US3071892A

US3071892A - Inflatable travel toy

Info

Publication number: US3071892A
Application number: US20659A
Authority: US
Inventors: Clark Alexander
Original assignee: Gadget of the Month Club Inc
Current assignee: Gadget of the Month Club Inc
Priority date: 1960-04-07
Filing date: 1960-04-07
Publication date: 1963-01-08
Anticipated expiration: 1980-01-08

Description

Jan. 8, 1963 A. CLARK 3,071,892

INFLATABLE TRAVEL TOY Filed April 7. 1960 IN V EN TOR.

ALEXANDER CLARK? United States Patent Office 3,071,892 Patented Jan. 8, 1963 3,071,892 INFLATABLE TRAVEL TOY Alexander Clark, Hendersonville, N.C., assignor of onetenth to Gadget-Of-The-Month Club, Inc., North Hollywood, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Apr. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 20,659 3 Claims. (Cl. 46-88) The present invention consists of an inflatable travel toy adapted for use primarily while riding in a moving vehicle, such as an automobile, or the like, by the extension of the toy out of a window into the air alongside of the vehicle and in relative motion with respect thereto whereby to effectively inflate and hold open the inflatable travel toy of the present invention, which, in one preferred form, comprises a bag of flexible thin-sheet material having a forwardly open end, a rear end which is usually substantially or at least partially closed, and an interconnecting bag side wall portion. The preferred form of the invention also includes a rigid supporting member, usually of substantially ring-like or hoop-like shape, engaging the forward open end of the bag for holding it open while the bag is supported exterior of the moving vehicle for relative movement through ambient atmosphere. The preferred form of the invention further includes a handle carried by the rigid supporting member, usually taking the form of a longitudinal handle lying in substantially the same plane as the rigid supporting member, and adapted to be manually grasped by a child or other person playing with the inflatable travel toy of the present invention, while it is projected outwardly through the window of the moving vehicle into ambient atmosphere.

In a preferred form of the present invention, the rear end and/ or sidewall portion of the bag may be provided with object-depicting or simulating means thereon which may be partly carried on the surface of the bag and/or which may be partly formed in the surface of the bag, and which may depict a portion of a face of a person, animal, or any other creature or object, and which, in certain cases, may be reversible by turning the bag inside out, and with the reversed surface or inside of the bag after being turned inside out also being provided with object-depicting or object-simulating means similar to or different from the object-depicting and/or object-simulating means carried by the other and formerly outside surface of the bag.

In one preferred form, the object-depicting means may include a portion depicting a face and an extendable hollow tongue-depicting portion elastically biased toward retracted position, but capable of being extended as a result of rapid relative movement of the toy through ambient atmosphere.

In a preferred form, the flexible bag may be provided adjacent the rear end thereof with stabilizing aperturedefining means which, in certain forms of the invention, may include sound-producing means adapted to produce sound in response to the passage of air therethrough.

It is anobject of the present invention to provide an inflatable travel toy of the character referred to above,.

and in accordance with any of the several modifications referred to above, and which is of extremely simple, cheap, foolproof construction such as to be conducive to widespread use of the toy.

Further objects will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study hereof.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, several exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying single drawing sheet and are described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a reduced-size perspective view showing one exemplary embodiment of the inflatable travel toy of the present invention in' a normal use position with respect to the open Window at the right side of a motor vehicle (which is shown fragmentarily in phantom).

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view partly in elev-ation and partially in section taken in the direction of the arrows 22 of FIG. 1 and clearly showing in detail the engagement of the exteriorly threaded mating semicylindrical portions of the rigid supporting ring member with the outer end of the longitudinal handle.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in elevation and partly in section, taken in the direction of the arrows 33 of FIG. 2 and clearly showing the specific details of the fastening means for fastening the forward open end of the flexible bag to the rigid supporting ring member.

FIG. 4 merely illustrates a left-handed version of the inflatable travel toy having a different type of objectdepicting means thereon from the object-depicting means carried by the first form of the invention shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view generally similar to the left end of FIG. 4 showing a further modified type of object-depicting means, in this case including sound-producing means in the mouth or tongue region thereof.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view, partly in side elevation and partly in section, of a further modified rear end portion of the flexible bag bearing an object-depicting means somewhat similar to the form shown in FIG. 1, and wherein said object-depicting means further includes an extendable tongue-depicting portion elastically biased toward retracted position but capable of extension as the entire device is drawn through ambient atmosphere in,

the general manner shown in FIG. 1. a

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the mouth and tongue portion of the object-depicting means shown in FIG. 6 and in the position which it assumes when the tongue is caused to be extended by an interior pressure head of air produced by drawing the entire device through ambient atmosphere as a result of forward motion of the automobile in the general manner shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to the figures for exemplary purposes, one illustrative embodiment of the invention (which is not to be construed in a limiting sense) takes a typical exemplary form including a bag of flexible thin-sheet material, generally indicated at 10, having a forward open end 11, a rear substantially closed end 12 and an interconnecting bag side wall portion 13. In the form illustrated, the bag is preferably made of flexible airimpervious elastomeric thin-sheet material, such as rubber, or the like, although not specifically so limited. Also, in the example illustrated, the forward open end 11 is substantially circular and the interconnecting bag side wall portion 13 is of substantially cylindrical configuration. In the form illustrated, the rear end 12 of the bag is provided with object-depicting means indicated generally at 14 and exteriorly comprising a shaped or formed portion depicting a human face, which is appropriately painted or otherwise colored or imprinted in a manner simulating hair as indicated at 15, eyes 16, eyebrows 17, month 18, and nostrils 19 carried by the formed projecting nose portion 20. In the specific form illustrated, the nostrils 19 effectively comprise stabilizing aperture-defining means adapted to admit small jets of air whereby to effectively provide a desired degree of positioning or stabilizing force to the entire travel toy. However, it should be noted that the stabilizing aperture defining means 19 may be eliminated or substantially modified in certain forms of the invention.

In the form illustrated, the bag 10 is adapted to be supported, with the forward end 11 thereof held in open position, by means of a rigid supporting member 21 which, in the form illustrated, is of ring-like or hooplike shape and which is efiectively fastened to the for ward open end 11 of the bag 10 by a circumferential hem or hem portion 22 carried completely circumferentially around the forward open end 11 of the bag 10 and encompassing therein the supporting member 21, which is of half-round configuration or shape provided with radially outwardly projecting mating semi-cylindrical half-round junction portions 23, which are exteriorly threaded whereby, when joined together as best shown in FIG. 2, they together effectively comprise an exteriorly threaded projecting cylindrical portion adapted to be received by the interiorly threaded receiving recess 24 carried at the outer end of the longitudinal handle 25. This provides a very convenient arrangement for mounting the bag 10 on the rigid supporting ring member 21 and for fastening same to the outer end of the handle 25. The hem 22 may be formed by folding back the forward edge of the open end 11 of the bag around the ring portion 21 and fastening the bag to itself as best shown at 26 in FIG. 3. This may comprise adhesive fastening, cohesive fastening, mechanical fastening, or the like.

FIG. 4 illustrates a slight modification wherein the bag 10A is so mounted with respect to the handle 25A, in effectively reversed relationship with respect to the mounting of the bag 10 shown in FIG. 1 relative to the handle 25, as to comprise a left-handed travel toy adapted to be extended out of a left window of a motor vehicle, or the like. Furthermore, the object-depicting portion 14A in this version takes a different form to illustrate the fact that a great variety of such object-depicting means may be employed.

FIG. shows a slightly modified form of object-depicting means 14B including an aperture means 19B which effectively carries a sound producing means 27 adapted to produce sound in response to the passage of air therethrough.

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate a further modification wherein the object-depicting means 14C includes an extended tongue-depicting portion 28 comprising a hollow elastomeric tongue 29 closed at its forward end and having an open rear end 39 connected by flexible coupling 31 to the wall of the object-depicting portion 14C whereby to effectively seal the tongue 29 with respect thereto, and with the tongue 29 being providedwith elastic biasing means 32 connected thereto, as indicated at 33, and connected, as indicated at 34, with respect to the interior of the rear end of the bag C whereby the tongue 29 is normally held in the retracted position shown in FIG. 6 but-is allowed to move into the extended position shown fragmentarily in FIG. 7 in response to movement of the entire device through ambient atmosphere in the general manner best illustrated in FIG. 1. Thus,

this modification provides an action travel toy wherein the tongue can be caused to extend and/or retract in accordance with the amount of, and pressure head of,

air which is admitted into the interior of the bag 10C, which in turn can be controlled by the speed of the motor vehicle or by the operator turning the supporting member with respect to the direction of movement of the motor vehicle.

It should be noted that numerous modifications of the invention, wherein the object-depicting portion assumes a great variety of configurations may be employed. It should further be noted that the inside of any of the object-depicting means may also comprise an independent object-depicting means, thus making it possible to turn the bag inside out and convert a right-handed travel toy into a left-handed travel toy, or vice versa.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

I claim:

1. An inflatable travel toy, comprising: a bag of flexible thin-sheet material having a forward open end, a rear end, and an interconnecting bag side wall portion; a rigid supporting member, the forward open end of the bag being provided with fastening means fastening said Open end to said supporting member, the bag being provided with object-depicting means thereon including a portion depicting a face and an extendable hollow tongue-depicting portion elastically biased toward a retracted position and having a hollow interior in pneumatic communication with the interior of the bag whereby to be extended in response to a pneumatic pressure increase communicated to the hollow interior of said tongue-depicting portion from the interior of said bag; and a handle carrying said supporting member.

2. A toy of the character defined in claim 1, wherein the object-depicting means has a small centrally positioned portion thereof defining a small centrally positioned stabilizing aperture-defining means.

3. A toy of the character defined in claim 2, wherein said stabilizing aperture-defining means includes auxiliary sound-producing means positioned across-and at least partially closing said stabilizing aperture-defining means and altering-the passage of air therethrough whereby to produce a desired type of audible sound in response to the altered passage of air therethrough.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 439,514 Huff Oct. 28, 1890 1,401,626 Mader Dec. 27, 1921 1,415,511 Bausch May 9, 1922 2,071,225 Buttigieg Feb. 16, 1937 2,090,121 Hayes Aug. 17, 1937 2,467,374 Findlater Apr. 19, 1949 2,492,371 Sivian Dec. 27, 1949

Claims

1. AN INFLATABLE TRAVEL TOY, COMPRISING: A BAG OF FLEXIBLE THIN-SHEET MATERIAL HAVING A FORWARD OPEN END, A REAR END, AND AN INTERCONNECTING BAG SIDE WALL PORTION; A RIGID SUPPORTING MEMBER, THE FORWARD OPEN END OF THE BAG BEING PROVIDED WITH FASTENING MEANS FASTENING SAID OPEN END TO SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER, THE BAG BEING PROVIDED WITH OBJECT-DEPICTING MEANS THEREON INCLUDING A PORTION DEPICTING A FACE AND AN EXTENDABLE HOLLOW TONGUE-DEPICTING PORTION ELASTICALLY BIASED TOWARD A RETRACTED POSITION AND HAVING A HOLLOW INTERIOR IN PNEUMATIC COMMUNICATION WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE BAG WHEREBY TO BE EXTENDED IN RESPONSE TO A PNEUMATIC PRESSURE INCREASE COMMUNICATED TO THE HOLLOW INTERIOR OF SAID TONGUE-DEPICTING PORTION FROM THE INTERIOR OF SAID BAGS; AND A HANDLE CARRYING SAID SUPPORTING MEMBER.