Figure With a Rocking Body
The present disclosure relates to a figure with a rocking body. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a figure, comprising a base with a support assembly attached to and extending therefrom, a head attached to a top of the support assembly of the base, and a body movably attached to the support assembly such that the body moves relative to the support assembly when a force is applied thereto.
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This application claims the benefit of priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/993,712, filed May 15, 2014, the entire disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a figure with a rocking body. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a figure with a body casing that moves with respect to the head and the body.
2. Related Art
Action figures, dolls, figurines, and other such toys or statues are often purchased and collected by consumers as collectibles. People frequently decorate their rooms, offices, cubicles, and desks, etc. with figures of their favorite characters (e.g., television, movie, video game, etc.). Such figures can be stationary or dynamic in that, for example, the head of the figure can move with respect to the body of the figure. One such figure is known as a bobblehead doll. Another is the head knocker figure sold by National Entertainment Collectibles Association (NECA). The movement of the head catches the attention of viewers and is enjoyable to see.
What would be desirable, but has not yet been developed, is a figure with a rocking body. More specifically, what would be desirable is a figure with a body that moves with respect to the head of a figure.
SUMMARYThe present disclosure relates to a figure with a body that is moveable with respect to the figure. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a figure with a rocking body comprising a base, a support assembly attached to the top of the base, a head attached to the support assembly, a pendulum that is pivotally attached to the support structure, and a body attached to the pendulum. The pendulum can be moved by application of a force (e.g., magnetic force) applied to the rocking body (and/or pendulum) to move the rocking body back and forth about a pivot point.
The foregoing features of the disclosure will be apparent from the following Detailed Description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present disclosure relates to a figure with a rocking body, as discussed below.
A rocking body 16 is secured to a pendulum of a support assembly 14. The body 16 can be constructed to extend about the pendulum and the support assembly 14, such that a bottom portion of the support assembly 14 protrudes through a bottom opening 20 of the casing assembly 16, and a top portion of the support assembly 14 protrudes through a top opening 22 of the casing assembly 16. The rocking body 16 can move (e.g., pivot, swing back and forth) from Position A (e.g., when the rocking body 16 is at rest) to Positions B and C. The top opening 22 and bottom opening 20 provide room for the rocking body 16 to rotate back and forth (without hitting the support assembly 14) and could be any suitable shape or size. The material of the components could include any suitable material, such as plastic (e.g., vinyl), metal, glass, etc., and could be manufactured from any suitable process (e.g., injection molding). Although the rocking body 16 is shown as a three dimensional figure, the body 16 could instead be two dimensional instead.
A magnetic coil 196 is in electrical communication with and operated by a controller 197 (e.g., printed circuit board), which is in electrical communication with and powered by a battery 198 or other power source. The controller 197 could be programmed to provide current to the magnetic coil 196 in repeatable select increments (e.g., for particular repeatable durations). Providing the magnetic coil 196 with a current adjusts the polarity of the magnetic coil 196 such that it attracts or repels the magnet 160 of the pendulum 150, thereby displacing the pendulum 150 and causing it to move back and forth. The duration and/or intensity of the current (e.g., intensity of the polarity) could be a setting provided as a default by the manufacturer, and/or could be adjusted by a user by a control on the figure (e.g., to adjust the speed of swinging of the rocking body of the figure).
The front support 130 includes an upper casing 132 connected to a lower column 133, with a front foot 134 at a bottom thereof. The upper casing 132 defines an interior and includes side openings 138 on each of the two sides of the upper casing 132 (discussed below in more detail). The upper casing further includes a rounded protrusion 135, which conforms to the shape of the front tension clip 161, which attaches thereto. The back support 140 includes an upper casing 142 connected to a lower column 143 and a front foot 144 at a bottom thereof. The upper casing 142 defines an interior and includes side openings 148 on each of the two sides of the upper casing 142 (discussed below in more detail). The upper casing 142 further includes a rounded protrusion (not shown), which conforms to the shape of the back tension clip 162, which attaches thereto.
The pivot element 163 can be a cylinder 164 (e.g., plastic) with a pin 165 (e.g., metal) protruding out of each end of the cylinder 164. The ends of the pin 165 of the pivot element 163 are mounted to an inner surface of the protrusion 135 of the upper casing 132 of the front support 130 and an inner surface of the protrusion 145 of the upper casing 142 of the back support 140.
The pendulum 150 could be any suitable shape (e.g., T-shaped). The pendulum could have a vertical rod 151 with a first arm 152 extending (e.g., at a right angle) from the top of the rod 151 and a second arm 153 extending (e.g., at a right angle) from the top of the rod 151 in a direction opposite the first arm 152. At the top of the rod 151, in between the first and second arms 152, 153 is a top center hole 154. When assembled, the top center hole 154 is positioned about the pivot element 163, thereby allowing the pendulum 154 to rotate about the pivot element 163. At the end of each of the first and second arms 152, 153 are first and second holes 155, 156. The first and second holes 155, 156 retain the rocking body in position as the pendulum 150 swings back and forth. Further, the bottom of the rod 151 includes a bottom receptacle 158, which receives and retains a magnet 160, as described above. Although, any type of attachment could be used to connect the rocking body to the pendulum (e.g., snap fit) and/or connect a magnet 160 to the pendulum 150 (e.g., adhesive).
The interior of the upper casing 132 of the front support 130 includes one or more front posts 136 and one or more front apertures 137. The interior of the upper casing 142 of the back support 140 also includes one or more back posts 146 and one or more back apertures 147. The front posts 136 of the upper casing 132 of the front support 130 and the back apertures 147 of the upper casing 142 of the back support 140 interact with each other (e.g., the front posts 136 of the front support 130 are received in the back apertures 147 of the back support 140) to interlock the front support 130 with the back support 140. In the same way, the back posts 146 of the upper casing 142 of the back support 140 and the front apertures 137 of the upper casing 132 of the front support 130 interact with each other (e.g., the back posts 146 of the back support 140 are inserted into and received in the front apertures 137 of the front support 130) to interlock the front support 130 with the back support 140. Further, the apertures of both (or either) of the front and back supports 130, 140 could be through holes, which allow a screw (or other attachment device) to thread into an inner hole of a post of the front and back supports 130, 140, thereby securing the supports 130, 140 to each other. For example, a screw could be inserted through back aperture 147 of back support 140 and into an inner hole of front post 136 of front support 130.
The base 112 includes a top 180 and a sidewall 182 with a switch 192 protruding therefrom. The top 180 of the base 112 defines a front recess 188, back recess 189, and a swivel slot 190 therebetween. The sidewall 182 is shown as circular, although the sidewall 182 could be of any shape (e.g., rectangular, square, etc.). A power switch 192 is disposed in the sidewall 182 allowing a user to control the automatic operation of the pendulum 150. Although the switch 192 is shown as having lateral movement (e.g., a toggle switch), any type of switch could be used (e.g., push button).
The front recess 188 is sized and shaped to conform to and receive the front foot 134 of the front support 130 (e.g., such that the top of the front foot 134 is flush with the top 180 of the base 112), and the back recess 189 is sized and shaped to conform to and receive the back foot 144 of the back support 140 (e.g., such that the top of the back foot 144 is flush with the top 180 of the base 112). As a result, the front foot 134 and back foot 144 sit in and are supported by the front recess 188 and back recess 189.
The top 180 of the base 112 further defines a swivel slot 190 between the front recess 188 and back recess 189 that extends through the top 180 into the interior of the base 112. As a result, the bottom of the pendulum 150, which retains the magnet (not shown), extends through the swivel slot 190 beneath the top 180 of the base 112, so that the magnet can interact with the magnetic coil retained within the housing (described below in more detail). Further, the swivel slot 190 could be wider than the front and back recesses 188, 189, thereby providing the pendulum 50 with sufficient room to rotate.
The front and back casings 166, 172 of the rocking body 116 form a top opening 122. The top opening 122 is large enough (e.g., wide enough) to provide sufficient room for the rocking body casing 116 to rotate (e.g., without the inner perimeter of the top opening 122 of the figure bumping the peg 149 of the back support 140 or post 176 of the head 118 as it rotates).
The
Having thus described the system and method in detail, it is to be understood that the foregoing description is not intended to limit the spirit or scope thereof. It will be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein are merely exemplary and that a person skilled in the art may make any variations and modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. All such variations and modifications, including those discussed above, are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
Claims
1. A figure with a rocking body comprising:
- a base;
- a support assembly extending from the base;
- a head attached to the support assembly; and
- a body attached to the support assembly, the body movable relative to the support assembly by the application of a force applied on the body.
2. The figure of claim 1, further comprising a pendulum pivotally attached to the support assembly, the body attached to the pendulum.
3. The figure of claim 2, wherein the support assembly comprises a front support and a back support, the pendulum pivotally attached between the front support and back support.
4. The figure of claim 3, wherein the pendulum includes a vertical rod, a first arm extending from a top of the rod having a first hole in an end thereof, a second arm extending from the top of the rod in a direction opposite the first arm having a second hole in an end thereof, and a top center hole at the top of the rod between the first and second arms.
5. The figure of claim 4, wherein the center hole is positioned about a pivot on the support assembly and the pendulum pivots about the pivot.
6. The figure of claim 5, wherein the first and second holes retain the body in position as the pendulum swings back and forth.
7. The figure of claim 3, wherein the pendulum includes a magnet.
8. The figure of claim 7, further comprising a magnetic coil within the base and proximate the pendulum magnet.
9. The figure of claim 8, further comprising a controller to vary polarity of the magnetic coil to create a force that moves the pendulum.
10. The figure of claim 9, wherein the controller is programmed to provide current to a magnetic coil in repeatable select increments, the current adjusting polarity of the magnetic coil to attract or repel the magnet of the pendulum.
11. The figure of claim 9, further comprising a control for a user to adjust a speed that the pendulum moves.
12. The figure of claim 10, wherein the base includes a slot, and an end of the pendulum extends into the base through the slot.
13. The figure of claim 11, wherein the control is a switch disposed in a sidewall of the base, the switch controlling a magnitude and duration of current through the magnetic coil thereby allowing a user to adjust the speed of rocking of the pendulum.
14. The figure of claim 1, wherein the body pivots about a pivot component of the support assembly.
15. The figure of claim 1, wherein the body comprises a front casing and a back casing forming a hollow interior.
16. The figure of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the body extends through an opening in the base.
17. The figure of claim 1, wherein the head moves independent of the body.
18. The figure of claim 17, wherein the head is attached to the support assembly by a spring.
Type: Application
Filed: May 13, 2015
Publication Date: Nov 19, 2015
Applicant: National Entertainment Collectibles, Inc. (Hillside, NJ)
Inventor: Joel Weinshanker (Las Vegas, NV)
Application Number: 14/711,052