Accessory preparation toy

Abstract

With a view to providing an accessory preparation toy which can prepare accessories of various sizes, colors, patterns and shapes easily and simply with joy, a storage container includes a main material storage portion, an auxiliary material storage portion and a mixing chamber. A main material and an auxiliary material which make up a mixed curable resin material are stored separately in the main material storage portion and the auxiliary material storage portion. Opening portions of the main material storage portion and the auxiliary material storage portion are formed so as to be opened by pressing the main material or the auxiliary material stored therein with fingers. Lam flakes which represent a decorative material are mixed into the main material.

Claims

1. An accessory preparation toy having: a mixed curable resin material which is a two-pack silicone resin and is made up of a main material and an auxiliary material; and a storage container which has a main material storage portion for storing the main material therein and an auxiliary material storage portion for storing the auxiliary material separately therein, wherein: the main material storage portion or the auxiliary material storage portion has an opening that can be opened by pressing the main material or the auxiliary material therein with fingers, and either the main material storage portion or the auxiliary material storage portion doubles as a mixing chamber for moving the main material or the auxiliary material to the other of the main or auxiliary material storage portions to be mixed with the material therein; and a mold member formed of resilient resin comprising a mold that can hold a decorative piece, wherein the main material is configured to be mixed with a decorative material comprising one or more of a lam, a pearlescent, a glass flake, a glass powder, a metal, a silica, a resin chip, ground stone, ground wood, or a coloring, and wherein the auxiliary material works as a curing agent.

2. An accessory preparation toy comprising: a mixed curable resin material formed from a two-pack silicone resin that is made up of a main material and an auxiliary material, wherein the main material is configured to be mixed with a decorative material comprising one or more of a lam, a pearlescent, a glass flake, a glass powder, a metal, a silica, a resin chip, ground stone, ground wood, or a coloring, and wherein the auxiliary material works as a curing agent; a storage container comprising a main material storage portion where the main material is stored, an auxiliary material storage portion where the auxiliary material is stored, and a mixing chamber where the main material and the auxiliary material are mixed together, wherein the main material storage portion or the auxiliary material storage portion has an opening that can be opened by pressing the main material or the auxiliary material therein with fingers, wherein the opening is disposed so as to be opened to the mixing chamber; and a mold member formed of resilient resin comprising a mold that can hold a decorative piece.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing a storage container of an accessory preparation toy according to an embodiment of the invention where a mixed curable resin material made up of a main material and an auxiliary material is stored.

(2) FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the storage container taken along a line II-II in FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3A is a schematic front view showing how the main material and the auxiliary material are mixed together into the mixed curable resin material in the accessory preparation toy according to the embodiment of the invention, which shows an initial stage of the mixing.

(4) FIG. 3B is a schematic front view showing how the main material and the auxiliary material are mixed together into the mixed curable resin material in the accessory preparation toy according to the embodiment of the invention, which shows a final stage of the mixing.

(5) FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing schematically how the mixed curable resin material is poured into molds in the accessory preparation toy according to the embodiment of the invention.

(6) FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing accessories prepared by the accessory preparation toy according to the embodiment of the invention.

(7) FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing a modified example of a storage container according to the embodiment of the invention.

(8) FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing another modified example of a storage container according to the embodiment of the invention.

(9) FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing schematically an accessory preparation toy according to another embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(10) Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings. An accessory preparation toy 1 according to an embodiment of the invention is a toy with which a player can enjoy preparing accessories like one shown in FIG. 5 by pouring a mixed curable resin material in which two liquids are mixed together into a desired mold 40a of a mold member 40 as shown in FIG. 4. In this embodiment, a two-pack silicone resin 20 is used as the mixed curable resin material that is sealed in a storage container 10 shown in FIG. 1. The two-pack silicone resin 20 is made up of a main material 21 and an auxiliary material 22 which works as a curing agent. Here, lam flakes 30 are mixed in the main material 21 of the two-pack silicone resin 20, and the lam flakes 30 are a lam material which works as a decorative material.

(11) The storage container 10 has substantially a heart shape when seen from the front. A rectangular projecting portion 16, which is vertically long when seen from the front, is formed at a lower portion of the storage container 10. The storage container 10 is formed of a transparent resin material such as polyethylene. An outer circumferential portion 17 of the storage container 10 is joined through fusion bonding. The storage container 10 is formed by joining together outer circumferential portions of a plurality of similarly shaped transparent resin films through fusion bonding. Consequently, a closed state is produced in an interior space in the storage container 10.

(12) A main material storage portion 11 is formed in a left upper protuberant portion of the container 10 shown in FIG. 1, and the main material 21 of the two-pack silicone resin 20 is stored in this main material storage portion 11. An auxiliary material storage portion 12 is formed in a right upper protuberant portion of the container 10 shown in FIG. 1, and the auxiliary material 22 is stored in this auxiliary material storage portion 12. Then, a mixing chamber 13 is formed below the main material storage portion 11 and the auxiliary material storage portion 12. The main material storage portion 11 and the auxiliary material storage portion 12 are each formed into a bag-like form in the interior of the storage container 10. Consequently, the storage container 10 is made into a double-layer structure.

(13) The double-layer structure of the storage container 10 is shown specifically in FIG. 2. The main material storage portion 11 is formed of a transparent resin material into a bag-like form in an interior of an outer skin 15 of the storage container 10. Namely, as shown in FIG. 1, an outer circumferential edge of the main material storage portion 11 is defined by a straight-line opening portion 11a that is formed on a side thereof which faces the mixing chamber 13, a curved portion 11b that is curved into a shape which follows the protuberant portion of the heart-shaped storage portion 10, and a partition portion 14 that represents a boundary between the main material storage portion 11 and the auxiliary material storage portion 12. The opening portion 11a, the curved portion 11b and the partition portion 14 are joined together through fusion bonding.

(14) A double-layer structure of the auxiliary material storage portion 12 of the storage container 10 is also formed in the same manner as the manner in which the main material storage portion 11 shown in FIG. 2 is formed. Then, as shown in FIG. 1, an outer circumferential edge of the auxiliary material storage portion 12 is also defined by an opening portion 12a, a curved portion 12b and the partition portion 14.

(15) In fabricating the storage container 10, for example, curved portions 11b and partition portions 14 of two resin films which are formed into a shape defined by a combination of the main material storage portion 11 and the auxiliary material storage portion 12 are fusion bonded together. Following this, the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 are loaded into the defined spaces through the opening portions 11a, 12a, respectively, and then, the opening portions 11a, 12a are fusion bonded together. Then, the resulting storage member in which the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 are loaded is fixed between two resin films that form outer skins 15 of the storage container 10. Specifically speaking, the outer skins 15 are fusion bonded so that the curved portions 11b, 12b are held by outer circumferential portions 17 and that the opening portions 11a, 12a are held by holding portions 15a. By doing so, the storage member in which the main material 21 and the auxiliary material are sealed in separately is fixed to inner sides of the interior of the outer skins 15 of the storage container 10, and the mixing chamber 13 is formed.

(16) Here, the opening portions 11a, 12a are fusion bonded with such a joining force that the opening portions 11a, 12a can be opened by an infant player pressing the main material storage portion 11 and the auxiliary material storage portion 12 with fingers of his or her left and right hands. Consequently, in mixing the two-pack silicone resin 20, firstly, portions of the storage container 10 which correspond to the main material storage portion 11 and the auxiliary material storage portion 12 are held to be pressed with the fingers (for example, a front body of a thumb and a side of an index finger that faces the thumb) of the left and right hands of the infant player to open the opening portions 11a, 12a. As this occurs, in the event that the outer skins 15 are joined together at the holding portions 15a, the joining of the outer skins 15 at the holding portions 15a is released at the same time as the opening portions 11a, 12a are opened.

(17) Then, as shown in FIG. 3A, the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 are pushed out into the mixing chamber 13 with the fingers. Thereafter, the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 are mixed together in the mixing chamber 13 while being pressed with the fingers of the left and right hands. Here, the two-pack silicone resin 20 is set as a result of the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 being mixed together well, and therefore, it is difficult for infant players to do this mixing work while recognizing that the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 need to be mixed well to obtain accessories which are cured well. However, in the accessory preparation toy 1 according to the embodiment of the invention, the main material 21 includes the lam flakes 30 which are mixed thereinto. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3B, due to the existence of the lam flakes 30 in the main material 21, an infant player who plays with the accessory toy 1 will mix the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 so willingly that the lam flakes 30 are mixed uniformly therein. Thus, the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 will be mixed well by the infant player who mixes those materials with joy without recognizing that the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 need to be mixed well to obtain accessories which are cured well.

(18) After the lam flakes 30 are mixed uniformly in the two-pack silicone resin 20, the projecting portion 16 is cut to be opened along a cutting line S indicated by a broken line in FIG. 3B with a pair of scissors. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, a discharge port 16a is formed at the cut-out portion. Then, the two-pack silicone resin 20 is poured into a desired mold 40a of a mold member 40, and in the event that the two-pack silicone resin 20 is left as it is in the mold 40 for a predetermined period of time, the two-pack silicone resin 20 is cured.

(19) The mold member 40 can be formed of various types of resin or metal, and molds 40a of various sizes and shapes such as a heart shape, a star shape, a semi-circular shape, a rectangular shape and a ribbon shape can be provided on the molded member 40. However, in case the mold member 40 is formed of a resilient resin such as polyethylene, it is preferable that accessories 50 (refer to FIG. 5) can easily be removed from the molds 40a where the two-pack silicone resin 20 is poured to be cured by pressing the molds 40a from a back side of the mold member 40.

(20) In this embodiment, while the interior of the storage container 10 is made up of the main material storage portion 11, the auxiliary material storage portion 12 and the mixing chamber 13, either the main material storage portion 11 or the auxiliary material storage portion 12 may be made to double as the mixing chamber 13. By adopting this configuration, either the main material 21 or the auxiliary material 22 can be moved to the other storage portion to be mixed with the other material.

(21) In addition, an accessory 50 can be prepared according to the preference of the infant player by putting flower-shaped and star-shaped decorative pieces 51, 52 like those shown in FIG. 5 in the molds 40a before or after the two-pack silicone resin 21 is poured from the storage container 10.

(22) Next, modified examples made to the storage container 10 will be described. FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a storage container 10A showing a section corresponding to the section taken along the line II-II shown in FIG. 1. In this storage container 10A, the fusion bonded portion to form the holding portion 15a of the storage container 10 in FIG. 2 is omitted.

(23) Further, FIG. 7 shows another modified example made to the storage container 10. Similarly, FIG. 7 a sectional view of a storage container 10B showing a section corresponding to the section taken along the line II-II shown in FIG. 1. This storage container 10B has no double-layer structure. Instead, outer skins 15 are fusion bonded so as to form a main material storage portion 11 and an auxiliary material storage portion 12, so that the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 are loaded directly in an interior of the storage container 10B. As this occurs, opening portions 11a, 12a of the main material storage portion 11 and the auxiliary material storage portion 12 are formed by fusion bonding the outer skins 15. The opening portions 11a, 12a are also fusion bonded to such an extent that the opening portions 11a, 12a can be opened by pressing the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 with the fingers.

(24) Next, another embodiment of an accessory preparation toy 1 according to the invention will be described based on FIG. 8. In the embodiment described above, the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 which are stored separately are made to be stored integrally in the storage container 10. However, as shown in FIG. 8, a main material 21 and an auxiliary material 22 may be stored separately in separate storage bags 110, 120 which represent separate storage containers 100. In addition, in the embodiment described above, the lam material (the lam flakes 30) which represents the decorative material is mixed only into the main material 21. However, a decorative material may also be mixed into the auxiliary material 22. As this occurs, a decorative material (resin chips 60 in this embodiment) which is different from the decorative material which is mixed into the main material 21 is mixed into the auxiliary material 22. By doing so, a mixing action of mixing the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 together is facilitated to be performed until the decorative materials of the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 are mixed uniformly.

(25) In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8, in mixing the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 together, the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 are poured into a single glass 70 and are then stirred to be mixed well using a stirring rod 80. As this occurs, the materials need to be stirred so that air bubbles are not mixed into the resulting two-pack silicone resin 20. This is because in case air bubbles are mixed into the two-pack silicone resin 20, the air bubbles remain in the resulting accessory, deteriorating the external appearance of the accessory. According to the storage container 10 of the embodiment described above, the main material 21 and the auxiliary member 22 are mixed together while pressing the mixing chamber 13 with the fingers, and therefore, it is difficult for air bubbles to be mixed into the resulting two-pack silicone resin 20. However, in the case of the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 being stirred with the stirring rod 80, air bubbles are easily mixed into the resulting two-pack silicone resin 20. Thus, it becomes slightly difficult to perform properly the mixing work of the two liquid materials.

(26) Thus, while the embodiments of the invention have been described heretofore, the invention is not limited by the embodiments and hence can be carried out while various modifications are made to the embodiments. For example, the mixed curable resin material is not limited to the two-pack silicone resin 20. Other resin materials may be used, provided that the materials are such as to be cured by being mixed together. Alternatively, a mixed curable resin material may be adopted which gets cured as a result of three or more liquid materials of a main material and two or more other auxiliary materials are mixed together. However, it is preferable to use the two-pack silicone resin 20 which is formed with an appropriate viscosity and which provides a good touch once it gets cured to thereby be easy to be handled.

(27) In addition, the decorative materials are not limited to the lam flakes 30 and the resin chips 60, and hence, the decorative materials can be selected from a pearlescent material, a flake or powder of glass, metal or silica, ground stone, a ground wood material or a coloring liquid material, or a combination of any or some of them. Namely, any other materials can be used as the decorative materials as long as the materials allow the player to visually recognize that the main material 21 and the auxiliary material are mixed uniformly. In addition, the decorative material may be mixed into either of the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22 or decorative materials of different types may be mixed into both the main material 21 and the auxiliary material 22.