Toy device

Abstract

A toy device has a resilient tubular housing defining a strip chamber and having an opening at each end. A strip bundle constituting a mutiplicity of elongate strip members are located within the strip chamber and are frictionally retained against inadvertent movement by the compressive force of the resilient tubular housing on the strips and are each linearly moveable relative to said strip chamber and relative to one another. The strips are composed of a polymer such as a vinyl or of other suitable materials and can be marked with educational indicia or game indicia to promote the use of the toy device for educational purposes as well as for entertainment and pleasure.

Description

RELATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION

Applicant hereby claims for all purposes the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/217,842, filed on Jun. 8, 2009 by Chesley G. Russell and entitled “Toy Device”.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to toy devices, exercise devices and devices to promote exercise and dexterity development of the hands and fingers of a user. Also, the present invention concerns devices that are can be manipulated by the hands and fingers of a user to provide the user with stress relief. The present invention also concerns the provision of a device to promote or enhance the creation of designs and component arrangements for pleasure or for personal skill development.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a principal feature of the present invention to provide a novel toy device having a multiplicity of elongate strip members or slivers which are contained within a generally cylindrical elastic housing and can be moved to selected positions relative to the elastic housing as suits the desires of the user.

It is another feature of the present invention to provide a novel toy device that can be efficiently used to provide for exercise and dexterity of the hands and fingers of a user and which can be used simply for the pleasure of the user.

It is also a feature of the present invention to provide a novel toy device that can be employed to provide users with the capability to create and play various games or establish other forms of entertainment.

Briefly, the various objects and features of the present invention are realized through the provision of a tubular elastic housing of generally cylindrical form, which may be composed of a single tubular elastic band but is preferably composed to a plurality of elastic bands, typically three bands that can be composed of any of a number of acceptable rubber or rubber-like materials of the same or different colors. The elastic bands may each be of the same width or may be of different widths. Being tubular, the housing defines an internal strip chamber and has open ends through which the elongate strips may be linearly moved independently or in groups. The elastic housing has a defined length which can be any length that is suitable for the user. Preferably the defined length of the housing is the same as the lengths of the elongate strips, so that the elongate strips, when fully within the strip chamber of the housing, will not protrude from either of the end openings of the housing, but rather will have the ends of the elongate strips located substantially within the planes defined by the end openings of the housing.

The tubular housing may also be composed of a substantially rigid material if desired, but if so must be internally lined with a resilient material that will permit the bundle of elongate strips to be somewhat compressed and secured within the strip chamber of the housing by a compressive force of the resilient lining material.

The multiplicity of thin elongate strips of material, typically a range of from about 50 to about 500 strips and preferably about 300 strips, are contained within the strip compartment of the elastic housing and preferably have a length that is identical to the defined length of the elastic housing. It should be borne in mind that the toy devices may have as few or as many elongate strip members as are appropriate for the intended purpose. The elongate strips of polymer or other material can have a rectangular cross-sectional configuration or may have any other selected cross-sectional configuration such as round, octagonal, triangular, diamond, square, slotted, having ridges, etc. In a preferred embodiment of this invention the elongate strip members are of rectangular cross-sectional configuration each having a length of about 2½ inches, a width of about 3/16 inch and a thickness of about 1/16 inch. However strip members of lesser or greater length, width or thickness may be effectively employed within the spirit and scope of this invention. It is important that the elongate strips have the capability of sliding relative to adjacent strips but establish sufficient frictional resistance to free movement that the elongate strips can be independently moved linearly, but are not free to simply fall from the strip chamber due to orientation of the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above recited features, advantages and objects of the present invention are attained and can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the preferred embodiment thereof which is illustrated in the appended drawings, which drawings are incorporated as a part hereof.

It is to be noted however, that the appended drawings illustrate only a typical embodiment of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1 is an isometric illustration of a toy device embodying the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is also an isometric illustration showing in full line the toy device of FIG. 1 showing in broken line being held in the hand of a user being manipulated for the exercise or therapeutic value of the user's hand and fingers to potentially provide a stress relief function;

FIG. 3 is an isometric illustration of one of the multiplicity of elongate strip members that are frictionally retained within the strip chamber of the tubular housing of the toy device of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an isometric illustration showing the toy device of FIGS. 1 and 2 arranged substantially horizontally and showing some of the elongate strip members positioned so that some of the strip members protrude from each open end of the strip chamber of the generally cylindrical elastic housing;

FIG. 5 is an elevation view showing an elongate strip member having a fairly rough, sandpaper like surface finish for controlled resistance to strip movement;

FIG. 6 is an elevation view showing an elongate strip member having a ridged surface finish, like the ridge and groove finish of a file, also for controlled resistance to strip movement;

FIG. 7 is an elevation view showing an elongate strip member having a triangular cross-sectional configuration;

FIG. 8 is an end view of the elongate strip member of FIG. 6, showing the triangular configuration thereof;

FIG. 9 is an elevation view showing an elongate strip member having a configuration defining edge configuration having projections and grooves;

FIG. 10 is an elevation view showing an elongate strip member having a configuration defining recesses and projections along opposed edges thereof; and

FIG. 11 is an elevation view showing an elongate strip member having indicia to enable the toy device to have an educational application;

FIG. 12 is an isometric illustration showing an alternative embodiment of the present invention having elongate strip members having elongate ridges and grooves;

FIG. 13 is an isometric illustration showing the embodiment of FIG. 12 with one of the elongate grooves being shown; and

FIG. 14 is an end view of the elongate strips of FIGS. 12 and 13, further showing the ridge and groove arrangement of the alternative embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

There are two categories of parts that make up this product—individual plastic pieces in the form of thin elongate strips and a resilient elastic tubular housing that is preferably composed of one or more elastic bands within which the thin elongate strips are movably secured. The elastic nature of the tubular housing serves to urge or maintain the thin elongate strips in a rather tight bundle so that the elongate strip members do not tend to fall out of the internal strip chamber that is defined by the tubular housing. Any other tubular housing device that is designed to retain the thin strips in this fashion can be used without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

The major part of the hand manipulated device consists of 300 or so plastic pieces, (also referred to herein as “slivers”, “strip members”, “strips” or “elongate strip members”) each, according to the preferred embodiment, being about two and one half inches long by 3/16 inch wide and 1/16 inch thick (plus or minus extremely small dimensions). Other embodiments of this invention may have strip members of greater or lesser length and an elastic housing of lesser or greater length, as compared with the preferred embodiment. These pieces are preferably made of a rigid vinyl material, which is a type of plastic. However, it should be borne in mind that the elongate strip members may be composed of a wide range of polymer materials, or other materials, such as wood, metal, bamboo or the like, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

To minimize the potential of the slivers to become displaced or fall out of the strip chamber of the resilient elastic housing that is defined by the elastic bands, each elongate strip member may have various frictional designs on one or more of its surfaces, such as a rough, i.e., sand paper-like surface or a ridged and grooved surface like the cutting surface of a file. Some of the elongate strip members of a particular toy or manual dexterity improvement device may have smooth surfaces and some may have roughened surface preparations. These pieces may also have an interlocking design. The roughened frictional surfaces and the interlocking design are intended to minimize the potential of the elongate strip members for easily falling out of the strip chamber that is defined by the openings of the elastic bands. Users of the toy device will gradually gain experience and dexterity for handling the toy device; thus more experienced users may prefer slick and easily movable strip members while those with less experience may trend toward the use of strip members with roughened frictional surface preparation.

These 300 pieces of each toy device of the preferred embodiment are made up by strips of different colors—generally 75 red, 75 blue, 75 green, and 75 yellow. Colors of the elongate strip members may vary and the number of the strips may be increased to tighten the elongate strips of the “Toy device” within the band or bands of its elastic housing. The material that makes up these pieces can also vary, depending on the desired rigidity and appropriateness of function.

The other part consists of at least one and preferably three elastic bands that may conveniently take the form of synthetic, latex free rubber bands or elastic bands that are composed of materials other than natural rubber. The terms “elastic bands” and “rubber bands” are intended to mean any of various types of elastic material that has the form of an endless band and defines a space or chamber within the band which is of a dimension for stretching about and containing a multiplicity of elongate strip members. The elastic bands may also be composed of natural rubber if desired, though it must be taken into account that some persons may have an allergic reaction to latex. According to the preferred embodiment of this invention, two of the elastic bands are each composed of substantially flat rubber material about two inches long by one inch wide and having a thickness of from about 1/16 inch to about 5/16 inch. The remaining elastic band is two inches long by one half inch wide and is also composed of flat rubber material having a thickness of from about 1/16 inch to about 5/16 inch. The width of the elastic bands may also vary to suit the needs of the user and to establish the desired length of the elastic tubular housing. The elastic bands are used to stretch around the 300 elongate strips, forming the multiple elongate strips of the toy device into a bundle, about two and one half inches long. If a cylindrical housing is employed the bundle of strips will be of essentially cylindrical configuration. If the housing is of rectangular, oval, triangular or diamond shaped, the bundle of strips will have that general configuration. Different size toy devices with more or less slivers and larger or smaller elastic bands may also be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention. The elongate strip members or slivers may have a length less than or greater than the two and one half inch length dimension of the preferred embodiment or the length of any housing having a greater or lesser length as compared with the preferred embodiment that is set forth herein.

The toy device is used as a toy, game, stress reliever or a device to exercise the fingers and hands. It can be operated in a variety of positions, but the two most basic positions are horizontal and vertical. In the horizontal position the slivers can be pushed back and forth with the fingers, projecting out of the end openings of the housing of the toy device, creating a variety of designs. The slivers must not be pushed past the center point in either direction, until one has the skill to determine how far they can be pushed without them falling out.

Typically the intention is not to purposely push the silvers completely out of the bands. If this happens, the slivers can be gathered up and the bands can again be stretched around the slivers to restore the toy device to its original shape for continued enjoyment. In the vertical position the slivers can be projected out through one end with the fingers, the eraser end of a pencil or any other appropriate object, into various designs. As with the horizontal position, the slivers must not be pushed past the center point, until the skill is developed to know how far the slivers can be pushed without falling out. The other end is then placed on a flat surface, such as a table, desk or book. One can either view or enjoy the design or begin pushing various individual slivers down, creating alternative designs, or push all the slivers down and start the process over again. Again, the intention is not to purposely push the slivers completely out of the bands, but if this accidentally happens, gather the slivers together and stretch the bands around the slivers into the original shape of the “Toy device” for continued enjoyment. If an individual strip or several strips accidentally fall out of the strip chamber of the elastic housing, simply slide them back into gaps created between the main body of strip members. This is best done by spreading some of the protruding strips and sliding the fallen strips back into the gap.

One popular game that can be played, is initiated by pushing a batch of strips out one end of the toy device, then placing the other end on a flat surface such as a table, desk or book. Up to four individuals can play. Each player chooses a color. Each time a turn is taken, a player pushes down as many strips as he/she can in one swipe or downward motion. The object is to see who can get all of their colored slivers down first and therefore become the winner.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, the toy device is shown generally at 10 and incorporates three elastic bands 12, 14 and 16 which together make up a tubular elastic housing 18. As mentioned above, the tubular elastic housing 18 may be composed of the three elastic bands as shown, may be composed of a single elastic band or may incorporate any suitable number of elastic bands as desired. Preferably the housing 18 is of generally cylindrical configuration though it may have other configurations, such as oval, substantially rectangular, substantially triangular, diamond shaped, etc. as suits the needs of the user.

A strip chamber 19 that is defined by the internal surfaces of the elastic bands has a volumetric dimension that is determined by the sizes of the elastic band or bands. The size of the elastic bands and the strip chamber are also determined by a multiplicity of elongate strip members or slivers 20 that are located within the strip chamber 19 and constitute a strip bundle. The elongate strip members or slivers 20 may be of the same color or may have different colors as shown. Basically, the strip members are not connected with one another in any way but are simply held together in a bundle by frictional resistance that is developed by the force of the elastic band or bands. The strip members are linearly movable relative to one another so that some of the strip members can be extended as shown in FIG. 3 to form desired strip designs or arrangements.

As shown in FIG. 2, the toy device shown in full line may also serve as an exercise device which is squeezed to deform the cylindrical housing and strengthen or enhance the dexterity of the hand of a user, which is shown in broken lines. As the toy device is squeezed manually, it can be deformed from a cylindrical configuration to an oval or random cross-sectional configuration. Manual manipulation of the toy device in this manner can also provide a therapeutic characteristic to relieve stress that the user may be experiencing. The elastic bands are stretched and provide resistance to manual deformation of the toy device, thus exercising the hands and fingers of the user.

As shown in FIG. 3, one of the elongate strip members 20 is presented. The strip member, in this case, has flat opposed surfaces 22 and defines generally parallel edge surfaces 24 and 26 and opposed end surfaces 28 and 30. The width of the elongate strip members is in the order of about 3/16 inch as shown and the thickness of the strip material is in the order of about 1/16 inch. The strip member 20 is in the order of about 2½ inches. It should be borne in mind however, that the strip dimensions that are set forth in FIG. 3 may be greater or lesser than is shown in the figure, depending on the needs and desires of the user.

With reference to FIGS. 4 and 5 elongate strip members one of which is shown generally at 32 which may be used in place of the generally flat elongate strip members 20 of FIGS. 1-3. The elongate strip members 32 define three elongate, generally planar faces or surfaces 34, 36 and 38 and define substantially planar generally triangular end surfaces 40. The triangular strips are positioned within the strip chamber 19 in the same manner as the generally flat elongate strip members 20 of FIGS. 1-3 and are movably retained within the strip chamber by the compressive force of the elastic housing 18 that is stretched over the bundle of strips. This compressive force causes the surfaces and edges of the strips to establish frictional resistance to linear movement of the strip members to prevent inadvertent movement of the strip members. This compressive force and frictional resistance is relative easy to overcome simply by manually pushing on the ends of the strip members.

Referring to FIG. 5 of the drawings, elongate strip members may be provided as shown generally at 42 wherein one of the substantially flat elongate strip members 44 is shown which may of essentially the same dimension as compared with the elongate strip member of FIG. 3, the exception being that the elongate strip member 42 has planar surfaces 46 that have a roughened, sand-paper like finish to increase the frictional resistance between adjacent elongate strip members.

FIG. 6 of the drawings shows an elongate strip member, shown generally at 48 having elongate substantially planar surfaces 50 that have multiple ridges, separated by grooves, thus providing a surface finish generally having the surface appearance of a file. The ridges and grooves of the elongate strip member interact with ridges and grooves of adjacent strip members to develop enhanced frictional resistance to linear strip movement. However, it is not intended to prevent relative linear movement of the elongate strip members relative to one another and relative to the housing 19, rather manually generated strip movement is the essence of the invention. In some cases the character or geometry of the elongate strip members is arranged to enhance the difficulty or manual dexterity that is required for strip movement, thus enhancing the difficulty of games played by users.

FIG. 9 is an elevation view showing another form of elongate strip member generally at 52 wherein each of the bundle of strip members within the strip chamber of the housing is shown at 54 and defines generally planar surfaces 56. Edges 58 and 60 of the elongate strip members, rather than being essentially straight as shown in FIGS. 1-8, define spaced angulated projections 62 on one side of the strip member and equally spaced recesses 64 on the opposite side of each strip member. The spaced angulated projections 62 and spaced angulated recesses 64 also provide additional resistance to linear elongate strip movement, thus requiring that users develop additional manual dexterity to accomplish strip movement and to accomplish selective positioning of the elongate strip members.

FIG. 10 is an elevation view showing yet another form of elongate strip member where a strip member embodiment shown generally at 66 is in the form of an elongate strip member 68 that defines generally planar surfaces 70. Being somewhat similar to the elongate strip member 54 of FIG. 9, for essentially the same purpose, the elongate strip member 68 defines a plurality of laterally extending spaced projections 72 on one side of the strip member, each being formed integral with the strip member and each being of generally diamond shaped configuration. The opposite side of the elongate strip member 68 defines a plurality of substantially equally spaced generally diamond shaped recesses. The diamond shaped recesses 74 have the same spacing as the diamond shaped projections 72 and are located intermediate pairs of the projections. The spaced projections 72 and spaced angulated recesses 74 provide additional resistance to linear elongate strip movement, thus requiring that users develop additional manual dexterity to effectively use the toy device of the present invention.

Though the present invention is generally directed to a toy device that is used for pleasure and enjoyment, it is also intended that the present invention have the additional function of an educational device. As shown in the elevation view of FIG. 11 one of the elongate strip members shown generally at 76 has planar surfaces 78. End portions of the planar surfaces 76 of the elongate strip members can be marked with indicia 78 and 80 that permit users, typically children, to see, understand, memorize, etc. the meaning of the indicia. For example, as is shown in FIG. 11 the indicia may represent multiplication tables to enable students to become familiar with or memorize mathematic terms. Other examples of the indicia 78 and 80 may be addition, subtraction and division of mathematics or may present chemistry terms such as the periodic tables or language terms for Spanish, Latin, French, German or other languages. Historical terms such as important dates and events may also be presented by the indicia. As the elongate strip members are moved linearly the educational terms come into view and can be inspected for translation of the terms to English or other languages. Games can be established using these educational indicia to enhance the educational experience of users of the toy device.

An alternative embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 12-14 which permits the toy device to have within its internal strip chamber 19 elongate strip members that have longitudinal ridges and grooves that permit the strip members to acquire interfitting, sliding relation with one another and permit the user to conduct different types of manual manipulation of the toy device as compared with the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-11. As shown in FIG. 12 an elongate strip member shown generally at 82 and has a strip body 84 defining at least one elongate longitudinal rib member 86. The strip body 84 is shown as being of generally rectangular configuration; however it should be borne in mind that the strip body may have any of a number of suitable body configurations, such as triangular, square, diamond shaped, round or oval as desired. The longitudinal rib member 86 is shown as being of generally rectangular configuration and being integral with the strip body 84; however the strip body may also have various other configurations such as triangular, square, diamond shaped, round or oval as well.

The elongate strip member shown generally at 88 in FIG. 13 defined an elongate strip body 90 having a groove or slot 92 extending along the entirety thereof and having a cross-sectional configuration of a shape and size receiving the longitudinal rib member 86 therein. With the rib member 86 located within the groove or slot 92 relative movement between the engaged strips can occur only by sliding movement or as the strips are separated. This linear sliding movement will permit users of the device to develop games and develop educational processes such as promoting an understanding of mechanics.

Referring to FIG. 14, each of the elongate strips may have both longitudinal ribs and longitudinal grooves that permit adjacent strip members to establish a sliding, somewhat interlocking relation that permits relative linear strip movement but prevents or retards the elongate strip members from moving laterally relative to one another. As shown by the end view of FIG. 14 an elongate strip member shown generally at 96 has an elongate strip body 98 of generally rectangular geometry, having external rib members 100 and 102 located on two sides thereof and having elongate grooves 104 and 106 located on two other sides thereof. The elongate rib members and elongate grooves are sized so that the rib members of adjacent elongate strip members will be capable of entering the elongate grooves of other adjacent strip members and establish a sliding relation to permit relative linear sliding movement but prevent or retard relative lateral movement between engaged adjacent strip members. The tubular housing of the toy device shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 may be constructed identically or similarly to receive the elongate strip members of FIGS. 12-14.

In view of the foregoing it is evident that the present invention is one well adapted to attain all of the objects and features hereinabove set forth, together with other objects and features which are inherent in the apparatus disclosed herein.

As will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, the present invention may easily be produced in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered as merely illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalence of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Claims

1. A toy device, comprising:

a tubular housing defining a strip chamber and having an opening at each end thereof;

a bundle of elongate strip members being located within said strip receptacle each being linearly moveable relative to said strip chamber and being linearly moveable relative to one another; and

said tubular housing applying compression force on said bundle of elongate strip members and developing frictional resistance to minimize inadvertent linear movement of said elongate strip members from said strip chamber.

2. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

each of said elongate strip members being of generally rectangular cross-section defining opposed substantially planar surfaces and edge surfaces, said opposed substantially planar surfaces having movement retarding frictional engagement with opposed substantially planar surfaces or opposed edge surfaces of other elongate strip members; and

some of said elongate strip members having frictional engagement with said tubular housing.

3. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

each of said elongate strip members having a cross-sectional geometry defining substantially planar surfaces, said substantially planar surfaces having movement retarding frictional engagement with substantially planar surfaces of other elongate strip members; and

some of said elongate strip members having frictional engagement with said tubular housing.

4. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

said tubular housing being defined by a elastic housing band and being stretched over said bundle of elongate strip members.

5. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

said tubular housing being defined by a plurality of elastic housing bands being positioned in side by side relation with one another and each being stretched over said bundle of elongate strip members.

6. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

said tubular housing having a defined length; and

each of said elongate strip members having a length substantially equal to said defined length.

7. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

said elongate strip members being marked with educational indicia and promoting use of the toy device for educational purposes as well as for entertainment and pleasure.

8. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

each of said elongate strip members having opposed substantially planar surfaces and defining substantially parallel opposed edge surfaces and having end surfaces, said opposed substantially planar surfaces each having a surface finish providing resistance to linear sliding movement when in engagement with a like substantially planar surface of an adjacent elongate strip member.

9. The toy device of claim 8, comprising:

said substantially planar surfaces of said elongate strip members having a roughened sandpaper-like surface preparation.

10. The toy device of claim 8, comprising:

said substantially planar surfaces of said elongate strip members defining a multiplicity of ridges and grooves similar to the surface preparation of a file.

11. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

said elongate strip members having a triangular cross-sectional configuration and defining three substantially planar surfaces disposed in frictional engagement with like substantially planar surfaces of adjacent elongate strip members.

12. The toy device of claim 1, comprising:

said elongate strip members defining strip edges having a plurality of spaced projection on one side thereof and having a plurality of spaced recesses on another side thereof.

13. A toy device, comprising:

an elastic tubular housing defining a strip chamber therein and having an opening at each end thereof;

a bundle of elongate strip members being located within said strip receptacle and being oriented in substantially parallel relation with each other, each of said elongate strip members being linearly moveable relative to said strip chamber and being linearly moveable relative to one another; and

said elastic tubular housing being stretched over said bundle of elongate strip members and applying compression force to said bundle of elongate strip members and developing frictional resistance of said elongate strip members to minimize inadvertent linear movement thereof from said strip chamber through said open ends of said elastic tubular housing.

14. The toy device of claim 13, comprising:

said elastic tubular housing being defined by a plurality of elastic bands each arranged in side by side relation and each being stretched over said bundle of elongate strip members.

15. The toy device of claim 13, comprising:

said elastic tubular housing having a defined length defined by the combined lengths of said elastic bands; and

each of said elongate strip members having a length substantially equal to said defined length.

16. The toy device of claim 13, comprising:

said elongate strip members being marked with educational indicia and promoting use of the toy device for educational purposes as well as for entertainment and pleasure.

17. The toy device of claim 13, comprising:

each of said elongate strip members having opposed substantially planar surfaces and defining substantially parallel opposed edge surfaces and having end surfaces, said opposed substantially planar surfaces each having a surface finish providing resistance to linear sliding movement when in engagement with a like substantially planar surface of an adjacent elongate strip member.

18. A toy device, comprising:

an elastic tubular housing having a plurality of elastic housing bands collectively defining an internal strip chamber and having an opening at each end of said elastic tubular housing;

a bundle of substantially identical elongate strip members being located within said strip chamber and being oriented in substantially parallel relation with each other, each of said elongate strip members being linearly moveable relative to said strip chamber and being linearly moveable relative to one another; and

said plurality of elastic housing bands of said elastic tubular housing being stretched over said bundle of elongate strip members and applying compression force to said bundle of elongate strip members and developing frictional resistance of said elongate strip members minimizing inadvertent linear movement thereof from said strip chamber through said open ends of said elastic tubular housing.

19. The toy device of claim 18, comprising:

said tubular housing having a defined length; and

each of said elongate strip members having a length substantially equal to said defined length.

20. The toy device of claim 18, comprising:

some of said elongate strip members defining elongate rib members;

some of said elongate strip members defining elongate grooves of dimensions receiving said elongate rib members therein and establishing a structural interrelation permitting relative longitudinal sliding movement of adjacent elongate strip members and minimizing relative lateral movement of adjacent elongate strip members.