US3603023A

US3603023A - Toy ball

Info

Publication number: US3603023A
Application number: US13972A
Authority: US
Inventors: Timothy J Mchugh
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1970-02-25
Filing date: 1970-02-25
Publication date: 1971-09-07
Anticipated expiration: 1988-09-07

Abstract

A toy ball having a hollow spherical member which is enclosed by two attached hemispherical members. A plurality of pockets are located on the surface of the spherical member and cups are press-fitted into each of these pockets. A movable attention getting object is placed in each cup and the two hemispheres are sealed together over the spherical member to seal the object in each cup. When the toy ball is rolled along a surface or otherwise rotated the objects in each cut move providing an item of interest and attractiveness to children of tender ages.

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor Timothy J. Mcl-lugh 4 Hilltop Road, Bronxville, N.Y. 10708 [21 1 Appl. No. 13,972 [22] Filed Feb. 25, 1970 I45] Patented Sept. 7, 1971 [54] TOY BALL 8 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

52 U.S.Cl 46/1 R [5 l Int. Cl A63h 33/00 [50] Field oiSearch... 273/53, 58, 507, 1213;40/327; 46/1, 175

[5 6) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 695,153 3/1902 Hoyt 273/58 R 2,792,696 5/1957 Stayart Primary Examiner-Robert Peshock Attorney-Kirschstein, Kirschstein, Ottinger & Frank ABSTRACT: A toy ball having a hollow spherical member which is enclosed by two attached hemispherical members. A plurality of pockets are located on the surface of the spherical member and cups are press-fitted into each of these pockets. A movable attention getting object is placed in each cup and the two hemispheres are sealed together over the spherical member to seal the object in each cup. When the toy ball is rolled along a surface or otherwise rotated the objects in each cut move providing an item of interest and attractiveness to children of tender ages.

PATENTED SEP H97! T360? 023 Tilj. l.

nvv; m. Wnomy J G A TIER/V676 TOY BALL This invention relates to a toy ball and in particular to a toy ball that is an attractive attention-getting object to children of all ages as it is rolled along a surface or otherwise rotated.

It has been known in the prior art to use transparent toy balls with objects inside of them to provide toys that .produce different visual effects as they are manipulated by children of tender ages. However, with many of these prior art toy balls the ball was so constructed that only a limited number of perspectives were obtainable as the ball was rolled along a surface or otherwise rotated. This detracted from the enjoyment that was obtainable by young children in using these toys since continued manipulation of the ball did not result in it being possible to view different perspectives. Additionally, many of these prior art toy balls were of complex construction, some including electrical circuitry in their interior, and thus were expensive to make. This made the toy balls inaccessible to children on whom modest means for amusement devices could be spent and thus detracted from their general usefulness.

With the market for toys expanding as it is, it is apparent that if a toy ball could be devised to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks associated with prior art toy balls of the type herein described it would find widespread use.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved toy ball of the type heretofore described.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved toy ball which will continually provide different perspectives as it is rolled along a surface or otherwise rotated and manipulated.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy ball of the type described that can be economically made so as to be able to be sold at an inexpensive price.

Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, the foregoing and other objects are achieved by a toy ball having a spherical member having pockets spaced along its surface. Cups are press-fitted into the pockets and objects of attraction, such as a figurene of an animal, beads, etc. are located inside each cup. Two hemispheres are joined about the spherical member and serve as a casing to keep the objects in each cup from falling out of the cup as the spherical member with its casing is rolled along a surface, thrown up in the air or'otherwise rotated. Such rotation provides a plurality of different perspectives as a result of the object within .each cup moving in its respective cup since the portion of the casing which covers each cup is transparent to enable one to look at the object within the cup.

Other objects, aspects and features of the present invention will be apparent from the following specification and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a toy ball in accordance with the present invention rolling down an incline;

FIG. 2 is a partially open view of a portion of the toy ball of the present invention illustrating one of the objects which is movable within the toy ball as it is rotated or otherwise moved;

FIG. 3 is a view along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2 showing in cross section the inner spherical member, the press-fitted cup member, the object of interest, and the outer casing of a portion of the toy ball of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of a toy ball of the present invention.

Referring now to the drawings and FIG. 4 in particular it can be seen that the toy ball of the present invention includes an inner spherical member 11 having a plurality of pockets 12 located on its surface. Member 11 may be made of polyfoarn or some other suitable lightweight material. In addition to pockets 12 at least one pair of windows 13 are located on the surface of spherical member 11 in diametrically opposed positions for a reason soon to be apparent. It is of course to be appreciated that only one window can be seen in spherical member 11 at a time due to the symmetry of the member. A

LII

plurality of cylindrically shaped cups 14 made of polyfoam are press-fitted into pockets 12 as seen in FIGS. 2 and3. The cups are identical to each other and include a base portion and sidewalls extending therefrom which define a cup opening at the surface of member 11 when the cup is press-fitted into the spherical member as seen in FIG. 3.

An object of interest such as a figurene, beads, a little toy, a puzzle, etc. is placed within each cup and two

plastic hemispheres

15 and 16 are placed over spherical member 11 and cups in the pockets in a close fitting relation, such as seen in FIG. 3, to form a casing which prevents the object in each cup from falling from the cup as the toy is rotated.

Hemispherical members

15 and 16 have transparent sections which are placed over the cups to enable the objects in' each cup to be seen.

Sections

15 and 16 also include window sections for covering the windows in spherical member 1 1 to enable a person to look through one of the diametrically opposed windows to see through the other of the diametrically opposed windows so that there is a see-through capability in the toy ball. Hemispheres l5 and 16 may be joined together by gluing or any other technique which is available to the skilled mechanic.

In order to increase the attractiveness of the toy ball the portions of the hemisphere which do not cover a cup or window in spherical-member 11 may be colored with colors that are attractive to the children such as bright red, orange, etc.

When it is'desired to use the toy ball of the present invention, it is rotated as by rolling along an incline (FIG. 1) or by being thrown in the air, etc. As the ball rotates the difierent objects contained in the cups move within the cups providing continually different perspectives. If-desired, the colors of the objects in each cup can be selected to mate with the color of the cup and to provide an attractive contrast as the ball is rotated. Similarly, the different cups can have different color characteristics to further add to the attractiveness of the ball.

It can be appreciated from the foregoing specification that by having a plurality of different compartments with an object in each compartment, it is possible to continually obtain different perspectives, something that was not possible with prior art toy balls.

What is claimed is:

1. A toy ball comprising:

a. a member having a surface with a circular cross section and a plurality of pockets extending from the surface toward the interior thereof,

b. an object of attraction located in at least some of said pockets and of a smaller size than said pockets so as to be freely movable therein when said member is rotated,

c. first means for keeping the objects from moving toward the interior of the member as said member is rotated, and

(I. second means for keeping the objects in said pockets from falling out of said pockets as said member is rotated.

2. A toy ball according to claim 1 wherein said first means for keeping the objects in said pockets from moving toward the interior of the member as said member is rotated includes a retaining member in each of said pockets, said retaining members preventing movement by said objects in said pockets to the interior of said member.

3. A toy ball according to claim 2 wherein each of said retaining members is press-fitted into its respective pocket.

4. A toy ball according to claim 1 wherein said second means for keeping the objects in said pockets from falling out of said pockets as said member is rotated includes a casing surrounding said member.

5. A toy ball according to claim 4 wherein said casing includes transparent portions which are in alignment with those pockets in which there are objects.

6. A toy ball in accordance with claim 4 wherein said member is spherical in configuration, a pair of windows being located on diametrically opposed surfaces of said spherical member with there being a see-through capability between said diametrically opposed windows, said portion ofsaid casing covering said windows being transparent to enable one to look through the toy ball.

retaining members preventing movement of said objects in said pockets to the interior of said spherical member.

8. A toy ball according to claim 7 wherein each of said retaining members is press-fitted into its respective pocket.

Claims

1. A toy ball comprising: a. a member having a surface with a circular cross section and a plurality of pockets extending from the surface toward the interior thereof, b. an object of attraction located in at least some of said pockets and of a smaller size than said pockets so as to be freely movable therein when said member is rotated, c. first means for keeping the objects from moving toward the interior of the member as said member is rotated, and d. second means for keeping the objects in said pockets from falling out of said pockets as said member is rotated.

6. A toy ball in accordance with claim 4 wherein said member is spherical in configuration, a pair of windows being located on diametrically opposed surfaces of said spherical member with there being a see-through capability between said diametrically opposed windows, said portion of said casing covering said windows being transparent to enable one to look through the toy ball.

7. A toy ball according to claim 6 wherein said first means for keeping the objects in said pockets from moving toward the interior of the spherical member as said member is rotated includes a retaining member in each of said pockets, said retaining members preventing movement of said objects in said pockets to the interior of said spherical member.