Parachute Toy and Kit Therefor

Abstract

The present invention is a parachute toy. The parachute toy includes an elastic hinge and is adapted to achieve substantially high ascension heights via hand launching. The parachute toy may be provided in kit form such that the user may develop construction skills and satisfaction by assembling the parachute toy from provided constituent parts

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This US nonprovisional utility patent application claims the benefit under 35 USC § 119(e) of U.S. provisional application No. 62/396,776 filed Sep. 19, 2016 which is incorporated herein in its entirety by this reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to toys, and in particular, to toys having parachutes for use in launching projectiles and watching the projectiles slowly descend due to wind resistance, and kits therefor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Parachute toys are well known in the industry and enjoy widespread use. However, such parachute toys typically are relatively limited in ascension height, are complex, and do not lend themselves to construction from a kit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a parachute toy. The parachute toy includes an elastic hinge and is adapted to achieve substantially high ascension heights via hand launching. The parachute toy may be provided in kit form such that the user may develop construction skills and satisfaction by assembling the parachute toy from provided constituent parts.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In order that the advantages of the invention will be readily understood, a more particular description of the invention briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a trimetric view of the parachute toy in an assembled and unpacked configuration;

FIG. 2 is a trimetric view of the parachute toy in an assembled and packed configuration;

FIG. 3 is a trimetric view of the housing of the parachute toy;

FIG. 4 is a trimetric view of the parachute toy in an assembled, packed, and readied for launch configuration;

FIG. 5 is a trimetric view of the parachute toy in an assembled, packed, and launching configuration;

FIG. 6 is a trimetric view of the parachute toy in an assembled, packed, and ascending configuration;

FIG. 7 is a trimetric view of the parachute toy in an assembled, unpacked (deployed), and descending configuration, and;

FIG. 6 is a trimetric view of exemplary tarred twine used for the lanyard of the parachute toy.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details are included to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that the invention can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, a preferred embodiment the invention is a parachute toy for use as an amusement device in launching the parachute toy and in observing the parachute toy descend, and for use in developing construction skills and satisfaction by assembling the parachute toy. The parachute toy comprises a housing, a canopy assembly, a handle assembly, and a rubber band. The housing further comprises a first hollow hemispherical housing member having latch member, a second hollow hemispherical housing member having latch member, hinge members, each hinge member having a retention flange, a hinge pin, and an eyelet. The canopy assembly further comprises a canopy, a plurality of shroud lines, and a spring clip. The handle assembly further comprises a handle and a lanyard.

Housing members, hinge members, and the handle are preferably constructed from plastic via conventional manufacturing process (e.g. injection molding), or may be made via a rapid prototype process (e.g. sterolithography, 3D printing, etc.). The housing members are preferably geometrically substantially identical and the hinge members are preferably geometrically substantially identical. It is noted that a housing member and a latch member may alternatively be manufactured as a single integral member. The hinge pin preferably defines a singular metal hinge pin but may alternately comprise a pair of metal screws. The eyelet preferably defines a standard threaded metal eyelet. The handle includes a retention flange and the lanyard defines a length of string or twine, and more preferably tarred twine such as may be obtained from Catahoula Manufacturing (ref FIG. 8). The canopy preferably defines a pliable plastic sheet. The shroud lines define a plurality of lengths of string or twine. The spring clip preferably defines a conventional metal spring clip. The rubber band preferably defines a convention rubber band sized so as to provide a biasing load when connected to the hinge members but may alternatively define another generally elastomeric member such as a hair band.

The housing is assembled such that a hinge member is fastened to each of the first housing member and the second housing member. The hinge pin is inserted through the hinge members such so as to form a swivelable hinge, and the eyelet is threaded into a housing member. The canopy assembly is assembled such that the plurality of shroud lines are connected to an outer periphery of the canopy on a first end and to the spring clip on a second end. The handle assembly is assembled such that the lanyard is connected to the handle retention flange on a first end.

The parachute toy is assembled such that the spring clip is connected to the eyelet, the lanyard is connected to a latch member, and the rubber band is connected to the housing by connecting a first end of the rubber to a first hinge retention flange, and a second end of the rubber to a second hinge retention flange such that such that an “open-biasing-load” is placed on the housing.

The parachute toy is packed or prepared for launch by folding the canopy and shroud lines into a packed configuration and placing the folded canopy and shroud lines within the housing. The housing is then closed and a portion of the lanyard on the lanyard end connect to a latch is then threaded through both latch members such that the threading of the lanyard applies a “closing-load” on the housing that partially compensates for or partially reacts the open-biasing-load.

In practice, while holding the housing closed with one hand, the slack in the lanyard is eliminated (see FIG. 4). The user then initiates swinging of the parachute toy (see FIG. 5). The combination of centripetal and airflow forces on the housing cause the housing to remain closed during the swing process. At an appropriate time in the swing process, the user releases the parachute toy causing the parachute toy to ascend skyward. During the majority of the ascension of the parachute toy, the drag of the handle and lanyard and airflow forces on the housing cause the housing to remain closed. As the parachute toy approaches its apex or peak ascension height and slows, the drag of the handle and lanyard and the airflow forces on the housing are reduced such that the open-biasing-load of the rubber band overcomes the closing-load of the threaded lanyard, and the lanyard slides through the latch members and the housing opens. Opening of the housing allows the canopy and shroud lines to fall out of the housing. As the parachute toy begins to descend, airflow past the canopy causes the canopy to open. Resistance of the canopy against the air cause significant slowing of the descent of the parachute toy allow the parachute toy to float gently back to earth.

It is noted that in one embodiment, the parachute toy is provided as an assembled and complete product, but in a second embodiment, the parachute toy is provided as a kit having the various components required to assemble the parachute toy. In yet another alternate embodiment, the parachute toy is provided as a kit having some of the various components required to assemble the parachute toy but without the housing, hinge, and handle members but with the CAD (Computer Aided Design) or “STL” or like files (hereinafter Part Creation Files or “PCF”) that may be used (via providing the geometric data) to create the housing, hinge, and handle members via 3D printing.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its spirit or essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims

1. A parachute toy having a hinged housing having latch members, an elastomeric member connected to said housing so as to apply an open-biasing-load to said housing, shroud lines connected to a canopy on a first end and to said housing on a second end, and a lanyard connected to a handle on a first end and to a latch member on a second end, wherein said shroud lines and said canopy are packed within said housing, and wherein said lanyard is threaded through said latch members so as to apply a closing-load to said housing.

2. The parachute toy of claim 1, wherein in a static position, said open-biasing-load exceeds said closing-load.

3. The parachute toy of claim 1, wherein in the absence of predetermined airflow forces and predetermined and handle and lanyard drag forces acting upon said housing, said housing opens.

4. The parachute toy of claim 1, wherein said lanyard comprises a predetermined length of tarred twine.

5. A parachute toy kit having a plurality of shroud lines, a canopy, a spring clip, a threaded eyelet, a hinge pin, a lanyard, an elastomeric member, and at least one of a housing and a PCF for said housing.