Toy projectile launcher

Abstract

A toy machine gun or a light-weight projectile launching device including a projectile conveying mechanism and a projectile shooting mechanism. The projectile shooting mechanism includes a projectile shooting pass which is formed by a first and a second opposing projectile engaging surfaces which are adapted to friction drag and compressively engage the projectile to be shot. At least one of the rotating surface is preferably driven by a motor. The projectile conveying mechanism conveys a projectile towards said shooting pass for launching.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a toy projectile launcher and, more particularly, to a motorised toy projectile launcher which is adapted to launch a toy projectile substantially resembling the shape of a bullet or a missile. More specifically, although not necessarily solely, the present invention relates to a toy gun, especially a toy machine toy, which discharges bullet-like projectiles. The present invention also relates to a mechanism for launching or accelerating a projectile object.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Projectile toys represent a wide category of toys which are played by a wide variety of people. Projectile toys are available in many different forms and the more commonly known include toy bows, toy guns and toy flying objects (including spinning objects) which are ejectable from a launching station which provides the projectile with an initial flight velocity. In general, a projectile toy includes a launching device and a free-flying projectile which are launchable from the launching device. The launching device imparts an initial velocity to the projectile to discharge the projectile away from the launching device. The discharged projectile then leaves the launching device and continues to fly along a flight path which is substantially characterised by the initial velocity and trajectory imparted to it and the design and geometry of the projectile.

[0003] Among the various projectile toys, toy guns, especially toy guns which are capable of emitting bullet-like projectiles, are particularly popular among people who are fond of guns but who, for obvious reasons, are unable to play with real guns in social occasions or in games.

[0004] Conventional toy guns usually include a rigid plastic housing inside which a shooting mechanism is mounted. The shooting mechanism is usually powered by compressed air or by a loaded spring. Compressed air guns (“air guns”) are usually powered by compressed carbon dioxide which is stored in a valved metallic cylinder. The bullet in an air gun is propelled by the sudden expansion of the compressed air which is released through a valve into a bullet shooting cylinder. However, air guns are usually very expensive as highly precise components are required. In addition, operation and maintenance costs are also high. Further, because of the high propulsive power required to drive a conventional bullet of an air gun, typical air guns have very strong penetrating power and are always very dangerous to handle or play with, especially by children. A loaded spring is the more traditional power source of a toy gun. However, toy guns with a loaded spring are usually very noisy and the trigger is difficult to pull. Furthermore, the recovery time, that is, the minimum time between sequential discharge of bullets, in both air- and spring-loaded guns, are also long, thus severely limiting the rate of bullet discharge and the associated fun.

[0005] Bullets used in conventional toy guns usually have very high density in order to overcome air resistance and so that a trajectory similar to that of a real gun-discharged bullet can be followed. Toy guns using conventional high-density bullets are quite dangerous and have from time to time caused personal injuries and accidents. Hence, it would be desirable if there can be provided toy guns which can discharge bullet-shape projectiles made of a low-density, and preferably soft, material so that the risks of personal injuries are substantially reduced while a smooth trajectory path as can be expected from real bullets can be formed by the bullet discharge.

[0006] Among the various types of toy guns, toy machine guns are a dream and fancy of many toy gun lovers. However, toy machine guns usually require very complicated and precise components and mechanisms in order to facilitate continuous discharge of bullets to simulate the effects of a machine gun. As a result, bullet-loaded toy machine guns which are capable of discharging bullets continuously at a high speed are usually bulky, heavy and expensive and are usually only available as professional toys or as models.

[0007] To satisfy the market drive created by the fancy and desire of machine gun lovers, especially the younger gun fans, many toy guns which try to simulate the look-and-feel of machine guns are available. However, known simulated toy guns are essentially limited to producing the sound, vibration and the kickback effect of a real machine gun rather than simulating the real bullet discharging functions. Such toy machine guns are for example described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,808,143, 5,004,444 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,283,970. However, such a look-and-feel simulation of a toy does not satisfy the demands of the more serious machine gun lovers who have a craving for the control of a nearly-real gun and at the same time enjoying the look and feel of the high-speed continuous discharge of bullets from the barrel of a machine gun. Hence, it would be desirable if an improved toy gun or an mechanism for a toy gun which simulates the high-speed continuous discharge of bullets from the barrel of a toy gun with a relatively simple bullet shooting or projectile launching mechanism can be provided. Preferably the improved bullet launching mechanism can be adapted to launch bullets or projectiles which are substantially harmless for obvious safety reason. Preferably such a gun or mechanism should be simple, light, easy to use and inexpensive to cater for the needs of the general public.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0008] It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a toy gun or a projectile launching mechanism which is adapted to launch bullet-like projectiles which are, preferably at least partially made of a relatively low-density material such as foam and which is adapted to drive the projectile with a trajectory which is substantially similar to that of a real bullet. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a toy gun or a mechanism for launching bullets of a toy gun or other projectiles so that a toy gun incorporating the launching mechanism can operate like a machine or submachine gun which discharges bullets continuously. Preferably, the improved projectile launching mechanism should be simple, inexpensive, light and easy to use. It is also a further object of the present invention to provide a toy gun or a launching mechanism for toy gun or other projectiles which produces the afore-mentioned bullet discharging effect with bullets which are substantially non-harmful to children or adults. It is at least an object of the present invention to provide the public with a choice of toy guns or other projectile launchers having a new bullet or projectile launching mechanism which is simple, inexpensive and can simulate the effect of a real machine gun.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] According to the present invention, there is provided a toy projectile launcher including a projectile conveying mechanism and a projectile shooting mechanism, wherein said projectile shooting mechanism includes a first and a second opposing projectile engaging surfaces, said first and second projectile engaging surfaces are adapted to compressively engage the projectile to be shot, at least said first projectile engaging surface is rotatable about a first rotational axis and is connected to a rotational power source for imparting energy to said projectile, and said projectile conveying mechanism to convey a projectile towards engagement with said projectile engaging surfaces for launching.

[0010] Preferably, the first and second engaging surfaces are adapted to use friction to impart energy to said projectile and said engaging surfaces are separated by a distance which is slightly smaller than the width of a projectile.

[0011] Preferably, the second projectile engaging surface is freely rotatable about a second rotational axis, and said second rotational surface is driven into rotation by said first engaging surface upon engagement of a projectile between said engaging surfaces.

[0012] Preferably, at least one of said projectile engaging surfaces is elastically deformable.

[0013] Preferably, the first and second rotational axis are substantially parallel.

[0014] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a toy gun which includes a first and a second opposing projectile engaging surfaces, said first and second projectile engaging surfaces are adapted to compressively engage the projectile to be shot, at least said first projectile engaging surface is rotatable about a first rotational axis and is connected to a rotational power source for imparting energy to said projectile.

[0015] Preferably, further including a projectile conveying mechanism, wherein said projectile conveying mechanism conveys a projectile towards engagement with said projectile engaging surfaces for launching.

[0016] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a projectile launching mechanism which includes a bullet shooting mechanism, wherein said bullet shooting mechanism includes a first and a second rotatable wheel which is adapted to permit compressive passage of a bullet to be shot through the space formed between said wheels and at least one of the wheels is power driven.

[0017] According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a projectile which includes a head portion and a body portion, wherein said head portion is made of a rigid or semi-rigid material and the body portion is made of a soft material, the length of said body portion is significantly longer than that of the head portion.

[0018] Preferably, the length of the head portion is only about {fraction (1/12)}-{fraction (1/20)} of the overall length of the projectile.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be explained below in more detail by way of examples and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

[0020] FIG. 1 is a side view of a first embodiment of a toy gun of the present invention with one of the side panels removed,

[0021] FIGS. 2a to 2e respective shows the first, right side, rear, left side and top views of a detachable bullet cartridge for supplying bullets to the toy gun of the present invention,

[0022] FIG. 2f is a cut-away view of FIG. 2b showing its internal structure,

[0023] FIG. 3 shows the side view of a second preferred embodiment of a toy gun of the present invention with one of the said panels removed,

[0024] FIG. 4 shows a side view of an example of a preferred projectile suitable for use with the toy gun of the present invention, and

[0025] FIG. 5 is a side view of the toy gun of FIG. 1 showing a window adapted to receive a bullet cartridge.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0026] In the description below, the terms “projectile” and “bullet” are used interchangeably to have the same meaning to the extent that it is appropriate and where the context permits.

[0027] Referring firstly to FIGS. 1-3, there is shown a first embodiment of a toy projectile launcher which is made in the shape of a toy gun for illustrative purpose only. The toy gun (1) includes a solid housing (10) having a first and a second side panels (11) which together substantially form the exterior (including the handle (12)) of a toy gun. The toy gun in general includes a projectile shooting mechanism, a projectile conveying mechanism and a projectile guide all of which are preferably mounted on the gun housing and within the side panels. To provide for an abundant supply of bullets, a spring-loaded bullet cartridge is detachably mounted on one side of the gun housing. The bullet cartridge (20) is similar to a conventional bullet cartridge which is adapted to receive a plurality of bullets in a stack. The cartridge has a substantially solid rectangular housing (21) which is provided with an opening (22) at the top end and a loaded spring at the bottom end so that bullets stored within the housing are always pushed towards the top opening for exit to the launching system. A latching means in the form of a catch (24) is provided at the top opening end (22) of the cartridge to prevent a bullet (30) from leaving the cartridge along the direction of the spring bias. The front end (25) of the top cartridge opening is left open so that a bullet can move away from the cartridge housing in a direction which is substantially normal to the direction of the spring bias and towards the barrel when pushed by a bullet pusher. In FIG. 5, a window (50) which is adapted to receive the bullet cartridge for a supply of bullets to the shooting mechanism is illustrated for better understanding of this embodiment.

[0028] The projectile shooting mechanism includes a first (15) and a second (16) projectile engaging surfaces which are directly opposing each other during projectile launching. In the present preferred embodiment, the first and second projectile launching surfaces are formed on the circumferential surfaces of first (17) and a second (18) rotatable wheels which are mounted respectively about first (41) and a second (42) rotational axes on the housing (10). The rotational axes are preferably substantially parallel and the opposing circumferential surfaces of rotatable wheel members are separated by a distance which is slightly less than the width (or diameter in the case of a cylindrical projectile) of the projectile. The rotational planes of the first (17) and second (18) rotatable members are preferable parallel and coplanar so that a projectile being fed through the projectile shooting pass (which is the space defined by the shortest distance between the two opposing engaging surfaces) will come into simultaneous frictional contact with both engaging surfaces. The projectile shooting pass (the space between 15 and 16) is deliberately made slightly smaller than the width or diameter of a projectile so that adequate frictional force can apply on a projectile during engagement by both engaging surfaces in order to impart sufficient energy to the projectile for a reasonable trajectory path.

[0029] To impart adequate velocity to energize a projectile, the first rotatable member (17) is driven into rotation by connecting to a rotational power source which is an electric motor (not shown) in the present preferred embodiment. Alternatively, the first rotatable member (17) can be driven by a loaded spring or other suitable driving means. The second rotatable member (18) is preferably a freely rotating wheel so that an engaged projectile can be transported across the projectile shooting pass smoothly and in the desirable direction with minimum adverse friction due to the second rotatable member. Alternatively, the free rotating wheel (18) can be replaced with a very smooth and fixed surface (made for example of plastic or polished metal) to provide a projectile engaging surface, although this is less desirable as the friction between the projectile surface and the fixed projectile engaging surface will somehow cause speed imbalance on the sides of the projectile and possible consequential deterioration in performance. On the other hand, both engaging surfaces can be driven into rotation by, for example, connecting both rotatable members to the same or different rotational power sources, although this may require a more precise transmission mechanism to ensure that both surfaces have the same rotational speed or synchronism. Preferably, the projectile engaging surfaces of both rotatable members rotate at the same linear speed at the time of contact with the projectile so that a substantially identical speed is imparted to both sides of the projectile for a balanced initial flight.

[0030] Turning now to the operation of the toy gun by referring firstly to FIG. 1 in which there are illustrated the progressive movements of a bullet (30) through the toy machine gun (1). Referring to FIG. 2, a bullet (30) is pushed to the top end of the bullet cartridge (20) which is adapted to allow the top-most bullet to be released towards the front end (25) of the cartridge (20) and therefore the barrel side (43) of the toy gun. The top-most bullet is next conveyed towards the bullet shooting pass by a conveying mechanism which consists of a bullet pusher (44). The bullet pusher (44) is connected to a lever transmission link which is controlled by a trigger lever (46) disposed outside the housing for trigger control by a user. Referring to FIG. 1, the toy gun is in the stand-by mode in which the power-driven rotatable wheel is turning at a speed which is suitable for shooting a projectile. When a user pushes the trigger lever (46) so that it rotates in a anti-clockwise manner, the rotational movement of the trigger lever (46) will be converted into a translational movement of the bullet pusher (44) towards the bullet shooting pass by a known movement translation means such as a lever system.

[0031] When the bullet (30) has been conveyed to the projectile shooting pass, the head of the bullet will become engaged by the two bullet engaging surfaces (15, 16) and the head of the bullet will be friction dragged by the engaging surface of the rotating member and moves across the pass and towards the barrel portion (43) of the toy gun as a result of the rotation of the engaging surfaces. The bullet shooting pass is made slightly narrowly than the width of the bullet so that the bullet will be slightly compressed to ensure sufficient fictional contact to impart adequate velocity for an ideal flight.

[0032] The bullet engaging surface (15) on the power driven rotatable member is preferably made with a resiliently or elastically deformable material such as foam or sponge on the player so that the slight deformation which occurs during the passage of the bullet will provide additional and adequate friction to impart sufficient initial velocity to the bullet. The elastically deformable surface is desirable because the front part, i.e. head, of the bullet may be made of a reasonably strong material such as resin or plastic for a good flight trajectory to be explained below. An engaging surface connected to a resiliently deformable rotatable member would ensure that the relatively hard bullet head can pass without difficulty. The other rotatable member (18) is preferably made of a rigid material such as rubber or hard plastic, although the rotatable member can also be provided with a slightly resilient surface.

[0033] Once the bullet has been engaged by the bullet engaging surfaces and caused to move towards the barrel portion (43) of the gun as a result of the rotation of the rotatable members (17, 18), the bullet (30) will be delivered towards the barrel member (43) to start the trajectory flight. The barrel member (43) preferably includes a tubular section which has a width about the same as that of the projectile. The barrel member (43) serves as a guiding member which regulates the exit velocity of the bullet and to compensate the possible imbalance of velocity which may have been imparted to the sides of the projectile. To provide rotational movements necessary to drive a bullet to pass the bullet shooting pass and to impart sufficient velocities to a bullet during engagement with the bullet shooting pass, the rotational member is preferably rotated by a rotational power source which can for example be an electric motor or a spring-loaded rotational source or other appropriate power device.

[0034] The toy gun shown in FIG. 3 represents a second preferred embodiment of the present invention which more closely simulates a real machine gun. The parts of this embodiment are substantially identical to that of the first preferred embodiment with the exception of the bullet conveying mechanism which is adapted to convey bullets at a relatively high speed by way of a motorised bullet conveyer. Referring to FIG. 3, the bullet conveyer includes a cam member which is connected to a bullet pusher. The cam member (47) is connected to a transmission link which is in turn connected to an electric motor (48). The electric motor is connected to a micro-switch which is controlled by the trigger lever in the similar fashion as a real gun. When a user pushes the trigger lever, the micro-switch will be turned on and the motor (48) will rotate. Rotation of the motor will drive the transmission link (49) which will in turn drive the cam member and therefore the bullet pusher into reciprocating motion so that a single pull of the trigger will cause a plurality of bullets to be delivered to the bullet shooting pass for as long as the micro-switch is turned on, thereby resembling the effect of a toy machine gun. As it is relatively easy to produce a relatively high reciprocating frequency of the bullet pusher (44) when it is connected to an electric motor, the maximum rate of bullet delivery will largely depend on the rate at which the cartridge (20) can deliver bullets to the bullet loading position of the gun. The gun is preferably set into a stand-by mode before shooting by turning on the rotatable member so that the bullet shooting pass is ready to accept the bullets delivered from the bullet conveying system when the trigger is pulled.

[0035] To alleviate the risk of personal injury associated with a projectile toy of this kind, the bullet is preferably made of a soft material such as foam or the like. However, because of the low density of a soft material such as foam and the air resistance that it can expect to encounter when exiting the gun barrel, it is extremely difficult to provide a bullet made purely of such a soft material with a reasonably good trajectory path even though a high speed has been imparted to the projectile on exit. To obviate this problem, a preferred bullet of the present invention comprises a bullet head (31) made of a rigid or semi-rigid material such as resins or plastic and a body portion (32) which is made preferably of foam or other soft material. In general, the bullet is substantially made of a foam or other low-density soft materials and the head portion covered by a rigid material.

[0036] The bullet head (31) is made preferably of a semi-rigid material so that it has a good air-breaking ability. The bullet head is preferably semi-rigid so that it is still slightly deformable to allow passage through the bullet shooting pass while having a good air-breaking effect. Of course, when the bullet head is made of a hard material such as hard plastic or other rigid material, it can still pass through the shooting pass as the rotatable members are deformable. Naturally, it is also possible to have the head portion made smaller than the dimension of the shooting pass to allow passage through the rotatable members and the bullet body is designed so that it tapers towards the bullet head to allow passage of the whole bullet across the pass while allowing a good flight characteristic.

[0037] As the bullet head is provided primarily for air-breaking, it only needs to cover the front part of the bullet and occupy a very tiny portion of the length of the bullet. In the specific embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, the bullet is in a substantially cylindrical form having a diameter (&phgr;) of 12.5 mm with an overall length of about 45 mm. The depth of the bullet head is only about 3 mm, that is about {fraction (1/15)} of the length of the whole bullet. As a general rule, the length ratio of the head and body portion of this type of projectile is preferably in the region of {fraction (1/12)} to {fraction (1/20)}. As the bullet head is made of a relatively high density material such as PVC or rubber, the weight ratio between the bullet head and the body is preferably about 3 to 1. Using this preferred embodiment by providing a bullet having a relatively rigid bullet head portion and a soft bullet body portion, the overall weight of the bullet can be as low as 0.4 g (0.3 g for the bullet head and 0.1 g for the body portion), a very good flight trajectory characteristic can be provided while the risk of personal injury is substantially obviated due to the light weight of the bullet. To provide a good air-breaking characteristic, the bullet head is preferably made into a semi-spherical shape and the whole bullet is preferably made into a more aerodynamic shape. While the present invention has been explained with reference to the specific embodiments described above, it should be appreciated that the scope and ambit of the present invention is not limited by such embodiments which are merely provided for illustrating some unique features of the present invention only. Furthermore, it should be appreciated that modifications or trivial variations of the embodiments above by ways or methods which are known in the art will fall within the scope of the present invention without lost of generality.

Claims

1. A light-weight projectile launching device including a projectile conveying mechanism and a projectile shooting mechanism, wherein said projectile shooting mechanism includes a first and a second opposing projectile engaging surfaces, said first and second projectile engaging surfaces are adapted to compressively engage the projectile to be shot, at least said first projectile engaging surface is rotatable about a first rotational axis and is connected to a rotational power source for imparting energy to said projectile, and said projectile conveying mechanism to convey a projectile towards engagement with said projectile engaging surfaces for launching.

2. A projectile launching according to claim 1, wherein said first and second engaging surfaces are adapted to use friction to impart energy to said projectile and said engaging surfaces are separated by a distance which is slightly smaller than the width of a projectile.

3. A projectile launcher according to claim 1, wherein said second projectile engaging surface is freely rotatable about a second rotational axis, and said second rotational surface is driven into rotation by said first engaging surface upon engagement of a projectile between said engaging surfaces.

4. A projectile launching device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said projectile engaging surfaces is elastically deformable.

5. A projectile launching device according to claim 3, wherein said first and second rotational axis are substantially parallel.

6. A projectile launching device according to claim 1, wherein said first and second projectile engaging surfaces are substantially parallel to each other at the position of engaging a projectile.

7. A projectile launching device according to claim 1, wherein a projectile guiding mechanism is provided at the exit of said projectile engaging surfaces.

8. A projectile launching device according to claim 7, wherein said guiding member includes a barrel member having an internal bore adapted to receive said projectile in a lengthwise manner.

9. A projectile launching device according to claim 1, wherein said rotational power source is an electric motor.

10. A projectile including a head portion and a body portion, wherein said head portion is made of a rigid or semi-rigid material and the body portion is made of a soft material, the length of said body portion is significantly longer than that of the head portion.

11. A projectile member according to claim 10, wherein the length of the head portion is only about {fraction (1/12)}-{fraction (1/20)} of the overall length of the projectile.

12. A projectile according to claim 9, wherein said head portion is made of PVC or rubber while the body portion is made of foam.

13. An elongated projectile made substantially of a foam material having a head portion which is covered by a layer of hard material.

14. A light-weight projectile launching mechanism including a first and a second opposing projectile engaging surfaces, said first and second projectile engaging surfaces are adapted to compressively engage the projectile to be shot, at least said first projectile engaging surface is rotatable about a first rotational axis and is connected to a rotational power source for imparting energy to said projectile.

15. A projectile launching mechanism according to claim 14, further including a projectile conveying mechanism, wherein said projectile conveying mechanism conveys a projectile towards engagement with said projectile engaging surfaces for launching.

16. A projectile launching mechanism according to claim 14, wherein said first and second engaging surfaces are adapted to use friction to impart energy to said projectile and said engaging surfaces are separated by a distance which is slightly smaller than the width of a projectile.

17. A projectile launching mechanism according to claim 14, wherein said second projectile engaging surface is freely rotatable about a second rotational axis, and said second rotational surface is driven into rotation by said first engaging surface upon engagement of a projectile between said engaging surfaces.

18. A projectile launching device according to claim 14, wherein at least one of said projectile engaging surfaces is elastically deformable.

19. A toy machine gun including a bullet shooting mechanism, wherein said bullet shooting mechanism includes a first and a second rotatable wheel which is adapted to permit compressive passage of a bullet to be shot through the space formed between said wheels and at least one of the wheels is power driven.