Patent Publication Number: US-6910940-B2

Title: Collectible and method of making the same

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
   This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/434,430, filed Dec. 19, 2002. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a collectible and a method of making the same, and more particularly to a mass-produced, low-cost, keepsake collectible, which may be made substantially from towels or the like and may have a bean bag core. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   Aboard a cruise ship, a guest may return to his or her room to find a small animal perched on their bed made from simple hand towels. Behind the scenes, a cabin steward or housekeeping staff member has folded a towel or towels by hand to create the likeness of the animal. For the passenger, these novelties are often a welcome and memorable part of the cruise experience, for adults as well as children. 
   Unfortunately, the conventional novelties are time-consuming to make and thus expensive, in terms of labor costs, for a cruise ship operator. Also, since the novelties are merely folded pieces of cloth, they are temporary in nature. Thus, the passenger or guest cannot realistically take the novelty home as a keepsake in order to remember the cruise. Even if they did, the novelty would not retain its shape over a long period of time. Further, the cruise ship operator does not wish to encourage the taking of towels, in the first place. Novelty towels and napkins may also be found in hotels or restaurants, aboard trains or planes, and in other hospitality and travel businesses. 
   There is a need for a mass-produced, low-cost novelty that can be taken home as a keepsake and which would be a replacement for the high-cost, temporary novelty of the prior art. A variety of U.S. patents disclose towels and toys; however, none are directed to a collectible and method of making a collectible which solves the aforementioned problems. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,437, issued Mar. 26, 1963 to S. Upthagrove, describes a novelty beach mat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,712, issued Sep. 30, 1980 to Black et al., describes a towel and method. U.S. Design Pat. No. 364,004, issued Nov. 7, 1995 to Ederle, describes a wash cloth for infants. U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,258, issued Sep. 9, 1997 to Harris, describes an animal/fowl caricature-like towel parka. 
   U.S. Design Pat. No. 401,020, issued Nov. 10, 1998 to Barlow, describes an oven pan pad. U.S. Design Pat. No. 409,036, issued May 4, 1999 to Bear, describes an ornamental child&#39;s pillow in the fanciful form of a turtle. U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,855, issued Aug. 29, 2000 to DeLeon, describes a hand towel. Japanese Patent No. 2001-340254, issued Dec. 11, 2001 to Hirotaka, describes a mascot shaped hand towel. 
   None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention is directed to a collectible with a core, a filler material, a fabric surface layer, and a fabric attachment. The core, which may be a bean bag, is provided inside the fabric surface layer and the fabric surface layer is stuffed with the filler material to form a body. The fabric attachment is attached to the body to form a body part shape. The collectible has an overall shape, which is substantially like the animals created by the steward or housekeeping staff. The fabric surface layer and the fabric attachment may be towels or the like. The collectible may be a mass-produced, low-cost, keepsake collectible. 
   The present invention is also directed to a method of making a collectible. The method includes a sizing step, a placing step, a stuffing step, and an attaching step. In the sizing step, a core, a fabric surface layer, a filler material, and a fabric attachment are sized such that the collectible is adapted to have an overall shape, which is substantially like an animal. In the placing step, the core is placed inside the fabric surface layer. In the stuffing step, the fabric surface layer is stuffed with the filler material to form a body. In the attaching step, the fabric attachment is attached to the body to form a body part shape. The method may be adapted to mass-produce a low-cost, keepsake collectible. 
   Accordingly, it is a principal object of the invention to provide a collectible with a core, a filler material, a fabric surface layer, and a fabric attachment. 
   It is another object of the invention to provide a method of making a collectible including a sizing step, a placing step, a stuffing step, and an attaching step. 
   It is a further object of the invention to provide a collectible with a core, a filler material, a fabric surface layer, and a fabric attachment, where the fabric surface layer and the fabric attachment are made from towels. 
   Still another object of the invention is to provide a collectible with a beanbag core, a filler material, a fabric surface layer, and a fabric attachment. 
   It is an object of the invention to provide improved elements and arrangements thereof in an apparatus for the purposes described which is inexpensive, dependable and fully effective in accomplishing its intended purposes. 
   These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an environmental, perspective side view of a collectible according to the present invention with a cutaway view of the core, the filler material, and the fabric surface layer. 
       FIG. 2  is an environmental, perspective view of a collectible in the fanciful form of a frog. 
       FIG. 3  is an environmental, perspective view of a collectible in the fanciful form of a pig. 
       FIG. 4  is an environmental, perspective view of a collectible in the fanciful form of an elephant. 
       FIG. 5  is an environmental, perspective view of a collectible in the fanciful form of a hippopotamus. 
       FIG. 6  is an environmental, perspective view of a collectible in the fanciful form of a swan. 
       FIG. 7  is a diagram of a method of making a collectible. 
     Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   The present invention is directed to a collectible  10  and a method  100  of making the same. The present invention is particularly directed to a mass-produced, low-cost, keepsake collectible which is a substitute for the hand-made, high-cost, temporary novelties, noted above. The collectible  10  may be made substantially from towels or the like. 
   As shown in  FIG. 1 , the collectible  10  comprises a core  20 , a filler material  30 , a fabric surface layer  40 , and a fabric attachment  50 . The collectible  10  has an overall shape which is substantially that of an animal. The overall shape refers to the fact that the collectible  10  is assembled in a manner such that is not temporary and is intended to keep its shape. 
   As illustrated herein, the overall shape of the collectible  10  may approximate that of a frog (FIG.  2 ), a pig (FIG.  3 ), an elephant (FIG.  4 ), a hippopotamus (FIG.  5 ), or a swan (FIG.  6 ). However, the overall shape of the collectible  10  may be substantially that of any animal (i.e. dog, monkey, tiger, etc.). The overall shape of the collectible  10  desirably contains sufficient characteristics to form an attractive approximation of the animal being depicted. 
   The core  20  is provided inside the fabric surface layer  40  and the fabric surface layer  40  is stuffed with the filler material  30  to form a body  35 . The core  20  may be any suitable core material which provides the collectible  10  with sufficient weight which is desirable for collectibles, particularly collectibles which are meant to be handled and may be used as a toy. The core  20  may, desirably, be a beanbag or the like. Also, the core  20  may be positioned inside the collectible  10  in a manner such that the collectible  10  is adapted to sit upright. The position of the core  20  in the collectible  10  may be adapted to suit the particular character being constructed. 
   The filler material  30  may be any suitable material for stuffing the collectible  10 . The filler material  30  may be cotton, polyester, beans, sawdust, feathers, and the like. A sponge-like material may also be used as filler, which will allow the collectible to be used in water as, for example, a bath sponge. 
   The fabric surface layer  40  and the fabric attachment  50  may be made from any suitable material for holding the filler material  30  and maintaining the overall shape of the collectible  10 . The fabric surface layer  40  and the fabric attachment  50  may desirably be made from cloth and may be in the form of one or more napkins or towels. Preferably, cotton towels, and even more preferably, 100% cotton terry cloth towels may be used for the fabric surface layer  40  and the fabric attachment  50  of the collectible  10 . Also, the fabric surface layer  40  may be made from several pieces, which are stitched together to form the overall shape of the collectible  10 . 
   When the collectible  10  of the present invention is made with towels, the collectible  10  evokes the look and feel of the hand-made, high-cost, temporary novelty, noted above. Although, it is preferable that the towels be white, any color may be used, for example, a green towel for a frog collectible  10 . 
   The fabric attachment  50  is attached to the body  35  to form a body part shape. The fabric attachment  50  may be attached using any suitable means for the attachment of fabric, such as a stitched seam  60 , which may be visible or hidden. The body part shape may have the approximate form of, for example, an arm or leg shape  50  (FIGS.  1 - 5 ), an ear shape  55  (FIGS.  3 - 5 ), a wing shape  90  (FIG.  6 ), or a neck and head shape  92  ( FIG. 6 ) of an animal. Other body part shapes may be made, as appropriate. 
   The collectible  10  may further comprise a sewn-in animal feature  70 . The sewn-in animal feature  70  may be, for example, an approximation of a mouth shape ( FIG. 1 ) or a snout shape (FIG.  3 ). Other animal features may be made, as appropriate. Any color or type of thread may be used for the sewn-in animal feature  70 . It may be desirable to match the color of the thread to the color of the towel or to use clear thread, such as nylon. 
   The collectible  10  may further comprise an embroidered animal feature  80 . The embroidered animal features  80  may be, for example, an eye shape ( FIGS. 1-6 ) or a nostril shape (FIG.  3 ). Other animal features may be made, as appropriate. Any color or type of thread may be used for the embroidering. 
   The collectible  10  may further comprise a plastic support piece  94 . For example, in forming the swan (FIG.  6 ), the plastic support piece  94  is provided inside the collectible  10  to support the neck shape  92  of the collectible  10 . 
   The collectible  10  may have an overall length L, which is less than 12″. Preferably, the collectible  10  has an overall length L of between 6″ and 12″. Even more preferably, the overall length L of the collectible  10  is about 9″. The present inventor has found that these overall lengths are desirable in the marketplace, particularly in the collectibles marketplace. 
   As noted above, the present invention is also directed to a method  100  of making a collectible  10 . The method  100  may be a mass production method. As shown in  FIG. 7 , the method  100  comprises a sizing step  110  where the core  20 , the fabric surface layer  40 , the filler material  30 , and the fabric attachment  50  are sized such that the collectible  10  is adapted to have an overall shape which is substantially that of an animal, as noted above. The sizing step  110  may be performed by hand or machine. 
   The method  100  also comprises a placing step  120  wherein the core  20  is placed inside the fabric surface layer  40 , a stuffing step  130  wherein the fabric surface layer  40  is stuffed with the filler material  30  to form a body  35 , and an attaching step  140  wherein the fabric attachment  50  is attached to the body  35  to form the body part shape  50 ,  55 ,  90 ,  92 , all of which may be performed by hand or with suitable equipment for placing, stuffing, and attaching. 
   Although the steps of the method  100  are presented and shown in a particular order, the steps may be performed in any order that is suitable for making the collectible  10  of the present invention. 
   The method  100  may further comprise a rolling step  150  wherein the fabric attachment  50  is formed by rolling a towel. For example, the arm or leg shape  50  ( FIGS. 1-5 ) or the neck and head shape  92  is formed using a rolling technique by hand or machine. 
   The method  100  may further comprise a folding step  160  wherein the fabric attachment  50  is formed by folding a towel. For example, the ear  55  ( FIGS. 3-5 ) of the collectible  10  is formed using a folding technique by hand or machine. 
   The method  100  may further comprise an embroidering step  170  wherein the embroidered animal feature  80  is embroidered by hand or machine into the fabric surface layer  40 . 
   The method  100  may further comprise a sewing step  180  wherein the sewn-in animal feature  70  is sewn by hand or machine into the fabric surface layer  40 . 
   The method  100  may further comprise an inserting step  190  wherein a plastic support piece  94  is inserted by hand or machine inside the collectible  10 . 
   Due to the inexpensive materials and manufacturing methods of the present invention, the collectible  10  of the present invention may be adapted for mass production according to the method  100  of the present invention. The mass production may be by hand or machine. The present inventor has found that the collectible  10  made according to the method  100  of the present invention may be sold for a significant profit per unit. 
   It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the sole embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims.