AU673818B2 - Porcelain-like doll's head and process and device for making it - Google Patents

Abstract

The porcelain-like doll's head consists of a head core (6) of foamed material, for example Styropor, or a readily fusible material, for example wax. Said head core (6) is covered by an approximately even layer of hardened, porcelain-like cold-casting composition. The eyes consist of lenticular hollow spherical segments adhesively bonded on from the outside or of glass-bead eyes inserted from the inside. To produce the doll's head according to the invention, an at least two-part negative mould (1, 2) of a doll's head to be produced is filled by casting with a rapidly curing cold-casting composition which is in powder form and is dissolved with stirring in water. On casting, the slightly smaller doll's head core (6) forms the inner moulded part held in the negative mould at an approximately even distance all round in such a manner that said mould part is covered approximately evenly with the cold-casting composition. After the hardening of the cold-casting composition and removal of the negative mould (1, 2), the dolls's head thus produced is only slightly post-finished. The two-part negative mould (1, 2) of the doll's head to be produced has means for assembly in a positively-locked tensile-force-locked manner. The internal head core (6) has some approximately radially projecting pins (7), so that it is at an approximately even distance with respect to the inner contour (3, 4) of the assembled negative mould (1, 2). <IMAGE>

Description

OPI DATE 26/04/94 AOJP DATE 14/07/94 APPLN. ID 34903/93 IIII111111 iiI PCT NUMBER PCT/CI193/00042 11111i 1iiiII 1111 INii AU9334903 INTERNATIONALE ZUSAMMENARBEIT AUF DEM GEBIET DES PATENTWESENS (PCT0 (51) Internationale Patentklassifikation 5 (11) Internationale Ver~ffentlichungsnumnier: WO 94/07580 A63H 9/00 Al (43) Internationalcs Verdffentlichungsdatum: 14. April 1994 (14.04.94) (21) Internationales Aktenzeichen: PCT/CH93/00042 (81) lBestimmungsstaaten: AU, CA, Fl, JP, NO, Us.

(22) Internationales Annieldedatum: 19. Februar 1993 (19.02.93) Ver6ffentlicht Afl inlernationalein Rechcrclzenbericit.

Prioritfitsdaten: 3059/92-3 30. September 1992 (30.09 92) CH (71) Anmelder (Itir alle Bestirnmungsswaien ausser US): WAL- DAG HOLDING AG [CH/CH]; Liestalstrasse 26, CH- 4414 Fillinsdorf (CH).

(72) Erfinder; und Erfinder/Anmelder (nurfifi US) HERCHER, Christoph IDE/DE]; Karlsbaderstrasse 2a, D-7860 SchopfheimnAO 1 (74) Anwalt: FELBER PARTNER AG; Dufourstrasse 116, 9 Postfach 105, CH-8034 Zfirich (CH).6 7 (54) Title: PORCELAIN-LIKE DOLL'S HEAD AND PROCESS AND DEVICE FOR MAKING IT (54) Bezeichnung: PORZELLAN-AHNLICHER PUPPENKOPF SOWIE VERFAHREN UND VORRICHTUNG ZU DES- SEN H-ERSTECLUNG (57) Abstract 1514 The porcelain-like doll's head consists of a head core of foam 03 7 1 material, e.g. styropor, or of a material with a low melting point, e.g. 71 wax. This head core is coated with a fairly uniform layer of cured,

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porcelain-like cold-moulding compound. The eyes consist of lenticular 15-9 13 hollow spherical segments adhesively secured from the outside or spherical glass eyes inserted from inside. To produce the doll's head of [12 12 the invention, a powdered fast curing cold-moulding compound stirred 5-' into water is poured over an at least two-part negative mould 2) of a 9 doll's head to be made. The slightly smaller doll's head core during pouring, forms the inner mould section held all around in the negative mould at an approximately uniform distance in such a way that this mould section is fairly uniformly coated with the cold moulding compound. After the latter has cured and the negative mould 2) has been removed, the doll's head thus produced needs very little subsequent processing.

(57) Zusammenfassung Der porzellan-llhnliche Puppenkopf besteht aus einemn Kopfkern aus geschiiumten Material, zumn Beispiel aus Styropor, oder aus leicht schmelzbaremn Material, zumn Beispiel aus Wachs. Dieser Kopfkern ist von einer etwa ebenmassigen Schicht ausgehiirteter, porzellan-fihnlicher Kaltgiessmasse aberzogen. Die Augen bestehen aus von aussen aufgeklebten, linsenftirmigen Hohlkugel-Segmenten oder aus von innen eingesetztes Glaskugel-Augen. Zur Herstellung des erfindungsgemiissen Puppenkopfes wird eine mindestens zweiteilige Negativ-Forin 2) eines herzustellenden Puppenkopfes mit einer in Pulverform mit Wasser angerflhrten, schnell aushiirtenden Kaltgiessmasse ausgegossen. Der geringfogig kleinere Pupenkopf-Kern bildet beimn Ausgiessen das innere, in der Negativform rundum auf etwa ebenmiissigem Abstand gehaltene Formteil, derart, dass dieses Formteil etwa ebenmiissig mit der Kaltgiessmasse iiberzogen wird. Nach demn Aushiirten der Kaltgiessmasse und Entfemnen der Negativform 2) wird der so hergestellte Puppenkopf nur noch geringfilgig nachbearbeitet.

Waldag Holding AG Ergolzstrasse 79 CH-4414 FUllinsdorf Porcelain-like Doll's Head and Process and Device for Making It Genuine porcelain dolls' heads are very valuable objects which are costly and difficult to make. As regards weight, the classic porcelain composition consists of 50% kaolin, felspar and 25% quartz. To make hollow dolls' heads from this raw material, it is reprocessed as casting porcelain. To make porcelain dolls' heads from such casting porcelain requires a lengthy and complicated procedure which demands some experience and is always bound up with the risk of failure through the porcelain head caving in or breaking whilst being made, or through it suffering other damage when being cast, removed from the mould, air-dried or baked. A plaster female mould of a doll's head, consisting of at least two parts held together by means of rubber bands, is always used. Liquid porcelain material, which in part first has to be time-consumingly prepared, is poured into the plaster female mould from the top of the head, or from the neck. Depending on the desired thickness of the wall of the hollow head, the remaining casting porcelain is emptied out of the mould after approximately 2 to minutes. During this time, the plaster of the female mould was able to absorb so much water from the top layer of the poured-in casting porcelain for a thin layer of the porcelain along the mould to become more or less as hard as leather. The now hollow porcelain head now has to rest for several hours and, in doing so, harden to such an extent that the female mould can be removed. However, the rough head casting is then still very sensitive to pressare. It has to be very carefully removed from the female mould, the porcelain at the opening of the head element having to be broken off. It can then gently be worked on with a scalpel. Thus, for example, the shapes of the eyes are cut out using a special technique with the inherent risk for those who are unexperienced of destroying the head in doing so. From the inside of the head, accurately fitting eye sockets have to be contrived so that spherical glass eyes can subsequently be inserted. In doing so, one has to bear in mind that the head shrinks by ca. 15% to 20% when subsequently baked. After the scalpel work is finished, the head is left to dry for 1 to 7 days, depending on the thickness of the wall. The thread which forms as a result of the parting line of the casting mould is then cut or filed away and further work is carried out on the top edge of the head. In some cases, to achieve greater toughness for the subsequent processing, biscuit-baking lasting several hours at a temperature of ca. 8000C to 1 0000C is carried out at this stage. A suitable furnace is required for this purpose. After this firing, any unevenness becomes visible and one can see every little grain which protrudes. For this reason, the head and all the edges on it are now filed very finely, and for this operation one ought to wear a dust protection mask. After all this work, the rough casting is fired at 1 2000C to 1 3000C, again for several hours. The entire baking process requires great experience since the baking time varies according to the type of furnace as well as its characteristic baking time curve depending on how the furnace is loaded. After firing, the head is again very finely filed and is then ready to be painted with porcelain paints. After it has been painted, the porcelain head is again baked for two to four hours at a temperature of 6000C to 8000C. It is only at this stage that the glass eyes are inserted using wax, working from the inside of the head, and set in the eye sockets with plaster, which is very delicate work. Finally, the head is sealed at the top with a lid made of cardboard or cork, and the wig is put on.

It is clear from this description that making porcelain dolls' heads has until now been an exceedingly costly, time-consuming and delicate labour demanding a great deal of experience and also the appropriate equipment. The porcelain dolls' heads made in this way are correspondingly expensive. Precisely because these porcelain dolls' heads are such valuable objects they attract a loyal and enthusiastic following.

From the technical viewpoint, various aspects of the way in which porcelain dolls's heads are conventionally made can be regarded as disadvantageous: Firstly, a conventional plaster casting mould can as a rule only be used ca. 40 times, if high demands are made of the quality of the rough castings. After that, the quality of the cast heads declines progressively so that the work involved in finishing them increases sharply. Around 100 heads at best can be made with one mould.

Secondly, the entire conventional production process is extremely time-consuming. Several days in total are required just to prepare the rough casting for painting.

Thirdly, there are many risks inherent in the conventional production process for the less experienced because the working techniques used are delicate and the head may inadvertently be damaged beyond repair or destroyed through the smallest errors or inattentiveness, and many working hours can be lost in this way.

Fourthly, the appropriate equipment is required to make one's own dolls' heads using the conventional technology. Thus moth a plaster mould and a furnace are needed, and these certainly represent a considerable investment. Many handiworkers therefore get together in work groups so as to be able to share 5 9 9 99** *9*9 *9 O 9 9 9

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1 these costs. The glass eyes used until now, of which a great variety are available, are also extremely expensive and great skill is needed to insert them.

This invention is based on the task of creating a process and a device for making a porcelain-like doll's head, with which some or all above-mentioned disadvantages are ameliorated or avoided. Furthermore, the invention also includes, as an object per se, a porcelain-like doll's head made according to the process of the invention, and whose outer appearance is so similar to a genuinely made porcelain head that it could be confused.

Accordingly, the present invention provides in a first aspect thereof a process for making a porcelainlike doll's head, including the following steps: a) providing a female mould of at least two parts and which forms an inner cavity providing the exterior shape of the head to be cast; b) providing a head-core having a form and 20 size slightly smaller than the head to be cast; c) closing the two-part female mould snugly and tightly around the head-core in such a man:ier that it is held at an approximately equal distance on all sides from the inner cavity s'-:face of the female mould; 25 d) starting from an access opening to the cavity formed within the female mould casting a quicksetting, cold casting material in powder form made-up with water into the female mould such that the head core is more or less evenly coated with the cold casting material and the cavity is filled; e) leaving the mould to stand for a few minutes to allow the cold casting material to set; f) removing the female mould from the resultant porcelain-like doll head casting, the head-core remaining an integral part of the doll's head; and g) slightly touching-up the porcelain-like doll's head from the outside by removing any casting thread.

S:23300A S:23300A 6 In a second aspect, the present invention also provides a device for implementing the above process, comprising: a device for implementing the process of anyone of claims 1 4, comprising a two-part female mould with internal cavity surfaces to provide the exterior surface of the doll's head; a head-core having a size number which is slightly smaller than the head to be cast and including a number of studs or a number of pins which project approximately radially from the head-core, the head-core arrangeable within the female mould such that when the female mould is closed around the head-core, the latter is kept by the studs or pins at an approximately equal distance from the internal cavity surfaces of the female mould parts, a casting opening in the female mould providing access to a neck portion or to a back portion of the doll's head to be made during the casting process; and means for snugly and tightly closing of female the 20 mould parts over the head core.

Finally, in a third aspect, the invention also provides a porcelain-like doll's head manufactured in Saccordance with the above process and which is characterized by a head-core which is coated with an 25 approximately even layer of hardened, porcelain-like cold casting material, and by eyes made from lens-shaped dish segments of glass or plastic, glued on from the outside.

The invention renders it simple to make porcelainlike dolls' heads whose outer appearance resembles the 30 genuine porcelain heads to che point of confusion.

Comparatively, very little S:23300A time is required to make them. In addition, the production technique of the invention is bound up with only minimal risks of failure and is very inexpensive, since no furnace is needed.

The female moulds can be used as often as required, and in one embodiment at least, there is no complicated fitting and inserting of spherical glass eyes. This invention makes it possible for a very wide circle of users to make porcelain-like dolls' heads as imitations of porcelain heads because the production is much quicker, more reliable, simpler and cheaper.

Thus, porcelain-like dolls' heads made according to the process of the invention are affordable for everyone.

With reference to the drawings an example of an embodiment of the process of the invention, the device for implementing it and the porcelain-like doll's head made with it will be described below in detail and explained.

The drawings show: Figure 1: A device according to the invention for making the porcelain-like doll's head, consisting of a two-part female casting mould made of transparent plastic, with the appropriate head-core before the mould is closed; Figure 2: The closed female mould and the threaded bolts and wing nuts used for this purpose; Figure 3: Quick-setting cold casting material being poured into the casting mould; Figure 4: A porcelain-like doll's head made according to the process of the invention, with the appropriate eyes for being glued on; Figure 5: A closed female mould seen from the top, with a screw clamp for pressir '-?ether the two parts of the mould; Figure 6: A female mould for being filled up from the side of the back of the head.

To explain the overall invention, which comprises an object in the form of a porcelain-like doll's head as well as the process for making it, and a device for carrying out the production process, the device for the production will be described first of all. This device is shown in Figure i. Here, it comprises a two-part female mould 1,2 as a casting mould for making the doll's head. This female mould is preferably made out of transparent plastic, for example macrolon, and is produced by means of a conventional injection moulding process. To do so, the head must initially be available as an original male mould, as usually made by the appropriate artists and doll-makers.

Starting with this head model, the plastic injection moulding die is produced according to the known technology. The inner contour 3 of the transparent female mould 1 then corresponds exactly with the surface of the doll's face to be made, and the inner contour 4 of the transparent female mould 2 corresponds exactly to the surface of the associated back part of the head.

The hollow mould opens onto the outside through the neck piece For making a porcelain-like doll's head according to the invention an essential element, along with the casting mould, is a doll's head 6 preferably made of a foamed material of a slightly smaller size than that of head to be made. In one embodiment, this head-core 6 is advantageously made of styropor and distributed over it there are small studs 7 projecting approximately radially, which, in the embodiment illustrated here, are formed as part of the same piece from the styropor head itself. These thin studs 7 protrude beyond the surface of the head-core 6 by about one to four millimeters, have a rounded tip and serve to maintain a gap when the styropor head 6 is enclosed inside the female mould 1,2. In this way, the studs 7 ensure that the styropor head 6 is centred within the female mould 1,2 and that a gap of the same distance is maintained all around between its surface and the inside contour 3,4 of the female mould 1,2. Here, the styropor head 6 is placed on a foot in the form of a large thumbtack 8 lying on its back, so that it stands stable. In this position, the twopart female mould 1,2 can easily be closed around the styropor head 6. However, it can also be bedded into the lying half 2 of the mould and then the other half 1 of the mould is closed over it. Whatever the case, it is very important that the edges of the hollow spaces 3 and 4 forming the contour of the doll's head to be cast end up fitting together perfectly. To ensure this, both the parts 1 and 2 of the female mould are transpierced for example, continuous precision boreholes 9- 12, through which exactly fitting threaded bolts are then inserted. As an additional means of ensuring that both parts 1 and 2 of the mould fit together correctly and exactly, the parting planes can be provided with suitable indentations and elevations which engage with each other. In the example illustrated, part 2 of the mould has a wedge-shaped groove 13 in the horizontal direction and a similar one 14 in the vertical direction. Associated with these grooves 13,14 there are wedge-shaped elevations 15,16 on the parting plane of part 1 of the mould, also in the horizontal and vertical direction, which engage exactly with the opposite grooves 13,14. In doing so, the parts of the mould align themselves with respect to each other. Other centering means could naturally also be used, projecting cones, for example, which fit into corresponding conical indentations. After being assembled and bolted, with the styropor head 6 enclosed inside, the female mould 1,2 is turned upside down so that the neck portion 5 lies at the top.

The thumbtack-like foot 8 then becomes a lid which for the time being prevents dust or other particles from entering the pourin opening.

Figure 2 E-cws the assembled female mould with the head-core 6 enclosed inside. To assemble the mould, exactly fitting threaded bolts 30 with threads at their ends are pushed through the precision boreholes 9-12. The two parts 1,2 are pressed together by means of accompanying wing nuts 20. To prevent the threaded bolts 30 from turning as well, part 1 of the mould may have hexagonal recesses 32 for receiving the screw heads 31, so that the latter are held fast in the recesses 32 and cannot turn.

In Figure 3 the assembled female mould can be seen, turned upside down ready for the casting operation, so that t he neck piece 5 is at the top. The lid, resp. foot, 8 has been removed and the cold casting material 18 is just being poured into the opening 17 between the inner contour of the female mould and the surface of the styropor head 6. Because the female mould is transparent, the styropor head 6 enclosed within is visible, as is the cold casting material 18 which has already been poured in. The latter deposits itself evenly all around and thus gradually fills out the space between the styropor head 6 and the female mould. Thanks to the transparency of the female mould, this operation can be continuously observed by the person pouring in the material. If necessary, the female mould could perhaps be brought into a slightly slanted position, or be gently shaken or vibrated to prevent bubbles from forming.

To stop the female mould from being overfille., the neck piece can be designed to be somewhat longer and can bear a mark indicating the point to which the female mould should be filled up. The entire head, from the top to the neck portion 5, is cast as one piece. In the embodiment described here the inside of the head is no longer accessible at the end of the casting operation, as it is with a conventional, hollow porcelain head which still has to be sealed with a head cover, but consists of solid material, namely of the now encased styropor head 6, which does indeed act as a head-core. The cold casting material 18 used consists of a specially refined, commercially available type of plaster which is mixed in powder form with water. It is characterized by its particularly high strength, simultaneously combined with maximum surface hardness. To achieve these properties, suitable plastics are added to the plaster in the way known to appropriate manufacturers of cold casting materials. For the use according to the invention of such a plastics-enhanced cold casting material, the latter is in addition specially dyed to obtain the typically flesh-coloured pink of the classic porcelain dolls' heads, or to obtain other skin colours as well. Typically, the doll's head cast in this way is left to stand for a few minutes only to allow the cold casting material to set. The female mould can then be opened, and the rough casting can be removed from the mould.

The rough castings made according to the process of the invention have a very smooth surface which is certainly comparable with the surface of a conventional finished porcelain doll's head. There is no need for any reworking to achieve a smoother surface. If necessary, slight threads which may have formed on the rough casting at the seams of the female mould may have to be removed.

Figure 4 shows a finished rough casting of a doll's head according to the invention, made using the proces. of the invention. It consists in the final instance of a styropor head 6, which is coated all round with a hardened cold casting material 18, the surface of the cold casting material being finely shaped by the inner contour of the female mould used. Thin spots were formed where the studs came into contact with the inner contour. If the studs actually pressed against the inner contours light patches or even small faults may form there.

For this reason the studs are disposed on the styropor head 6 at such locations where these possible irregularities are not noticeable or where they can be painted over, around the mouth, for example, behind the eyes, around the neck, behind the hairline of the forehead, on the parting, behind the ears, in the neck etc. It is also helpful if the styropor from which the styropor heads 6 are made by foaming are dyed with the same colour as that of the cold casting material 18 which is to be used. Instead of studs made from the same piece of styropor, studs in the form of pins 19 can also be used. As shown in Figure 4, the studs are then formed by the heads 21 of the pins 19, and the associated pin parts 22 serve to stick the pins 19 into the styropor head 6. In one variation, the heads 21 can be made of the same cold casting material 18 used for casting the doll's head. This ensures that no alterations in colour occur on the finished head at the points where there are studs.

On casting, these pinheads 21 acting as studs are thus completely enclosed by the cold casting material and are no longer visible on the finished rough casting. During the course of touching up, any threads on the finished rough casting are removed, although it starts out in any case with a fine, porcelain-like surface because of the very smooth inner contour of the female mould which is used.

A very important element which imparts the charm of the classic porcelain dolls are the glass eyes. Because the porcelain-like doll's head of the invention described here does not allow spherical glass eyes to be inserted, instead of spherical glass eyes, specially produced lens-shaped dish segments 23 made of glass or plastic are used for the eyes, which are also worked in a similar way as the conventional glass eyes and with which an identical effect can be achieved. Such lens-shaped eyes with a flat surface for bonding can be specially produced from glass or plastic with a casting process and then printed. They can also be blown from glass by blowing a glass ball with a relatively thick wall, which is then cut into segments. The back of the segments is filed flat and then painted or nrinted.

Instead of delicately inserting the spherical glass eyes in the case of a hollow porcelain head, where both eyes have to be absolutely accurately aligned with each other, with this doll's head according to the invention this step can be accomplished with much greater simplicity by merely positioning and glueing the prefabricated glass or plastic eyes 23 in the form of lensshaped dish segments into the recesses 24 provided therefor.

To achieve sideways looks appropriately painted lens-shaped glass eyes are available.

The doll's face is painted according to the style in a similar way to that in which the classic hollow porcelain dolls' heads are painted. However, instead of porcelain paints, so-called cold-set paints are used. Because the doll's head made in this way is not baked and indeed cannot be baked, the paints cannot be baked on, but are sealed and fixed by being coated with a silky egg-shell gloss so that they will not smear. This type of seal also protects the doll's head from the effects of dirt and dampness.

Figure 5 shows another female casting mould in the casting position, seen from the top. To ensure that the two parts 1,2 of the female casting mould fit together exactly when closed around the head-core 6 enclosed within, the parting planes have wedge-shaped elevations 16 and indentations 14, which fit snugly into each other. Similar wedge-shaped elevations and recesses are disposed over the parting planes in the form of horizontal elevations 15 or grooves 13. When brought together, the two parts 1,2 of the mould are exactly positioned with respect to each other as a result of elevations 15,16 and grooves 13,14 engaging with each other, so that the edges of the inner contours 3,4 of the two parts 1,2 of the mould are perfectly flush with each other. As a rule it is usually sufficient to place a few strong rubber bands around the assembled female mould to hold the two parts 1,2 together. In the example shown there is however a frame 25 which encases the two parts 1,2, by means of which the two parts 1,2 of the mould can reliably be held together in this position. One side 33 of the frame can be rigidly attached to the abutting mould part 1, whilst the other part 2 of the mould can be removed from the frame 25. The other side of the frame 25 is transpierced by a screw 26 with a rotatable foot 27, which can be tightened by means of a wing nut 28. A thumbscrew 25 is thereby formed, by means of which both parts 1,2 of the female mould can be lightly pressed together, whilst being held perfectly aligned with each other. At the top of the female mould 1,2, which is of course shown here in the casting position, the pouring-in opening 17 can be recognized. The head-core 6, in the form of a styr)por head, enclosed by the female mould, can also be recognized.

Figure 6 shows an alternative female mould, where the two parts 1,2 do not lie adjacent to each other in the casting position, but on top of one another. Thus the cold casting material 18 is not poured in from the neck piece, but from the back of the head, which now lies at the top. In this way a doll's head which is completely enclosed by cold casting material can be cast. Thanks to the transparent female mould 1,2 the pouringin operation can be observed from the outside, as shown. After the cold casting material 18 has set, which takes place in a few minutes, the two parts 1,2 of the female mould are carefully separated. Finally, the superfluous stub at the back of the head, formed by the pour-in opening 29, can be scraped away and this spot is then filed level and clean with the rest of the back of the head.

In one embodiment, the head-core can be made of a material which melts easily, a special wax, for example. After the head has been cast and set, this embodiment makes it possible to heat the latter just sufficiently so that the head-core melts and runs out of the cast head. However, the head-core can also be made of a material which dissolves and becomes liquid when another liquid is subsequently added, so that the material can flow out of the finished hollow head. One then ends up with a hollow head, and the resemblance to the conventional porcelain head is even greater. This embodiment may appeal to handiworkers who insist on the conventional insertion of spherical glass eyes. Such spherical glass eyes have indeed long been avail able on the market in a very great variety. The insertion operation can be carried out in the conventional manner immediately after the head-core has melted away, or after the eye openings have been cut or scratched out. The inner wax coating, whose thickness can be determined by the thoroughness of the melting operation, can serve directly as a bed for aligning and inserting the spherical eyes.

The female mould of the invention can be used many thousands of times since it is subject to practically no wear-and-tear. A new head-core 6 is required each time a new doll's head is to be made, although this can be cheaply produced and sold. The biggest investment will be a female mould according to the invention, which the handiworker will require for the production process of the invention. This will allow him to make very inexpensively, and in very little time compared with the classic process for making porcelain dolls' heads, and, moreover, with certain success, a practically identical object as far as the outer appearance is concerned.

Claims (12)

1. Process for making a porcelain-like doll's head, including the following steps: a) providing a female mould of at least two parts and which forms an inner cavity providing the exterior shape of the head to be cast; b) providing a head-core having a form and size slightly smaller than the head to be cast; c) closing the two-part female mould snugly and tightly around the head-core in such a manner that it is held at an approximately equal distance on all sides from the inner cavity surface of the female mould; d) starting from an access opening to the cavity formed within the female mould casting a quick- setting, cold casting material in powder form made-up with water into the female mould such that the head core is more or less evenly coated with the cold casting material and the cavity is filled; Se) leaving the mould to stand for a few minutes to allow the cold casting material to set; f) removing the female mould from the resultant porcelain-like doll head casting, the head-core remaining an integral part of the doll's head; and g) slightly touching-up the porcelain-like 25 doll's head from the outside by removing any casting thread.

2. A process for making a porcelain-like doll's head in accordance with claim 1, wherein the quick- setting, cold casting material is a quick-setting, 30 plastic-enhanced, skin-colour pre-dyed plaster material. A process for making a porcelain-like doll's head in accordance with claim 1 or 2, wherein, for the casting operation, the female mould is brought into a position where a neck portion or a back portion of the doll's head being cast is at the top and filling is performed through the access opening leading to said portion.

S:23300A 20

4. A process for making a porcelain-like doll's head in accordance with claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein after the doll's head has been touched up, prefabricated eyes made from lens-shaped disk segments of glass or plastic are glued into recesses provided for this purpose on the outside of the head. A device for implementing the process of anyone of claims 1 4, comprising: a two-part female mould with internal cavity surfaces to provide the exterior surface of the doll's head; a head-core having a size which is slightly smaller than the head to be cast and including a number of studs or a number of pins which project approximately radially from the head-core, the head-core arrangeable within the female mould such that when the female mould is closed around the head-core, the latter is kept by the studs or pins at an approximately equal distance from the internal cavity surface of the female mould parts, a casting opening in the female mould providing access to a neck portion or to a back portion of the doll's head to be made during the casting process; and means for snugly and tightly closing of the female mould parts over the head core.

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6. A device in accordance with claim 5, wherein the *female mould parts comprise transparent plastic injection o mould parts.

7. A device in accordance with claims 5 or 6, wherein the head-core is made from foamed material. 30

8. A device in accordance with claim 7, wherein the foamed material is styropor.

9. A device in accordance with anyone of claims to 8, wherein the means for snugly and tightly closing the female mould parts comprise elevations and indentations on surfaces of section of the mould parts which in the closed state of the mould abut on one another, the elevations and indentations arranged to fit together snugly so that the mould parts are fixed in ,S:23300A 21 their location with respect to one another when closed and pressed together, and further comprising a plurality of metal screws acting as threaded bolts and herewith co- acting wing nuts, the metal screws being received in boreholes transpiercing perpendicularly the surfaces of section of the female mould parts, the threaded bolts and wing nuts in use, locking the female mould parts together tightly.

A device in accordance with anyone of claims 5 8, wherein the means for snugly and tightly closing the female mould parts comprise elevations and indentations on surfaces of section of the mould parts which in the closed state of the mould abut on one another, the elevations and indentations arranged to fit together snugly so that the mould parts are fixed in their location with respect to one another when closed and pressed together, and further comprising at least one thumbscrew, one side of which is rigidly connected with one of the female mould parts, and arranged to provide 20 tight closure of the female mould parts. *040

11. A porcelain-like doll's head manufactured in accordance with the process of anyone of claims 1 4, characterised by a head-core made of styropor, which is coated with an approximately even layer of hardened, porcelain-like, cold casting material, and by eyes made from lens-shaped dish segments of glass or plastic, glued :from the outside onto the head casting after being cured and touched-up.

12. A porcelain-like doll's head comprising a head- core made of styropor and having a form similar to the doll's head, an outer skin coat made-up of an approximately even layer of hardened, porcelain-like, skin-colour pre-dyed cold casting material, and eyes made from lens-shaped, disk segments of glass or plastic glued into depressions on the outside of the head. Dated this 25th day of September 1996 WALDAG HOLDING AG By their Patent Attorney GRIFFITH HACK CO. 23300A Abstract The porcelain-like doll's head consists of a head-core made from foamed material, styropor for example, or from a material which melts easily, wax for example. This head-core is coated with an approximately even layer of hardened, porcelain- like cold casting material. The eyes consist of lens-shaped hollow spherical segments glued on from the outside, or of spherical glass eyes inserted from the inside. To make the doll's head of the invention a female mould of at least two parts for making a doll's head is filled with a quick- setting cold casting material in powder form mixed with water. During the pouring-in operation the slightly smaller doll's head-core forms the inner part of the mould held all around within the female mould at an approximately equal distance so that this part of the mould is coated more or less evenly with the cold casting material. After the cold casting material has set and the female mould removed, the doll's head made in thi.s way only has to be slightly touched up. The two-part female mould has means for closing together snugly and tightly. The inner head-core has a number of studs (7) which project approximately radially, so that it is held at an approximately equal distance from the inner contour of the assembled female mould (1,2) (Figure 1)