached to the body member and form either robotic legs or, when positioned in a folded configuration adjacent the body member, another portion of the upper watch assembly surface and an outer perimetrical side. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The drawings represent one preferred embodiment of this invention, wherein 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a band and a watch assembly separately from each other, 
     FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of a mounting base, 
     FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on line III--III of FIG. 2, 
     FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing another example of the stopping means, 
     FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a state wherein the watch assembly is installed on the band, 
     FIGS. 6 (a) to (e) are diagrams showing operations for reconfiguring the watch assembly to a robotic humanoid. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Next, the invention will be described for its one preferred embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     A toy watch given in one embodiment of this invention consists of a wrist wearing band (hereinafter simply called &#34;band&#34;) denoted by a character A and a watch assembly denoted by a character B. 
     The band A is provided with a mounting base 1 in the middle thereof, and a stopping means 2 is provided on the mounting base 1. The mounting base 1 has a flat plate 1a and retainers 1b, 1c erected on both sides vertically of the flat plate 1a as illustrated, and a fitting zone 1d is formed by the flat plate 1a and the retainers 1b, 1c. A concavity 1e ranging to the fitting zone 1d is provided at the center of the upper side retainer 1b. 
     The stopping means 2 is constituted as follows. A hole 3 penetrating horizontally as illustrated is formed within the flat plate 1a, and symmetrical two operating rods 4 are enclosed in the hole 3 slidably leftward and rightward with one part projected externally from the mounting base 1. Each operating rod 4 has integrally a head 4a working as a stopper at the same time on the outer end, a stop member 4e on the inner end, and a neck 4b, a shoulder 4c and a guide member 4d between the head 4a and the stop member 4e. Then, each operating rod 4 has its stop member 4e interposed between the stop member 4e and the shoulder 4c of the other operating rod 4 each other and the neck 4b penetrated through an opening 3a of the hole 3. 
     With a coil spring or other spring 5 is interposed, for example, between the stop member 4e and the shoulder 4c adjacent each other, the two operating rods 4, 4 are energized in the direction where the head 4a is separated from a side of the mounting base 1, and thus the shoulder 4c is abutted on the inside of an edge of the opening 3a to prevent them from coming off. The flat plate 1a of the mounting base 1 is provided with a hole 6 penetrating in the front and back direction of the band A at the center, and the stop member 4e of the two operating rods 4, 4 fronts on the hole 6. 
     Thus from pushing the two heads 4a projecting on both sides of the mounting base 1 with fingers in the direction opposite each other, the operating rods 4, 4 slide inside along the hole 3 through the guide member 4d, and both the stop members 4e retreat from the hole 6. In this case, since the head 4a extends outward from the neck 4b, the head 4a contacts with an edge of the opening 3a of the hole 3 to work as a stopper. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 4, the stopping means 2 can also be constituted such that the hole 3 of the mounting base 1 is kept open on one side only to enclose one operating rod 4 therein, and the spring 5 is interposed between the stop member 4e and a bottom of the hole 3. 
     The watch assembly B consists of a watch body 8 provided on its upper body surface with a known time mechanism having a window 7 for digital display of time, a simulated head 9 projected on top of the watch body 8 and coupled rotatably on a shaft of pin 9a (FIG. 5), arms 10, 10 coupled to both left and right sides of the watch body 8 rotatably on shafts of pins 10a, 10a, and legs 11, 11 coupled foldably to a bottom of the watch body 8. 
     By coupling the arms 10, 10 through shafts having a horizontal axis, i.e. the pins 10a, 10a, a plane common with the watch body 8 is formed in the state where the arms 10, 10 are kept downward, and the legs 11, 11 are coupled to a frame 14 fixed on the watch body 8 through shafts 12, 12 having a longitudinal axis as illustrated, further an upper thigh 11a and a lower thigh 11b which constitute each leg 11 are coupled likewise through shafts 13, 13 having a longitudinal axis, and each lower thigh 11b is formed by a frame almost U-shaped in section. Thus as illustrated in FIG. 6, the frame 14 and the upper thigh 11a are enclosed in the lower thigh 11b when the upper thigh 11a is raised horizontally and further the lower thigh 11b is raised horizontally inside, the lower thigh 11b also forms a plane common with the watch body, and thus the watch body 8, the arms 10, 10 and the legs 11 are brought to a form of the watch in one block of approximately a rectangular configuration as shown in FIG. 1. The arms 10, 10 and the legs 11, 11 in combination with the watch body 8 form the upper watch assembly surface when configured to simulate a compact watch assembly. In this position the arms 10, 10 are positioned adjacent the body member 8 as shown in FIG. 1 to form outer perimetrical sides with the body member 8 being positioned between the arm members 10, 10. The leg members 11, 11 have supporting ends that are rotated to abut against each other and the body member 8 to thereby provide another outer perimetrical side. The leg members 11, 11 also form another portion of the upper watch assembly surface. 
     Then, the head of the watch assembly B has a shape and size corresponding to the concavity 1e of the retainer 1b of the mounting base 1 of the band A and simulates a face on one side or the back, for example, in FIG. 5. Further, a stop projection 15 of an inverted T-shaped in section corresponding to the hole 6 provided at the center of the flat plate 1a of the mounting base 1 is provided, as shown in FIG. 3, on the back of the watch body 8. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 1, the watch assembly B in one block state is kept near to the fitting zone 1d of the mounting base 1 of the band A on its back, the head 9 is placed in position correspondingly to the fitting zone 1d, and then it is pressed onto the flat plate 1a side to insert the stop projection 15 in the hole 6 constituting the stopping means. In this case, since a tip of the stop projection 15 depresses a taper plane formed on the surface of the stop members 4e, 4e of the operating rods 4, 4, both the operating rods 4, 4 are moved horizontally against the spring 5 to retreat from the hole 6. When the tip of the stop projection 15 passes the stop members 4e, 4e, the operating rods 4, 4 are reset by the springs 5, 5, therefore the stop projection 15 is held between the stop members 4e, 4e of both the operating rods 4, 4, and thus the watch assembly B cannot be detached from the band A. 
     In the state where the watch assembly B is installed on the band A as shown in FIG. 5, it presents a similar surface appearance to a normal digital wrist watch and may serve to tell the time on the wrist through the window 7 as occasion demands. 
     In this case, the watch assembly B has the watch body or housing member 8 and the appendages or legs 11, 11 depressed by the retainers 1b, 1c of the mounting base 1, therefore an external force applied thereto will not detach the watch assembly B from the band A. Furthermore, the operating rods 4, 4 only project as far as a plane almost even with both sides of the arms 10, 10 of the watch assembly B, therefore the watch assembly B will never be detached by a force applied unexpectedly to the operating rods 4, 4. 
     On the other hand, when the band A is removed from the wrist and the heads 4a, 4a of the operating rods 4, 4 are pushed by your left-hand fingers, the stop members 4e, 4e of the operating rods 4, 4 retreat from the hole 6 of the mounting base 1, the stop projection 15 of the watch body 8 is thus released, therefore the watch assembly B will be extracted from the fitting zone 1d of the mounting base 1 by your right hand to detach from the band A. 
     Then, both the folded support members or simulated appendage legs 11, 11 are stretched or pivoted by rotating the lower thighs 11b, 11b around the shafts 13, 13 and rotating the upper thighs 11a, 11a around the shafts 12, 12 thereafter (FIGS. 6 (a) to (c)), the arms 10, 10 are then moved forward or backward as illustrated around the pins 10a, 10a (FIG. 6 (d)), and finally the head 9 is rotated to the front side around the pin 9a to turn the face simulating a robotic humanoid to the front, thus presenting a figure of a robotic humanoid familiar to infants or children (FIG. 6 (e)). The lower thighs 11b, 11b have openings of sufficient dimensions to encompass both their respective upper thighs 11a, 11a and the body member lower frame 14 when configured into a compact watch assembly position. Thus the pivotal movement of the arm and leg members can provide in combination with the body member an approximately rectangular peripheral storage configuration for attachment to the waistband member A. 
     The watch assembly B in one block may revert properly from reversing the procedures given in FIGS. 6 (a) to (e), which can be fitted on the band A again accordingly. 
     Then, another constitution will be conceivable such that the arms 10, 10 are provided with a hollow inner portion, a simulated hand 20 (illustrated in FIG. 6 (e)) is enclosed slidably in the hollow inner portion, and thus the hand 20 can be drawn out properly as occasion demands. 
     As described above, the toy watch according to this invention comprises a band and a watch assembly detachable from the band, the watch assembly has a watch body simulating the trunk and a head, arms and legs which are installed on the watch body, therefore when the watch assembly is installed on the band, it may serve as a normal wrist watch, and a toy robotic humanoid play will be enjoyed otherwise by detaching it from the band. Accordingly, it is expected that infants or children will find it very interesting. The toy watch may also serve for early nourishment of the children&#39;s sensitivity to time on the watch.