Patent Application
20160121231
The present invention generally relates to a diving toy that may be submerged in fluid, and in particular, to a diving stick including connectable and/or extendable portions that enable the length of the dive stick to be changed or the dive stick to be converted into a dive-ring.
A diving toy, or a dive stick, is an amusement device used in swimming pools. A dive stick may comprise a buoyant body, which may be greater in length than it is in girth. The dive stick may have a weight at one end that is sufficient to cause the body to sink in water and a buoyant portion which will allow the dive stick to stand upright, weighted side down, on the bottom of a swimming pool.
Dive sticks may be used, for example, in training or recreational activities. In some recreational activities, one or more dive sticks may be disposed into a body of fluid, for example, the water of a swimming pool, so that the dive sticks sink to the bottom of the swimming pool and stand vertically due to an at least partially buoyant characteristic of the dive sticks.
During play with these sticks in various games and exercises, several swimmers competing either individually, against each other, or as members of competing teams, dive into the pool and retrieve one or more sticks standing at the bottom of the pool. Besides being a form of amusement, such games and exercises improve the abilities of the swimmers to hold their breath for extended times while completing tasks and otherwise exerting energy to improve their underwater swimming skills.
In one dive stick game, differing point values are assigned to each stick, and swimmers obtain a score according to the total value of the sticks they have retrieved. In another game, swimmers or teams are assigned individual sticks and obtain a score equal to the number of sticks they have retrieved in a single dive. In many games, a diver's ability to readily and visually recognize the value or type of stick is critical to success in the game.
Conventional dive sticks may be designed as a single, stand-alone unit. As such, the level of amusement conventional dive sticks provide and the amount of underwater dive stick games that can be played with them is limited. Furthermore, swimmers using conventional dive sticks for training purposes are often limited not by the depth they can swim to, or their ability to hold breath, but by the amount of dive sticks they can grasp in their hands. This is particularly relevant to younger swimmers who are still learning to swim and dive, but have small hands that are insufficient to pick up or hold more than a few dive sticks at a time. As a result, a swimmer's training efficiency may be affected. It is apparent that there is a need for a dive stick that increases the amount of underwater games that can be played, the level of enjoyment obtained from said games, and a swimmer's training efficiency, to name a few.
Dive-rings overcome the problems associated with conventional dive sticks because users are no longer limited by the number of sticks they can grasp in their hands, which is particularly relevant to children with small hands. For example, the user can wear dive-rings on their arms, legs, neck, head, waist, over the shoulder, or any other body part, thereby allowing the user's hands to remain free to grasp other dive-rings, dive sticks, or any other underwater object. Further, dive-rings can be configured to virtually any diameter. For beginners, dive-rings can be configured in a larger size for easy grasping. Larger dive-rings also allow for increased amusement, such as allowing a swimmer to pass through the dive-ring while underwater, such that the dive-ring is used as a hoop.
The present invention relates to a dive stick that is connectable and extendable. The connectable and extendable dive stick comprises a flexible body with two ends. A first end of the body has a female connector and a second end of the body has a male connector. The flexible body allows the dive stick to bend so that the female connector can be releasably coupled to the male connector to connect upon itself and form a dive ring. In an exemplary embodiment, the flexible body may be used with other connectable and extendable dive sticks to form longer dive sticks, larger dive rings, dive chains, or a multitude of other amusing shapes. In an exemplary embodiment, a dive stick may be used in a substantially linear configuration. The connectable and extendable nature of the present invention allows for many different combinations that can greatly enhance swimming and underwater amusement as well as provide a myriad of training options for swimmers and divers.
In embodiments, the connectable and extendable dive stick is coupled with other connectable and extendable dive sticks and is formed into appropriately sized rings that may be retrieved from the bottom of a pool and worn on a portion of a user's body, such as a user's arms, legs, neck, head, wrists, waist, and/or ankles, to name a few. In this manner, one or more sized rings may be disposed on a portion of a user while underwater so that the user's hands remain free to capture other dive sticks, dive-rings, and/or other objects. This will allow swimmers, for example, young swimmers with small hands, to improve their diving ability and lung capacity by providing them with increased carrying capacity so that they can retrieve an increased number of objects underwater before surfacing.
In embodiments, the female connector may be releasably coupled to the male connector by way of cantilever snap joint, U-shaped snap joint, torsion snap joint, annular snap joint, friction fit lock, magnetic lock, bayonet lock, threaded fit, interference fit, press fit, hook and loop, or any other joint type, lock type, fit type, or combination thereof, that will allow the female connector and male connector to stay coupled when in use.
These and other features of this invention are described in, or are apparent from, the following detailed description of various exemplary embodiments of this invention.
Exemplary embodiments of this invention will be described with reference to the accompanying figures wherein:
Initially referring to
Male connector 14 preferably comprises a ballast 13, which causes male connector 14 to be only insignificantly heavier than female connector 12 when above the water so that there is no significant imbalance during throwing. However, when connectable and extendable dive stick 10 is thrown into a pool of water, ballast 13 causes male connector 14 to be substantially denser than female connector 12 so that dive stick 10 will tend to sink compared to the opposite end of the dive stick or the dive stick sinks to the bottom of the pool with male connector 14 coming to rest at the bottom of the pool and the opposite end standing upwardly. As such, connectable and extendable dive stick 10 will come to rest with male connector 14 on the pool bottom and female connector 12 floating upwards and facing the top of the pool. It is anticipated that the connectable and extendable dive stick 10 can alternatively be configured so that female connector end is heavier than the male connector end so that female connector 12 will come to the rest at the bottom of the pool.
Initially, as the connectable and extendable dive stick 10 is cast into the water, the hollow interior of flexible body 11 is filled with air and the stick is positively buoyant allowing connectable and extendable dive stick 10 to float on the surface of the water. In a short period of time, however, connectable and extendable dive stick 10 sinks to the bottom of the pool. This occurs because one or more of the flexible body 11, female connector 12, and male connector 14 may include water intake vents 15, which allow air to escape and water to enter the portions of the hollow interior of flexible body 11 and/or related components to thereby allow connectable and extendable dive stick 10 to become negatively buoyant and gradually sink towards the bottom surface of the pool.
Games of play and exercises using diving sticks are well known, generally requiring a swimmer to dive into a swimming pool and collect one or more dive sticks, which have previously been cast into the water and stand on the pool's bottom surface. However, because of the foregoing limitations of existing dive sticks, there is a need for a dive stick that is more versatile. The present invention fills that need by providing a dive stick that allows for a myriad of fun games and swim-training options.
For example, referring now to
In an embodiment, extended dive stick 20 can be used by swimmers still learning diving techniques. Conventional dive sticks are traditionally six to seven inches long and require the swimmer to dive all the way to the bottom of the pool to reach them. Because extended dive stick 20 can be made longer than conventional dive sticks by combining multiple dive sticks of the present invention, and can be configured to virtually any length, it should be appreciated that swimmers do not have to dive as deep into the pool to reach the stick. For example, extended dive stick 20 may comprise several connectable and extendable dive sticks 10 or as little as two connected in series. As the swimmer gradually increases his or her diving ability, the number of sticks can be reduced, resulting in gradually shorter extended dive sticks 20 permitting deeper dives to retrieve the dive stick. Once the swimmer reaches full diving proficiency, only one connectable and extendable dive stick 10 need be used.
In an embodiment, multiple extended dive sticks 20 can be arranged in a slalom configuration, allowing a swimmer to zigzag between extended dive stick 20, now acting as an obstacle, to improve underwater swimming ability. For example, extended dive stick 20 can be configured to vertically reach from the bottom of the pool's surface to the top of the pool's surface. In this way, the swimmer is aware of extended dive stick 20 as an obstacle. While underwater, the swimmer must simultaneously traverse and avoid touching each extended dive stick 20 while swimming through the slalom, or otherwise lose points to his or her overall score, much like slalom skiing or auto slalom racing.
Referring now to
In addition, dive-ring 30 can be used in many different ways to increase overall amusement. For example, dive-ring 30 can be worn as pool jewelry, such as a necklace, wristband, earring, ankle bracelet, to name a few. Dive-ring 30 can also be used to play ring toss underwater by setting one connectable and extendable dive stick 10 as the peg and placing dive-ring 30 onto the peg. The swimmer may toss the ring while submerged underwater. Or to increase difficulty, the swimmer may drop dive-ring 30 from the top of the pool while above the water and viewing down on the connectable and extendable dive stick 10. In this way, the swimmer attempts to compensate for the refraction of light by the body of water to correctly place dive-ring 30 onto connectable and extendable dive stick 10.
In an embodiment, dive-ring 30 may possess inherent spring tension depending on the material used for flexible body 11. In one game, multiple dive-rings 30 may be arranged in parallel on the bottom of the pool's surface. Swimmers can arrange the dive-rings in such a way as to use them as a virtual trampoline by pouncing on them with their feet and bouncing along the bottom of the pool's surface from one end of the pool to the other.
Referring now to
Referring now to
Referring back to
In an embodiment, connectable and extendable dive stick 10 may comprise of different lengths to allow for more connective-versatility. For example, connectable and extendable dive stick 10 can come in three inch, six inch, nine inch, or twelve inch sizes, to name a few.
In an embodiment, flexible body 11 can have different cross sections such as triangular, oval-shaped, or trapezoidal, to name a few.
In an embodiment, flexible body 11 is collapsible, thereby allowing a single connectable and extendable dive stick 10 to be retracted in overall length.
In an embodiment, flexible body 11 can be comprised of different diameters.
In an embodiment flexible body 11 may be comprised of a memory polymeric smart material that gives it the ability to maintain a desired shape. This allows the present disclosure to be formed into virtually any shape.
Referring now to
Now that embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described in detail, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention, as set forth above, are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. The spirit and scope of the present invention is to be construed broadly.
