Patent Application
20080207080
This invention relates generally to outdoor active play toys, and more specifically to amusement devices, which are designed to be thrown high into the air, to produce an enjoyable visual effect.
For many years, children of all ages have enjoyed hours of entertainment provided by toys and novelty items, such as planes, confetti and parachutes. A significant drawback associated with this category of novelties, however, is the necessity to deliver items to an altitude, which is high enough to provide a long lasting visual experience. Any practical delivery device must be inexpensive to manufacturer, since it is not the primary object of interest to the child, but rather a means, which only facilitates the quality of play. Having noted this, it is not the intention here to imply a lack of importance for the delivery device to be appealing on its own, for effective merchandising, and if possible even magical in function, so as not to detract from, but rather enhance the enjoyment of the play activity. While attempts have been made to provide children with a solution for delivering items, most especially parachutes, high into the air, a review of the prior art will clearly illustrate how past inventions have fallen short of their intended goals. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,713,432; 1,938,931; 2,796,697; 3,055,141; 3,233,360; 3,397,481 and 3,949,520 all represent delivery devices designed to carry a parachute high into the air. While these different inventions each have their own unique features, they all share the same shortcomings, that we wish to discuss, and so will be dealt with together. These inventions all provide an adequate means of containing and securing their contents, but because their construction and design requires the vehicles to be manufactured from rigid materials, the parachute payloads must be attached to the delivery devices in order that they may return to the ground without causing injury to spectators or damage to the vehicles. This, together with the fact that each of these inventions attempts to deploy parachutes at or near the apex of an arc of travel, without the use of any additional stored energy, means that systems designed to discharge the parachutes are both unreliable and inconsistent. There is a serious failure on the part of these inventions to address the weightlessness, which is the state in which particular components are expected to react in a predetermined manner, while neglecting the reality that forces of turbulence, trajectory and rotation are all present and acting in a way which is unique to every launch. These factors can either aid or interfere with the action of ejecting the contents resulting in a play experience for the user which is all frustrating, inconsistent, and compromised. A further disadvantage of these inventions, is the singular nature of their designs. If the user wished to add additional items to the vehicles, it is doubtful there would be adequate space or any method to ensure that these additional items could be added without posing a serious interference condition. As a result of the shortcomings of the prior art, there exists a need for a delivery device which is both easy to use and consistently reliable. A delivery device which is versatile will also provide children with a more creative, interesting and satisfying play experience. It is therefore one object of this invention, to provide a safe and simple delivery device, which carries and deploys its contents, in a very consistent and reliable way. It is another object of this invention, to provide a more versatile delivery vehicle, which will allow children to traject and reliably deploy a variety of interesting items, such as parachutes, small gliders, confetti and the like. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
The foregoing and other objects of this invention are accomplished by providing a delivery device composed of a lightweight or soft semi-flexible material. In its most basic form, the proposed invention takes the shape of a hollow sphere. The hollow device should be separated into two equal halves, such that the two halves can be fitted together with perfect alignment and exhibit the appearance of a single form which has not been separated. It is critical, however, that the two halves do not jam or bind in any way that might prevent their easy separation. It may be said, that while the two halves fit perfectly together, they should separate by turbulent air if the joined halves were dropped from a height of about ten feet. It is of course also necessary to incorporate a means of maintaining the two halves in their joined configuration for a desired period of time, since the delivery device must effectively accomplish the task of transporting a payload when it has been thrown in an upward direction. A narrow, recessed channel enveloping the body of the invention, is oriented, such that the channel intersects the parting line of the invention's two halves, and provides a simple and effective means of guiding a lightweight cord, attached in the channel of one half, as it is wrapped several times around the vehicle. The concept of employing a cord to maintain the delivery device halves in their joined configuration, is one which a young child can easily comprehend, engage, and adjust for optimum performance. The subsequent separation of halves and payload deployment, is achieved by attaching an aerodynamic drag means, such as a simple flag or streamer, to the free end of the cord. When the invention is thrown in an upward direction, the drag means causes the delivery vehicle, now weightless in its freefall state, to rotate. Once the cord has completely unwound from about the invention, centrifugal force acting on the rotating vehicle will cause the two halves to fly apart and jettison the contents. Additionally, the invention may be fitted with a hinge means without interfering with or altering the way in which centrifugal force acts to open and expel the vehicle payload. Since the most impressive performance is achieved when the delivery device opens just before reaching the apex of its trajectory, it is important to provide a simple means for adjusting the timing of payload ejection. And because it is not necessary that the entire length of cord be wound around the invention to achieve optimum performance, a greater amount of cord may be left unwound to bring about a quicker separation of halves, making it possible for younger users with less arm power to experience a satisfying result.
It is important to note that the proposed invention may comprise any hollow shape and need not be limited to a spherical shape to achieve a reliable function. And while it is necessary that the delivery device be divided into at least two parts, it is possible that an embodiment of the invention may be comprised of a hollow shape which is divided into more than two parts or into two unequal parts. It is also within the scope of the proposed invention, to consider an embodiment, which comprises a large enough size to warrant the need for a parachute, streamer, or some other means, which is permanently attached to the delivery vehicle, for the purpose of slowing its decent. It is important to note, however, that adequate space must be provided to contain an ejectable payload within the interior of such a larger delivery vehicle, so that both the payload and attached means of slowing the decent of the vehicle can be deployed in a reliable and consistent manner.
In the preferred embodiment,
