Amusement devices: toys – Figure toy or accessory therefor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-25
2003-12-02
Ackun, Jacob K. (Department: 3712)
Amusement devices: toys
Figure toy or accessory therefor
C446S482000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06656009
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a doll lounger and a basic body for the manufacture thereof.
The subject matter of the present invention is designated a doll lounger and the use thereof is described below in conjunction with dolls. However, it is equally useful, particularly in a somewhat larger version, as a lounger for infants. Thus, the utility of the subject matter of the present invention should not be limited by the choice of terminology. Even when used for dolls the present invention could equally be referred to as a doll bed, a doll cradle or a doll swing. The concept of doll lounger is chosen as a cover term that includes the aforementioned designations.
As to their basic structure, known doll beds, cradles, as well as doll prams are generally made of a hard or stiff material, such as metal, wood or hard plastic. In general, they are designed to be stored on the floor or on some other hard underlying surface. There are also carrier pouches for dolls which are made of a flexible, foldable material, but which also have rigid frame components for providing form stability. Carrier pouches such as these are also designed to be stored on a hard underlying surface when they are not being moved.
Due to those components made of stiff material, items of this type are cumbersome and thus not easy to store in closets or to stow away on trips. When unable to be stored, these items take up storage space, whether on the room floor or on top of chests. Moreover, hard objects may cause injury to children.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, the object of the present invention is to manufacture a doll lounger that is flexible in its handling, is attractively designed and, for purposes of storage, can be reduced to a volume that is smaller than that when in use.
The object is achieved in principle by a doll lounger comprising a basic body, a casing therefor and means for correctly positioning said lounger when in use, in which the basic body has a shell-like design and is made of a soft foam material.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention the shell-like design of the soft foam basic body is more specifically characterized by a substantially hollow ellipsoid shape or, expressed in simpler terms, is shaped somewhat like an elongated walnut shell half. Thus, the basic body is rounded underneath on all sides and has an elliptical-shaped rim with two somewhat elongated long sides and rounded end sections. This description is intended only as an approximate characterization of the basic body. Even the preferred embodiment may deviate from the exact recitation given above. The wording of the description of the shell-shaped basic body is to be broadly interpreted. In an especially advantageous embodiment, the rim contour of the shell-shaped basic body is not necessarily oriented in a plane. Rather, the rim contour of the basic body may slope upwardly; that is, the contour of the long sides is slightly concave as viewed in vertical extension from above, whereas the rounded end sections are slightly convex in shape. Strictly speaking, at least one of the end sections in which the head of the doll rests is slightly higher than the long sides. For reasons of aesthetics, it is preferable if both end sections are somewhat higher, though such a characterization is relative, since in view of the rounded underside of the basic body, no specific horizontal position is indicated.
To achieve lasting form stability, the final shape of the basic body is foam-molded, preferably from a soft polyurethane foam. It would be difficult and costly to make the basic body from a foam block, not the least of which is the high level of material waste involved. To fashion a basic body from a foam plate would also be unsuitable. In particular, it is impossible to achieve lasting form stability given the tendency of a plate to invariably resume its flat orientation.
When referring to a soft foam material, what is meant is a type of material that can easily be squeezed together or deformed when a specific force is applied to it, but which resumes its original shape in the absence of such force. This involves foams of the type used in mattresses or padding inserts. They have a resiliency that invariably enables them, once deformed, to return to their original shape.
The basic body of the doll lounger described herein must be resilient enough to substantially maintain its original shape, even when exposed to stresses resulting from the kind of use for which it was intended. As described hereinafter, the doll lounger according to the present invention is primarily designed to be suspended. Thus, the basic body must have sufficient form stability to prevent it from becoming unduly deformed when subject to the load of a doll, bed clothes and the like, and when suspended from several points along its rim.
Those skilled in the art are familiar with foamed plastic as a possible choice for the use set forth above. Where there is doubt with regard to a given foam material, the thickness of the shell-shaped basic body should be selected so that it meets the aforementioned form stability requirements. The soft foam material preferably selected for the basic body has a density in the range of 70 g/dm
3
and a hardness of approximately 1.2 Shore A.
The doll lounger may have walls of the basic body with a thickness in a range of 20 mm to 40 mm. This thickness would be indicated for a basic body that is approximately 300 mm to 500 mm long and approximately 200 mm to 300 mm wide. The overall height of the basic body is approximately 150 mm to 220 mm. By way of example, given a standard polyurethane foam, a shell thickness of 25 mm to 30 mm would be indicated for a basic body that is approximately 450 mm long and approximately 250 mm wide, measured over the long and short axes, respectively, of the elliptical-shaped rim to the outer edges thereof. The aforementioned dimensions apply to a lounger for an average-sized baby doll.
The casing for the basic foam body may consist of any flat, flexible material that is adaptable to the exterior shape of the basic body. Even a coating permanently applied to the basic body having protective and decorative features, or gluing a decoratively shaped film or the like thereto, would be conceivable. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the casing of the doll lounger consists of a cover made of a textile fabric or fleece. These materials offer a wide range in exterior décor. In particular, since exterior décor can be crucial for the aesthetic appeal of the doll lounger, an outer covering is provided which conforms substantially to the convex outer surface of the basic body and which extends on the outside to the elliptical-shaped rim of said body. Appropriately, such an outer covering has a finished edge of general design, preferably in the form of piping, a strip or the like extending along the rim of the basic body.
As indicated above, means for correctly positioning the lounger are provided primarily in the form of suspension means, since in a preferred embodiment the lounger has on level undersurface on which it can be placed. Such means are comprised preferably of four suspension lines that are fastened, or can be fastened, in pairs spaced apart from one another on the sides of the body rim. Such lines are preferably textile cords, ties or the like. They are appropriately bunched together near a selected suspension point, thus creating a single suspension point to enable the lounger to swing.
In principle, the means for suspending the lounger are attached or are attachable to the basic body. In an especially preferred embodiment of the invention, however, the suspension means are connected to the outer covering or the finished edge thereof. Thus, the outer covering functions as a type of carrying case for the basic body and/or for the entire lounger. The advantages of this from a technical and manufacturing standpoint are considerable, since it is no longer necessary to mount any type of connecting means to the foam body itself. It simply rests, as finished,
Ackun Jacob K.
Townsend and Townsend / and Crew LLP
Williams Jamila
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