Article moveable between two positions and a method of combining two or more of the same

Abstract

There is provided an article being moveable between a first position and a second position and biased to the second position. The article is retained in the first position by retaining means until a predetermined condition is met, wherein when that predetermined condition is met, biasing means exert a biasing force to move the article from the first position to the second position. The predetermined condition is met when at least one formation, located on at least one face of the article, is moved from a first position to a second position, thereby releasing the retaining means and permitting movement of the article from the first position to the second position. Also provided is a group of at least two articles provided to interact with one another, with one article meeting the predetermined condition for moving the other from the first position to the second position.

Claims

1. An article, said article being moveable between a first position and a second position and biased to the second position, said article being retained in the first position by retaining means until a predetermined condition is met, wherein when said predetermined condition is met biasing means exert a biasing force to move the article from the first position to the second position, said predetermined condition being met when at least one formation, located on at least one face of the article, is moved from a first position to a second position, thereby releasing said retaining means and permitting movement of the article from the first position to the second position, and wherein said at least one formation is one of a plurality of formations which are movable from first to second positions, by being urged inwardly of the article.

2. An article according to claim 1, wherein said at least one formation is provided to be urged substantially inwardly of the article, thereby releasing said retaining means.

3. An article according to claim 1, wherein only one of the formations, when urged inwardly of the article, is capable of release of the retaining means and the movement of at least some of the formations has no impact on the retaining means.

4. An article according to claim 1, wherein the article includes at least one formation which may be urged inwardly of the article and at least one formation provided as a substantially rigid formation, such that it cannot be urged inwardly of the article.

5. An article according to claim 1, wherein a removable body is provided associated with at least one face of the article.

6. An article according to claim 5, wherein said body is removably located within an aperture in one of the said faces of the article.

7. An article according to claim 5, wherein the removable body, when located with the article, forms at least part of the face of article in which it is located.

8. An article according to claim 1, wherein at least one magnet is provided associated with the article, said at least one magnet provided to align the article substantially with a second article.

9. An article according to claim 1, wherein the article further includes reset means, which include one or more string or thread members and/or the like, provided to connect two or more faces or panels provided on the article, wherein upon activation by a user, said reset means are provided to at least partially return the article to the first position from the second position.

10. A group of articles including at least two articles as claimed in claim 1 movable between first and second positions and biased to the second positions, said articles retained in their respective first positions by retaining means until a predetermined condition is met, wherein said predetermined condition is met for a first of said at least two articles when the articles are brought into contact or within a predefined distance, at which point said first articles moves from the first position to the second position under the influence of biasing means, characterized in that said predetermined condition is met when at least one formation, located on at least one face of said first articles, is moved from a first position to a second position, thereby releasing said retaining means and permitting movement of the first article from the first position to the second position.

11. A group of articles according to claim 10, wherein said at least one formation is arranged to be urged substantially inwardly upon contact with a corresponding formation on the second of the at least two articles, wherein said corresponding formation, located on the said second article, is provided as a substantially rigid formation, such that it cannot be urged inwardly of the article on which it is located, but is arranged to urge the first formation on the first article inwardly, such that the predetermined condition is met for the first article.

12. A group of articles according to claim 10, wherein the first formation on or associated with, a first article corresponds to a second, substantially rigid formation on or associated with, a second article, and wherein when the first formation on or associated with, the first article contacts the second substantially rigid formation on or associated with, the second article, the first formation is urged inwardly of the first article and the predetermined condition is met for the first article.

13. A group of articles according to claim 10, wherein at least one magnet is provided associated with each article, located on or associated with the same a face of the articles with which the formations are associated, and arranged to align two articles with one another.

14. A group of articles according to claim 10, wherein at least two magnets are provided on substantially opposing sides of the same face of the articles, so as to be arranged to align the first article with corresponding magnets located on the second article.

15. A group of articles according to claim 10, wherein the articles further include reset means including one or more string or thread members and/or the like, wherein said one or more string or thread members are provided to connect two or more faces or panels provided on the articles, and upon activation by a user, said reset means are provided to at least partially return an article to the first position from the second position.

16. A method of causing interaction between at least two articles, said method comprising the steps of: providing at least two articles as claimed in claim 1 in respective first positions and moveable between said first position and respective second positions; moving the at least two articles towards each other until a predetermined condition for either or both of the first and/or second articles is met and wherein once said predetermined condition is met in an article, biasing means exert a biasing force to move that article from the first position to the second position, characterized in that said predetermined condition is met when at least one formation, located on at least one face of that article, is moved from a first position to a second position, by a corresponding formation on the other article, thereby releasing said retaining means and permitting movement of that article from the first position to the second position.

Description

(1) Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figures, wherein:

(2) FIGS. 1a-d illustrate the opening stages of an article in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 illustrates a plan view of an opened-out article in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 illustrates a view of retaining means and biasing means on an article in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

(5) FIGS. 4a-b illustrate views of an opened-out article and a removable body for the article, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

(6) FIGS. 5a-h illustrate various views of a panel of an article and an associated removable boy, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

(7) FIGS. 6a-h illustrate various views of an article with a removable body, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; and

(8) FIGS. 7a-p illustrate various views of the stages of closing an opened-out article to a first position, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

(9) FIGS. 8a-d illustrate various stages of an article with reset means, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

(10) Referring firstly to FIGS. 1a-d, there is provided an article in the form of a substantially cube-shaped playing collectable item or toy (1). The toy (1) can be moved from a first position, shown in FIG. 1a, and a second position, wherein the toy (1) is completely inverted with respect to its first position. FIGS. 1a-d illustrate the opening stages of the toy (1) from the first position in FIG. 1a to an intermediate position between the first and second positions in FIG. 1d, shown more clearly in FIG. 2. In this particular embodiment, the toy (1) is provided in a cube shape and is composed of six connected panels (3). The panels (3) are biased, via biasing means, to move to the second position but are retained in the first position until a predetermined condition is met. When the predetermined condition is met, the toy (1) moves from the first position to the second position. A release catch (5) is located on one of the panels (3) and, when the toy (1) is in the first position, the catch (5) engages an adjacent panel (3), retaining it and the remaining panels (3) in the first position. The panels (3, 3, 3) of the toy (1) are hinged and the release catch (5) retains adjacent edges of two panels (3, 3) in position, thereby retaining the toy (1) in the first position. The toy (1) is retained in the first position by the release catch (5) against the action of a biasing force until such point that it is released.

(11) Biasing means in the form of springs (7) are provided to bias the toy (1) to the second position. The springs (7) are best illustrated in FIG. 3. The springs (7) may be provided in various forms such as any or any combination of coil springs, leaf springs, torsion springs, hair springs and/or the like. In this particular embodiment, the springs (7) are provided as coiled torsion springs. The springs (7) are located at the edge of a panel (3), connecting the panel (3) on which it is located with an adjacent panel (3). The series of springs (7) that are provided on the panels (3) bias the toy (1) to the second, inverted position. This biasing movement is only allowed, however, upon release of the catch (5) from the adjacent panel (3) to which it connects. When the catch (5) is released from the adjacent panel (3), that panel (3) opens outwardly due to the biasing force of the springs (7), shown in FIG. 1b. The remaining panels (3), which had previously been held in place in the first position by panel (3) and a series of secondary catches (9), subsequently open outwardly, as shown in FIGS. 1c and d until the toy (1) is in an inverted, second position.

(12) FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a toy article (1) wherein the catch (5) and release mechanism in general are located on a panel (3) of the toy (1). In preferred embodiments of the present invention, the catch (5) and release mechanism are located on a removable body (11), which can be inserted into and removed from an appropriately-sized aperture (13) in panel (3), as shown in FIGS. 4a-b. FIGS. 5a-h illustrate various views of the panel (3) with the removable boy (11) located therein, with the release catch (5) and mechanism located on the rear of the body (11), such that it will be located in the interior of the toy article (1) when it is in the first position. FIGS. 6a-h illustrate the combined panel (3) and body (11) as part of the fully opened up toy article (1). As can be seen from FIGS. 4-6, while the release catch (5) and mechanism is located on the rear of the body (11), the front face of the body (11), which fills the aperture (13) and completes the face of the panel (3) includes a plurality of formations, or protrusions (15), which extend outwardly from the face of the panel (3)/body (11). The present embodiments illustrate toy articles (1) having six of these protrusions, however, it will be understood that the function of the toy (1) will work with as few as two protrusions (15); the upper limit being set by whatever the manufacturer deems to be desired and/or practicable. At least one of the protrusions (15) is depressible, such that it may be urged inwardly of the toy (1)/body (11), and as it does so, the predetermined condition, as mentioned above, is met, releasing the catch (5) via the connection point (17) as shown in FIG. 5e. Once the catch (5) is released from a locked position, releasing adjacent panel (3) therefrom, the biasing springs (7) bias the toy (1) to move from the first position to the second, inverted position.

(13) Whilst only one formation/protrusion (15) is required to release the catch (5) when depressed, that protrusion is one of several, in this embodiment six, protrusions (15) located on the body (11). Several of these protrusions (15) are also depressible inwardly of the body (11)/toy (1), however, only one (15) is provided so as to activate/release the catch (5). One of the protrusions (15) is provided such that it is substantially rigid relative to the body (11)/toy (1) and cannot be urged inwardly. The depressing of the protrusions (15) and, hence, the releasing of the catch (5) is affected when the panel (3) of the toy (1) is moved into contact with a corresponding panel (3) on a second toy (1). Thus, the present invention provides a toy article (1), which is retained in a first position until a predetermined condition is met, at which point it moves to a second position. The provision of a plurality of protrusions (15) on a panel (3) of the toy (1), or on a removable body (11) which may be inserted into an aperture (13) located within the panel (3), which may be depressed inwardly of the toy (1), whereby only one of the protrusions (15), when depressed, releases retaining means, ensures that a user may not necessarily know which Protrusions (15) releases the retaining means upon depression. A substantially rigid protrusion (15), relative to the toy (1)/body (11) is also provided on the toy (1), such that the toy (1) may be brought into contact with a second toy and the rigid protrusion (15) serves to urges protrusions located on that toy inwardlywhether or not the depressed protrusion releases a retaining catch associated with that toy is dependent upon the particular configuration of the protrusions associated with the toy. It should also be understood that while the present description the protrusions (15), catch (5) and mechanism as being located on the removable body (11), which is inserted into the aperture (13) of panel (3), it will be appreciated that in other forms of the invention, the protrusions (15), catch (5) and mechanism can be located directly into the face of the panel (3) and designed not to be removable.

(14) The toy (1) is also provided with one or more magnets (19) attached thereto. In the described embodiments, two magnets (19) are provided integral with the panel (3) of the toy (1) in which the removable body (11) may be located. As can be seen most clearly in FIGS. 4-5, the magnets (19) are attached directly to the panel (3) at opposing sides of its face with the aperture (13) located therebetween, such that the body (11) may be inserted in use. In embodiments where the protrusions (15), catch (5) and mechanism are located directly into the face of the panel (3), the magnets are also located on the same panel (3). The magnets (19) are provided so as to align the toy (1) with a second toy prior to contact between the two. The magnets (19), therefore, are provided in the present invention purely as a directional force for the toy (1) when aligning the same with a second toy with which it may interact. This permits interaction of the active faces of the respective toys, allowing the predetermined condition to be met for one of them when they are brought into contact with one another. When the predetermined condition is subsequently met for one of the toys, the retaining catch of that toy is released and the toy is permitted to move from the first position to the second position. That second position, in the present example, when the predetermined condition is met for one of the toys, is for that toy to move, typically inverting, and at least partially engulfing, enclosing and/or entrapping the other toy.

(15) A second article or toy with the same features as described above for the first toy (1) may be provided. In this embodiment, the second toy also has several protrusions (215), including one (215) which when depressed, activates its release catch, and one (215) which is substantially rigidprovided so as to depress/urge inwardly a corresponding protrusion on, for example, the first toy (1), activating that toy's release catch (5). As with the first toy (1), protrusions (215), release catch and mechanism of the second toy may also be located on a removable body, as described above. Thus, as the first (1) and second toys are moved together, the magnets of the two toys serve to align the same and aid in attracting them together. Subsequently, the rigid protrusion (215) of the second toy depresses the protrusion (15) of the first toy (1), linked to the release catch (5), which enables the predetermined condition to be met in the first toy (1), wherein the catch (5) is released to cease from retaining adjacent panel (3) in the first position. The first toy (1) subsequently moves from the first position into the second, inverted position. In this instance, the second, inverted position involves the first toy (1) at least partially engulfing, enclosing and/or entrapping the second toy.

(16) A third article or toy may be introduced, which has the same features as the first and second toys described above. The mechanism for bringing the third toy together with either the first or second toys remains the same as described above for that between the first and second toys. However, in this instance, the protrusions (315) of the third toy are arranged such that when brought into contact with the first toy (1), it is the third toy which is activated and moves from the first to the second position, at least partially engulfing, enclosing and/or entrapping the first toy. Additionally, when the third toy is brought into contact with the second toy, it is the second toy which is activated, moving from the first to the second position, at least partially engulfing, enclosing and/or entrapping the third toy. Thus, it will be appreciated that the additional protrusions (15), which may be depressed but do not activate the release catch (5), thereby providing an element of disguise to the toy (1) as to its exact arrangement. The configurations of the protrusions (15, 15, 15) may vary between differing toys (1), or, in particular, differing bodies (11), so as to provide a rock, paper, scissor style of gameplay between toy articles.

(17) Additional attachments may also be provided for the toy (1) in order to allow a user to customise the same. For example, a face (not shown) may be provided as attachable either to the toy (1) directly or to the body (11) that is subsequently attached to the toy (1). This enables a user to customise their particular toy (1) and, further, special characteristics and/or points may be associated with each face in the scenario where multiple faces are provided. Each of the toys may be customised by their respective users who can choose not only which body attaches to the toy, thereby defining the configuration of the protrusions (15) of the toy (1) and which other toys it will activate/be activated by, but also the user may choose which face is to be attached. This provides a means for additional scoring, rather than merely a paper beats rock etc. scenario; each face will have a certain number of points associated with it, positive or negative, and so a scoring system may be introduced for multiple users of the toys.

(18) Referring now to FIGS. 8a-d, further features that may be present in the toy (1) are illustrated. In particular, there is provided a reset mechanism in the form of a string, thread or tether (25). The string (25) has a free end (27) that can be gripped and pulled by a user. The string (25) is provided and arranged to be pulled/tugged once the toy (1) has been moved to the second, inverted position, and is there to aid a user in moving it back to the original first position, against the bias of the springs (7). The string (25) is located through the toy (1) connecting at least two panels. In the example shown, the string (25) runs along the length of three panels (3, 3, 3) and the terminal half panel (33), such that when the end (27) is pulled by a user, these three panels and the end portion (33) reset back into the first position, aided back the catch (5) on panel (3) re-engaging with panel (3). The user then subsequently needs to re-join the two side panels (3) to complete movement of the toy (1) back to the first position. While a single string (25) is shown in FIGS. 8a-d, it is possible that additional strings may be provided, either tethered to a common end (27) such that a single pulling action moves all, or provided such that the reset can be performed in stages. Furthermore, while the current string (25) is shown to connect the three adjacent panels (3, 3, 3) and the terminal portion (33), other variations are possible, for example, wherein the string (25) may act so as to bring together side panels (3) and, consequently, panel (3) as a result of the movement, leaving the user to complete the reset by folding the remaining panel and terminal portion (33). Other variations are also envisaged by the Applicant.

(19) Also shown in FIGS. 8a-d is the provision of a number of attachable add-ons or pieces (29) that affix to the panels (3, 3, 3). Such pieces may be provided to affix in a removable/replaceable fashion to the panels such that they are exposed when the toy (1) is in the second, inverted position, i.e., they are concealed within the interior of the toy (1) when it is in the first position. These pieces may be sculpted to appear as features or body parts of a character or animal being portrayed by the toy article (1). Consequently, the string (25) of the reset mechanism may be provided to blend in with such features, and act so as to appear as, for example, a tail portion of a character or animal being portrayed by the toy article (1).

(20) Finally, in the embodiments shown, the toy (1) is provided as being comprised of a number of evenly sized panels (3, 3, 3), and having one further terminal portion (33), which completes the toy (1) when in the first position. However, when the toy (1) is released into the second, inverted position and is provided to swallow or engulf the second toy, this can leave a small gap as the toy doing the engulfing cannot fully wrap around the second toy. In some embodiments, therefore, the toy (1) may also be provided with a further, smaller panel (35), which is hingedly attached to the portion (33), shown in FIG. 8a only. In the inverted position, this serves to provide a greater encapsulation of another toy. The hinged nature of that portion (35) allows it to be stored, when the toy (1) is in the first position, within the interior of the toy.

(21) It will be appreciated that the above described toy (1) need not be restricted to a cube shape for the present invention to function as described. For example, such a mechanism may be provided for the movement of an article or toy from a first position to a second, substantially inverted position, wherein the article or toy is a pyramid, having either a three- (tetrahedron) or four-sided (pentahedron) base; octahedron; dodecahedron; icosahedron and/or the like.