GB2209004A

GB2209004A - Liquid-squirting toy pistol

Info

Publication number: GB2209004A
Application number: GB8819872A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Peter K L Tsang
Original assignee: CONCENTRIC TOYS MANUFACTORY LI
Current assignee: CONCENTRIC TOYS MANUFACTORY LI
Priority date: 1987-08-26
Filing date: 1988-08-22
Publication date: 1989-04-26
Also published as: GB8720080D0; GB8819872D0

Abstract

A toy pistol fires disappearing ink from a pre-filled reservoir container (12) receivable in a cavity in the pistol grip (11). A screw-threaded connecting element (35), having a toothed circumference (40) exposed through slots in the sides of the grip, can be manually rotated to engage a correspondingly threaded neck (17) at the outlet of the container (12). An intake tube (16) of the pistol extends down into the container (12) when retained and leads to a trigger-operated pump (13) for squirting the disappearing ink from an outlet (23). <IMAGE>

Description

WATER PISTOL GAME APPARATUS This invention relates to apparatus for playing a game using a water pistol of the general type well known for firing a jet of liquid for amusement - of course the liquid need not be mere water but the term "water pistol" is used herein because well known.

It is desired to provide a water pistol game apparatus with a convenient reloading system, for use in a novel manner with a disappearing ink.

The present invention therefore provides apparatus including a water pistol having a trigger-actuated pump for forcing liquid to an outlet jet of the pistol, the liquid being a disappearing ink prefilled into a separate reservoir container that can be inserted into a cavity in the body of the pistol, preferably in a grip thereof. The reservoir container has a screw-threaded neck outlet adapted to engage a correspondingly screw-threaded connection element, mounted in the pistol body, through which an intake tube of the pump passes.The screw-threaded element of the pump intake connection is rotatably mounted in the body of the pistol and connected to or integral with a part, e.g. a wheel, accessible through an opening in the casing of the pistol, by means of which the screw-threaded element of the connection can be screwed onto the neck of the liquid reservoir container to retain the latter in position in the cavity of the pistol. For drawing liquid out of the container, the pump intake has an elongate intake tube extending through the screw-threaded element down into the container when the latter is thus inserted.

The rotatable screw-threaded element may comprise integrally a wheel, preferably with a toothed or knurled edge, projecting outwardly through the opening, e.g. a slot or slots, in the casing of the pistol.

The reservoir container is preferably insertable into the body of the pistol through a hole at the bottom of the butt, such that when installed it is at least partially enclosed by the pistol grip.

Advantageously the cavity that receives the reservoir container is shaped so as to guide its neck onto the threaded connection as it is inserted. It is also preferred that the inserted container be restrained from rotation by the body of the pistol, e.g. by having a rectangular container fitting into a rectangular opening in the body, so that there is no need to hold the container still while the pump inlet connection is screwed onto its neck.

The "disappearing" ink used is one that will mark its target temporarily and then fade away; these are known to the skilled man in the games manufacturing field. As stated above, the ink is provided in ready-filled replacement containers that can be inserted directly into the pistol without any need for pouring liquid from one container into another.

By way of example an embodiment of the invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. I is a side view of a pistol with one half removed, so as to show the interior; Fig. 2 shows from another angle the mechanism for retaining a prefilled container of disappearing ink in the pistol, and Fig. 3 is a rear view of the assembled pistol showing the retaining mechanism from the outside.

Referring to the drawings, the water pistol 1 shown has a hollow body made from two mirror-image half shells 2,3 , only one of which is shown in Fig. 1 in order to expose the pistol mechanism. In the assembled pistol the half shells 2,3 are secured together by screws screwing into screw-holes 4, and by locating pins 5 engaging in holes, spaced around their abutting edges. The pistol body has a barrel 10 with a downwardly projecting grip 11 towards its rear end in the conventional pattern. Contained in the grip 11 is a removable container 12 prefilled with disappearing ink to be fired by the pistol; the attachment of the container 12 will be described in more detail below.

Inside the pistol body there is a pump 13 rigidly mounted to lugs 14 projecting from the inside of one of the body halves 2. The intake 15 of the pump 13 faces downwardly and is connected to a long flexible intake tube 16 which extends down inside the grip 11 of the pistol and into the liquid container 12 through its neck 17 when the container is in position, to the butt 20. The discharge 21 of the pump 13 is connected to a flexible outlet tube 22 that extends forwardly along inside the barrel 10, terminating in a jet 23 at the front end of the barrel.

The pump 13 is operated by a trigger unit 24 retained in the pistol by the sliding engagement of horizontal ridges 25 on the sides of the trigger unit in horizontal slots 26 inside the pistol body on both sides, so that the unit 24 can slide horizontally in the pistol. The lower part of the trigger unit 24 comprises a trigger 30 which projects downwardly out of the casing just in front of the grip 11 in the conventional position. The upper part of the trigger unit 24 carries a transverse vertical face 31 which presses rearwardly against a reciprocable plunger rod 32 for operating the pump 13.

The container 12, prefilled with disappearing ink, may be one of a plurality provided with the pistol. It is flat and substantially rectangular, with a short projecting cylindrical neck outlet 17 at its upper end, and is receivable in a cavity in the grip 11 of the pistol through a rectangular hole 33 in the butt, such that when retained in position about a third of its length projects below the butt. For retaining the container 12, a retaining assembly 34 is provided inside the grip 11 at its upper end.

This comprises a short cylindrical element 35 with an axial screwthreaded bore 36 adapted to screw onto a male screw thread on the neck 17 of the container 12. The cylindrical element 35 also has a projecting radial flange 40 with a toothed circumference formed integrally with it, and the whole element is supported on curved surfaces of lugs 41 projecting from the inner pistol casing, so as to be rotatable.

The pump intake tube 16 passes from the pump 13 through the bore 36 of the cylindrical element 35, as can best be seen in Fig. 2. The diameter of the toothed flange 40 is slightly greater than the width of the pistol grip 11 at this point, and an actuating aperture in the form of a slot 42 is provided in each side of the grip 11 such that a small portion of the flange 40 projects out of the grip on each side as seen in Fig. 3.

To operate the pistol a pre-filled container 12, provided separate from the pistol body, is inserted neck upwards through the rectangular opening 33 in the butt of the pistol up into the cavity in the grip 11.

The inner contour of the cavity is such that when the upper end of the container 12 approaches the retaining assembly 34, it is a close fit between the grip walls and therefore the screw threads are guided accurately together. The toothed flange 40 is then rotated by the user's thumb, using the portion exposed through the slot 42, to tighten the screw threads together and thereby retain the container 12 in the grip of the pistol. When inserting the container the free end of the intake tube 16 is first inserted into the container neck 17 so that when the container is in position the tube reaches right down to its bottom end. Then by pulling on the trigger 30 in the normal way the pump 13 is made to draw the disappearing ink up from the container through the tube and force it to the outlet jet 23 at the end of the barrel 10. A spring (not shown) on the pump plunger restores the trigger unit 24 to its forward position after each pull. Once the container 12 has been emptied of liquid it can be unscrewed, removed by reversing the procedure described above, and replaced with another prefilled container. Reloading can therefore be carried out quickly and conveniently.

Claims

1. Water pistol game apparatus, comprising: (a) A liquid-firing pistol having an outlet jet, a pump for pumping liquid to the outlet jet and a trigger for actuating the pump, the jet, pump and trigger being mounted in a pistol body, and (b) At least one separate reservoir container pre-filled with a disappearing ink to be fired by the pistol, the container having an outlet with a screw-threaded neck and being insertable into a cavity in the pistol body for the screw-threaded neck to be screw-threadedly engaged by a correspondingly threaded element mounted rotatably in the pistol body and having a portion exposed to the exterior of the pistol body through at least one actuating aperture, whereby said element may be manually rotated as appropriate either to engage to container neck thereby retaining the container in the cavity, or to release the container neck thereby permitting removal thereof therefrom, the pistol further comprising an intake tube connected to the pump intake and extending through the threaded connecting element into the pistol body cavity, whereby when a container is retained in that cavity the intake tube extends through the container outlet into the disappearing ink pre-filled in said container.

2. Water pistol game apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the cavity for receiving the prefilled container is provided in a grip part of the pistol body.

3. Water pistol game apparatus according to claim 2 wherein the screw threaded connecting element is exposed on two sides of the grip part through slots in the pistol body.

4. Water pistol game apparatus according to any one of claims 1, 2 and 3 wherein the screw threaded connecting element comprises a toothed wheel for manual engagement.

5. Water pistol game apparatus according to any one of the proceeding claims wherein each said container has a non-circular cross-section and the pistol body cavity has a cross-section corresponding substantially to that of the container thereby preventing rotation of the container in the cavity.

6. Water pistol game apparatus substantially as described and shown herein with reference to the drawings.