US3731929A - Oscillatory resilient body and tether - Google Patents

Abstract

A toy having a body resilient material and a substantially inextensible extending through the body and adapted to attach an elastic cord at opposed ends of the body to permit said body to be oscillated between two players.

Description

D United States Patent 1191 1111 3,731,929 Landry 1 May 8, 1973 [54] OSCILLATORY RESILIENT BODY AND 1,554,409 9/1925 Coffee .273/26 E TETHER 3,227,450 1/1966 Pruitt....

3,310,306 3/1967 Burt ..273/95 A Inventor: Landry, Montreal, 2,982,549 5/1961 Libow ..273/95 A Q 'w, Canada 1,782,254 11 1930 Breidenbach.... ..273 1 R A g ee Des-Land Products gs g i- NIChOlS 8 Quebec, Canada [22] Filcd: 1971 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle 21 APPL 9 41 Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Attorney-Alan Swabey [52] U.S. Cl. ..273/95 A, 273/58 C R [51] Int. Cl. ..A63f71/02 [57] ABST ACT [58] Field of Search ..273/1 R, 95 A, 97, A toy having a body resilient material and a substan- 273/98, 26 E, 58 C, 200 R, 200 A; 272/77, l tially inextensible extending through the body and B adapted to attach an elastic cord at opposed ends of the body to permit said body to be oscillated between [56] References Cited two players.

UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures 861,506 7 1907 Doyle... ..273/26 E PATENTEDHAY 8W 3,731,929

' m 'ENTUR Raoul R. LANDRY A TTORNFV OSCILLATORY RESILIENT BODY AND TETHER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a toy and more particularly to a toy adapted for use in various games requiring at least two players.

2. Description of Prior Art Some of the games known of this general type utilize large and heavy inflatable objects suspended on a resilient cable and being moved in random fashion between two players each holding an end of the cable. The purpose of most of the prior art games of this general type is for exercising purposes more than for entertainment and are restricted for use by people of older age groups. Also, because some of these toys are bulky, they can sometimes cause an injury to sensitive parts of the body such as the eyes, etc.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a toy of the type having a soft body and a resilient cord on each end thereof, which is economical, safe toplay and capable of use by people of mostly all age groups.

Accordingly, from a broad aspect, the present invention relates to a toy comprising a body of resilient material and having a substantially inextensible extending therethrough. The rigid member is adapted to permit attachment of an elastic cord at opposed ends of the body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmented side view of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a foam rubber core or body having secured at each endthereof a resilient cord 11 of elastic material, each cord being of equal length. The body 10 is made of polyurethane foam or the like materials. Each end of the foam rubber body 10 is provided with a small cavity 12, located atthe center thereof and having a small bore 13 extending from its base longitudinally across the body 10 and into the base of the cavity 12 located at the opposite end of the body 10. A small connector such as a nylon ring 14 is secured in each cavity 12 and held therein by means of a substantially inextensible member such as string extendingthrough the bore 13 and attached between the rings 14 at each end of the body 10. To secure the string 15, herein being a nylon string, the foam rubber body 10 is compressed against its longitudinal axis permitting the string 15 to be secured between the rings 14. When the compression is released the body assumes its normal configuration and the rings 14 are rigidly retained within the cavities 12. The resilient cords 11 are secured at one of their ends to a respective ring 12.

Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a 10 can embodiment of the present invention. Herein shown, the foam rubber body 10 is a circular elongated member having an elastic cord 11 secured at each end thereof. The body can be of various ornamental configurations and may be provided with markings l6 thereabout, the.pur-- pose of which will be described later. As shown, the rings 14 are located immediately adjacent the ends of the body 10 and a ring 17 is secured at the free end of each elastic cord 11. The rings 17 are made of soft plastic or the like materialand used for grasping in the hands of the players.

The body 10 as shown in FIG. 2 is moulded directly onto the string 15 (not shown) which is secured between the rings 14. For example, the moulding can be done by spraying the foam over a die which holds the string 15 at the center of the die with the rings 14 adjacent the outside wall of the die (not shown).

The operation of the toy will now be described. Two players are required for each toy, each player holding the free end of the elastic cord 11 rigidly between the fingers or in the hand. The players assume a position facing each other and at a suitable distance so that the rubber body 10 is off the ground and generally lying in the plane between both cords 11. Preferably the distance between the players is such that both cords l 1 are slightly stretched out. By moving the hand in a to and fro direction and generally along the axis of the cords 11 and body 10, the elastic cord 11 is stretched and retracted to cause oscillatory movement of the body 10 generally along the axis of the cords 11. The object of the game can be many. For example, as the body 10 oscillates or displaces itself between the players, each of the players attempts to grasp the body 10 with his free hand. Also, the elastic cord 11 can be held in a manner as to cause the body 10 to come between the players knees and attempt to catch the body therebetween. Markings 16 may be provided about the body to associate them with various scores when used in different games. For example, two additional players may stand on each side of the two players holding the toy a fixed distance from the body core 10, and instead of causing oscillatory movement along the axis of the resilient cords 11, the body core 10 is oscillated laterally i.e. the body 10 is displaced along an axis lateral to the longitudinal axis of the toy between the two players holding the toy. The additional two players attempt to grasp the body It) when it comes close to them and if caught between a pair of markings, the count or score is made higher.

In the embodiments described herein, the body is 12 inches long and 2 inches square (FIG. 1) and 2 inches diameter (FIG. 2). The elastic cords are from 8 to 12 feet long.

It is within the ambit of the invention to provide the body with different ornamental shapes and markings and resilient cords of different lengths.

lclaim:

11. A toy comprising:

a body of resilient material;

an extensible string extending through said body;

cavities formed adjacent opposed ends of said dy d. a ring held in each of said cavities;

e. said string being connected to said rings;

elastic cord.

5. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body of resilient material is rectangular and said string extends along the longitudinal axis thereof.

6. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body of resilient material is a circular elongated member and said string extends along the longitudinal axis of said elongated member.

Claims (6)

1. A toy comprising: a. a body of resilient material; b. an extensible string extending through said body; c. cavities formed adjacent opposed ends of said body; d. a ring held in each of said cavities; e. said string being connected to said rings; f. an elastic cord attached to each of said rings outwardly of said body whereby said body may be displaced in oscillatory motion by two players causing said elastic cord to stretch and retract.

2. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body of resilient material is a foam rubber.

3. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body of resilient material is a polyurethane foam.

4. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein there is further provided a ring secured at the free end of said elastic cord.

5. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body of resilient material is rectangular and said string extends along the longitudinal axis thereof.

6. A toy as claimed in claim 1 wherein said body of resilient material is a circular elongated member and said string extends along the longitudinal axis of said elongated member.

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