Inflatable overhead crib gym toy

Claim 1

A soft, inflatable, crib-supported, gym-type, overhead nursery toy for encouraging children to perform exercise-type manual movements with safety, comprising: (a) an air-inflatable tubular body constituted of thin plastic material, said tubular body having transparent wall portions bounding an interior main chamber, said tubular body being elongated along a longitudinal axis of symmetry and having opposite axial ends; (b) a pair of axially-extending, air-inflatable tubular extensions each located at a respective axial end of the tubular body, each extension being constituted of thin plastic material wall portions which bound an interior compartment that is in air communication with the main chamber of the tubular body; (c) a radially-extending, air-inflatable tubular projection intermediate the axial ends of the tubular body, said tubular projection being constituted of thin plastic material wall portions which bound an interior space that is in air communication with the main chamber of the tubular body; (d) a toy object mounted within the main chamber for movement relative to the tubular body when the inflated toy is subjected to manual movement; (e) gym means connected to each extension and extending generally radially downwardly towards the child, for providing a handhold for each extension for the child to grasp and thereby perform the exercise-type movements; and (f) air-admitting means on the tubular body, for inflating the tubular body, the tubular extensions and the tubular projection from a collapsed configuration in which the deflated body, extensions and projection can be stored, to an inflated configuration in which the toy object is visible through the transparent wall portions and movable relative to the tubular body when the child grabs the gym means and manipulates the toy, said inflated body, extensions and projection being soft and yieldable to the touch to protect the child from any injury during manipulation of the toy, and being self-restorable to said inflated configuration when the child ceases said manipulation.