US2391475A - Buoyant article - Google Patents

Description

J. B. NEWHARDT Dec. 25, 1945.

BUOYANT ARTICLE Filed June 24, 1940 FIGJ Fl G.2

FIG.3

INVENTORI Patented Dec. 25, 1945 Joseph B.

half to Newhardt, Berwyn, Ill., assignor of one- Charles H. Angeli, Danville, Ill.

Application June 24, 1940, Serial No. 342,065

3 Claims.

The invention is concerned with improvements in articles of manufacture of the class which are buoyant in liquids such as water and are intended to float in an upright position with a substantial portion of the article above the surface of the water. The improvements provided by the invention are particularly well adapted for use in such articles as decoy waterfowl and children's toys which resemble animate objects and which float.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide an article of the 'class described possessing the high degree of stability or equilibrium, particularly in rough or choppy Water.

Furtherobjects of the invention are to provide an article of this class which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture, light in weight, rugged and easy to transport.

An outstanding feature of the invention is the reentrant or concave shape of the bottom of the article. This I have found lends buoyant articles, such as decoy water fowl, for example, exceptionally good stability even in-rough water.

It is common practice to weight decoys, this having heretofore been necessary in order to prevent them from rolling on their sides when struck by a breeze or when the surface of the water upon which they choppy. Decoys having a concave, bottom, such as provided by the invention, do not require weights and ride upright with greater ease and stability than conventional decoys having weighted flat bottoms. This concave bottom construction is likewise advantageous in childrens toys and the like which simulate fish, waterfowl, frogs and other animate objects and are intended to float in water. It applies alike to relatively small articles of this class intended for use in bathtubs, wading pools and the like, as well as floats for use at the swimming pool or beach and sufliciently large and buoyant to permit a child to ride thereon.

Another advantageous feature of the invention resides in constructing the article of such materials as soft rubber, waterproofed or rubberired fabric or the like. Preferably, structed of soft rubber or the like the article is hollow with walls of such thickness that they may be collapsed but possess sufflcient resilience that they will return to their intended shape in normal service without the use-of internal air pressure or the like. This makes it possible to materially reduce the bulk of the article for transportation and storage and materially reduces or eliminates breakage. Such construction is of maare floating is rough or when conterial advantage, for example, in decoys which, as conventionally constructed of wood, are bulky to transport and, unless carefully handled, are subject to breakage, particularly at the neck. Wooden decoys may also-become waterlogged if not properly protected.

The collapsible construction is also cooperative with the concave bottom. With these two features, the article may be collapsed to expel a large portion of the air from the space beneath the concave bottom and, when allowed to expand with the edgesof the concave bottom held beneath the surface of the water, a partial vacuum is created which holds the article firmly upright in the water. Some water will, of course, be forced from the surrounding body thereof up into the low pressure space bottom, making the water level in this zone high er than that of the surrounding body of water and/or causing the article to seek repose at a somewhat lower level in the surrounding body of water. This additional water is held in position beneath th concave bottom and acts as ballast. Water thus drawn into this space does not constitute added weight Or ballast" in the sense that this phrase is used in the appended claims. It there refers to weight built into or suspended from the body of the article for the purpose of stabilizing or assisting to stabilize the same, or ballast disposed within the body as in the hold of a ship.

Although soft rubber, a rubber-like composition or other material possessing similar characteristics is preferably'employed to construct articles of the type provided by the invention, they may within the scope of the invention be made of wood, compressed cellulosic material, such'as papier-mach, pressed fibre board or the like, or of synthetic resins, preferably those of the thermoplastic variety, and may be either hollow or of substantially solid construction. The material employed must either be non-hydroscopic, at least to a degree which will prevent the article from becoming water-logged, or the article may be surfaced with a coating of waterproof material, such as, for example, shellac, spar Varnish v or one of the many waterproof paints, such as those having a bitumastic, synthetic resin or latex base.

The accompanying diagrammatic drawing illustrates a decoy duck embodying the features provided by the invention. It will be understood,

or course, that the invention is not limited to decoys but contemplates other articles of the within the concave general class above mentioned embodying some or all of the features provided by the invention.

Figure 1 of the drawing represents a longitudinal section of the decoy duck. Figure 2 represents a front view of the decoy illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 illustrates the approximate shape of V the decoy when compressed or flattened for shipment or f r xp g air from the Space beneath the concave bottom.

Referring to the drawing, it will be noted that this particular decoy is hollow in construction. The relatively thin walls, which are designated by the reference numeral I, are of rubber compound -or similar .resilient material and may be cast,

' its shape in service without resorting to the use of superatmospheric internal pressure or inflation.

Preferably, a small opening is provided through the wall at some point above the water level to equalize the air pressure inside the body with the atmosphere. Such an opening, indicated at 2 in Figure l, is provided in the case here illustrated on the under side of the bill 3 but it may, when desired, be disposed at any point in the head, tall or back. This permits air to be forced from the interior of the decoy by pressing against its sides, forcing it to assume the approximate shape illustrated in Figure 3. Thus, it may be made to occupy a relatively small space for packing and transportation.

The decoy is provided with a reentrant or concave bottom 4 which preferably is of relatively large area and extends well up into the body, as illustrated. When the decoy is placed on the water its lower edges 5, where the walls of the concave bottom meet the side and end walls, extend beneath the surface of the body of water in which the decoy is floated, sealing the space beneath the concave bottom from the atmosphere. This causes the decoy to ride upright or on an even keel and obviates the tendency, common to fiat bottom decoys, to keel over or roll on one side or the other when they are not weighted.

Although unnecessary in most instances, even greater stability in the water maybe achieved with the concave bottom decoy illustrated by flattening it to approximately the shape illustrated curate explanation of what actually occurs but the benefit of the concave bottom, when thus used, is immediately evident when it is attempted to lift the decoy vertically from the surface of the water since considerable force is required to accomplish this. I

A suitable anchoring lug 8 having an opening 9 provided therethrough is preferably provided atone or at each end of the decoy adjacent the bottom edge 5. These lugs, in the case here illustrated, are formed integral with 'and are of the same material as the wall I but they may comprise lugs, eyes, snaps or the like of metal or other material attached to the decoy in any convenient manner. These anchoring lugs are not intended for the attachment of weights to stabilize the decoy or act as ballast, since this is not required, but simply provide a means of securing or anchoring the decoy in a fixed location so that it will not float away in a current or breeze.

There are, of course, many other specific forms of reentrant bottom construction which may be employed within the scope of the invention in decoys and other articles of the class above mentioned, but that illustrated is deemed adequate to teach the practical application of this feature of the invention.

The rubber decoy here illustrated is, as previously indicated, adapted to be readily manufactured by molding, casting or blowing and, when formed with an exterior mold, the interior surface of the latter is preferably roughened in a definite pattern to leave a pattern in the outer surface of the decoy which simulates the wings and feathers of a duck. To further impart a lifelike appearance to the decoy, it may be painted in colors closely corresponding to those of the particular variety of waterfowl which the decoy is intended to attract or suitable pigments for accomplishing this purpose may beincorporated in the material of which the walls are composed. Ordinarily, the basic or predominant color of the waterfowl's feathers is incorporated as a pigment in the latex mixture and its other colors are painted on or applied with a mask and spray after the article is cured. The eyes and 1 bill may be given a natural appearance in the in Figure 3, holding the lower edges 5 beneath the surface of the water and then allowing it to expand to normal shape. This forces a large portion of the air from beneath the concave bottom and, upon expanding. water from the surround- I ing body thereof will be forced up into the space from which the air has been expelled to equalize pressure in this zone. This is shown diagrammatically in Figure 1 where the surface of the surrounding water is indicated at 8 and the higher water level beneath the concave bottom is illustrated at 1. Water thus enclosed beneath the concave bottom and held in place by the pressure of the surrounding body of water apparently acts as ballast. This may not be an entirely acsame manner. This method of treatment is also applicable to toy waterfowl, fish, frogs and other articles of the general class contemplated by the invention.

It will be apparent that a decoy such as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 may be constructed with walls of relatively rigid, rather than resilient. material. Also, when desired, it may be of substantially solid construction, except for the reentrant or concave bottom, in which case the body may be either resilient or substantially rigid material. I

The invention: also contemplates lining the walls of a hollow bodied decoy, such as shown in the drawing, with gum rubber or the like which will flow into a puncture and seal the same. The gum rubber liningmay be applied to the entire interior surfaceof the'walls or only to the concave bottom and that portion of the side and end walls which arebeneath and immediately above the water line when the decoy is in use. Such treatment renders the decoy shotproof or in other words, will prevent water from leaking in,

through a puncture caused by gunshot, in sufficient quantities to swamp or sink the decoy and will. also prevent destruction of the seal, beneath the concave bottom, by gunshot. This treatment is advantageous-regardless of whether the walls are constructed 0! resilient or'rigid material.

Iclaim:

1. A waterfowl decoy having a substantially hollow body formed by walls I of material,

such as soft rubber 'composition, possessing sumi cient rigidity to retain the intended shape 0! the decoy without inflation and sufliciently resilient to permit collapsing the decoy when not in service, said walls including a closed bottom of substantially concave contourdeiining a space of suillcient size to impart floating stability to the decoy without the aid of added weight or ballast;

2. A waterfowl decoy of substantially hollow construction defining-walls formed of resilient material, such as soft rubber composition, capable of being collapsed and capable of returning to'normal shapeupon equalization of a 3. An article of the class described having a substantially hollow body defined by walls of resilient material possessing suiilcient rigidity to retain their intended shape without inflation but permitting the article to be collapsed when not in service, the bottom wall being substantially concaveand defining a space within said body which is entirely confined when the article is floatedand imparts floating stability thereto without the use of added weight or ballast.

JOSEPH B.

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