Patent Application
20110076910
This invention relates generally to a toy, and more particularly to a water wheel-based toy that moves along the water surface by action of a self-contained water supply falling against and turning a water wheel.
Self-propelled water toys typically include some type of mechanism to propel the toy through or under the water. Some use chemical agents, some electrical propulsion such as with batteries, and some convert potential energy to mechanical energy such as a wound rubber-band turning a propeller or impeller. Some examples of underwater toys include U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,023 to Warner titled “Hand Launchable Hydrodynamic Recreational Vehicle,” and U.S. Pat. No. 6,926,577 to Thorne, III titled “Underwater Device and Method of Play,” (hereinafter Thorne). Such devices have drawbacks such as increased weight due to neutral buoyancy, thus increasing shipping costs, or decreased ability to remain upright within the water so that the device moves unrealistically compared to underwater sea creatures and submarines.
Water toys adapted to operate on the surface of the water also exist. Many of these operate by using gravity-fed jets of water that shoot out of the back of a floatable toy. One examples of these include U.S. Pat. No. 4,045,907 (Mumford), which teaches a double hulled water toy with a water container mounted between the hulls. A rearward-facing discharge tube from the water container imparts a forward reaction which drives the boat through the water. An improved design, U.S. Pat. No. 4,313,277, uses a similar propulsion system with a rearward-facing nozzle that can be rotated in a horizontal plane so that the toy may be propelled in any desired direction. It would be useful, however, to include motion elements within the toy as it moves through the water in order to make the toy more interesting to play with.
Accordingly, the need arises for a water toy that takes a different approach to these problems and for overcoming the drawbacks of the prior art.
In one aspect, the invention comprises a floatable toy having two hulls. A container for water mounted within the toy above the hulls and includes a discharge outlet at or near the bottom thereof. The container maintained at all times clear of the surface of water on which said toy floats even when said container is filled with water. A water wheel is rotatably positioned between the hulls on a rotating axis and below the water container. A lower portion of the water wheel extends below a water line when the toy is floated on the water, wherein water drops through the discharge outlet onto the water wheel and rotates the wheel through the water to thereby propel the body through the water.
In another aspect of the invention, the self-propelled water toy comprises a floatable vehicle body and propulsion means mounted to the vehicle body. The propulsion means are configured to propel the floatable vehicle body through water responsive to the physical flow under gravity of a fluid, stored within the floatable vehicle body, against the propulsion means and thence to the body of water.
In yet another aspect of the invention, the floatable water toy comprises a body having a lower portion configured to remain substantially submerged within water and an upper portion. A water wheel is installed along a rotating axis within the upper portion of the body such that at least a lower portion of the water wheel extends below a water line when the body is floated within water. A container of water is positioned within the upper portion of the body above at least an upper portion of the water wheel and having a discharge outlet defined at or near a bottom thereof such that water discharged from the outlet falls onto the water wheel and turns the water wheel about the rotating axis, wherein rotation of the water wheel causes propulsion of the body through the water in a direction substantially perpendicular to the rotating axis.
The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of the invention that proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The vehicle body 12 preferable includes a pair of floatable hulls 20a, 20b arranged in spaced apart orientation. The hulls 20a, 20b are further arranged in a general longitudinal direction relative to the toy 10 so that long axes of the hulls point forwardly 22 in the direction of travel.
Water wheel supports 24a, 24b are coupled to respective ones of the hulls 20a, 20b and are positioned on either side of the water wheel 16. A water wheel axel 26 spans laterally between inner sides 28a, 28b of the supports 24a, 24b along a rotational axis 30—that is, perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction 22 of which the hulls 20a, 20b are oriented. The axel 26 passes through the supports 24a, 24b and is fixed at each peripheral end to outsides of the supports using washers, nuts or the like 31.
The water wheel 16 is mounted on the axel 26 and rotates forwardly 32 about the rotating axis 30 under action of water falling onto it as from the self-contained water source 18. A plurality of paddles, such as paddle 34, are spaced about a periphery of the water wheel 16 and rotate the wheel 16 by action of water pooling above the paddles and driving them downward under force of gravity.
Although the paddles 34 of the water wheel 16 can be formed of straight panels or bucket-shaped, the preferred implementation as shown includes both a planar peripheral portion 40 and a bucket portion 42. Planar peripheral portion 40 provides a pushing surface adapted to impart a forward reaction to the water toy when the paddles enter the body of water 33. Bucket portion 42 are asymmetrically shaped to retain water within the bucket as the paddles 34 of the water wheel 16 rotate forwardly 32 into the water 33 and shed water as the paddles exit the body of water.
As illustrated within
The water toy 10 is weighted so that the water wheel axel 26 remains above the water line of body 33, but that a lower portion extends below the water line when the toy is floated on the body of water 33. It is understood that the water toy is heavier, and thus sits lower in the water, when the container 36 is completely filled with water. Conversely, it is understood that the water toy is lighter, and thus sits higher in the water, when the container 36 is empty. Appropriate materials can be selected, or the hulls 20a, 20b weighted, so that the toy 10 sits within the body of water 33 whereby (a) the container 36 is completely clear of the surface of the water and that (b) the lower portion of the water wheel—meaning at least one or more paddles 34 of the wheel—is able to enter the water when the container is substantially empty so that the paddles continue to propel the toy through the water. In this way, the propulsion means 14 is configured to propel the floatable vehicle body 12 through the water 33 responsive to the physical flow under gravity of a fluid (e.g. water), stored within the floatable vehicle body (as in container 36), against the propulsion means and thence to the body of water.
In use, one would simple need to dip the toy into the water in order to “recharge” it by filling the container 36. Once set upright in the water, the toy 10 would propel itself through the water. Water used simply empties itself back in to the tub or water. Once empty, the container 36 can be easily refilled and the toy again released.
Having described and illustrated the principles of the invention in a preferred embodiment thereof, it should be apparent that the invention can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. I claim all modifications and variation coming within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
