CA1164902A - Amusement device with fluid movable articulated member - Google Patents

Abstract

TITLE: AMUSEMENT DEVICE WITH FLUID MOVABLE
ARTICULATED MEMBER

ABSTRACT

A hand held housing has a fluid chamber located therein which is divided into a first section and a second section. The fluid chamber is capable of holding a body of fluid. A passageway connects the first and second section of the chamber. The second section of the chamber includes a membrane which is capable of moving a portion of the body of fluid through the passageway alternately back and forth between the first and second sections of the chamber. Located within the first section of the chamber is a member having a plurality of parts which are articulatively joined together such that any one of the parts is movable with respect to at least one other of the parts. The member is freely movable in the first section in response to fluid movement through the passageway from the second section into the first section.

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Description

TITLE: AMUSEMENT DEVICE WITH FLUID MOVABLE
ARTICULATED MEMBER

BACK~ROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention is directed to an amusement device which includes a fluid chamber which is divided into a first and second section. A movable member is located in the first section. A means to cause fluid movement is located in the second section. The movable member is movable in response to fluid movement from the second section into the first section.

A class of toys exists which are classified, in at least one book related to American folk toys, as "flapjacks." These toys include an art~culated I performer which is suspended on a string which has been twisted and attached to the ends of a pair of handles. The handles are pivoted below the perfor-;~ mer and by squeezing the Iower end of the handles the strings are tensioned and because of the twist in the strings the performer is lifted up and around the~strings. The performer can be made to swing around the strings much a~s an olympic highbar gym-nast does in performing a routine. The arms and legs of the performer are normally articulated to a body allowing them to reely move back and forth as the performer swings.
A second class of toys known as "~um~ing jacks", in the same above~noted catalogue, has a similar type structure wherein a body has a series of articulated limbs attached thereto which are caused to move by pulling a string. This toy essentially utilizes a principle whereby the limbs ' ; ' .

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attaching to the body are first class levers and the string which activates the limbs is attached on one side of the fulcrum and the remainder of the limb extends on the other side of the fulcrum. Both the jumping jack toy and the flapjack toy have pro-vided amusement to generations of children. It has been found that these types o-f toys are very intcr-esting and h~ve considerable play value. The play value of these toys is demonstrated by the fact that the -Elapjack type ~oy is still to be ~ound on the shelves of many toy stores and it is commonly sold at the consession shops in large amusement parks and the like.

]S Recently a third class of toys llas ~een intro-duced and has found wide exceptance by the ~uhlic because o~ its play value. Their toys are commonly known under the trade name "WAT~RFULS~." In this type of toy a housing includes a fluid reservoir.
, 20 Attached to the fluid reservoir is an expandable ; and contractable bellows. A player operable button is positioned to interact with the bellows expanding and contracting it. In response to movement of the bellows, a fluid, normally water, is ejected from the bellows into the body of the toy. The fluid can be utilized to move a series o~ rings, balls, etc., throughout the reservoir. A different embodiment of this toy utilizes targets within the reservoir in which to cap~ure rings, balls, etc. The use of the fluid gives this toy a new dimension in that the fluid is used both as a supporting and moving median for the rings, balls, etc. Movemcnt o~ the fluid is somewhat unpredictable in that the force and stroke of the bellows is variable and thus the fluid movement resulting therefrom within the reser-volr is also variable. Further~ once a current is . :

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set up within the reservoir, any additional currents introduced by the bellows add to or sub~ract from the previous currents resulting in variable motion of the rings, balls, etc., found within the toy.

It is considered that the flapjack and jumping jack type toys incorporate certain features which have considerable play value. It is further con-sidered that the WATERFUL~ type toys also incorpor-ate certain features which have a particular playvalue. Unfortunately there presently does not exist any type of toy which utilizes the articulatecl mem-bers of the flapjack and jumping jack toys suspended within a fluid median as in the WATERFUL~ type toys.
It is considered that a toy which did incorporate the features noted in the previous sentence, would have lasting play value.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
; 20 - In view of the above, it is therefore an object of this invention to provide an amusement device which provides for an articulated member suspended within a fluid median. It is a further object to provide a toy whose construction is such that simplicity, efficiency and economy are achieved in both assembly and operation~of the toy.

In view of the above noted objects and others, ; 30 as will become evident from the remaincler of this specification, there is provided an amusement device which comprises; a housing having; a fluid chamber divided lnto a first section and a second section;
said fluid chamber capable of holding a body of fluid; at least one fluid passageway connecting said firs~t and said second sections of said chamber;
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said second section including means capable of moving a portion of a body of fluid through said fluid passageway alternately between said ~irst and said second sections of said chamber; at least one member having a plurality of parts articulately joined together such that any one of said parts is movable with respect to at least one other of said parts, said member movable, located in said first section and freely movable throughout said first section in response to fluid movement -through said passageway from said second sec~ion to said first sec~ion.

Preferredly the first section of the fluicl chamber would include a generally flat face plate and a generally flat rear plate which are spaced from one another in a parallel planar rela~ionship and held there by a wall means whicll attaches to both the face and rear plates and holds them together.
In the preferred embodimen~, the member would also be genera~ly planar and be capable of freely rotating within the first section about an axis which is essentially perpendicular to the plane of the member but would be incapable of rotating about axises which essentially lie within the plane of the member.
This allows the member to freely tumble and spin within its own plane while concurrently maintain-ing one side exposed through the face plate. This one side can include appropriate indicia allowing the member to mimic a characterized figure, animal or the like.

Preferredly the means incor~oratccl with;n the sccond section for moving the fluid would incluclc ;
~; 35 flexible membrane. The 1exible membrane would bc capable of being flexed by the operator of the toy .

to increase and decrease the volume of the second section causing fluid to flow through the passage-way between the first and second section. The fluid movement into the first section is therefore ava;l-able for moving the articulated member within thefirst section.
i In a different embodiment of the invention, an additional member, if desired, can be incorporated within the first section. This additional member could be similar to the first member that is a member having a plurality of parts which are articulately joined together or alternately the additi~nal memhe-r could be a unified mcmber havin~ no movable ~arts but itself being movable within the first section.
The unified member preferredIy would be constructed such that the articulated member would be capable of interacting with the unified member.

In another embodiment of the invention the first section of the fluid chamber could also incor-porate a target means~ and further a scoring means associated with the target means~ In this embodiment, " :
a second member, whether it be fixed or articulated, would be used as an object to be directed toward tlle target mcans.

B R I E F DE S C R I PT I ON O F TI I E DRAW I N G S

'I'he invention disclosed in this specification will be more readily understood when taken in con-junction with the igures wherein:
Fig. 1 is a plan view of one of the embodi-,~ ~
ments of the invention;
3~5 Fig. 2 is a side elevational view taken about the line 2~2 of Fig. 1;

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'`2 Fig. 3 is a partial plan view similar to that of Fig. l but showing certain of the components in a different special relationship than that shown in Fig. l;
Fig. 4 is a partial plan view showing the back side of the component shown in Fig. 3, however, these components are in a different special rela-tionship with respect to one another from tha~ seen in Fig. 3;
Fig. S is a plan view of an alternate embodi-ment of the portion of the inven~ion showing the movable components of the invention as they are expressed in this alternate embodiment;
Fig. 6 is an expIoded oblique view of a por-tion of one of the movable components of the inven-tion showing exploded form to demonstrate construc-tion of this component;
Fig. 7 is a partial plan view of a second alternate embodiment of the invention only showing that portion of the invention differing from ~he invention as shown in Fig. l;
Fig. 8 is a back elevational view of certain of the components sho~n in Fig. 7.

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The invention described in this specification ancl shown in the drawings utilizes certain princi-ples and or concepts set forth in the claims appended to this specification. Those skilled in the toy arts will realize that these principles and or con-cepts could be used ln a variety of cliffer~nt embocli-ments differing from the exact embodiments which are illustratecl ancl described here ~or ;llust~ ive ~ r-oses. For this reason this invention i.s not to l-e construed as being llmited to the e~act embodiments ~; 35 depicted herein but is to be~construed only in ligllt of the claim.
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, ~ETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In Fig. l of the figures, a plan view of ~he invention is shown. Fig. 2 shows a side elevational view about the line 2-2 of Fig. l to urther illus-trate the general working principles of the inven-tion. The remaining figures show details of particu-lar embodiments of the invention. AlL of the embodi-ments shown in Figs. 3 through 8 would utilize the same major components as are shown in Figs. l and 2.

The amusement device l0 of ~he invention in its preferred form and when considered from an over-all view, includes a housing component 12 havin~ ~I
first section 14 of a fluid chamber (not separately numbered) and a second section 16 of a fluid chamber.
Fluid passageways 18 and 20 connect the first and ¦ second sections 14 and 16 of the fluid chamber.
Located within section 14 is an articulated member 22 as well as a unified member 24. Both members 22 and 24 are free to move within the confines of first section 14. A flexihle membrane 26 covers the second section 16 of the fluid chamber. A
flexible stopper 28 fits within a hole (not separ-ately shown or numbered in the figures) allowingfor introduction of fluid into the -firs~ section 14 of the chamber and from there through the fluid passageways 18 and 20 into the second section 16 of the chamber.
A fluid 7 preferredly water, is introduced into the chamber to fill both first and second sec-tions 14 and 16 and then the chamber stopped up via stopper 28 to retain the fluid therein. Once filled wi~h fluid the amusement device l0 works as follows.
By depressing the flexible membrane 26, fluid is ,:

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forced from the second chamber 16 into the first chamber 14 through the passageways 18 and 20.
In moving through the passageways 18 and 20 into the first section 14, the fluid so ejected from the second section 16 causes currents and other fluid movement within the first section 14. Current movement within the first section 14, results in movement of both the articulated member 22 and the unified member 24.
In the embodiment illustrated in ~igs. 1 through 4, it is the expressed purpose to attempt to deposit the articulated member 22 inside of the unified member 24 as hcrein explained. Tn l~
: 15 as viewed on the back of the device, the articul~lted member 22 can he seen entering the interior of tile unified member 24. When the flexible membrane 26 ~:~ is released, because a finite volume of both liquid ~: and gas are confined within the device 10 by the : 20 flexible stopper 28 ~he internal pressure, usually generated upon depression of the flexible member, pushes the flexible membrane from the position shown in phantom line to the position shown in solid line in Fig. 2 concurrently as fluid moves from the first section 14 into a second sec~ion 16. The flexible~membrane 26 lS now once again in position to be depressed again to eject fluid through the passageways 18 and 20:to further move both members : 22 and 24 wîthin the first section 14.
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Thc ho~using 12 cons~sts of a face ~late 30 which is held in a ~arallel }~lanar rclationslli~ with he rear platc 32 such tha~ the first section of thc chamber 14 is essentially rectilinear in cross-sec-tion as can be seen in Fig. 2. A flange 34 project-: ing outwardly:from rear plate 32 around its total i~. ::,.::

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~.:L6'~ `2 periphery forms a part of a continuous wall 36.
The remaining portion of wall 36 is formed by flange 38 which projects rearwardly from the Eacc plate 3() and fits into a groove 40 formed in the flange 34.
The wall 36 is thus composed of a lock and key type arrangement between respective flanges projecting from the face and rear plates 30 and 32. rrhe wall 36 completely surrounds the perimeters of the face and rear plates 30 and 32 and forms a flu;d tight seal between them. The flange 38 is appropriately held within the grove 40 by solvent, welding or the like.

A continuous interior wall 42 divides thc second section 16 from the first section 14. Thc passageways 18 and 20 are formed in this interior wall. The flexible member 26 includes a flange 44 which appropriately fits within a grove 46 in the interior wall 42. The flange 44 forms a fluid tight seal with the wall 42. The flexible member 26, in the preferred embodiment described herein, is shaped ; as a semi-sphere and a portion of it projects through an appropriate opening 47 located in face plate 30, Referring now to Pig. 6, the structure of a portion of the articulated member 42 will be de-scribed in detail. Identical construction details are also utilized in the remaining portion of the articulated member 42 as well as other articulated ~; 30 members described herein. The lower leg portions 48 a and b of the articulated mcmber 42 each have bosses 50 a and b projecting from their back si-le.
Th~ thigh portions S2 a and b contain al-l)ropriatc circular openings 54 a and b of a diame~er slightly larger ~han the diameter of the bosses 50 a and b.
The thigh portion fit over the bosses 50 a and b .

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arc retained thereon by bushings 56 a and b which are pressed fit over the bosses 50 a and b. This forms an articulated jOillt between the members 48 and 52.

At the lower end of member 48 is another boss 58. The boss 58 serves to maintain the end o~ the ; lower end 38 spaced away from the rear plate 32 same distance that the boss 50 maintains the upper end 38. This prevents the member 48 from becoming jamed between the two plates 30 and 32. Other appropriate spacing bosses or tabs as herein iden-tified located on the extremities of other articu-lated parts in the other embodiments below serve thc ~ 15 same function. Thus forearmed member 60 includes a ; tab 62 on this end.
;:, The unified member 24, as shown in Fig. 2, :~ includes a face plate 64 and a U-shaped wall 66 ~ 20 attached to it. The U-shaped wall 66 includes the .~ plurality of spacer tab 68 which maintains the face plate 64 of the unified member 24 a particular dis-: tance away from rear plate 32 allowing the articu-lated member 22 to fit between the face plate 64 :: : 25~ and the rear plate 32 of the housing 12 as is ;: partially seen in Fig. 4. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 the articulated member 22 can partially fit within the interior o-f the unified , ~ ~
member 24. Because of the articulated joinin~ of the component parts of the member 22, ;t e~sentially can fo]d up and slump inside the unified memher 24.
: : : The presence of the bottom portion of the U-shaped wall 66 prevents the articulated member 22 from gOillg completely through the uniied member 24, j-; 35 however:, in other embodiments the member could be ~: : essentially a hollow tube or arch allowing the , .",,~ :

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articulated member 22 to go completely there-through.

In Fig. 5 a second embodiment of the articu-lated member 22 is shown. In this embodiment, articulated member 70 is construc~ed as a fi~urine as was member 22. This figurine differs howcver, in that its lower limbs 72 and 74 are joined about a common pivot boss 76. This spaces limb 72 from limb 74 allowing the member 70 to slide over a second articulated member 78. In the embodiment of Fig. S, member 70 is shaped as a cowboy and member 78 is shaped as a horse. The spacing of the lower limb 72 from 74 allows the cowboy to be pos;tione-l on the back of the horse 78. Projecting Ollt of the horse 78 on its backside in appropriately positioned places are bosses collectively indentified by the numeral 80. These bosses are spacing bosses ; ~ and act in the same manner as boss 58, tab 62 and the like previously described. Further, a spacing tab 82 is found on one of the upper limbs of member 70.
In addition to the spacing tab 80, the member 78 also has rotational bosses 82 by which its parts are articulately joined in the same manner as was described in discussing Fig. 6. The member 70 and the member 78 are free to fold and bend about their ~: :
points of~articulation further contributing to thc play value of the amusement device.

In Figs. 7 and 8 a f~rther alternate embodi-ment of the invention is shown. In these f;gures a member 84, which is articulated as per members 72, 70 and 78 were~ interacts with a unif;ed mcmber 86.
Opposed to Fig. 1, however, the interaction of ar~icu-lated member 84 with unified member 86 is somewhat different than the interaction between the articulated ,~ ~

: , , member 22 and uni-fied member 24. In -the embodiment of Fig, 7 it is the express purpose to use -the articulated member 84 to assist in propelling the unified member 86 toward a target. Fig. 8 illu-strates the backside of both members 84 and 86showing the articulated construction of the member 84 including appropriate bosses and tabs to serve as joining points and as spacing points.

In ~ig. 7 the articulated member 84 is shown assisting the unified member 86 upwardly toward an indicia imprinted on face plate 30. Thc indicia 88 is in the shape of a basketball basket or hoop.
Note that the passageways 90 and 92 are slanted toward the right in contrast to the passageways 18 and 20 of Fig. 1. Thus water or other -Eluid ejected from the second section 16 does not point toward the indicia 88 but in fact points somewhat away from it.
This requires the use of the articulated member 84 Z0 in assisting uni~ied member 86 upwardly toward indicia 88.

Extending downwardly directly below the indicia 88, is a baffle 94 and a series of bosses 96 a through f. ~oth the baffle 94 and the bosses 96 extend in-wardly from the backside of face plates 30. Togethe~
the ba~ffle 94 and the bosses 96 form a channel lead-;~ ing downwardly below the indicia 88. The path of the unified member 86 through this channel i~ sho~
in phantom lines in lig. 7. It is noted th;lt hOiSL`S
96 e and f are spaced apart one from thc other at a distance allowing passage of the unified memher 88 hetween them.

Located between baffle 94 and side wall 36 is a sliding member 98 having a plurality of teeth '' , . . . . ., . . . . ... , ~

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collectively iden-tified by numeral 100 located there-on. Also printed on sliding member 98 is an indicia pointer 102. A set of inclicia collectively i~enti-fied by the numeral 104 is located on face plate 3( and it represents typical scores in a basketball game i.e. 0, 2, 4, 6, etc. As the slidillg meml)er 98 descends downwardly, the pointer 102 progressively moves from one numeral to the next highest numeral as follows. A scoring member 106 is pivotly mounted about boss 108 which is formed as a projection From the back of face plate 30 such that normally its weight, under the influence of gravity, will tend to maintain it in the position shown in Fig. 7.
If, however, the member 86 strikes it about its lever arm 110 the weight of the member 86 will cause the scoring member 106 to pivot about boss 108.
Note that slightly prior to striking the lever arm 110 the member 86 strikes boss 112 formed on the -face plate ~0 which causes ~he member 86 to jog out slightly to the right as per the phantom line path-way shown in Fig. 7.

The upper dog 114 on the scoring member 106 engages one of the teeth 100 in the position shown in Fig. 7. When the scoring member 106 rotates the ~; ~ lower dog li6 engages the wedge shape surface of the teeth lO0 forcing the sliding member 98 down-wardly until the dog 114 engages the next highcr tooth. This results in the sliding member 98 movi~
3Q one increment such tha~ the scoring pointer 102 ; moves between one of the indicia 104 to the next downwardly displaced indicia 104. After the scoring member 106 has rotated clockwise to the limit possible because of the interaction of the dog 114 with the sliding member 98, ~he member 86 rolls to the right between the bosses 96 e and f putting it . :, ~: .

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again in position wherein i~ can be moved by fluid being expelled through the passageways 9() and 92.
The scoring member 106 will then rotate counterclock-wise under the influence of gravity until the upper dog 114 is in position engaged with the one tooth 100 which is one tooth higher than the tooth -it was previously engaged with. rn a like manner, each time the member 86 passes betwecn the fahl)le 94 and the bosses 96, the scoring member 106 is rota-ted about the boss 108 and the sliding member 98 moves down one increment.

It can be seen that in all of the alternate ; embodiments herein dcscribed, the articulatcd mCTIl-bers are capable o-f unique movements throughout the first section 14 o-f the chamber. Recause of the manner of joining these members together, compris-ing having a plurality of parts joined in an articu-lated manner, the articulated members have move-ments similar to that of string puppets and the like.
~ The articulated members and the unified members can ; be made to do a variety of different things within the confine of the first chamber. As is seen in Figs. 1 through 4, an articulated member and a uni-fied member can be made to interact with each other.
As seen in Fig. 5, two articulated members can be made to interact with each other and as seen in ~
7, an articulated member and a unific~ meml)er c~ln l-c made to interact with a further device located with-; 30 in the confines of the amusement device 10. Of course other permutations and combinations of these members and devices will be readily apparent given the disclosure herein.
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The amuscment device 10 herein described is capable of being conveniently and comfortably held . _ .

-~5-within one~s hand and is a size that it is easily fitted within pocket or purse which allows ~or por-tability of the device. Preferredly both the face plate 30 and the rear plate 32 are made of a trans-parent material allowing complete viewing of theparts located within, however, the r~ar plclte, at least, can be made of an opaque material forming a contrasting background for the members located therein and disguising the method of joining of the articulated members.

; As is evident -from the figures when viewed from the front, that is through the face plate 3n, the method of joining the individual parts of the ]5 articulated members are not readily apparent. Fur-ther the tabs, such as tab 62 of the member 22 showing in Fig. 4, while serving as spacers, addi-tionally serve as baffles to interact with motion of the fluid within the first section 14 of the fluid chamber. Appropriate placement of these tabs will allow for pre-ferential movement of one part of a member over another. Thus for the clown figure shown on Figs. 1 through 4 the tab 62 located on one of the upper extremities results in more movement of that extremity with respect to other parts such as the head ~not identified or numbered).
This contributes to the movement of the ar~iculated figure in the amusement device 10.

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Claims (6)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY
OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. An amusement device which comprises:
a housing having;
a fluid chamber divided into a first section and a second section;
said fluid chamber capable of holding a body of fluid;
at least one fluid passageway connecting said first and said second sections of said chamber;
said second section including means capable of moving a portion of a body of fluid though said fluid passageway alternately between said first and said second sections of said chamber;
said first section including a generally flat face plate, a generally flat rear plate and a wall means, said wall means attaching to both said face plate and said rear plate maintaining said face plate and said rear plate spaced a distance apart from each other in a parallel planar relationship with one another;
at least one generally planar member having a front side and a rear side, said member including a plurality of parts articulately joined together such that any one of said parts is movable with respect to at least one other of said parts, said member movably located in said first section with its front side located towards said face plate and freely movable throughout said first section in response to fluid movement through said passageway from said second section to said first section, said member sized with respect to the distance between said face plate and said rear plate so as to be incapable of rotating within said first section to locate its rear side towards said face plate.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein:

said means capable of moving said portion of said body of fluid comprises a flexible membrane forming a portion of said second portion, said membrane flexible movable with respect to said housing, the volume of said second section variable with respect to movement of said flexible membrane.

3. The device of claim 2 including:
at least two members having the plurality of parts articulately joined together.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein:
one of said two members is capable of locating at least one of its parts juxtapositional to one of the parts of other of said members.

5. The device of claim 2 including:
at least one second member, said second member being a unified body and capable of interacting with said member having a plurality of parts articulately joined together.

6. The device of claim 5 including:
sliding means located in association with said first section of said chamber, said sliding means having at least one movable part, said movable part capable of moving in response to interaction of said movable part by one of said members.