GB2580077A

GB2580077A - Noise generating device

Info

Publication number: GB2580077A
Application number: GB1820860.3A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kustos Robert
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2018-12-20
Filing date: 2018-12-20
Publication date: 2020-07-15
Also published as: GB201820860D0

Abstract

A football ratchet comprising a handle 2 having a cantilever portion 4 at one end with a rotatably mounted toothed disc 6 that engages with a finger 9 mounted on the handle. The rotational axis of the disc is at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the handle. The projections 8 of the wheel and the finger are made from resiliently deformable materials, such as spring steel or plastic. The wheel may be made from wood, metal or composites. The disc of the rattle may have an actuator 10, such as a knob or button, near its rim to allow control over the speed of wheel rotation. There may be a shell or horn shaped housing substantially enclosing the disc and the housing may be formed from the handle. The noise generating device may for example be used at sports events or for bird scaring or livestock calling.

Description

NOISE GENERATING DEVICE

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to devices for generating noise. Background to the Invention Conventional football rattles are used by spectators across the world.

Their mechanism of action relies on the movement of a star-wheel and a resilient blade relative to one another. The handle of the football rattle has at one end the star wheel. Around the star wheel is rotationally mounted a resilient blade. As the rattle is swung about the head, a free end of the resilient blade strikes the successive teeth of the star wheel, with the parts being so arranged that the blade as it leaves one tooth falls sharply upon the next following tooth whereby a rattling sound is produced. This mechanism has been copied for example in GB154445 but the star wheel is rotated and the resilient blade is held substantially stationary. The end result is generally the same, which is the gen- eration of a rattling sound. The problem with conventional football rattles how-ever, is that they are dangerous to neighbours due to the device being swung about the head in order to generate the sound. Also there is no directional control of the sound being produced, so it can be annoying to spectators who are close by.

There has now been devised a device for generating noise which over-comes and/or substantially mitigates the above referenced and/or other disadvantages associated with the prior art.

Summary of the Invention

The invention provides a device for generating noise as set out in the claims. The device can be used as a football rattle, but has a number of other uses. Examples of other uses include but are not limited to a vehicle reversing warning device, a bird scarring device, or livestock calling device.

In the context of the invention noise can mean a rattling or clacking sound generated by the device.

In use of the device the user holds the handle and rotates the disc rela-tive to the handle. Rotation of the disc can be by the user rotating the disc directly. However, the disc preferably comprises an actuator positioned at or near -2 -the rim of the disc. The actuator may be a knob or button which the user can hold in order to turn the disc relative to the handle.

The invention is advantageous primarily because by having a disc rotatably mounted to the cantilever portion with the axis of rotation of the disc at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the handle, the options for how to generate the sounds the device produces are greatly increased over that of the prior art. Furthermore, there is the facility to vary significantly the number of projections on the disc, without changing its diameter resulting in a variation in volume produced by the device with the same speed of rotation of the disc.

The prior art relies on a star-wheel arranged to be rotated so that its teeth will in succession strike the free end of a resilient blade, with the parts being so arranged that the blade as it leaves one too falls sharply upon the next following tooth whereby a rattling sound is produced. The present invention provides a similar facility in that as the finger and the projections engage with one another either one of the projections or the finger are caused to deflect and as the finger or the projection leaves one projection or the finger, respectively, it strikes the neighbouring one projection or the finger, respectively, sharply to create a clacking sound. But what is clear is that the present invention provides the option for the either the finger or the projections to be resiliently deformable.

This therefore means that the clacking sound and the mechanism described above can be derived from either the finger or the projections.

But it will be understood also, that the present invention has a further benefit. In use, as the finger or the projection leaves the one projection or the finger, respectively, it returns sharply to its non-deflected state. This in itself can creating a clacking sound which adds to the clacking sound as described above. Thus, the volume generated by the device is considerably greater than that which the prior art devices might produce.

The device is also advantageous because the noise can be generated by the user without physical risk to nearby people. This is important when the de-vice is used as a football rattle. With conventional rattles the rattles are swung about the head and can put neighbouring spectators at risk of being injured from the flailing rattle. The device of the present invention does not need to be -3 -swung violently for it to generate noise, and therefore does not put at risk neighbouring people.

When the finger is resiliently deformable, preferably the projections are rigid. The reason for this is that the rigid projections will deform the finger in a controllable manner and therefore it is easier to design and control the sound generated by the device. Similarly, when projections are resiliently deformable, preferably the finger is rigid. The reason for this is that the rigid finger will deform the projections in a more controllable manner and therefore it is easier to design and control the sound generated by the device. In circumstances when either the finger or the projections is/are rigid as described above, they may be moulded from the handle or disc respectively, or may be attached to the handle or disc, respectively.

The finger and/or the projections may otherwise be manufactured from spring steel or a resiliently deformable plastics material in order that they are able to deflect and spring back to their original starting positions.

The device may comprise a housing which substantially encloses the disc. This has the benefit that in use when the disc is rotating, the majority of the disc it does not interfere with the user which would otherwise hinder motion. The housing may be horn or shell shaped. This has the benefit that the sound generated can be directed in particular direction and amplified in so doing. The housing may be formed from part of the handle or is an extension of the handle. In this manner the device is held in use from the housing and the disc is turned either directly or from the actuator described above.

Brief Description of the Drawings

An embodiment of the device will now be described with reference to the figures in which Figure 1 shows a perspective view of an embodiment of the device and Figure 2 shows a cross sectional exploded view of the device as shown in figure 1. -4 -

Detailed Description of the Illustrated Embodiment

An embodiment of the device according to the invention is shown in Figure 1 where the device is generally designated 1. The device 1 comprises a handle 2 which has a cantilever portion 3 at one end 4. In the example the han-dle is made from moulded plastic. The opposite end 5 of the handle 2 is moulded with gripping portions so that it is easy for the user to hold and grip the device 1 in one hand. A disc 6 is mounted to the end of the cantilever portion 3 by way of a bearing 7. The bearing 7 has an outer part and an inner part which can rotate freely of one another. The outer part is screwed or otherwise bonded to the centre of the disc 6 and is embedded therein. The end of the cantilever por-tion 3 is mounted within the central part of the bearing 7. Thus the disc 6 is rotational mounted to the handle in such a manner that the rotational axis (shown as y-y on figure 1) of the disc 6 is at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the handle (shown as x-x on figure 1). The disc 6 is manufactured from moulded plastic. Other suitable materials for the disc 6 and/or the handle 2 include wood, metal or composite materials such as carbon fibre.

The disc 6 is a flat planar structure having two opposing faces. On the face proximal the handle there are eighty projections 8 moulded into the face. These projections 8 are positioned extend around the edge of the disc 6 at regular intervals. The projections 8 are triangular shaped and upstanding from the plane of the disc 6. The projections are rigid and project towards the handle 2 enough so as to interfere with a finger 9 on the handle. The finger 9 is a piece of spring steel which is embedded into the mid part of the handle 2 and is upstanding from the handle 2 in the direction of the disc 6 and the projections 8.

The length of the finger 9 and the height of the projections 8 is such that the fin-ger 9 is forced to interfere with the projections 8 as the disc rotates in use. The length of the finger 9 is therefore greater than the distance between the handle 2 and the tip of the projections 8.

On the opposite face of the disc 6 to the protrusions 8 there is a knob 10 positioned at or near the edge of the disc. The knob 10 is intended as a turning means to enable the user the turn the disc relative to the handle. -5 -

In use the user holds the handle 2 of the device 1 in one part and turns the disc 6 using the knob 10 with their other hand. As the disc rotates, the projections 8 are forced to ride over the finger 9. As each projection interferes with the finger, the finger deflects and rides over the ridge of the respective projec-tion. As the disc 6 continues to turn the finger leaves the ridge of the respective projection 8 and springs back into its resting position creating a clacking sound. A clacking sound is also created by the action of the finger hitting the neighbouring projection. Multiple clacking sounds are created in sequence as the disc 6 continues to be turned. The device thus creates a rattling noise. The speed of rotation dictates the volume of the sound created by the device and to some degree the tone. Thus, another benefit of the invention is that the disc can be rotated at differing speeds to produce differing sound volumes and noises. This is compared with the conventional football rattles which are swung around the head, and only work when the centrifugal force reaches a threshold amount.

Thus with conventional rattles, there is only one speed of operation and there-fore only one volume. If the conventional rattles are swung slowly around the head, there is insufficient force for the leaf spring to engage past the star wheel in the device.

In another example of the invention there is provided a device substan- tially as described above, but the finger 9 is rigid, and the projections 8 are resil-iently deformable. In such an example the finger 9 is made from a piece of nondeformable steel and the projections are made from spring steel embedded within the disc 6 at or near the circumference of the disc 6. As the disc rotates, the finger 9 forces the projections 8 to flex and spring back into their straight upstanding attitude as the finger 9 passes each successive projection 8. This creates a clacking sound. A clacking sound is also created by the impact of the next neighbouring projection 8 on the finger 9.

In another example of the invention there is provided a device substantially as described above, but both the projections 8 and the finger 9 are resili-ently deformable. The finger 9 and the projections 8 are both made from spring steel and the clacking sounds are created as described above by the action of the fingers and the projections as they spring back to the resting position, and -6 - by the action of the finger 9 striking the neighbouring projection as the disc rotates and by the action of the projections 8 striking the finger as the disc rotates. In all embodiments of the invention, the device may be enclosed within a housing (not shown). To achieve this the handle part 2 is moulded into an en-closure which is able to almost completely encompass the remaining part of the handle 2, the cantilever 3 and the disc. Gaps in the enclosure are left open for the knob 10 to protrude through, so as to enable the user to turn the disc. The housing may also have a handle in order to enable holding of the device. The housing may also be fashioned into the shape of a shell or horn in order to di-rect the sound which the device generates in use in a particular direction.

Figure 2 shows an exploded view of the device as shown in Figure 1. This shows the bearing 7 is isolation with an outer part 11 and an inner part 12 which can rotate relative one another. The bearing 7 is mounted within a recess 13 in the disc 6. The cantilever portion 3 of the handle 2 is then inserted into the inner part 12.

One other advantage of the device according to the invention is that it can be used either right or left handed. It also does not matter which way the disc is rotated in order for the sound to be generated. -7 -

Claims

CLAIMS1. A device for generating noise, the device comprising a handle having a cantilever portion at one end, a disc rotatably mounted to the cantilever portion with the axis of rotation of the disc at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the handle, wherein the disc has a plurality of projections arranged circumferentially around the face of the disc facing the handle, the projections being configured to engage with a finger mounted on the handle and to the projections and/or the finger being resiliently deformable.
2. A device according to claim 1, wherein the disc comprises an ac-tuator positioned at or near the rim of the disc.
3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the finger and/or the projections are manufactured from spring steel or a resiliently deformable plastics material in order that they are able to deflect and spring back to their original starting positions.
4. A device according to any preceding claim, comprising a housing which substantially encloses the disc.
5. A device according to claim 4, wherein the housing is horn or shell shaped.
6. A device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the housing is formed from part of the handle or is an extension of the handle.
7. A football rattle comprising the device according to any preceding claim.