Illuminated toy projectile

Abstract

A toy projectile for firing from a toy gun includes a body, a battery located within the body, a light emitter and a sensor adapted to trigger a provision of electrical energy from the battery to the light emitter upon firing from the toy gun.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to soft projectiles for firing from toy guns. The invention more particularly, although not exclusively, relates to soft projectiles that can be seen in the dark in flight.

It is known to fire soft projectiles from toy guns. Children can enjoy firing soft projectiles and the projectiles can be observed throughout their trajectory under good lighting conditions. At night time, or when playing in low light conditions, it is not easy to see the projectiles in flight or to locate the landed projectiles for retrieval and reuse.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate at least one of the above disadvantages and/or more generally to provide a soft projectile which provides a kind of “tracer bullet effect” during trajectory and which is easily located in low light conditions once landed.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

There is disclosed herein a toy projectile comprising:

• • a body;
  • a battery located within the body;
  • a light emitter; and
  • a sensor adapted to trigger a provision of electrical energy from the battery to the light emitter upon acceleration of the projectile.

Preferably, the body is light-transmissive and wherein the light emitter is located internally of the body and illuminates the body internally.

Preferably, the body is of soft tubular form having a hollow cavity within which the light emitter is located.

Preferably, the body is soft and has a hollow cavity, and further comprises a battery compartment located within the hollow cavity and housing the battery.

Preferably, the battery compartment comprises a PCB upon which the light emitter is mounted.

Preferably, the PCB comprises positive and negative electrical connections each connected to a respective pole of the battery to form a circuit therewith.

The battery compartment might further comprises a contact terminal connecting one pole of the battery to one of the electrical connections of the PCB via a wire or other electrical conduit, and an electrically conductive spring connecting the other pole of the battery to the other electrical connection of the PCB.

The sensor adaptation can be provided in that the battery moves under its own inertia within the battery compartment against the spring with which it maintains contact and in that the contact terminal momentarily disengages from said one pole of the battery to momentarily open said circuit.

Preferably, the PCB comprises timing circuitry to provide power to the light emitter for a finite duration and wherein said duration commences upon closing of said momentarily open circuit.

The PCB can comprise timing circuitry to provide power to the light emitter for a finite duration and said sensor adaptation can be provided in that the battery moves within the battery compartment under its own inertia against the spring and in that the PCB further comprises a contact pin with which the battery momentarily engages to initiate said provision of power.

Preferably, the contact terminal is spring biased against said one pole of the battery so as not to electrically disengage therefrom.

The projectile can further comprise an electrically conductive spring engaging the battery for conducting current from the battery to the light emitter, and further comprising a contact terminal for completing a circuit between the battery and the light emitter, and wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves in use under its own inertia against the spring with which it maintains electrical contact and in that the contact terminal engages with and disengages from the battery to make and break said circuit.

The projectile can further comprise a timing circuit, and an electrically conductive spring engages the battery for conducting current from the battery to the light emitter for a duration set by the timing circuit, the projectile further comprising a contact terminal, and wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves in use under its own inertia against the spring with which it maintains electrical contact and in that the contact terminal engages with and disengages from the battery to trigger the timing circuit.

There is further disclosed herein a toy projectile for firing from a toy gun, comprising:

• • a body;
  • a battery located within the body;
  • a light emitter; and
  • a sensor adapted to cooperate with the toy gun to trigger a provision of electrical energy from the battery to the light emitter upon firing from the toy gun.

The sensor can comprise a mechanical switch that bears against a part of the toy gun when the projectile is loaded in the toy gun.

Preferably, the mechanical switch comprises a push-OFF microswitch adapted to release to an ON position upon disengagement from said part.

There is further disclosed herein a combination of the above projectile and a toy gun comprising said part engaging with said mechanical switch.

Preferably, said part comprises an air nozzle extending into the projectile.

The sensor can comprise an air pressure switch configured to receive an air blast from the toy gun.

There is further disclosed herein a combination of the above projectile and a toy gun comprising said part and in which said part comprises an air nozzle extending into the projectile adjacent to the air pressure switch.

Alternatively, the sensor can comprise a magnetic switch which passes through a magnetic field provided by the toy gun.

There is further disclosed herein a combination of the above projectile and a toy gun comprising a magnet creating a magnetic field through which the projectile must pass when fired from the toy gun.

DEFINITION

As used herein, the word “battery” is intended to mean one or more batteries connected in series or parallel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation of a soft toy projectile;

FIG. 2 is a schematic side elevation of the soft toy projectile of FIG. 1 with a battery-powered LED located internally thereof;

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of a battery compartment;

FIG. 4A is a schematic side elevation of the projectile showing the batteries within the battery compartment at rest prior to firing;

FIG. 4B is a schematic side elevation of the projectile showing the batteries moving backward relative to the battery compartment at firing;

FIG. 4C is a schematic side elevation of the projectile showing the batteries moving forward relative to the battery compartment under spring force after firing;

FIG. 4D is a schematic side elevation of the projectile showing the batteries coming into contact with a contact terminal under spring force during trajectory;

FIG. 4E is a schematic side elevation of the projectile showing the batteries at rest against the contact terminal;

FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic side elevations of a battery compartment having an alternative internal construction.

FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of an alternative projectile;

FIG. 7A is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of the projectile of FIG. 6 mounted upon an air nozzle of a toy gun;

FIG. 7B is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of the projectile of FIG. 6 commencing movement away from the air nozzle;

FIG. 7C is a schematic cross-sectional elevation of the projectile in trajectory away from the air nozzle;

FIG. 8 is a schematic elevation of a further alternative projectile—in this case having a magnetic sensor switch; and

FIGS. 9A to 9D are schematic cross-sectional elevations of a toy gun barrel flanked by a pair of permanent magnets creating a magnetic field across the gun barrel and also depicting the projectile of FIG. 8 at various positions along the gun barrel before and after firing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In FIGS. 1 to 4(A to E) of the accompanying drawings there is depicted schematically a projectile 10 comprising a soft tubular foam body 11. Body 11 is cylindrical in form and comprises a hollow cavity 12. The body 11 is made of light-transmissive material which is typically translucent. At the forward end of the body 11, there is a plastics head 13 having a suction cup 14. These are typically made of flexible plastics or rubber. Within the head 13, there is provided a plastics disc 15 which serves to secure a glue joint between the soft head 13 and the foam body 11. There is a battery compartment space 16 immediately behind the plastics disc 15.

The battery compartment space receives a battery compartment 17. The battery compartment 17 is generally cylindrical in form and is made typically in plastics or other electrically non-conductive material. A disc-shaped PCB 20 closes an end of the battery compartment 17. An LED 18 is mounted upon the PCB disc and is directed backwards into the hollow cavity 12 such that when energised the internal surface of the hollow cavity 12 is illuminated by the LED. As the body 11 is translucent, this light will cause the body to glow. The LED 18 is typically a high-efficiency type.

A pair of button cell batteries 19 is located within the battery compartment 17. These would typically be 1.5 Volt batteries which connected in series provides a 3 Volt source. The batteries 19 are located loosely within the battery compartment 17 and are biased forward by a battery spring 21 into contact with a contact terminal 22. The battery spring 21 is electrically conductive and connects the batteries 19 to a contact point on the printed circuit board 20. The contact terminal 22 is connected by a wire 23 or other electrical conduit (such as a track formed upon an outer surface of the battery compartment) to the PCB 20.

The PCB 20 includes a timing circuit designed to provide power from the batteries 19 to the LED for a finite duration such as one or two seconds. This duration commences upon closing the electrical circuit described above and after which the PCB goes into “standby mode” in which only minimal current is drawn from the batteries.

As shown in FIGS. 4A to 4E, the batteries 19 move under their own inertia to break and make contact with the contact terminal 22 during use. Upon firing from a toy gun, the projectile 10 accelerates rapidly forward as indicated by the large arrow in FIG. 4B. The batteries 19 move backward relative to the battery compartment 17 as shown by the small arrow in FIG. 4B so that they break contact with contact terminal 22. Shortly thereafter the battery spring 21 pushes the batteries 19 and forwarded as shown in FIG. 4C. Contact is then made with the contact terminal 22 is shown in FIG. 4D whereupon the LED 18 illuminates. The timer upon PCB 20 maintains illumination of the LED 18 for a finite period as indicated in FIG. 4E.

An alternative arrangement within the battery compartment 17 is shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. Rather than relying upon the making and breaking of the circuit at contact terminal 22, a contact pin 24 can extend from the PCB 20 to make momentary electrical contact with the batteries 19 to start the timer. Moreover, the contact terminal 22 is provided with a terminal spring 25 so that terminal 22 always maintains electrical contact with batteries 19 including when they move within the battery compartment. Alternatively, a flexible wire or metallic ribbon could be permanently soldered, welded or otherwise connected to the battery. That is, the PCB 20 always sees a closed circuit through the batteries. The contact pin 24 is located centrally of the battery spring 21. Upon rapid acceleration of the projectile 10 from a toy gun, the batteries 19 move relative to the battery compartment as indicated by the arrow in FIG. 5B to engage the contact pin 24. The timing circuit then conveys current from the batteries to the LED 18 for a finite period set at say one or two seconds.

In FIGS. 6 to 7C of the accompanying drawings there is depicted an alternative projectile 100. The projectile comprises a soft foam body 110 with a bulbous tip having a lighting cavity 140 therein. Behind this is a tubular cavity 120 which extends to the tail end of the projectile. Ahead of the tubular cavity there is an LED 18 pointing forward into the lighting cavity 140 to illuminate the body 110 from within. The LED 18 is mounted to a circuit board 20 upon which there is a micro processor including timing circuitry similar to that described above with reference to the preceding embodiments. A microswitch 130 is mounted upon the circuit board and extends backward into the tubular cavity 120. The microswitch 130 is typically of momentary contact type and would typically be of push-OFF configuration (i.e. when the microswitch is depressed, it provides an open circuit).

Within the toy gun there would be provided a part 150 which in the exemplified embodiment comprises an air nozzle that extends into the tubular cavity 120 of the projectile 100. The air nozzle 150 has a number of air holes 160 through which compressed air delivered through the nozzle 150 rapidly enters the tubular cavity 120 to affect firing of the projectile from the toy gun in use. Rather than relying upon compressed air to fire the projectile, the part 150 might instead be a firing pin or pusher that moves forward rapidly against the microswitch 130 to fire the projectile 100. The air nozzle (or firing pin) 150 has a leading face 180 that bears against the mechanical microswitch 130 when a projectile 100 is loaded into the toy gun. When air is delivered rapidly through the nozzle 150, the projectile 100 moves away and so the microswitch 130 disengages from the leading face 180 to trigger the timing circuit to provide power to the LED for a finite period of time—a period which would correspond to a typical trajectory duration.

A further alternative is depicted in FIGS. 8 to 9D. In this embodiment the projectile 200 is similar in construction to the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1 comprises a head 13 having a suction cup 14 and a soft foam body 11 with a tubular cavity 12. An LED 18 points backwards into the cavity 12 and is powered by a battery 19. A PCB 20 has timing circuitry similar to that described previously. In this embodiment however, there is provided a magnetic sensor (Hall Effect) switch 230 which might typically comprise a moving ferrous circuit-making/breaking part or other known magnetic field sensing device. Flanking the gun barrel 170 of the toy gun is a pair of permanent magnets 240 providing a magnetic field across the gun barrel as indicated by the arrows extending between the magnets. At the back of the gun barrel, there is an air nozzle or firing pin 150 (or other apparatus) to affect forward motion of the projectile 200. As the projectile moves through the magnetic field, the magnetic sensor switch 230 reacts to the magnetic field to trigger the timing circuit so that current from the battery 19 is delivered to the LED for a finite duration.

It should be appreciated that modifications and alterations obvious to those skilled in the art are not to be considered as beyond the scope of the present invention. For example, and with reference to the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 5B, the batteries might be fixed against movement within the battery compartment rendering springs 21 and 25 unnecessary and a simple reed switch having a small mass calibrated to open and close upon rapid acceleration of the projectile could be provided. Furthermore, instead of a contact pin 24, a momentary contact microswitch could be mounted upon the PCB 20 to serve the same purpose. As a further example, and with reference to the embodiments of FIG. 8 to 9D, rather than providing a pair of permanent magnets flanking the gun barrel, a single magnet could be provided at one side of the barrel only.

Claims

1. A toy projectile comprising:

a body;

a battery located within the body;

a light emitter; and

a sensor adapted to trigger a provision of electrical energy from the battery to the light emitter upon acceleration of the projectile.

2. The projectile of claim 1, wherein the body is light-transmissive and wherein the light emitter is located internally of the body and illuminates the body internally.

3. The projectile of claim 2, wherein the body is of soft tubular form having a hollow cavity within which the light emitter is located.

4. The projectile of claim 1, wherein the body is soft and has a hollow cavity, and further comprising a battery compartment located within the hollow cavity and housing the battery.

5. The projectile of claim 4, wherein the battery compartment comprises a PCB upon which the light emitter is mounted.

6. The projectile of claim 5, wherein the PCB comprises positive and negative electrical connections each connected to a respective pole of the battery to form a circuit therewith.

7. The projectile of claim 6, wherein the battery compartment further comprises a contact terminal connecting one pole of the battery to one of the electrical connections of the PCB via a wire or other electrical conduit, and an electrically conductive spring connecting the other pole of the battery to the other electrical connection of the PCB.

8. The projectile of claim 7, wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves under its own inertia within the battery compartment against the spring with which it maintains contact and in that the contact terminal momentarily disengages from said one pole of the battery to momentarily open said circuit.

9. The projectile of claim 8, wherein the PCB comprises timing circuitry to provide power to the light emitter for a finite duration and wherein said duration commences upon closing of said momentarily open circuit.

10. The projectile of claim 7, wherein the PCB comprises timing circuitry to provide power to the light emitter for a finite duration and wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves within the battery compartment under its own inertia against the spring and in that the PCB further comprises a contact pin with which the battery momentarily engages to initiate said provision of power.

11. The projectile of claim 10, wherein the contact terminal is spring biased against said one pole of the battery so as not to electrically disengage therefrom.

12. The projectile of claim 1, further comprising an electrically conductive spring engaging the battery for conducting current from the battery to the light emitter, and further comprising a contact terminal for completing a circuit between the battery and the light emitter, and wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves in use under its own inertia against the spring with which it maintains electrical contact and in that the contact terminal engages with and disengages from the battery to make and break said circuit.

13. The projectile of claim 1, further comprising a timing circuit, and an electrically conductive spring engaging the battery for conducting current from the battery to the light emitter for a duration set by the timing circuit, the projectile further comprising a contact terminal, and wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves in use under its own inertia against the spring with which it maintains electrical contact and in that the contact terminal engages with and disengages from the battery to trigger the timing circuit.

14. A toy projectile for firing from a toy gun, comprising:

a body;

a battery located within the body;

a light emitter; and

a sensor adapted to cooperate with the toy gun to trigger a provision of electrical energy from the battery to the light emitter upon firing from the toy gun.

15. The projectile of claim 14, wherein the body is light-transmissive and wherein the light emitter is located internally of the body and illuminates the body internally.

16. The projectile of claim 15, wherein the body is of soft tubular form having a hollow cavity within which the light emitter is located.

17. The projectile of claim 14, wherein the body is soft and has a hollow cavity, and further comprising a battery compartment located within the hollow cavity and housing the battery.

18. The projectile of claim 17, wherein the battery compartment comprises a PCB upon which the light emitter is mounted.

19. The projectile of claim 18, wherein the PCB comprises positive and negative electrical connections each connected to a respective pole of the battery to form a circuit therewith.

20. The projectile of claim 19, wherein the battery compartment further comprises a contact terminal connecting one pole of the battery to one of the electrical connections of the PCB via a wire or other electrical conduit, and an electrically conductive spring connecting the other pole of the battery to the other electrical connection of the PCB.

21. The projectile of claim 20, wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves under its own inertia within the battery compartment against the spring with which it maintains contact and in that the contact terminal momentarily disengages from said one pole of the battery to momentarily open said circuit.

22. The projectile of claim 21, wherein the PCB comprises timing circuitry to provide power to the light emitter for a finite duration and wherein said duration commences upon closing of said momentarily open circuit.

23. The projectile of claim 20, wherein the PCB comprises timing circuitry to provide power to the light emitter for a finite duration and wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves within the battery compartment under its own inertia against the spring and in that the PCB further comprises a contact pin with which the battery momentarily engages to initiate said provision of power.

24. The projectile of claim 23, wherein the contact terminal is spring biased against said one pole of the battery so as not to electrically disengage therefrom.

25. The projectile of claim 14, further comprising an electrically conductive spring engaging the battery for conducting current from the battery to the light emitter, and further comprising a contact terminal for completing a circuit between the battery and the light emitter, and wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves in use under its own inertia against the spring with which it maintains electrical contact and in that the contact terminal engages with and disengages from the battery to make and break said circuit.

26. The projectile of claim 14, further comprising a timing circuit, and an electrically conductive spring engaging the battery for conducting current from the battery to the light emitter for a duration set by the timing circuit, the projectile further comprising a contact terminal, and wherein said sensor adaptation is provided in that the battery moves in use under its own inertia against the spring with which it maintains electrical contact and in that the contact terminal engages with and disengages from the battery to trigger the timing circuit.

27. The projectile of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises a mechanical switch that bears against a part of the toy gun when the projectile is loaded in the toy gun.

28. The projectile of claim 27, wherein the mechanical switch comprises a push-OFF microswitch adapted to release to an ON position upon disengagement from said part.

29. In combination with the projectile of claim 27, a toy gun comprising said part engaging with said mechanical switch.

30. The combination of claim 29, wherein said part comprises an air nozzle extending into the projectile.

31. The projectile of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises an air pressure switch configured to receive an air blast from the toy gun.

32. In combination with the projectile of claim 31, a toy gun comprising said part and in which said part comprises an air nozzle extending into the projectile adjacent to the air pressure switch.

33. The projectile of claim 14, wherein the sensor comprises a magnetic switch which passes through a magnetic field provided by the toy gun.

34. In combination with the projectile of claim 33, a toy gun comprising a magnet creating a magnetic field through which the projectile must pass when fired from the toy gun.