This invention relates generally to targets that may be used with toy projectiles. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fabric covered with reversible devices that can switch between two positions to indicate if the fabric has been struck by a toy projectile.
Shooting types of games are very popular with young children. Playing cowboys and indians or cops and robbers are fun games that children can play to occupy their time. Children also enjoy target practice type of games where they shoot harmless projectiles at targets to be awarded points the closer a projectile strikes a particular portion of the target. However, it is difficult, particularly when playing with multiple players, to determine when a player has been struck by a projectile. To identify when a player has been struck with a projectile and where the player was struck by the projectile, various solutions have been brought to market.
One solution was to tip the projectile with a suction cup with the goal of having the projectile stick to the strucked player or a target by the vacuum created within the suction cup. However this requires that the surface being struck by the suction cup tipped projectile be flat and clean from dirt and oils. As players are constantly moving a projectile with the suction cup tip would simply bounce off a player not making it possible to determine if the player was struck. Stationary targets present a better opportunity to work in conjunction with a projectile containing a suction cup but even then the target must have a clean and nonporous flat surface.
An improvement over projectiles containing a suction cup tip are projectiles having a Velcro® covered tip. Here players could wear outer clothing covered with a fabric that would mate with the projectile's velcro covered tip. When a player is struck by a projectile, the velcro allows the projectile to stick to the outer clothing thus verifying that not only was the player struck with a projectile but also the location of where the player was struck. The same means may also be used with a stationary target. Advantages over the suction cup tips of the prior art was that the surface did not have to be flat and nonporous as well as clean to allow a vacuum to be created. However, over time the velcro tips on the projectile would wear out and the projectile would have to be replaced.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,604,556 to John Witzigreuter titled “Chalk marking projectile” used a projectile containing a reservoir containing chalk that was connected to a head that would release a portion of chalk onto the player or target struck with the projectile. Using such a projectile players or targets would be marked when struck. However, some players may not enjoy having their clothes embedded with chalk. In addition, attention must be paid to ensure that the reservoir was filled prior to playing. Finally, it will be difficult to clean the chalk from stationary targets.
Therefore, there is a need for a means that would indicate that a player was struck by a projectile without the need to use a particular type of projectile. The indicating means must be durable, reusable, and low cost.
The indicating means in this disclosure consists of a fabric covered in whole or in part by sequins on its front side the sequins being of one color on its first side and of a second color on its second side. The backside of the fabric is attached to a padding material. The fabric and padding material may be formed into an article of clothing to be worn during play or attached to a structure to form a stationary target. When the fabric is struck by a projectile, the padding layer will absorb the impact by radiating the energy from the impact outward from the point of impact. As the padding vibrates, the sequins will flip from a first position to a second reversed position.
At the start of game play involving multiple players, the players will first brush the sequins on their clothing into a first position that indicates that they have not been struck by a projectile. As play progresses the players struck by a projectile will have sequins that have flipped to their second position. At the end of the game a count is made of the number of spots where the sequins have filled.
At the start of game play involving a target, the players will first brush the sequins on the target into a first position that indicates that the target has not been struck by a projectile. As play progresses and the target is struck by a projectile, the sequins will flip to their second position. At the end of the game, points are awarded to the player by observing where the sequins have flipped.
Sequin covered clothing may also be utilized in various combat related matches such as boxing, martial arts, or fencing to indicate where a player has been struck by an opposing player. At the start of a match both players will “brush” the sequins into a first position to indicate that they have not been struck by the opposing player. As the match progresses and a player is struck, the sequins will flip from the first position to a second position due to vibrations created by the impact of the opponent's hand or weapon. As the location of the impact is recorded by the flipping of the sequins, an appropriate value of points may be awarded to each player.
It is an objective of the present invention to have an indicating means that will function with any type of projectile.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to have an indicating means that does not require an electrical charge to register when struck by a projectile.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to have an indicating means that may be easily reused multiple times.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to have an indicating means that is low cost.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
Neither this summary nor the following detailed description defines or limits the invention. The invention is defined by the claims.
The following detailed description of the invention will be better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown.
In the drawings:
The invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. It is to be noted that the following descriptions of preferred embodiments of this invention are presented herein for purpose of illustration and description only. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to be limited to the precise form disclosed.
For the purpose of this disclosure, sequins that are in their first position indicate that the wearer of the clothing or the stationary target has not been struck by a projectile in that region while sequins that are in their second position indicate that the wearer of the clothing or the stationary target has been struck by a projectile in that region. Also for the purpose of this disclosure the diameter of the sequins in the figures have been exaggerated so as to show detail. Additionally, reference number 14 and 16 both reference one or more sequins. In particular, reference number 14 indicates one or more sequins in its first position while reference number 16 indicates one or more sequins in its second position.
When utilizing target 40, play will be conducted as shown in
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes could be made to the embodiments described above without departing from the broad inventive concept thereof. It is understood, therefore, that this invention is not limited to the particular embodiments disclosed, but it is intended to cover modifications within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/844,629 filed on May 7, 2019. The entire disclosure of the prior application is considered to be part of the disclosure of the accompanying application and is hereby incorporated by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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62844629 | May 2019 | US |