The present invention relates to toy water guns, particularly those used by children for producing water discharges by the operation of a manual-type pump. The invention also relates to variable-fluid discharge devices particularly useful in such toy water guns.
A wide variety of toy water guns have been developed and are presently in use. The classical hand-operated toy water guns (commonly called “squirt” guns) are generally capable of producing a single type of discharge, namely a continuous stream discharge having a range according to the force applied by the user to the hand-operated pump, typically the trigger of the toy gun. In the past 20 years, a pre-pressurized “water drencher” type of toy water gun has become very popular since it is capable of discharging a large quantity of water at a relatively high pressure tending to soak or drench the target object. Also known are toy water guns, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,604,253, capable of selectively producing either a continuous stream discharge or a spray discharge.
My prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,229 discloses a multi-action toy water gun which includes, among other features, an expansible water discharge chamber which is filled and pressurized by a manual pumping device acting on a pumping chamber communicating with the discharge chamber. The discharge chamber further includes a pressure-responsive valve which is normally closed, but automatically opens when the pressure within the discharge chamber reaches a predetermined value. The valve opening is effected with a snap-action such that the water remains in the discharge chamber until the predetermined pressure is reached, at which time the snap-opening valve effects a quick and short discharge of the pressurized water within the chamber.
The invention may be embodied in a toy water gun wherein the chamber is of small volume, such that a small-quantity, short discharge of the water is produced immediately upon the snap-action opening of the valve. Such an embodiment is particularly useful for shooting at targets to improve marksmanship. However, the invention has also been commercially embodied in a single-action toy water gun wherein the chamber is of a large volume such that a large-quantity or blast discharge is produced for soaking or drenching purposes.
An object of the present invention is to provide a toy water gun having advantages in a number of respects over the toy water guns heretofore developed. A more particular object of the present invention is to provide a multiple-action toy water gun which can be selectively operated to produce either large quantity blast discharges for soaking or drenching purposes (e.g., to simulate a shotgun), a rapid sequence of small quantity discharges to simulate an automatic or semi-automatic gun, and/or individual small-quantity discharges for target purposes. A further object of the invention is to provide a fluid discharge device particularly useful in such toy water guns, but also useful in other applications, such as spray coating guns, grease guns, etc.
According to one broad aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multi-action toy water gun, comprising a housing including a gun barrel having a discharge chamber and a nozzle through which water is to be discharged; a handle grippable by one hand of a user for carrying the water gun and for aiming the barrel towards a target; a water reservoir for holding a quantity of water; a manually-driven pump having a pumping chamber and a handpiece grippable by the other hand of the user and reciprocatable along an axis parallel to that of the barrel for producing a discharge of water through the nozzle via said pumping and water-discharge chambers; and a water discharge control presettable by the user to different positions enabling the user to produce, during one preset position thereof, a large quantity blast discharge of water from the barrel towards the target for drenching purposes, and during another preset position thereof, a rapid sequence of small-quantity discharges of water for simulating rapid shots of an automatic gun.
In some described preferred embodiments, the presettable water discharge, control produces, during different preselected positions thereof, not only a large quantity blast discharge for drenching purposes, or a rapid sequence of small-quantity discharges of water simulating rapid fire of an automatic gun, but also a single small-quantity discharge simulating a single shot of a gun, e.g., for target purposes.
Such toy water guns have a number of advantages. Thus, they can be used in “combat situations” as a “battlefield tactic” against a “hostile enemy”, by distracting the enemy with single, small-quantity discharges until sufficiently close to surprisingly produce either a large-quantity blast discharge to drench or soak the enemy, or a rapid sequence of small-quantity discharges simulating rapid fire of an automatic gun. Another advantage is the fact that the toy water gun can also be used in “non-combat” situations, for discharging individual small-quantity shots, e.g., for target practice, marksman competitions, etc.
Several embodiments of the invention are described below for purposes of example.
One embodiment is described wherein the large-volume discharge chamber is a variable-volume chamber presettable to define either (a) a large-volume for receiving a large quantity of water to produce the large-quantity blast discharge during an actuation of the water discharge control, or (b) a small-volume for receiving a small quantity of water to produce the single small-quantity water discharges during the respective actuation of the water discharge control.
Other embodiments are described wherein the snap-action pressure-responsive valve includes: a valve opening in one wall of the variable-volume chamber; a stem fixed adjacent to the opposite wall on the side thereof facing the movable wall; a liquid inlet port through the stem; and a valve member carried by the stem and normally closing the valve opening in the opposite wall of the variable-volume chamber; the opposite wall of the variable-volume chamber being elastically deformable by the pressure within the variable-volume chamber such as to produce a snap-action opening of the valve member with respect to the valve opening upon the pressure within the chamber reaching the predetermined value.
In addition, the water discharge control further includes a second manually-driven pump having a volume substantially equal to that of each of the small-quantity discharges simulating a single shot of a gun.
In one described embodiment, the second manually-driven pump pumps the water into the discharge chamber for producing each of the small-quantity discharges each simulating a single shot of a gun. In a second described embodiment, the water discharge control further includes a small-volume discharge chamber for receiving water from the second manually-driven pump and for producing each of the small-quantity discharges each simulating a single shot of a gun.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provide a fluid discharge device, comprising a variable-volume chamber defined by walls at least one of which is movable; a manual control for manually presetting the volume of the chamber; a pump for pumping a fluid from a reservoir into the chamber; a valve opening in another of the walls of the chamber opposite to the movable wall; a stem located adjacent to the opposite wall on the side thereof facing the movable wall; a fluid inlet port through the stem; and a valve member carried by the stem and normally closing the valve opening in the opposite wall of the variable-volume chamber; the opposite wall of the chamber being elastically deformable by the pressure within the variable-volume chamber such as to produce a snap-action opening of the valve member with respect to the valve opening, upon the pressure within the variable-volume chamber reaching a predetermined value to thereby produce a discharge of the fluid from the variable-volume chamber according to the preset volume thereof.
Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the description below.
The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
It is to be understood that the foregoing drawings, and the description below, are provided primarily for purposes of facilitating understanding the conceptual aspects of the invention and possible embodiments thereof, including what is presently considered to be a preferred embodiment. In the interest of clarity and brevity, no attempt is made to provide more details than necessary to enable one skilled in the art, using routine skill and design, to understand and practice the described invention. It is to be further understood that the embodiments described are for purposes of example only, and that the invention is capable of being embodied in other forms and for other applications than described herein.
As indicated earlier, the invention provides a toy water gun comprising: a housing including a gun barrel having a discharge chamber and a nozzle through which water is to be discharged; a handle grippable by one hand of a user for carrying the water gun and for aiming the barrel towards a target; a water reservoir for holding a quantity of water; a manually-driven pump having a pumping chamber and a handpiece grippable by the other hand of the user and reciprocatable along an axis parallel to that of the barrel for producing a discharge of water through the nozzle via the pumping and discharge chambers; and a water discharge control presettable by the user to different positions enabling the user to produce, during one preset position thereof, a large quantity blast discharge of water from the barrel towards the target for drenching purposes, and during another preset position thereof, a rapid sequence of small-quantity discharges of water for simulating rapid shots of an automatic gun.
Several embodiments of the invention are described below for purposes of example. The described embodiments are generally based on the toy water gun concept described in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,229, but it will be appreciated that the invention could also be advantageously used in other constructions of toy water guns.
As illustrated particularly in
Pump 6 includes a cylinder defining a pumping chamber 6a, a piston 6b reciprocatable within the pumping chamber, and a handpiece 6c grippable by the other hand of the user for moving piston 6b in one direction (leftwardly,
The large-volume discharge chamber 5 is an expansible chamber closed at one end by a pressure-responsive valve schematically indicated at 7. Valve 7 is normally closed but automatically opens with a snap-action when the pressure within chamber 5 reaches a predetermined value, and automatically recloses, also with a snap-action, when the pressure within chamber 5 drops below a predetermined value. The predetermined value effecting the opening of the valve is presettable by a device schematically indicated at 7a in
It will thus be seen that when a water discharge is to be produced via nozzle 8, handpiece 6c of pump 6 is manually moved first outwardly (leftwardly) in order to draw water into pumping chamber 6a via feed line FL1 and check valve CV1, and then in the opposite direction (rightwardly) to force the water under pressure, via check valve CV2 and feed line FL2, into discharge chamber 5. As described earlier, discharge chamber 5 is normally closed by snap-action pressure-responsive valve 7, and remains closed until the pressure build-up within chamber 5 reaches a predetermined value, at which time valve 7 automatically opens with a snap-action to discharge the water in discharge chamber 5 via nozzle 8. It will thus be seen that there is no water discharge from chamber 5 until the pressure therein reaches a predetermined level, at which time water in chamber 5 is discharged as a large blast at a velocity/range according to the opening pressure of valve 7, as preset by presettable device 7a.
Housing 2 of the toy water gun further includes a small volume discharge chamber 15 operatively communicating with the water reservoir 4 via a small volume pump 16. Pump 16 includes a small volume pumping chamber 16a, a piston 16b displaceable within chamber 16a, and a handpiece 16c for displacing the piston. Pumping chamber 16a communicates with water reservoir 4 via another feed line FL3 and a check valve CV3 permitting water flow only into the pumping chamber. Pump 16 pumps water into the small-volume discharge chamber 15 via another feed line FL4, and a check valve CV4 which permits water to flow only outwardly of pumping chamber 16a into the small volume discharge chamber 15 upon the reciprocation of handpiece 16c.
The small volume discharge chamber 15 is also an expansible chamber, normally closed by a snapaction pressure-responsive valve schematically indicated at 17. Valve 17 automatically opens, by a snap action, upon the pressurization of the water within chamber 15 to a predetermined value, to thereby produce a small volume discharge via a nozzle 18. Nozzle 18 is at the end of a second barrel 19 (
The small volume water circuit, including the small volume pump 16 and the small volume discharge chamber 15, may be constructed substantially the same as the large-volume water circuit including the large-volume pump 6 and the large-volume discharge chamber 5, but appropriately dimensioned to handle the differences in volume involved in the two circuits. Thus, the volume of the large-volume discharge chamber 5 may be many times (e.g. 5 to 50 times) that of the small-volume discharge chamber 15 to produce the large-quantity blast discharge in the respective operation of the water discharge control.
The large volume circuit, including pump 6 and discharge chamber 5, further includes a flow rate selector FRS in the feed line FL2 between pumping chamber 6 and discharge chamber 5 for fixing the flow rate of the water into chamber 5. The structure described in my above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,229 may be used for this purpose, to enable the discharges from nozzle 8 to be preset according to the type of discharge desired, e.g.: as a large-quantity blast discharge for drenching purposes; or as a rapid sequence of small-quantity discharges for rapid fire purposes, e.g., as in an automatic gun.
The latter operation can be effected by designing the snap-action valve such that it automatically recloses at a slightly lower pressure than its opening pressure. Thus, during the first operation of pump 6, the full volume within pumping chamber 6a is transferred to the large-volume discharge chamber 5, to thereby prime the discharge chamber. The next operation of pump 6 will force the water therefrom via flow line FL2 and the flow rate selector FRS into the inlet of the large-volume discharge chamber 5, until the pressure is reached within that chamber to automatically open valve 7 with a snap-action. By designing valve 7 such that its reclosing will be at a slightly lower pressure than its opening pressure, a small discharge will be produced from its nozzle 8.
Thus, when the flow rate selector FRS, which preferably is in the form of a presettable restrictor as described below with respect to
Both the large-volume discharge chamber 5, and the small volume discharge chamber 15, may be constructed as described in the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,229, but scaled according to the volume of the water to be handled and discharged from the respective nozzles 8, 18. For convenience,
Thus, as shown in
As further shown in
Plate 40 includes an outer face 41, an inner face 42, and an inlet connector sleeve 43 passing through opening 32 in housing end wall 31, for inletting the water into chamber 15. Plate 50 includes an outer face 51 and an inner face 52. Outer face 51 is integrally formed with nozzle 18 passing through opening 35 in cover 34 for discharging the water from chamber 15. Both faces 41, 42 of plate 40 are formed with flat outer margins and with a plurality of concentric recesses decreasing in diameter inwardly from the margin towards the central sleeve 43. The recesses in the inner face 42 are aligned with the surfaces between the recesses in the outer face 41.
Plate 50 is of similar construction having outer and inner faces 51 and 52, with the concentric circular recesses on its inner face 52 being aligned with the recesses on the inner face 42 of plate 40. Plate 50 is further formed with a flat annular surface 54 coaxial with the inlet connector sleeve 43. Flat annular surface 54 serves as a valve seat in cooperation with a deformable valve member 60 located within chamber 15 for controlling the flow of water from that chamber via the outlet nozzle 18.
Deformable valve member 60 is of an elastomeric or rubber-like material and is fixed to the inner end of a stem 61 by a pin 62 having an enlarged head 63. Stem 61 is formed with a plurality of axially-extending, circumferentially-spaced, grooves 64 leading to a plurality of radially-extending grooves 65 facing the inner face of plate 40. Grooves 65 extend to points outwardly of valve member 60 so as to permit fluid to flow into chamber 15 via inlet connector 32.
Unit 30 housing the small-volume discharge chamber 15 is otherwise constructed and operates substantially as described in the above-cited U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,229.
The modification illustrated in
The large-volume discharge chamber 5 may be of a similar construction, but dimensioned to accommodate the large-volume of water to be received therein, rather than the small volume to be received within chamber 15. Thus, as indicated earlier, the large-volume of water within discharge chamber 5 is used to simulate a short blast discharge, e.g., for drenching or soaking purposes, or the rapid fire of an automatic gun; whereas the small volume within discharge chamber 15 is used to simulate a single gun shot, e.g., for targeting or marksmanship purposes.
The presettable flow rate selector FRS in the feed line FL2 to the large-volume discharge chamber 5, may also be of substantially the same construction described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,123,229, and is reproduced in
Thus, as shown in
Pin 70 may thus be rotated to raise its tip 70d out of contact with feed line FL2 to produce a maximum inflow of water into the large-volume discharge chamber 5, or to lower its tip to pinch the feed line FL2 in order to restrict the inflow rate as desired. As indicated above, producing a maximum inflow, i.e. at a rate greater than the outflow rate from discharge chamber 5, will retain valve 7 open, once opened, and will thereby produce a single, large-quantity, blast discharge for the complete stroke of pump 6. On the other hand, presetting pin 70 to pinch the water feed line FL2 sufficiently to restrict the flow inletted into discharge chamber 5 to a rate below the rate outletted from the chamber when valve 7 is opened, will produce a series of short small-volume discharges spaced from each other according to the reduced inletted flow rate. The flow rate may be so restricted such as to produce relatively small intervals between the individual discharges to therefore simulate the rapid fire of an automatic gun.
The user may thus select either a single large-volume blast discharge via nozzle 8, by rotating pin 70 in one direction, or a sequence of small-volume discharges simulating rapid fire of an automatic gun by rotating pin 70 in the opposite direction. The volume of the large-volume pump chamber 6a of pump 6 may be substantially the same as that of the large-volume discharge chamber 5. Thus, pump 6 would first be actuated in order to fill chamber 5, whereupon each subsequent actuation of the pump will produce the type of discharge described above according to the presetting of the flow rate selector FRS.
On the other hand, if a single small-volume discharge is desired via nozzle 18, this is produced by reciprocating handle 16c of the small-volume pump 16. The volume of pump-chamber 16a of this pump is substantially the same as the volume of the small-volume discharge chamber 15, so that the first reciprocation of the pump will fill chamber 15; whereas each subsequent reciprocation of the pump will produce a single small-volume discharge from nozzle 18 corresponding to the volume of cylinder 16a of the small-volume pump 16.
The operation of the toy water gun illustrated in
Thus, the flow-rate selector FRS, when included in the inlet line FL2 to the large-volume discharge chamber 5, may be preset in the manner described above according to the water flow rate desired for producing either a large-volume blast discharge or a sequence of small volume discharges from chamber 5 through its nozzle 8 during each operation of handpiece 6c. In addition, the velocity/range of the discharges from the large-volume discharge chamber 5, as well as from the small-volume chamber 15, may be preset by rotating collar 34 (
After the foregoing devices have been preset, water reservoir 4 is filled with water. For this purpose, the reservoir may be provided with a fill cap 4a covering an inlet port for filling the reservoir; alternatively, or in addition, the left end of water reservoir 4 may be provided with threads for attaching the reservoir to the housing, to permit separate filling of the reservoir and then, its attachment to the housing.
The toy water gun is now in condition for use, for producing any one of the three types of discharges from chamber 5 via nozzle 8, or from chamber 15 via nozzle 18. For this purpose, handle 3 of the gun is grasped by one hand and aimed at the intended target, while one of the handpieces 6c or 16c is grasped by the other hand and reciprocated in one direction, and then in the opposite direction, both parallel to the longitudinal axis of the gun barrel 9, to produce the respective type of discharge.
Thus, if a single small-volume discharge is desired, handpiece 16c is moved first rightwardly (
Whenever it is desired to produce a large-volume blast discharge, e.g. for soaking or drenching purposes, or a rapid sequence of small-volume discharges, handpiece 6c is first moved (leftwardly in
When the sound-producing feature illustrated in
As seen in
The toy water gun illustrated in
Thus, the toy water gun schematically illustrated in
In the embodiment of
Instead of having a second discharge chamber (corresponding to chamber 15 in
Thus, as shown in
Slot 124 is formed with a plurality of locking recesses 124a (
Variable-volume discharge chamber 105 also includes a snap-action pressure-responsive valve 107 at the outlet side of the chamber. However, since the volume of chamber 105 is presettable (by plunger 120 and handpiece 125), the structure of the valve is preferably somewhat different from that of
Thus, as shown in
The snap-action valve, constituted of valve member 160, operates in substantially the same manner as described above with respect to
As in
Further, as in
The toy water gun illustrated in
The volume of chamber 105 may be manually preset by grasping handpiece 125 and moving it within slot 124 of the housing, to thereby move the plunger 120 to any desired position within chamber 105. The plunger may be locked in the selected position by merely pivoting the handpiece slightly to move the rod section 123a into a selected recess 124a of the slot, as shown in
Thus, if a high-volume discharge is desired, plunger 120 would be preset by handpiece 125 to the rightmost (full-line) position of the plunger, whereby chamber 105 will have a large-volume, corresponding to the volume of chamber 5 in
If a large-volume blast discharge is desired, the flow rate selector FRS would have been preset to its maximum open position, to permit the large-volume chamber 105 to rapidly refill at a rate equal to, preferably larger than, its discharge rate. If, on the other hand, a sequence of small-volume discharges is desired (e.g. to simulate the rapid fire of an automatic gun), the flow rate selector FRS would have been preset to a restricted open position, so as to restrict the inflow rate into discharge chamber 105 to be lower than its discharge rate in the valve-open position, and thereby cause the valve automatically to reclose each time a small quantity of the water has been discharged.
However, when plunger 120 is moved (leftwardly) and locked in another position, it defines a smaller-volume discharge chamber 105. During this mode, single-shot, small-volume discharges would be produced.
The volume of water in each discharge will be determined by the preset position of plunger 102, and the spacing of the discharges will be determined by the preset position of the flow rate selector FRS.
Valve member 160 and valve opening 154 may also include rigid (e.g. metal or hard plastic) rings or surfaces (54a. 65a,
Handpiece 125 may also be used to substantially empty discharge chamber 105 of water when the gun is no longer to be used, by moving the handpiece (leftwardly,
When plunger 120 is moved in the opposite direction, i.e., rightwardly in
Thus, the toy water gun illustrated in
As distinguished from the construction in
In order to produce the one-shot small-volume discharges, the toy water gun illustrated in
It will thus be seen that once the large-volume pump 206 has been actuated to fill discharge chamber 205, a subsequent actuation of the pump 206 will produce either the large-volume blast discharge, or the sequence of small-volume rapid-fire discharges, according to the setting of the flow rate selector FRS. Both types of discharges will be via nozzle 208. On the other hand, whenever a single-shot small-volume discharge is desired, e.g. for targeting or marksmanship purposes, trigger 251 is pivoted to squeeze bulb 252 and thereby to force water from the bulb into chamber 205 until its valve 207 opens to produce a single-shot small-volume discharge via nozzle 208.
In substantially all other respects, the toy water gun illustrated in
It will thus be seen that when handle 315c of pump 315 is reciprocated, the water therein will be pumped via flow rate selector FRS into the input end of discharge chamber 305, which will discharge a relatively small quantity of water via its nozzle 308 when the pressure builds up to that preset in the pressure-sensitive valve 307. If flow rate selector FRS had been preset for maximum flow, an inflow into discharge chamber 305 great than the outflow therefrom in the valve-open position, the quick movement of handle 315c of pump 315 in the pumping direction (rightwardly,
To facilitate understanding, the elements in the discharge chamber construction listed in
Thus, as shown in
In addition, the valve member 460 is fixed by a pin 461 passing through a tubular formation 462 in wall 40 of the discharge chamber 15 and having an enlarged head 463 facing the inserts 54a circumscribing the opening in wall 50 defining the valve opening. In this case, however, head 463 is enlarged so as to engage insert 54a during each closing of the valve, and thereby to produce a sound impact simulating a shot of a gun during each closing of the valve. Insert 54a and enlarged head 463 of pin 461 may both be made of metal or of a hard plastic so as to produce an impact sound with each closing of the valve.
As indicated earlier, such a modification not only more conveniently permits the inlet flow rate into chamber 15 to be larger than the outlet flow-rate from the chamber during the open position of the valve, e.g. during a blast discharge mode of operation of the gun, thereby better assuring that the valve will remain open for the full blast discharge, but also inlets the water laterally of the valve member, rather than coaxially therewith as in the
Otherwise, the discharge chamber illustrated in
While the invention has been described with respect to several preferred embodiments, it will be appreciated that many other variations may be made. For example, the large-volume discharges could be produced by pre-pumping as in the toy water guns heretofore used. In addition, other manual pumping arrangements could be used for one or both of the discharge chambers in
It will be further appreciated that in the
It will also be appreciated that the arrangement illustrated in the embodiment of
Many other variations, modifications and applications of the invention will be apparent.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/193,197 filed on Nov. 4, 2008, 61/136,571 filed on Sep. 16, 2008 and 61/136,018 filed on Aug. 6, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61193197 | Nov 2008 | US | |
61136018 | Aug 2008 | US | |
61136571 | Sep 2008 | US |