Patent Publication Number: US-2005142985-A1

Title: Animated toy simulating real or fanciful creature

Description:
This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending application Ser. No. 10/860,317 filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Jun. 4, 2004. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      This invention relates to toys which simulate real or fanciful creatures and more particularly to a toy which, when resting on a surface and when stroked by a hand, travels across a surface while undulating in a way which simulates the movement of a real or fanciful creature.  
      2. The prior Art  
      Soft toys in the form of creatures such as dragons, dinosaurs, farm and domestic animals are commonly composed of a soft outer layer of cotton and a stuffing of soft material such as cotton batten. Such toys may have parts which move relative to other parts but in general they do not move in a way which simulates the natural movement of such creatures.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      I have invented a soft toy which when stroked travels across a surface while undulating in a way that simulates the natural movement of many real creatures. Briefly the toy of my invention has oppositely facing upper and lower walls. The lower wall is composed of suede which travels across a surface when a hand is passed along the length of the upper wall to apply downward force thereto. The toy is composed of material of sufficient flexibility that the toy undulates when the hand is moved in this way. Such movement may be caused solely by the downward force or may he caused by static electricity produced when the hand moves along the toy.  
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The toy of the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:  
       FIG. 1  is a plan view of the toy;  
       FIG. 2  is an elevation of a first embodiment of the toy;  
       FIG. 3  is an elevation of a second embodiment of the toy; and  
       FIG. 4  is a side view of the toy showing the way in which it is activated. 
    
    
      Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the toy.  
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      With reference to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the toy has oppositely facing upper and lower walls  10 ,  12 . A pair of buttons  14 ,  16  is stitched to the upper wall to simulate the eyes of a real or fanciful creature. Instead of buttons, the eyes can be painted or embroidered on the upper wall or they can be formed on separate material and sewn onto the upper wall.  
      The toy may be composed of shag having a long rough nap on its upper surface to simulate the fur of a real or fanciful creature. Alternatively the upper surface of the toy may be composed of velvet with a shorter nap to simulate a smooth coat. Natural fur, synthetic fur, felt, fabric, cloth, and plush are also suitable.  
      The lower wall of the toy is composed of suede which is preferably somewhat rough so that it holds or clings by means of fiction to a surface on which the toy rests when a hand applies downward pressure to the upper wall of the toy.  
      In the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , stuffing  20  is inserted in the area of the head of the toy in order to give height to the head.  
      The toy is formed of material which is sufficiently flexible that when a hand is passed along the length of its upper wall, the toy undulates, Such action is illustrated in  FIG. 4 . In that drawing, hand  20  moves away from the head  22  of the toy in the direction of arrow  24 . The band presses downward on the upper wall of the toy and causes the area  26  of the lower wall directly beneath the hand to press against area  28  of the surface on which the toy rests. Friction between those two areas causes the toy to adhere or cling slightly to the surface at that point. At the same time) the material of the toy adjacent to those areas flexes upwardly. As the hand moves so too does the location of flexure with resulting undulating or wave-like movement of the material. Surprisingly, the hand also causes the toy to travel along the surface in the direction of arrow  24  at this time.  
      Static electricity may be produced as the hand moves down the toy and that may aid or indeed may be the sole cause for the wave-like movement. Where static electricity is produced, little or no downward pressure need be applied to the toy. The simple movement of the hand along the upper wall of the toy will usually suffice to produce the desired wavelike movement and to cause the toy to travel along a surface.  
      It will be understood of course that modification can be made in the structure illustrated and described herein without departing from the scope and purview of the invention as defined in the appended claims.