AERIAL TOY
An aerial toy includes a body and a wing. The body has a spine mated with a frontal portion. An upper edge of the spine is planar in a single plane at least in the vicinity where the spine mates with the frontal portion. The frontal portion is enlarged relative to the spine. The frontal portion has a top surface that is aligned with the plane of the spine. The wing extends downwardly from and is coupled to the spine adjacent the frontal portion, but is not coupled to the frontal portion. An aerial toy system includes a launching tool.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/115,362, filed on Feb. 12, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELDAn aerial toy and aerial toy system is disclosed herein. The aerial toy system includes an aerial toy and a launching tool for launching the aerial toy.
BACKGROUNDMany different types of aerial toys are known. NERF™ is a well-known brand that makes a variety of aerial toys.
SUMMARYAn example aerial toy is disclosed. In addition, a system that utilizes an example aerial toy as well as a launching tool and a catching device that may be used in playing a game with the aerial toy is disclosed.
An example aerial toy 10 is shown and described herein. An aerial toy system is also shown and described herein that utilizes the aerial toy 10. The aerial toy 10 can take on any number of different shapes and sizes, as shown in the Figures, including variations of the embodiments shown in the Figures.
The example aerial toy 10 includes a spine 12, a wing 14, and a frontal or head portion 16 that is coupled to the spine 12. The head portion 16 may have a ball-shape or other shape, as desired, examples of which are shown in the Figures. The spine 12 may be made out of a firm material, such as foam or other like materials, including hard plastics and the like. The spine 12 may be bendable even though rigid in normal use. One type of foam that may be used is polyurethane foam. The flexibility of the spine 12 may affect the flight pattern of the aerial toy 10. A flexible but firm material is generally of use with the toy 10, although other materials could be used.
The wing 14 may be made of a flexible material and has a thickness that renders it flexible. The wing 14 may be formed from a sheet of material, or can be integrally formed with the spine 12 and frontal portion 16. Examples of flexible sheet materials include tarp materials, fabrics, coated fabrics, or plastic sheets, such as polyethylene sheets. Paper or plastic sheets may also be used, if desired. The wing 14 could also be made of a thin foam material, among other materials.
The head portion 16 may be formed of the same material as the spine 12, such as a foam material, or may be formed of a different material. The aerial toy 10 may be integrally molded together using injection molding or may be constructed in another manner. In the examples shown, the head portion 16 may be round, oval, oblong, flat, disc-shaped, egg-shaped or other shapes that are not shown, as described below in connection with the attached Figures.
The head portion 16, spine 12, and wing 14 may be integrally formed or may be formed separately from one another and joined with an adhesive or other method or technique. The head portion 16 and spine 12 may be formed as separate halves that are coupled together while trapping the wing 14 in the spine 12, as shown in
The example toy 10 may be utilized along with a rubber band 18 or elastic member 18 in order to fling or launch the toy 10 into the air. One such example of a launching tool 20 that uses a rubber band loop is shown in
The toy 10 may include an indentation or notch 26 between a rear surface 28 of the frontal portion 16 and a front end 30 of the wing 14 for receiving the rubber band 18. The notch 26 may be formed by a cutout portion 28 of the head portion 16, or may be formed simply by the fact that a space 34 is created between the head portion 16, spine 12, and wing 14. Like a slingshot, the toy 10 may be coupled with the rubber band 18 and pulled backwards until it is released. Upon release, the toy 10 launches into the air. The toy 10 first flies through the air and, as it descends, spins in a manner similar to a maple leaf. The toy 10 could alternatively be thrown by hand.
The figures include various drawings that include variations on a common theme. In a first example, shown in
A dashed line 46 is shown extending down the center along the length of the aerial toy 10. This line is representative of two halves of the aerial toy 10 that include the spine 12 and frontal portion 16. These two halves may be completely separate parts that are joined together by any means, such as adhesive, or the two halves may be formed from a single stock of material and then folded along the dashed line 46. The same is true for other embodiments shown herein. Therefore, this description of the dashed line 46 shall be presumed to apply to all embodiments that incorporate such a dashed line 46 unless otherwise noted. As previously discussed, the frontal portion 16 may be integral with the spine 12, or may be separately formed relative to the spine 12 and then attached to the spine 12 using any known means. The attachment means will depend on the type of material utilized for the spine 12 and the frontal portion 16. For example, when foam is used, an adhesive may be utilized to couple the parts.
The wing 14 is shown as extending downwardly from the spine 12. The wing 14 may be trapped between the left and right sides of the spine 12, with an adhesive applied therein to maintain the wing 14 in the spine 12. As shown, a gap or space 34 is positioned between the front 30 of the wing 14 and the rear 28 of the frontal portion 16. This gap is a position where a launching elastic member 18 can be coupled in order to launch the toy 10 into the air.
As shown, the notch 26 can extend partially into the head portion 16 in any manner desired. In one embodiment, the notch 26 may extend inwardly approximately 10% of the thickness. In another embodiment, the notch 26 may extend inwardly approximately 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, or 50% of the diameter or thickness of the head portion 16. The shape of the notch 26 may be uniform such as shown in
Referring to
The exterior of the launching tool 20 upper part is rounded, with the U-shape being coupled at the upper end of the rounded exterior to define the U-shape. Two notches 66 are formed on the upper surface 64 adjacent the U-shaped opening 60 for storing additional aerial toys 10, e.g., for holding additional ammunition. The rounded body of the upper portion defines a rim that is bounded by a net 78 with an opening that is sized to permit aerial toys 10 to enter the opening. The net 78 is sized to permit aerial toys 10 to enter and be held in the net 78 during play. Part of an aerial toy 10 may extend out of the opening when it is captured in the net 78, or all of the aerial toy 10 may fit into the net 78.
A handle 70 is positioned at the lower end of the launching tool 20 and includes an upwardly extending member 82 that is joined with the rounded part of the upper portion of the launching tool 20. The handle 70 has an optional gripping portion 72. The handle 70 is also optional.
The launching tool 20, as shown has a thinner profile at the upper end and a thicker profile at the handle end in order to impart strength to the handle 70 and to provide some limited flexibility to the upper part. The upper part may include through holes 74 in order to impart greater flexibility if desired. The launching tool 20 may include a surface or area 86 for application of a logo (not shown). The entire surface of the launching tool 20 may include artwork, if desired.
An elastic member or band 18 is coupled to span the U-shaped opening 60 like a sling shot. The elastic band 18 may be coupled to the launching tool 20 in any known manner.
The launching tool 20 may be made of any known material, but one type of material that may be used is a hard plastic material. The hard plastic provides strength to the tool 20 and also is easily manufactured using processes such as injection molding. Plastic may also be conducive to accepting artwork, making the design more attractive to the consumer.
Another possible assembly technique for making the aerial toy 10 is to simply mold the three parts 12, 14, 16 together as s single integral piece, such that the wing 14, spine 12 and head portion 16 are molded together at the same time. Injection molding or other molding techniques may be used, as known by those of skill in the art.
The aerial toy 10 may be packaged on a display card (not shown) and may include the launching tool 20 and elastic band 18. A sturdy cardboard card may be used. The launching tool 20 may be made of plastic or other materials, if desired.
The launching tools 20 of
While not shown, a lighting element may be embedded in or coupled to the head portion 16 of the toy 10 in order to light up the toy 10 in any known manner. Many types of different artwork can be applied to the body and wing 14, as known by those of skill in the art.
As discussed above, the head portion 16 may take on different shapes. These shapes may be used to represent different types of sports, games or events. For example, a round head could be a soccer ball, baseball, or basketball. A football shaped head portion 16 could be used to represent football or rugby. Decorative artwork could be positioned on the spine 12, head portion 16 and wing 14 in order to promote or advertise a certain type of team or event. Other shapes may be used to represent balls or birdies used in other sports. The device 10 may be used for promotional purposes, such as a giveaway at trade shows.
The head portion 16 could also be modified to represent different bugs, animals, and creatures, including a bat, butterfly, frog, lizard, dog, eagle, dragon, cat, butterfly, pig, and fairy, among others, with appropriately matching artwork on the body and wing 14 of the aerial toy 10. The head portion 16, wing 14 and spine 12 could also be modified to provide various seasonal designs, such as a snowman, Santa Claus, and an Easter egg.
The spine 12 must be rigid enough to maintain its shape during flight and during handling, but may also be flexible so that it can be bent in a manner that foam would typically be bent. The wing 14 is more flexible than the spine 12 and head portion 16, mainly due to its reduced thickness. The wing 14 could be fabric-like or made of a fabric material. The aerial toy 10 may be made of manmade or other materials. The wing 14 may also be made of a more rigid material, like foam, if desired. Possible materials include ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), polypropylene (PP) and SBA.
Although not shown, the wing 14 could be made in multiple parts and multiple wing sections could be utilized. The head portion 16 could be hollow or solid.
The various embodiments are also described in the wording shown in the attachments.
The term “substantially,” if used herein, is a term of estimation.
While various features of the claimed invention are presented above, it should be understood that the features may be used singly or in any combination thereof. Therefore, the claimed invention is not to be limited to only the specific embodiments depicted herein.
Further, it should be understood that variations and modifications may occur to those skilled in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. The embodiments described herein are exemplary of the claimed invention. The disclosure may enable those skilled in the art to make and use embodiments having alternative elements that likewise correspond to the elements of the invention recited in the claims. The intended scope of the invention may thus include other embodiments that do not differ or that insubstantially differ from the literal language of the claims. The scope of the present invention is accordingly defined as set forth in the appended claims.
Claims
1. An aerial toy comprising:
- a body that includes a spine mated with a frontal portion, with an upper edge of the spine being planar in a single plane in at least the vicinity where the spine mates with the frontal portion;
- with the frontal portion being enlarged relative to the shape of the spine, with the frontal portion having a top surface that is aligned with the plane of the spine;
- a wing coupled to the spine and extending downwardly therefrom, the wing be coupled to the spine adjacent the frontal portion, but not coupled to the frontal portion.
2. The aerial toy of claim 1, wherein the plane of the spine and the frontal portion is the same along the entire top surface of the spine and frontal portion;
- or the plane of the spine and the front portion is the same in the vicinity of where the top surface of the spine and frontal portion mate, but the spine bends downwardly towards the rear of the spine such that it is no longer in the plane of the spine and frontal portion.
3. The aerial toy of claim 1, wherein the body is made of a polyurethane foam material.
4. The aerial toy of claim 1, wherein the wing has a thickness that is thinner than the spine and the frontal portion and the wing, spine and frontal portion are integrally molded.
5. The aerial toy of claim 1, wherein the wing is formed separately from the body and the body includes a left side and a right side, and the wing is trapped between the left and right sides of the body and further including an adhesive positioned between the left and right sides of the body and the wing.
6. The aerial toy of claim 1, wherein the frontal portion includes a notch, said notch facing rearwardly towards the wing, with the notch being a recessed formed in a surface of the frontal portion.
7. The aerial toy of claim 5, wherein a space is provided below the spine, behind the frontal portion and in front of the wing for engaging with an elastic band for use in launching the aerial toy.
8. The aerial toy of claim 1, wherein the body is formed of a material that maintains its shape during flight and play, but is flexible, and the wing is flexible and easily bendable.
9. An aerial toy comprising:
- a spine made of a substantially rigid but bendable foam material;
- a head portion coupled to the spine and made of a substantially rigid foam material;
- a wing coupled to the spine and extending downwardly therefrom, the wing being made of a flexible material;
- a notch formed in the head portion adjacent the wing and spine;
- wherein the spine is coupled to the head portion, and the spine and head portion together form an upper planar continuous surface where the spine and head portion meet.
10. The aerial toy of claim 9, wherein the head portion has a thickness and the spine has a thickness, and the thickness of the head portion is greater than the thickness of the spine.
11. The aerial toy of claim 9, wherein the spine has varying thickness between a front end and a rear end of the spine; or
- the spine has a greater thickness adjacent the head portion than at a rear end of the spine; or
- the spine has a thickness that varies in steps from a greater thickness at the head portion to a smaller thickness at the rear end of the spine; or
- the spine has a constant thickness along its length.
12. The aerial toy of claim 10, wherein the wing has a length that is one of shorter than or longer than the spine; and
- the wing has a height that is one of taller than or shorter than the head portion;
13. An aerial toy system comprising:
- the aerial toy of claim 1; and
- a launching tool, with the launching tool including an elastic band attached thereto for engaging with the aerial toy and for launching the aerial toy when the elastic band is stretched and released, said launching tool including a handle.
14. The aerial toy system of claim 13, wherein the elastic band of the launching tool is coupled to the tool so as to provide a slingshot.
15. The aerial toy system of claim 13, wherein the launching tool includes an open net portion that is sized to permit the entry of at least part of the aerial toy therein in order to trap the aerial toy in the net during play.
16. The aerial toy system of claim 13, wherein the launching tool includes a frame having a substantially Y-shaped or U-shaped upper portion, with the elastic band coupled between legs of the Y or U-shape, and an opening defined in the frame below the Y or U-shape, with a net coupled to the opening to define a recess for receiving at least part of the aerial toy through the opening during play.
17. The aerial toy system of claim 16, wherein the frame further comprises at least one storage element on the frame of the launching tool, with the storage element being configured for attaching aerial toys to the launching tool for storage.
18. The aerial toy system of claim 17, wherein the storage element is a substantially upwardly opening notch positioned on an edge of the upper portion of the frame for holding the aerial toy in the notch.
19. The aerial toy system of claim 13, wherein the launching tool is a stick-shaped member having an elastic loop coupled to one end thereof, with an opposite end serving as a handle and being grippable by a user.
Type: Application
Filed: Feb 12, 2016
Publication Date: Nov 3, 2016
Inventor: Lisa Leleu (Doylestown, PA)
Application Number: 15/042,743