Re-configurable doll/stuffed toy
A re-configurable doll for use as a teaching aid or an article of entertainment comprises a torso, a head attached to the torso, and arms and legs attached to the torso. A plurality of external components are removably mountable on the head of the re-configurable doll. Further, in another aspect of the invention, there is a storage container for receiving and retaining the plurality of facial features. The storage container has a plurality of compartments.
The present invention relates to dolls and to stuffed toys, and more particularly to dolls and to stuffed toys that have repositionable pieces and are thereby re-configurable. Further, this re-configurable doll may be used as a teaching aid.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONDolls of various forms and figures are one of the oldest types of toys used by children. From very early recorded times, various types of dolls, and the like, have been shown to exist in various cultures and geographic locations throughout the world. Such dolls come in many forms, such as a humans and animals, and forms resembling humans and animals. Also dolls come in forms that are analogous to humans and animals, but do not exist in the world, including aliens, dragons, monsters, and many others.
Many early dolls were made of plaster or china, wood, or any other material that was readily available at the time. More recently, dolls have been made of fabric, and comprise an outer fabric layer stuffed with a soft stuffing material. Such dolls are commonly referred to as stuffed toys.
Even more modern dolls and stuffed toys are made from more modern materials, and also have many different types of features, such as moveable parts, replaceable parts, stylable hair, voice recording, storage compartments, and many others. The effect of modern technology on dolls is quite widespread. However, there remains a fundamental basis for dolls and stuffed toys, in that they tend to look like a human or animal figure, or even animal-like figure, and include features such as eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, feet, hair, and so on. These features make a doll or stuffed toy more life-like, and therefore easier to relate to for young children. Typically, young children use such dolls or stuffed toys to recreate real-life situations, such as playing house, acting as a replacement of a friend, and so on. However, much of the change in situation between the child and the doll must come from the child=s imagination.
In order for a doll/stuffed toy to be more versatile, it would be useful for such a doll/stuffed toy to be re-configurable. More specifically, the various features of the doll/stuffed toy would be readily removable and replaceable. Further, such a doll/stuffed toy would act as a significant teaching aid for young children.
One such re-configurable doll, or at least play-figure, is known as Mr. Potato Head7 and consists of a plastic head having small discrete apertures therein. The various features of a human, such as ears, eyes, nose, mouth, and so on, are moulded from plastic and each have a small peg extending outwardly therefrom. The small peg frictionally engages the small discrete apertures in the plastic head, thus permitting a variety of facial expressions and so on to be constructed. While this particular figure was quite popular with children at one time, the discrete apertures limited the number of places that the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and so on could be placed. Further, it was not as appealing to small children as it might have been, because it was made of hard plastic and was not cuddly. Since the learning of facial expressions and the like is very applicable to younger children, it missed its target audience to some degree.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,717 issued Jul. 6, 2004 to Park et al, discloses a doll having changeable eyes and removable alternative face. The doll head defines a pair of eye apertures and a pair of outwardly extending ears. A mask also having eye apertures and ear portions is removably attached to the doll head to overlie the facial portions thereof. The mask includes a snap-fit attachment that engages the ear portions of the doll head. An eye change mechanism within the doll head provides alternative eye images viewed through the respective eye apertures of the head and mask.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a re-configurable doll/stuffed toy.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a re-configurable doll/stuffed toy that can be used as a teaching aid.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a re-configurable doll/stuffed toy that has variable facial expressions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a re-configurable doll/stuffed toy that is suitable for very young children.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a re-configurable doll/stuffed toy that also has numbers and letters that can be mounted on it.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a re-configurable doll/stuffed toy, wherein pieces can be mounted virtually the entire body.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a re-configurable doll/stuffed toy that is entertaining for a child to play with.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a novel re-configurable doll for use as a teaching aid or an article of entertainment. The re-configurable doll comprises a torso, a head attached to the torso, and arms and legs attached to the torso. A plurality of external components are removably mountable on the head of the re-configurable doll.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a novel teaching aid for learning about facial anatomy and expressions. The teaching and comprises a torso, a head attached to the torso, and arms and legs attached to the torso. A plurality of external components are removably mountable on the head of the re-configurable doll. There is also a storage container for receiving and retaining the plurality of external components. The storage container has a plurality of compartments.
Other advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as methods of operation and functions of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying drawings, the latter of which is briefly described herein below.
The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the re-configurable doll/stuffed toy according to the present invention, as to its structure, organization, and use, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following drawings in which a presently preferred embodiment of the invention will now be illustrated by way of example. It is expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only, and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. In the accompanying drawings:
Advantages, features and characteristics of the present invention, as well as functions of the related elements of the structure, and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTSReferring to
Reference will now be made to
The eyes 140,142, nose 144, mouth 146, and ears 148,150 are individual components made from the hook type material of a hook-and-loop fastener system. The material on the head of the doll/stuffed toy 120 is a soft fabric material having small loops of thread exposed at its surface. The hooks of the hook-and-loop fastener system engage these loops of material to retain the removable and replaceable features in place on the head of the doll/stuffed toy 120.
Reference will now be made to
The eyes 240,242, eyebrows 241,243, nose 244, mouth 246, ears 248,250, are made from the hook type material of a hook-and-loop fastener system. The hair 252 is attached to a piece of hook type material of a hook-and-loop fastener system. The material on most of the outer surface of the doll/stuffed toy 220 is a soft fabric material having small loops of thread exposed at its surface. The hooks of the hook-and-loop fastener system engage these loops of material to retain the removable and replaceable features in place on the head 234 and torso 222 of the doll/stuffed toy 220.
Reference will now be made to
Reference will now be made to
The doll/stuffed toy is preferably made from soft, durable flexible material. The interchangeable components may be made from fabric or plastic, and ideally would come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors to allow for a wide variation in the appearance of the doll/stuffed toy.
In an alternative embodiment (not illustrated), it is contemplated that the various features could be retained in place on the doll/stuffed toy by means of a small magnet on the features and a co-operating iron-based metal structure within the doll/stuffed toy, or conversely the features could be at least partially made from an iron-based material and a co-operating magnetic structure within the doll/stuffed toy.
Other variations of the above principles will be apparent to those who are knowledgeable in the field of the invention, and such variations are considered to be within the scope of the present invention. Further, other modifications and alterations may be used in the implementation of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A re-configurable doll for use as a teaching aid or an article of entertainment, said re-configurable doll comprising:
- a torso; a head attached to said torso;
- arms and legs attached to said torso; and, a plurality of external components removably mountable on the head, torso, arms and legs of said re-configurable doll.
2. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said plurality of plurality of external components are removably mountable on the head of said re-configurable doll by means of a hook and loop fastening system.
3. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said plurality of external components are removably mountable on said re-configurable doll by means of at least one magnet disposed in said doll, and wherein said plurality of external components are attracted by said at least one magnet.
4. The re-configurable doll of claim 3, wherein said plurality of plurality of external components are removably mountable on the head of said re-configurable doll by means of a magnet disposed in the head of said doll, and wherein said plurality of external components are attracted by said magnet.
5. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said plurality of plurality of external components are magnetic and wherein at least a portion of said re-configurable doll is made from a magnetically attractable material.
6. The re-configurable doll of claim 5, wherein said plurality of plurality of external components are magnetic and wherein at least a portion of the head of said re-configurable doll is made from a magnetically attractable material.
7. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said head has an outer covering comprising a soft fabric material.
8. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said re-configurable doll comprises teddy bear.
9. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said re-configurable doll comprises a human-like figure.
10. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said plurality of external components comprise a plurality of facial features.
11. The re-configurable doll of claim 10, wherein said plurality of facial features comprise eyes, ears, a nose, hair, eyebrows, and a mouth.
12. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said plurality of external components comprise letters and numbers.
13. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said plurality of external components comprise random shapes.
14. The re-configurable doll of claim 1, wherein said arms and legs are attached and in removable and replaceable relation on said torso.
15. A teaching aid for learning about facial anatomy and expressions, said teaching and comprising:
- a torso;
- a head attached to said torso;
- arms and legs attached to said torso;
- a plurality of external components removably mountable on the head of said re-configurable doll; and,
- a storage container for receiving and retaining said plurality of external components, said storage container having a plurality of compartments.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 13, 2007
Publication Date: Aug 14, 2008
Inventor: Thomas K. Hong (Toronto)
Application Number: 11/705,531
International Classification: A63H 3/16 (20060101);