The present invention relates to a toy product with a toy article and a packaging, wherein the toy article has a soft textile surface and a soft deformable filling. The invention also relates to a method for producing the toy product and a method for providing a toy product with a used toy article and a packaging.

Humans, in particular infants establish emotional bonds with toy articles wherein bonds with stuffed animals are stronger than with other toy articles. In medical environments, for example in hospitals provided stuffed animals can help the wellbeing of patients and thus accelerate their healing process. On the other hand bacteria, virus, fungi or other germs can adhere toy articles with soft textile surfaces, in particular stuffed animals with a plush surface, for example an artificial fur. These germs pose a health risk for the patients and other patients so that the use of stuffed animals in medical environments is typically forbidden. In particular in intensive care and in premature born wards of hospitals where patients with a particularly weak immune systems can be found it is typically deemed necessary to prohibit stuffed animals. Also in other medical areas in which patients with functioning immune systems are kept, there are risks. For example it is known that nosocomial infections that are hard to treat spread increasingly.

Therefore a use of stuffed animals is prohibited in most hospital wards. Substitute toy products with smooth wipeable surfaces do not provide a full replacement for toy articles with soft textile surfaces like for example plush animals.

U.S. 5,979, 472 teaches a special washing machine, for example for waiting areas of doctor's offices which reduces the germ contamination of stuffed animals. Hospitals do not accept this solution.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to propose toy products that are accepted in hospitals and provide a full replacement for conventional stuffed animals through suitable consistency and touch. Also, it is an object of the invention to propose a production method or a method for providing such toy products.

The object of the invention is achieved in one aspect through a toy product defined supra which is characterized in that the textile surface and also the filling are made from sterilization resistant materials and the packaging includes a sterile blister, wherein the toy article is sterilized enclosed in the sterile blister.

The invention overcomes the prevalent prejudice in the medical field that toy articles, in particular stuffed animals are generally sources for germs. -In order for a toy article to be accepted in a medical environment it has to be germ free at least directly before being used as a toy product so that the toy article only comes in contact with the germs which are already provided proximal to the patient.

Germs which come into the toy article during production, for example during sewing are killed in the toy product according to the invention, this means the toy articles in the toy products are sterilized. Toy products according to the invention accordingly do not include conventional toy articles but sterilizable toy articles which are characterized in that they are exclusively made from materials which are sterilizable. Depending on the sterilization method used the sterilizability is associated with respective material properties of the material. For example materials that are suitable for thermal sterilization do have sufficient temperature resistance. -The sterilization is performed upon completed toy articles so that the toy articles are at least temporarily germ free after the sterilization has been performed. Germ free means in this context that the concentration of live germs is below a standardized threshold.

The toy product according to the invention includes a packaging with a sterile blister pack which is configured to conserve the toy article germ free until it is being used. In some embodiments the packaging includes an over pack in addition to the sterile blister. Through this packaging the toy article according to the invention can also be handled in germ contaminated environments, for example in toy product stores or hospital gift shops without contaminating the toy article itself with germs. Before being used in a hospital the over pack is removed and/or the sterile blister is externally cleaned or sterilized. The sterile blister is then advantageously only opened close to the patient wherein the toy article can be retrieved without being touched by medical personnel. Thus, a germ free and medically acceptable toy product is provided at the location of use of the toy article, for example in an incubator where an early born infant lies.

In an advantageous embodiment of the toy product according to the invention the textile surface is a plush surface. Plush surfaces have a very pleasant touch and feel. The plush or fluffed up surface furthermore increases the contact surface with the skin of the patient advantageously relative to non fluffed up surfaces. In some embodiments toy articles according to the invention have different surfaces besides plush surfaces for example grippy or hook and loop connector surfaces.

In an advantageous embodiment of the invention the toy article is configured as a figurine, in particular as a stuffed animal. Figurines, in particular stuffed animals resemble living beings to which patients can develop greater emotional bonds than with other toy articles like for example simple pillows. In some embodiments the toy articles are not figurines but other elements like for example cubes, cuboids or balls.

The sterilization resistant materials which are used for producing the toy article according to the invention are advantageously selected from existing catalogs of sterilization resistant materials. It has become apparent that the development effort for toy products according to the invention remains moderate by resorting to these catalogs.

Advantageously materials are selected which are resistant against radiation sterilization methods. Using the radiation sterilization methods appropriately the textile materials are loaded very little so that materials are available that are soft and well suited for producing stuffed animals. In an advantageous embodiment these materials are made from polyester fibers. The polyester fibers are woven, knitted or provided as a fleece in some embodiments of the textile surface. The deformable filling is a wadding or a fleece in various embodiments.

In a second aspect the object of the invention is achieved through a method for producing a toy product with a toy article and a packaging, wherein the toy article has a soft textile surface, the method including the steps:

- Selecting materials from a list of sterilization resistant materials and producing the toy article from the materials,

- Introducing the toy article into a sterile blister and closing the sterile blister

hermetically tight, and

- Sterilizing the toy article.

This method provides a sterilized toy article within a sterile blister. The sequence in which the method steps are performed is a function of the sterilization method used.

According to an advantageous embodiment of the method according to the invention hermetically closing the sterile blister is performed before sterilizing by irradiating the sterile blister with the toy article enclosed therein with an irradiation method that is certified for medical products. The toy article is thus initially produced from suitable and accordingly selected materials, then the toy article is enclosed in the sterile blister and the toy article is only sterilized in the hermetically closed sterile blister. Using this sequence it is prevented that the toy article comes in touch with germs again between the sterilization and the packaging. In order for the toy article to be accepted in the medical field the sterilization is performed with accordingly accepted sterilization methods. Irradiation Sterilization is performed for example in accordance with the standard ISO 11137. Irradiation methods that are compliant with this standard are for example electromagnetic gamma rays and electron rays.

Advantageously the radiation method used is an electron beam method since it treats the materials very gently. Electron beams can only penetrate solid elements like for example textile fibers superficially. Surprisingly textiles and soft porous filler materials are penetrated quite well by electron beams even in voluminous stuffed animals, so that the stuffed animals have sufficiently small germ loading after sterilization.

According to an advantageous embodiment the method according to the invention for producing a packaged toy article includes a method step in addition to the recited method steps wherein the toy article is washed and dried or dry cleaned. Using this method step contaminations can be removed and problems associated with

contaminations can be solved. Problems associated with contamination can be for example unpleasant smells or allergic reactions. Partially it is also desirable not to remove smells completely, but to e.g. retain a proprietary smell of the body.

In a third aspect the object according to the invention is achieved by a method for providing a toy product with a used toy article and a packaging wherein the toy article is initially retrieved from a toy product according to the invention, wherein the toy article is provided with an identifier during its production, for example an RFID transponder. The identifier is captured in a data base, the identifier is read again outside of the sterile blister after the toy article is used and the reading is recorded in the data base and the toy article is subsequently introduced into a sterile blister, the sterile _^ blister is sealed hermetically tight and the toy article is sterilized again, wherein it is assured that the toy article is not reintroduced into a sterile blister again after a predefined service life.

As a prerequisite for performing the method the toy article according to the invention is provided with an identifier already during production, wherein the identifier assures that only toy articles are used in the method which toy articles are made from suitable materials. The used, thus played toy article is recycled through the method wherein the identifier is initially read and the toy article is packaged and sterilized again, typically after a cleaning step similar to a new toy article. In various embodiments the identifier is an imprinted article number, a bar code, a RFID transponder code or an area based code. For reasons of limited service life of the materials used or for safety reasons the recycling is not repeated at will but the recycling is monitored through a data base, wherein for example a number of recycling cycles or a service life interval is limited.

The present invention is now described in more detail with reference to a drawing figure, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates the toy product according to the invention and the method

according to the invention for producing a packaged toy article.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a toy product 3 according to the invention which includes a toy article 1 and a sterile blister 2. The sterile blister 2 encloses the toy article 1 hermetically tight so that the toy product 3 includes a germ free toy article 1 enclosed within the sterile blister 2. In the illustrated simple embodiment the sterile blister 2 forms the packaging of the toy product 3. In other non-illustrated embodiments the packaging includes an additional over pack.

The method for producing a packaged toy product is illustrated in some steps with reference to FIG. 1. In the method initially the toy article 1 is produced wherein materials are initially selected in the production step which materials are not damaged in the planned sterilization method. Subsequently the toy article 1 is produced according to conventional production methods, for example sewn and filled and subsequently introduced into the sterile blister 2. In an optional method step the toy article is washed and cleaned before introducing it into the sterile blister 2. The sterile blister 2 is closed hermetically tight in a preferred method variant before performing the sterilization so that no new germs can move into the sterile blister after completing the sterilization method.

The sterilization of the toy article is performed according to the method according to the invention for example with a radiation method that is certified for sterilizing medical products. According to another method according to the invention another sterilization method is used for example a thermal method. Particularly advantageously the sterilization is performed by an electron beam method since this is a particularly gentle method which hardly causes radiation damages, for example embrittlement or decomposition even in soft materials. Based on the materials used also other methods, for example x-ray methods are used for sterilization. The electromagnetic radiation or electron radiation is not oriented in a beam but provided in a diffused manner in some embodiments according to the invention.