Dart Having An Adjustable Barycenter

Abstract

A dart having an adjustable barycenter is provided. The dart includes a tip, a barrel, a counterweight, and a flight unit. The tip is detachable and assembled at a front end of the barrel. The barrel has a receiving space configured inside the barrel. The counterweight is accommodated in the receiving space at an adjustable position. The flight unit is assembled at a tail end of the barrel. The dart according to the present invention is adapted for adjusting the barycenter thereof by adjusting a position of the counterweight in the receiving space.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a dart, and more particularly, to a dart having an adjustable barycenter.

2. The Prior Arts

A conventional dart typically consists of and assembled with a tip, a barrel, and a flight unit. Such a dart usually comes up with a fixed weight and a non-adjustable barycenter in its entirety. Further, a conventional dart may include a shaft in addition. The shaft is often detachable and assembled between the barrel and the flight unit of the dart. However, all of these conventional darts are featured with fixed weights and nonadjustable barycenters. As such, a user has to select a desired one from them according to the comfort when playing the same. In this concern, when the user wants to play a heavier one later, he has to buy a new dart. Further, the parts of the conventional darts are mostly detachable, for allowing the user to remove a damaged part and assemble a new one. However, some users may like to replace the damaged part with a part of a different specification or a different model as desired. For example, a user may like to modify a smooth surface of a dart to a surface having complicated patterns. Unfortunately, this may cause a variation of the barycenter of the dart from the original product, and it may even cause the user feeling uncomfortable when playing the dart.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a dart having an adjustable barycenter. The dart is configured with a counterweight disposed inside a barrel. As such, a user is allowed to arbitrarily adjust a barycenter of the dart, when he intends to replace a part with one of different specifications, or desires to improve the precision of darting by adjusting the barycenter of the dart.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide a dart having an adjustable barycenter. The dart is configured with a receiving space configured inside a barrel, which is adapted for accommodating a counterweight having an adjustable weight. As such, the user is allowed to change the weight of the dart. And therefore, the user enjoys as playing many darts of different weights by purchasing only one, thus saving money spent on those unnecessary darts.

For achieving the foregoing objectives, the present invention provides a dart having an adjustable barycenter. The dart includes a tip, a barrel, a counterweight, and a flight unit. The tip is detachable and assembled at a front end of the barrel. The barrel has a receiving space configured inside the barrel. The counterweight is accommodated in the receiving space at an adjustable position. The flight unit is assembled at a tail end of the barrel. The dart according to the present invention is adapted for adjusting the barycenter thereof by adjusting a position of the counterweight in the receiving space.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 includes an exploded view and cross-sectional views of some parts according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the first embodiment after assembled according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 includes an exploded view and cross-sectional views of some parts according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the second embodiment after assembled according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the second embodiment of another playing condition;

FIG. 6 includes an exploded view and cross-sectional views of some parts according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the third embodiment after assembled according to the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.

FIGS. 1 and 2 include an exploded view and cross-sectional views of a first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a dart 100 includes a tip 10, a barrel 20, a counterweight 30, and a flight unit 40. The tip 10 is detachable and assembled at a front end of the barrel 20. The barrel has a receiving space 21 configured inside the barrel 20. The counterweight 30 is accommodated in the receiving space 21 at an adjustable position. The flight unit 40 is assembled at a tail end of the barrel 20. The dart 100 is configured by assembling all of the foregoing parts.

Details of the parts are going to be described in more details herebelow.

A front part of the tip 10 is a pin 11, and a rear part of the tip is a connection section 12. The connection section 12 has an external thread 13 configured at a peripheral of the connection section 12. The barrel 20 is substantially a column. According to an aspect of the embodiment, a pattern or particular shapes can be configured at an outer wall of the column. As shown in the drawings, according to the current embodiment, the outer wall of the column is configured with a smooth camber surface. The receiving space 21 is configured to be a long and narrow round hole. The receiving space 21 includes a first inner thread 22 configured at an inner fringe of an opening adjacent to a front end of the receiving space 21. The inner thread 22 allows the tip 10 to be assembled with the external thread 13. In such a way, the tip 10 is adapted to be repetitively detached from and assembled to the barrel 20.

The counterweight 30 is fixed in the receiving space 21 of the barrel 20, while the position it is fixed is adjustable. According to an aspect of the embodiment, the barrel 20 includes a tenon projected from an inner wall of the receiving space 21 for fixing the counterweight 30 at the position. The counterweight 30 is a long and narrow column having a suitable weight. The counterweight 30 has a radial cross-sectional shape similar to while slightly smaller than that of the receiving space 30. The counterweight 30 further has a longitudinal length which is apparently shorter than that of the receiving space 21. In such a way, the counterweight 30 is accommodated in the receiving space 21, while can be longitudinally moved in the receiving space. Further, according to a further aspect of the embodiment, the counterweight 30 is configured with a plurality of annular grooves 31 at its peripheral outer wall. Each of the grooves 31 is configured at a different position. When assembling, the counterweight 30 can be fixed to the barrel 20 at a relative position, by engaging the tenon 23 to one of the grooves 31 of the counterweight 30. The counterweight 30 can be optionally fixed to different positions relative to the barrel 20 by engaging the tenon 23 to different grooves 31. In such a way, the barycenter of the dart 100 can be adjusted as desired.

The flight unit 40 includes a shaft 41 and a plurality of empennages 42. The empennages 42 are connected to a tail end of the shaft 41. According to an aspect of the embodiment, the flight unit 40 is preferably integrally configured. The shaft 41 further has an external thread 43 configured at a front end of the shaft 41. Further, the barrel 20 has a second inner thread 24 configured at a rear end of the barrel 20 corresponding to the external thread 43. The flight unit 40 is adapted to be assembled with the barrel 20 by engaging the external thread 43 with the second inner thread 24.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate a second embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, in the second embodiment, in addition to the tip 10, the barrel 20, the counterweight 30, and the flight unit 40, the dart 100 further includes a counterweight block 50. The counterweight block 50 is configured with a shape corresponding to the receiving space 21. When assembling, the counterweight 50 is accommodated together with the counterweight 30 into the receiving space 21. As known, the counterweight 30 has a certain weight. As such, when the counterweight block 50 is assembled to the dart 100, a total weight of the dart 100 is changed. FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the second embodiment of another playing condition. As shown in FIG. 5, the dart 100 further includes another counterweight block 51 in addition to the counterweight block 50. The counterweight blocks 50 and 51 have different weights. As such, the dart 100 is allowed to be assembled with different weights, and the user is allowed to obtain a dart with different weights. However, the quantity of the counterweight blocks is not restricted to be two. According to other embodiments of the present invention, more counterweight blocks can be used, e.g., four.

FIG. 6 illustrate a third embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, in the third embodiment, the flight unit is modified as consisting of a detachable shaft 41A, and a flight 45, while other configuration is similar as disclosed in the foregoing embodiments, in which the dart 100 includes a tip 10, a counterweight 30, and a barrel 20. The shaft 41A has a plurality of engaging slots 411, allowing the flight 45 to be inserted and fixed therein. This configuration advantageously allows the user to more conveniently replace the shaft 41A or the flight 45 with shafts or flights having different shapes or patterns. Because the barycenter of the dart 100 is adjustable, when the user replaces with a shaft or a flight different from that of the original product, he is allowed to adjust the dart 100 to achieve the most comfort condition for playing by adjust the barycenter of the dart 100.

FIG. 8 is an exploded view of a fourth embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 8, according to the current embodiment, the dart 100 is modified with respect to the connection between the barrel 20 and the counterweight 30. In the current embodiment, the barrel 20 has a third inner thread 25 configured projecting from an inner wall surface of the receiving space 21. An inner diameter of the third inner thread 25 is smaller than an inner diameter of the first inner thread 22. The counterweight 30 further has an external thread 32 configured at a section of the outer wall of the counterweight 30. The rest section of the outer wall of the counterweight 30 has no thread configured thereby. The rest section has a smaller diameter than that of the section having the external thread 32. As such, the counterweight 30 can be conveniently received into the receiving space 25. When assembling, the counterweight 30 is rotated by a tool, so as to spirally engage the external thread 32 of the counterweight 30 with the third inner thread 25 of the barrel 20. When the user desires to adjust the barycenter of the dart 100, he can rotate the counterweight 30, so as to change the position of the counterweight 30 in the receiving space 25.

In summary, the present invention provides a dart having a receiving space configured inside a barrel. A counterweight is accommodated and movable in the receiving space. By adjusting the position of the counterweight in the receiving space, the barycenter of the dart can be adjusted. Further, additional counterweight members can also be employed for change the weight of the dart. Accordingly, the present invention provides a single dart, by which a user is allowed to obtain a dart having different weights, and an adjustable barycenter, so that the user can improve the precision of darting.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A dart having an adjustable barycenter, comprising: a tip;a barrel, a receiving space configured inside the barrel, wherein the tip is detachably assembled at a front end of the barrel;a counterweight, accommodated in the receiving space at an adjustable position, wherein a longitudinal length of the counterweight is much shorter than that of the receiving space; anda flight unit, assembled at a tail end of the barrel.

2. The dart according to claim 1, wherein the tip and the barrel are adapted for repetitively disassembling and assembling, wherein the receiving space comprises a first inner thread configured at an inner fringe of an opening adjacent to a front end of the receiving space, and the tip comprises a connection section at a rear end of the tip, the connection section being configured with an external thread configured at a peripheral thereof, and the external thread of the connection section of the tip being spirally engaged with the first inner thread of the barrel for enclosing the receiving space.

3. The dart according to claim 1, wherein the barrel comprises a tenon projected from an inner wall of the receiving space, and the counterweight is configured with a plurality of annular grooves at different positions of a peripheral outer wall of the counterweight, wherein the position of the counterweight fixed in the receiving space can be varied by engaging the tenon to different grooves.

4. The dart according to claim 1, wherein the dart further includes at least one counterweight block received in the receiving space.

5. The dart according to claim 1, wherein the flight unit comprises a flight and a shaft which are integrally configured.

6. The dart according to claim 1, wherein the flight unit comprises a flight and a shaft which are independent and detachable, and the shaft has a plurality of engaging slots allowing the flight to be directly inserted and fixed therein.

7. The dart according to claim 1, wherein the barrel has a third inner thread configured projecting from an inner wall surface of a middle section of the receiving space, and the counterweight further comprises an external thread configured at a section of the outer wall of the counterweight, wherein the counterweight is spirally engaged with the external thread of the counterweight by the third inner thread of the receiving space, so that a relative position of the counterweight in the receiving space can changed by rotating the counterweight.