Method for manufacturing toy figures

Claim 1

In the manufacture of stuffed toy figures, the improvement iN a method of swivelly attaching appendages to a body comprising: a. inserting a connector assembly into one end of an appendage, said connector assembly including an elongated member having a first section having an enlarged head means attached to one end portion and a second free end section of lesser cross-sectional area than the first section connected to the first section by a frangible portion having a cross-sectional area lesser than the first and second sections and a predetermined tensile strength; b. confining the enlarged head means within the appendage with the elongated member protruding from one end portion thereof; c. inserting the protruding portion of the elongated member into a portion of the body; d. positioning a deformable lock washer about a portion of the elongated member which is positioned within the body, said lock washer having an opening which is dimensioned such that it slides freely over the second section of the elongated member but is dimensioned and configured to engage the surface of the first section of the elongated member in a manner which permits slidable uni-directional force fitting of said washer over said first section; and e. simultaneously pulling the elongated member in a direction into the body and applying a force to said lock washer in a direction opposite to the direction of pull to cause said lock washer to forcefully seek a locked position while compressing the portions of the appendage and the body in stacked relation between the head means and the lock washer such that when the tensile stress due to the pulling force on said elongated member approaches the predetermined tensile strength of said frangible portion, said frangible portion is severed thereby resulting in swivel attachments having substantially uniform predetermined locking attachments for several sizes of toy figures.