With the advent of computer games, and the like, children and adults modernly do not play games of skill and physically interactive games with each other as much as in years prior to the introduction of computers, electronic games, and smart phones.
Games involving dexterity and hand and eye coordination in the real world, using actual game components, have thus gone lacking as has the exercise and excitement provided by such outdoor physical games. This is especially true for games played outdoors in the late day or evening where it may be hard to view and employ the components of the game in dim light.
As such their exists an unmet need for a game of skill and fun which will interest adults and children sufficiently to tear their attention away from computer screens and digital games and cause them to enjoy the playing of games of skill indoors. Such a game should be playable during the day, whether outdoors and indoors. Further, such a game should also be configured to play in the nighttime or dim lighting and concurrently provide players an active means to entertain themselves with an interactive game.
Still further, such a game should be employable in multiple modes using differing components to allow variable play of the game between players as well as allow users to play with animals.
The forgoing examples of related art and limitation related therewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive, and they do not imply any limitations on the invention described and claimed herein. Various limitations of the related art will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading and understanding of the specification below and the accompanying drawings.
An object of the instant invention is to provide a game system which is fun to play and develops skills for balance and hand to eye coordination and has multiple modes of play.
Another object of this invention is to provide such a game system which can be played indoors or outdoors, during the day or in the evening, as a means for players to entertain each other and themselves.
An additional object of this invention is the provision of a game and components allowing for multiple modes of play using a spinning disk which may be balanced on a support rod, passed between players on such rods, and thrown distances between players or for use in fetch games with animals.
Other objects and advantages will become obvious when taken into consideration with the following drawings and specifications.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention, as well as the advantages thereof over existing prior art, which will become apparent from the description to follow, are accomplished by the improvements described in this specification and hereinafter described in the following detailed description which fully discloses the invention, but should not be considered as placing limitations thereon.
In accordance with the purposes of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the present invention provides a spinning disk employable for tossing between users, playing fetch with an animal such as a dog, and for employment in a game system requiring balance upon supports, which is fun to play. In either the toss or rod-balancing mode of play, the game and components develop hand to eye coordination, balance, and other physical skills for the player.
The system in the balancing and game mode, features an elongated rod having a proximal end area adapted for gripping by the hand of the players. The rod has a distal end configured for supporting a rotating disk thereon, as well as passing that disk to another player during game play.
The disks are configured on a bottom surface with a circular recess depending to a focal point substantially centered within a projecting annular wall extending to a distal end from the bottom surface. The formed recess is conical in configuration having a slanted sidewall depending to a single focal point of the conical wall, such that the disk will spin and stay centered on the distal end of the rod during the rod-balancing mode of play. The construction of the disk forming the recess depending into the lower surface also includes a sidewall projecting away from the lower surface surrounding the recess. The annular sidewall extends to a distal end preferably at a slight angle inward, say 2 to 20 degrees, toward a line running perpendicular to the focal point of the recess, and which defines the circumference of the conical cavity or recess.
The length of the projection of the sidewall from its engagement with the bottom surface of the disk, to the distal end, defines a gap and a raised support which will space the circumferential edge of the disk, from the ground or playing surface on which the distal end of the sidewall comes to rest. The formed gap provided by this spacing of the circumferential edge of the disk, renders the disk easy to pick up off the underlying playing surface for kids, and especially dogs who might have trouble doing so if the circumferential edge were to contact the playing surface on landing as with normal throwing disks.
On the top surface or opposite side of the spinning disk from the bottom surface, a number of engaged or engageable components may be included for providing users with different modes of play of the game or operation of the spinning disk.
In one preferred mode as noted, the frustoconical recess depending into the lower or first side of the disk, includes a projecting sidewall surrounding the circumference of the recess which extends away from the lower surface at a slight angle to a distal end. The recess also extends from the base of the sidewall to a common or focal point of the frustoconical wall of the recess by forming a projecting area into a center area of the body of the disk which can be seen by a projecting of this central area when viewed from the upper surface.
This configuration is especially well suited for play of the game where the disk is rotated by the user using the distal end of the rod against the interior surface of the sidewall, to spin the disk. Once spinning, the disk will balance upon the distal end of a rod at the focal point of the frustoconical recess. In this balanced spinning engagement, the disk can be held upon the distal end of the rod or passed to other players having a similar rod during the game.
For nighttime play the disk can be illuminated. Such illumination can be provided by forming the disk body of polymeric or similar material, or coating the exterior surfaces of the body of the disk, with material which glows in the dark. In this mode, the players can see their respective disks rotating on their held rods during play while in darkness or dim light.
Alternatively, a housing can be provided which is engaged or removably engageable to the top surface of the body of the disk. This housing can include illumination components such as LEDs or light bulbs, sound generating components such as buzzers or loudspeakers. Also included will be electric powered components such as a switch to cause electric power from a battery to be communicated to the light emitter such as an LED or light bulb. This switch can also connect the loudspeaker to an onboard processor having electronic sounds in electronic memory to cause the device to emit stored sounds.
Such sounds can be stored in electronic memory by connecting a computing a device thereto in a wired or wireless connection, and causing music or sounds to be stored to memory. These sounds can be then amplified by the onboard processor and communicated to the speaker when switched to do so by spinning of the disk. Such a switch can be an accelerometer engaged with the onboard processor which can have a CPU and other circuits required and which need not be described in detail as such are well known in the art. Or the switch may be manually activated, or mechanically activated by centrifugal force of the spinning disk to cause one or both of illumination and sound to be emitted by the spinning disk.
Additionally, the processor can be configured to run software to operate the switching and sound and illumination when triggered to do so by the centrifugally activated switch, and may be programmed to delay cessation of sound and/or light emission by the device for a duration of time after spinning has ceased, to allow it to be found in the dark. Any centrifugally actuated switch which closes to connect a circuit when spun can be employed.
In use, in combination with the rod for balancing play, the game can take on a number of modes such as each player having a rod and spinning disk where the winner is a player who can maintain the disk spinning on the rod the longest. Additionally, the play of the game can include at least one player with a rod without a rotating disk, and at least one player with a rod supporting a rotating disk. The two players take turns passing the rotating disk between their respective hand-held rods with the loser of any round being the player who drops the disk from their held rod.
Alternatively, the disk has been configured to also be employed in a tossing mode of the game, for games of tossing the spinning disk between multiple players or for playing fetch with an animal such as a dog. Unlike conventional spinning plates which terminate at a distal end of an upwardly angled wall around the circumference of a conventional disk, the spinning disk herein includes an annular secondary downward angled wall extending to the circumferential edge. It has been found during experimentation that including this downward annular wall significantly increased the stability of the disk, when spinning on a rod, and imparted lift to the disk when thrown along a line to another player with forward motion, thereby allowing a tossing mode of the game.
Further, the sidewall extending from the first or lower side of the body of the body of the disk, which provides a race to engage the distal end of the rod to initiate spinning thereon, has been found in experimentation to provide a secondary and important function when the spinning disk is thrown and subsequently lands upon a support surface or the ground. The length of the circular sidewall extending from the bottom of the body to a distal end, and which surrounds the conical cavity, defines a gap which forms between the circumferential edge of the body, and the underlying ground or playing surface.
This formed gap renders the disk especially well configured for use in playing fetch with animals such as dogs, because the circumferential edge of the disk will be spaced the distance of the gap from the landing surface. This formed gap between the circumferential edge of the body of the disk, and the underlying surface, has been found to provide space for the lower jaw of the animal to place the disk in their mouth and renders the disk much easier to pick up for animals for subsequent return to the human throwing the disk.
In another mode of the invention herein the disk is customizable with an engageable second disk or engageable housing, which is configured with a first fastener which engages to a cooperating fastener on the top surface of the body of the spinning disk. The secondary disk or housing can be shaped to stabilize the rotation and reduce wobble of the first or main disk. Additionally, the secondary disk can be formed to include one or both of the sound emitters and illumination emitters previously described, and can have indicia thereon which identifies the user of engaged spinning disk.
Still further as noted the spinning disk can be configured with such light emitters such as light bulbs or LED lights thereon and/or sound emitters and the required power and electronics and switching, either by engagement of a housing to the top surface of the body of the spinning disk in the same engagement of the second disk. Such a housing or the body of the disk itself can include a power source such as a battery which is switched to power illumination components such as LEDs and sound using a centrifugal switch or preferably, when the disk reaches a particular RPM speed when being tossed or balanced on the end of a rod.
In this mode by including sound emitters and light emitters and rotational activation thereof, multiple users in the evening can spin respective disks on respective rods and the light emitters can be switched to change to varying colors depending on the speed of the individual disks. This can be accomplished by using multiple colored light emitters which are activated by a centrifugal switch depending on the speed of rotation. The winner may be the player who spins sufficiently fast so as to illuminate particular colored LEDs that only illuminate at higher RPMs.
Sound emitters can also be included and an accelerometer engaged with an onboard microchip and/or controller can provide a means to vary the light color emitted and the sound emitted, based on the rotation speed or directional vector of the spinning disk either during tossing or balancing on the rod.
Whether engaged to the body of the disk itself, or in a housing engaged to the body of the disk, it is important that the components such as sound emitters, light emitters, connective circuits, battery and switch, all be positioned to balance around a center point of the housing or the body of the disk. This can be accomplished by calculating the weight of each and positioning the various components around a center balancing point during manufacture, such that when spinning, they do not impair the balance of the spinning disk.
As can be surmised, the game either when tossing the disk or balancing the disk or playing fetch with the disk, will develop hand to eye coordination as well as visual skills and other skills related to the acts of balancing the disk on the rod and catching it in mid air. Further developed, is the art of initially spinning up the disk to an RPM where it will balance on the distal end of the rod, while holding the rod in a separate hand.
Preferably the body of the rotating disk is made from lightweight polymeric material such as plastic so as to make it easier to hold aloft for long periods. Lightweight metal, wood, fiberglass, or plastic would work well for the rod. The plastic material for either component can be impregnated or coated with glowing material, such as phosphorescent paint, which will glow in the dark to render the disk and rod viewable in dim light or the dark.
In the modes where a housing or second disk is engaged with the upper surface, such engagement is preferably by complimentary attachment points on both the spinning disk and housing to allow for easy engagement and in the modes where batteries must be replaced, easy disengagement and re-engagement. Such, for instance, can be an aperture formed in one of the housing or spinning disk and an insert which is frictionally engageable within the aperture.
With respect to the above description, before explaining at least one preferred embodiment of the herein disclosed disk game invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The device herein described and disclosed in the various modes and combinations is also capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways which will be obvious to those skilled in the art. Any such alternative configuration as would occur to those skilled in the art is considered within the scope of this patent. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for designing of spinning disk games and for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosed device. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction and methodology insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated herein and form a part of the specification, illustrate some but not the only nor exclusive examples of embodiments and/or features of the disclosed device. It is intended that the embodiments and figures disclosed herein are to be considered illustrative of the invention herein, rather than limiting in any fashion. In the drawings:
Now referring to drawings in
In the mode of the device 10 as employed for a balancing game or tossing, the body 11 defining the disk 12 and/or the rod 16 may be configured with light emitters such as light bulbs or LEDs 15 such as those shown in
Engaged with onboard batteries 41 such light emitters such as a light bulb or LED 15 will allow the disk 12 to communicate illumination in the dark thereby allowing the body 11 of the spinning disk 12 to be seen for evening play when balancing on the rod 16 or tossing. The sound emitters 45 such as loudspeakers and any data processors 47 or electronic components in operative engagement to generate sound or to cause the light emitters to illuminate or to illuminate in combination with the sound generated in a light pattern, will also receive power from such batteries 41.
To illuminate the body 11 forming the disk 12, such illumination can be achieved by employing glowing materials to form the rod 16 and/or disk 12. However, mounting light emitters such as LEDs 15 on both items yields illumination which can be controlled based on speed and direction as well as be better visible and would be preferred in all modes of the device 10. The processor 47 running software adapted to the task of controlling light emissions, color, and blinking, can use input from a switch 49 such as an accelerometer connected with the processor 47 to change the blinking or duration or color of the light broadcast by the light emitters such as the LEDs 15 in time with the rate of spin, for example. The light from the emitters such as LEDs 15 and sounds from the sound emitter 21 can also provide visual signal and auditory signal for a user to ascertain the location of the disk 12 when used in dim light or in the dark.
In a mode of the device 10 used for skill or simple entertainment, the disks 12, having a central projection 14 located on the top or second side, opposite a central recess 19 on the first or lower side surface, can engage with any number of rods 16, for a spinning engagement with the spinning disks 12. In use, each player will hold the rod 16 in one hand and catch the disk 12 off the rod 12 of another player. Or, if the user is the first player, they will spin the disk 12 about the race formed on the interior of a projecting sidewall 23 (
It should be noted that for initiating spinning on a rod, and maintaining an improved balance to the spin of the disk 12 on the rod or when tossed, the circumference of the annular projection sidewall 23 is preferred in a side or diameter between 30 to 70 percent of the size or diameter of the circumference 30 of the disk 12. Currently, the circumference of the sidewall 23 is most preferred at a size or diameter which is substantially 45 to 55 percent of the size or diameter of the circumference 30 of the disk 12 with a current favorite being substantially 50 percent.
Once a first player has the disk 12 rotating on a rod 16, that player can pass the disk 12 to a second player holding a rod 16 and the game can continue until one player drops the disk 12 from the rod 16 they are holding. As noted herein, the disk 12 can be configured with light emitters such as LEDs 15 shown in
In use in the balancing game mode of the device 10 herein, the distal end of the rod 16 when held by a player settles into the focal point of the circular frustoconical recess 19 during use of the device 10 for gaming or exercise.
As noted above
Projection of light from the top of the housing 17 has been found to project unique patterns upon a roof where the disk 12 is used indoors and which is very entertaining to users.
Shown in
Finally, shown in
As noted, any of the different configurations and components can be employed with any other configuration or spinning disk game and system shown and described herein. Additionally, while the present invention has been described herein with reference to particular embodiments thereof and steps in the method of production, a latitude of modifications, various changes and substitutions are intended in the foregoing disclosures, it will be appreciated that in some instance some features, or configurations, or steps in formation of the invention could be employed without a corresponding use of other features without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. All such changes, alternations and modifications as would occur to those skilled in the art are considered to be within the scope of this invention as broadly defined in the appended claims.
Further, the purpose of any abstract of this specification is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the public generally, and especially the scientists, engineers, and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application. Any such abstract is neither intended to define the invention of the application, which is measured by the claims, nor is it intended to be limiting, as to the scope of the invention in any way.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/081,467, filed on Nov. 18, 2014, which is included in its entirety by this reference thereto. This invention is in the field of games of skill and throwing. More particularly, it is in the field of a spinning disk employable for tossing between users and fetch for animals, as well as a game employing a user-held rod to rotatably maintain the spinning disk on its distal end and passing such to other players with similar rods.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
62081467 | Nov 2014 | US |