Abstract:
The present invention is a hand-manipulated puppet of the type simulating an animal that is manipulated by placement of the hand and forearm into a cavity. The body is cast of a first flexible polymeric foam and the legs of the puppet made a denser flexible polymeric foam so that the puppeteer can rest the forearm on the legs without crushing the legs yet leave a body that is flexible and manipulates easily.

Description:
COPYRIGHT NOTICE 
       [0001]    A portion of the disclosure of this patent contains material that is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to hand manipulated puppets. In particular the present invention relates to an improved puppet construction which can easily be mass produced and minimizes had fatigue of the puppeteer. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Puppets that simulate an animal or other living being where the puppeteer must inset the hand and forearm into the puppet to manipulate the puppet are known in the art. The movement of the puppet is caused by the corresponding movements of the puppeteer&#39;s hand and forearm. For example puppets in U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,896 issued Jun. 18, 1957, U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,142 issued on Jan. 13, 1981 to Crawford and U.S. Pat. No. 5,080,626 issued Jan. 14, 1992 to the present inventor Maddi. 
         [0006]    It is well known that use of puppets with the forearm can have problems due to fatigue of the forearm if there is no support or structural features to support the weight of the forearm in its construction. Only the Maddi patent describes a particular means of coping with the fatigue issue. 
         [0007]    In Maddi, a foam puppet is made of a single type of foam and inserted into the puppet during manufacture is an arm supporting device which includes a circular portion in the puppet body cavity and arms forming a U shape with the circular portion which extend into the puppet&#39;s legs to give both a resting means for the forearm and support in the legs. While this approach substantially addresses the fatigue issue, construction of this type of puppet is relatively expensive and dos not lend itself easily if at all to mass production. The puppet must be molded in halves and then the support device hand placed in between the two halves because the support device is usually a stiffer material of different plastic or material from the puppet and be located on the inside of the puppet. 
         [0008]    It would be extremely useful for this type of puppet to have an alternate means of constructing such a puppet which deals with the fatigue issue of the user but is easier to fabricate in a mass produced system of construction. Such a construction will contribute to more effective animation of the puppet and make the product more available to those who desire such a puppet. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the present state of the art of constructing a hand/forearm puppet. In particular, the invention uses foam of a single density for the body of the puppet and a similar or like foam of a different higher density for the legs of the puppet. In addition by attaching the legs to the body using the similar foam and attaching them to the side and no underneath the legs when molded to the body do not tend to separate from the body or crack or separate as would be the case for under the body placement of the legs. 
         [0010]    One particular embodiment of the present invention is a hand-manipulated puppet of the type simulating an animal having a body with left and right sides and at least two spaced apart legs wherein the puppet is manipulated by placement of the hand and forearm into a cavity of the puppet comprising a body, cast of a first flexible polymeric foam of a selected density and the spaced apart legs cast of a second flexible polymeric foam wherein at least one leg is attached to the body left side and at least one leg is attached to the body right side and wherein the second flexible polymeric foam has a density higher than the first flexible polymeric foam. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the puppet body of the invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a leg of the puppet of the invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  shows the complete puppet of the invention with legs attached. 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  shows the placement of the hand and forearm and how the present invention allows the forearm to use the puppet construction to rest. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    The present invention relates to the construction of a hand manipulated puppet of the type that uses the hand and forearm to manipulate the puppet. In general by manufacturing the body of a first polymeric foam having a selected density and then manufacturing the legs of a second polymeric foam of a higher density and mounting at least two legs on either side of the body, the higher density of the legs can act to provide support of the forearm as it rests against the bottom portion of the cavity in the puppet. 
         [0016]    While this invention is susceptible of embodiment in many different forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail specific embodiments, with the understanding that the present disclosure of such embodiments is to be considered as an example of the principles and not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments shown and described. In the description below, like reference numerals are used to describe the same, similar or corresponding parts in the several views of the drawings. This detailed description defines the meaning of the terms used herein and specifically describes embodiments in order for those skilled in the art to practice the invention. 
         [0017]    The terms “a” or “an”, as used herein, are defined as one as or more than one. The term “plurality”, as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term “another”, as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having”, as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled”, as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. 
         [0018]    Reference throughout this document to “one embodiment”, “certain embodiments”, “and an embodiment” or similar terms means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of such phrases or in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments without limitation. 
         [0019]    The term “or” as used herein is to be interpreted as an inclusive or meaning any one or any combination. Therefore, “A, B or C” means “any of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B and C”. An exception to this definition will occur only when a combination of elements, functions, steps or acts are in some way inherently mutually exclusive. 
         [0020]    A hand-manipulated puppet of the type contemplated by the present invention is the type of puppet which simulates an animal. Typical animals can have two spaced apart legs or 4 spaced apart legs. The present invention contemplates both but at least two spaced apart legs represent the legs that would support the weight of a forearm during use of the puppet. These as used herein are the left and right weight bearing spaced apart legs of the invention. The type of puppet contemplated is one where the hand and forearm are inserted into a cavity of the puppet during use. The hand would manipulate the mouth and the forearm would manipulate the body and from time to time rest its weight over the left and right weight bearing spaced apart legs of the puppet. In one embodiment of the present invention the animal is a dinosaur which while it may have 4 legs typical walks on just two legs. The two walking legs are the intended weight bearing legs. Similarly other animals would have two legs designated as weight bearing so where there are 4 legged animals the rear legs in one embodiment would be the weight bearing legs. 
         [0021]    As used herein the term “body” refers to the entire puppet except for the left and right weight bearing legs. The body is made of a cast polymer foam of the flexible type. These are usually foams that have a percentage of flexibility agents introduced to product a flexible polymer. In one embodiment the flexible polymer foam is a flexible polyurethane foam. As an example, commercially available flexible poly urethane foams are available from Smooth-On products in the United States. The products are manufactured from a 4,4 Methylene bis(phenylisocyannate) type urethane foam and is mixed from two different formulations to give cast densities of between 3 lb/ft 3  to 25 lb/ft 3 . The art of casting with polymeric foams such as urethane foams is well know and both the body production, leg production and the attachment to each other is well known in the art. 
         [0022]    The density of the given polymer relates to its flexibility of the puppet. The body and especially the mouth of the puppet are manipulated for the effect. The choice of polymer is such that the body is made of a first flexible polymeric foam. In the example above in one embodiment the selected polymeric foam would be in the about 10 lb/ft3 or less density to give the right flexibility. In another embodiment the density is from about 5 lb/ft3 or less. 
         [0023]    The supporting legs of the present invention are made of a cast second flexible polymeric foam that is of a higher density than the first flexible polymeric foam. The second can be the same or different foam but in one embodiment the foam is a flexible polyurethane foam. In another embodiment the second foam has a cast density of from about 10 lb/ft 3  and above. 
         [0024]    Where the puppet is made of separate foams the legs are attached to the side of the puppet rather than underneath. This gives the supporting legs the extra strength to keep from separating splitting or the like from the body as would be the cast for attachment underneath the body of the puppet. This concept can be clearly seen from the appended figures. In one embodiment the legs are attached to the body at about the level of the internal cavity or higher. 
         [0025]    Now referring to the drawings, Figure one is a perspective view of the three dimensional body  2  of the puppet  1 . In this embodiment the animal is a dinosaur, which characteristically has a short neck  12  and walks on hind legs. The front legs  13  are not weight bearing legs. This  FIG. 1  does not show the hind weight bearing legs of the animal puppet. Side leg attachment knob  15  is shown and is one means of aligning and indicating where leg attachment can occur. In this embodiment attachment knob  15  is a circular raised area which is designed to match a like depression in the mounting area of the leg to be attached. Attachment area  16  surrounding the attachment knob  15  is a smooth area designed to facilitate attachment of the leg. The body in this embodiment is cast from FlexFoam-it X having a 10 lb/ft 3  cast density however other densities as taught herein could be used when selecting the first flexible polymeric foam. 
         [0026]      FIG. 2  is a perspective of a three dimensional left supporting leg  20  of the present invention. Shown is leg attachment depression  25  which matches the attachment knob  15  of the body  2 . The leg attachment area  26  is a smooth area which matches the attachment area  16  of the body  2 . In one embodiment the leg is made from FlexFoam-iT!  25  having a cast density of 25 lb/ft 3 . In this particular embodiment then the leg is cast of a foam of a higher density than in the case of the body  2  from Figure one. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3  is a perspective of the puppet of the present invention. All the previous corresponding parts are the same with the addition of right leg  21  and the legs  20  and  21  have been attached to the body  2  as directed above to form a complete hand/forearm puppet of the present invention. 
         [0028]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the puppet with a puppeteer&#39;s arm  40  and hand  41  inserted in puppet cavity  42 . As can be seen in this view in light of the previous drawings, the attachment knob  15  is positioned about where the cavity  42  is. Thus when the forearm  40  rests and puts downward pressure on the inside of cavity  42  the legs  20  and  21  will provide support for resting the forearm  40 .