U.S. patent number 3,748,779 [Application Number 05/176,946] was granted by the patent office on 1973-07-31 for toy animal figure.
Invention is credited to Ester Cherk, Garry D. Wyckoff.
United States Patent |
3,748,779 |
Cherk , et al. |
July 31, 1973 |
TOY ANIMAL FIGURE
Abstract
A soft manipulatable figure toy comprising a flexible cover, or
body material, defining an animal form and including a fluent
particulate partial filler comprising a non-toxic, edible cereal
grain.
Inventors: |
Cherk; Ester (Mill Valley,
CA), Wyckoff; Garry D. (Mill Valley, CA) |
Family
ID: |
22646541 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/176,946 |
Filed: |
September 1, 1971 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/370; 428/16;
446/386; 446/369 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H
3/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63H
3/00 (20060101); A63H 3/02 (20060101); A63h
013/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;46/115,116,158,92,159,160 ;273/16R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Mancene; Louis G.
Assistant Examiner: Lever; J. Q.
Claims
We claim:
1. A soft manipulatable article for use as a toy of the like
comprising a flexible cover defining an animal form, and a fluent
partial filling within said cover, said filling being of a
particulate nature, and said cover being composed of three
marginally joined pieces of material, said pieces comprising a pair
of opposed side pieces joined about a major portion of the
peripheries thereof, and a bottom piece joined to and extending
between the portions of the peripheries not directly joined to each
other to provide a body portion said portions of the peripheries of
said side pieces joined together providing an extremity of the body
portion, and means for stiffening said extremity comprising joining
juxtaposed surface portions of said opposed side pieces at a point
in the extremity spaced inwardly from the periphery thereof.
2. The article of claim 1 wherein said filling comprises an
foodstuff.
3. The article of claim 1 wherein said filling partially fills said
cover and is manually shiftable therein to form the flexible cover
to any of a plurality of stable animated positions.
4. The article of claim 2 wherein said filling partially fills said
cover and is manually shiftable therein to form the flexible cover
to any of a plurality of stable animated positions.
5. The article of claim 1 wherein the animal form defined is a
fanciful whale incorporating, in one position, a relatively flat
bottom, a high humped forwardly located body section, a rearwardly
located vertically orientated tail section, and a relatively narrow
transition section between the body and tail sections, said head
section tapering smoothly into said transition section.
6. The article of claim 5 wherein the volumetric capacity of the
head section is sufficient to accommodate substantially all of the
filling.
7. A soft manipulatable article for use as a toy, or the like,
comprising a flexible cover defining an animal form, said cover
being composed of three marginally joined pieces of material, said
pieces comprising a pair of opposed side pieces joined together
about a major portion of the peripheries thereof, and a bottom
piece joined to and extending between the portions of the
peripheries not directly joined to each other, said animal form
defined being a fanciful whale incorporating, in one position, a
relatively flat bottom, a high humped forwardly located body
section, a rearwardly located vertically orientated tail section,
and a relatively narrow transition section between the body and
tail sections, said head section tapering smoothly into said
transition section, and a fluent partial filling within said cover,
said filling being a foodstuff, said filling being manually
shiftable therein to form the flexible cover to any of a plurality
of stable animated positions, said tail section being provided with
stiffening means for rendering said tail generally self-sustaining
when void of filling, said stiffening means comprising joining
juxtaposed side pieces by a plurality of closely adjacent lines of
stitching vertically along said tail at a point in the tail spaced
inwardly from the periphery thereof.
8. The article of claim 7 wherein said tail and transition section
are laterally deformable, when substantially void of filling,
whereby a vertical standing of the article on that portion of the
head section immediately adjacent the transition section can be
effected, said filling defining a base within the head section
sufficient to maintain the head section upright.
9. The article of claim 8 wherein a relatively dense filling is
provided by the utilization of a filler material which packs
leaving a minimum of interstices.
10. The article of claim 9 wherein the filler is millet seed.
11. The article of claim 1 wherein a relatively dense filling is
provided by the utilization of a filler material which packs
leaving a minimum of interstices.
12. The article of claim 11 wherein the filler is millet seed.
13. A soft manipulatable article for use as a toy, or the like,
comprising a flexible cover defining an animal form, said cover
being composed of three marginally joined pieces of material, said
pieces comprising a pair of opposed side pieces joined together
about a major portion of the peripheries thereof, and a bottom
piece joined to and extending between the portions of the
peripheries not directly joined to each other, said animal form
defined being a fanciful whale incorporating, in one position, a
relatively flat bottom, a high humped forwardly located body
section, a rearwardly located vertically orientated tail section,
and a relatively narrow transition section between the body and
tail sections, said head section tapering smoothly into said
transition section, and a fluent partial filling within said cover,
said filling being a foodstuff, said filling being manually
shiftable therein to form the flexible cover to any of a plurality
of stable animated positions, said tail section being provided with
stiffening means for rendering said tail generally self-sustaining
when void of filling, said stiffening means comprising joining
juxtaposed side pieces at a point in the tail spaced inwardly from
the periphery thereof.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The field of art to which the invention pertains comprises figure
toys having a particular form, such as of fanciful human or animal
form. More particularly, the present invention pertains to figure
toys having a body formed of flexible material, especially a fabric
cover and including a filler material.
While prior art animal figure toys having edible fillers are known,
such toys, for reasons which will become more apparent hereinafter,
do not possess the requisite degree of safeness, tactile
stimulation, or opportunity for positioning the toy in a variety of
animated positions for providing added dimensions for a child
playing with the toy.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is directed to providing a safe, versatile, and
durable soft figure toy with lifelike characteristics and
individuality. Toys constructed in accordance with the invention
are characterized as three-dimensional soft toys having a flexible
cover, i.e., body forming casing, formed of a textile or
non-textile web having a requisite degree of softness, flexibility,
etc., to provide an appealing tactile sensation to a child who
grasps, holds, and manipulates the toy. In this regard, in a
preferred embodiment of the invention, a toy made in accordance
with the invention comprises a fanciful whale having a textile
covering and provided with a non-toxic particulate cereal grain
filler material having an individual particle size and
configuration which cooperates and compliments the tactile
suitability of the covering. A significant aspect of the invention
resides in the volumetric relationship of the interior volume of
the figure toy and the generally normally compacted volume of the
filler material within the figure toy.
In accordance with the foregoing summary of the invention, it is a
primary object of the present invention to provide a versatile,
safe and durable soft toy including a particulate filler comprising
an edible, moisture-resistant, relatively non-disintegrating
material.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a soft
toy having an edible, moisture-resistant, relatively
non-disintegrating filler material having the uniform physical
characteristics to compliment the overall tactile appeal of the
cover material and provide an overall density to the toy which
renders it suitable for stable placement in a variety of animated
positions to provide added dimension for a child user in a play
situation.
A further object of the invention is to provide a soft figure form
toy wherein the volumetric relationship of a filler material to the
volumetric capacity of the form defining cover member is such that
sufficient surface to surface contact of the figure toy can be
achieved in a great numer of positions without adversely affecting
the ability of the toy to remain stable in the position preselected
by a child user.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a soft
figure toy in the form of a fanciful whale, or fish, having a
covering of a soft textile fabric and including a partial filling
of an edible cereal grain comprising smooth, round, hard, small
grains, whereby such grains are capable of compacting so as to
minimize interstices between the grains so as to provide a
relatively dense filler for the toy.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent
from the following more complete description thereof.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a figure toy embodying the
present invention and having an exemplary configuration of a
fanciful whale;
FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the figure toy of FIG. 1
showing an exemplary configuration of the belly portion of the
whale;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal vertical cross-sectional view of
the figure toy of FIGS. 1 and 2;
FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the figure toy of the preceding
figures;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of exemplary configurations for the web
portions required to form the cover for the exemplary figure toy
shown; and
FIG. 6 is a slightly enlarged bottom perspective view of the
exemplary figure toy further showing an exemplary animated position
of the figure toy.
Turning now to the drawings in greater detail, and FIGS. 1, 2 and 4
in particular, it will be seen that an exemplary three-dimensional
soft toy indicated generally at 10 and constructed in accordance
with the present invention may comprise a fanciful whale. The whale
10 illustrated is formed of a soft flexible material, such as a
textile web for example. In this regard, a corduroy type fabric has
been found to be particularly suitable in providing the proper
tactile properties. As seen in the aforementioned figures, the
exemplary whale 10 form comprises opposed generally identical side
pieces 12 and 14, which when joined together generally along their
marginal edges, in a manner to be more fully described hereinafter,
cooperate to form the side, back and tail portions of the whale 10.
The bottom piece or belly portion 16 comprises a generally oval
panel, such as of a solid color or print cotton. As seen in FIG. 5,
the pieces forming the sides 12 and 14 of the exemplary whale 10
shown may comprise generally identical pieces 18 and the belly
portion 16 is substantially as shown in previously described FIG.
4.
Turning now to an exemplary method of assembling the whale 10, two
side pieces 18 are placed with the normally outwardly disposed
surfaces of the sides 12 and 14 in contiguous relation. The side
pieces 18 are joined along their marginal edges, such as by sewing,
along the top humped portion 19 from the front 21, or mouth of the
whale 10, up along the humped back portion past the reduced width
body portion 23 and up along the tail to the point indicated at 25.
The bottom piece 16 is then joined to the side pieces 12 and 14, as
seen best in FIG. 4, by sewing, for example, from the point 26
along the lower arcuate seam line to the point 29. The seam running
along the upper arcuate edge portion of the bottom piece 16 starts
at the point 26 and is sewn in a continuous line past the point 29
to the point 31 to form the bottom seam of the tail 20. Assembly of
the two sides 18 and bottom 16 in the aforedescribed manner
cooperates to strengthen the intersection of the three body, or
casing, forming parts while providing a smooth and continuous
transition from the horizontal, i.e., bottom portion 16, to the
vertical, i.e., side portions 12 and 14 of the body of the whale
10. It will be understood that at this point in the assembly of the
animal form, the body or casing material is inside-out and the
marginal edge portions of the generally V-shaped tail are left
open. Before turning the so assembled body portions right side out
through the open tail portion, the inside curved seams are clipped
to within one-sixteenth inch of stitching to allow maximum
flexibility of the completed animal form.
While, as shown in the exemplary whale 10 illustrated, corduroy,
with the ribs running generally normal to the top seam, is
preferably utilized, the ribs of the corduroy pattern could be
generally parallel or diagonal to the top seam. In addition, any
suitably soft material could be substituted for the aforedescribed
cotton textile, such as suede, wool or even an non-woven expanded
vinyl, either supported or un-supported. In the case of the latter
named body forming materials, it will be appreciated that the
several pieces comprising the animal form can be joined by means
other than sewing, such as by fusing together. In other instances,
the marginal edge portions of the body forming member could be
adhesively joined.
As previously indicated, a significant aspect of the present
invention, as best seen by a comparison of FIGS. 3 and 4, resides
in the fact that the interior of the body or casing of the figure
toy is partially filled with a non-toxic edible particulate fluent
filler material indicated generally at 30, which in a preferred
embodiment comprises polished white millet seed, such as having a
diameter in the order of one-sixteenth inch to one-eighth inch.
While millet seed is a preferred filler because its relatively
small size and generally spherical configuration permit the seed to
"pack" whereby interstices are minimized, thus providing a
relatively "dense" filler, other edible fillers can be utilized. In
this regard, it will be understood that while the filler material
is not of itself of high density, the utilization of a filler
material having the aforedescribed physical parameters provides an
effectively dense filler for figure toys constructed in accordance
with the present invention.
In FIG. 5 it will be seen that an exemplary eye may comprise
interlocking components 28 and 29 and wherein the shaft of the eye
28 passes through a suitable aperture in the cover material and is
locked by the washer 29. Of course, the eye means 27 could comprise
an embroidered, etc., eye.
As specifically shown in FIG. 3, the figure toy is only partially
filled with the filler material 30 whereby, for example, an
interior void, or voids indicated generally at 32 are created.
After the preselected partial filler is inserted through the open,
i.e., unjoined or unsewn, tail end, the marginal edges 33 and 35 of
the tail are joined to seal in the filler material 30. Such joining
can be accomplished by sewing, or in another suitable manner as
previously described. As seen in FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 6, the tail
portion of the exemplary whale 10 shown is provided with means for
stiffening. In this regard, the exemplary means shown comprises the
provision of two rows of stitching 37. Of course, the stiffening
can be achieved by fusion of the opposed surfaces of the interior,
the side pieces 12 and 14 or by the use of adhesive, for
example.
As seen in FIG. 6, the significant aspect of preselecting the
partial amount of filler permits animated placement of the figure
toy by a child user. In the exemplary figure toy 10 illustrated, a
child playing with the toy merely need grasp the whale 10 by the
tail whereby the filler 30 "packs" into the main body portion and
whereupon bending of the tail normal to the body, as in FIG. 6,
presents enough surface area, such as indicated generally at 38, to
stabilize the figure toy in the exemplary vertical position
illustrated. Needless to say, by virtue of the coaction of the type
of filler partial filling, and flexible cover forming material,
numerous animatable animal forms can be created without departing
from the concept of the present invention.
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