Patents Examined by Donald Heckenburg
  • Patent number: 7128556
    Abstract: Disclosed is an apparatus, including a shaft; a scoop, coupled to a distal end of the shaft, for collecting and holding a bolus of a compressible medium, the compressible medium retaining a post-compressed shape when operated from a proximal end of the shaft; and a former, coupled to the scoop and mating with the scoop, for molding and compressing the bolus into a generally spherical ball retained within the scoop. A method for forming a throwable ball, includes scooping a bolus of a compressible medium with a scoop coupled to a distal end of a shaft, the compressible medium retaining a post-compressed shape; and molding compressively the bolus into the scoop using a former coupled to the distal end, wherein the molding step creates the ball retained in the scoop when a user operates a proximal end of the shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 4, 2003
    Date of Patent: October 31, 2006
    Inventors: Philip G. Wessells, Andrew Lee Choy, Michael E. Woods