GB2315225A - Improvements relating to toys - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a new toy in the form of a toy dog which has a bean bag body and a rubber or rubber like head 26 which is mounted so as to be rotated relative to the body, so that the dog can look in different directions. The mouth of the dog is a slit which can be temporarily opened further, by squeezing the head between the fingers. In this state, a toy puppy 28 which may be supplied with the toy) can be inserted in the open mouth and when the pressure is released, by virtue of the resilience of the head the puppy will remain held by the mouth. The legs are of soft fabric and are arranged in splayed fashion so that the dog when placed on a flat surface will take up an endearing position in which it is lying on its stomach., with its head looking upward. (Figure 1)

Description

Improvements Relating to Toys This invention relates to toys, and has particular reference to toy animals, such as dogs, although the invention can be applied to other four legged animals such as cats, lions, tigers and the like.

Furthermore, the invention has various aspects, and some of the aspects have application wider than to toy animals, and as the various aspects of the invention are set forth, so the applicability of the various aspects will become apparent.

The invention has as its object to provide a new toy which will, as all toys are designed to do, give pleasure to the user, and the features and aspects of the invention were conceived with this in mind.

According to a first aspect of the invention, the toy is a toy animal of the type having four legs, and the legs are arranged so that the animal rests on the floor or other surface in a lying position, and the legs are splayed to keep the animal stable in this position whilst looking natural.

The animal body and preferably also the legs may be of the "bean bag" construction, in which a fabric covering contains beans filling the covering to the required degree to make the animal look realistic, yet enabling the body to be squeezed by the hands to cause it to change shape and to provide a pleasant sensation to the touch.

In a modification of this arrangement the animal may be other than a four legged animal. For example, it may be a seal or the like, which has a similar attitude as regards its position, when it is resting.

In another aspect, the toy animal has a head which is of a different flexibility characteristic than that of the body, and it may be more rigid. The head may be for example of a rubber or rubbery plastic material which is more rigid than the body, but is still flexible enough to enable it to be squeezed with the fingers and to recover its shape when the squeezing pressure is released.

The head may be adapted to be turned relative to the body so that the animal may have the capability of adopting different configurations and therefore different expressions, adding to the pleasure of the use of the toy.

The invention also provides in another aspect that the head is capable of said squeezing, and in addition the mouth of the animal may be a slit so that the mouth is essentially closed when it is not squeezed, but can be opened by said squeezing, so that for example, a smaller toy animal, such as one of the animal's young, can be positioned in the open mouth, and when the squeezing pressure is released, the young will be retained in the mouth by virtue of the elastic recovery of the head.

All or any of the aspects of the invention can be combined into a single toy, but it will be understood that some of the aspects have particular limitation whilst others have their own limitation.

An embodiment of the invention, which includes all of the aspects, will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein; Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a toy dog according to the embodiment; Fig. 2 is a side view of the toy shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing how the head of the dog in Fig.

1 can be squeezed to open its mouth; Fig. 4 shows the head with a young animal held in the mouth; and Fig. 5 is an underneath view showing the underside of the toy.

Referring to the drawings and firstly to Figs 1 and 2, the toy comprises a toy dog 10, having a body 12, front legs 14, rear legs 16 a tail 18 and a head 20. The body, legs and tail are made of soft cloth, printed if desired, and the body is filled with beans so that it can be squeezed out of shape. It will return to the correct shape when the pressing is released, but by virtue of the nature of bean bag bodies, the returning to shape will be somewhat slow. The fabric covering prevents the body from becoming too out of shape. The legs may be filled with the beans, but preferably are filled with a soft textile filling. The fabric of the tail is preferably such as to keep the tail in the somewhat erect position as shown. A felt fabric may be used for this purpose.

The head 20 on the other hand is of a rubber or rubber like material so that it can be squeezed by hand to deform the head for a purpose to be explained, and when the deforming pressure is released, the head resumes its indicated shape. The head is mounted on the body by means of a journal 22 so that the head gives a looking upwards aspect and can be rotated to different positions, about axis 24, so that the head can take up different attitudes, as shown for example in dotted lines in Fig. 2, which adds considerably to the pleasure of using the toy.

A significant feature of the embodiment is that the mouth 26 of the head is in the form of a slit, and the head 20 is hollow. Thus, when the head is squeezed with the fingers at opposite sides of the mouth, the mouth opens as shown in Fig. 3. In this condition an appropriately sized article can be inserted in the open mouth and when the pressure is released, the mouth will again close and, by virtue of the resiliency of the material of the head, will grip the article and hold it. It is envisaged that the toy may be supplied with puppies and one of the puppies 28 can be inserted into the mouth to be held by the head as shown in Fig. 4.

The body and legs are arranged so that the legs splay outwards and the dog will lie naturally and attractively on the floor or other surface as shown in Fig. 1, and the fact that the head can be turned to different positions means that the dog can be re-arranged to give different expressions and a great deal of pleasure. The legs are splayed outwardly as shown and as shown in Fig. 5, the underside of the toy defines a stable surface 30 to prevent the dog from turning over easily.

The invention provides an extremely effective and entertaining toy which will provide considerable pleasure to users thereof.

Claims (10)

1. A toy in the form of a toy animal of the type having four legs, wherein the legs are arranged so that the animal rests on the floor or other surface in a lying position, and the legs are splayed to keep the animal stable in this position whilst looking natural.

2. A toy according to claim 1, wherein the animal body is of the "bean bag" construction, in which a fabric covering contains beans filling the covering to the required degree to make the animal look realistic, yet enabling the body to be squeezed by the hands to cause it to change shape and to provide a pleasant sensation to the touch.

3. A toy in the form of a toy animal wherein the toy animal has a head which is of a different flexibility characteristic than that of the body, in that it is more rigid.

4. A toy according to claim 3, wherein the head is of a rubber or rubbery plastic material which is more rigid than the body, but is still flexible enough to enable it to be squeezed with the fingers and to recover its shape when the squeezing pressure is released.

5. A toy according to claim 4, wherein the head is adapted to be turned relative to the body so that the animal may have the capability of adopting different configurations and therefore different expressions, adding to the pleasure of the use of the toy.

6. A toy in the form of a toy animal wherein the head is adapted to be deformed by squeezing with the fingers, and in addition the mouth of the animal may be a slit so that the mouth is essentially closed when the head is not squeezed, but can be opened by said squeezing, so that for example, a smaller toy animal, such as one of the animal's young, can be positioned in the open mouth, and when the squeezing pressure is released, the young will be retained in the mouth by virtue of the elastic recovery of the head.

7. A toy in the form of a toy animal comprising a bean bag body, and a head which is of a more rigid material than the body but is capable of elastic deformation by squeezing with the fingers, and wherein the mouth of the animal is a slit in the head which can be temporarily opened by squeezing of the head to deform same.

8. A toy according to claim 7, wherein the head is mounted on the body so as to be capable of being rotated to provide that the toy can have different postures.

9. A toy according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the animal has four legs which are arranged splayed fashion so that the animal can rest in a stable manner on a flat surface.

10. A toy animal substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.