AU7675998A

AU7675998A - Stuffed doll

Info

Publication number: AU7675998A
Application number: AU76759/98A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Hiroaki Suzuki
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1997-10-31
Filing date: 1998-06-16
Publication date: 1999-05-24
Also published as: WO1999022832A1; EP0970731A1

Description

SZH-F855/PCT-US,EP,AU - 1 DESCRIPTION STUFFED TOY TECHNICAL FIELD 5 The present invention relates to a stuffed toy. BACKGROUND ART There has heretofore been a custom with some persons to sleep while lying beside a stuffed toy or hugging the same. It is said that such a custom comforts the user 10 and promotes sleep. On the other hand, it is thought that a same or similar effect might be achievable by using the stuffed toy as a pillow. A stuffed toy, however, is unsuitable as a pillow. This is because a stuffed toy is 15 conventionally made as a toy article which is quite different from a pillow. Specifically, while the stuffed toy must have a proper softness to allow hugging, a pillow having such a softness cannot suitably support the head of the user, and is not appropriate for a pillow. 20 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a stuffed toy having a pillow function. According to the present invention, a stuffed toy having a human or animal shape, comprising: a head 25 section; a trunk section; and first and second arm sections, wherein the first arm section has a width larger than that of the second arm section, and a wadding for the first arm section is formed by a pillow-core material separated from a wadding for the trunk section 30 so that the first arm section forms a pillow. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a front view of a stuffed toy; Fig. 2 is a partial exploded view of the stuffed toy; 35 Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the stuffed toy while being used; Figs. 4 to 6 are perspective views illustrating -2 embodiments of a stuffed toy according to the present invention; Fig. 7 is a front view of a stuffed toy according to another embodiment; 5 Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken along line VIII-VIII in Fig. 7; Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in Fig. 7; Fig. 10 is a side view of the stuffed toy shown in 10 Fig. 7; Fig. 11 is a plan view of the stuffed toy shown in Fig. 7 when the trunk section is rotated; Figs. 12 and 13 are plan views, respectively, of the stuffed toy shown in Fig. 7 wearing pajamas; and 15 Fig. 14 is a side view of the stuffed toy shown in Fig. 7 lying on a floor. BEST MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Referring to Fig. 1, the reference numeral 1 designates a stuffed toy. The stuffed toy 1 has a head 20 section 2 with a face 2a; a trunk section 3; a first arm section 4; a second arm section 5; a first leg section 6; and a second leg section 7. The head section 2, the arm sections 4 and 5 and the leg sections 6 and 7 are formed integral with the trunk section 3. A front side of the 25 trunk section 3 represents a chest and an abdomen. The first and second arm sections 4 and 5 represent left and right arms, respectively. The first and second leg sections 6 and 7 represent left and right legs, respectively. While the first and second leg sections 6 30 and 7 are formed generally in the same shape, the first arm section 4 has a width and a length larger than those of the second arm section 5. The same wadding 8 is stuffed in the interior space of the head section 2, the trunk section 3, the second 35 arm section 5, and the first and second leg sections 6 and 7. This wadding 8 is comprised of conventional materials used as a wadding for a stuffed toy, for -3 example, fibrous material such as cotton or polyester fiber and elastomeric foam such as polyurethane foam. On the contrary, as shown in Fig. 2, an interior space 4a of the first arm section 4 is separated from an 5 interior space of the trunk section 3 by a partitioning cloth 9, and stuffed with a pillow-core material 11. In the other words, the first arm section 4 is filled with the pillow-core material 11 which is separated from the wadding 8 within the trunk section 3. As a result, a 10 pillow 12 is formed by the first arm section 4. Note that the reference numeral 13 in Fig. 1 denotes a pillow protector. Actually, an opening 14 is formed in the first arm section 4 in advance, through which the pillow-core 15 material 11 is stuffed within the first arm section 4, and then is closed by sewing. If an inner bag 10 is provided, the handling of the pillow-core material 11 is facilitated, although the latter is not necessarily housed in the inner bag 10. 20 The pillow-core material 11 is comprised of conventional materials for a pillow-core material, such as one selected from small pieces such as buckwheat chaff, plastic tubes or wooden chips; fibers such as kapok, cotton or polyester; elastomeric foam such as 25 polyurethane foam; and fluid such as air, water or gel. In this embodiment, the pillow-core material 11 is selected to be harder than the wadding 8 in the trunk section 3. This provides a pillow function to the stuffed toy 1 without deteriorating the huggability and 30 comfort. Note that the surface of the stuffed toy 1 is formed, for example, by a boa cloth of acrylic fiber. Referring again to Fig. 1, the first arm section 4 extends linearly away from the trunk section 3, so that a center axis K-K of the first arm section 4 is generally 35 vertical to a center axis L-L of the trunk section 3. As a result, a receptacle space 15 capable of receiving the user of the pillow 12 therein is formed between the first -4 arm section 4 and the trunk section 3. In other words, as shown in Fig. 3, the user of the pillow 12 lies down in the receptacle space 15 side-by-side with the stuffed toy 1. In this case, the user may hug the trunk 5 section 3, i.e., the trunk section 3 may be used as a body pillow. It is said that the use of the body pillow serves to warm the abdomen of the user or stabilize the sleeping posture to allow sound sleep. In such a manner according to this embodiment, it is 10 possible to provide a pillow function and a body pillow function to the stuffed toy, while ensuring mental comfort due to the stuffed toy itself. According to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 3, it is impossible to remove the pillow-core material 11 15 from the first arm section 4. Alternatively, as shown in Fig. 4, a zipper 16 may be provided at the opening 14 so that the pillow-core material 11 can be removed. This enables the insertion/removal of the pillow-core material 11 into/from the first arm section 4. 20 Accordingly, the height and/or hardness of the pillow 12 may be adjustable by the adjustment of an amount of the pillow-core material 11, or the pillow-core material 11 may be replaced with another one. According to the embodiments shown in Figs. 1 to 4, 25 the first arm section 4 forming the pillow 12 is formed integral with the trunk section 3. Alternatively, in further embodiments shown in Fig. 5, the first arm section 4 may be connected to the trunk section 3 via a zipper 17 or a connector 18 so that it is detachable. In 30 these cases, if the pillow-core material 11 is formed integral with the first arm section 4, the replacement of the entire first arm section 4 provides the replacement of the pillow-core material 11. Further, in the embodiment shown in Fig. 5, since the opening 14 is 35 formed in the first arm section 4, the pillow-core material 11 may be inserted and removed via the opening 14.

-5 In the above-mentioned embodiments, the first arm section 4 is stuffed solely with the pillow-core material 11. Alternatively, it is also possible to stuff, within the first arm section 4, both of the 5 pillow-core material 11 and the same wadding 8 as that of the trunk section 3. Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 7 to 13. In Figs. 7 and 8, a cylinder body 19 is accommodated 10 in the first arm section 4, having a flexibility and a shape-retention ability made, for example, of sponge. In the interior space of this cylinder body 19, an air bag 20 is accommodated, and thus air in the air bag 20 forms the pillow-core material 11. The air bag 20 is 15 connected to a manually-operable pump 21 for filling air into the air bag 20 and a valve 22 for discharging air out of the air bag 20, and thus the height or hardness of the pillow 21 is easily adjustable. The pump 21 and the valve 22 are accommodated in a distal end of the first 20 arm section 4; i.e., a portion representing a hand. Accordingly, when the user shakes hand with the stuffed toy 1, the pump 20 is operated to fill the air bag 20 with air. The first arm section 4 extends to form an acute 25 angle c between a center axis K-K of the first arm section 4 and a center axis L-L of the trunk section 3. As a result, not only does the receptacle space 15 become larger than that of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, but also a face of the user of the pillow 12 is located next 30 to the head section 2 of the stuffed toy 1, which provides further mental comfort to the user. According to this embodiment, the head section 2 is rotatably connected to the trunk section 3. Specifically, with reference to Figs. 7 and 9, a head 35 side flange 24 having a convex surface 23 bulged outward is located within the head section 2, while a trunk-side flange 26 having a concave surface 25 complementary to -6 the convex surface 23 of the head-side flange 24 is located within the trunk section 3. A rod 27 projects from a center of the head-side flange 24 toward the trunk-side flange 26. A plurality of annular 5 projections 28 are formed on the circumference of the rod 27 longitudinally spaced from each other. On the contrary, a through-hole 29 is formed at a center of the trunk-side flange 26 for receiving the rod 27, and a retainer 30 is provided on a back side of the through 10 hole 29 for retaining the rod 27. The retainer 30 has a through-hole 31 having an inner diameter slightly smaller than an outer diameter of the annular projections of the rod 27. If the rod 27 is inserted into the through-holes 29 15 and 31 of the trunk-side flange 26 and the retainer 30 to locate the annular projections 28 on the back side of the retainer 30, the rod 27 is unable to detach from the retainer 30, and thus the head section 2 is rotatably connected to the trunk section 3. In this case, the 20 trunk-side flange 26 is clamped between the head-side flange 24 and the retainer 30, resulting in the reliable connection of the head section 2 and the trunk section 3. Also, due to the convex surface 23 and the concave surface 25 complementary to each other, i.e., a pair of 25 curved surfaces, the head section 2 is smoothly rotatable relative to the trunk section 3. As mentioned above, the face of the user of the pillow 12 is located next to the head section 2 of the stuffed toy 1. Therefore, when the head section 2 is 30 rotatable in such a manner, it is possible for the user to confront the face 2a of the stuffed toy 1, which further provides mental comfort to the user. In this case, the face 2a of the stuffed toy 1 having a sleepy look will furthermore provide mental comfort. 35 With reference again to Fig. 7, the second arm section 5 is also connected to the trunk section 3 rotatably via a connector 32. The connector 32 includes -7 a flange 33 located within the second arm section 5 and having a rod projecting toward the trunk section 3, a flange 33 located within the trunk section 3 and having a through-hole for receiving the rod, and a retainer for 5 retaining the rod. In this regard,. when the flanges 26 and 33 are accommodated within the trunk section 3 so that the head section 2 and the second arm section 5 are rotatable relative to the trunk section 3, the wadding 8 disposed 10 around the flanges 26, 33 may be undesirably displaced or significantly thinned due to the rotation of the flanges 26, 33. Dense stuffing of the wadding 8 around the flanges 26, 33 may avoid such a displacement or thinning. However, if the wadding is densely stuffed 15 over the entire interior of the trunk section 3, the stuffed toy 1 becomes excessively heavy. To solve such a problem, according to this embodiment, an inner bag 34 is provided in the trunk section 3 to accommodate the flanges 26, 33 therein, and the wadding 8 within the 20 inner bag 34 is stuffed to be denser than that in the trunk section 3 outside the inner bag 34. This avoids the displacement and thinning of the wadding 8, while reducing the weight of the stuffed toy 1. As is apparent from Fig. 7, also in this embodiment, 25 a front side of the trunk section 3 represents a chest and an abdomen of the stuffed toy 1. Front sides of the first and second arm sections 4 and 5 represent left and right arms, respectively, and front sides of the first and second leg sections 6 and 7 represent left and right 30 legs, respectively. Also, as shown in Fig. 10, according to this embodiment, a front side 3a and a back side 3b of the trunk section 3 are of the same shape. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 11 in which the trunk section 3 is rotated by 180 degrees relative to the head section 2, the back 35 side 3b of the trunk section 3 also represents the chest and the abdomen of the stuffed toy 1. Similarly, the arm sections 4 and 5 and the leg sections 6 and 7 have the -8 same shape on the front and back sides, respectively and, therefore, the back sides of the first and second arm sections 4 and 5 represent the right and left arms, respectively, and the back sides of the first and second 5 leg sections 6 and 7 represent right and left legs, respectively. In the embodiment shown in Fig. 7, the receptacle space 15 is defined on the left side of the trunk section 3, while in the embodiment shown in Fig. 11, the 10 same is defined on the right side of trunk section 3. In other words, by rotating the trunk section 3, it is possible to change a position of the receptacle space 15, i.e., a position of the pillow user, relative to the trunk section 3. In such a manner, the user could select 15 his or her position relative to the trunk section 3. Figs. 12 and 13 illustrate a stuffed toy 1 wearing clothes such as pajamas 35 thereon. The pajamas 35 consists of a garment 36 and trousers 37. The garment 36 consists of a pair of halves 36a, 36b. Each half 36a, 20 36b has a row of buttons along one edge thereof and a row of buttonholes along the other edge thereof. For example, the buttons in one half 36a are engaged with the buttonholes in the other half 36b in the middle region of the front side of the trunk section 3 (see Fig. 12), and 25 the buttons in the other half 36b are engaged with the buttonholes in one half 36a in the middle region of the back side of the trunk section 3 (see Fig. 13). In this way, the halves 36a, 36b are coupled to each other. According to such an arrangement, either in a case where 30 the back side represents the chest and the abdomen (Fig. 12) or in a case where the front side represents the chest and the abdomen (Fig. 13), the buttons are aligned in the middle region of the chest and the abdomen. This makes it unnecessity to change pajamas 35 35 when the trunk section 3 is rotated. Also, since the garment 36 is separated in the middle region of the trunk section 3, it could easily be put on or off. The -9 pajamas 35 also functions as a cover for a stuffed toy or a pillow protector. With reference again to Fig. 10, the trunk section 3 is formed so that the front side 3a and the back side 3b 5 are swollen outward. As a result, if the stuffed toy 1 is laid down on a floor 38, a gap 39 is formed between the leg sections 6, 7 and the floor 38 as shown in Fig. 14. Due to this, the user of the pillow 12 can insert, for example, his or her right leg into the gap 39 10 to easily hug the stuffed toy 1. This enhances the function of the stuffed toy 1 for body pillow use. According to the above-mentioned embodiments, the present invention is applied to a stuffed toy simulating an animal (or a personified animal). Alternatively, the 15 present invention may be applied to a stuffed doll simulating a human. According to the present invention, a stuffed toy having a pillow function is provided.

Claims

1. A stuffed toy having a human or animal shape, comprising: a head section; 5 a trunk section; and first and second arm sections, wherein the first arm section has a width larger than that of the second arm section, and a wadding for the first arm section is formed by a pillow-core 10 material separated from a wadding for the trunk section so that the first arm section forms a pillow.

2. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 1, wherein the first arm section extends linearly away from the trunk section to form a receptacle space between the 15 first arm section and the trunk section for receiving a pillow user.

3. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 2, wherein the first arm section is formed to form an acute angle, on the head section side, between a center axis of the 20 first arm section and a center axis of the trunk section, to allow the head of the pillow user to be located next to the head section of the stuffed toy.

4. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 1, wherein the pillow-core material is one selected from small 25 pieces including buckwheat chaff, plastic tubes and wooden chips, fibers including kapok, cotton and polyester, elastomeric foams including polyurethane foam, and fluids including air, water and gel.

5. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 4, wherein an 30 air bag is arranged in the first arm section, and the pillow-core material is air filled in the air bag.

6. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 5, wherein a manually-operable pump and a valve are arranged in the first arm section and connected to the air bag to be 35 capable of filling air into the air bag and discharging air therefrom, to allow a height and a hardness of the pillow to be adjusted. - 11

7. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 1, wherein an inner bag is arranged in the first arm section, and the pillow-core material is accommodated in the inner bag.

8. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 7, wherein 5 the inner bag is removable from the first arm section.

9. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 7, wherein a cylinder body having a flexibility and a shape-retention ability is arranged in the first arm section, and the inner bag is accommodated in the interior space of the 10 cylinder body.

10. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 1, wherein the head section is rotatably connected to the trunk section.

11. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 10, further 15 comprising: a head-side flange arranged in the head section, the head-side flange having a convex surface bulged outward; a trunk-side flange arranged in the trunk section, the trunk-side flange having a concave surface complementary to the convex surface of the head-side 20 flange; a rod formed at a center of one of the two flanges, the rod extending toward the other flange and having an annular projection thereon; a through-hole formed at a center of the other flange; and a retainer arranged on the back side of the other flange, the 25 retainer having a through-hole, an inner diameter of which being smaller than an outer diameter of the annular projection of the rod, wherein the rod is inserted into the through-holes of the flange and the retainer to locate the annular projection of the rod on the back side 30 of the retainer, to rotatably connect the head section and the trunk section to each other.

12. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 11, wherein the rod is formed in the head-side flange, and the through-hole is formed in the trunk-side flange. 35

13. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 11, wherein an inner bag is arranged in the trunk section to accommodate the trunk-side flange therein, and the - 12 wadding in the inner bag is denser than that in the trunk section outside the inner bag.

14. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 13, wherein the second arm section is rotatably connected to the 5 trunk section via a connector arranged in the trunk section, and a part of the connector located in the trunk section is accommodated in the inner bag.

15. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 10, wherein the front side of the trunk section represents a chest 10 and a abdomen of the stuffed toy, and the front and back sides of the trunk section have the identical shape to each other so that the back side also represents the chest and the abdomen of the stuffed toy.

16. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 15, wherein a 15 garment of the stuffed toy consists of a pair of halves, the halves being coupled to each other in the middle region of the front and back sides of the trunk section.

17. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 1, wherein the stuffed toy comprises a pair of leg sections, and the 20 trunk section is swollen outward to form a gap, when the stuffed toy is laid down on a floor, between the leg section and the floor.

18. A stuffed toy as defined by claim 1, wherein the pillow-core material is harder than the remaining 25 portions of the stuffed toy.