Patent Application
20100015883
The present invention relates, in general, to toys and more particularly in a toy which is operable with fingers of the user.
It is estimated that there is thousands if not millions of toys available to be used by children and adults alike. However, there is a significant fewer number of toys that employ the use of the hands and more particularly the use of the fingers. Using the fingers with a toy requires significant attention in order to perform the task with the fingers. Consequently, the user of these kinds of toys is generally not distracted by outside influences. This can be important for a caretaker for a young child because the young children are more easily distracted by outside influences.
A toy may include a disk, a first and second bores formed in the disk and extending therethrough, a continuous loop of string including a first half length portion and a second half length portion extending through the first and second bores in the disk and outward of the disk to outer ends, and a holding device for holding the outer ends of the loop of string.
A first knot may be formed in the first half length portion and the second half length portion of the continuous loop of string between the disk and the holding device.
The toy may include a second knot formed in a continuous loop the string between the disk and holding device, and the holding device may include a ring formed with an aperture.
The disk may include a central planar portion and a outer peripheral edge.
The various features, advantages and other uses of the present invention will become more apparent by referring to the following detailed description and drawing in which:
A toy may be formed with two buttons or disks rotatably mounted on a continuous loop of string. The ends of the loop of string are grasped by the hands of the user and the string is rotated about a horizontal axis between the user's hands to wind up the string. Then, in and out reciprocating movement of the ends of the strings may cause the string to unwind and rewind which forces the disks to oscillate back and forth along the string and strike each other.
While this toy provides long periods of enjoyment, it is not without a disadvantage. Since the user employs his or her fingers to grasp the ends of the loop of string, the fingers are susceptible to being pinched by the winding and unwinding action of the string. Furthermore, children may place their head between the strings to be winded and released. This can cause serious injury and loss of the ability to breathe. The present invention minimizes the possibility of this occurring by placing knots along the length of the string. The resulting string arrangement cannot be separated sufficiently to fit over the head of the child. Looping the ends of the string through rings which the user grasps eliminates any pinching of the user's fingers. However, the string is typically tied to one of the rings which causes unequal tension in the upper and lower portions of the string during the unwinding and rewinding of the string and prevents the string from continuously rewinding. Thus, long term repeated use of such a toy has not been possible.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a rotatable disk string toy 100 which includes a device to facilitate easy handling of the string. It would also be desirable to provide a rotatable disk string toy 100 with string holding device 105 which is easily attached to the toy. It would also be desirable to provide a rotating disk string toy 100 which includes string holding device 105 having an inexpensive cost. It would also be desirable to provide a rotating disk string toy 100 which is durable for a long useful life. Finally, it would be desirable to provide a rotatable disk string toy 100 which provides a unique visual appearance when in use.
Throughout the following description and drawing, an identical reference number is used to refer to the same component shown in multiple figures of the drawing.
The present invention is a rotatable disk string toy 100 which includes a string holding devices 105 which facilitates easy handling of the toy 100. The toy 100 includes a planar disk 103 which is rotatably mounted about a continuous loop of string 101. First and second bores 107, 109 are formed in each of the disk 103 with the loop of string 101 extending therethrough to outer ends disposed outward of the disk 103. First and second holding devices 105 are provided for holding the outer ends of the loop of string 101. Each of the first and second holding device 105 includes a substantially ring device 111 having a central finger engaging aperture 113 for allowing the user to engage the ring device 111 with a finger and to allow the loop of string 101 therethough.
The disk 103 may be formed from plastic, metal, wood or other suitable material.
In use, the user grasps the ring devices 111 by his or her fingers and rotates the disk 103 and string 101 about a substantially horizontal axis extending along the loop of string 101 between the user's hands. When the string 101 is substantially wound to a tight condition, the user moves his or her hands in a reciprocating fashion in and out along the axis between the user's hands which causes the string 101 to alternately unwind and rewind making the disk 103 oscillate back and forth along the loop of string 101.
The rotatable disk string toy 100 of the present invention is provided with a string holding device 105 which facilitates easy holding of the toy and prevents the user's fingers from being pinched during the winding action of the string 101. By slidably receiving the string 101 therethough, the string holding device 105 also substantially maintains the approximately two half lengths of the loop of string 101 at equal lengths during any unwinding and rewinding of the string 101 which attempts to maintain the tension in the two half lengths of string 101 is the same. This approximately equal tension enables the toy 100 to unwind and rewind repeatedly without stopping.
The rings 111 which form the string holding device 105 are inexpensively manufactured and easily attached to the toy.
Referring now to the drawing, and to
The rotatable disk string toy 100 includes a rotatable disk 103, a continuous loop string 101 and first and second holding devices 105.
As shown in
The central planar portion 119 includes a first and second bores 107,109. The disk 103 is formed of any suitable material, such as wood, metal or plastic.
The continuous loop string 101, when fully extended, has first and second half length portions 125,127 which extend between the outer ends of the continuous loop string 101. A first knot 129 is formed between the loose ends of the string 101 to form the continuous loop.
A second knot 131 is formed approximately midway between the disk 103 and the ring device 111 to connect the first and second half length portions 125,127 of the continuous loop string 101. While
The string 101 may be formed of any suitable flexible material such as cotton, nylon, plastic to provide for durability, longer useful life and smooth operation.
The string 101 extends through the first and second bores 107, 109 in the disk 103 with the outer ends of the string 101 located a distance beyond the disk 103. Additionally, additional disks 103 may be added to the string 101.
The pair of string holding devices 105 are respectively associated with the ends of the loop of string 101 as shown in
As shown more clearly in the enlarged view of
In use and with reference to
The user then oscillates his or her fingers and the string holding device 105 in a reciprocating manner back and forth or in and out, as shown by the arrows in
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the description herein of specific embodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed.
