US3733738A

US3733738A - Liquid-gaseous interaction toy

Info

Publication number: US3733738A
Application number: US00187420A
Authority: US
Inventors: F Kramer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-10-07
Filing date: 1971-10-07
Publication date: 1973-05-22
Anticipated expiration: 1990-05-22

Abstract

A toy that tests the skill of a user in performing a function is described which relies for operation on the interaction of various substances having different specific gravities. A tubular container is provided for supporting a column of a liquid such as water, and a syringe-type squeeze bulb communicates with the bottom of the container to enable introduction of controlled amounts of air into the bottom of the column. A capsule is also provided having a greater specific gravity than the liquid in the container so that the same will normally sink through the liquid in the container. The capsule includes a chamber for capturing air which has been introduced into the container. Since air is a gas and has a lower specific gravity than the liquid, it will tend to rise within the column. By controlling the amount of air introduced into the liquid for capture by the capsule, a user of the toy can control the movement of the capsule. That is, the user can slow the descent of the capsule by introducing a small amount of air, suspend the capsule at a prescribed location within the liquid by introducing a specific greater amount of air, and reverse the direction of the capsule by introducing more air.

Description

United States Patent 1 Kramer 1 May 22, 1973 [54] LIQUID-GASEOUS INTERACTION TOY Frederick J. Kramer, 686 28th Street, Oakland, Calif. 94609 [22] Filed: Oct. 7, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 187,420

[76] Inventor:

Primary Examiner-Hugh R. Chamblee Assistant ExaminerRobert F. Cutting Attorney-C. Michael Zimmerman 57 ABSTRACT A toy that tests the skill of a user in performing a function is described which relies for operation on the interaction of various substances having different specific gravities. A tubular container is provided for supporting a column of a liquid such as water, and a syringe-type squeeze bulb communicates with the bottom of the container to enable introduction of controlled amounts of air into the bottom of the column. A capsule is also provided having a greater specific gravity than the liquid in the container so that the same will normally sink through the liquid in the container. The capsule includes a chamber for capturing air which has been introduced into the container. Since air is a gas and has a lower specific gravity than the liquid, it will tend to rise within the column. By

controlling the amount of air introduced into the liquid for capture by the capsule, a user of the toy can control the movement of the capsule. That is, the user can slow the descent of the capsule by introducing a small amount of air, suspend the capsule at a prescribed location within the liquid by introducing a specific greater amount of air, and reverse the direction of the capsule by introducing more air.

5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PATENTED Z E ede K lih/ l 1N VENTOR rick gfXramar ATTORNEY LIQUID-GASEOUS INTERACTION TOY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a toy utilizing the interaction of various substances having different specific gravities and, more particularly, to such a toy which utilizes such interaction in providing a toy testing a skill of a user.

Toys that test the skill of a user in performing a par ticular function are generally the most interesting both to children and adults alike. An example of such a toy is a maze which is to be variously oriented by a user in particular ways to move a ball on a prescribed path through the maze. Toys of this general type require determination and concentration on the part of the user and thus hold a users attention. However, most of such toys now available rely upon minor variations in princi- 7 pics and phenomena which are so extensively used in toys that the toys present little or no novelty to potential'users and buyers. Because of such, toy manufacturers are constantly seeking unique toys of the skill type which are based upon phenomena not normally found in the toy field.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a toy which makes use of the different specific gravities of several substances in providing a test of skill requiring a high degree of expertise for mastery. To this end, the toy comprises a container for holding a liquid substance such as water. Means are provided for introducing into the container at a location below the upper surface level of the liquid, controlled amounts ofa second substance, such as air or other gas, having a lower specific gravity than the liquid. Because of this difference in specific gravities, the second substance will tend to rise within the liquid to its upper surface. While this phenomenon may be used in a toy in various manners, most desirably the combination further includes a third substance, such as a cap sule made of a solid material, which has a greater specific gravity than the liquid. The third substance is also provided within the container and is moveable therein in a generally vertical direction above the location at which the second substance, e.g., air, is introduced into the container.

As a particularly salient feature of the instant invention, the third substance includes means for intercepting and capturing the controlled amounts of the second substance introduced into the container. It will be appreciated that because the second substance has a lower specific gravity than the liquid and therefore tends to rise through the same, its combination with the third substance will provide a combined substance having a specific gravity which is between that of either the second or third substances alone. This specific gravity can be varied by changing the proportion of the second substance to the third substance. Since both the velocity of a substance through a liquid and the depth to which it will descend depend upon its specific gravity, it will be seen that a user can, with skill, control both such velocity and depth by controlling the amount of such second substance which is introduced into the container.

Most desirably, as mentioned before, the second substance is a gaseous substance such as air. There is a great diversity between the specific gravities of most liquids and gases with the result that introduction of even a small amount of the gas into the liquid for capture by the third substance can have a relatively large affect on the velocity and positioning of the third substance within the liquid. Thus, a relatively great amount of skill on the part of the user in controlling the amounts of gas introduced into the liquid will be required to provide a desired velocity of the third substance through the liquid or to suspend the same at a desired depth.

The third substance is preferably in the form of a capsule which is adapted to selectively release any captured gaseous substance so that its specific gravity will once again be greater than that of the liquid and it will descend downwardly through the liquid. As a particularly salient feature of the instant invention, this function is automatically provided in a simple and effective manner by merely having perforations of certain crosssectional area extending through the upper wall of that portion of the capsule which captures the gas. That is, the size of each of the perforations through the wall are such relative to the liquid within which the capsule is submerged that the combined effect of the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid and its surface tension will prevent passage through the apertures of the gas, as long as the capsule remains submerged. Thus, the capsule will act as desired to effectively trap the gaseous substance in spite of the perforations. However, when the capsule reaches the surface of the liquid, the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid will be removed from the capsule wall and the perforations will open to allow escape of the trapped gas. The specific gravity of the capsule will thus be once again increased to a value greater than that of the liquid substance and the capsule will sink through the liquid. The toy of the invention is again ready for controlled amounts of the gaseous substance to be introduced into the liquid for changing the specific gravity of the capsule and thus controllably affecting its movement through the liquid substance.

The invention includes other features and advantages which will become apparent from the following more detailed description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING With reference to the accompanying single sheet of drawing:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the invention being manipulated by a user;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial view of a lower segment of the embodiment of FIG. 1, with portions thereof broken away to illustrate its construction; and

FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged, partial views of an upper segment of the embodiment of FIG. 1, illustrating the capsule thereof in different locations relative to the remainder of the apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Reference is first made to FIG. 1 in which a preferred embodiment of the toy of the invention is generally referred to by the reference numeral 11. As is illustrated, the toy 11 includes a liquid container in the form of an elongated, cylindrical tube 12. The tube 12 is supported in a generally upright position by a base 13. Both the tube 12 and the base 13 can be made of a polyolefin plastic material such as polyethylene, and most simply secured together as shown in FIG. 2 by a recessed bolt 14 extending from the underneath surface of the base 13 into the bottom end wall 16.

Tube 12 is open at its top but is otherwise liquid impervious so that the same will hold the liquid. As is illustrated, the tube is filled with such liquid up to a level referred to by the reference numeral 17 adjacent its upper end. For reasons which will become apparent hereinafter, the tube 12 is most desirably transparent to enable visual checking of its interior.

As an important part of the invention, means are provided for introducing into the tube 12 at a location below the upper surface level 17 of liquid therein, controlled amounts of a gaseous substance, such as air, having a lower specific gravity than the liquid. Most desirably, the means for introducing the gas into the container is adapted to so introduce such gas adjacent the bottom of the tube so that a relatively long travel distance for the gas through the liquid is provided. To this end, a gas inlet tube 18 extends radially into the lower end wall of the tube and terminates therein in an elbow 19 from which an inlet nipple 21 extends upwardly coaxially of the tube. A hand-operated air pump in the form of a syringe-type squeezable bulb 22 is communicably connected with the inlet end of the tube 18 via a flexible conduit 23. The syringe bulb 22 provides means by which a user can pump a chosen volume of air through the inlet tube 18 into the liquid within tube 12.

Preferably, means are provided for automatically refilling the squeeze bulb 22 with air after it has been compressed, so that the same will be ready for subsequent pumping uses. To this end, the upper end of the squeeze bulb is provided with a check valve which allows air to enter the squeeze bulb upon the resiliency of the same expanding it from a compressed condition, but which does not allow air to pass out of the bulb when it is being compressed. Most simply, such check valve is in the form of an aperture 24 in the upper end of the bulb having a flap 26 secured within the bulb responsive to pressure from within the bulb by sealingly engaging the inner surface thereof around the periphery of the aperture.

As is best illustrated in FIG. 2, the air inlet nipple 21 extends upwardly into the interior of the tube from its bottom end wall 16. It is also provided with a check valve which allows flow of air into the liquid but prevents reverse flow of the liquid through the inlet tube and thus out of the container 12. As a feature of the instant invention, such check valve is simply provided by a bulb 27 which is received over the outlet end of the nipple 21 and closes the same. The bulb 27 is of a pliant material and includes a slit opening 28 extending through its rounded top. It will be appreciated that with such an arrangement, the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid, coupled with the resiliency of the bulb, will tend to normally maintain the slit 28 closed as is illustrated in FIG. 2. However, upon the syringe bulb 22 being compressed to apply air pressure on the interior of valve bulb 27, such pressure will force the slit open so that such air escapes from the bulb in the form of bubbles, such as is represented in FIG. 1 by bubble 29.

As described to this point, the present invention provides a toy which utilizes the interaction of two substances having different specific gravities to provide an effect which is usable in various ways. That is, the invention provides means for containing a column of a liquid such as water and for introducing into the column adjacent its bottom a gas having a lower specific gravity than the liquid. This will result in the gas rising within the column of liquid to its upper surface level. The gas will be in the form of bubbles and will wobble" as they ascend through the column of liquid. Since the squeeze bulb 22 enables controlled amounts of the gas, in this case air, to be introduced into the liquid column, various effects can be created.

Although the apparatus of the invention as set forth above has utility in its own right, most desirably the combination further includes a third substance in the form of a capsule 31 which has a greater specific gravity than the liquid and which is also moveable in the container 12. Because of its greater specific gravity, capsule 31 will tend to descend through the liquid, rather than rise in the same as does air. By including as a part of the capsule, means for capturing the controlled amounts of air which are introduced into the liquid, the specific gravity of the capsule, i.e., the combination of the capsule and the captured air, can be varied to control the movement of the same through the column of water. That is, by appropriately choosing the amount of air introduced into the tube for capture by the capsule, the velocity of descent of the capsule through the column can be suitably controlled, e.g., the capsule can be made to stop and become suspended at a particular location, or it can be made to reverse its direction of movement and rise in the column.

In more detail, the capsule 31 includes a cylindrical tube portion 32 having an outer side configuration generally conforming to the interior side configuration of the tube 12. The diameter of the outer side of the tube portion 32 should be less than the interior diameter of the container 12 so that the capsule is freely moveable vertically in the container tube.

Capsule 31 further includes a dome-shaped cap portion 33 which is peripherally secured to the upper end of the tube portion 32. It will be seen that with this dome portion, the capsule presents a chamber having a downwardly opening mouth 34 for interception and capture of any air which has been introduced into the column of liquid and is rising therein.

As a particularly salient feature of the instant invention, the dome-shaped cap portion 33 of the capsule is provided with apertures which extend therethrough and which meet certain criteria. Such apertures are most simply provided in the dome portion by having the dome portion itself made from a mesh material, such as from a metal screen.

The provision of the perforations through the cap 33 will facilitate the descent of the capsule through the liquid. That is, as the capsule descends, the liquid can pass through the cap so that the chamber defined by the capsule will not hinder such descent to any appreciable extent. However, the size of the apertures are so chosen that while the cap portion 33 is submerged within the liquid, such apertures will not allow escape from the capsule of any air trapped within the capsule. The particular area size of apertures which will provide this function will depend, of course, on the particular liquid within the column, the material of the dome, the particular gas which it is desired to trap and the specific gravity of the capsule. As an example, it has been found that when the liquid is water, the gas air, and the specific gravity of the capsule is only slightly greater than one, a brass strainer cloth having a l/32 inch mesh allows passage of the water when the capsule is sinking but quite appropriately prevents air introduced into the water from passing through the cap portion as long as it is submerged. FIG. 3 illustrates the capsule of the invention so trapping a quantity of air.

Although the mechanism by which the liquid passes through the perforations while the gas is retained within the capsule is not fully understood with certainty, it is believed to be the result of combined action of the surface tension of the liquid, which will form film closures over the openings, and the hydrostatic pressure of the liquid on the dome.

The provision of perforations in the cap 33 also provide another quite advantageous function of the invention. That is, upon the capsule 37 rising within the liquid to a location at which at least a portion of the cap is at or above the liquid surface 17, the trapped gas within the capsule will escape through the perforations from the capsule and thus once again return the capsules specific gravity to a value greater than that of the liquid within which it is immersed. Because of this automatic release of gas from the capsule, it is a simple matter to prepare the apparatus of the invention for subsequent uses. That is, it is only necessary to compress the bulb 22 to introduce into the tube sufficient amounts of air to cause the capsule to rise to the surface of the liquid. The resulting loss of air by the capsule will allow the same to begin descending within the liquid so that controlled amounts of air subsequently introduced into the liquid can be used to control its movement. FIG. 4 graphically illustratesthe release of air by the capsule upon the cap rising above the upper surface 17 of the liquid.

There are various games of skill which can be played withthe apparatus of the invention. For example, one can start with the capsule 31 sinking within the container from the surface of the liquid, and introduce controlled amounts of air into the liquid in an attempt to change the specific gravity of the capsule to that value which will result in it being suspended in the container at a predetermined depth. In this connection, the container 12 is provided vertically along its outer surface with indicia in the form of numbered regions 34 representative of various depths within the liquid. In a game with more than on participant, points can be assigned to each of the levels represented by the regions 34, and the points assigned to any particular region awarded to a participant capable of suspending the capsule within such region. The object of such a game could be to accumulate the greatest number of points. Because there is a great diversity between the specific gravity of the air introduced into the tube and the liquid, even a small amount of air differential can cause a large difference in the location at which the capsule will become suspended. Thus a great deal of skill is required to successfully play the game.

Another game with which the invention is usable and that does not require the same high degree of skill as the one discussed above is one in which the object is to reverse the direction of movement of the capsule at predetermined regions. This can be accomplished by the user introducing a relatively large amount of air, i.e., enough air to change the specific gravity of the capsule to a value lower than that of the liquid, at the appropriate time during its descent so that such air will be intercepted by the capsule at the desired region. A more sophisticated game requiring a large amount of skill is one in which the apparatus is utilized in combination with a stop watch to control the time taken for the capsule to descend within the tube to a particular location. This is accomplished, for example, by intermittently introducing small amounts of air into the liquid to change the specific gravity of the capsule as it descends.

The above uses for the toy of the invention are samples of the many ways in which the interaction of various substances having different specific gravities can be advantageously incorporated into a toy. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications in the apparatus are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is therefore intended that the afforded coverage be limited only by the claims and their equivalents.

I claim:

1. A toy utilizing the interaction of a gaseous substance with a liquid substance comprising a container for said liquid substance, means for introducing into said container at a location below the upper surface level of liquid substance therein controlled amounts of a gaseous substance having a lower specific gravity than said liquid substance whereby said gaseous substance will rise in said liquid substance toward said upper surface level thereof, a capsule having a greater specific gravity than said liquid substance and generally vertically moveable in said container above the location at which said gaseous substance is introducible therein, said capsule including means for capturing sufficient amounts of said gaseous substance introduced into said container at said location to lower the capsules specific gravity to a value lower than that of said liquid substance whereby said capsule will rise in said container, and being adapted to selectively release said captured gaseous substance so that the capsules specific gravity is returned to a value greater than that of said liquid substance and the same decends within said container, said means of said capsule for capturing said gaseous substance including a chamber having a downwardly opening mouth for receiving said gaseous substance as the same rises within said liquid substance, and the upper wall of said chamber being perforated with openings of an area which are closed by said liquid substance to the passage therethrough of said gaseous substance when said upper wall is submerged within said liquid substance but which are of an area enabling said passage of said gaseous substance therethrough upon said upper wall reaching said upper surface level of said liquid substance to thereby provide said selective release of said liquid substance to thereby provide said selective release of said captured gaseous substance.

2. A toy utilizing the interaction of a gaseous substance with a liquid substance comprising a container for said liquid substance, means for introducing into said container at a location below the upper surface level of liquid substance therein controlled amounts of a gaseous substance having a lower specific gravity than said liquid substance whereby said gaseous substance will rise in said liquid substance toward said upper surface level thereof, a capsule having a greater specific gravity than said liquid substance and generally vertically moveable in said container above the location at which said gaseous substance is introducible therein, said capsule including means for capturing sufficient amounts of said gaseous substance introduced into said container at said location to lower the capsules specific gravity to a value lower than that of said liquid substance whereby said capsule will rise in said container, and being adapted to selectively release said captured gaseous substance so that the capsules specific gravity is returned to a value greater than that of said liquid substance and the same descends within said container, said container being a generally upright and elongated tube and said capsule having an exterior side configuration generally conforming to the interior wall configuration of said tube so that said tube acts as a guide for said movement of said capsule between said location at which said gaseous substance is introducible therein and said upper surface level, and said tubular container including a transparent portion enabling visual checking of the location therein of said capsule and having indicia spaced vertically therealong representative of various locations therewithin for said capsule which depend upon the amount of gaseous substance introduced into said tube and captured by said capsule.

3. A toy utilizing the interaction of a gaseous substance with a liquid substance comprising a container for said liquid substance, means for introducing into said container at a location below the upper surface level of liquid substance therein controlled amounts of a gaseous substance having a lower specific gravity than said liquid substance whereby said gaseous substance will rise in said liquid substance toward said upper surface level thereof, said container being a generally upright and elongated tube and said means for introducing said gaseous substance therein being adapted to so introduce said substance adjacent the bottom of said tube whereby a relatively long travel distance for said gaseous substance is provided through said liquid substance, said gaseous substance being air introduced into said container through a check valve which allows flow of such air into said container but blocks reverse flow of said liquid substance through said valve from said container, said check valve being in the form of a bulb made of a pliant material closing the end of an air inlet nipple extending inwardly of said tubular container, said pliant bulb having a slit opening which is responsive to air pressure on the interior of said bulb by opening to allow air introduced into said nipple to enter said tubular container and responsive to pressure of said fluid substance on the exterior of said bulb by closing to prevent said vluid substance from flowing into said nipple from said container.

4. A toy utilizing the interaction of a gaseous substance with a liquid substance comprising a container for said liquid substance, means for introducing into said container at a location below the upper surface level of liquid substance therein controlled amounts of a gaseous substance having a lower specific gravity than said liquid substance whereby said gaseous substance will rise in said liquid substance toward said upper surface level thereof, said container being a generally up right and elongated tube and said means for introducing said gaseous substance therein being adapted to so introduce said substance adjacent the bottom of said tube whereby a relatively long travel distance for said gaseous substance is provided through said liquid substance, and a hand-operated air pump is provided for manually pumping said controlled amounts of air through said valve into said container, said hand-operated air pump being in the form of a syringe-type squeezable bulb having a check valve enabling automatic filling of the same with air, the outlet of said bulb being communicably connected with an inlet tube extending through the wall of said container.

5. The toy of claim 4 wherein said combination further includes a capsule having a greater specific gravity than said liquid substance and generally vertically moveable in said tube between the location at which said gaseous substance is introducible therein and said upper surface level with the exterior side configuration of said capsule generally conforming to the interior wall configuration of said tube so that said tube acts as a guide for said capsule movement, said capsule including a chamber having a downwardly opening mouth for capturing sufficient gaseous substance introduced into said container as the same rises within said liquid substance to lower the capsules specific gravity to a value lower than that of said liquid substance whereby said capsule will rise in said container, the upper wall of said chamber being perforated with openings of an area which are closed by said liquid substance to the passage therethrough of said gaseous substance when said upper wall is submerged within said liquid substance but which are of an area enabling said passage of said gaseous substance therethrough upon said upper wall reaching said upper surface level of said liquid substance to thereby provide release of captured gaseous substance to return the specific gravity of said capsule to a value greater than that of said liquid substance so that the same descends within said container, and said tubular container being transparent to enable visual checking by a user of the location therein of said capsule and having indicia spaced vertically therealong representative of various locations therewithin for said capsule which depend upon the amount of gaseous substance introduced into said tube and captured by said capsule.

Claims

1. A toy utilizing the interaction of a gaseous substance with a liquid substance comprising a container for said liquid substance, means for introducing into said container at a location below the uppeR surface level of liquid substance therein controlled amounts of a gaseous substance having a lower specific gravity than said liquid substance whereby said gaseous substance will rise in said liquid substance toward said upper surface level thereof, a capsule having a greater specific gravity than said liquid substance and generally vertically moveable in said container above the location at which said gaseous substance is introducible therein, said capsule including means for capturing sufficient amounts of said gaseous substance introduced into said container at said location to lower the capsule''s specific gravity to a value lower than that of said liquid substance whereby said capsule will rise in said container, and being adapted to selectively release said captured gaseous substance so that the capsule''s specific gravity is returned to a value greater than that of said liquid substance and the same decends within said container, said means of said capsule for capturing said gaseous substance including a chamber having a downwardly opening mouth for receiving said gaseous substance as the same rises within said liquid substance, and the upper wall of said chamber being perforated with openings of an area which are closed by said liquid substance to the passage therethrough of said gaseous substance when said upper wall is submerged within said liquid substance but which are of an area enabling said passage of said gaseous substance therethrough upon said upper wall reaching said upper surface level of said liquid substance to thereby provide said selective release of said liquid substance to thereby provide said selective release of said captured gaseous substance.

2. A toy utilizing the interaction of a gaseous substance with a liquid substance comprising a container for said liquid substance, means for introducing into said container at a location below the upper surface level of liquid substance therein controlled amounts of a gaseous substance having a lower specific gravity than said liquid substance whereby said gaseous substance will rise in said liquid substance toward said upper surface level thereof, a capsule having a greater specific gravity than said liquid substance and generally vertically moveable in said container above the location at which said gaseous substance is introducible therein, said capsule including means for capturing sufficient amounts of said gaseous substance introduced into said container at said location to lower the capsule''s specific gravity to a value lower than that of said liquid substance whereby said capsule will rise in said container, and being adapted to selectively release said captured gaseous substance so that the capsule''s specific gravity is returned to a value greater than that of said liquid substance and the same descends within said container, said container being a generally upright and elongated tube and said capsule having an exterior side configuration generally conforming to the interior wall configuration of said tube so that said tube acts as a guide for said movement of said capsule between said location at which said gaseous substance is introducible therein and said upper surface level, and said tubular container including a transparent portion enabling visual checking of the location therein of said capsule and having indicia spaced vertically therealong representative of various locations therewithin for said capsule which depend upon the amount of gaseous substance introduced into said tube and captured by said capsule.

5. The toy of claim 4 wherein said combination further includes a capsule having a greater specific gravity than said liquid substance and generally vertically moveable in said tube between the location at which said gaseous substance is introducible therein and said upper surface level with the exterior side configuration of said capsule generally conforming to the interior wall configuration of said tube so that said tube acts as a guide for said capsule movement, said capsule including a chamber having a downwardly opening mouth for capturing sufficient gaseous substance introduced into said container as the same rises within said liquid substance to lower the capsule''s specific gravity to a value lower than that of said liquid substance whereby said capsule will rise in said container, the upper wall of said chamber being perforated with openings of an area which are closed by said liquid substance to the passage therethrough of said gaseous substance when said upper wall is submerged within said liquid substance but which are of an area enabling said passage of said gaseous substance therethrough upon said upper wall reaching said upper surface level of said liquid substance to thereby provide release of captured gaseous substance to return the specific gravity of said capsule to a value greater than that of said liquid substance so that the same descends within said container, and said tubular container being transparent to enable visual checking by a user of the location therein of said capsule and having indicia spaced vertically therealong representative of various locations therewithin for said capsule which depend upon the amount of gaseous substance introduced into said tube and captured by said capsule.