Combination timepiece and yo-yo

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6328624
  • Patent Number
    6,328,624
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, April 19, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 11, 2001
    23 years ago
Abstract
A yo-yo has a recess in one of its faces accommodating a timepiece. The yo-yo is be releasably accommodated in a base, and the base may be worn on a user's person by various means including a wristband in the manner of a wristwatch, a fob or a watch chain in the manner of a pocket watch, a necklace in the manner of a necklace watch, or a holster.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates to yo-yos, and particularly to a yo-yo incorporating a time indicating element.




2. Description of the Related Art




Yo-yos have been known for many years and exist in a variety of forms and adaptations. Typically, existing yo-yos serve a single function, namely, that of entertainment. In recent times modem technology has been used to enhance the yo-yo's entertaining function by including various visual and audible features as well as to improve the yo-yo's operability such as by improving the yo-yo's ability to “sleep”, i.e., to spin at a constant vertical position for a length of time. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,444 (VanKuiken) discloses a yo-yo utilizing light emitting diodes connected to a circuit for illumination when the yo-yo is in use. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,966 (Capps et al.) uses a string of synchronized light emitting diodes to display messages stored in a memory circuit contained in a yo-yo housing. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,895,547 (Amaral) discloses a yo-yo having an improved “sleeping” performance by incorporating a free spinning spool about the yo-yo axle.




While the various mechanical and electrical improvements to yo-yos discussed in the aforementioned patents are interesting, they do not provide additional benefits or functions to the yo-yo other than the primary entertainment purpose, and do not provide a convenient yo-yo carrying mechanism or feature.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




In accordance with the present invention, a yo-yo is provided having a mountable feature to allow the yo-yo to be conveniently carried on a user's wrist as a wristwatch, and including a timekeeping feature to allow the yo-yo to be used as a wristwatch. The inventive yo-yo is releasably mounted to a wrist brace or holder worn by the user. In operation, the yo-yo is released from the wrist base and can then be used as a conventional yo-yo. When the yo-yo is not in use, it can be easily remounted to the wrist mount base in a manner which displays the timekeeping function so that the yo-yo can be used as a wristwatch.




The releasable connection between the yo-yo and the wrist mount is preferably in the form of a snap type arrangement where a base is fastened to a wrist brace, and includes a support member under which a back half of the yo-yo is inserted and a detent member opposite the barlike member which snaps onto the back half of the yo-yo as the yo-yo is pressed into the base. The detent member is releasable by finger pressure to permit removal of the yo-yo from the base.




In an alternative embodiment, the releasable connection between the yo-yo and the wrist mount is configured as a lock and key or bayonet arrangement wherein a centrally located key hole is formed in the yo-yo housing for mating with a key or protrusion formed on the wrist mount base. To secure the yo-yo to the wrist mount base, the yo-yo is simply placed over the key so that the key enters the keyhole, whereupon the yo-yo is rotated about the yo-yo axis for locking it in place. In another embodiment, radially-spaced prongs are formed on the wrist mount which create a living spring arrangement about the yo-yo housing for providing releasable securement of the yo-yo to the wrist mount.




In another embodiment, a separate timekeeping function may be included on the wrist mount base so that a wearer can determine the time while the yo-yo is in operation.




In another embodiment, the yo-yo is releasably mounted in a fob, with provision for releasably attaching the fob to a portion of a user's clothing, such as a belt loop.




In another embodiment, the yo-yo is releasably mounted in a holster adapted to be worn on a user's person. The holster may additionally contain parts and tools for maintenance of the yo-yo.




In another embodiment, the yo-yo is releasably mounted in a base to which is attached one end of a chain, and the other end of the chain may be fastened to a portion of the user's clothing, enabling the yo-yo to be worn in the manner of a pocket watch.




In another embodiment, the yo-yo is releasably mounted in a base to which is attached a loop of cord or chain for wearing around a user's neck.




In another embodiment, the yo-yo is releasably mounted in a base which is attached to a glove for wearing on a user's hand.




Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denote similar elements:





FIG. 1

is a front view of a yo-yo of the present invention showing certain surface design elements;





FIG. 2

is a side view of the yo-yo as shown in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 3

is a cross-sectional view of the yo-yo along the line III—III as shown in

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 4

is a cross-sectional view of the yo-yo along the line IV—IV as shown in

FIG. 3

;





FIG. 5

is a top view of a wrist mount base on which the yo-yo is releasably mounted;





FIG. 6

is a front view of an alternative wrist mount base on which the yo-yo is releasably mounted;





FIG. 7

is a cross-sectional view of the wrist mount base along line VII—VII as shown in

FIG. 6

;





FIG. 8

is a left side view of the wrist mount base as shown in

FIG. 7

;





FIGS. 9



a


-


9




d


depict various views of an alternative embodiment of a wrist mount base for use with a yo-yo;





FIG. 10

depicts the yo-yo of the present invention deployed in a fob;





FIG. 11

depicts the yo-yo of the present invention deployed in a holster;





FIG. 12

depicts the yo-yo of the present invention deployed in the manner of a pocket watch;





FIG. 13

depicts the yo-yo of the present invention deployed in the manner of a necklace watch; and





FIG. 14

depicts the yo-yo of the present invention deployed on the back of a glove.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




With reference to

FIG. 1

, a yo-yo


10


according to the present invention is shown having a housing


15


in which a time indicating window


11


is formed at the center thereof for displaying to a user the time generated by a standard clock-timing circuit as is readily known by those having ordinary skill in the art. The yo-yo housing


15


may be decorated with design textures such as spikes


12


and elongated grooves


13


. The yo-yo housing


15


is viewed in

FIG. 2

has a back portion or half


21


and a front portion or half


22


which are joined at a center of rotation by a centrally located axle


24


to which a string


23


is attached, such as by tying or knotting. As is known, the string


23


is used for operating the yo-yo in a conventional manner.




Turning now to

FIGS. 3 and 4

, the back half


21


and front half


22


are connected by a fastener such as a bolt or screw


31


which passes through the axle


24


. Each housing half has an exterior portion


32


and an interior portion


33


. The two portions are assembled and held together through a plurality of press fit connectors


34


, with each connector having a column or post


35


extending from section


33


which mates with a corresponding recess or insert


36


formed in section


32


of the same housing half for providing a friction fit between the two sections. In the alternative, the post


35


can be designed as extending from section


32


for mating with recesses formed in section


33


to form a friction fit therebetween.




Approximately in the center of the front half


22


is a cavity that hosts a timekeeping device


41


. The timekeeping device


41


is preferably an electronic device as is known in the art, having an LCD digital display or the like and operable from a button cell battery housed in a chamber


37


, or from solar energy obtained from a solar collector mounted on the face of the front half


22


along with the timepiece (not shown). As an alternative, the timekeeping device may be mechanical having an analog display and operable from a spring which can be charged by winding, as in a conventional wristwatch, or by operation of the yo-yo which causes recharging of the spring. In either case, it is preferred that the time keeping device


41


be of relatively light weight with respect to the weight of the yo-yo so that the yo-yo will remain balanced and operate in its intended manner. In the event the time keeping device


41


is constructed as having a significant weight, the back half of the yo-yo may be constructed with additional weight to balance the yo-yo to provide for proper operation.




With reference to

FIG. 5

, the combination yo-yo and wristwatch of the present invention includes a wrist mount base


150


G having a bottom


54


. Bottom


54


has a pair of slots


55


through which a wrist strap (not shown) passes to fasten base


150


G thereto. Yo-yo


10


is placed against base


150


G so that a peripheral portion of back half


21


is under barlike member


56


and an opposite peripheral portion of back half


21


is against the top of detent


58


. Detent


58


is fastened to base


54


by flexible arms


57


, so that pressure on yo-yo


10


can deflect detent


58


sufficiently to permit yo-yo


10


to pass it and rest flat against bottom


54


, whereupon detent


58


returns to its normal position and is detaining back half


21


of yo-yo


10


against bottom


54


. Finger pressure on detent


58


deflects it sufficiently to permit removal of yo-yo


10


.




With reference now to

FIGS. 6 and 7

, the combination yo-yo and wristwatch of the present invention includes an alternative wrist mount base


150


having a bottom edge


72


surrounded by a rim


73


for forming a rounded interior space or cup


74


for accommodating insertion of the back half portion


21


of the yo-yo


10


. The yo-yo is removably secured to the wrist mount base


150


via a securing means such as a key or protrusion


61


mounted to the wrist mount base


150


for mating with a keyhole or opening


52


formed in the back half


21


of yo-yo


10


. As shown in

FIG. 6

, the keyhole


52


is surrounded by a set-off wall


51


and forms a bayonet-type engagement wherein the yo-yo


10


is coupled to base


150


by aligning key


61


with keyhole


52


in a manner as shown in FIG.


5


, and rotating yo-yo


10


to the position shown in FIG.


6


. The yo-yo can then be re-released by rotating, in an opposite direction, to remove key


61


from keyhole


52


.




With continued reference to

FIG. 6

, the wrist base


150


is mounted to a wrist band or strap


82


for allowing the wrist base


150


with the yo-yo


10


connected thereto, to be worn on a user's wrist, in a manner similar to that of a wristwatch. The wrist band


82


is connected to the wrist base by pins or fasteners


81


. As an alternative, a portion of the wrist band may pass through a bottom portion of the wrist base


150


to secure the wrist base to the strap


82


. The wrist band


82


may be constructed from any suitable type of band material such as, for example, leather, cloth, plastic, etc., having a fastening mechanism at each band end for allowing the band to be fastened to the user's wrist. When worn in this manner with the yo-yo attached thereto, the timekeeping device


41


of the yo-yo is oriented in a direction upward away from the user's wrist to allow a user to view the timekeeping device by simply glancing at the yo-yo


10


.




Another embodiment of the wrist mount base is depicted in

FIGS. 9



a


-


9




d


. In this embodiment, the base


150


A has a bottom surface


90


having a plurality of protrusions or hooks


91


which, along with a brace


94


, are positioned to accommodate insertion of the yo-yo


10


. The hooks


91


are attached to the bottom surface


90


to form a memory/living spring arrangement whereby one or more of the hooks can bend outward to accommodate insertion of the yo-yo. Once the yo-yo is in place between the hooks


91


and brace


94


, one or more of the hooks


91


will spring back against the yo-yo housing to secure the yo-yo in place.




Base


150


A may be mounted to the strap by utilizing loops


92


formed in the base to accommodate insertion of the strap therethrough. As an alternative, hooks


97


may optionally be provided for facilitating fastening of the strap. In another embodiment, a spring


98


may be included on base


150


A to bias the yo-yo


10


in an upward direction against the upper edges of hooks


91


when the yo-yo is placed in the base


150


A to maintain friction contact between the yo-yo and the hooks


91


to prevent the yo-yo from detaching from the base


150


A. When a user wishes to remove the yo-yo from the base, the user simply grasps the yo-yo and angles the yo-yo outward from the base to release it therefrom.




In other embodiments of the present invention, the yo-yo is deployed in vehicles other than a wrist strap. Means of releasably mounting the yo-yo in these other vehicles can be the same as the means for releasably mounting it in the wrist strap; i.e., bases analogous to bases


150


or


150


A are integral to the vehicles.





FIG. 10

depicts yo-yo


10


deployed in a fob


200


. Base


150


B is integral to fob


200


, with yo-yo


10


releasably mounted therein. Fob


200


includes a hook


160


for hooking onto, for example, a belt loop of a user's clothing. Pawl


161


prevents hook


160


from accidentally becoming unhooked. Unhooking may be accomplished by using release


162


to retract pawl


161


.





FIG. 11

depicts yo-yo


10


deployed in a holster


210


. Base


150


C is integral to holster


210


, with yo-yo


10


releasably mounted therein. As is known, holster


10


may be made to be attachable, for example, to a user's belt. In a present embodiment, holster


210


contains other miscellaneous items usable for the maintenance of yo-yo


10


: i.e., extra string


164


, oil dispenser


166


, and screwdriver


168


.





FIG. 12

depicts yo-yo


10


deployed in the manner of a pocket watch. Yo-yo


10


is releasably mounted in base


150


D. Base


150


D, in turn, is fastened to an end of chain


170


. The other end of chain


170


may be fastened to a user's clothing as is known in the art.





FIG. 13

depicts yo-yo


10


releasably mounted in base


150


E, which has attached to it a chain or cord


172


for wearing around a user's neck.





FIG. 14

depicts yo-yo


10


releasably mounted in a base


150


F which is joined to a glove for wearing on a user's hand.




Thus, while there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes in the form and details of the devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or embodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosed or described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.



Claims
  • 1. A toy, comprising:a yo-yo having a substantially disklike first portion and a substantially disklike second portion coaxially joined at a center of rotation by an axle, said first portion having an outer face defining a recess in which a timepiece is mounted and arranged to be outwardly visible; a base; and flexible means for releasably securing said second disklike portion to said base.
  • 2. The toy of claim 1, wherein the timepiece is an electronic timepiece.
  • 3. The toy of claim 2, wherein the first portion further accommodate a battery for powering the timepiece.
  • 4. The toy of claim 2, further including solar collector means for powering the timepiece.
  • 5. The toy of claim 2, wherein the timepiece is a spring-driven mechanical timepiece.
  • 6. The toy of claim 5, wherein the spring is wound by operation of the yo-yo.
  • 7. The toy of claim 1, further comprising a wristband releasable attached to said base for mounting said base to a user's wrist.
  • 8. The toy of claim 1, wherein said base is attachable to a fob for attaching to a user's clothing.
  • 9. The toy of claim 1, wherein said base is attachable to a first end of a cordlike member of which the second end is arranged for fastening to a user's clothing.
  • 10. The toy of claim 1, wherein said base is attachable to a cordlike loop arranged for wearing around a user's neck.
  • 11. The toy of claim 1, wherein said base is attachable to a glove for wearing on a user's hand.
  • 12. The toy of claim 1, wherein said base is attachable to a holster.
  • 13. The toy of claim 12, wherein the holster is arranged to be worn on clothing of a user.
  • 14. The toy of claim 12, wherein the holster is arranged to accommodate parts and tools for maintenance of the yo-yo.
  • 15. A toy, comprising:a yo-yo having a substantially disklike first portion and a substantially disklike second portion coaxially joined at a center of rotation by an axle, said first portion having an outer face defining a recess in which a timepiece is mounted and arranged to be outwardly visible, and said second portion having an outer face defining a recess; and base having an upwardly extending protrusion rotatably releasably engageable with said second portion recess for releasably mounting said yo-yo to said base.
  • 16. A toy, comprising:a yo-yo having a substantially disklike first portion and a substantially disklike second portion coaxially joined at a center of rotation by an axle so that a space is formed between said first and second portions, said first portion having an outer face defining a recess in which a timepiece is mounted and arranged to be outwardly visible; and a base, said base having a bottom, a fixed wall and a moveable wall, said fixed wall and said moveable wall connected to said bottom for defining a receiving area for accommodating said second disklike portion, said moveable wall being spaced from said fixed wall and outwardly moveable relative thereto, said moveable wall having a hooked distal end for seating within said space when said second disklike portion is disposed in said receiving area.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/130,839, filed Apr. 22, 1999.

US Referenced Citations (8)
Number Name Date Kind
D. 346558 Hiromori May 1994
3136551 Ruderian Jun 1964
4456384 Murakami Jun 1984
4571199 Murakami Feb 1986
4632245 Lerner Dec 1986
4895547 Amaral Jan 1990
5145444 VanKuiken Sep 1992
5842574 Nunes Dec 1998
Provisional Applications (1)
Number Date Country
60/130839 Apr 1999 US