Dual Face Illuminated Doll

Abstract

The doll is preferably made of a transluscent flesh colored resilient plastic material, having a hollow body, legs and arms, and a plurality of extra interchangeable heads representing an assortment of different persons, the body being provided with electric power means for lighting a bulb which is mounted in the neck of the body and extends into the hollow of any head that might be mounted thereon. Upon switching on the light, the head glows more or less brightly depending on the power of the light bulb and the transparency of the flesh colored plastic material the head is made of. Additional bulbs may be used in the other hollow parts of the body to light it all up when desired. Blinkers may be included in the circuit to produce an interrupted lighting effect, and a timer may be used to limit the period of lighting. A child will be readily attracted by a doll of this type, especially if a suitably recognizable head of a doctor or a nurse, mother, sister, brother or other person, used in accordance with the child's show of interest, is selected for it. A double-faced head may be used to instantly alternate between the two selected persons emulated, by turning the desired head forwardly on the body. The double faced head may further be provided with a wiglet, the hair of which may be shifted on top of the head so as to cover the face turned to the rear. In another modification, by matching the clothing exposed on the opposite sides of a body with the faces on said sides, all that needs to switch from simulating one person to the other is to turn the body over from one side to the other as desired. The doll may be battery powered or it may be plugged into the house current for supplying the current to the light bulb through a switch on the body which may be concealed by a portion of the clothing.

Description

The problems of comforting and allaying the fears and anxieties of tots about to be treated for any illnesses have been many and difficult. How to tell children about hospital procdures has taxed the imaginations of doctors and nurses alike.

A number of nurse aids have been used with some success: such as puppets, play stethoscopes, X-Ray machines, blood pressure cuffs, I.D. bracelets, etc. to acquaint children with what it is like to be a patient.

The present nursaid doll is a significant improvement in that it is adapted to instant changes so as to represent some pleasing and comforting companion having a special appeal to different youngsters so as to take their minds off their fears, anxieties or pains and to seek comfort in the companionship of a warm and life-like doll representing to them a kindly doctor, nurse or other hospital attendant, or a family member in whose imagined presence they might feel more comfortable.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to allay the fears or pains and anxieties of a child -- which may be due to its seclusion at bedtime in a darkened room or at any other time that it might be left alone with pains during an illness at home or in a hospital or child care center -- by diverting its attention to a special doll with a glowing body and a suitably pleasing appearance or expression which will appeal to the child's special tastes and provide a feeling of comfort.

A further object of this invention is to provide a doll with a special make-up that would appeal to a child and divert its attention away from whatever fears or pains it might be experiencing at the time.

A further object is to assist a doctor or nurse to pacify a child in fear or pain and provide means for comforting it by leaving their image with the child in the form of a warm glowing doll to make it feel that they have not abandoned it, while they are necessarily away, attending to other duties.

A further object is to provide a doll for this purpose which has a body and head of transluscent material, with a selection of quickly exchangeable heads, portraying different persons who might appeal to different children, for mounting a desired head on the body which has an appeal to a specific child's imagination under specific circumstances.

A further object is to provide a double faced head and suitably dress it to represent on each side of the body clothing that will correspond with the type of face shown on the same side of the head.

A further object is to provide lighting means inside of the hollow body and hed to produce a warm glowing appearance which would normally appeal to a child.

A further object is to provide a hollow removable double faced head for rotatable mounting at the neck of the hollow body for instant turning of the desired face to the front of the body, and a hair piece on said head with hair that may be moved over the face that is turned to the rear.

A further object is to provide lighting means in the hollow transluscent body, head and arms of a doll having switch means on a normally hidden portion of said body, said head being suitably mounted on the neck portion of the body, for turning its face relative to the front of the body.

A further object is to make this head easily mountable, and provide an additional assortment of different heads that may be selected to replce it as may be desired under suitable circumstances.

Other and more specific objects will become apparent in the following detailed description of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 illustrate three differently dressed doll bodies with suitable hollow heads removably mounted thereon,

FIG. 4 is a side view of the hollow head of the doll shown in FIG. 3, the bottom of the head being shown partly in section at the neck opening,

FIG. 5 is an enlarged side view of the doll shown in FIG. 2 with a double faced head, partly in section, taken along the line 5--5 thereof, and broken away to show part of the light bulb extending into the hollow of the head,

FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 are the two opposite face views and a side view respectively of a double faced doll made in accordance with another form of the present invention, and

FIG. 9 is a side view thereof, partly in section to show a lighting system used therewith.

The forms illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 5 have hollow bodies of any suitably dressed types, such as 10, 12 or 14 with a standard neck portion 16 which will receive any one of a number of different heads, such as 18, 18' and 20.

The bottoms of the hollow heads are each provided with a round opening 22 of standard size that will fit snugly on the standard size neck portion 16 and will stretch sufficiently to be readily pushed on or pulled off over the beaded rim 26 at the top of the neck portion for mounting the hollow head thereon or removing it therefrom, respectively. The heads when mounted are thus turnable with respect to the front of the body.

A number of different faced heads suitable to go with each of the typically dressed bodies, may be used therewith. For example, the face 36 on head 18 is only one of the faces that may be suitably used with the typically dressed body 10, whereas face 38 on head 18' illustrates only one of a number of different faces that may be used with the dress of the type on body 14. Some faces may even be suitable to go with different types of dressed bodies, so that with only one or a few types of dressed bodies and a number of different heads, a large variety of selected doll combinations can be made available at a moment's notice by a quick selection from only a small assortment of either heads or bodies.

The variety of doll combinations may be further doubled for each double faced head added to the assortment, such as the head 20 which has faces 28 and 30 on its opposite sides, so that either face may be turned forward on the body, as may be desired, with the other face turned to the rear.

The double faced heads, such as 20, may be provided with a wiglet of hair, that may be rotatably mounted on the top of the head as shown at 34 in FIG. 5, and may be turned to cover the face 28 which is turned away to the rear of the body 12.

The internal diameter 24 of the neck portion 16 may resiliently support a base 44 for the light bulb sockets 42 and 46 from which the light bulbs 40 and 48 extend into the hollow head and the hollow body respectively.

Power supply means 50 mounted in the hollow body provide the current to the light bulbs under control of a switch 54 mounted on the outside of the body. A blinker and timing unit 52 may be used if desired to provide intermittent lighting effects and to turn the light off after a predetermined period.

The hollow body and head may be made of any suitably resilient and transluscent plastic material, so that it will present a natural appearance and feel, and will provide a warm glow when the light bulbs are turned on.

If a nude baby doll is desired, the dress or other clothing may be omitted from the body and a head with a typical smiling baby face may be mounted thereon. A warmly glowing baby doll of this type can be very comforting to a youngster who would otherwise feel lonely or depressed or perhaps worried or in pain.

A typical nursaid doll may be made as shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, with a face 58 of a typical doctor on one side of the head and a face 60 of a typical nurse on the other side, the body 56 presenting the doctor's dress front 62 on his side of the body, and a nurse's dress front 64 on her side of the body.

The light socket 70 may be mounted in the neck of the body so that the bulb 68 will extend therefrom into the hollow of the head. Current may be supplied to it from a battery in the power supply means 72 or from a house current plug through a cord with a female plug plugged into the male socket 78, and controlled by the switch 76. A blinker unit 74 may be used for intermittent lighting if desired. This is a simple and durable construction and serves the purpose of two dolls for interchangeable use by simply turning the doll over, to present either the doctor image or the nurse into view.

A nurse can engage a child's attention to either side of the doll, whichever seems more comforting to it, so that it will remain quiet and occupied while she may leave it alone to perform other of her many duties. The lighting system is merely an additional source ff attraction and comfort for the child, if necessary to better hold his attention and interest.

Obviously this double faced head could be made removable and the doll provided with other interchangeable double or even single faced heads of suitable types to go with either of the body sides of this doll, or with both sides, if it is desired to have more combinations available with just one double sided body of this type.

Many other obvious modifications in the form and details of the structure of these dolls may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A hollow bodied doll having a double faced hollow head, one face being mounted on one side of the head while the other face is on the opposite side, a single face on each opposite side thereof representing two different persons, and

suitable clothing fronts on corresponding sides of the body matching the type of persons represented by said faces, whereby two different dolls are incorporated in one so that either one may be instantly exposed to view by reversing the doll.

2. A doll as defined in claim 1, and

lighting means in said head.

3. A doll as defined in claim 1,

one of said faces and the clothing front on its side representing a doctor, and the other face and clothing front on its side being that of a nurse.