GB2335374A

GB2335374A - Reconfigurable item

Info

Publication number: GB2335374A
Application number: GB9906467A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Roy Miller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1998-03-20
Filing date: 1999-03-22
Publication date: 1999-09-22
Also published as: GB9906467D0

Abstract

A reconfigurable item such as a soft toy comprises a main body portion 10 having a zipped or otherwise closable recess 12. The recess 12 has an inner lining 16 which can be pulled out of the recess and is attached to the inner surface or lining 17 of a reversible outer cover element, for example having the approximate shape and external decoration of a rugby ball. The arrangement is reconfigurable between a state in which the main body portion is stowed within the cover element and another state where the cover element is stowed within the main body portion.

Description

1 RECONFIGURABLE ITEM 2335374 This invention relates to reconfigurable

items, and in particular soft toys which can be manipulated between ifferent configurations in which different features are evident.

Many sports teams have mascots associated with them; thus the Wolverhampton Wanderers football team has a mascot of a wolf; the Australian rugby football team has a mascot of a wallaby; the various American football teams such as the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, Dallas Cowboys, Miami Dolphins, have the mascots suggested by their name.

Accordingly there is a large market among the respective fans for fun mascots representing their team. Furthermore, to enhance customer appeal it is desirable to present a is mascot which can be configured to show different features.

Quite apart from sports teams mascots, there are other instances where it is desirable to provide a toy which can be switched between two configurations; thus for example a toy capable of being changed from a configuration having the external appearance of a chicken to having the external appearance of an egg.

In the examples given above, it is difficult to design the toy so that it can provide the characteristic threedimensional shape and features of an animal yet at the same time be stowed into an appropriate configuration, e.g. spherical or rugby ball etc. shape.

Accordingly, in one aspect, this invention provides a 2 reconfigurable item manipulatable between at least two states presenting different appearances. the toy comprising:- a main body portion including therein a recess with manually operable elongate closure means, and an outer cover element associated with said main body portion recess and defining a further recess and manually operable elongate closure means therefor, said recess being adapted for receiving therein said main body portion.

The main body portion may be stowed in its usual configuration within the outer cover element. Alternatively, the main body portion may be turned inside out relative to said main body portion recess, and then stowed in said cover.

Preferably said outer cover element is adapted to be stowed within said main body portion recess.

Preferably, the outer cover element is connected to the main body portion. Conveniently, the outer cover element is attached to said main body portion by means of a liner element associated with the recess in the main body portion.

This arrangement means that the shape of the outer cover element may be selected independently of the shape of the main body portion. Thus, if required, the outer cover element can be significantly larger than the main body element, so that the shape of the overall toy when the main body portion is stowed within the outer cover element is dictated predominantly by the shape of the outer cover element rather than that of the main body portion.

3 In use, the main body portion may be fashioned with external features according to the appearance of the mascot required, e.g. dragon, dinosaur, chicken, cowboy, etc.

The outer cover element is preferably fashioned in the form of a spherical, ovoid or rugby ball shape according to the nature of the particular toy. The surface of the outer cover element exposed when the toy is stowed may carry text or graphics denoting the respective team.

In another aspect, this invention provides a soft toy comprising a main body portion having a recess containing a cover element into which said main body portion may be inserted.

In yet a further aspect, this invention provides a reconfigurable item comprising two reconfigurable objects is each configurable to define a pouch or recess and each having an elongate closure element for closing said pouch or recess, said reconfigurable objects being interconnected by interconnection means extending from attachment to one of said pouches or recesses to attachment to the outer thereof. 20 Whilst the invention has been described above, it extends to any inventive feature set out above or in the following description. The invention may be performed in various ways and various embodiments thereof will now be described in detail, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:- Figures 1 (a) to (h) are views of a first embodiment of this invention, applied to a dragon/rugby ball combination 4 in various stages of deployment; Figures 2 (a) to (c) illustrate a further embodiment, applied to a cockerel/rugby ball combination in various stages of deployment; Figure 3 illustrates a further embodiment applied to a springbok/rugby ball combination; Figures 4(a) and (b) are views of a further embodiment applied to a kiwi/rugby ball combination; Figures 5(a) to (d) are views of a series of embodiments applied to combinations of an American football and an animal or human mascot; Figures 6 (a) and (b) are views of a further embodiment applied to a wallaby/rugby ball combination; Figures 7 (a) to (d) are views of a further embodiment applied to a football/animal combination in various stages of deployment; Figures 8 (a) to (c) are views of a further embodiment applied to a dinosaur/egg combination in various stages of deployment; Figures 9 (a) to (d) are views of a further embodiment applied to an owl/eggshell combination in various stages of deployment; Figures 10(a) to (e) are views of a further embodiment applied to a chick/shell combination in various stages of deployment; Figure 11 is a view of a further embodiment of Russian doll arrangement; Figure 12 is a view of a transformable item, and Figures 13 (a) and (b) illustrate the principle of manufacture in accordance with one embodiment of this invention.

Referring initially to Figures 1(a) to (9) the first embodiment comprises a dragon mascot generally of conventional soft-toy construction, but having a main body portion 10 in the rear of which is a recess 12 closable by an elongate closure such as a zip 14 as illustrated or a Velcro (RTM) or similar closure. The recess has an inner lining 16 which can be pulled part way out of the recess as shown in Figures l(d) and 1(e). The lining 16 is attached to the inner surface 17, or a lining, of a reversible outer cover element 18 which has the approximate shape and external decoration of a rugby ball, as seen in Figure 1 (g).

As is evident in Figure 1(c) the outer cover element 18 can be collapsed and stored inside the zipped recess 12.

The device may be stowed in two different ways. In one arrangement, the main body portion is turned inside out with respect to the recess 12 so that the external features of the main body portion (in this example the head, arms and tail of the dragon) are stuffed inside a pouch having as an outer surface the inner surface of the recess 12. When the main body portion 10 is turned inside out in this way it generally has a more regular, external shape. The outer cover element 18 can then be pulled around the inside-out main body portion and zipped as shown in Figures 1(f) and i(g) to provide a substantially uniformly shaped exterior.

However it is preferred to leave out the step of 6 turning the main body portion inside out and instead simply to pull the outer cover element around the mascot.

The recess and the outer cover element 18 are preferably arranged so that the user's hand can be passed into the recess 12 and the features of the main body portion manipulated in the manner of a glove puppet, as seen in Figure 1.

Having now particularly described the arrangement of Figure 1, the construction and operation of the embodiments shown in Figures 2 to 10 is broadly similar and will now be described.

The embodiment of Figure 2 comprises a cockrel mascot having a main body portion 20 in the rear of which is a recess 22 closable by a zip 24. The recess 22 has a lining 26 which is connected to the lining or inner surface 27 of a reversible outer cover element 28 here in the form of a rugby ball. The mascot may be manipulated between the rugby ball configuration shown in Figure 2a and the cockrel configuration shown in Figure 2c.

The embodiment of Figure 3 comprises a springbok mascot having a main body portion 30 in the rear of which is a recess 32 closable by a zip 34. The recess 32 has a lining 36 which is connected to the lining or inner surface 37 of a reversible outer cover element 38 here in the form of a rugby ball. The mascot may be manipulated between a rugby ball configuration and a springbok configuration shown.

The embodiment of Figure 4 comprises a kiwi mascot having a main body portion 40 in the rear of which is a 7 recess 42 closable by a zip 44. The recess 42 has a lining 46 which is connected to the lining or inner surface 47 of a reversible outer cover element 48 here in the form of a rugby ball. The mascot may be manipulated between the rugby ball configuration shown in Figure 4b and the kiwi configuration shown in Figure 4a.

The three embodiments illustrated in Figure 5 likewise consist of a main body portion 50 in the rear of which is recess 52 closable by a zip 54. The recess has an inner lining 56 connected to the inner surface or lining 57 of a reversible cover element 58 in the form of a rugby ball or american football.

The embodiment of Figure 6 comprises a wallaby mascot having a main body portion 60 in the rear of which is a recess 62 closable by a zip 64. The recess 62 has a lining 66 which is connected to the lining or inner surface 67 of a reversible outer cover element 68 here in the form of a rugby ball. The mascot may be manipulated between the rugby ball configuration shown in Figure 6b and the wallaby configuration shown in Figure 6a.

The embodiment of Figure 7 comprises a wolf mascot having a main body portion 70 in the rear of which is a recess 72 closable by a zip 74. The recess 72 has a lining 76 which is connected to the lining or inner surface 77 of a reversible outer cover element 78 here in the form of a football. The mascot may be manipulated between the football configuration shown in Figure 7a and the wolf configuration shown in Figure 7d.

8 The embodiment of Figure 8 comprises a dinosaur having a main body portion 80 in the front of which is a recess 82 closable by a zip 84. The recess has an inner lining 86 which is connected to the inner surface or lining 87 of a reversible outer cover element 88 which has the external appearance of an egg.

The embodiment of Figure 9 comprises an owl having a main body portion 90 in the rear of which is a recess 92 closable by a zip 94. The recess 92 has a lining 96 which is connected to the lining or inner surface 97 of a reversible outer cover element 98 here in the form of an egg. The mascot may be manipulated between the egg configuration shown in Figure 9a and the owl configuration shown in Figure 9d.

is The embodiment of Figure 10 comprises a chick having a main body portion 100 in the rear of which is a recess 102 closable by a zip 104. The recess 102 has a lining 106 which is connected to the lining or inner surface 107 of a reversible outer cover element 108 here in the form of an egg. The mascot may be manipulated between the egg configuration shown in Figure 10a and the chick configuration shown in Figure 10e.

Referring now to Figure 11, in this embodiment a series of dolls 120 of diminishing size each have one or more recesses 122 and an associated lining portion 124. The lining portions 124 are interconnected so that each doll can fit into the recess of the next larger doll and so on until the largest doll contains all of the dolls inside it.

9 Referring to Figure 12, a similar principle is applied here to provide a surprise toy which includes different objects. In this embodiment it will be noted that the box or cube contains two recesses into which respective items are stowed.

The additional text material on the informal drawings originally filed herewith is included herein by reference but does not limit the scope of the invention described above.

As a further modification, not illustrated, a toy may comprise an animal, say a penguin, with a zipped recess combining an egg which in turn has a zipped recess containing an egg which in turn has a zipped recess containing a chick. In this arrangement, the egg may be stowed in the penguin recess once the chick has been removed from the egg.

Referring to Figure 13, this shows the steps involved in manufacturing an embodiment of the invention. A soft toy is made up in a generally conventional way but provided with a zipped recess 132 having an inner lining 136 which may be pulled part way out of the recess 132. The recess 132 is designed to be large enough to accommodate a cover element 138 in compact form. The cover element 138 also defines a zipped recess having an internal surface or lining 137 and into which the toy 130 may be stuffed. By attaching the cover element 138 and the toy 130 by their linings/inner surfaces 136/137 one can be stuffed into the other and vice versa

Claims

Claims

A reconf igurable item manipulatable between at least two states presenting different appearances, the item comprising:

a main body portion including therein a recess with manually operable elongate closure means, and an outer cover element associated with said main body portion recess and defining a further recess and manually operable elongate closure means therefor, said recess being adapted for receiving therein said main body portion.
2. A reconf igurable item according to Claim 1, wherein the main body portion may be stowed in its usual configuration within the outer cover element.
3. A reconfigurable items according to Claim 1, wherein the main body portion may be turned inside out relative to said main body portion recess, and then stowed within said cover element.
4. A reconf igurable item according to any preceding Claim, wherein said outer cover element is adapted to be stowed within said main body portion recess.
5. A reconf igurable item according to any preceding Claim, wherein the outer cover element is connected to the main body portion.
6. A reconfigurable item according to Claim 5, wherein the 25 outer cover element is attached to said main body protion by means of a liner element associated with the recess in the main body portion.
7. A reconf igurable item according to any preceding Claim, wherein the outer cover element is fashioned to have a spherical, ovoid or rugby ball shape when said main body portion is stowed therein.
8. A reconfigurable item comprising a main body portion having a recess containing a cover element into which said main body portion may be inserted, said cover element being capable of substantially wholly enclosing said main body portion.
9. A reconfigurable item comprising two reconfigurable objects each configurable to define a pouch or recess and each having an elongate closure element for closing said pouch or recess, said reconfigurable objects being interconnected by interconnection means extending from is attachment to one of said pouches or recesses to attachment to the outer thereof.
10. A reconfigurable item according to Claim 9, wherein said interconnection means comprises a liner or the like.
11. A reconfigurable item substantially as herebefore 20 described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.