US3010249A

US3010249A - Whirling toy

Info

Publication number: US3010249A
Application number: US778229A
Authority: US
Inventors: Walter M Sirks
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1958-12-04
Filing date: 1958-12-04
Publication date: 1961-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 1978-11-28

Description

W. M. SIRKS WHIRLING TOY Nov. 28, 1961 Filed Dec. 4, 1958 INVENTOR.

WALTER M. SIRKS United States Patent Ofitice 3,010,249 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 3,010,249 WHIRLING TOY Walter M. Sirks, 6038 W. 85th Place, Los Angeles 45, Calif. Filed Dec. 4, 1958, Ser. No. 778,229 2 Claims. (CI. 46-52) The present invention consists of a whirling toy including at least two longitudinal independently movable pendulum portions (in one preferred form, of different overall lengths) adapted to be adjacently efiectively manually held, either looped over a finger operating the whirling toy or held by a manually graspable handle means, during simultaneous and oppositely directed centrifugal swinging rotation of each of the independently movable pendulum portions in adjacent planesthis opposite rotation of each of the pendulum portions being adapted to be maintained by slight intermittent movement of a hand of a person effectively holding the pendulum portions.

In one specific form of the present invention, the whirling toy is also adapted to intermittently produce an audible sound, thus greatly adding to the interest factor of the toy when used by a child.

It will be recognized that the above-indicated features of the whirling toy of the present invention make it well adapted for use as a toy involving a very considerable degree of skill in the operation thereof in a manner somewhat analogous to a prior art toy known as a Yo-yo, thus greatly adding to the interest factor.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a whirling toy of the character indicated above, having two independently rotatable pendulum portions adapted to be controllably manually rotated in opposite directions in adjacent planes and to be maintained in a state'of such continuous rotation by slight intermittent movement of a hand of a person effectively holding the pendulum portions.

It: is a further object of the present invention to provide a whirling toy of the type set forth in the preceding object, which is further adapted to intermittently produce an audible sound by reason of the fact that either or both of the pendulum'portions may carry adjacent the oppositely whirling ends thereof pendulum body means including a hollow sound-producing element having sound- ;producing slot means at one side thereof extending thereinto in the general manner'described hereinafter and also in accordance with the teachings and disclosures set forth in my co-pending US. patent application, Serial No. 778,222, filed December 4, 1958, any of which sound- .producing elements may be, and are intended to be, interchangeable with the specific sound-producing element specifically disclosed in the drawing and specification of this application.

Further objects will .be apparent to persons'skilled in the art after a careful study hereof.

For the purpose 'of clarifying the nature of my inven the invention, with central portions of the flexible longitudinal tensile members removed in order to reduce the size of the drawing.

FIG- 2 is a reduced-size perspective view illustrating the operation of the form of the invention shown in FIG.

. 1 in a manner whereby the two flexible longitudinal pendu- .held by the hand 12 of a person operating the lum portions are effectively manually held and simultaneously oppositely rotated in adjacent planes.

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view through the elastomeric or rubber element shown in FIG. 1 as comprising the manually graspable handle means.

FIG. 4 is a reduced-size elevational view of a slightly modified form of the invention wherein the manually graspable handle means is eliminated and a connected looped portion of the two pendulum portions acts as the functional equivalent of the handle means of FIGS. l-3 and is adapted to be looped over and thus held by a finger of a person operating the whirling toy. Also, in this modification, the two pendulum body means of FIG. 1 are modified so that each takes the form of a hollow sound-producing element adapted to intermittently produce an audible sound when whirled in the general manner of the first form of the invention, as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a larger-scale longitudinal sectional view of one of the sound-producing elements shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is avperspective view of one of the sound-producing elements of the type shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, but slightly modified by the addition of an external encircling means and trailing edge adapted to modify the sound produced by the sound-producing element.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to FIG. 6 but shows the external encircling means modified by completely eliminating the trailing edge.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of a modified form of manually graspable handle means.

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary view illustrating another slightly modified form of-handle means.

The whirling toy of the present invention includes'two longitudinalindependently movable pendulum portions, such as are indicated generally at 10 and 11 in FIGS. 1 and 2, adapted to be effectively manually held during simultaneous and oppositely directed centrifugal swinging rotation of the pendulum portions 10 and 11 in adjacent planes in the general manner indicated inFIG. 2, which state of rotation is adapted to'be easily maintained by slight intermittent movement of a hand, such as the hand 12, ofa person effectively adjacently holding the pendulum portions 10 and 11.

In the specific example illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2,

each of the pendulum portions 10 and 11 consists of a flexible

longitudinal tensile member

13 and 14, respectively, each having a holding part indicated at 15 and 16, respectively, which is adapted to be effectively manually to in the manner indicated in FIG. 2. y

In the specific example illustrated in'FIGS. 1 and 2, the hand 12 of the person operating the whirling toy effectively manually holds the holding parts 15 and- 16 of the flexible longitudinal tensile members 13 and =14 by means of manually graspable handle means, such as is indicated generally at 17, which intthe specific example illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 (best seen in FIG. 3) comprises, an elastomeric or rubber member 18 having a longitudinal aperture 19 extending therethrough and through which the holding parts 15 aud.,16 of the

longitudinal tensilemembers

13 and 14 extend andareknotted as are indicated at 36 for effective fastening with respect to the handle means 17. a

Also, each of the independently movable pendulum portions 10 and 11 includes pendulum body means, such as are indicated at 22 and 23, respectively, carried by the free or

connection end parts

20 and 21, respectively,

of' each of the flexible

longitudinal tensile members

13 and 14, respectively. In the specific example illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, each of the pendulum body means 22 and 23 comprises two end-to-end aligned longitudinally apertured elastomeric or rubber members similar to the member 18 clearly shown in longitudinal cross section in FIG. 3, with the

connection end parts

20 and 21, respectively, extended longitudinally through the longitudinal aper- V tures and with retaining knots 24 and 25 positioned at opposite ends of the pendulum body means 22 and with similar retaining knots 26 and 27 positioned at opposite ends of the other pendulum body means 23, whereby to firmly fix each of the pendulum body means 22 and 23, respectively, on the corresponding connection ends 20 and 21, respectively, of the corresponding

longitudinal tensile members

13 and 14, respectively.

It should be noted that in the specific form illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, the pendulum portion 10 is longer than the pendulum portion 11 whereby operation of the device in the general manner indicated in FIG. 2, by oppositely directed swinging rotation of each of the pendulum portions 10 and 11 in the directions indicated by the arrows in' FIG. 2, will not cause the pendulum body means 22 and 23 to strike each other and stop the continuous operation of the whirling toy. It will be understood that a slight intermittent movement of the hand 12 of a person holding the handle means 17 will cause the oppositely directed rotation of the two pendulum portions '10 and 11, in the manner shown in FIG. 2, to be continuously maintained.

FIGS. 4 and illustrate a modified form wherein the handle means 17 of FIGS. 1-3 is eliminated and the functional equivalent thereof is provided by means of a portion 17A of flexible tensile material effectively joining' together" the

holding parts

15A and 16A of each of the flexible longitudinal tensile members 13A and 14A so that the portion 17A may be looped over, and thus held by, the finger of a person operating the toy in the'general manner of .FIG. 2. It is thought unnecessary to illustrate the operation of this modification since it is evident from careful examination of FIGS. 2 and 4.

Furthermore, in this modified form of the invention, the pendulum body means indicated generally at 22A and 23A, respectively, each takes the form of a hollow soundproducing element 28 defining a hollow interior chamber 29. Furthermore, each of the hollow sound-producing elements 28 includes a portion defining sound-producing aperture means into the hollow chamber. In the specific example illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, said soundproducing aperture means consists of a longitudinal slot 30 extending along one side of the hollow sound-producing element 28 and communicating with the hollow chamber 29 therein.- It will be noted that in the specific example illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, each of the hollow sound-producing elements is formed of a longitudinal cylindrical section of a tube which'is closed at each end by plug means 31 and which is wrapped aroun'd each of the plugs 31 so as to efiectively define the slot 31). The plugs 31 are effectively joined tothe metallic tube by suitable adhesive fastening means such as is indicated at 32 in FIG. 5. This may comprise a rubber b ase paint, 7 cement, or the like, or any equivalentmeans for fastening the end plugs 31 in position with corresponding ends 1 of the flexible longitudinal tensile members'13A or 14A 7 etfectively fastened in one of the plugs 31 by retaining knot means positioned inside of an aperture 33 through the plug31, thus effectively mounting both of thefhollow sound-producing elements 28 with respect to the ;connection ends'20A and'21A, respectively, of the longitudinal tensile members 13A and 14A, respectively. 7

It will readily beunderstood that when the .two soundproducing elements 28 are rotated in opposite directions in the general manner of the pendulum body means 22 and 23 in .FIG. 2, theirapid relative movement of each. 7 of the sound-producing elements 28 and sound-producing slots 30 with respect to ambient atmosphere will cause each of the sound-producing elements 28 to intermittently fill with and discharge air and produce an intermittent or interrupted audible sound in the general manner explained more fully in my co-pending patent application, Serial No. 778,222, filed' December 4, 1959. Furthermore, it should be understood that the soundproducing elements 28 may be substituted for the pendulum body means 22 and 23 in FIG. 2, if desired.

FIG. 6 illustrates a slight modification of the invention wherein the sound produced by each of the sound-producing elements, one of which is indicated at 28B, may be modified as to frequency, type of interruptions, and/ or pitch by adding to the sound-producingelement 28B an external encircling means, such as that indicated at 34, which effectively reduces the overall open length of the sound-producing slot 30B. In the specific example illustrated, the element 34 takes the form of a piece of flexible tape or the like adhesively fastened onto the tube 28B adjacent the lower end thereof and having a'small-trailing portion 35 which has an efiect upon the rotary motion and positioning of the sound-producing slot with respect to ambient atmosphere during swinging motion thereof, whereby to alter the interruption rate by stopping all sound at certain intervals by reason of the changed orientation of the sound-producing slot 303 with respect to the direction of swinging movement of the sound-producing element 2813. The effective shortening of the slot 308 also alters the pitch of the emitted sound.

FIG. 7 illustrates, in fragmentary form, a very slight modification of the form of the invention shown in FIG. 6, and similar portions are indicated by the same reference numerals followed by the letter C. In this modification, the encircling means 340 does not have a fluttering trailing edge similar to that shown at 35 in FIG. 6 and, therefore, no directional guiding effect during swinging movement of the sound-producing element 28C occurs in this modification of the invention.

FIG. -8 illustrates a slight modificationof the handle means 17 shown in FIGS. 1-3, which is indicated by the reference numeral 17D. This modified handle means 17D comprises a conventional type handle which may be made of wood, plastic, or any other suitable material adapted to be manually grasped during oppositely directed rotative operation of the whirling toy of the present invention in the manner described above.

FIG. 9 illustrates another slight modification of the handlemeans 17 shown in FIGS. 1-3, which is indicated by the reference numeral 17E in FIG. 9. This modified handle means 17E comprises an elastomeric ,apertured member similar to' the member 18 shown in FIG. '3, which has knots 36E at each end thereof in a slightly off-center position similar to the oil-center location of the handle means 17 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, andwhich is adapted to be looped over and grasped by a single finger in a manner similar to the grasping of the portion 17A shown in FIG. 4 and described hereinbefore. It will be noted that the handle 17E in this modification clearly marks the proper off-center position whereas the portion 17A shownin FIG. 4 has to be carefully selected Whenever the device is used, since thereis no such' marker.

the purpose of illustrating. the present invention and are not to be construed as limitingthelpresentfinvention to the precise and detailed specific structure shownin thc figures and specifically described hereinbeforeg Rathcr, the real invention isintended to include substantially 1 equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

I claim; 1. A whirling and intermittent sound-produfling toy includingiat least two longitudinal independently movable 'pendulum portions adapted to he adjacently efiectively manually "held during simultaneous and oppositelyfdi- It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth in'ithis application are for rected centrifugal swinging rotation of said pendulum portions in adjacent planes, which is adapted to be maintained by slight intermittent movement of a hand of a person effectively holding said pendulum portions, and wherein each pendulum portion comprises: a flexible longitudinal tensile member having a holding part adapted to be effectively manually held and having longitudinally spaced therefrom a free connection end part provided with pendulum body means mounted thereon for rotation around an axis coincident with said free connection end part and said flexible longitudinal tensile member, said pendulum body means including a hollow longitudinal sound-producing element defining a longitudinal hollow interior chamber therein, said sound-producing element consisting of a longitudinal cylindrical section of a tube substantially closed at each end, said element being provided with a portion defining sound-producing longitudinal slot means into said hollow chamber along at least a portion of the length thereof; and external encircling means effectively reducing the overall open length of the portion of the sound-producing element defining the sound-producing slot positioned at one end thereof.

2. A toy of the character defined in claim 1, wherein said encircling means is provided with an extension comprising means modifying the efiect of rapid relative movement of ambient atmosphere upon the sound-producing element during whirling motion thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 157,095 Hawk Nov. 24, 1874 477,904 Lawson June 28, 1892 610,600 Davis Sept. 13, 1898 1,800,778 Carson Apr. 14, 1931 1,932,943 Smith Oct. 31, 1933 2,125,815 Rowell Aug. 2, 1938 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,092 Great Britain 1889 383,955 France Ian. 22, 1908 416,853 Great Britain Sept. 20, 1934 259,487 Switzerland Sept. 1, 1949 1,109,355 France Sept. 21, 1955