WO2013001546A1

WO2013001546A1 - Flexible device for creating 3 dimensional objects

Info

Publication number: WO2013001546A1
Application number: PCT/IN2012/000446
Authority: WO
Inventors: Amitabh KHARBANDA
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-06-29
Filing date: 2012-06-22
Publication date: 2013-01-03
Anticipated expiration: 2013-12-29
Also published as: WO2013001546A4

Abstract

The invention relates to a tubular device for configuring to virtually any shape and figure Or to make various 3 dimensional representations of living beings or objects, according to user's imagination and creativity. The device is soft yet robust and safe to be used by children, as it is made up of highly soft and safe materials, wherein both the fabric used for making the device and the filler material enhance the shape changing property of the device. The device can be twisted, turned, bent or molded in to any number of shapes and figures, without any difficulty and can be handled by users of all age group.

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

Flexible device for creating 3 dimensional objects FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a soft flexible device which can be easily modified into a desired shape and figure. The device can be used by children and adults to make any figure as per their imagination. In some instances the figures may be 3 dimensional representation of any object or living being.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Imaginations are varied and ever changing and imaginative activities and imaginative plays have always been popular in all age groups of people as these activities not just help in stimulating the mind, especially of children, but are also very productive, creative and useful in several instances. They give freedom to user's imagination by offering a platform to explore and create N number of things and situations. There are a lot of devices and piece-of-art that may help the users to give physical appearances to their imaginations. Some such devices may be flexible or malleable like clay, balloons, wires, etc. unlike the hard- stiff painting canvas, blocks etc. Amongst the hard objects useful for imaginative activities are building -blocks. They comprise of a number of inter-connectable pieces that can be used to construct specific figures and patterns. Some pieces have the interconnection structures built therein, and others are separate pieces that act to interconnect other pieces. Although these rigid block pieces have great variety, the user is limited by the particular size, colour and shape of the pieces of the construction set.

As against the hard objects, several flexible objects and there creation products are available for giving shape according to user's own creativity and choice. There exist several examples of such objects and devices that are soft and flexible and meant for imaginative activities; however, they come with limited usability and sometimes pose several disadvantages. For example, balloons are one of the most short-lived objects as they either burst or collapse. Besides, they can be compressed, molded and stretched only to a limited extent. These drawbacks result into very short-lived figures with limited usability. Similarly, the durability of dough or clay based objects depends on the quality of the material used and also on the maintenance, as the material tends to dry once the packaging is opened. Further, the particles of material tend to stick to the hands of user while playing and might pose health hazards, if not pre-treated properly. The material also sometimes sticks to other objects of the user like clothes, furniture, fur, etc. and is difficult to remove. Moreover, upon coloring once it is difficult to remove the colors completely. Furthermore, such objects can be used with only limited color pallets.

Some wire or plastic based objects are also known that can be molded into any shape and size. However, often the wire or plastic material is hard enough for the children to mold on their own. Also, the essence of the shape is lost when viewed from multiple angles. Besides, typically it is difficult to completely remove the dents or curves produced in the wire once it is bent or twisted. After prolonged usage the wire looks wavy and dented at various places. Moreover, the hardness of the material offers several disadvantages in terms of flexibility and also safety to the user. Therefore, there is a need for a product which overcomes the above mentioned and other drawbacks of the prior art. Also, there is a need for a safe, entertaining, flexible yet robust device that can be used to make virtually any shape and figure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a device that is useful for people of all age group, from young to old, for providing a platform to their imagination for creating craft, decorative and amusing configurations. The device can be configured to virtually any shape and figure or to make various 3 dimensional representations of living beings or objects, according to the user's imagination and creativity. The device is soft yet robust and safe to be used by children, as it is made up of highly soft and safe materials, wherein both the fabric used for making the device and the filler material are highly soft and flexible, thereby enhancing the shape changing property. The device can be twisted, turned, bent or molded in to any number of shapes and figures, without any difficulty and can be handled by users of all age group. Another object of the invention is to provide children & adults a low cost & low skill avenue to make soft stuffed toys, animal shapes, or soft decorative/craft items that are based on their own creative inputs.

A preferred object of the invention is also to provide a multi-purpose device that can be used and re-used several times over and over again without any significant signs of damage and wearing. The device is capable of returning back to its original shape and size even after prolonged periods and repeated cycles of shape change.

The invention relates to an amusement device comprising an elongated, soft, flexible, tubular case made up of an elastic fabric sutured or stitched in a specific manner, where the tubular case is filled with a soft filling material that further enhances the flexible and shape changing property of the device. The device may be formed into any desired shape or configuration, and the device is adapted to retain the said shape with or without the help of accessories, until otherwise desired. When it is desired to form a new shape, the user may bend or twist it into any desired new shape or configuration. It may even be accessorized or garnished using colors, accessories and other suitable medium, depending upon the desired configuration and appearance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

(i) Figure 1 depicts a prior art relating to a tube toy comprising plurality of flexible closed rings filled with colored liquid. USP 2783616 (ii) Figure 2 depicts a prior art relating to an amusement device made up of a tubular sheath with a wire core member and atleast one end cap of the sheath simulates an eye - USP 46664Ϊ7

(iii) Figure 3 is a perspective view of the tubular device

(iv) Figure 4 is a bi-sectional view of the tubular device (v) Figure 5 is a perspective view of the tubular device embodying a Giraffe

(vi) Figure 6 is a perspective view of the tubular device embodying a Dog

(vii) Figure 7 is a perspective view of the tubular device embodying an elephant

(viii) Figure 8 is a perspective view of the tubular device embodying Flower (ix) Figure 9 is a perspective view of a Garden where various elements of the Garden like creatures, tree, flowers, etc. are made up of the tubular devices.

(x) Figure 10 is a perspective view of the tubular device embodying various Alphabets

(xi) Figure 11 is a perspective view of the tubular devices arranged in the order of their increasing size

(xii) Figure 12 is a perspective view of the tubular devices configured into a 3-D representation of a dog, arranged in the order of their increasing size

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the present illustration, in Figure 3 the tubular device has been designated as 10 with the casing being designated as 12 and the particulate material being designated as 14. The two ends of the casing being designated as 16 and 18. Similarly, Figure 4 depicts a cross- sectional view of the tubular device 10.

The device 10 is adapted to retain the configured shape and figure with or without the use of retention accessories. The retention accessories encompassed by this invention may include but not limited to threads, bands, buttons, wires, adhesives, adhesive coated tapes and threads, fasteners, pins, velcro tapes, elasticated threads, or a combination thereof. These accessories may be applied on the inner and/or outer surface of the device 10, for example while embodiments using pins, threads, tapes, etc. refer to application on outer surface, embodiments using velcro, adhesives, buttons may be applied on the inner surface. In a preferred embodiment, a self-adhesive tape was used on the inner surface of the device 10 to constrict the diameter of the device 10 by simply pressing at the place where the tape is present such that the opposite side fabric comes closer and sticks to each other. Similarly, adhesive coated threads have been found to be of great use in making different configurations using the device. The device 10 may even be garnished using colors, decorative accessories and other suitable medium like stickers, colors, beads, ribbons, etc., depending upon the desired configuration or appearance of the shape / figure; thereby creating a product that is highly personalized. The device 10 once configured into desired shape / figure can be easily dismantled into the original tubular shape without any signs of damage or wearing. It returns to its original size even after prolonged stretching. Due to the elongated shape and flexible and stretchable properties, the invention comes out to be a multipurpose device 10 with varied utilities. As stated in the foregoing paragraphs, the users of this device 10 belong to any age group giving shape to their imaginations. The device 10 can be used to make toys, mimic various figures like a giraffe 24 as shown in Figure 5, dog 26 as shown in Figure 6, elephant 28 as shown in Figure 7, flower 30 as shown in Figure 8, etc.; for making decorative or craft related items; etc.

Figure 9(a) and 9(b) depict pictorial and line view of a configuration that is representative of a Jungle 36 where various elements of the Jungle 36 like creatures, tree, flowers, sun, etc. are made up of the tubular device 10. Such configurations can be used for decorative as well as teaching purposes. Several such configurations are possible within the scope of the present invention, such as pond system, sky view, deep sea view, etc.

Various figures can be easily configured by tying and folding the device at required lengths. Different folding, turning, twisting techniques may be employed for making complicated configurations. In several instances, the device 10 has even been used to make exemplary alphabets like 'W, T, and T 38 as shown in Figure 10, numbers or figures for the purpose of teaching young aged users.

The device 10 when personalized can even be used for the purpose of keepsake, memento or gifting. Other uses as may be obvious to an ordinary skilled person may be encompassed by present invention.

Further, the aforesaid and other possible uses and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the following description and embodiments, with reference to accompanying figures.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a tubular device 10, capable of being configured into desired shape/s and figure/s, the device 12 comprising an elongated and flexible closed casing 12 made up of an elastic material and filled with a particulate matter 14, where/ the elastic material is a soft and stretchable fabric; the particulate matter includes spherical or non-spherical granules; the device 10 is adapted to retain the desired configuration with or without the use of any retention accessories; the length and diameter of the device 10 may also vary, with the ratio being in the range of about 16 to 21. The elastic material used plays a very important role in ensuring flexibility of the device 10. Also, the strength of the fabric used and thread density are of concern as the material should be strong enough to endure extreme stretching conditions and the thread density ensures that the any finely sized particulate matter do not escape out of the fabric. While the device 10 of the present invention can be made up of any material exhibiting elastic properties, such as polyester, nylon, acrylic, cotton based fabrics, the polyester based fabric is preferred over other fabrics due to its enhances stretching capabilities. In one embodiment, a fabric with stretching capacity upto about 3.5 times its relaxed length was used to make the device 10 of the present invention. It is also preferred that the fabric exhibits more stretching in one direction and slightly less in the other, for example 2.5 times in length & 2 times in width .

In a preferred embodiment, the tubular casing 12 is formed by stitching the fabric along the length of the device 10, starting from one end 16 to the other end 18 leaving a small opening towards the latter 18 forfilling the particulate matter 14. The particulate matter 14 is filled manually or using standard mechanical techniques like blow filling, negative pressure process, hand-filling, etc. Once filled, the tubular casing can be finally sealed at end 18. The fabric can be stitched using any techniques that may be obvious to person skilled in the art such as but not limited to overlock, flatlock, chain stitch, merrow stitch, etc.; however, in a preferred mode the fabric is stitched using 'Four Thread Overlock' technique, where the sewing stretches along with the fabric upto the stretching limit of the fabric and even during stretched state it maintains seam integrity. In a preferred embodiment, the seam is capable of being stretched along with fabric upto about 3.5 times, without losing its integrity. Maintaining seam integrity is important as this renders the device 10 safe to be handled by users of small age group. In specific instances, the filling of particulate matter 14 can be an ingestion hazard for young children if they escape out of the device 10: The sewing is sufficiently dense to avoid the escape of the particulate material even at extreme stretched state. Further, the sewing in the present invention does not damage or weaken the fabric in any way as it is done using a thin needle and with a controlled thread tension and is itself strong enough to be able to handle cycles of stretching & relaxation without any deterioration in performance of the device 10. 4. In alternate embodiments, more than one pieces of fabric were used to form the tubular casing 12, where the pieces were sewn in varied manner. In an instance, two casings 12 formed by sewing along the length of the fabric were joined together end to end by stitching along the circumference of the ends so as to form yet another longer casing. In yet another alternate embodiment, seamless casing/s 12 were manufactured and filled with the particulate material 14 to yield the device 10 of the present invention.

The particulate matter 14 filled inside the tubular casing 12 plays a critical role in maintaining fluid like properties of the device 10, where said particulate matter 14 is in the form of granules or beads. While the granules can be solid as well as compressible according to the fluidity requirements of the device 10, compressible and flexible granules exhibit best fluid properties. The granules can be made up of materials such as but not limited to polystyrene, shredded polyurethane foam, shredded polyethylene foam shredded polyolefin, polyethylene, polyolefin, polyurethane, polyethylene, etc. The granules filled inside the device 10 may be spherical or non-spherical in shape, where in some embodiments a combination of shapes were introduced inside the device 10. The shape may vary depending upon the requirement, the best results being observed with spherical shape. Similarly, even the size of the granules may vary depending upon the requirements. The fluid properties are inversely proportional to the size of the granules such that smaller the size, better the fluid properties of the device 10. While the optimum size may vary from 1mm to 6mm in diameter, in a preferred embodiment granule of 2mm size were used.

Further, as states above, the granules are manually or mechanically introduced inside the tubular casing 12 from its open end 18. The density at which the polystyrene granules are filled inside the casing 12 varies as per requirement, where the density along with the type of fabric, size and shape of the granules, also contributes to the fluid and other properties of the device 10. In a preferred embodiment, the density ranges from 18~28kg/cbm.

The length and diameter of the device 10 may also vary, with the ratio being in the range of about 16 to 21. With the given ratio the size of the device can be varied as required. The' size variations are depicted in Figure 11, where the devices 10a, 10b, 10c, lOd are arranged in the order of their increasing sizes. Similarly, Figure 12 depicts a 3-D representation of a dog 26 made using device 10, arranged in the order of increasing size of the configuration. Thus a multipurpose device has been put in place to be used by users of any age group for making personalized articles for amusement, learning or decoration purposes.

Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments and examples thereof, other embodiments and equivalents are also possible. Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in this description, together with structural, functional and procedural details, the disclosure is only illustrative, and any changes may be made, to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which appended claims are expressed.

Claims

claim,

1. A tubular device capable of being configured into multiple desired shape/s and figure/s, comprising an elongated and flexible closed casing made up of an elastic material and filled with a particulate matter, where, the ratio of length and diameter of the tubular casing is in the range of 16 to 21. the elastic material is capable of being stretched upto about 3.5 times its relaxed strength; the particulate matter includes spherical and/or non-spherical granules; the device is adapted to retain the desired configuration with or without the use of any retention accessories.

2. The tubular device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the elastic material is made up of polyester, nylon, cotton and / or acrylic based fabric.

3. The tubular device as claimed in claim 1, wherein atleast one fabric is used to form a tubular casing.

4. The tubular device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the granules are compressible or incompressible.

5. The tubular device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shape of the granules is spherical, non-spherical or a combination thereof.

6. The tubular device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the density at which the polystyrene granules are filled inside the tubular casing varies depending upon the requirement.

7. The tubular device as claimed in claim 9, wherein the preferred density ranges from 18~28kg/cbm.

8. The tubular device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retention accessories include any one of threads, bands, buttons, wires, adhesives, adhesive coated threads, tapes, fasteners, pins, velcro, elasticated threads, or a combination thereof.

9. The tubular device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the retention accessories are applied on the inner and/or the outer surface of the device.

0. The tubular device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the device once configured into desired shape is easily dismantled into the original tubular shape without any signs of damage or wear.