Discus launched flying football

Abstract

A throwing and/or catching toy includes a generally elongated spheroidal body defining a longitudinal axis. A length of the body is longer than an equatorial diameter. A lift-generating wing is non-movably attached to the body near and/or at a center of the wing. At least one finger hold extension extends from a distal end of either a left or right wing portion. The finger hold extension is configured to allow a user to throw the toy in a discus-launched manner and the body is configured to be caught by the user. The lift-generating wing may be made as an injection molded, polymer wing. A manual adjuster may be associated with and controlling the shape of a horizontal stabilizer. A front end of the elongated body may be a resilient foam having a Shore A durometer hardness equal to or less than 25.

Claims

1. A throwing and/or catching toy, comprising: a generally elongated spheroidal body defined as comprising a longitudinal axis, where a length of the body along the longitudinal axis between a front end of the body to a back end of the body is longer than an equatorial diameter, wherein the equatorial diameter of the body is at least 3.0 inches; a lift-generating wing non-movably attached to the body near and/or at a center of the wing, the wing having a left wing portion and a right wing portion extending from the center of the wing to a respective distal end; and at least one finger hold extension extending from the distal end of either the left wing portion or right wing portion, the finger hold extension configured to allow a user to throw the toy in a discus-launched manner and the body configured to be caught by the user.

2. The toy of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the front end of the body comprises a resilient foam having a Shore A durometer hardness substantially equal to or less than 25.

3. The toy of claim 1, wherein the body is football shaped.

4. The toy of claim 1, wherein an overall weight of the toy is less than 400 grams.

5. The toy of claim 1, including a floor stand attached to a bottom of the body, where the floor stand is configured to stabilize the toy in a fixed position when the toy is placed upon a generally horizontal surface.

6. The toy of claim 1, wherein the lift-generating wing comprises a dihedral angle of at least 5 degrees, the dihedral angle measured from either the left wing portion or right wing portion relative to a generally horizontal surface.

7. The toy of claim 1, wherein the lift-generating wing comprises a generally convex upper surface opposite a generally concave lower surface, where the upper and lower surfaces define a wing thickness, where the wing thickness over a majority of the lift-generating wing is less than 0.10 of an inch.

8. The toy of claim 1, wherein the lift-generating wing comprises an injection molded, non-foamed, polymer wing.

9. A throwing and/or catching toy, comprising: an elongated body defined as comprising a longitudinal axis along a length of the body, wherein a largest width of the body is at least 3.0 inches; a support non-movably attached to the body, where a first end of the support is attached to the body and a second end of the support extends along the longitudinal axis beyond a back end of the body; a lift-generating wing non-movably attached to the support near and/or at a center of the wing, the wing having a left wing portion and a right wing portion extending from the center of the wing to a respective distal end; a horizontal stabilizer and a vertical stabilizer attached to the support near the second end of the support, where the horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer are disposed behind the lift-generating wing; at least one finger hold extension extending from the distal end of either the left wing portion or right wing portion, the finger hold extension configured to allow a user to throw the toy in a discus-launched manner and the body configured to be caught by the user.

10. The toy of claim 9, wherein the body is comprised of a front section abutting a rear section.

11. The toy of claim 10, wherein the front section and rear section comprise different materials.

12. The toy of claim 11, wherein the front comprises a resilient foam having a Shore A durometer hardness equal to or less than 25.

13. The toy of claim 11, wherein a rear section volume of the rear section is at least double a front section volume of the front section.

14. The toy of claim 10, including an impact transfer surface attached directly to the first end of the support and abutting an inside surface of the front section of the body, wherein the impact transfer surface is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, and wherein the impact transfer surface comprises an impact area of at least 2.5 square inches.

15. The toy of claim 9, wherein the lift-generating wing is disposed behind the center of the body in relation to along the longitudinal axis, wherein an outside contiguous envelope of the body does not coincide with any portion of an outside contiguous envelope of the lift-generating wing, wherein the body and lift-generating wing are separately disposed and attached to the support.

16. The toy of claim 9, wherein the support comprises a hollow aluminum tube.

17. The toy of claim 16, wherein the aluminum tube comprises a circular cross-section and comprises an outer diameter of at least 15 mm or greater.

18. The toy of claim 9, including a manual adjuster associated with the horizontal stabilizer, the manual adjuster controlling a shape of the horizontal stabilizer, where the manual adjuster is mechanically engaged between the horizontal stabilizer and the support.

19. The toy of claim 18, wherein the manual adjuster comprises a hand-turnable threaded fastener.

20. The toy of claim 9, wherein the lift-generating wing comprises a generally convex upper surface opposite a generally concave lower surface, where the upper and lower surfaces define a wing thickness, where the wing thickness over a majority of the lift-generating wing is less than 0.10 of an inch.

21. The toy of claim 20, wherein the lift-generating wing comprises an injection molded, non-foamed, polymer wing.

22. The toy of claim 21, wherein the horizontal stabilizer and the vertical stabilizer both comprise an injection molded, non-foamed, polymer stabilizer.

23. A throwing and/or catching toy, comprising: an elongated body defined as comprising a longitudinal axis along a length of the body, wherein at least a portion of a front end of the elongated body comprises a resilient foam having a Shore A durometer hardness equal to or less than 25; a support non-movably attached to the body, where a first end of the support is attached to the body and a second end of the support extends along the longitudinal axis beyond a back end of the body; a lift-generating wing non-movably attached to the support near and/or at a center of the wing, the wing having a left wing portion and a right wing portion extending from the center of the wing to a respective distal end; a horizontal stabilizer and a vertical stabilizer attached to the support near the second end, where the horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer are disposed behind the lift-generating wing; and at least one finger hold extension extending from the distal end of either the left wing portion or right wing portion, the finger hold extension configured to allow a user to throw the toy in a discus-launched manner and the body configured to be caught by the user.

24. A throwing and/or catching toy, comprising: an elongated body defined as comprising a longitudinal axis along a length of the body; a support non-movably attached to the body, where a first end of the support is attached to the body and a second end of the support extends along the longitudinal axis beyond a back end of the body; a lift-generating wing non-movably attached to the support near and/or at a center of the wing, the wing having a left wing portion and a right wing portion extending from the center of the wing to a respective distal end; a horizontal stabilizer and a vertical stabilizer attached to the support near the second end, where the horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer are disposed behind the lift-generating wing; at least one finger hold extension extending from the distal end of either the left wing portion or right wing portion, the finger hold extension configured to allow a user to throw the toy in a discus-launched manner and the body configured to be caught by the user; and a manual adjuster associated with the horizontal stabilizer, the manual adjuster controlling a shape of the horizontal stabilizer, where the manual adjuster is mechanically engaged between the horizontal stabilizer and the support.

25. The toy of claim 24, wherein the manual adjuster comprises a hand-turnable threaded fastener.

26. A throwing and/or catching toy, comprising: an elongated body defined as comprising a longitudinal axis along a length of the body; a support non-movably attached to the body, where a first end of the support is attached to the body and a second end of the support extends along the longitudinal axis beyond a back end of the body; a lift-generating wing non-movably attached to the support near and/or at a center of the wing, the wing having a left wing portion and a right wing portion extending from the center of the wing to a respective distal end; a horizontal stabilizer and a vertical stabilizer attached to the support near the second end, where the horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer are disposed behind the lift-generating wing; at least one finger hold extension extending from the distal end of either the left wing portion or right wing portion, the finger hold extension configured to allow a user to throw the toy in a discus-launched manner and the body configured to be caught by the user; wherein the lift-generating wing comprises an injection molded, polymer wing, wherein the lift-generating wing comprises a generally convex upper surface opposite a generally concave lower surface, where the upper and lower surfaces define a wing thickness, where the wing thickness over a majority of the lift-generating wing is less than 0.10 of an inch.

27. The toy of claim 26, wherein the at least one finger hold extension comprises an upper extension and a lower extension, where the upper extension extends generally perpendicular from the convex upper surface and the lower extension extends generally perpendicular from the concave lower surface.

28. The toy of claim 27, wherein each of the upper and lower extensions have a vertical end which is generally perpendicular to their respective wing surfaces, wherein the vertical end of the upper extension is disposed behind the vertical end of the lower extension in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis where a front of the toy is defined near the body and a rear of the toy is defined near the horizontal and vertical stabilizers.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an exemplary self-propelled flying toy embodying the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 is side view of the toy taken along lines 2-2 from FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 is a front view of the toy taken along lines 3-3 from FIG. 1;

(5) FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view of the finger hold extensions taken along lines 4-4 from FIG. 1 now showing a hand gripping the upper and lower extensions which extend perpendicular from the wing tips;

(6) FIG. 5A is a sectional view of one embodiment taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 1;

(7) FIG. 5B is a sectional view of another embodiment taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 1;

(8) FIG. 5C is a sectional view of another embodiment taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 1;

(9) FIG. 5D is a sectional view of another embodiment taken along lines 5-5 of FIG. 1;

(10) FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional side view taken along lines 6-6 of FIG. 1; and

(11) FIG. 7 is a top view of a user throwing the toy in a discus-launched manner.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(12) The background of this patent application discussed the various designs and features of a flying football disclosed in previous application. The new embodiments disclosed herein are also directed to a flying football but one which is thrown in a different manner. Therefore, all of the lessons taught in the previous applications can be applied to these new embodiments disclosed herein. Furthermore, many of the numerals applied to the various parts shown herein are reused to remain consistent with the previous applications.

(13) One segment of popularity is the rise of hand launched gliders, which are commonly known as discus launched gliders, or DLGs for short. A discus launched glider is a radio controlled aircraft that lacks an engine. The user launches the RC glider by flinging the glider into the air using the rotation of the body and arm combined with the throwing ability of the user. Once in the air, the glider can be controlled via a transmitter such that extended flight times are achieved. Accordingly, the inventor has created a new flying football which can be thrown in a manner similar to how a discus launched glider can be thrown.

(14) FIGS. 1-3 show a new embodiment of the throwing and/or catching flying toy 300. The toy 300 includes a generally elongated spheroidal body 306 defined as comprising a longitudinal axis 312. A length 307 of the body along the longitudinal axis between a front end 311 of the body to a back end 313 of the body is longer than an equatorial diameter 309, where the equatorial diameter may simply be the widest portion (largest width) of the body. The equatorial diameter of the body may be at least 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0 and/or 4.5 inches.

(15) A lift-generating wing 304 is non-movably attached to the body near and/or at a center 344 (centerline) of the wing. The wing has a left wing portion 325 and a right wing portion 327 extending from the center 344 of the wing 304. At least one finger hold extension 380 extends from a distal end 329 of either the left wing portion or right wing portion. The finger hold extension 380 is configured to allow a user to throw the toy 300 in a discus-launched manner and the body is configured to be caught by the user.

(16) In other embodiments, at least a portion of the front end 311 or a front section/portion 308 of the body may comprise a resilient foam having a Shore A durometer hardness substantially equal to or less than 25. As shown in these embodiments, the body 306 may be football shaped. Furthermore, an overall weight of the toy 300 may be less than 400 grams, or in other embodiments even less than 350 grams, 300 grams, or 250 grams.

(17) A floor stand 342 may be attached to a bottom 317 of the body, where the floor stand is configured to stabilize the toy in a fixed position when the toy is placed upon a generally horizontal surface. The floor stand 342 can include two protrusions 343 such that the protrusions 343 can act like a stand when the toy 300 is placed on the generally horizontal surface. The floor stand 342 also acts as protection for the body of the football such that when the product comes into contact with the ground, the floor stand contacts damaging surfaces first, such as sidewalks, roads and driveways. If not for the floor stand 342, the body 306 would be grated quickly by such rough surfaces.

(18) The lift-generating wing 304 may comprise a dihedral angle 332 of at least 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 or more degrees. The dihedral angle 332 is measured from the angle of either the left wing portion or right wing portion relative to a generally horizontal surface 382. Furthermore, the lift-generating wing 304 may comprise a generally convex upper surface 360 opposite a generally concave lower surface 362, where the upper and lower surfaces define a wing thickness, where the wing thickness over a majority of the lift-generating wing is less than 0.10 of an inch. In other words, the lift-generating wing may comprise an injection molded, non-foamed, polymer wing.

(19) An exemplary embodiment includes a support 302 which is non-movably attached to the body. A first end 303 of the support 302 is attached to the body and a second end 305 of the support 302 extends along the longitudinal axis 312 beyond the back end 313 of the body. The lift-generating wing 304 can then be non-movably attached to the support 302 near and/or at the center of the wing (wing centerline 344). The horizontal stabilizer 346 and the vertical stabilizer 366 are then attached to the support 302 near the second end 305 of the support. The horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer are disposed behind the lift-generating wing. At least one finger hold extension 380 extends from the distal end 329 of either the left wing portion or right wing portion. The finger hold extension 380 is configured to allow a user to throw the toy in a discus-launched manner and the body configured to be caught by the user.

(20) In other embodiments, the body 306 is comprised of a front section 308 abutting a rear section 310. The front section and rear section may comprise different materials. For example, the front section may comprise a resilient foam having a Shore A durometer hardness equal to or less than 25. Then the rear section can comprise a lighter material such as EPP, EPS or EPO. To help minimize weight, a rear section volume of the rear section 310 may be at least double a front section volume of the front section 308.

(21) An impact transfer surface 364 may be attached directly to the first end of the support and abutting an inside surface 323 of the front section of the body. The impact transfer surface 364 may be made from an injection molded part that is fastened or bonded onto the structural support 302. The impact transfer surface 364 is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 312. The impact transfer surface 364 may comprise an impact area of at least 2.5 square inches.

(22) The lift-generating wing 304 may be disposed behind the center of the body 306 in relation to along the longitudinal axis, wherein an outside contiguous envelope of the body 306 does not coincide with any portion of an outside contiguous envelope of the lift-generating wing 304. In other words, the body and lift-generating wing are separately disposed and attached to the support 302.

(23) The support 302 may comprise a hollow aluminum tube. Other metals could be used, but aluminum is a very light while strong metal. It is also worth noting that there are different alloys and heat treatments of aluminum available. The inventor has selected a 7075-T6 alloy of aluminum which has two advantages. First, the 7075-T6 is one of the strongest alloys of aluminum used which then gives the product exceptional strength and durability. Second, 7075 alloys are exempt from certain tariffs when manufactured overseas and imported into the United States. Other alloys of aluminum can experience a factor of four times the cost just in anti-dumping tariffs. Anyone who imports aluminum parts into the United States should research whether such tariffs could detrimentally impact their parts. Beyond aluminum, other materials could be used such as composites or carbon fiber to form the support 302.

(24) The aluminum tube may comprise a circular cross-section and comprise an outer diameter of at least 15 mm or greater. This is best seen in FIGS. 5A-5D, which show various ways and methods the wings 304 may be attached to the tube 302.

(25) As shown in FIG. 5A, the wings 304 comprise two separately manufactured parts, a left wing portion 325 and a right wing portion 327. This is because it may be too costly and difficult to manufacture the wings 304 as one large part. Therefore the wing 304 is broken into two parts that are then held together with fasteners 331 and nuts 351.

(26) FIG. 5B shows an embodiment where the wing 304 is manufactured as one continuous part.

(27) FIG. 5C is similar to FIG. 5B, but now shows a counterweight 381. It may be important to have the center of gravity of the whole toy 300 to coincide with the longitudinal axis 312, or as shown, with the generally horizontal plane 382. The counterweight 381 helps to pull the overall center of gravity of the toy 300 downward such that it aligns with the longitudinal axis 312. This can be accomplished by having the counterweight disposed below the toy 300 such that balances the wings 304 which are disposed generally above the longitudinal axis 312. The counterweight may be made of a polymer, but also may be made of a denser material, such as a metal.

(28) FIG. 5D eliminates the counterweight 381 as a separate part but achieves an aligned center of gravity by disposing a portion of the wings below the longitudinal axis 312/horizontal plane 382.

(29) A manual adjuster 350 may be associated with the horizontal stabilizer. The manual adjuster 350 controls a shape of the horizontal stabilizer, where the manual adjuster is mechanically engaged between the horizontal stabilizer and the support. The manual adjuster may comprise a hand-turnable threaded fastener.

(30) As best seen in FIG. 4, the at least one finger hold extension 380 extends from a distal end 329 of either the left wing portion 325 or right wing portion 327, where the at least one finger hold extension 380 may comprise an upper extension 383 and a lower extension 384. The upper extension 383 extends generally perpendicular from the convex upper surface 360 and the lower extension 384 extends generally perpendicular from the concave lower surface 362. As can be seen, the user's hand 385 is placed at the distal end of the wing, and the fingertips of the first and second fingers engage the finger hold extensions. This then allows the user, as shown in FIG. 7, to spin around in motion one and then twist their wrist in motion two to finally launch the toy 300 in motion three. The advantage of this throwing technique is that a higher exit velocity of the toy 300 can be achieved due to the increased motion arm that is created from the user's body down to the center of the toy 300. Essentially the left wing portion acts as a lever which increases the exit velocity.

(31) In a further refinement of the finger hold extensions, as shown in FIG. 4 again, each of the upper and lower extensions may have an unaligned vertical end which is generally perpendicular to their respective wing surfaces. This is because the joints of the human hand do not align perfectly. The last joint of the first and second fingers are usually spaced a distance apart. Therefore, the finger hold extension has been configured to facilitate this. As shown, the vertical end 386 of the upper extension 383 is disposed behind the vertical end 387 of the lower extension 384 in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis where a front 315 of the toy is defined near the body and a rear of the toy is defined near the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. The gap between the vertical ends 386 and 387 can be more than 0.125 inches, 0.25 inches or 0.5 inches.

(32) As shown herein, the body 306 is football shaped. Those skilled in the art will understand from this teaching that other shapes are possible, such shapes including baseballs, softballs, missiles, rockets, futuristic shapes or any other shape that is aesthetically pleasing while easy to catch.

(33) As can now be understood, the toy 300 can be played with between two people, where one person is throwing and the other person is catching. The toy 300 can be played with just one person, where they throw the toy at a target or simply throw for distance. It is also possible to design the toy 300 such that a person could throw it away and the toy 300 would turn in the air and come back to the thrower, similar in concept to how a boomerang works. This can be accomplished by adjusting the wing surfaces or adjusting the horizontal and vertical stabilizers.

NUMERALS

(34) 300 Throwing and/or Catching Flying Toy 302 Structural Support 303 First End of Support 304 Lift-Generating Wing 305 Second End of Support 306 Body 307 Length of Body 308 Front Section 309 Equatorial Diameter 310 Rear Section 311 Front End of Body 312 Longitudinal Axis 313 Back End of Body 314 Tail 315 Front End of Toy 316 Tail Fin 317 Bottom of Body 318 Tail End 319 Center of Body 320 Thumb Grip 321 Top of Body 322 Bearing 323 Inside Surface of Front Section 324 Pitch Axis 325 Left Wing Portion 326 Pivot 327 Right Wing Portion 328 Screw 329 Distal End of Wing 330 Bias 331 Fastener 332 Dihedral Angle 334 Horizontal Section 336 Dihedral Section 338 Vacuum-Formed Plastic Part 340 Laces 342 Floor Stand 343 Protrusions on Floor Stand 344 Wing Centerline 346 Horizontal Stabilizer 348 Center of Gravity 349 Notch 350 Manual Adjuster 351 Nut 352 Nut Recess 353 Wall Stand Apertures 354 Push Surface 356 Spinner 357 Bearing 358 Rear Brace 359 Distance 360 Convex Upper Surface 362 Concave Lower Surface 364 Impact Transfer Surface 365 Impact Transfer Part 366 Vertical Stabilizer 368 Wing Bracket 370 Male-to-Female Connection 372 Male Portion 374 Female Portion 376 Recess 378 Finger Extensions 380 Finger Hold Extensions 381 Counterweight 382 Horizontal Plane 383 Upper Extension, Finger Hold Extension 384 Lower Extension, Finger Hold Extension 385 User's Hand 386 Vertical End, Upper Extension 387 Vertical End, Lower Extension