The present invention relates to a child's toy which has a plurality of uses.

A parent with a new baby or infant is often laden down with many different items and products when making even the shortest of trips or excursions. These items include baby toys, cleaning equipment and often also cold weather garments depending on the season.

The present invention seeks to relieve some of this burden.

According to a the present invention, there is provided a child's toy comprising a head portion, a foldable body portion attached to the head portion, and at least one fastener for releasably retaining the body portion in its folded condition, the head portion including at least one facial feature, and the body portion when folded providing a muff with opposing side openings for hands insertion, and when unfolded presenting a pliantly flexible plastics changing mat element on one major surface and a pliantly flexible play mat element on the opposite major surface, the play mat element including at least one play element for a child to interact with.

Preferable and/or optional features of the invention are set forth in claims 2 to 20, inclusive.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Figure 1 shows a front view of one embodiment of a bear-like child's toy, in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a side view of the bear- like child's toy;

Figure 3 shows a body portion of the child's toy unfolded to present a major surface having a play mat element; and Figure 4 shows the other major surface of the unfolded body portion presenting a changing mat element. Referring to the drawings, there is shown an embodiment of a child's toy 10 which, in this case, represents a soft cuddly bear. However, any animal, human or alien form may be represented.

The child's toy 10 comprises a head portion 12, body portion 14, two arm members 16 and two leg members 18. The head portion 12 includes one or more facial features 20 and/or expressions, and in this case has two eyes 22, a nose 24, a mouth 26 and two ears 28. The head portion 12 is formed from pliantly flexible material, such as a natural or synthetic fabric, which is stitched and stuffed to produce a soft padded generally rounded head. The body portion 14 is formed a pliantly flexible sheet of material having at least first and second overlying layers 30, 32 superposed on each other and connected via a stitched seam at the perimeter edge 34. The first layer 30 is preferably formed of a natural or synthetic fabric, and the second layer 32 is preferably formed of a plastics material which can be wiped clean. The first and second layers 30, 32 are substantially square having perimeter sides of substantially equal lengths. The first layer 30 can be considered as being a three by three grid of nine equal square segments 36, for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter.

The first layer 30 presents a first major surface 38 and includes at least one play element 40 attached thereto for occupying a small child. A plurality of play elements can be provided, and preferably each play element occupies no more than one of the said segments 36 of the first layer 30, thereby allowing simplified folding as will be described hereinafter. The play element 40 may include at least one reflective element, rattle, ring, bell, tactile material, ribbon, button and/or picture to interest a child. The first layer 30 thus presents a play mat element 42 when placed face up. The second layer 32, due to the use of a wipe-clean plastics material, presents a changing mat element 44 on a second major surface 46 opposite the first major surface 38. The plastics material is non-permeable to prevent or limit seepage of faecal matter and urine. The head portion 12 is, typically permanently attached, for example via stitching, at its base midway along one of the perimeter edges 34 of the unfolded body portion 14.

The arm members 16 are elongate generally tubular pocket elements, preferably formed from natural or synthetic fabric and in this case similar to the head portion 12. Each arm member 16 is stuffed with wading and stitched to close the arm member 16 at its proximal end 48. The proximal end 48 is connected to the outer surface 50 of the first layer 30 of the body portion 14 approximately one third of the way inwards from the side perimeter edge 52 of the first layer 30 and so that the arm member 16 faces laterally and substantially perpendicularly away from the sagittal plane bisecting the head portion 12. The arm member 16 can thus hinge about the connection at the proximal end 48. The arm member 16 is also positioned adjacent the top perimeter edge 54 of the unfolded body portion 14 so that the lateral extent of the arm member 16 is substantially parallel with the sagittal plane. The longitudinal extents of the arm members 16 are substantially coaxial, and the arm members 16 extend in opposite directions relative to each other so as to lie across respective uppermost and outermost segments 56.

The leg members 18 are similar in construction to the arm members 16, being elongate and generally tubular pockets. The proximal ends 58 are stitched closed to prevent the wading escaping, and are attached at a top edge of the central segment 60 of the first layer 30 of the body portion 14. The leg members 18 thus hinge about the connection at the proximal ends 58. A longitudinal extent of each leg member 18 extends substantially in parallel with the sagittal plane, and the leg members 18 are positioned generally symmetrically about the sagittal plane. The leg members 18 thus lie downwards across the central segment 60 or upwards towards the head portion 14. The arm members 16 and the leg members 18, with the body portion 14 unfolded and arranged so that the first layer 30 faces upwards, are adapted to become further play elements of the play mat element 42.

At least one fastener 62 is also provided, and in this case, two said fasteners 62 are included. Each fastener 62 has a button 64 and a loop 66. In this embodiment, each loop 66 is provided on opposite sides of the head portion 12 so as to project from the top perimeter edge 54 of the unfolded body portion 14, and the respective buttons 64 are provided at or adjacent to the bottom corners of the central segment 60 on the first layer 30 of the unfolded body portion 14.

To fold the body portion 14, thereby creating the torso 68 of the child's toy 10, the changing mat element 44 is positioned facing up. The changing mat element 44 is folded in on its self in thirds along fold lines which are parallel with the sagittal plane, so that an outer first third 70 overlies a central third 72 of the body portion 14, and an outer second third 74 overlies the first third 70.

The partially folded body portion 14 is then folded again in thirds in a rolling manner from the bottom segments 76 up to the top segments 78 adjacent the head portion 12. In this way, the central segment 60 of the body portion 14 is presented on the front outer surface 80 of the toy's torso 68 or stomach. The body portion 14 is held in its folded condition by the fastener or fasteners 62 being engaged.

Due to the rolling up of the body portion 14, a muff 82 is formed which, when cold, allows a child's hands to be inserted laterally into the body portion 14 and through natural openings 84 between the folds. To promote this, any play elements on the said second third 74 of the folded body portion 14 are preferably of a comfortable fabric so as not to impede or agitate a child's hands when inserted into and withdrawn from the muff 82. Although the fastener is a button and loop, other types of fastener can be considered, such as press stud or hook and loop.

The unfolded body portion is preferably square, but other shapes can be envisaged and may be feasible, such as rectangular.

The arm members and/or leg members may be dispensed with, for example, if the toy is shaped to represent an alien.

Although recycled material is conveniently made use of, other materials can be used. Fabric is preferred for the head portion and the play mat element, but other materials such as woven or non-woven materials or even plastics can be considered. It is thus possible to provide a child's toy with a plurality of additional functions, including changing mat, play mat and muff. The changing mat, play mat and muff are all provided by a foldable body portion of the toy.

The embodiments described above are provided by way of examples only, and various other modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.