1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of hand-held toys, and in particular to hand-held toys having portions such as for example arms, legs, head, tail, ears, etc. which may be detached with an audible “snap” and interchanged in a variety of combinations.
2. Background of the Invention
It is well known in the art to provide stuffed, plush toys in the form of dolls, animals, characters and a myriad of other forms to entertain and pacify toddlers. It is also known to provide such plush toys with appendages that may be removed or otherwise adjusted. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,259,807 to Silverstein discloses a doll in which the length of the limbs may be changed to create the appearance that the doll is growing. In order to change the length of a limb, an upper portion of a limb is threaded through a loop of fabric sewn onto the torso. Thereafter, the upper portion of the limb is folded over and affixed onto a lower portion of the limb in one of various positions. The affixation position selected determines the length of the limb.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,052,971 to Young discloses a soft doll formed of latex rubber including arms and legs which can rotate with respect to its torso. The limbs each include a flange which permanently snaps into position within a circumferential groove in the torso. (See column 4, line 2). The flange and groove mating between the limbs and torso allows the limbs to move with respect to the torso.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,420 to Lawrence discloses a plush doll having detachable parts. The reference discloses a head and limbs of a cat, pig and bunny, each of which may be affixed to a single, generic body. FIG. 1 of that reference appears to disclose a cat head and arms and pig feet affixed to the generic torso. Lawrence discloses that the head and limbs may be attached by hook and loop fasteners.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,823 to Hanlon similarly discloses a toy such as a teddy bear in which a portion of the doll's face may be detached and changed to create different facial expressions. The reference discloses Velcro® for affixing the removable portions of the face to the doll.
In addition to the above-discussed patents, each of the following references generally discloses toys having detachable elements: U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,514 to Wilson-Diehl; U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,453 to Van Meter; U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,184 to Bro et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,554 to Goodwin et al.
None of the above-discussed references discloses a toy including detachable and interchangeable appendages as in the present invention.