Patent Application
20140154946
The present invention is a water squirting apparatus for use at play. More specifically, it is a soft floating tubular toy with a bellows chamber for use such as in a swimming pool or swimming area by participants in or adjacent to the water.
Squirt guns are well known in many forms in the prior art. Numerous squirt guns and squirting toys are made and have been made over the years for use by persons while swimming in or standing adjacent to a swimming pool, which are adapted to take in water from the swimming pool for squirting. Additionally, many squirt guns of the prior art are constructed in a manner that entraps air and thereby inadvertently enables those guns to partially float in water. The degree of such buoyancy is relative to the amount of water that has been taken into the gun and the longevity of such buoyancy is relative to the to the amount of air leakage from the housing.
There are also floating toy “swimming noodles” in the prior art, which are made of resilient floating closed-cell polymer foam. These toys are used to provide buoyancy to the user while swimming. Because these toys are often left floating in the pool when not in use, their softness eliminates the safety threat that they would otherwise pose.
The present invention comprises a squirting toy that includes a compressible bellows, the bellows having a closed end and an opening end. Attached to the opening end of the bellows is a squirting end that includes a longitudinal tube that extends from the opening end of the bellows to an outlet aperture. The tube provides fluid communication between the bellows and the outside environment. Compression of the bellows causes air and/or fluid to be exhaled through the outlet aperture, and expansion of the bellows causes air and/or fluid to be inhaled through the tube. In embodiments, the squirting toy includes a handle attached to the bellows at the end opposite the opening end. The handle has a gripping portion to facilitate moving the handle away from and towards from the squirting end to respectively cause the bellows to expand and contract. At least a portion of the handle is covered in a foam shell which provides buoyancy and imparts a safe soft outer surface.
Another exemplary embodiment includes a compressible bellows, the bellows having a closed end and an opening end. Attached to the opening end of the bellows is a squirting end that includes an inlet aperture, an outlet aperture, a first tube, and a second tube. The first tube extends axially from approximately the opening end of the bellows to the outlet aperture which provides fluid communication between the bellows and the outside environment. The second extends axially from approximately the opening end of the bellows to the inlet aperture which provides fluid communication between the bellows chamber and the outside environment. The squirting end includes a securing element attached to the bellows chamber so as to form a substantially airtight seal and secure the first tube and the second tube. A valve connects to the securing the element. Compression of the bellows causes the valve to be in a substantially closed position preventing air and/or fluid from being exhaled through the second tube and also causing air and/or fluid to be exhaled through the first tube. Expansion of the bellows causes the valve to be in a substantially open position allowing air and/or fluid to be inhaled through at least one of the first tube and second tubes.
A housing unit encloses the first tube, second tube, securing element and the valve. The housing unit can be made from a foam shell which provides buoyancy and imparts a safe soft outer surface.
In embodiments, the squirting toy includes a handle attached to the bellows at the end opposite the opening end. The handle has a gripping portion to facilitate moving the handle away from and towards the squirting end and cause the bellows to respectively expand and contract. At least a portion of the handle is covered in a foam shell which provides buoyancy and imparts a safe soft outer surface.
The features and advantages of the disclosure can be more fully understood with reference to the following description of the disclosure when taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein:
The drawing figures are not necessarily drawn to scale and certain figures may be shown in exaggerated or generalized form in the interest of clarity and conciseness.
In exemplary embodiments, the first end 102 may be a single and/or integral piece made from one or more materials, which may be soft and may provide buoyancy for toy 100. In some exemplary embodiments, one or more foam-like materials, such as, for example, closed-cell polyethylene foam, ethylene vinyl acetate closed-cell foam, and the like may be used for the first end 102 or as a coating or shell 103 forming the outer surface of first end 102 that may provide flexibility as well as softness. Materials such as, for example polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE) may also be used so as to provide sufficient ‘softness’ to form a safe squirting toy, i.e. the toy 100 having at least the first end 102 which will not injure a person hit with the toy at typical velocities according to exemplary embodiments.
Referring to
In some exemplary embodiments, the first end 102 and/or the second end 106 may be removably attached to the bellows 104.
In exemplary embodiments, the second end 106 may include and/or be attached to a threaded connector 112 for connecting to the bellows 104. For example, the connector 112 may be attached to one end of the shell 108 and an end of the tube 110. Referring to
In other exemplary embodiments, a connector may be affixed to both the bellows 104 and the tube 110 using any type of adhesive, sealant, of sealing process. For example, a connector may be heat-sealed to the bellows 104 and the tube 110 so as to provide a substantially airtight pathway from the bellows 104 to the tube 110.
In the various figures herein, the cross sections of first end 102, the bellows 104, and the second end 106 are shown to be cylindrically shaped. This is not meant to be a limitation as toy 100 may include components having various cross sectional shapes. In exemplary embodiments, toy 100 may be shaped, at least at the first end 102 and second 106 similar to a “swimming noodle”, which is well known in the context of recreational water activities. In an exemplary embodiment toy 100 may have a consistent shape throughout. For example, the first end 102, the bellows 104, and the second end 106 may each have the same cross-sectional shape and dimensions. In some exemplary embodiments toy 100 may have an appearance similar, at least in part to a common “swimming noodle”. This emulated swimming noodle may be of any cross-sectional shape, e.g. round, polygonal, elliptical, oval, or some combination of shapes including generally polygonal with rounded sides. In some exemplary embodiments, one or more components of toy 100, such as one or more of the first end 102, the bellows 104, and the second end 106 may have differing shapes, cross-sections, and/or dimensions.
In exemplary embodiments, bellows 104 may be a reversibly compressible and/or collapsible container or chamber which can hold fluids and/or air. For example, as shown in various figures, the bellows 104 has an accordion-like shape. The accordion-like shape allows the bellows 104 to collapse.
In operation, the water toy 100 is compressed as shown in
In exemplary embodiments, at least the first end 102 and/or the second end 106 can provide buoyancy when the toy 100 is in a body of water, such as a pool. For example, even when toy 100 is filled with water, the first end 102 and the second end 106 may provide buoyancy so the toy 100 does not sink.
In other exemplary embodiments, toy 100 may contain the bellows 104, the connector 112, and the tube 110 formed as an integral part. In such an embodiment, shell 108 attachs to tube 110.
In some embodiments, toy 100 may include a plurality of tubes communicating with the outside environment (not shown). In this regard, when toy 100 contains water and is compressed, water streams out of the plurality of tubes. For example, toy 100 may have a bellows component with two open ends and tubes connecting on each end so that water can stream out of both ends of toy 100.
While the various water toys are described having two ends connected to a bellows, this not required.
As shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the first end 502 includes a cap 510 that is fastened to one end of the housing element 508. As shown in
In other exemplary embodiments, the first end 502 may include only a shell 508 with or without a cap 510. For example, the shell 508 may be one or more pieces, and may be a solid cylinder, which attaches to the bellows chamber 504. The first end 502 may emulate, at least in part, a “swimming noodle”. For example, the emulated swimming noodle may be of any cross-sectional shape, e.g. round, polygonal, elliptical, oval, or some combination of shapes including generally polygonal with rounded sides.
As shown in
The bulkhead 555a includes an outlet 565 and one or more inlets 562. The outlet 565 and the inlet 562 are connected to tubes 575 and 570 respectively, When connected to the bellows chamber 504 the bulkhead 555a provides a substantially fluid tight seal such that air and/or fluids may only enter or exit the bellows chamber 504 by passing through the inlet 565, outlet 562 and tubes 570, 575. Referring to
As shown in
An outlet tube extends from recess 569 in the bulkhead 555a to a corresponding recess 598 in the cap 590. The length of the outlet tube 575 is approximately equal to the length of the tubular connector 592. Similarly, an inlet tube 570 mounted at one end to a recess 571 in the bulkhead 555a extends from the facing surface of the bulkhead 555a to a corresponding recess 535 formed in the interface of the cap 590.
Cap 590 also includes an outlet aperture 580 which communicates with the inlet tube 575. The end cap 590 also includes an inlet aperture 582 which communicates with the inlet tube 570.
Although not shown, there may be more than one inlet aperture and corresponding inlet tubes and recesses and/or more than one outlet aperture and corresponding outlet tubes and recesses. When assembled, the bellows reservoir 520 is in fluid communication with the outside environment through the outlet 565, connected to the outlet tube 575 which in turn is connected to the outlet aperture 580 in end cap 590. Likewise, the inlet aperture 582 is in fluid communication with the bellows reservoir 520 through the inlet tube 570 attached to the inlet aperture 562.
The visible face of cap 590 may include ornamental designs thereon, such as, for example, logos, letters, pictorial representations, and the like. The cap 590 may be formed from any suitable materials, including one or more plastics.
In order to shorten the time needed to “reload” the squirting toy 500 or to reduce the force required to expand the bellows section 504, the water toy 500 may include a valve 560. Preferably, the valve 560 is a one-way valve which may substantially prevents air and/or fluids from flowing in one general direction through such valve but can allow air and/or fluids to flow in the opposite direction.
Referring to
Although valve 560 is shown as a flopper valve with a living hinge 532 and a stopper 530, other configurations or constructions of a one-way valve can be utilized.
During expansion of the bellows, air or fluid is cause to enter the squirting toy 500 through the inlet aperture 582 communicating with the environment. The air or fluid then passes through the inlet tube 570, past the inlet aperture 562 and the valve stopper 606 into the bellows 504.
It is anticipated that the second end 506, and by extension the shell 585 may also emulate, at least in part, a “swimming noodle” and may be of any cross-sectional shape, e.g. round, polygonal, elliptical, oval, or some combination of shapes including generally polygonal with rounded sides.
The first end 502 and the second end 506 may function as handles, so a user can grab the water toy 500 at the first end 502 and the second end 506 and cause the bellows 504 of the water toy 500 to be compressed and to cause any fluid and/or air within the bellows 504 to be pushed or exhaled out through the outlet aperture 580. During compression, the valve 560 rotates to the closed position preventing air or fluid from passing through the inlet 562. Instead, the full force of air or fluid is directed through outlet aperture 565 into outlet tube 575 and ultimately out of outlet aperture 580. To refill or reload the water toy 500, after the bellows 504 is compressed, the user may subsequently place the end of the toy in a pool of fluid, e.g., water, as shown in
In exemplary embodiments, the inlet and outlet tubes 570, 575 as well as the corresponding inlet and outlet apertures of the water toy, e.g., 562 and 565, 582 and 580 may have the same or different diameters. Since it is desirable to be able to reload the bellows 504 with water quickly, the diameter of the inlets and the inlet tube 570 are larger than the outlets and outlet tubes as shown in
In exemplary embodiments, the inlet tube 570 and/or the inlet aperture 582 may have an inner diameter in the ranges of approximately 3 mm to 6 mm, 4 mm to 5 mm, 5 mm to 6 mm, or 5.5 mm to 5.8 mm. For example, the inside diameter of tube 570 may be approximately 5.75 mm. In some exemplary embodiments, the diameter of tube 570 may be greater than 13 mm.
In exemplary embodiments, the outlet tube 575 and/or outlet aperture 580, may have a diameter in the range of approximately 2.5 mm to 5.5 mm, 3 mm to 5 mm, and may have a diameter that is approximately 4.0 mm. A 4.0 mm diameter has been found to represent a size that results in a satisfactory stream of water without requiring excessive force to compress the toy.
In some exemplary embodiments, other securing elements (not shown), may be used, such as those shaped or configured similarly to a bottle cap. This securing element may snap or twist over the open end of bellows 504. The cap can include one or more holes, but otherwise provide a substantially airtight seal around the opening of the bellows chamber. In this regard, such holes may lead and/or partially hold tubes which may lead to an outside environment. Such a cap may also include one or more one-way valves.
In exemplary embodiments, a compressive force may be applied to any one of the water toys described herein so as to cause the bellows to shrink. For example, when a bellows contains a fluid, e.g., water, applying a compressive force will result in a fluid being expelled from the bellows, through the outlet and out of the water toy. The amount of fluid in the bellows as well as the magnitude of the compressive force may influence how fast a fluid may stream out of tube 110. For example,
In exemplary embodiments, while being compressed, the bellows may, like a spring, store up a restorative force. Therefore when there is no longer a compressive force acting on the bellows, the bellows may “spring” or extend back to its approximately prior and/or initial rest position. In some exemplary embodiments, a user may need to apply a tensile force to extend a compressed bellows back to its original position. The bellows may be formed from flexible materials that allow a user, such as a child, to repeatedly and easily collapse and extend the bellows while maintaining its overall shape. In exemplary embodiments, the bellows may be formed using plastics and/or polymers, such as, for example, ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA), polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polythene (PE), rubber, and the like, and combinations thereof, to name a few. In embodiments, the bellows may be made from a combination of EVA and PP. In one embodiment, the bellows may be made from approximately 75% EVA and 25% PP. In other exemplary embodiments, the bellows may consist approximately of 70%-80% EVA with 30%-20% PP, 60%-90% EVA with 40%-10% EVA, and 50% EVA with 50% PP.
The bellows may be opaque, transparent, translucent, or semi-transparent and may allow a user to see the amount of fluid located within bellows. In some exemplary embodiments, bellows may be at least partially surrounded by additional layer of material, such as foam-like materials described herein.
In exemplary embodiments, applying a compressive force to water toy 1000 when there is little or no fluid contained within the bellows may result in air being forced out of such a toy. For example, water toy 1100 can be at least partially refilled with water after compressing water toy 1100. For example, after applying compressive force toy 1100 but before extending or allowing the bellows 1004 to extend back, a user may immerse at least the second end 1106 into a body of fluid.
It will be understood that that any of the above steps and/or elements can be combined, separated, using any suitable combination and/or separation thereof, and/or taken in any order. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the applicable arts that the foregoing is merely one of many possible embodiments of the invention, and that the invention should therefore only be limited according to the following claims.
