US3088243A - Combined plastic and cardboard toy - Google Patents

Description

May 7, 1963 A. N. GIARDINA COMBINED PLASTIC AND CARDBOARD TOY Filed April 13, 1960 INVENTOR.

Andrew N. Giardina BY %zw his ATTORNEY 3,088,243 COWINED PLASTIC AND CARDBOARD TOY Andrew N. Giardina, Leetsdale, Pa, assignor to General Molds & Plastics Corp., Leetsdaie, Pa. Filed Apr. 13, 1959, Ser. No. 21,971 4- Claims. (Cl. 46123) This invention relates to a plastic toy construction and, more particularly, to a toy made of plastic and hard paper or cardboard, in combination.

An outstanding disadvantage of plastic toys of well known type is that they use a considerable amount of plastic material, therefore are somewhat expensive. Furthermore, the smooth and impervious characteristic of plastic makes it difiicult and costly to make artistic figures or designs thereon.

An object of my invention is to provide a novel, plastic toy construction which is devoid of the above named disadvantages and which is comparatively inexpensive and enables application of artistic designs thereon.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel, composite plastic and paper toy which is easy to manufacture and assemble, also which is rugged and has comparatively long life.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a study of the following description taken with the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a plastic toy dog embodying cardboard panels in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary view of an intermediate portion of the toy shown in FIG. 1 with the cardboard panels removed for the purpose of more clearly showing the internal construction; and,

FIG. 3 is a vertical, cross-sectional View taken along line IlIl1l of FIG. 2.

Referring more particularly to FIG. 1 of the drawing, numeral 1 generally denotes a toy dog made essentially of plastic material and comprising a contour forming strip 2 of suitable flexible plastic material, such as polyethylene, which strip is continuous. Similar contour forming strips 3 and 4 of the same flexible plastic material are used for defining the contours of the front and rear feet, likewise, similar contour forming flexible plastic strips 6 and 7 define the front and rear legs, respectively. Each of the above described contour forming strips has at each edge, an inwardly projecting integral extension or head of substantially triangular crosssection, such as head '11 for strip 2, bead 11b for strip 3, and bead 11a for strip 6, which serve as stops or ledges to firmly hold flat body panels 12, 12b and 12a, respectively, of hard paper or cardboard firmly in place. Confronting edge portions of strip 2 can be spread apart to permit insertion of panel 12, in place, that is, so as to clear the bead 11. After panel 12 is inserted in place, bead 11 springs back be cause of the flexibility of strip 2 so as to serve as a stop to prevent outward movement of panel 12. This same action is provided by similar beads in other parts, for example, bead 11zz prevents the cardboard panel 12a from moving outwardly of the leg forming strip 6, and bead 11b prevents cardboard panel 12-11 from moving outwardly of foot forming strip 3. It is highly advantageous to make the fiat panels, such as 12, 12a and 12b, of heavy paper, such as cardboard, or other materials which are less expensive than plastic yet which will allow easy drawing of features of the dog, such as his eyes, ears, body, etc.

Cardboard panels 12, 12a and 12b are, of course, very inexpensive in cost as compared to panels made of plastic and present an absorbent surface to permit easy painting or drawing of figures.

In order to hold the various panels, such as panel 12,

sates Fae M88243 Patented May 7, 1963 in place, it is necessary to provide a plurality of support elements 10. These support elements 10 are integrally molded to the contour strip 11 inwardly at spaced intervals along the entire contour of periphery of the plastic strip. Support elements 10 have ends which provide rests on which panels 12 are directly supported along their entire peripheries. The ends of support elements 10 are spaced from the inner edge of head 11a by the thickness of panel 12a. Likewise, the ends of support elements 10 are spaced from the inner edge of bead 11 by the thickmess of panel 11 as shown in FIG. 3.

There are also support elements 10b within the body itself of the toy. For example, there are integral plastic cross strips, such as 9, each of which has integrally molded on both sides thereof one or more support elements 1012 so as to directly support intermediate or central portions of the panel 12. Furthermore, the cross strips 9 together with strip 2 form a rigid plastic framework for maintaining a predetermined contour or curvature of strip 2 and prevent outward spreading apart of confronting portions of the con-tour strip.

Leg and foot portions 12a and 12b respectively, are provided with metal or plastic pivots 10a and 13b in order to give the leg and foot movements simulating those of a dog. More specifically, as plastic wheels 5, having knurled peripheries, roll on the floor surfiace, the plastic integral pivots 13b carried thereby will move foot panels 12b like a crank arm, which, in turn, by means of a plastic or metal pivotal connection with leg portions 12a, will cause rotational movement of leg portion 12a about metal axle 10a as a pivot and thereby simulate walking movements of "a dog.

The various pivots 10a, 10c and 13b serve a dual function, namely, they serve :as pivots for obtaining the leg movements described above, furthermore, they extend outwardly to the same extent as support elements 10, so as to serve also as stops or support elements for panels 12, as can be seen more clearly in FIG. 3, wherein axle 10a acts as a direct support for both panels 12a on each side of the dog and, similarly, plastic pivots 13b provided with enlarged end portions serve not only as pivots for the 'feet portions but as support elements for directly supporting the inner or body portion of panels 12b. Each of the panels in the front and rear leg and foot portions is provided with similar pivotal elements which serve equally as stop elements for supporting the various panels centrally thereof so as to maintain rigidity thereof and prevent collapsing.

As wheels 5 rotate, gear 15, rigidly mounted thereon, intermittently engages a leaf spring 16 so as to provide an intermittent clicking noise as a consequence of vibration of the leaf spring. It will be understood that the side of the dog opposite that shown in FIG. 1 has the same construction of legs, feet etc.

The above described construction of a toy dog, of course, is exemplary as to how the present invention is applicable for making any toy having any contour since the same principles are useful for making the body portion or portions of any toy, which portions are defined by contour strips such as 2 which are provided with a lip portion throughout at both outer edges of the strip (or one edge only) to serve as supports for restraining the flat cardboard from being pushed too far inside, also having intermediate cross strips, such as 9 to form a frame.

Although the panels are more easily made of fiat cardboard paper it should be noted that in some instances they may be made of outwardly bulged or molded paper to give a three dimensional efiect to the panels, in which case of course, the various support elements must be projected outward enough so as to contact and directly support the panel.

3 Thus it will be seen that I have provided a relatively inexpensive combination plastic and cardboard toy which may be made of relatively inexpensive parts and which can be easily and quickly assembled, which parts are firmly held-in place by an interlocking relationship be tween the paper and plastic portions of the toy, and which cardboard panelsgreatly facilitate drawing thereon of body design features to make the toy more life-like and lighter in weight.

. While I have illustrated and described a single specific embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that this is by Way of illustration only, and that various changes and modifications may be made within the contemplation of my invention and within the scope of the following claims.

- I claim:

1. A toy comprising a transversely and longitudinally flexible plastic strip forming a closed loop defining the contour of a body portion thereof of irregular outline, said strip having an inwardly projecting molded bead portion extending along each edge portion of the strip along the entire length thereof, a plurality of spaced cross-strips, each extending between and interconnecting opposite confronting portions of said strip to provide a framework for maintaining a predetermined contour of said strip, a cardboard panel bearing an artistic design and held within the confines of said strip by said bead portion at each edge of said strip, and support elements rigidly secured to and projecting inwardly of said strip for directly supporting the body portions of said panels.

2. -A toy as recited in claim 1 wherein said support elements are integrally molded on the inner wall surface of said strip at spaced intervals throughout the entire length or contour of the strip, said support elements having opposite ends for directly supporting said panels.

3. A toy as recited in claim 1 wherein said cross strips areof plastic material integrally molded to said strip and have integrally molded plastic support elementsextending from both sides thereof and directly supporting the interior surfaces of said panels. I

4. A toy as recited in claim 1 together with an axle extending at right angles through said body portion and rigidly held with respect to said strip, and having axlereceiving portions defined in contour by strips of flexible plastic material pivotally mounted on each end of said axle outside of said panels, each of said last mentioned strips having a head portion extending inwardly along the outer edge thereof, a panel of cardboard of corresponding contour, whose peripheral portion is directly held by said bead portion and restrained from outward movement.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 553,958 Freeman Feb. 4, 1896 662,034 Smith Nov. 20, 1900 r 932,982 Gregory Aug. 31, 1909 2,113,715 Wilcox Apr. 12, 1938 2,613,476 Metz Oct. 14, 1952 2,919,919 Ebb l Jan. 5, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 503,223 Italy Aug. 26, 1952

Claims (1)

1. A TOY COMPRISING A TRANSVERSELY AND LONGITUDINALLY FLEXIBLE PLASTIC STRIP FORMING A CLOSED LOOP DEFINING THE CONTOUR OF A BODY PORTION THEREOF OF IRREGULAR OUTLINE, SAID STRIP HAVING AN INWARDLY PROJECTING MOLDED BEAD PORTION EXTENDING ALONG EACH EDGE PORTION OF THE STRIP ALONG THE ENTIRE LENGTH THEREOF, A PLURALITY OF SPACED CROSS-STRIPS, EACH EXTENDING BETWEEN AND INTERCONNECTING OPPOSTIE CONFRONTING PORTIONS OF SAID STRIP TO PROVIDE A FRAMEWORK FOR MAINTAINING A PREDETERMINED CONTOUR OF SAID STRIP, A CARDBOARD PANEL BEARING AN ARTISTIC DESIGN AND HELD WITHIN THE CONFINES OF SAID STRIP BY SAID BEAD PORTION AT EACH EDGE OF SAID STRIP, AND SUPPORT ELEMENTS RIGIDLY SECURED TO AND PROJECTING INWARDLY OF SAID STRIP FOR DIRECTLY SUPPORTING THE BODY PORTIONS OF SAID PANELS.

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