CA2385998A1

CA2385998A1 - Rotary toy

Info

Publication number: CA2385998A1
Application number: CA002385998A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Jeffrey Graham Hurd
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-05-13
Filing date: 2002-05-13
Publication date: 2003-11-13

Description

BACKGRC>UND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to toys and more particularly to a rotary toy which has a ball or puck that is intended to be hit by an implement for striking such as a hockey stick, bat or club.
The toy of my invention has a swivel to which an elongated inflexible rod or flexible cord is attached. A puck or ball is attached to the end of the rod or cord..
When the puck or ball is sl:ruck, it will rotate about the swivel but will not separate from the toy.
The player need not chase after the puck or ball after he has struck it, it will always be close to where he is standing.
The toy is not only fun but is useful in improving the hand-eye coordination of the player.
It: does so by indicating whether a ball or puck has been struck squarely. The toy can also assist in improving a player's timing by the addition of an electric motor to cause the puck or ball to rotate. The toy will then not only test the player's aim but also his timing.
If the ball or puck is attached by a flexible cord to the swivel, the player can practice the direction of his aim in order to raise or lower the ball or puck as it travels through the air to a desired height.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly my rotary toy includes a base; a swivel mounted to the base; an elongated element connected at one end to the swivel; and. a target connected to the other end of the elongated element and adapted to be struck.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
The rotary toy of the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:
Figure 1 is an elevation of the to:y; and Figure 2 is a plan view of the toy.
Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the drawing.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to the drawing, the rotary toy comprises a base 10, a swivel 14, an elongated element 16 and a target 18. The base has an opening 20 adjacent to each corner for receipt of a spike (not illustrated) to anchor the base to the ground or a screw for attachment to a sheet of plywood lying on the ground or on a floor. The swivel has a circular collar 22 which includes a skirt 24 which is fastened to the base by means of screws or nails.
The upper portion 2fi of the collar is tubular and is open at the top for receipt of an upwardly extending or vertical limb 30 of an L-shaped bar 32. The bar has a circular cross-section throughout its entire length.
Tlhe vertical limb is mounted in bearings 34 within a recess in the base and is free to rotate or swivel.
A horizontal limb 36 extends outwardly from the upper end of the vertical limb. The outer wall of the horizontal limb adjacent to its outer end is threaded at 38 and mates threadably with the threaded inner wall of a sleeve 40. The inner wall has a circular cross-section as does the threaded outer wall of the limb.
The sleeve extends beyond the outer end of the limb and terminates at an end 44 which ea;tends radially inward and terminates at an opening 46. The opening has a smaller cross-section

2 than that of the inner wall of the sleeve. There is a space 48 within the sleeve between the outer end of the limb and the opening.
A lug 50 is accommodated in the space in the sleeve. The lug has a cross-section larger than that of the opening so that it is confined in the space when the sleeve is attached to the horizontal limb. The lug is connected to the end of the elongated element opposite the target and serves to connect the swivel to the elongated element and target.
The lug can be removed from i:he sleeve simply be unscrewing the sleeve and removing it from the limb. The target is then be removed from the end of the elongated element and the elongated element is drawn through the opening in the sleeve and out of it.
Elongated element 16 may be flexible or inflexible. If it is flexible it may be twine, wire or a cord composed of flexible polymeric material such as polypropylene. If the elongated element is inflexible, it may be a rod which is composed of inflexible polymeric material or of a metal such as steel. The target is preferably a puck but it may be a ball, balloon or whatever else is desired.
Preferably the elongated element is about 3 feet in length where the toy is used purely for amusement. If the toy is used for anofher purpose such as for practising batting or golfing swings, the elongated element can be longer. if the element is inflexible, the length of the vertical limb of the L-shaped bar can be made adjustable by conventional means so that its length will be appropriate to what is attached to it a;. a target. For example, if the target is a baseball then the vertical limb should be long enough to support the ball at waist to shoulder height. If the target is

3 a puck the limb should support the puck so that it is near or on the ground.
If desired, the bar may be rotated by a conventional motor mounted within the base. The speed of the motor can be variable in order to adjust the speed at which the target is rotating. A
conventional clutch can be provided so that the motor will not be damaged when the target is struck with resulting sudden increase or decrease of its speed. A counter for computing the number of rotations of the bar and a timer for measuring intervals of time can also be provided.
An monitor can be provided for displaying the speed of rotation of the bar, the number of times it has rotated in a given time interval and other predetermined time intervals. Such a display would be useful where the toy is used in competitions where participants are each allowed a given period of time to strike the target. The speed of rotation could be set according to the abilities of the participants and a point would be awarded to a participant each time he struck the target.
It will be understood of course that modifications can be made in the rotary toy illustrated and described in this application without departing from the scope and purview of the invention as defined in the claims that follow.

4

Claims

I claim:

1. A rotary toy including: a base; a swivel mounted to said base; an elongated element connected at one end to said swivel; and a target connected to the other end of said elongated element and adapted to be struck.

2. The rotary toy of claim 1 wherein said target is a puck.

3. The rotary toy of claim 1 wherein said elongated element is a cord.

4. The rotary toy of claim 1 wherein said elongated element is a rod.

5. The rotary toy of claim 1 wherein said swivel includes an L-shaped bar having an upstanding vertical limb mounted in bearings in said base and a outwardly extending horizontal limb to which said elongated element is connected.

6. The rotary toy of claim 5 wherein said horizontal limb has an outer wall having a circular cross-section and being threaded adjacent to an outer end thereof; said rotary toy including: a sleeve; and a lug, said sleeve having a threaded inner wall of circular cross-section for threadable mating with said threaded outer wall, said sleeve extending beyond the end of said horizontal limb and terminating at an end which extends radially inward and terminates at an opening of smaller cross-section than that of said inner wall such that there is a space within said sleeve between said outer end and said opening, said lug being connected to the end of said elongated element opposite said target and having a cross section larger than that of said opening, said lug being received in said space and serving to connect said elongated element to said swivel.