Patent Publication Number: US-6217406-B1

Title: Wire skeleton for soft sculptured dolls

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a wire skeleton for a soft sculptured doll that allows the doll to be moved and positioned similar to the movement and poses that would be possible for a small child. The wire skeleton is provided with a flexible backbone member that extends into the head of the doll, thereby allowing the chest and neck of the doll to be moved and positioned. The lower end of the flexible backbone member secures into an inverted t-shaped connector at the doll&#39;s waistline, and a unshaped wire extends through the remaining two sleeves in the horizontal portion of the t-shaped connector. The u-shaped wire forms the leg members of the doll&#39;s skeleton. The u-shaped wire freely rotates within the t-shaped connector, allowing the leg members to rotate forward and backward on the doll. Also, each of the leg members can be bent to form a foot for the doll and to simulate movement of the legs of a child so that the doll can be posed. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Dolls and other animal toys have employed wire within the toy to provide movable support for the toy. However, none of the prior toys have combined the flexibility of wire for the backbone and legs of a doll with the free and coordinated movement of the dolls legs, similar to the flexibility that is found in a small child. 
     The present invention improves over prior toys in that it provides a movable wire backbone that extends from the doll&#39;s waistline to the doll&#39;s head and combines the backbone to an inverted t-shaped connector through which a u-shaped wire extends to form the movable and rotatable leg members of the doll. 
     The leg members rotate within the horizontal portion of the t-shaped connector and thereby move in conjunction with each other to the front or to the back of the doll. Also, because both the backbone and the leg member are made of flexible wire, the entire doll can be moved and posed to simulate the movement and positions that a young child would be able to achieve. This combined range of movement allows a soft sculptured doll that is made with this skeleton to be moved and posed in more realistic ways than previous dolls. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a wire skeleton for a soft sculptured doll. The wire skeleton is provided with a flexible backbone member that extends into the head of the doll, thereby allowing the chest and neck of the doll to be moved and positioned. The backbone is provided with an upper end that extends into the head of the doll and with an opposite lower end that secures within the upward extending sleeve of an inverted t-shaped connector. The inverted t-shaped connector is located at the doll&#39;s waistline. The t-shaped connector is provided with two additional sleeves that are located at either end of a horizontal portion of the t-shaped connector. Another piece of wire that is formed into a u-shape is inserted through the horizontal portion of the t-shaped connector so that the u-shaped wire extends through the two sleeves in the horizontal portion of the t-shaped connector. The ends of the u-shaped wire form the leg members of the doll&#39;s skeleton. The unshaped wire freely rotates within the t-shaped connector, allowing the leg members to rotate forward and backward on the doll. Also, each of the leg members can be bent to form a foot for the doll and to simulate movement of the legs of a child so that the doll can be posed. The upper end of the backbone and the ends of the unshaped wire are preferably wrapped with tape to prevent the wires from poking through the padding around the skeleton of the doll and reaching the covering material of the body of the doll. 
     The dolls are formed employing this flexible skeleton by first placing soft pillow type padding material, such as for example polyester fiberfill, Dacron®, etc., around the skeleton of the doll. Second, a child&#39;s leotard is pulled over the bottom half of the skeleton, adding additional stuffing as needed in order to form the legs and chest of the doll. Next, a lady&#39;s knee-high stocking is pulled over the top half of the skeleton while adding additional stuffing as needed in order to form the head and neck of the doll. The lady&#39;s knee-high is inserted into the open end of the leotards and the two are secured together by sewing, gluing, or any other suitable method of attachment. Finally, two additional lady&#39;s knee-highs are filled with stuffing in order to form the arms of the doll. The open ends of the knee-highs that form the arms are secured at approximately right angles, to the neck of the doll so that the upper portion of the arms forms the doll&#39;s shoulders. The arms are secured to the neck of the doll by sewing, gluing or any other suitable means of attachment. 
     The doll is then dressed in children&#39;s clothing, hair or other suitable covering is applied to the head of the doll, and the arms of the doll are secured in a desired position. One preferred position for securing the doll&#39;s arms is to secure the ends of the arms to the chin of the doll to simulate a child in prayer. However, the ends of the arms may be secured within the pockets of the doll&#39;s clothing, to accessories, etc. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a soft sculptured doll employing a wire skeleton constructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is the wire skeleton employed in the doll of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the wire skeleton of FIG.  2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a partially constructed soft sculptured doll, shown with part of the wire skeleton exposed. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Wire Skeleton for Soft Sculptured Dolls 
     Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a wire skeleton  10 , according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, for use within a soft sculptured doll  12 . Referring also to FIGS. 2 and 3, the wire skeleton  10  is provided with a flexible backbone member  14  that extends into the head  16  of the doll  12 , thereby allowing the chest  18  and neck  20  of the doll  12  to be moved and positioned. The backbone member  14  is provided with an upper end  22  that extends into the head  16  of the doll  12  and with an opposite lower end  24  that secures within an upward extending sleeve  26  of an inverted t-shaped connector  28 . The t-shaped connector  28  may be a t-shaped metal connector such as the type used for electrical conduit or a t-shaped plastic connector such as the type used in plumbing or any other suitable type of t-shaped connector. The lower end  24  may be glued within the upwardly extending sleeve  26  to permanently secure it therein. 
     The inverted t-shaped connector  28  is located at the waistline  30  of the doll  12 . The t-shaped connector  28  is provided with two additional sleeves  32 A and  32 B that are located on either end of a horizontal portion  34  of the t-shaped connector  28 . Another piece of wire  36  that is formed into a u-shape is inserted through the horizontal portion  34  of the t-shaped connector  28  so that the u-shaped wire  36  extends through the two sleeves  32 A and  32 B located in the horizontal portion  34  of the t-shaped connector  28 . Ends  38 A and  38 B of the u-shaped wire  36  extend away from the t-shaped connector  28  and form the leg members  40 A and  40 B of the wire skeleton  10  for the doll  12 . The u-shaped wire  36  freely rotates within the horizontal portion  34  of the t-shaped connector  28 , thus allowing the leg members  40 A and  40 B to rotate forward and backward on the doll  12 . Also, the ends  38 A and  38 B of each of the leg members  40 A and  40 B can be bent to form a foot  42  for the doll  12  and to simulate movement of the legs of a child so that the doll  12  can be posed. 
     The backbone member  14  and the u-shaped wire  36  are preferably constructed of heavy plastic-covered wiring, such as the three-strand, plastic-covered wiring commonly used in electrical wiring of homes when the wiring is not enclosed in conduit. Also, the upper end  22  of the backbone member  14  and the ends  38 A and  38 B of the u-shaped wire  36  are preferably wrapped With tape strips of tape  44 A,  44 B, and  44 C. The tape  44 A,  44 B, and  44 C is; to prevent the wire backbone member  14  and the u-shaped wire  36  and from poking through the padding  46  that surrounds the skeleton  10  of the doll  12  and reaching the covering materials  48 ,  50 A,  50 B, and  50 C of the doll  12 . 
     Referring now to FIG. 4, the doll  12  is formed employing this flexible skeleton  10  by first placing soft pillow type stuffing material or padding  46 , such as for example polyester fiberfill, Dacron® fiber, etc., around the skeleton  10  of the doll  12 . Second, a child&#39;s leotard  48  is employed for the covering material for a bottom half  52  of the doll  12 . The child&#39;s leotard  48  is pulled over the bottom half  52  of the skeleton  10 , adding additional padding  46  as needed in order to form legs  54 A and  54 B and the chest  18  of the doll  12 . A first lady&#39;s knee-high stocking  50 A will be the covering material for a top half of the doll, and second and third lady&#39;s knee-high stockings  50 B and  50 C will be the covering for arms  56 A and  56 B of the doll  12 . 
     Next, the first lady&#39;s knee-high stocking  50 A is pulled over the backbone member  14  of the skeleton  10 , while adding additional padding  46  is added as needed in order to form the head  16  and the neck  20  of the doll  12 . An open end  57 A of the first lady&#39;s knee-high stocking  50 A is inserted into an open waist end  58  of the leotard  48 , and the stocking  50 A and the leotard  48  are secured together by sewing, gluing, or any other suitable method of attachment. Finally, the two additional lady&#39;s knee-high stocking  50 B and  50 C are filled with padding  46  in order to form the arms  56 A and  56 B of the doll  12 . Open ends  57 B and  57 C of the second and third knee-high stockings  50 B and  50 C are secured at approximately right angles to the neck  20  of the doll  12  so that an upper portion  60  of each of the arms  56 A and  56 B forms shoulders  62  on the doll  12 . The arms  56 A and  56 B secure to the neck  20  of the doll  12  by sewing, gluing or any other suitable means of attachment. 
     Once the doll  12  is thus formed, it is then dressed in children&#39;s clothing (not shown). The head  16  is covered with hair or other suitable covering (not illustrated), and the arms  56 A and  56 B of the doll  12  are secured in a desired position. One preferred position for securing the doll&#39;s arms  56 A and  56 B is to secure ends  64 A and  64 B of the arms  56 A and  56 B to a chin  66  on the head  16  of the doll  12  to simulate a child in prayer. However, the ends  64 A and  64 B of the arms  56 A and  56 B may be secured within pockets of the doll&#39;s clothing, to accessories, etc. 
     While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for the purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.