Background of the Invention Fashion dolls are a well known and pervasive type of doll product. While such dolls have been subject to such substantial variation, most if not all generally are configured to resemble a male or female human and include a plurality of molded plastic components which are joined to form the completed doll. In most instances, the doll includes a body having a neck and shoulders as well as a torso and lower body formed thereon. A head is secured to the neck while a pair of arms are secured to the torso shoulders to provide articulated attachment.

Similarly, a pair of legs are joined to the lower body to provide movable or articulated legs. In most such dolls, the arms and legs are formed to provide elbow and knee joints respectively resulting in arms and legs which are movable upon the body and which are bendable at their respective elbow and knee joints.

In addition, in most fashion dolls, the head is movably supported upon the neck in an attachment which facilitates turning of the head from side to side and

in some instances tilting front to back. As a result, the typical fashion doll is capable of being configured or posed to provide various postures which include standing, sitting, lying prone, or other similar postures. Often, such fashion dolls are provided with a variety of accessories which require this posability. Examples of such accessories have included playhouses, cars and business or office environments of different types. Despite the long lasting and ever growing popularity of such fashion dolls, they are subject to a vexing set of problems which arise in connection with the fabrication of the dolls themselves. The typical fashion doll fabrication necessitates a multiplicity of parts often relatively small and difficult to handle and assemble quickly. In addition, the costs of fabrication and assembly due to such a multiplicity of parts is often excessive. In the face of such problems and the desire to efficiently and economically manufacture such high popularity dolls, practitioners in the art have endeavored to provide improved fabrications for such dolls. For example, U. S. Patent 3,921,332 issued to Terzian, et al. sets forth an ARTICULATED TOY FIGURE TOY having a torso defining shoulder and hip sockets which receive respective ball ends of arms and legs to provide pivotal attachment. The arms and legs are mutually secured to the torso and hip by resilient members interconnected between the arm and leg pairs.

U. S. Patent 3,942,284 issued to Kublan sets forth a DOLL WITH SEVEN SPHERICAL TORSO JOINTS AND FIVE APPENDAGES HELD BY THREE SECURED ELASTIC MEMBERS in which a head, upper and lower torso sections, a pair of arms and a pair of legs are mutually coupled to

form a doll. A trio of elastic members are secured between the arms, lower torso and head, and legs to maintain the assembly of the figure.

U. S. Patent 3,634,966 issued to Ostrander sets forth a JOINTED DOLL having a pair of arms and a pair of legs joined to a torso. The torso includes an upper torso and lower torso joined by a ball and socket joint. Elastic members are coupled between the arms and between the upper torso and the legs to maintain the assembly of the jointed doll.

U. S. Patent 3,862,513 issued to Isaacson, et al. sets forth an ARTICULATED TOY FIGURE having a torso rotatable in the waist area about a vertical axis and spring-biased toward a forward orientation. A spring- biased arm is rotatably mounted with respect to the torso to enable the arm and torso to be moved in one direction and thereafter released to effect a quick full body movement.

U. S. Patent 1,597,600 issued to Callus sets forth a DOLL having a torso supporting a pair of legs joined by a stretched spring coupled between the legs and extending through the doll torso. U. S. Patents 1,359,030 and 1,128,385 both issued to Cabana set forth ball and socket fabrications of dolls.

U. S. Patent 3,273,283 issued to Wolf sets forth an ARTICULATED HEAD AND LIMBS FOR DOLLS AND TOY ANIMALS having a torso supporting a pair of pivotally secured arms and a pivotally secured head all mutually joined by a common elastic member extending through the torso.

U. S. Patent 3,988,855 issued to Crabtree, et al. sets forth a POSABLE FIGURE HAVING ONE PIECE CONNECTOR FOR TORSO TRUNK AND LEGS including a stretchable inner connector which extends into the legs of the toy figure and is interconnected to a trunk portion and torso to maintain the assembled position of the toy figure.

U. S. Patent 4,696,656 issued to Torres, et al. sets forth a RECONFIGURABLE TOY which may be used to selectively simulate a robotic humanoid figure and a rock configuration.

U. S. Patent 3,940,880 issued to Kaelin, et al. sets forth DOLL JOINT STRUCTURES having a torso and body defining a pair of shoulders sockets and a pair of hip sockets. A pair of ball attachments are received within each of the sockets and secured therein by respective snap-fit fasteners.

U. S. Patents 1,356,405 issued to Schoen and 1,551,852 issued to Schwarte and 2,611,998 issued to Senior, et al. and 2,766,849 issued to Rudiger set forth early examples of doll fabrication in which arms and/or legs are movably joined to a torso or body using a stretched resilient member extending through the torso or body.

While the foregoing described prior art devices have improved the art and in some instances enjoyed commercial success, there remains nonetheless a continuing need in the art for evermore improved

fabrications for dolls such as fashion dolls or the like.

Summary of the Invention Accordingly, it is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved doll fabrication. It is a more particular object of the present invention to provide an improved doll fabrication which is well suited to the manufacture of dolls such as fashion dolls having small component parts and being difficult or costly to manufacture.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a doll comprising: an upper torso having a neck defining a neck recess, a pair of arm sockets and a waist portion defining a downwardly open waist recess; a lower torso defining opposed hip surfaces and an upwardly extending waist pedestal having an upwardly extending post; a waist connector secured to the upper torso within the waist recess, the waist connector constructed to engage the post to join the upper and lower torsos; a head defining an interior head cavity; a head connector receivable into the head cavity and secured to the head and having a ball; a neck connector secured within the neck recess and having a clasp constructed to engage the ball to join the head to the neck; a pair of legs having means for attaching the legs to the lower torso; and a pair of arms having means for attaching the arms to the upper torso.

Brief Description of the Drawings The features of the present invention, which are believed to be novel, are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention, together with further objects and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in the several figures of which like reference numerals identify like elements and in which: Figure 1 sets forth a perspective view of a doll fabrication constructed in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 sets forth a partially sectioned front view of the present invention doll fabrication; Figure 3 sets forth an enlarged partial section side view of the head and neck attachment of the present invention doll fabrication; Figure 4 sets forth an enlarged partial section front view of the head and neck portion of the present invention doll fabrication; and Figure 5 sets forth a perspective assembly view of the present invention doll fabrication.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment Figure 1 sets forth a partial front perspective view of a doll constructed in accordance with the

present invention and generally referenced by numeral 10. Doll 10 includes a body 11 formed of an upper torso 12 and a lower torso 20. A pair of legs 17 and 18 are joined to lower torso 20 in the manner described below. A pair of leg pads 30 and 32 are interposed between leg 17 and torso 20 and between leg 18 and torso 20 respectively. Lower torso 20 further defines an upwardly extending generally cylindrical waist pedestal 21. By means set forth below in greater detail, upper torso 12 is assembled to and supported upon waist pedestal 21. A waist pad 25 is interposed between upper torso 12 and waist pedestal 21. Upper torso 12 includes an upwardly extending neck 14 supporting a head 13 in an attachment set forth below in greater detail. Head 13 defines an aperture 35 upon which a shaft head 92 is secured. A pair of arms 15 and 16 are secured to upper torso 12 at a pair of shoulder joints 50 and 60 respectively.

Shoulder joints 50 and 60 are set forth below in Figure 2 in greater detail. However, suffice it to note here that shoulder joint 50 includes a ball end 54 formed on arm 15 and an arm pad 51 interfacing ball 54 to upper torso 12. Similarly, shoulder joint 60 includes a ball end 64 formed on arm 16 and arm pad 61 (seen in Figure 2). In the preferred fabrication of the present invention, upper torso 12, head 13, arms 15 and 16, lower torso 20 and legs 17 and 18 are fabricated of a relatively rigid material such as molded plastic material or the like. In further accordance with the preferred fabrication of the present invention, leg pads 30 and 32, waist pad 25 and arm pads 51 and 61 are formed of a relatively soft cushioning material such as felt material or the like.

Alternatively, a self-lubricating material such as

nylon or the like may be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. It will be noted that legs 17 and 18 as well as arms 15 and 16 and head 13 are shown in a relatively featureless shape. The provision of such body members in their relatively unfeatured appearance is provided for purposes of illustration only and it will be contemplated that in a finished doll to be manufactured and sold features characteristic of fashion dolls will be provided upon doll 10. Thus, for example, in a completed fashion doll, head 13 would be molded to form a typical human-like head having facial features and hair and so on. Similarly, arms 15 and 16 as well as legs 17 and 18 would be preferably formed to provide a more life-like or human-like shape and contour. Similarly, upper torso 12 and lower torso 20 would enjoy additional shaping and sculpting to define more human-like shape and contour in a production doll. However, it is believed the use of relatively simple unfeatured elements for body 11 facilitate a clearer understanding and depiction of the novel fabrication which forms the substance of the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention and in the manner set forth below in greater detail, doll 10 once assembled provides a pivotally supported head 13, pivotally supported arms 15 and 16 as well as pivotally movable legs 17 and 18. In addition by means also set forth below, upper torso 12 is pivotable about a vertical axis upon waist pedestal 21 of lower torso 20 to depict a twisting or side-to-side torsional movement characteristic of human activity.

The pivotal movement of upper torso 12 upon lower

torso 20 is limited to a predetermined and realistic degree of motion by the cooperation of heads 72 and 74 of fasteners 71 and 73 together with ribs 41 and 42 of lower torso 20 (all elements better seen in Figure 5).

Suffice it to note here that upper torso 12 is pivotally movable with respect to lower torso 20 through a predetermined range of twisting motion. In accordance with an important aspect of the present invention, it will be noted that while a plurality of fasteners are used to secure components together forming body 11, none of these fasteners are visible from the exterior of body 11. This is a highly desirable characteristic in such fashion dolls. It will also be noted that while the present invention fabrication is particularly advantageous when applied to a relatively small fashion doll, the present invention may be practiced upon larger dolls without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

Figure 2 sets forth a partial section front view of doll 10. As described above, doll 10 includes an upper torso 12 supported upon a lower torso 20. As is also described above, a pair of legs 17 and 18 are secured to lower torso 20 while a pair of arms 15 and 16 are secured to upper torso 20 at a corresponding pair of shoulder joints 50 and 60. Upper torso 12 also defines an upwardly extending neck 14 which in turn supports a head 13.

More specifically, lower torso 20 defines a pair of side surfaces 43 and 44 having apertures 40 and 48 respectively formed therein. A pair of leg pads 30 and 32 having apertures 31 and 33 formed therein are

positioned against surfaces 43 and 44. Leg 17 is positioned against leg pad 30 and includes an inwardly extending eyelet 37 having a slot 45 formed therein.

Similarly, leg 18 is positioned against leg pad 32 and includes an inwardly extending eyelet 38 having a slot 46 formed therein. A resilient ring 36 formed of a resilient material such as rubber or the like is received within eyelets 37 and 38 via slots 45 and 46 and is stretched between eyelets 37 and 38 to provide a resilient force drawing leg 17 and 18 against leg pad 30 and 32.

Lower torso 20 further includes an upwardly extending cylindrical waist pedestal 21 having a post 23 extending upwardly therefrom. Post 23 defines an expanded head 28. Pedestal 21 further includes a pair of ribs 41 and 42 extending outwardly toward either side of post 23.

Upper torso 12 defines an interior cavity 47 within which a waist connector 70 is secured. Waist connector 70 is secured within interior cavity 47 by a pair of fasteners 71 and 72 (seen in Figure 5. Waist connector 70 further includes a resilient clasp 76 which, in accordance with the present invention receives post 23 in a snap-fit attachment carried forward by forcing head 28 through clasp 76 until clasp 76 resiliently snaps beneath head 28 captivating post 23. In this manner, the attachment between upper torso 12 and lower torso 20 is provided in a simple snap-fit assembly. A waist pad 25 formed of a soft cushion material such as felt or the like is captivated between upper torso 12 and waist pedestal

21 to provide a shock absorbing bearing for twisting movement of upper torso 12.

Upper torso 12 further includes a pair of shoulder joints 50 and 60 which receive and support arms 15 and 16. Shoulder joint 50 includes a ball end 54 formed on arm 15 and a correspondingly shaped socket 53 formed on upper torso 12. A soft arm pad 51 is interposed between ball end 54 and socket 53. The interior of ball end 54 further supports an inwardly extending eyelet 55 having a slot 56 formed therein.

Correspondingly, shoulder joint 60 includes a ball end 64 formed on arm 16 together with an inwardly extending eyelet 65 having a slot 66 formed therein.

A socket 63 formed in upper torso 12 receives ball end 64 and supports an interposed arm pad 61. A resilient annular band 99 is assembled to eyelets 55 and 65 via slots 56 and 66 and is stretched therebetween to provide a resilient force drawing balls 54 and 64 inwardly against sockets 53 and 63 respectively. The resilient force of band 99 maintains the assembly of arms 15 and 16.

With respect to the assembly of resilient bands 36 and 99, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the typical assembly thereof involves initially inserting one end of each band into one eyelet and drawing the eyelet through the doll body to the opposite side thereof and stretching the band a sufficient distance to facilitate attachment of the remaining arm or leg. After such attachment, the resilience of bands 36 and 99 draws the arms and legs inwardly as shown in Figure 2.

Neck 14 defines a spherical surface 87 and an aperture 86 at the upper end thereof. Neck 14 further defines a cylindrical interior cavity 89 and a downwardly extending bore 88. A neck connector 80 is received within interior cavity 89 formed in neck 14 and includes an aperture 81 and a clasp 82. A threaded fastener 83 having a head 84 is passed through aperture 81 and threadably engaged within bore 88 to secure neck connector 80 within neck 14.

Head 13 defines an interior 100 having an aperture 35 and a lip 101 formed therein. An aperture 102 extends downwardly from lip 101 through a socket surface 103. A head connector 90 having an elongated shaft 91 extending upwardly through aperture 35 and downwardly through interior 100 includes a flange 95 and a ball 96. A shaft head 92 sufficiently enlarged to be incapable of passing through aperture 35 secures the upper end of shaft 91 to head 13. Flange 95 is received within aperture 102 and ball 96 is snap-fit assembled within clasp 82 of neck connector 80. A resilient pad 95 is interposed between head 84 of fastener 83 and ball 96 of head connector 90. The attachment of clasp 82 upon ball 96 maintains the assembly of head 13 upon neck 14. As is better seen in Figure 3, head connector 90 further includes a pair of resilient snap retainers 93 and 94 which are received within interior 100 and which engage lip 101 to complete the assembly of head connector 90 to head 13.

Returning to Figure 2, the present invention doll fabrication facilitates assembly of doll 10 in a simple relatively low complexity series of assembly

steps. Thus, initially neck connector 80 and waist connector 70 are assembled to upper torso 12 by threaded fasteners. Thereafter, arms 15 and 16 are assembled to upper torso 12 using resilient band 99 while legs 17 and 19 are assembled to lower torso 20 using resilient band 36. Lower torso 20 may then be assembled to upper torso 12 by simply forcing post 23 upwardly through clasp 76 of waist connector 70 resulting in a snap-fit assembly. Finally, head connector 90 is assembled to head 13 by simply inserted head connector 90 upwardly through aperture 102 to move shaft 91 upwardly through aperture 35 and to snap-fit retainers 93 and 94 against lip 101.

During this assembly, it will be understood that head 92 is formed after shaft 91 is passed through aperture 35. Thus, head 92 may be formed using thermal forming or mechanical staking or the like to provide sufficient enlargement to captivate the upper end of shaft 91 within aperture 35. Similarly, the resilient material of snap retainers 93 and 94 (seen in Figure 3) deform resiliently to facilitate their insertion through aperture 102 of head 13 afterwhich they resiliently snap outwardly to captivate head connector 20 against lip 101. The final assembly of head 13 requires simply placing head pad 95 upon head 84 of fastener 83 and thereafter forcing ball 96 downwardly into clasp 82 in a snap fit attachment. The result is an assembly which is carried forward with a minimum of threaded fasteners and which may readily be undertaken by relatively low skilled, low capability assemblers in a mass production environment. Virtually, all components of the present invention fabrication may be manufactured using high volume processes such as injection molding of plastics or the like. Once

assembled, doll 10 is formed in a very high integrity manner in which no fasteners or other devices which might facilitate disassembly are accessible to the child user. This in turn has substantial safety advantages since the present invention doll may not easily be reduced to small parts which in turn would otherwise present a danger of swallowing or the like.

Figure 3 sets forth a partial side section view of the head and neck assembly of the present invention doll fabrication. By way of overview, comparison of Figures 3 and 4 indicates that substantially the same structure is presented with the difference being the exposure of the snap retainers of head connector 90 in the side section view of Figure 3 which are not visible in the front section view of Figure 4.

Additionally, the section view of Figure 4 presents a better view of the structure of clasp 82 of neck connector 80.

More specifically, torso 12 includes a neck 14 defining an interior recess 89 and a bore 88. Neck 14 further defines a generally spherical surface 87. A neck connector 80 includes a clasp 82 and defines an aperture 81. Neck connector 80 is received within interior recess 89 and is secured therein by a fastener 83 passed through aperture 81 of neck connector 80 and threadably engaged within bore 88. A head pad 85 formed of a resilient material is positioned upon head 84 of fastener 83.

A head 13 defines an interior cavity 100 and an aperture 35. Head 13 further defines an aperture 102

having a surrounding lip 101 formed therein. A socket 103 is formed beneath aperture 102 of head 13.

A head connector 90 includes an elongated shaft 91 having a flange 95 and a spherical ball 96 formed therein. Head connector 90 is assembled to head 13 within interior 100 by passing the upper end of shaft 91 through aperture 35 and positioning flange 95 within aperture 102. Thereafter, an enlarged shaft head 92 is formed in the upper end of shaft 91 by thermal forming or mechanical staking or the like thereby retaining the upper end of shaft 91 upon head 13. Head 13 is then assembled to neck 14 by aligning socket 103 with surface 87 and thereafter forcing ball 96 downwardly into clasp 82. Clasp 82 is sufficiently resilient to facilitate the snap-fitting of ball 96 into clasp 82. Head pad 85 is then captivated between head 84 of fastener 83 and ball 96.

Head connector 90 is retained within head 13 by the snap-fit engagement of snap retainers 93 and 94 against lip 101 of head 13. Snap retainers 93 and 94 are sufficiently resilient to deform and bend inwardly against shaft 91 as head connector 90 is forced upwardly through aperture 102 into head 13. Once snap retainers 93 and 94 have been moved beyond aperture 102, their resilient character causes them to spring outwardly to engage lip 101 and secure head connector 90 within head 13. As mentioned above, the attachment of head connector 90 to head 13 is completed by deforming the upper end of shaft 91 to form an enlarged shaft head 92. The resulting assembly assures that head connector 90 is fully secured to head 13 and, as a result, the engagement of ball 96

within clasp 82 completes the assembly. The cooperation of surface 87 and socket 103 together with pad 85 allows head 13 to be pivotable about a vertical axis upon neck 14 and to be tiltable to a certain degree.

Figure 4 sets forth a front section view of head 13 and neck and the assembly structure thereof. More specifically, torso 12 includes a neck 14 defining an interior recess 89 and a bore 88. Neck 14 further defines a generally spherical surface 87. A neck connector 80 includes a clasp 82 and defines an aperture 81. Neck connector 80 is received within interior recess 89 and is secured therein by a fastener 83 passed through aperture 81 of neck connector 80 and threadably engaged within bore 88. A head pad 85 formed of a resilient material is positioned upon head 84 of fastener 83.

A head 13 defines an interior cavity 100 and an aperture 35. Head 13 further defines an aperture 102 having a surrounding lip 101 formed therein. A socket 103 is formed beneath aperture 102 of head 13.

A head connector 90 includes an elongated shaft 91 having a flange 95 and a spherical ball 96 formed therein. Head connector 90 is assembled to head 13 within interior 100 by passing the upper end of shaft 91 through aperture 35 and positioning flange 95 within aperture 102. Thereafter, an enlarged shaft head 92 is formed in the upper end of shaft 91 by thermal forming or mechanical staking or the like thereby retaining the upper end of shaft 91 upon head 13. Head 13 is then assembled to neck 14 by aligning

socket 103 with surface 87 and thereafter forcing ball 96 downwardly into clasp 82. Clasp 82 is sufficiently resilient to facilitate the snap-fitting of ball 96 into clasp 82. Head pad 85 is then captivated between head 84 of fastener 83 and ball 96.

Figure 5 sets forth a perspective assembly view of doll 10. Doll 10 includes a lower torso 20 having side surfaces 43 and 44 and apertures 40 and 48 (seen in Figure 2) formed therein. Lower torso 20 further includes an upwardly extending waist pedestal 21 having a post 23 supporting an enlarged head 28 and a pair of side ribs 41 and 42 formed therein. A pair of legs 17 and 18 define respective eyelets 37 and 38 having slots 45 and 46 formed therein. A pair of annular leg pads 30 and 32 having apertures 31 and 33 are interposed between legs 17 and 18 and surfaces 43 and 44. A resilient band 46 is stretched between eyelets 37 and 38 to retain legs 17 and 18.

A waist pad 25 defines an aperture 26 and a pair of slots 24 and 27. Waist pad 25 is received upon post 23 and ribs 41 and 42.

An upper torso 12 defines an interior cavity 47 (seen in Figure 2) and a pair of sockets 53 and 63.

Upper torso 12 further includes a neck 14 having an interior recess 89 and a spherical surface 87. A waist connector 70 includes an aperture 75 and a clasp 76 and, in the manner seen in Figure 2, is assembled to upper torso 12 using a pair of fasteners 71 and 73.

Fasteners 71 and 73 include respective heads 72 and 74 which extend downwardly from waist connector 70 when assembled within upper torso 12. Heads 72 and 74

cooperate with ribs 41 and 42 of waist pedestal 21 to limit the pivotal movement of upper torso 12 upon lower torso 20. Arm 15 includes a ball 54 and an eyelet 55 having a socket 56. Similarly, arm 16 includes a ball 64 having an eyelet 65 defining a slot 66. A pair of soft arm pads 51 and 61 define respective apertures 52 and 62 and are positioned between ball ends 54 and 64 within sockets 53 and 63.

A resilient band 99 is stretched between eyelets 55 and 65 to secure arms 15 and 16 to upper torso 12.

With waist connector 70 secured to upper torso 12, and waist pad 25 placed upon waist pedestal 21, upper torso 12 is assembled to lower torso 20 by forcing post 23 into clasp 76 in the manner seen in Figure 2. Waist pad 25 is interposed between upper torso 12 and surface 22 of waist pedestal 21.

As is better seen in Figure 3, head 13 defines an aperture 35 and an interior 100. Head 13 receives a head connector 90 and includes a ball 96, a flange 95, a shaft 91 and a pair of snap retainers 93 and 94. By means described above, head connector 90 is snap- fitted to head 13 as shown in Figure 3 and captivated therein by deforming the upper end of shaft 91 to form an enlarged shaft head 92 (seen in Figure 3). Neck container 80 including a clasp 82 and defining an aperture 81 is assembled within interior recess 89 of neck 14 in the manner shown in Figure 3 using fastener 83. Fastener 83 includes a head 84. A resilient head pad 85 is positioned upon head 84 following assembly of neck connector 80. As a final assembly step, head 13 having head connector 90 assembled therein is forced downwardly upon neck 14 inserting ball 96 into

clasp 82 and captivating pad 85. Thereafter, the upper end of shaft 91 passing through aperture 35 cooperates with ball 96 and clasp 82 to retain head 13 upon neck 14. At this point, the present invention doll fabrication is complete.

While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. Therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.