A doll and a system

Abstract

The invention relates to a doll with a first shapable opening that leads to a first inner hollow. The shapable first opening can be shaped in such a way that the largest cross section area of the shapable first opening is varied between two sizes, wherein the largest cross section area as a minimum is 0.2 cm2, preferably 0.5 cm2, and more preferred 1 cm2.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a doll comprising a first opening and a second opening, which first opening leads to a first inner hollow, which first opening can be shaped in such a way that the cross section area of the first opening is varied between two sizes, where the largest cross section area as a minimum is at least 0.2 cm 2< , preferably 0.5 cm 2< , and most preferably 1 cm 2< , and which second opening is also shapable and has a maximum cross section area that is larger than the largest area of the first opening.

[0002] When children, especially infants - lie alone, they are often insecure and afraid, and experience through generations has shown that something to suck on can reduce anxiety and nervousness. Experience has also shown that holding something has a calming effect too. By providing the doll with an inner hollow and an opening thereto it is achieved that the doll can be provided with or coupled to a toy in two parts, as the one part of the two-part item / toy is anchored to the hollow of the doll, while, at the same time, the other part of the two-part item / toy is exposed towards the child by protruding through the opening. The two-part item can e.g. be a small battery powered bulb that comprises a fastening part in the form of a button-like part that can be inserted into the hollow and thereby fasten the bulb that is exposed towards the child and its surroundings by protruding from the opening. The two-part item may also be a pacifier, wherein the hard part of the pacifier is inserted into the hollow, whereafter the soft part of the pacifier is lead out through the opening so that it can be exposed towards the child in such a way that it can function as intended as a pacifier.

[0003] Experience has shown too that heat also has a calming effect.

[0004] It is an object of the invention to relieve children's anxiety and insecurity.

[0005] It is another object to devise an alternative solution.

[0006] According to an embodiment, the invention relates to a doll, wherein the circumference of the first opening is essentially unchanged when the variation between the two sizes takes place as the area of the first opening is preferably varied by deformation of the hole itself, but without changing the circumference of the hole. In this embodiment, the opening is provided in such a way that the sides can be pulled away from each other by elastic / plastic deformation of the sides of the hole itself, and typically, this is achieved by designing the hole in the same way as is normal for e.g. buttonholes in a shirt, where the holes are provided as a slit, the sides of which can be pulled apart without significantly changing the circumference of the slit.

[0007] This is a well-known technique that provides a very strong opening.

[0008] In an embodiment, the doll is novel in that the variation between the two sizes takes place by a preferably elastic deformation in which the circumference of the hole itself is changed. In this embodiment, the opening is provided e.g. by one or more elastic bands that are sewn into the rim of the opening - as it is e.g. the case in underwear or in stockings. The advantage of this is that it is possible to provide an opening with soft sides that provides an even pressure around the item that penetrates the opening. Furthermore, this is also a well-known and economical technical way to provide a flexible opening in fabric.

[0009] In an embodiment the doll is novel in that the first inner hollow and the shapeable first opening are mutually adapted in such a way that the first inner hollow can take up a conventional baby-pacifier with a solid body and a flexible sucking part, which shapeable (flexible) first opening is adapted to the first inner hollow in such a way that a solid body of a conventional baby-pacifier can be inside the first inner hollow, while the flexible (soft) sucking part of the baby-pacifier protrudes through the shapeable first opening.

[0010] In this way, it is possible to provide the soft doll with a conventional pacifier, wherein the pacifier itself sits in such a way that the child can suck on it, while the hard / solid part of the pacifier is fixed in the doll. This is comforting, and at the same time this embodiment of the doll also ensures that the doll can retain a pacifier so that it is not lost for the child.

[0011] In an embodiment the doll comprises at least an open pocket with a slit that will lead into the pocket. This slit defines the first opening. The pocket is like an ordinary pocket with an opening through which items can be inserted into the pocket. The doll can comprise more pockets, and if the doll is provided as a hand or comprises a hand, this hand can be hollow, and pockets can be provided outside the fingers or on one, on more, or on all the fingers of the hand. A hand with one or more fingers is a recognizable object and it can therefore enhance the well-being of the child.

[0012] In an embodiment the doll is made of fabric and the edge around the shapable first opening is provided as reinforced. This is a totally conventional and well-tried technique and hence easy and economical to perform.

[0013] In an embodiment the doll is novel in that the doll is shaped as a hollow hand. A hand is a very strongly comforting object and can therefore enhance the well-being of a child.

[0014] In an embodiment the doll is novel in that the doll comprises a second inner hollow, and that the doll comprises a further opening that leads to the second inner hollow, said further opening being shaped in such a way that it is possible to insert a heating element in the doll, e.g. in the form of: a pouch with water, a pouch with rice, a pouch with heating gel in the form of sodium acetate, or similar, so as to heat the doll.

[0015] In an embodiment the doll is novel in that the doll is made of fabric, leather, artificial leather or any other suitable material, and, advantageously, it can be made as a unit with a water repellent surface, and the doll can be provided with an inner hollow that can be filled with a heating material, such as e.g. a gel, and the resealable hollow can be resealable due to the fact that the opening thereto comprises e.g. a Velcro closure or a zipper.

[0016] Other embodiments are described in the dependent claims.

[0017] An embodiment of the invention will now be described referring to the figures, in which Fig. 1 shows a doll shaped as a glove; Fig. 2 shows the thumb of a glove with a pouch; Fig. 3 shows the thumb of a glove with a pouch and a pacifier; Fig. 4 shows a glove in which an item can be inserted into the glove through an opening at the wrist part of the glove; Fig. 5 shows a wrist part of a glove provided with a zipper.

[0018] In Fig. 1, a doll 1 is shown. The doll, which in this embodiment is designed as a hand (but it does not need to be a hand), is provided with a pouch 2 that in the embodiment shown is located on the edge part of a finger.

[0019] This pouch is provided with an opening 4 that leads into the inner part of the pouch, and the pouch is also provided with a slit / opening 3 that also leads into the inner part of the pouch. In other parts of this application, the slit 3 also defines the first opening 3, and the opening 4 that resembles a quite ordinary opening into a pouch also defines, in this application, the other opening 4. The slit 3 and the opening 4 are preferably mutually adapted in such a way that an item that has entered into the pouch 2 via the opening 4 cannot necessarily exit through the opening / slit3.

[0020] In Fig. 2 a pouch 2 and the openings 3 and 4 are shown in greater detail. In this figure, it can be seen that the opening 4 can be provided with a reinforcing stitching 4a, and even though the reinforcement 4a is only on one side of the opening 4, the hole 4 can be provided with reinforcement that surrounds the entire opening, Obviously, openings / slits as the one shown with the reference numeral 3 can also be provided with reinforcements (and, advantageously, they can be provided in the same way as the reinforcements that are known from e.g. button holes in shirts), but the openings / slits 3 are not shown with reinforcements in the figures in this application.

[0021] Returning to Fig. 1, the functions of the pouch 2 with the openings 4 and 3 will be explained. The idea of the invention is that the pouch is able to be provided with items such as e.g. a conventional pacifier, where the pacifier is inserted into the pouch via the opening 4 and is placed therein in such a way that the hard part of the pacifier is located in the pouch, while the soft part of the pacifier protrudes through the opening / slit 3. The circumference of the opening 3 itself is generally unchanged when something is to be inserted therethrough, and the slit is "self closing", as the sides of the opening, generally, are pulled apart without being deformed by stretching. Of course, the doll can also be made of an elastic material in such a way that the opening / slit 3 can be expanded like a round elastic band (or an elastic O-ring) that is pulled to a larger diameter.

[0022] In Fig. 3, the soft part 10 of a pacifier is shown protruding from the opening 3. In the shown embodiment, the opening 3 is not provided with reinforcements, but it may in other embodiments. The finger that is provided with a pouch is the thumb in the figures, but any of the other fingers (or all of the other fingers) can, according to the invention, also be provided with pouches, and, similarly, other areas than the fingers can be provided with pouches. Preferably, the pouch 2 with the openings 3 and 4 are made in such a way that the inner hollow via the opening 4 can take up a conventional baby-pacifier in such a way that the solid body of the pacifier is located in the pouch 2, while the flexible sucking part 10 of the baby-pacifier, protrudes through the shapable first opening.

[0023] In Fig. 4 is shown how the doll can be provided as a hollow hand (a glove), wherein the opening 21 at the wrist part of the glove is made in such a way that an item 20 can be inserted into the hollow of the doll. In this application, this hollow is also referred to as the second hollow of the doll and it will under normal circumstances be separate from the first hollow of the pouch.

[0024] The object of inserting something into the second hollow of the glove can be to provide heating or cooling to the doll, as the item 20 can be heated or cooled.

[0025] In Fig. 5 is shown how the opening 21 can be provided with a resealable closing means such as a zipper 22, but, off course, this effect can also be obtained in other obvious ways for persons skilled in the art, including the use of Velcro.

[0026] In the description and in the figures, a doll in the form of a glove is often referred to, it is, however, not a requirement that the doll is made as a glove, it can also be provided as a tube-like item, or it may have different shapes with a pouch as stated in the claims.

Claims

1. A doll comprising a first opening 3 and a second opening 4, which first opening leads to a first inner hollow, which first opening 3 can be shaped in such a way that the cross section area of the first opening is varied between two sizes, wherein the largest cross section area as a minimum is 0.2 cm2, preferably 0.5 cm2, and more preferably 1 cm2, and which second opening 4 is also shapable and has a maximum cross section area that is larger than the largest area of the first opening.

2. A doll according to claim 1, characterized in that the circumference of the first opening 3 remains generally unchanged while the area is varied, as the variation between the two sizes preferably takes place without the material being pulled to elastic deformation.

3. A doll according to claim 1, characterized in that the variation between the two sizes of the first opening 3 preferably takes place by elastic deformation in the same way that an elastic band or an O-ring is pulled to a larger diameter.

4. A doll according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the doll comprises a pouch-like part 2 with a first shapable opening 3 and a second opening 4, which inner part of the pouch-like part in this way defines a first inner hollow, which pouch-like part and the openings 3 and 4 thereof are mutually adapted in such a way that a conventional baby-pacifier with a soft sucking part and a solid body can be inserted into the inner hollow via the second opening 4 and subsequently have its solid body fixed here while the flexible sucking part of the baby-pacifier protrudes through the first shapable opening 3.

5. A doll according to any of claims 1-3, characterized in that the doll is made of fabric, and that the edge around the shapable first opening is provided as reinforced.

6. A doll according to any of claims 1-4, characterized in that the doll is shaped as a hand.

7. A doll according to any of claims 1-5, characterized in that the doll is shaped as a hand with at least one finger.

8. A doll according to any of claims 1-,6 characterized in that the doll is shaped like a hand with at least one finger, and that the first inner hollow and the shapable first opening are provided on the finger.

9. A doll according to any of claims 1-7, characterized in that the doll comprises a second inner hollow, and that the doll comprises a further opening that leads to the second inner hollow, which further opening is shaped in such a way that a heating element can be inserted into the doll, e.g. in the form of: a pouch with water, a pouch with rice, a pouch with heating gel in the form of sodium acetate or similar and thereby heat the doll.

10. A doll according to any of claims 1-8, characterized in that the further opening is provided in such a way that it is resealable e.g. by comprising Velcro or a zipper.

11. A doll according to any of claims 1-9, characterized in that the first inner hollow is made by means of a pouch-like part with a shapable hole 3 and a pouch opening 4 that is fastened to the exterior of the doll, which shapable hole defines the first opening 3 of the doll, and which pouch opening defines the second opening 4 of the doll, where the first opening 3 and the second opening 4 are adapted in such a way that the pouch-like part 2 via the second opening 4 can be filled with larger items than those that can enter through the first opening 3, which is preferably provided as a longitudinal slit.

12. A doll according to any of claims 1-10, characterized in that the doll is made of fabric.

13. A system comprising a doll according to any of claims 1-12 and a baby-accessory that is adapted to the doll, characterized in that the first inner hollow of the doll is made by means of a pouch-like part with a shapable hole 3 and a pouch opening 4 that is fastened to the exterior of the doll, which shapable hole defines the first opening 3 of the doll, and which pouch opening 4 defines the second opening 4 of the doll, where the first opening 3 and the second opening 4 are adapted in such a way that the pouch-like part 2 via the second opening 4 can be filled with larger items than those that can enter through the first opening 3, which is preferably provided as a longitudinal slit, wherein the pouch-like part and the openings 3 and 4 thereof are mutually adapted to the baby-accessory in such a way that the baby-accessory can only be inserted into the inner hollow via the second opening (4) and be fixed in the inner hollow, while a part of the baby accessory protrudes through the first shapable opening 3.

14. A system according to claim 13, characterized in that the doll is provided as a hand with fingers, and that the doll comprises at least a pouch-like part that is provided on at least one of the fingers of the doll.

15. A system according to claims 13-14, characterized in that the doll is provided as a hand, and the hand comprises 5 fingers that each comprises a pouch-like part.

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