AIR INJECTION MANNEQUIN AND ITS PRODUCTION METHOD |
|||||||
申请号 | EP08846033.2 | 申请日 | 2008-10-30 | 公开(公告)号 | EP2210531B1 | 公开(公告)日 | 2017-06-21 |
申请人 | mind Create Japan, Inc.; | 发明人 | SADAOKA, Soichiro; | ||||
摘要 | |||||||
权利要求 | |||||||
说明书全文 | The present invention relates to an inflatable mannequin (air mannequin) used in stores in which clothes are sold or display rooms, and a method of manufacturing the same. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. A known example of the women's mannequin is shown in Furthermore, Additionally, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. The above-described women's mannequin is formed by merely welding cut sheets. This results in small amount of inflation at mammary regions and their neighboring regions as shown in dotted lines in Furthermore, previous methods of cutting and joining the cutted sheets were far away from being cost and time efficient. The present invention has been made to overcome the forgoing problems. It is an object of the invention to provide an inflatable mannequin that can express a natural and realistic body shape and a method of manufacturing the same in a cost and time effective manner. The object is solved by the features defined in claims 1 and 6 of the present invention. In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the following configurations defined by the features in claim 1. More specifically, the present invention is an inflatable mannequin for resembling a shape of an upper half of a body. The inflatable mannequin is formed by preparing an airtight upper bag body portion formed by joining a plurality of sheets together, the sheets being made of an elastic material such as vinyl and polypropylene, and by inflating the upper bag body portion by filling with air. The invention is characterized in that a gusset is coupled through a curved junction line with a sheet forming a base part of the upper bag body portion. The invention is also an inflatable mannequin for resembling a shape of a lower half of a body. The inflatable mannequin is formed by preparing an airtight lower bag body portion formed by joining a plurality of sheets together, the sheets being made of an elastic material such as vinyl and polypropylene, and by inflating the lower bag body portion by filling with air. The invention is characterized in that a gusset is coupled through a curved junction line with a sheet forming a base part of the lower bag body portion. An advantageous development is an inflatable mannequin for resembling shapes of upper and lower halves of a body. The inflatable mannequin is formed by preparing an airtight bag body formed by joining a plurality of sheets together, the sheet being made of an elastic material such as vinyl and polypropylene, and by inflating the bag body by filling with air. This development is characterized in that upper and lower bag body portions resembling the upper and lower halves of the body, respectively, are separately provided to form the bag body. The development is also characterized in that gussets are coupled through curved junction lines with sheets forming base parts of the upper and lower bag body portions, respectively. According to these developments, the gussets are coupled through the junction lines with the sheets forming the base parts of the upper and lower bag body portions, respectively. Accordingly, the obtained inflatable mannequin inflated by being filled with air is capable of resembling a stereoscopic and naturally undulating line of a body shape. When dressed in clothes, the inflatable mannequin enhances the appearance of the marketability, thereby maintaining brand image. In the inflatable mannequin of the above-described invention, an advantageous development is characterized in that the respective midriff portions of the upper and lower bag body portions are coupled with each other to form the mannequin. According to the advantageous development, the upper and lower bag body portions as parts of the mannequin are separately provided. Therefore, the obtained mannequin is capable of imitating the appearance of a stereoscopic and natural body shape at both the upper and lower halves. In the inflatable mannequin of the above-described invention, the invention is characterized in that the gusset is formed as a strip-shaped chest gusset with a predetermined width, and is placed so as to vertically pass at least the top parts of the chest of the upper bag body portion. The provision of the chest gusset effectively emphasizes the prominences of the chest while preventing the chest, namely right and left nipples from expanding outward. Accordingly, the obtained mannequin is capable of expressing natural feminine characteristics. In the inflatable mannequin of the above-described invention, an advantageous development is characterized in that a chest interposition is provided inside the upper bag body portion in such a way that the chest interposition is placed between a center of a chest and a back of the body and extends in a vertical direction. The presence of the chest interposition pulls the center of the chest inward. Accordingly, the obtained mannequin is capable of further suppressing the outward expansion of the right and left breasts in their respective directions, while realizing a deeply shaped pit of the stomach (cleavage) and a depression in the back of the body. In the inflatable mannequin of the above-described invention, an advantageous development is characterized in that the gusset is formed as a strip-shaped crotch-to-waist gusset with a predetermined width. The gusset is joined and placed in such a way that the gusset covers a crotch defined between right and left femoral regions and is inserted along a length from the crotch to a waist extending from a front side to a rear side in the lower bag body portion. Accordingly, the crotch between the right and left femoral regions is allowed to have a width. Accordingly, when dressed in underclothes or pants, the mannequin is capable of beautifully expressing the line below the crotch. In the inflatable mannequin of the above-described invention, an advantageous development is characterized in that a crotch-to-waist interposition is joined inside the lower bag body portion in such a way that the crotch-to-waist interposition is placed at least between the front side and the rear side of the length from the crotch to the waist. The existence of the crotch-to-waist interposition provides an aesthetically pleasing outline of pants the mannequin is to wear without damaging the shape of the buttocks. The present invention is a method of manufacturing the inflatable mannequin as recited in the above-described invention defined by the method steps in claim 6, in that an airtight bag body for the mannequin is formed by joining a plurality of sheets together, the sheets being made of an elastic material such as vinyl and polypropylene using a joining jig. The joining jig is used to form the mannequin. Accordingly, the gusset even of a curved shape can easily be joined. The method of manufacturing the inflatable mannequin of the above-described invention is characterized in that the joining jig includes a gusset joining jig with a curved junction line used for joining the gusset, and an outer shape line defining jig with an outer shape line for defining the outer shape of the mannequin. Use of the gusset joining jig and the outer shape line defining jig facilitates joining of sheets and formation of the mannequin. In the method of manufacturing the inflatable mannequin of the above-described invention, an advantageous modification is characterized in that the gusset joining jig and the outer shape line defining jig are provided with cutters on their respective sides with which the sheets are to be joined. A redundant portion is cut off by the cutters when the sheets are joined by high-frequency gluing, heat fusing, and the like. Therefore, the mannequin is formed efficiently. The present invention is capable of producing a mannequin the outer appearance of which is close to a human body. Accordingly, when dressed in clothes, the mannequin is capable of enhancing the appeal of marketability of the clothes. Further, the mannequin is made of an elastic material sheet, and is considerably lighter in weight and softer than a mannequin formed from a conventional molded article. This allows use of the ceiling, walls and the like of a store as display space that cannot be used for store display. Further, the mannequin of the invention, less expensive than the molded mannequin, advantageously reduces costs such as delivery costs and inventory-carrying costs.
Next, an embodiment of an inflatable mannequin according to the invention is described in detail with reference to An elastic material such as vinyl and polypropylene is employed as a material for the inflatable mannequin 1. A plurality of cut sheets to serve as parts of the upper and lower halves of the body are joined (hereinafter also called "bonded") by high-frequency gluing means, thereby forming an airtight bag body serving as the inflatable mannequin 1. The upper bag body portion 2 resembling the upper half of the body and the lower bag body portion 3 resembling the lower half of the body are provided separately to form this bag body. The upper and lower bag body portions 2 and 3 are inflated by being filled with air through respective air valves 4 (valve 4 of the lower bag body portion 3 is not shown). Then, a midriff portion of the upper bag body portion 2 and a midriff portion 6 of the lower bag body portion 3 are joined together into one by an appropriate adhesive or high-frequency gluing, thereby manufacturing the mannequin 1. The structure of the mannequin 1 will be described next in more detail, and a method of manufacturing the mannequin 1 will be described later. The upper bag body portion 2 includes a front sheet 7 and a back sheet (rear sheet) 8. The front sheet 7 includes a left half sheet 9 and a right half sheet 10. The rear back sheet 8 is formed from a single sheet. The left and right half sheets 9 and 10 are formed into bilaterally symmetric shape. The left and right half sheets 9 and 10 each have parts sheets including an inner sheet 11 placed close the center of a chest, an outer sheet 12 placed outside of the chest, and a strip-shaped gusset (hereinafter also called "chest gusset") 13 with a predetermined width placed between the inner and outer sheets (called "base part") 11 and 12. These sheets 11, 12 and 13 are joined together to form the respective sheets 9 and 10. The half sheets 9 and 10 are joined together at a chest centerline L to form the front sheet 7. The gussets 13 are placed so as to vertically pass the top parts of the chest (breasts), and are intended to provide well-shaped prominences of the chest. A chest interposition 17 is joined inside the upper bag body portion 2. As shown in The front sheet 7 is joined with the back sheet 8 to define the outer shape of the mannequin 1. A junction line is cut at a neck portion, a shoulder tip and the midriff portion with which cover sheets 14, 15 and 16 are to be joined respectively by ring installation described later. A bag body as the upper bag body portion 2 maintaining airtightness is thereby formed. After the upper bag body portion 2 is inflated by being filled with air, as shown in The presence of the gussets 13 realizes voluminous look of the chest circumference, so that feminine characteristics can be expressed. At the time of filling with air, the presence of the chest interposition 17 causes the chest centerline L and the back of the body to pull each other through the chest interposition 17. Accordingly, as a result of synergic effect obtained by the combination with the gussets 13, outward expansion of the top parts of the chest is suppressed while a deeply shaped cleavage (pit of the stomach) is realized. Besides, a depression at which the back of the body is to be located is formed at the central part of the back sheet 8. Thus, the upper bag body portion 2 is allowed to imitate the upper half of the body emphasizing a women's natural and good-looking chest. Like the upper bag body portion 2, the lower bag body portion 3 is shaped by high-frequency gluing means as an airtight bag body. A crotch-to-waist gusset and a crotch-to-waist interposition that are characteristic features of advantageous development are joined with the lower bag body portion 3. More specifically, as shown in As shown by the hatching in The crotch-to-waist gusset 20 and the crotch-to-waist interposition 23 are joined with the left and right femoral region sheets 21 and 22, and cover sheets are respectively joined by ring installation with exposed areas of the midriff portion 6 and leg portions 25. As a result, the lower bag body portion 3 is formed as a bag body maintaining airtightness. Then, the lower bag body portion 3 of the mannequin 1 is inflated by being filled with air to resemble a line of a body shape. The above-described upper and lower bag body portions 2 and 3 resembling a line of a body shape separately, are joined with each other at the midriff portions 5 and 6, so that the mannequin 1 shown in Next, a method of manufacturing the inflatable mannequin 1 that is another technical feature of the present invention is described with reference to The jigs 30, 41 and 42 are each incorporated to a high-frequency gluing device 50 (see The gusset joining jig 30 as a joining jig, namely as a mold is a metal jig in the form of a plate having an excellent heat conductivity. The gusset joining jig 30 has a curved portion 31 formed at its midway point for defining a curved junction line corresponding to the prominences of the chest. A cutter portion 32 extending through most of the length of the jig 30 is provided to a junction side. As a result of pressing with the jig 30 from above and fusing (joining), overlaid sheets are joined (welded or fused). At the same time, unnecessary portions of the sheets are easily removed by pulling these portions by hand. The jig 41 is intended to define a shoulder portion extending from the neck to the arms. The jig 42 is intended to define the outer shape of the flanks. Like the jig 30, cutter portions 43 and 44 extend through most of the respective lengths of the jigs 41 and 42. In the present embodiment, an outer shape line defining jig includes the two members 41 and 42. The members 41 and 42 may alternatively be formed in one piece. As described, members including the jigs 30, 41 and 42 each have a welding press function and a cutting function. Formation of the left half sheet 9 shown in As shown in Likewise, as shown in By doing so, as shown in Following the same process steps as those for forming the above-described left half sheet 9, the right half sheet 10 can be formed to be bilaterally symmetric with the left half sheet 9. The left and right half sheets 9 and 10 are expanded and then spread so that only the chest will swell out as shown in As shown in Next, as seen from an exploded view of As shown in The above-described neck portion, the shoulder tip and the midriff portion are exposed, so they should be joined with and covered by the cover sheets 14, 15 and 16 (see The cover sheets 15 and 16 are joined with the shoulder tip and the midriff portion by following the same process, respectively, thereby forming the airtight upper bag body portion 2 as a bag body. The cover sheet 16 of the midriff portion is provided with the air valve 4 that is a one-way valve made of a synthetic resin. The air valve 4 is integrally attached to the cover sheet 16 by high-frequency gluing using a publicly known technique. Accordingly, the way of its attachment is not described here. Then, the upper bag body portion 2 is formed as a bag body maintaining airtightness. Inflating the upper bag body portion 2 by filling with air through the air valve 4 forms the upper half of the mannequin 1 as shown in Like the upper bag body portion 2 described above, the lower bag body portion 3 is formed as an airtight bag body by using the high-frequency gluing device 50 with an appropriate jig. More specifically, the crotch-to-waist gusset 20 is inserted to form a substantially U-shape along the length from the crotch to the waist between the left and right femoral region sheets 21 and 22 forming the base part of the lower bag body portion 3, namely along the crotch extending from the foreside (front side) to the rear side (backside). The left and right femoral region sheets 21 and 22 are joined with the opposite side edges of the crotch-to-waist gusset 20. The surface of the crotch-to-waist gusset 20 itself is bent at right angles to have a U-shape, so that the crotch-to-waist gusset 20 is also joined with the left and right femoral region sheets 21 and 22 at curved junction lines. As shown by the hatching in The above-described process of forming the upper bag body portion 2 is performed again to join the crotch-to-waist gusset 20 and the crotch-to-waist interposition 23 by using a gusset joining jig and an outer shape line defining jig of appropriate shapes not shown. As a result, the airtight lower bag body portion 3 is formed. The upper and lower bag body portions 2 and 3 resembling a line of a body shape separately, are coupled with each other at the respective midriff portions 5 and 6 in an inflated state by being filled with air. This coupling is realized by appropriate coupling means such as welding and adhesive bonding. As a result, the mannequin 1 as shown in The inflatable mannequin 1 and the method of manufacturing the same of the present embodiment can easily provide the chest gusset 13 and the crotch-to-waist gusset 20 bent into predetermined shapes to the upper and lower bag body portions 2 and 3, respectively. This realizes a mannequin having a chest with prominent, and aesthetically pleasing breasts with a realistic pit of the stomach which closely resembles that of a human body and which prevents the right and left nipples from expanding outward, a depression in the back of the body, a crotch of a sufficient width, and a beautiful hipline. The inflatable mannequin 1 itself realizes a quite realistic body outline. Accordingly, when dressed in clothes and displayed, the mannequin 1 is capable of enhancing the appearance of the clothes as a commodity the mannequin 1 is wearing, thereby effectively avoiding a trouble of damaging brand image. One embodiment of the inflatable mannequin and the method of manufacturing the same of the invention has been described in detail. The specific configurations of the inflatable mannequin and the manufacturing method are not limited to those of the present embodiment. Design variations and the like that do not go out of the gist of the present invention are also within the scope of the present invention. More specifically, in the above-described embodiment, gussets are provided to a chest and to a length from a crotch to a waist. Naturally, a gusset may alternatively be provided to a buttock, or to other parts. The mannequin 1 is intended for women. Naturally, the mannequin 1 may alternatively be applied to those for men, children, and the like. The jigs 30, 41, 42 and 45 are provided with cutters, but may alternatively be of shapes without cutters. In this case, redundant and unnecessary sheets are cut off by scissors and the like at the time of joining of the sheets. The front sheet 7 of the upper bag body portion 2 includes the outer and inner sheets 11 and 12, to which the number of sheets is not limited, of course. This is also applied to the lower bag body portion 3. Bonding means such as a zipper and Magic Fastener (registered trademark) may be used to join the upper and lower bag body portions 2 and 3. In this configuration, the integrated upper and lower bag body portions 2 and 3 are separated, and are deflated by letting the internal air out. This reduces the volumes of the upper and lower bag body portions 2 and 3, thereby providing convenience in transportation. The present invention is applicable to formation of an inflatable mannequin. |