Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE: ATTACK OBJECT
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is directed to a toy which
includes a randomly movable at~ack object and a second
object whiah are associated together on a support
surface. The attack object is capable of randomly
moving on the surface under the influence of an
energizing mo~or and a randomi~ing moving means
operatively connected to the motor.
Many toys are known which incorporate the
principles of having a first object move toward a
second object. Broadly included in this class would
be all sorts of pinball games, miniature target games
and the like. In these games, however, the attacking
object, at least for a portion of its travel toward
the target, moves in a predetermined pathway. Thus
in a pinball game the pinball always moves under the
influence of a plunger up a channel before they are
allowed to move across the playing surface. In target
games the projectile normally is capable of following
a predetermined path and the skill of the player is
based solely on the ability of the player to align
the projectile on the correct predetermined path.
In reality certain recreational events such as
playing golf and bowling have variables in them which
are not possible in a toy. For example, the greens
of a golf course may be banked, contain ruts and other
physical features whlch very definitely influence the
pathway of a golf ball. In sporting events such as
bowling the participant of the game is capable of
introducing centrifugal or rotational momentums which
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greatly influences the pathway of ~he ball. This is
also true of a baseball pitcher, a golfer making a
hook or a slice and many o~her things.
In these real life situations discussed in the
preceding paragraph sometimes the rotational momentum
is introduced purposely such as when a bowler or
baseball pitcher endeavors to influence the trajectory
of his ball by imparting a predetermined force (curve)
on his ball which is in addition to the general
direction of the ball. In other situations the actual
pathway taken by the ball results solely from human
error. A person's wrist may turn causing a hook or a
slice in a golf ball or an unwanted hook in bowling
and the like.
While many of the existing toys attempt to and
in fact do mimic certain of the functions of real life
events, because of minia~urization or simply lack of
complexity some of the complex movements which are
both intentionally and unintentionally achieved in
real life situations simply a~e not carried over into
their toy counterparts. Further it sometimes is
greatly amusing when one is playing with a toy and
endeavors ~o do some~hing to have the toy go completely
counter to what was in fact planned for it to do.
This tends to normalize or equalize the results between
players of differing skills such as when a child plays
with a parent. It can be amusing to sometimes have an
even~ turn out to be totally uncontrollable or unTelated
to the player's skill. Thus, even though the parent
may be smarter and more coordinated the child ls able
to win the game simply because of random luck.
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BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of the above discussion lt is considered
that there is a need for a class of toy which while
requiring a certain degree of skill to play also
incorporates randomizing factors which tends to equalize
all players irregardless o their age, intelligence
or physical dexterity. It is therefore a broad object
of this invention to fulfill this need.
It is a further object of this invention to
provide a toy having a first randomly moving attack
object and a second object which is capable of being
expressed in several different embodiments, thus
allowing ve-rsatility in the manufac~uri~lg of the toy
to mo-re economically make the toy available to the
consumer.
These and other objects as will be evident rom
the remainder of this speciication are achieved in
a toy which comp-rises: a support surface; a first object
and a second object capable of being associated with
said surface; said first object capable of freely
randomly moving on said surface and b0ing freely
positionable on said surface, said first object
includin~ motor means for supplying power to said
first object on said surface and means for randomi~ing
said movement; said second object capable of serving
as a target for said first object and at least a portion
of said object capable of being moved with respect to
said surface by contact of said second object by said
first object.
In one embodiment of the toy ~he second object
can be movably attached to a poTtion of the surface
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such that at least a portion of the second object is
capable of moving between a first and a second
position when said portion is contacted by said first
object.
The surface can include one or more deformations
which will interfere with or otherwise interact or
reorient the direction of movement of the -first object
thus contributing to the randomi~a~ion of its movement.
The means for moving said first object can include a
small motor loca~ed internally in said first object
and operatively connecting to a randomizing moving means
which will move the object in both a first diTection
and at least a portion of the object in a second
direction which is not colinear with the first
direction thus randomizing the movement of the first
object.
In an al.terna-te embodiment of the toy the second
object can in fact be similar to the first object in
that it also is capable of random movement on the surface
caused by a motor and randomizing moving means which
mimic those of ~he first object.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRA~INGS
This invention will be better understood when
taken in conjunction with the drawing wherein:
Fig. 1 is an isometric view of one embodiment
oE the .nvention;
F'ig. 2 is a side elevational view in partial
section o~ the extreme upper left hand side of the
embodiment shown in Pig. l;
Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of the same
area shown by Fig. 2 with the exception that certain
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of the components are in a differ0nt spacial
relationship from that shown in Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is an exploded isometr:ic view of one of
the components shown in Figs. 2 and 3;
Fig. 5 is an isometric view o:E that portion of
Fig. 1 showing interaction of certain of the components
shown in Fig. 1 and showing one of these components in
partial section; and
Fig. 6 is an enlarged isometric view of the
components shown in section in Fig. 5 and includes the
outside surface of certain portions of this component
shown in phantom lines to be*ter illustrate the internal
mechanism of the component.
The invention described in this speciication
and shown in the drawings utilizes certain principles
and~or concepts as are set forth and claimed in the
claims appended to this specification. Those skilled
in the toy a~ts will realize that these principles
and/or concepts are capable of being applied to embodiments
differing from the exact embodiment which is depic~ed
for illustrative purposes. For this reason this
invention is not to be construed as being limited to
the exact embodiment herein depicted, but is to be
construed in light of the claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In the embodiment of this invention illustrated
in the figures the toy 10 is shown to be composed of
an attack or first object 12, a target or a second
object 14 and a surface 16. I~ other embodiments of
the ~oy multiples of one or the other or both of ~he
attack object 12 and the target 14 could be utilized.
In addition a third object, not identical to either
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of these could also be utilized as an additional or
auxiliary component of the toy. Said third object
could take the orm of an inanimate but movable piece
of sporting equipment such as a sma:Ll football, soccer
ball and the like. Such a third object would be
simply constructed as a unified mass having appropriate
external mo~if located thereon to enable ~he player
of the game to identify the third object with i~s
real life counterpart.
In the illustrated embodiment the surface 16
is composed of a composite of se~eral components
including the outside surface 18 and 20 of case 22
as well as portions of a case insert 24. In the
embodiment depicted, the toy 10 is representative
of a bowling game. In other embodiments the toy 10
could represent other games such as a golf game.
In such other embodiments the target 14 would thus
be constructed to represent an appropriate hole and
flag located on a green as is commonly utilized in
golf.
The insert 24 in playing the game is simply
abutted against portions of the case 22 such as case
member 26-b. For the embodiment illustrated which
depicts bowling, the case 22 and the insert 24 would
be arranged longitudinally to mimic a bowling lane.
In other embodiments such as in a golf game the
insert 24 could be placed adjacent to the left or right
side of the case member 26-b thus mimickinga golf
green commonly identified as having a dog leg. In
still other embodiments additional inserts ha~ing
additional amounts o~ surface 16 located thereon
could also be appropriately positioned next to the
case Z2. Thus it might be possible to represent a
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baseball diamond by arranging a number of inserts into
a diamond pattern.
The insert 24 is preferredly si~ed and shaped
such that it can fit into the case 22 along with the
object 12 and a case 22 folded about hinge 28 to
enclose the insert 24 with the taTget 14 attached and
the attack object 12 within the interior of the case
for storage and portability. Attaching to case 22
is a handle 30 and a latch 32 which allows the case to
be closed and conveniently carried.
The surface 16 on the case 22, insert 24 and
any other inserts included therein could carry
appropriate indicia printed or otherwise reproduced
thereon which correlated it to the theme oE the toy 10.
Thus, for the illustrated embodiment, indicia
representing the laminated surfQce as well as the spotting
marks of a bowling lane could be used. In other
embodiments yard lines for alfootball field, ropes and
support posts of a boxing ring, sand traps and water
hazards of a golf course and the like could be
incorporated into the surface 16. Further the crack
33 between the case member 26-a and 26-b as well as ~he
crack 34 between the case member 26-b and the insert 24
can serve as deformations on the surface 16 to interact
with the attack object 12 redirecting its pathway of
travel. These deformations could be more pronounced
such as actually including a depression or a raised
area in the surface 16 to represent certain irregular
surfaces such as a sand trap or elevated green of a
gol course.
The attack object lZ in the illus~rated embodiment
is formed to represent a bowling ball having feet. A
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spherical body 36 forms the main part of the object 12
and has as its lowermost portion two jointed feet 38
and 40 which move as a unit. Attaclled to the inside
of the spherical body 36 is a small windup motor 42
having a sha-ft 44 projecting from one of its sides
and through the spherical body 36. A knurled knob 46
is at~ached to the end of shaft 44 allowing the motor
to be wound. Pivotally attaching to the sides of the
motor 42 are identical pivot members collectively
identified by the numeral 48. Attaching between the
housing (not separately numbered) of the motor 42
and the members 48 are springs collectively identified
by the numeral 50. Proiecting out of either side of
the motor 42 are cranks collectively identified by
the numeral 52. The cranks 52 are positioned to
generally engage wi~h the member 48 and at one point,
point 54, to disengage.
As viewed in Fig. 6 as the crank 52 rotates
clockwise it engages member 48 and rotates member 48
with respect to motor 42. The c~ank then slips along
the surface of member 48 until it reaches point 54.
As this happens, of course, springs 50 are stretched.
After the crank 52 has engaged point 54, continued
rotation slides it free of this point and it slips into
cutout area 56. When this happens member 48 is no
longer under the influence of crank 52 and it is free
to return to its original position by the springs 50.
It returns to its original position very suddenly.
This results in rapid movement of the spherical sur-face
36 with regard to the jointçd feet 38 and 40. A
momentum is imparted by this action to the total of the
attack object 12 causing the attack object to be
propelled generally forward in a hopping manner.
~epending upon a combination of other factors, momentum
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vectors other than a straight forward one can be
imparted to the attack object 12. Included in these
other factors would be the position of the attack
object with regards to its last hop, it may still
be wobbling after landing from ~he previous hop,
that is not resting perfectly flat on both of the feet
38 and 40, it also may have landed with the front
portion of one of .~he -feet 38 or 40 in front of the
other, i.e. rotation of the object 12 about a vertical
axis, thus its n~xt hop would be at a slightly
different direction ~rom the previous one and, of
course, the cracks 32 or 34 or other discontinuities
in the sur-Eace 16 will Teorient the angle of the
attack object with respect to the surface 16 and
influence the way it moves over the sur-face 16.
The illustrated target embodiment consists of
a plurality of objects 58 resembling bowling pins.
These are pivotally attached to insert 24 in a manner
which allows them to be stood up as a unit but
knocked down either individually or as a group
depending upon how the attack object 12 interacts with
them. Each of the objects 58 is shaped and sized
such that if another one of the objects 58 immedlately
in -front of it and to either the right or ~ef~ of it
falls, it will cause it ~o fall. Thus the objects 58
act as real bowling pins do act in the manner in
which they can be knocked down.
Referring to Figs. 2, 3 and 4 inside o insert
1 24 is a movable member 60. It slides back and forth
¦ between the position shown in Fig. 2 and 3. When it
! is in the posi~ion shown in Fig. 3 it causes all of the
exposed portions o:f objects 58 ~o be raised so that
they are in a vertical orientation. Movable member 60
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is appropriately mounted within the interior of insert
24 by resting on the top of a plurallty of projections
62 projecting out of the inside of left side wall 64
and right side wall 66 of insert 24. A cutout 68 in
the left side wall 64 exposes an extension 69 of movable
member 60 which has a plurality of ridges on it allowing
for easy manipulation by a finger of the user of the
toy 10. A compression spring 70 inserted between a
projecting 72 formed on the inside of insert 24 and a
projection 74 formed on movable member 6n biases movable
member 60 to the right as seen in Figs. 2 and 3.
Extending upwardly from the surface of movable
member 60 are a plurality of two types of projections.
One type is a wedge shaped projection 76 and the second
type is a block shaped projection 78.
~ ach of the objects 58 are "L" shaped and have
an oblique surface 80 on the lowermost leg 81 of their
~L~ shape. A shaft 82 extends transverse to the
remainder of the object 58. The upper surface 84 of
insert 24 has a plurality o~ identical complex shaped
slots 86 passing through it and a plurality o "U"
shaped brackets collectively identified by the numeral
88 arranged in pairs on either side of the slots 86
on the bottom of the surface 84. When the movable
member 60 is mated with insert 24, one of the blocks
78 is located beneath each of the "U" shaped brackets
88 and one of the wedgas 7S is located beneath one of
the slots 86. Prior to this mating9 however, the objects
58 are aligned in conjunction with the upper surface 84
such that the object 58 extends upwardly through the
slots 86 and the respective ends of the shaft 82 are
located within "U" brackets 88. The blocks 78
fixedly retain the shaft 82 within the "U" brackets 88.
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Since the blocks 78 are elongated a portion o them is
always located directly beneath the "U" bracket 88 as
the movable member 60 slides back and forth serving
to always retain the shaft 82 within the "U" bTackets
88.
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When the extension 69'is moved to the position
shown in Fig. 3 the wedges 76 on mo~able member 60
interact first with the oblique surfaces 80 of legs 81
of objects 58 and then with the underside of legs 81
to rotate the objects 58 about ~he shaft 82 putti:ng
them in a ~ertical position. When the extension 69
is released the spring 70 returns the movable member
60 to the position shown in Fig. 2. If one, a portion
of, or all of the objects 58 are contacted by either
the attack object 12 or another object 58, the objects
58 are free to pivot such that they are in the position
shown in ~ig. 2. When this happens the oblique surface
80 rests against the wedges 76 ready to once again be
utilized in vertically orienting the objects 58.
