CONFIGURABLE STUFFED TOY HAVING ADJUSTABLE APPENDAGES
A configurable stuffed toy includes a body with a head, a plurality of appendages coupled to the body and a pocket corresponding to each appendage. The pocket comprises an opening into which the corresponding appendage may be tucked and withdrawn, fully and partially, to achieve different configurations of the toy. The appendages may include a plurality of feet, a plurality of ears, a tail, a tail tip attached to a distal end of the tail, a trunk, and an extended head portion.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material that is subject to copyright protection. This patent document may show and/or describe matter that is or may become a trademark and/or trade dress of the owner. The copyright, trademark and trade dress owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent files and records, but otherwise reserves all copyright, trademark and trade dress rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to toys, and, more particularly, to stuffed toys having a plurality of pockets and adjustable appendages that are manually configurable to represent various creatures.
BACKGROUNDA conventional stuffed toy has a body shaped in the form of a three dimensional object or figure such as an animal. A stuffing (e.g., a soft filler material) provides the figure a three-dimensional shape as well as a certain amount of resiliency or softness.
Stuffed toys are very popular due to the softness and the pleasant appearance of the toy. They also appeal to certain aspects of human psychology. People, particularly children, are naturally predisposed to nurture and protect. Fascination with the exotic and unfamiliar has also led to the popularity of stuffed toys, especially those representing wild animals and fanciful creatures.
People, both young and old, are also fascinated by puzzles. They like to try to figure things out. The invention presented in this submission entertains both these human fascinations by providing a unique stuffed toy that can be manipulated into a variety of animal shapes limited only by one's imagination and ingenuity. Even the instructions themselves can be presented as a kind of riddle, containing clues, but not completely explaining how to change the toy from one kind of animal to another.
Such a toy would enable manual adjustment of legs, head, tail, ear, and nose structures to represent the various animals.
The toy is directed to entertaining these two fascinations in a fun and playful manner.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTo satisfy the qualities set forth above, in an exemplary implementation of the invention, a configurable stuffed toy is provided. The exemplary toy includes a body with a head, a plurality of appendages coupled to the body and a pocket corresponding to each appendage. The pocket comprises an opening into which the corresponding appendage may be tucked and withdrawn, fully and partially, to achieve different configurations of the toy. The appendages may include a plurality of feet, a plurality of ears, a tail, a tail tip attached to a distal end of the tail, a trunk, and an extended head portion.
The foregoing and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of the invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, where:
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the figures are not intended to be drawn to any particular scale. The invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments depicted in the figures or the animal configurations, shapes, relative sizes, proportions or materials shown in the figures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTIONReferring to
The exemplary toy is formed by filling a sewn fabric form with a resilient stuffing material, creating a three-dimensional soft and resilient representation of an animal or other object. The form is comprised of multiple pieces of fabric adjoined (e.g., sewn) together, but leaving an opening through which stuffing may be inserted. The form includes a body comprised of a bottom panel 800 (
Where two pieces of fabric are sewn together, they are sewn such that the bulky portion of the seam faces the inside of the finished form. Therefore, the form may be sewn inside out so that unfinished edges of the pieces of fabric from which the form is comprised are all located on the inside of the finished stuffed toy. Once the pieces of fabric are all sewn together into a finished form, the form is turned right side out so that the best and smooth finished side of the fabric faces outwardly and the rough seams are hidden. Next, stuffing is inserted through a stuffing opening until the inside of the form is substantially full of the stuffing material, giving the stuffed toy a resilient three-dimensional shape. After the stuffed toy is sufficiently filled with stuffing material, the remaining opening must be closed to give the stuffed toy an acceptable appearance and to prevent leakage of the stuffing material. The stuffing opening may be sewn closed from the outside of the form leaving a small exposed seam. A resilient stuffing material such as polyester-cellulose fibers and/or polystyrene beads or other filler materials may be utilized.
An important aspect of the invention is the ability to manipulate the appendages. The appendages may be rolled, wrapped, tied, knotted, tucked and manipulated in other ways to achieve a desired appearance. Maintaining the appendages substantially unfilled with stuffing facilitates manipulation. Providing pockets for tucking in appendages (as discussed below) also facilitates manipulation.
Another important aspect of the invention is maintaining pockets or cavities within the body. The pockets are comprised of openings or cavities in the body over which an appendage is attached. The interior space of an appendage is not separated from the interior space of the body by any fabric barrier. Thus, unused portions of an appendage may be tucked (i.e., folded and/or stuffed) into the pockets. By way of example, an appendage may be fully tucked into a pocket, or partially tucked into a pocket, or not tucked into a pocket at all. By rearranging the appendages, some being fully or partially tucked, or not tucked at all, or being twisted, tied, wrapped around features, or shaped, various configurations are achieved.
The toy is not overstuffed or stuffed to capacity. For that reason, ample space is provided within the body to receive tucked portions of one or more appendages. Use of stuffing sparingly also allows molding (i.e., shaping) of an appendage to achieve a desired appearance. Overstuffing or stuffing to capacity could interfere with the tucking and configuration of appendages. However, enough stuffing is used to provide a desired form and stability to the toy. Such amount of stuffing is referred to herein as an amount effective to provide stability without interfering with tucking. The actual amount in mass or volume will vary depending upon the dimensions of the toy and the stuffing used. Illustratively, if a body is filled up to almost its capacity (e.g., 25% to 95%) and the appendages are substantially unfilled, the desired stability may be attained without interfering with tucking.
Referring now to
Those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that the terminology used for appendages herein, is used for convenience of reference in relation to
Referring to
Referring now to
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that countless configurations may be achieved by fully or partially tucking, or not tucking at all, the appendages. Thus, the invention is not limited to the animal configurations shown in
To further illustrate tucking,
Similar pockets are provided for tucking of the entire head assembly 105, 205, including all of its appendages, and for tucking feet 135-150. Illustratively,
Referring now to
Referring now to the instructional poem provided in
In sum, a variety of animals can be made from a single toy in accordance with the invention. The animals are formed without the use of buttons, hook and loop fasteners such as Velcro®, snaps, pins or hooks. The animals are formed by simply manipulating (e.g., wrapping, tucking, tying, twisting and pulling) the appendages into a desired shape. Though countless other creature configurations may be possible, those described herein demonstrate the toy's versatility.
Although the invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form can be changed in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. The physical embodiments described above merely exemplify the invention, which may be embodied in other specific structure within spirit and scope of the claims appended hereto.
Claims
1. A configurable stuffed toy comprising a body including a head, a plurality of appendages coupled to the body and a pocket corresponding to each appendage, said pocket comprising an opening into which the corresponding appendage may be tucked and withdrawn, fully and partially, to achieve different configurations of the toy.
2. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 1, wherein said appendages include a plurality of feet.
3. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 1, wherein said appendages include a plurality of ears.
4. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 1, wherein said appendages include a tail.
5. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 4, wherein said appendages include a tail tip attached to a distal end of said tail.
6. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 1, wherein said appendages include a trunk.
7. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 1, wherein said appendages include an extended head portion.
8. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 1, wherein said appendages include a component from the group consisting of a plurality of feet, a plurality of ears, a tail and a tail tip attached to a distal end of said tail, a trunk, an extended head portion.
9. A configurable stuffed toy comprising a body including a head, a plurality of appendages coupled to the body and a pocket corresponding to each appendage, said pocket comprising an opening into which the corresponding appendage may be tucked and withdrawn, fully and partially, to achieve different configurations of the toy, said toy further including an amount of stuffing effective to provide stability without interfering with tucking.
10. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 9, wherein said appendages include a plurality of feet.
11. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 9, wherein said appendages include a plurality of ears.
12. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 9, wherein said appendages include a tail.
13. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 12, wherein said appendages include a tail tip attached to a distal end of said tail.
14. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 9, wherein said appendages include a trunk.
15. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 9, wherein said appendages include an extended head portion.
16. A configurable stuffed toy according to claim 9, wherein said appendages include a component from the group consisting of a plurality of feet, a plurality of ears, a tail and a tail tip attached to a distal end of said tail, a trunk, an extended head portion.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 12, 2006
Publication Date: Jul 12, 2007
Inventor: Kevin Garrett (Jacksonville, FL)
Application Number: 11/306,844
International Classification: A63H 3/02 (20060101);