Shooting target

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6557855
  • Patent Number
    6,557,855
  • Date Filed
    Friday, April 27, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, May 6, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Graham; Mark S.
    Agents
    • Bacon & Thomas
Abstract
A shooting target. The shooting target includes a base with a battery chamber, a speaker and casing mounted thereon. The casing houses a gear box therein. Above the casing, there are a counter, a moving target and a lighting section. The gear box has a gear set and a driving motor. At the front and rear outer side of the gear box, there are respectively first and second cam devices pivotally disposed thereon. The counter is located above the gear box for automatically counting the toppling number of the moving target. when the moving target is hit and toppled, an audio and visual effect will be generated.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




This invention relates to a shooting toy and particularly a shooting toy that is capable of generating audio and visual effect, and producing toppling and vibration movement for increasing amusement and entertainment effect in a shooting game.




In amusement parks and galleries, shooting game is a popular playing activity. However it needs a group of people to take part in the game at the same time to fully enjoy the fun and thrill of the game. To find and gather people required at the same time is not easy. Moreover, the shooting could cause physical injury to the players. In order to remedy these disadvantages, there are other kinds of shooting games being developed which use human or animal puppets made of paper, wood, plastic or the like as moving targets. The targets will be toppled when hit. While it eliminates the risks of people injury and may be played individually, the toppled targets have to be erected again manually. There is not much change and it loses appealing easily.




To further improve the appealing of the game, some producers have included electronic and touch sensitive elements in the shooting targets. When the touch sensitive elements are being hit, the electronic elements will generate audio and visual effect and increases the amusement effect.




Nevertheless, there are still some shortcomings, notably:




1. Conventional electronic type shooting targets use electronic elements which tend to have high defective rate, and are difficult to repair and may result in waste of costs.




2. Conventional electronic type shooting targets are moisture sensitive and are prone to break down when damped.




3. Conventional electronic type shooting targets consume a lot of electric power.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of this invention to provide a shooting target that will topple immediately when hit, and will generate audio and visual effect to increase the entertainment and amusement effect.




The shooting target according to this invention constitutes mainly a base with a battery chamber, a speaker and a casing mounted thereon. In the casing, there is a gear box. Above the casing, there are a counter, a moving target and a lighting section. The gear box has a gear set and a driving motor. The front and rear side of the gear box engage respectively and pivotally with a first and second cam means. The counter is located above the gear box for counting the toppling number of the moving target automatically. When the moving target is hit, it will topple immediately, and an audio and visual effect will be generated in the mean time.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS




The invention, as well as its many advantages, may be further understood by the following detailed description and drawings, in which:





FIG. 1

is a front view of this invention.





FIG. 2

is a schematic front view of a gear box structure of this invention.





FIG. 3

is a schematic rear view of a gear box structure of this invention.





FIG. 4

is another schematic view of the gear box, showing the press rocker.





FIG. 5

is a schematic view of the counter structure of this invention.





FIG. 6A

is a schematic view of the first cam means of this invention.





FIG. 6B

is a schematic view of the first cam means shown in

FIG. 6A

in motion.





FIG. 7

is a schematic view of the moving target of this invention.





FIG. 8A

is a schematic view of the second cam means of this invention.





FIG. 8B

is a schematic view of the second cam means shown in

FIG. 8A

in motion.





FIG. 9A

is a schematic view of a slide block coupled with the moving target of this invention.





FIG. 9B

is a schematic view of the slide block and moving target shown in

FIG. 9A

in motion.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 1

,


2


and


3


, this invention mainly includes a base


10


covered by a casing


20


for housing a gear box


30


therein. Above the casing


20


, there are a counter


40


and a moving target


50


.




The base


10


has a battery chamber


11


for housing batteries therein to provide electric power supply and a speaker


12


for generating audio sound. At one side of the base


10


, there is a gear box


30


.




At two sides of the top end of the casing


20


, there are lighting sections


21


. The counter


40


and moving target


50


are located between the lighting sections


21


. The counter


40


is for counting the number of toppling of the moving target


50


.




The gear box


30


includes a gear set and a driving motor


301


which engages with a motor gear


302


. The motor gear


302


engages with a first gear


311


which concentrically attaches to a first pinion


312


. The first pinion


312


then engages with a second gear


313


which concentrically attaches to a second pinion


314


. The second pinion


314


engages with a third gear


321


mounted on a third spindle


320


. The third gear


321


concentrically attaches to a third pinion


322


. The third pinion


322


engages with a fourth gear


324


mounted on a fourth spindle


323


. The fourth gear


324


concentrically attaches to a fourth pinion


325


which in turn attaches to a star gear


329


and engages with a fifth gear


327


mounted on a fifth spindle


326


. The fifth spindle


326


has a first spring


328


mounted thereon. There is a press rocker


33


located below the fourth gear


324


. The press rocker


33


has a protrusive block


331


located at a lower portion and extended outside the gear box


30


, and a stub


332


located at an upper portion and extended outside the gear box


30


. At one side of the second gear


313


, there is a first ratchet


34


which has one end formed an extended bar


341


.




Referring to

FIGS. 1 and 5

, the counter


40


is located above the gear box


30


and includes an upper cap


41


and a seat


42


with a wheel


43


pivotally located therebetween. The wheel


43


has numerals 0, 1-10 formed at the perimeter surface thereof. At one side of the wheel


43


, there is a second ratchet


431


which is engageable with a pawl


441


of a rocker lever


44


. Through a blocking member


421


and the second ratchet


431


and pawl


441


, the wheel


43


may be turned in only one direction. The rocker lever


44


has one end extended outwards to form a cylindrical strut


442


. The seat


42


has a moving block


45


located therein which has one end extended downwards outside the seat


42


and another end contact the strut


442


. Thereby when the moving block


45


is being pushed once, the rocker lever


44


will move the wheel


43


one segment and be counted one time.




Referring to

FIGS. 7

,


8


A and


9


A, the moving target


50


is formed in substantially a human shape and includes a moving element


51


which has four pivotally moving members serving as human limbs. The moving element


51


extends downwards to form a contact blade


511


which may be moved to sway the moving element


51


like a human in motion. The moving target


50


further has a flip blade


52


which has one end formed a first hook


521


and another end engaged with a pivot shaft


522


. One side of the pivot shaft


522


engages with a restore spring


523


. At the outer side of the moving target


50


, there is a hitting plate


53


which has an inner side pivotally engaged with a plurality of springs


531


. At the center of the hitting plate


53


, there is a light shade


532


.




Referring to

FIGS. 6A and 6B

, there is a first cam means located at the front side of the gear box


30


that includes a first cam


61


mounted on the fifth spindle


326


and is turnable by the fifth spindle


326


. Above the first cam


61


, there is a first rocker arm


62


which has one end pivotally engaged with one side of the gear box


30


such that one end is pivotally stationary and another end is movable according to the peripheral contour of the first cam


61


thereby to move the moving block


45


of the counter


40


up and down. The first cam


61


further has a first slide element


63


bent inwards (also shown in

FIG. 2

) which has a lower end formed a strut


631


bent inwards into the gear box


30


above the extended bar


341


of the first ratchet


34


.




Referring to

FIGS. 8A and 8B

, there is a second cam means located at the rear side of the gear box


30


that includes a second cam


71


mounted on the fifth spindle


326


and is turnable by the fifth spindle


326


. Above the second cam


71


, there is second rocker arm


72


which has one end pivotally engaged with one side of the gear box


30


such that one end is pivotally stationary and another end is movable up and down according to the peripheral contour of the second cam


71


. The second rocker arm


72


has an inner side pivotally engaged with a second slide element


73


which has an upper end formed a second hook


731


engageable with the first hook


521


of the moving target


50


. The second slide element


73


may be moved up and down by the rocker arm


72


so that the second hook


731


will engage the first hook


521


for erecting the toppled moving target


50


again.




Referring to

FIGS. 5A and 8B

, there is further a cam switch means located at the rear outer side of the gear box


30


and at one side of the second cam means, and includes a third cam


81


pivotally mounted on the third spindle


320


. There are an upper and a lower elastic elements


82


and


83


located respectively above and below the third cam


81


. The turning of the third spindle


320


will turn the third cam


81


to make contact or cut off contact with the upper and lower elastic elements


82


and


83


thereby to switch the IC for activating audio and visual effect desired.




When in use at a normal state, the speaker


12


will generate sound and lighting section


21


will generate light, and the driving motor


301


drives the gears rotating, the star gear


326


drives the first ratchet


34


for the extended bar


341


to push the strut


631


, thereby the first slide element


63


pushes the contact blade


511


to move the moving element


51


for swaying the limbs to become a moving target


50


and being accompanied with the audio and visual effect.




When the hitting plate


53


is hit and the moving target


50


is toppled, the IC for speech, sound and visual effect is activated (for generating music or hitting sound of selected types), the hitting plate


53


presses against the pivot shaft


522


to separate the first hook


521


from the second hook


731


thereby to make the moving target


50


toppled immediately. The second slide element


73


slides downwards and presses the protrusive block


331


and pushes the press rocker


33


inwards, the stub


332


will be pulled inwards at the same time, the second cam


71


may be turned, and the star gear


329


is separated from the first ratchet


34


, and the fifth gear


327


engages with the fourth pinion


325


thereby to drive the fifth spindle


326


rotating, and consequently drive the first cam


61


turning, and also make the first rocker arm


62


push the moving block


45


to make the counter


40


counting once. In the mean time, the second cam


71


turns with the fifth spindle


326


and raises the second rocker arm


72


, the second slide element


73


is also being lifted to erect the toppled moving target


50


, and the protrusive block


331


is extended outwards again to stop the second slide element


73


from sliding downwards so that the second hook


731


will engage with the first hook


521


to enable the moving target


50


standing upright again for use in the next shooting cycle.




By means of gears and cam structure set forth above, the moving target


50


will topple immediately when hit, and generates audio and visual effect to create desired amusement results. It thus effectively overcomes the deficiency of conventional electronic moving target such as high defective rate, difficult to repair, water impairing and waste of electric power.



Claims
  • 1. A shooting target, comprising:a base having a battery chamber, a speaker and a casing mounted thereon housing a gear box in the casing, the gear box including a gear set and a driving motor and a first and a second cam means pivotally located at a front and a rear side of the gear box; a moving target and a lighting section constituted light emitting elements located above the casing; a counter located on the casing above the gear box for automatically counting the toppling number of the moving target; and wherein the moving target is toppled immediately when hit, upon which an audio and visual effect is generated.
  • 2. The shooting target of claim 1, wherein the moving target includes a moving element which has four pivotal moving members serving as human limbs, the moving element extending downwards to form a contact blade for moving and swaying the moving members like human limbs, the moving target further having a flip blade which has one end formed as a first hook and another end engaged with a pivot shaft, the pivot shaft being engaged with a restoring spring, the moving target further having a hitting plate located at an outer side thereof, the hitting plate having an inner side pivotally engaged with a plurality of springs and a light shade located at the center thereof.
  • 3. The shooting target of claim 1, wherein the gear box includes a driving motor which engages with a motor gear, the gear set including a first gear, a first pinion, a second gear, a second pinion, a third spindle, a third gear, a third pinion, a fourth spindle, a fourth gear, a fourth pinion, a star gear, a fifth spindle, a fifth gear, a first spring, a press rocker located below the fourth gear having a protrusive block and a stub extended outside the gear box, and a first ratchet located at one side of the second gear having an extended bar formed at one end thereof.
  • 4. The shooting target of claim 1, wherein the counter is located above the gear box and includes an upper cap and a seat and a wheel located therebetween with numerals formed at the perimeter surface of the wheel, and a ratchet located at one side of the wheel, the ratchet being engageable with a pawl of a rocker lever, and through a blocking member and the ratchet and pawl for turning the wheel in one direction, the rocker lever having one end extended outwards to form a cylindrical strut, the seat having a moving block located therein which has one end extended outside the seat and another end contact the strut.
  • 5. The shooting target of claim 1 further having a cam switch means located at a rear outer side of the gear box and at one side of the second cam means, and including a third cam means pivotally mounted on a spindle and an upper elastic element and a lower elastic element located respectively above and below the third cam means which is turnable by the spindle to make contact or cut off contact with the upper and lower elastic elements and thereby to switch an IC for activating audio and visual effect desired.
  • 6. The shooting target of claim 1, wherein the first cam means includes a first cam and a first rocker arm located above the first cam, the first rocker arm having one end pivotally engaged with one side of the gear box such that one end thereof is pivotally stationary and another end is movable, the first cam further having a first slide element bent inwards which has a lower end formed as a strut bent inwards into the gear box above an extended bar of a first ratchet.
  • 7. The shooting target of claim 1, wherein the second cam means includes a cam and a rocker arm located above the cam, the rocker arm having one end pivotally engaged with one side of the gear box such that one end is pivotally stationary and another end is movable up and down according to the perimeter contour of the cam, the rocker arm having an inner side pivotally engaged with a slide element which has an upper end formed as a second hook engageable with a first hook formed at the moving target such that the slide element is slidable up and down with the up and down movement of the rocker arm.
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