EP1943003A1

EP1943003A1 - Luminous toy

Info

Publication number: EP1943003A1
Application number: EP06779695A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Valerio Aprile
Original assignee: Produzioni Editoriali Aprile SpA
Current assignee: Produzioni Editoriali Aprile SpA
Priority date: 2005-11-04
Filing date: 2006-04-24
Publication date: 2008-07-16
Also published as: WO2007052093A1; ITTO20050154U1

Abstract

The toy consists of a doll (1) representing a human or animal personage, having a hollow body (2), set within which is a projection assembly (3) including a light source (4) and an optical system (7, 9) for directing the light beam (L) emitted by the light source (4) towards a window (8) of the body (2) . The doll (1) is equipped with at least one card (10), provided with at least one transparent support (11) bearing an image (12) that can be positioned in use through the light beam (L) for being projected and focused onto a resting surface of the toy, in front of the latter.

Description

"Luminous toy" ***

Field of the invention

The subject of the present invention is a toy designed particularly, albeit not exclusively, to accompany packages of foodstuffs and the like for promotional purposes.

State of the prior art

More particularly, the invention is directed to a toy of the type generally known from US-5, 545, 072, comprising a doll representing a human or animal personage having a hollow body, within which a projection assembly is provided including a powered light source and an optical system including a focusing lens for directing the light beam emitted by the light source towards a window of the body. The doll is equipped with at least one card provided with at least one transparent support bearing an image, which can be positioned in use through the light beam for being projected, via the projection assembly, on the outside of the body through said window.

In the toy known from US-5, 545, 072 the images in use can be either viewed internally of the toy, or projected along a direction which is generally perpendicular to the toy itself and onto a surface provided in front of it. This requires that, depending upon the distance from such a surface, the image shall have to be focused by manually adjusting the position of the focusing lens.

This involves a drawback consisting of the difficulty to properly focus the projected images with the required accuracy, particularly by young users to which the toy is expressly dedicated.

Summary of the invention

The object of the invention is avoid the above drawback and to provide a toy of the above-referenced type which, with extreme simplicity of construction, will be suitable for creating particularly original and amusing effects avoiding the need of precisely focusing the projected images.

According to the invention, this object is achieved by the features set forth in Claim 1.

Namely, in the toy according to the invention the projection assembly extends generally vertically within the body underneath the head of the doll, and the window is set substantially in the upper area of the head of the doll. The reflector is then designed to deflect the light beam generated by the powered source towards the window, according to an angle directed downwards. This enables projection of the properly focused image of the transparent support of the card on a resting surface of the toy, in front of the latter, without any need of adjusting the position of the focusing lens relative to the reflector.

In a preferred embodiment, the aforesaid at least one card can be inserted into and extracted from said projection assembly through a dorsal opening of the body of the doll. In a variant, the card is integrated in the body of the doll and can also turn. In any case, three different images will conveniently be provided, for example all carried by the same support or else by three different supports, which can be selected as desired by the person playing with the toy.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics of the invention will emerge from the ensuing description, with reference to the annexed plate of drawings, which are provided purely by way of non-limiting example and in which:

- Figure 1 is a front perspective view of a doll that forms a possible embodiment of the invention; - Figure 2 is a dorsal perspective view of the doll; and

- Figure 3 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the doll.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference to the drawings, the number 1 designates a doll representing an invented human (or animal) personage, having a hollow body 2 with a bottom resting base 2a and a head 2b.

The head 2b has an enlargement 2c at the top formed with a front opening defining a window 8, to which there can be applied a transparent plate. A reflecting plate 9 is fixed behind and on top of the window 8, with an inclination with respect to the latter of, for example, approximately 60°.

Set within the hollow body 2, underneath the head 2b, is a projection assembly designated as a whole by 3 and including a lamp-bulb 4 supplied by one or more batteries 5 and activatable by means of an on/off switch 6, for example a push-button switch, which can be actuated from outside the body 2. The lamp-bulb 4 is inserted at the base of a cylindrical casing 13, set vertically within the body 2, and at the top of which is applied a focusing lens 7 situated underneath the reflecting plate 9 and facing the latter.

The reference number 10 designates a card with which the doll 1 is equipped, which is provided with at least one transparent support 11 bearing an image 12.

The card 10 can be fitted into and removed from the body 1, in a direction transverse to the cylindrical casing 13, through a dorsal slit 14 of the body 2.

In the condition where the card 10 (represented in Figure 3) is inserted, the image 12 impressed on the transparent support 11 sets itself on the path of the light beam L produced by the lamp-bulb 4 when this is turned on via the switch 6. The image 12 is thus focused by the lens 7 on the reflecting plate 9 and deflected by this towards the outside of the body 2 through the window 8, for being projected -downwards and enlarged - on the resting surface of the doll 1, in front of the latter.

It should be pointed out that the doll 1 can conveniently be provided with a number of different images 12, which may be arranged on the same card 10 (which, in this case, may be inserted through the slit 14 in different positions, more or less advanced) or on a number of cards 10, so that they can be selected and then projected by the user. For example, three different images may be provided (as has been said on the same card or on three different cards) corresponding to the three symbols of the rock, paper, scissors game, to enable the user to play said game with another user equipped with a similar doll according to the invention. The images each time selected by the two players will thus be projected alongside one another on the resting surface of the dolls.

It should also be noted that the card or cards with the images to be projected may be integrated in the doll 1, i.e., not removable therefrom, and moreover that the selection of the images carried by the card or cards may be made, instead of via a translation, by means of a rotation. In this case, the card 10 will be shaped like a disk that is able to rotate with respect to the body 2 and bears a series of images 12 staggered angularly with respect to one another. The disk can then be displaced angularly in steps, in order to set the image 12 each time selected on the path of the light beam L produced by the lamp-bulb 4. Of course, without departing from the principle^' of the invention, the details of construction and the embodiments may vary widely with respect to what is described and illustrated herein purely by way of example, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims .

Claims

1. A toy, comprising a doll (1) representing a human or animal personage having a hollow body (2), within which a projection assembly (3) is provided including a powered light source (4), and an optical system (7, 9) for directing the light beam (L) emitted by the light source (4) towards a window (8) of said body (2), said optical system including a focusing lens

(7) ; the doll (1) being equipped with at least one card

(10) provided with at least one transparent support

(11) bearing an image (12), which can be positioned in use through said light beam (L) for being projected, via said projection assembly (3) and optical system (7, 9), on the outside of the body (2) through said window (8), characterized in that said projection assembly (3) extends generally vertically within the body (2) underneath the head (2b) of the doll (1), in that said window (8) is set substantially in the upper area (2c) of the head (2b) of the doll (1), and in that said optical system moreover comprises a reflector (9) designed to deflect the light beam (L) generated by said source (4) through said window (8) according to an angle directed downwards.

2. The toy according to claim 1, characterized in that said at least one card (10) is mobile with respect to said projection assembly (3).

3. The toy according to Claim 2, characterized in that said at least one card (10) can be inserted into and extracted from said projection assembly (3) through a dorsal opening (14) of said body (2) .

4. The toy according to Claim 2, characterized in that said at least one card (10) is integrated in said body (2) .

5. The toy according to Claim 2, characterized in that said card can rotate with respect to said body (2).