Two-in-One Toy Serving as Water Gun and Bat

Abstract

The toy of the invention includes an outer tube and an inner tube slidably penetrating the outer tube. An outer section of the inner tube is formed with a handle and an inner end thereof is provided with a piston air-tightly disposed in the outer tube. The toy can serve as a water gun by pushing and pulling the inner tube against the outer tube. The end of the outer tube, which connecting with the inner tube, is provided with a locking ring. An inner end of the handle is provided with two protrusions which can engage with the locking ring. The locking ring and protrusions are correspondingly asymmetric in size to avoid undesired engagement. This toy can serve as a bat when they are engaged.

Description

Related Applications

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/142,763, filed Jun. 19, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Technical Field

The invention relates to toys, particularly to toy water guns.

2. Related Art

The parent case of the invention provides a two-in-one toy serving as a water gun and bat. Substantially, the toy is a toy water gun with a longer handle and a locking mechanism for engaging the outer tube and reciprocating rod. The toy can serve as a water gun by pushing and pulling the reciprocating rod against the outer tube and serve as a bat when the outer tube and reciprocating rod engage with each other. The locking mechanism is composed of two locking sheets on the locking ring and two L-shaped protrusions on the reciprocating rod. The locking sheets and protrusions are symmetric in size. Thus undesired engagement may easily happen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the invention is to provide a two-in-one toy serving as a water gun and bat, which can avoid undesired engagement the two tubes when serving as a water gun.

To accomplish the above object, the invention includes an outer tube and an inner tube slidably penetrating the outer tube. An outer section of the inner tube is formed with a handle and an inner end thereof is provided with a piston air-tightly disposed in the outer tube. The toy can serve as a water gun by pushing and pulling the inner tube against the outer tube. The end of the outer tube, which connecting with the inner tube, is provided with a locking ring. An inner end of the handle is provided with two protrusions which can engage with the locking ring. The locking ring and protrusions are correspondingly asymmetric in size to avoid undesired engagement. This toy can serve as a bat when they are engaged.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of the handle and locking ring;

FIGS. 5 and 6 show the engagement of the locking ring and protrusions; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are a schematic view of the invention serving as a water gun.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the invention. The toy of the invention includes an outer tube 1 and an inner tube 2. The outer tube 1 is formed by cloaking a rigid sleeve 11 with a layer of foam material 12. The foam material 12 may increase buoyancy on the water. One end of the sleeve 11 is provided with a cap 111. There is an opening 112 at the center of the cap 111. The other end of the sleeve 11 is provided with a locking ring 13. The details of the locking ring will be described below.

The inner tube 2 is movably put and can reciprocate in the sleeve 11. The inner tube 2 is a closed tube whose one end is formed with a handle 21. Because the invention can serve a water gun and bat, the handle 21 is designed with larger length than ordinary toy water guns. Preferably, the length of the handle 21 is larger than one second of that of the outer tube 1. A piston 22 is fixed at one end of the inner tube 2. An O-ring 23 is put around the piston 23. The outer diameter of the O-ring is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the sleeve 11, so the piston 22 with the O-ring 23 can be air-tightly moved in the sleeve 11. Preferably, the piston 22 can be fastened on the inner tube 2 by inserting two nails 221. Two protrusions 24a,24b corresponding to the locking ring 13 are disposed at the junction of the inner tube 2 and handle 21. FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of the invention. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 2, which shows a status of the inner tube 2 penetrating into the outer tube 1.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of the handle 21 and locking ring 13. The inner periphery of the locking ring 13 is formed with two locking sheets 131 and two recesses 132a,132b are formed therebetween. And the two recesses 132a,132b are different in size. The first recess 132a is smaller than the second recess 132b. Correspondingly, the L-shaped protrusions 24a,24b are different in size. Each of the protrusions 24a,24b is composed of a horizontal bar 241a,241b and a vertical bar 242a,242b. The first horizontal bar 241a is smaller than the second horizontal bar 241b in length. Therefore, the second horizontal bar 241b only can be embedded into the second recess 132b and cannot be embedded into the first recess 132a. After the first and second horizontal bars 241a,241b are embedded into the first and second recesses 242a,242b, respectively, twisting the inner tube 2 against the outer tube 1 until the vertical bars 242a,242b are blocked by the locking sheets 131 can make the inner tube 2 engage with the outer tube 1 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. When the inner tube 2 engages with the outer tube 1, the inner tube 2 cannot move in the outer tube 1 any longer, so that the toy can be served as a bat. The asymmetric design of the locking ring 13 and protrusions 24a,24b may avoid them from undesired engaging.

Preferably, the horizontal bars 241a,241b may be formed into a tapered shape. This can generate a progressive engagement tightness between the horizontal bars 241a,241b and the locking sheets 131.

When the protrusions 24a,24b do not engage with the locking ring 13, the inner tube 2 can be slid in the outer tube 1, so the toy can serve as a water gun as shown in FIG. 7. When the inner tube 2 is pulled out, the outer tube 1 can absorb water via the opening 112. Then the water in the outer tube 1 can be spouted out by pushing the inner tube 2 as shown in FIG. 8.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiment has been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A two-in-one toy comprising:

an outer tube, one end of which is provided with a locking ring;

an inner tube slidably penetrating into the outer tube, wherein two ends of the inner tube are provided with a piston and a handle, two L-shaped protrusions corresponding to the locking ring are formed on the inner tube;

wherein the locking ring and the L-shaped protrusions are engageable, an inner periphery of the locking ring is formed with two locking sheets and two recesses are formed therebetween, the two recesses are different in size, and the L-shaped protrusions are correspondingly different in size.

2. The two-in-one toy of claim 1, wherein one of the two recesses is larger than the other one in length.

3. The two-in-one toy of claim 1, wherein each of the two L-shaped protrusions is composed of a horizontal bar and a vertical bar, one of the horizontal bars is smaller than the other one in length.

4. The two-in-one toy of claim 1, wherein the piston is fixed on the inner tube by inserting at least one nail.

5. The two-in-one toy of claim 1, wherein the outer tube is formed by cloaking a rigid sleeve with a layer of foam material.

6. The two-in-one toy of claim 1, wherein the handle is larger than one second of the outer tube in length.

7. The two-in-one toy of claim 3, wherein the horizontal bars are formed into a tapered shape.