Patent Application
20150296747
One of the many joys of dog ownership is purchasing a new toy for man's best friend and getting hours of entertainment out of the toy that is beneficial for both dog and owner alike. However, many dogs attain satisfaction from dismantling an object or toy without much thought about the mess it creates or the owner's bank account for replacing the object or toy.
Accordingly, the art of animal toys would benefit from a more durable toy that provides the ability to be repeatedly dismantled and reassembled.
The present invention relates to a more durable rubber toy that is constructed to be repeatedly dismantled and reassembled, thus providing a dog with the satisfaction of ripping something apart but not requiring the purchase of a replacement toy. The present invention comprises a plurality of rubber members, each component comprising an appendage and a pocket, whereby the appendage of one member may be repeatedly removably engaged within the pocket of another member.
One object of the present invention is to provide a rubber toy member, as part of a rubber toy system, the rubber toy member having a body with an exterior surface, a pocket within the body, an appendage extending outward from the body, and an access opening on the body opposite the appendage extending from the exterior surface to the pocket.
The appendage may have a neck portion which extends outward from the body into an interlock portion. The interlock portion may be substantially frustoconical. Additionally or alternatively, the interlock portion may have a distal end, with a distal end diameter, and a proximal end, with a proximal end diameter; the distal end diameter may be smaller than the proximal end diameter.
The access opening may have a substantially circular entrance hole with a pair of oppositely disposed slots extending radially outward from the entrance hole and along the body. The entrance hole may have a tapered entrance surface, an inner diameter at the pocket and an exterior diameter at the exterior surface of the body, wherein the inner diameter is smaller than the exterior diameter.
The pair of oppositely disposed slots may have a length of approximately the same dimension as the exterior diameter of the entrance hole.
The exterior surface may have textural features. The textural features may be at least one of a plurality of domes, a plurality of channels, or a plurality of ridges.
The pocket may extend throughout a majority of the body.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rubber toy system having a plurality of rubber toy members, each member comprising a body having an exterior surface, a pocket within the body, an appendage extending outward from the body, and an access opening on the body opposite the appendage extending from the exterior surface to the pocket; wherein the appendage of one rubber member is removably receivable within the pocket of another rubber member.
The appendage may have a neck portion which extends outward from the body into an interlock portion. The interlock portion may be substantially frustoconical. The interlock portion may have a distal end, with a distal end diameter, and a proximal end, with a proximal end diameter; the distal end diameter may be smaller than the proximal end diameter.
The access opening may have a substantially circular entrance hole with a pair of oppositely disposed slots extending radially outward from the entrance hole and along the body.
The entrance hole may have a tapered entrance surface, an inner diameter at the pocket, and an exterior diameter at the exterior surface of the body, wherein the inner diameter is smaller than the exterior diameter.
The pair of oppositely disposed, slots may have a length of approximately the same dimension as the exterior diameter of the entrance hole.
The exterior surface may have textural features. The textural features may be at least one of a plurality of domes, a plurality of channels, or a plurality of ridges.
The plurality of rubber toy members may comprise at least one of a ring or an elongated member.
Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structures. While the preferred embodiment has been described, the details may be changed without departing from the invention, which is defined by the claims.
A rubber toy system 10 is illustrated in
Looking now to
The neck portion 142 has a length L1 and a diameter D3. The neck portion length L1 is preferably substantially the same, if not slightly larger than, the wall thickness T.
The interlock portion 132 shown here is preferably substantially frustoconical; however, other shapes are within the purview of the present invention. The interlock portion 132 has a frustum cone section 134 and a convexly curved surface section 140. The frustum cone section 134 has a distal end 136 with a diameter D1 and a proximal end 138 with a diameter D2. Preferably diameter D1 is smaller than diameter D2 and the frustum cone 134 increases in diameter at a constant rate from diameter D1 to diameter D2. At the proximal end 138 of the frustum cone section 134, the appendage 130 decreases in diameter from D2 along the curved surface section 140 to the diameter D3 of the neck portion 142. As shown here, the rate of change in diameter from diameter D1 to diameter D2 is less than the rate of change in diameter from diameter D2 to diameter D3.
The access opening 150 comprises a substantially circular entrance hole 152 and a pair of oppositely disposed slots 156 extending radially outward from the entrance hole 152 and circumferentially along the body 110. The entrance hole 152 has a tapered entrance surface 154 having dimensions substantially similar to that of the frustum cone section 134. The entrance hole 152 has an inner diameter D4 of substantially approximately the same size as frustum cone diameter D1 and increases in diameter up to an exterior diameter D5 at substantially the same rate of increase as the frustum cone section 134 from distal end diameter D1 to proximal end diameter D2.
As shown in
FIGS. 4 and 5A-5E illustrate the second member 200 in greater detail. The body 210 of the second member 200 comprises a bow-tie-like shape. The body 210 has an exterior surface 212 and may comprise textural features shown here as, but not limited to, a plurality of protruding domes 214 and/or a plurality of protruding wavy ridges 216. Similar to the first member 100, the appendage 230 extends radially outward from the body 210 of the second member 200, and opposite the appendage 230 is the access opening 250 to the pocket 220.
The appendage 230 comprises an interlock portion 232 and a neck portion 242. Similar to the first member 100, the interlock section 232 is preferably substantially frustoconical, but other shapes are within the purview of the present invention. The interlock portion 232 has a frustum cone section 234 and a convexly curved surface section 240. The frustum cone section 234 has a distal end 236 and a proximal end 238. The cylindrical neck portion 242 is also substantially similar to the neck portion 142 of the first member 100. The dimensions of the interlock portion 232 and the neck portion 242 (D1′, D2′, D3′, L′) are substantially similar to the corresponding dimensional designations of the first member appendage 130.
The access opening 250 has an entrance hole 252 with a tapered entrance surface 254, and opposing slots 256 terminating with circular end sections 258. The dimensions of the access opening 250 of the second member 200 (D4′, D5′, L2′) are substantially similar to the corresponding dimensional designations of the first member access opening 150 discussed above.
As shown in
Accordingly, the external force F, as discussed above with respect to the first member 100 in
It can also be seen in
Looking to
The coupled rubber toy system of
Looking now to
It should be noted that various combinations of rubber toy members 100 or 200 may be used to form the elongated assembly 12 or the ring assembly 14, and therefore should not be limited to only the configurations shown.
The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Furthermore, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to chose skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described. While the preferred embodiment has been described, the details may be changed without departing from the invention, which is defined by the claims.
