US3693286A

US3693286A - Amusement toy

Info

Publication number: US3693286A
Application number: US135978A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ettore Marcotti
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-04-21
Filing date: 1971-04-21
Publication date: 1972-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 1989-09-26

Abstract

An amusement toy consisting of a handle which includes a pair of oppositely disposed pivotable arms coupled to the sides of the handle which connect at their ends to balls which are permitted to impact resiliently with each other on each side of the handle.

Description

United States Patent Marcotti 51 Sept. 26, 1972 AMUSEMENT TOY [72] Inventor: Ettore Marcotti, 2363 Arthur Avenue, Bronox, NY. 10458 [22] Filed: April 21, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 135,978

[52] US. Cl ..46/47 [51] Int. Cl. .....A63h UB2 [58] Field of Search.....46/47, 51,52, 191; 273/95 A, 273/97 R, 58 C [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,125,815 8/1938 Rowell ..46/5l 2,942,883 6/1960 Moore ..273/97 R 795,960 8/1905 Cook ..273/58 C 3,093,376 6/1963 Terry ..273/97 R FOREIGN PATENTS 0R APPLICATIONS 625,695 7/1949 England ..46/1 91 Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-D. L. Weinhold Attorney-Allison Collard 5 7] ABSTRACT An amusement toy consisting of a handle which includes a pair of oppositely disposed pivotable arms coupled to the sides of the handle which connect at their ends to balls which are permitted to impact resiliently with each other on each side of the handle.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTEnsEP2s I972 INVENTOR.

ETTORE MARCOTT BY ATTORNEY.

AMUSEMENT TOY This invention relates to an amusement toy capable of producing a coordinated movement of resilient objects.

More specifically, this invention relates to an amusement toy which includes a pair of oppositely disposed arms pivotably coupled to the end of a handle so that resilient balls connected to the ends of the arms are capable of impact collision on both sides of the handle.

There are a number of toys in which one or more balls are coupled to a paddle for resilient impact against the paddle. In other known toys, resilient balls are mounted on the end of strings of equal length so that they crash together in a coordinated impact movement as the user pulls on the strings vertically. In these particular amusement toys, it has been found very difficult to maintain a coordinated impact movement of the ball or balls for any sustained length of time.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an amusement toy wherein a pair of resilient balls are mounted on the end of the arms which pivot from opposing sides of a handle. The arms are preferably of equal length and the width of the handle is designed so that the balls will impact against each other on both sides of the handle.

It is therefore an object according to the present invention to provide an amusement toy which utilizes a pair of resilient balls mounted on the ends of arms pivotably coupled to a handle for coordinated impact collision on both sides of the handles.

It is another object according to the present invention to provide an amusement toy which is simple in design, easy to manufacture and inexpensive in cost.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become. apparent from the following detailed description considered in connection with the accompanying drawing which discloses the embodiments of the invention. It is to be understood, however, that the drawing is designed for the purpose of illustration only and not as a definition of the limits of the invention.

In the drawing, wherein similar reference characters denote similar elements throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the coordinative movement of the amusement toy as held by the user according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the amusement toy of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 3-3 of FIG. 2; and,

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along section 44 of FIG. 2.

Referring to FIGS. 1-4 there is shown an amusement toy having a handle 10, with a hand grip portion 11 and an enlarged end portion 12. A pair of arms 13 which consist of converging struts l4 and 15 are pivotably coupled at their open ends to

apertures

16 and 17, which are spaced apart in enlarged portion 12 of handle 10. Handle preferably includes a bead 20 of enlarged thickness formed around its periphery so as to integrally enclose the thinner center portion of the handle known as the web. The ends of

struts

14 and 15 define eyelets 19 which are captured in

apertures

16 and 17 in enlarged handle portion 12. The opposite ends of

struts

14 and 15 converge in an aperture formed preferably through the diameter of resilient balls 18. A recess or well 22 is formed within balls 18 at one end of the securing aperture so as to permit the joined ends 21 of

struts

14 and 15 to be bent within well 22 to prevent balls 18 from becoming detached. Balls 18 are prevented from sliding along

struts

14 and 15 by the divergence of these struts at the opposite opening of the balls.

Balls 18 are preferably constructed of a hard, shatterproof plastic material or hard rubber, exhibiting a high resiliency upon impact. Balls 18 may also be constructed of metal as is well known in the art. Handle 10 is preferably constructed of a one-piece molded plastic material having a thin center web surrounded by an integrally formed head 20 to provide strength. Struts l4 and 15 forming arms 13 are preferably formed of metal wire to provide a rigid mounting of balls 18 spaced apart from handle 10.

Apertures

16 and 17 are preferably spaced apart sufficiently to permit balls 18 to swing through a defined orbit. The width of enlarged portion 12 of handle 10, which defines the spacing of arms 13 from each other, is designed so that balls 18 will just touch each other when handle 10 is held in the position as shown in dark line in FIG. 1.

In order to initiate the coordinated impact movement of balls 18, the user agitates handle 10 so that balls 18 move vertically to establish resilient impact collisions by the balls. As the vertical agitation of handle 10 is increased, the collisions between balls 18 become stronger so that they can then traverse semicircular orbits as shown by

arrows

23 and 24. Upon reaching the top part of the orbit, as shown in dotted line in FIG. 1, a second collision between balls 18 occurs causing them to return to their initial impact position.

While only a single embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be obvious that many changes and modifications may be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An amusement toy comprising;

2 flat elongated handle having opposed edges,

a pair of arms, each having a pair of rigid struts with spaced-apart ends one arm being pivotarly coupled along one of said edges of said handle and the other arm being pivotably coupled along the other diametrically opposed to the position of said first arm, each pair of said rigid struts being joined together at their opposite ends, a resilient ball mounted on each joined together opposite end of said struts so that the movement of said handle causes simultaneously movement of said struts and resilient balls to alternately impact on each side of said handle.

2. The amusement toy as recited in claim 1, wherein the pivotable ends of each of said struts define eyelets and the edges of said handles include holes for capturing said eyelets.

3. The amusement toy as recited in claim 1, wherein said handle comprises an integrally formed substantially flat member having a hand grip portion and an enlarged end portion, and a bead defining the periphery of said handle.

4. The amusement toy as recited in claim 1, wherein each of said resilient balls includes an aperture, and a well formed at one end of said aperture for receiving and securing the ends of each of said struts.

Claims

1. An amusement toy comprising; 2 flat elongated handle having opposed edges, a pair of arms, each having a pair of rigid struts with spacedapart ends one arm being pivotarly coupled along one of said edges of said handle and the other arm being pivotably coupled along the other diametrically opposed to the position of said first arm, each pair of said rigid struts being joined together at their opposite ends, a resilient ball mounted on each joined together opposite end of said struts so that the movement of said handle causes simultaneously movement of said struts and resilient balls to alternately impact on each side of said handle.