Flexible toy
DCFirst Claim
1. A flexible toy having a one-piece, molded construction formed of an elastomeric material, comprising:
- a framework, and a plurality of openings provided in said framework, wherein said toy has sufficient material properties to allow an internal mold to be extracted through at least one opening of said plurality without tearing said framework during said extraction, wherein said toy is at least being capable of rolling and bouncing and wherein said framework is capable of being compressed for purposes of compact storage and shipping, and wherein said framework comprises two tori of equal diameter, said two tori being separated by a certain lateral distance, at least two linear members spanning said certain lateral distance, and at least one linear member for each of said two tori, said at least one linear member spanning said equal diameter of said each of said two tori.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Skeletal animal toys capable of rolling and bouncing comprise polyhedra or other skeletal structures which can be inscribed on an imaginary spherical or ellipsoidal surface, tori and linear members which form a cylinder with circular cross-section, or elliptical and linear members which form a cylinder with elliptical cross-section. The skeletal animal toy is formed of an elastomeric material, which is preferably natural rubber, synthetic natural rubber, or a blend of natural rubber or synthetic natural rubber and one of a plurality of blending polymers including butadiene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, nitrile rubber and ethylene-propylene-diene-monomer rubber.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A flexible toy having a one-piece, molded construction formed of an elastomeric material, comprising:
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a framework, and a plurality of openings provided in said framework, wherein said toy has sufficient material properties to allow an internal mold to be extracted through at least one opening of said plurality without tearing said framework during said extraction, wherein said toy is at least being capable of rolling and bouncing and wherein said framework is capable of being compressed for purposes of compact storage and shipping, and wherein said framework comprises two tori of equal diameter, said two tori being separated by a certain lateral distance, at least two linear members spanning said certain lateral distance, and at least one linear member for each of said two tori, said at least one linear member spanning said equal diameter of said each of said two tori.
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2. A flexible toy having a one-piece, molded construction formed of an elastomeric material, comprising:
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a framework, and a plurality of openings provided in said framework, wherein said toy has sufficient material properties to allow an internal mold to be extracted through at least one opening of said plurality without tearing said framework during said extraction, wherein said toy is at least being capable of rolling and bouncing and wherein said framework is capable of being compressed for purposes of compact storage and shipping, and wherein said framework comprises two ellipses separated by a certain lateral distance, at least two linear members spanning said certain lateral distance, and at least one linear member for each of said two ellipses, said at least one linear member spanning said each of said two ellipses.
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3. A method of making a flexible toy having a framework comprising the steps of:
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providing an internal mold, introducing an elastomeric material onto said internal mold, molding said elastomeric material into a shape that is representative of said framework, said shape having a plurality of openings, and extracting said internal mold through at least one opening of said plurality, wherein said elastomeric material has sufficient hot tear resistance to allow said internal mold to be extracted through said at least one opening of said framework without tearing said framework. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification