TOY COMPONENT WITH GRANULAR PIXEL SCREEN AND TOY COMPRISING SUCH COMPONENT

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention belongs to the field of educational toys, and in particular to a toy component with a granular pixel screen and a toy comprising such component.

BACKGROUND

Toys are indispensable in the growth and development process of infants and young children, serving for the purpose of play and intellectual development.

However, current toys generally provide visual stimulation by setting up lamp bead structures to generate light. Such visual stimulation is monotonous and has poor effects, leading to loss of interest soon and suboptimal intellectual development in infants and young children. While screens can provide richer visual stimulation, screen structures are prone to causing visual impairment in infants and young children due to their structure, and the displayed content is often too small for infants and young children to observe easily. Furthermore, the play modes achievable by these display structures are relatively limited and somewhat dull.

Therefore, it is necessary to make improvements to provide new types of toys and support richer play modes.

SUMMARY

To solve at least one of the aforementioned problems, the present invention provides a toy component incorporating a pixel screen with relatively large display granularity for interaction and a toy comprising such component.

The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

A toy component with a granular pixel screen, comprising:

• • a screen shell mounted on or integrally formed with a toy body, the screen shell being provided with a plurality of light-emitting unit cavities, each of the light-emitting unit cavities being arranged in an array, a circular pattern, or a predetermined shape.
  • a light-emitting module comprising a plurality of light sources for generating single-color or multi-color light, each of the light sources being correspondingly disposed within one of the light-emitting unit cavities.
  • and, a light-transmitting member configured to scatter and transmit light generated by the light sources, the light-transmitting member being disposed on an outer side of the screen shell to cover the light-emitting unit cavities thereunder, for enclosing each light-emitting unit cavity therein via this light-transmitting member and allowing all or part of the light generated by the light-emitting module to pass through this light-transmitting member. Wherein, the light-transmitting member comprises a plate member made of a light-diffusing plate and has a transmittance (T) of 20-50%. Therefore, the light-transmitting member can serve two functions in this toy component: firstly, it can seal and isolate the light-emitting unit cavities from the outside, preventing the light-emitting module from water ingress, damage, or dust accumulation during use, which could affect its lifespan or lighting effect; secondly, it can achieve, through the design of its transmittance or by applying patterns on its surface, that the light-emitting unit cavities and the light-emitting module are hidden and invisible in a non-illuminated state, presenting an integrated, surface-like visual effect characteristic of the light-transmitting member.

Wherein, an area S1 of the light-emitting unit cavities satisfies: 9 mm²<S1<200 mm², or a relationship between the area S1 of the light-emitting unit cavities and a total area S2 of a display surface of the toy body satisfies: 0.01<S1/S2<0.07.

By adopting this technical solution, the toy component can be applied to various types of educational toys, such as toy drums, toy microphones, toy keyboards, toy trumpets, and other toy musical instruments. By arranging each light-emitting unit cavity as needed, a predetermined resolution screen-like distribution or a predetermined shaped distribution formed by multiple light-emitting points is achieved for cooperating with all the display or interactive functions of the toy. Furthermore, this toy component has a relatively large display granularity size, distinguishing it from existing toys which use individually set lamp beads for display or screen interaction.

As a second aspect of the present invention, a toy is provided, comprising a toy body and the toy component with a granular pixel screen as described above.

Preferably, the toy is an interactive educational toy; more preferably, a toy musical instrument.

The toy component and toy of the present invention possess the following advantages:

1. The present invention provides several independently separated light-emitting unit cavities on the screen shell, designs a light-transmitting member at the upper surface of the light-emitting unit cavities, sets light-emitting units inside the cavities, and arranges the light-emitting units in a rectangular matrix or in concentric circles, to form a light screen or light shape through the cavities. By limiting the size of the light-emitting unit cavities to have a relatively large display granularity size, the toy component or the toy comprising this component can provide a display or interactive screen with a significantly larger display granularity.

2. In some preferred embodiments, plastic that is light-diffusing and partially light-transmitting is used to make the light-transmitting member, i.e., configuring the light-transmitting member to include a plate member and a surface film. The plate member is a light-diffusing plate to serve the functions of diffusing light and protecting the light-emitting unit cavities. The surface film is used to cover the toy body to form an integrated shape and aesthetics. Preferably, the surface film is also subjected to surface texture embossing or pattern coating during manufacturing, and this surface film is a single sheet covering the toy body, making the toy component or toy appear integrated rather than assembled in terms of vision and structure. Furthermore, the overall transmittance of the light-transmitting member is designed to be 20-50%, so that the light-emitting unit cavities or the light-emitting module cannot be seen from the outside of the toy component or the toy comprising such component when the light-emitting module is not illuminated.

3. In some preferred embodiments, each light-emitting module is integrated on a single light-emitting circuit board to facilitate product manufacturing and component. Furthermore, by integrating a control module or control chip on the light-emitting circuit board, display control for each light-emitting module can be achieved, for example, displaying according to the toy's play mode or providing feedback based on play operations.

4. In other embodiments, for toys or toy components with non-planar surfaces, each light-emitting unit cavity is set according to the required original display granularity size, and a shape compensation portion is provided between every two adjacent light-emitting unit cavities to adapt to the size difference between the cavities and the toy's contour shape.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a toy keyboard according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a further exploded cross-sectional view of the structure in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of the screen shell in FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the structure of the toy component in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C are schematic diagrams of arrangements of light-emitting unit cavities according to other embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 8A and 8B show the examples of sheet materials for the plate member in each embodiment of Table 1. Specifically, FIG. 8A shows the examples of PX1 (T=100%), PX2 (T=90%), PX3 (T=80%), and PX4 (T=70%) from left to right; FIG. 8B shows the examples of PX5 (T=50%), PX6 (T=40%), and PX7 (T=30%) from left to right.

FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, 9D are schematic diagrams of usage effects of the respective sheet materials for the plate member in each embodiment of Table 1, wherein in FIG. 9A, from left to right are PX1 (T=100%) and PX2 (T=90%); in FIG. 9B, from left to right are PX4 (T=70%) and PX3 (T=80%); in FIG. 9C, from left to right are PX5 (T=50%) and PX6 (T=40%); in FIG. 9D, it is PX7 (T=30%).

FIGS. 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 are schematic diagrams of various toys applying the toy component of the present invention in other embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

To make the purposes, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The components of the embodiments of the present application described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings herein can be arranged and designed in various different configurations. Based on the embodiments of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without making creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

The embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Features in the following embodiments of this disclosure may be combined with each other if there is no conflict.

A toy component 20 with a granular pixel screen, comprising:

• • a screen shell 21 mounted on or integrally formed with a toy body 10, the screen shell 21 being provided with a plurality of light-emitting unit cavities 211, each of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 being arranged in an array, a circular pattern, or a predetermined shape.
  • a light-emitting module 24 comprising a plurality of light sources 241 for generating single-color or multi-color light, each of the light sources 241 being correspondingly disposed within one of the light-emitting unit cavities 211.
  • and, a light-transmitting member 25 configured to scatter and transmit light generated by the light sources 241, the light-transmitting member 25 being disposed on an outer side of the screen shell 21 to cover the light-emitting unit cavities 211 thereunder, the light-transmitting member 25 comprising a plate member 22 made of a light-diffusing plate and having a transmittance of 20-50%.
  • wherein, an area S1 of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 satisfies: 9 mm²<S1<200 mm², or a relationship between the area S1 of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 and a total area S2 of a display surface 101 of the toy body 10 satisfies: 0.01<S1/S2<0.07.

Preferably, the light-transmitting member 25 further comprises a surface film 23 covering the plate member 22, the plate member 22 and/or the surface film 23 having a transmittance of 20-50%.

Preferably, the light-emitting unit cavities 211 are polygonal or circular in shape, and a side length a or a radius r thereof satisfies: 3 mm<a<15 mm, or a radius r satisfies: 2 mm<r<8 mm.

Preferably, the light source 241 is a single monochromatic lamp bead or a set of RGB lamp beads.

Preferably, each of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 is arranged as a rectangular array, a staggered rectangular array, concentric circles, staggered concentric circles, or according to a shaped pattern.

The present invention further provides a toy, comprising a toy body 10 and the toy component 20 with a granular pixel screen as described above. Wherein, the toy is preferably an interactive educational toy such as a toy musical instrument, for example: a toy keyboard, a toy drum, etc.

EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIGS. 1-6, a toy keyboard is provided for children to play with, offering various modes of play, music, or interactive functions.

As shown in FIG. 1, the toy keyboard comprises a toy body 10. An upper surface of the toy body 10 forms a display surface 101. On the display surface 101, a screen area 102 and a number of buttons 103 are provided. The buttons 103 include first buttons for implementing independent functions and second buttons for corresponding operations with the screen, i.e., respectively disposed at the lower part and the upper left part of the toy body 10. The number of first buttons and second buttons is plural and can be set according to functional needs. Among them, the first buttons (i.e., the buttons located at the upper left as shown in FIG. 1) are operated to achieve corresponding functions, such as power on/off, mode selection, volume adjustment, etc., which are common technologies in existing toys. The second buttons (i.e., the buttons arranged at the lower part as shown in FIG. 1) are correspondingly set according to the functions of the pixel screen in this embodiment. They can achieve two functions: first, information input function, i.e., in a corresponding game mode, operating a corresponding second button can trigger the corresponding display light bar to light up, turn off, or flash; second, game interaction function, i.e., in another game mode, after the toy keyboard lights up the corresponding display light bar, turns it off, makes it flash, or outputs corresponding music, it waits for the child to operate the corresponding second button, and provides corresponding display feedback and/or music feedback based on whether the child operates it and whether the operation is correct.

In other embodiments, the first buttons or second buttons may have other interactive functions or placement positions according to the play mode, which is related to the toy's play mode and can be set specifically.

Wherein, the toy keyboard has a toy component 20 with a granular pixel screen. The toy component 20 comprises:

• • a screen shell 21 mounted on the toy body 10, more specifically mounted at a display window 111 of an upper shell 11 of the toy body 10, as shown in FIG. 4. In other embodiments, the screen shell 21 can also be configured to be integrally formed with the upper shell 11.
  • a light-emitting module 24 comprising a plurality of light sources 241 for generating single-color or multi-color light, each of the light sources 241 being correspondingly disposed within one of the light-emitting unit cavities 211, i.e., one light source 241 is disposed within each light-emitting unit cavity 211.
  • and, a light-transmitting member 25 configured to scatter and transmit light generated by the light sources 241, the light-transmitting member 25 being disposed on an outer side of the screen shell 21 to cover the light-emitting unit cavities 211 thereunder, achieving covering and sealing of the light-emitting unit cavities 211. Wherein, the light-transmitting member 25 comprises a plate member 22 made of a light-diffusing plate and has a transmittance of 20-50%.

In this embodiment, the area S1 of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 satisfies: 9 mm²<S1<200 mm²; or, the relative relationship between the area S1 of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 and the total area S2 of the display surface 101 of the toy body 10 satisfies: 0.01<S1/S2<0.07. By setting the area S1 of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 themselves, or their proportion in the area of the toy body's 10 display surface 101, this toy component can form a screen-like structure with particles of a certain size. This is different from existing technologies that use lamps as scattered light sources or densely arranged display screens, achieving a display component that combines screen display with relatively large granularity. Thus, this toy component has pixel points with a relatively large display granularity in size, providing good visual display for infants and young children.

As shown in FIGS. 2-5, the screen shell 21 is provided with a plurality of light-emitting unit cavities 211. Each of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 is arranged in an array, i.e., a rectangular matrix arrangement, to form a screen. In other embodiments, each light-emitting unit cavity 211 of two adjacent rows or lines can also be arranged in a staggered pattern based on the rectangular matrix arrangement shown in FIG. 5, as shown in FIG. 7A; in other embodiments, each light-emitting unit cavity 211 can also be configured to be arranged concentrically along circles, and the light-emitting unit cavities 211 belonging to similar circular rings can be arranged radially aligned or staggered, as shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C. Alternatively, based on the rectangular matrix arrangement shown in FIG. 5, several of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 can be configured to be omitted to form a specific shaped arrangement, such as forming a frame shape or a number shape. Therefore, each of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 can be set as needed in shapes such as rectangular array, staggered rectangular array, concentric circles, staggered concentric circles, or according to a shaped pattern. Among them, rectangular array and staggered rectangular array refer to the situation where each light-emitting unit cavity 211 is aligned or staggered based on horizontal and vertical arrangement. Concentric circles and staggered concentric circles refer to the situation where, after changing the horizontal and vertical arrangement to arrangement along multiple concentric circular trajectories, the unit cavities are aligned or staggered. Arrangement according to a shaped pattern refers to forming a specified pattern shape by omitting several unit cavities based on the previous four types, or arranging each unit cavity according to the screen shape needs. In summary, it needs to display a certain display screen rather than discrete single pixel points, and each pixel point has a certain size (each pixel point refers to the display effect/role played by one light-emitting unit cavity 211 in the screen area 102).

As shown in FIGS. 2-4, the toy body 10 comprises an upper shell 11 and a lower shell 12. The upper shell 11 is provided with a display window 111. The screen shell 21 is mounted at the display window 111 and is recessed relative to the surface of the upper shell 11. The plate member 22 is mounted at the display window 111 and is disposed substantially flush with the upper shell 11. The surface film 23 is an integral film layer component covering the upper shell 11 and the plate member 22, forming a relatively complete surface without making the display window 111 or the plate member 22 visible, achieving aesthetic appeal in appearance. Preferably, patterns, text, or convex-concave textures can also be coated or applied on the surface film 23 to further create an aesthetically pleasing and fun toy.

In this embodiment, the surface film 23 covers the upper side of the plate member 22, i.e., the surface film 23 is coveringly disposed on the display surface 101. The plate member 22 is disposed above the screen shell 21, more precisely attached to the display surface 101 of the toy body 10 (excluding the area where the buttons 103 are located), making the toy keyboard appear to have a complete upper surface, which is more aesthetically pleasing visually and less likely to cause injury to children.

Preferably, the plate member 22 has a transmittance of 20-50%, while the surface film 23 is a transparent film. That is, the purpose of having the transmittance of the light-transmitting member 25 be 20-50% is achieved by configuring the transmittance of the plate member 22. In other embodiments, both the plate member 22 and the surface film 23 can be semi-transparent (i.e., not completely transparent) to meet the requirement that the light-transmitting member 25 has a transmittance of 20-50%. Therefore, while providing good lighting display, the internal structure or components of the toy are not visible, achieving a complete appearance for the toy.

Preferably, in this embodiment, the plate member 22 has a thickness of 10 mm, and the surface film 23 has a thickness of 2 mm. Setting the plate member 22 to have a certain thickness can give it a certain hardness, thereby achieving support and protection for the light-emitting unit cavities 211, avoiding the shortcoming that children might pick and break the surface film 23 if it were used directly. At the same time, the relatively thin surface film 23 layer can, on one hand, provide overall coverage for the display surface 101, and on the other hand, allow for configuration of the shape and patterns of the display surface 101 of the toy body 10 as needed to make the toy aesthetically pleasing and interesting.

In this embodiment, the light-emitting unit cavities 211 are polygonal, more specifically square in shape. In other embodiments, the light-emitting unit cavities 211 can also be other polygonal shapes such as rectangles, or circular or elliptical shapes close to a circle. Moreover, a side length a or a radius r of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 satisfies: 3 mm<a<15 mm, or 2 mm<r<8 mm, giving the light-emitting unit cavities 211 appropriate dimensional parameters, thereby forming granular display pixel points for the pixel screen, constituting the usage and display effects of this embodiment.

In this embodiment, the light source 241 can be a single monochromatic lamp bead or a set of RGB lamp beads for generating single-color light or multi-color variable light. For example, monochromatic lamp beads can all be the same color, or can be red, green, blue, and other colors by row or column. Among them, setting RGB lamp beads allows the light source 241 within the light-emitting unit cavity 211 to change according to display needs, while monochromatic lamp beads only have on/off changes without color adjustment function. Setting red, green, and blue lamp beads on the circuit board 242 and controlling them via a circuit to change the lighting color of the lamp bead set is existing technology and will not be repeated.

Wherein, each of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 is formed by separation via a plurality of shell walls, the shell walls being integrally formed as the screen shell 21, as shown in FIG. 5, the screen shell 21 is an integral component. In other embodiments, the light-emitting unit cavities 211 can also be formed by tightly assembling individual independent shell walls to form the assembled shape as shown in FIG. 5; in other words, dividing the screen shell 21 as shown in FIG. 5 into individual shell walls for forming the light-emitting unit cavities 211, thereby forming the screen shell 21.

Preferably, each of the light sources 241 is independently illuminable on the light-transmitting member 25, i.e., the light from each light source 241 is relatively independent and does not superimpose or interfere with each other when illuminated.

Wherein, an inner wall of each of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 is inclined or horn-shaped, so that the light-emitting unit cavity 211 expands upwardly from bottom to top. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4-5, the light-emitting unit cavity 211 includes a bottom opening 212, a top opening 213, and a side wall 214. The size of the top opening 213 is larger than that of the bottom opening 212. The side wall 214 is inclined and extends between the bottom opening 212 and the top opening 213, ensuring that each light source 241 illuminates independently and the light from each light source 241 does not interfere with each other.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 4, and 6, the toy component further comprises a circuit board 242. The circuit board 242 is a single board disposed below the screen shell 21, the light sources 241 being integrally disposed on the circuit board 242, thereby facilitating component of the light sources 241 with the screen shell 21. In other embodiments, the light sources 241 can also be configured as a plurality of independently disposed LED lamp beads, each of the LED lamp beads being correspondingly disposed within one of the light-emitting unit cavities 211. The individual LED lamp beads can use existing technology, i.e., using individually installed lamp beads to replace the aforementioned embodiment's integration of each LED light-emitting unit on the same circuit board 242. This is convenient for replacement when lamp beads are damaged but has disadvantages in production and manufacturing.

The display surface 101 is configured as a planar or curved surface shape. Wherein, when the display surface 101 is configured as a curved surface shape, a shape compensation portion is provided between adjacent ones of the light-emitting unit cavities 211. That is, for a display surface 101 with a curved shape, the shape and position of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 are first set as needed, and then the shape compensation portion is set for the difference between the curved shape and each light-emitting unit cavity 211, so that the display effect of the light-emitting unit cavities 211 is not affected by the curved variation.

Preferably, the plate member 22 is a light-diffusing plate, i.e., a light-diffusing plastic plate, formed by molding transparent plastic with a certain amount of light-diffusing powder added.

In this embodiment, a light-diffusing plate is used as the plate member 22. This light-diffusing plate is manufactured according to the following process.

Base material: ABS plastic, purchased commercially.

Light-diffusing powder: organic silicone, polysiloxane, both purchased commercially.

Sheet materials for each embodiment are prepared according to the ratios in Table 1.

The samples of each embodiment ratio are injection molded into sheets under the same conditions, with a sheet thickness of 10 mm. Physical photos of each embodiment are shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B.

The sheet materials of each embodiment are also placed on the screen shell 21, and the light sources 241 are illuminated to observe the display effect presented by each embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9A, 9B, 9C, and 9D.

Based on the visual effects presented by the sheet materials in the ratios of Table 1, PX07 (LGT125J) is selected as the optimal sample instance and recommended for application in products.

Preferably, the surface film 23 is a plastic film, formed into a film shape by plastic injection molding, roller pressing, or extrusion, its upper surface being a smooth surface, textured surface, wood grain surface, or a surface coated with ink.

In some embodiments, the composite plastic film serving as the surface film 23 is made into an imitation wood board component, having surface textures similar to wood grain and surface patterns similar to a wood board cross-section.

Specifically, the manufacturing process of this surface film 23 is as follows:

Using plastic (such as ABS) as raw material, through processing techniques, the plastic is formed into a layered component, providing a texture effect similar to wood board. Therefore, it has both the plasticity of plastic and the texture of wood board. Among them, the processing technique involves first hot-press extruding the plastic to form a layer, then simulating wood grain-like patterns on the surface through roller pressing, and then spraying wood grain patterns on the surface via inkjet printing. Since the ink is sprayed and coated on the plastic surface, it fuses with the plastic, providing an anti-scratch effect.

In other embodiments, the aforementioned toy component with a granular pixel screen is applied to musical toys. For example, forming an electronic keyboard with a granular pixel screen as shown in FIG. 10, wherein the light-emitting unit cavities 211 in the screen area 102 are overall arranged in a rectangular array but the number per column is unequal; forming a tambourine with a granular pixel screen as shown in FIG. 11, wherein the light-emitting unit cavities 211 in the screen area 102 are arranged in a rectangular array on the surface and some units are omitted to form the screen shape instance as shown in the figure; forming a rhythm drum with a granular pixel screen as shown in FIG. 12, wherein the light-emitting unit cavities 211 in the screen area 102 are overall arranged in a rectangular pattern and are set in a frame shape (i.e., none are set inside); forming a toy microphone with a granular pixel screen as shown in FIG. 13, wherein the screen area 102 is located on the side wall of the toy microphone, and the light-emitting unit cavities 211 are arranged in a columnar shape sequentially with the number of units decreasing successively; forming a toy drum with a granular pixel screen as shown in FIG. 14, wherein the screen area 102 is a rectangular array arrangement with equal numbers per column (the number illuminated per column in FIG. 13 is unequal); forming a toy trumpet with a granular pixel screen as shown in FIG. 15, wherein the light-emitting unit cavities 211 in the screen area 102 are disposed along the outer wall of the trumpet's bell mouth, i.e., distributed along a curved surface.