US3884471A

US3884471A - Pneumatic projector and pneumatically responsive targets

Info

Publication number: US3884471A
Application number: US441537A
Authority: US
Inventors: Donald J Maurer; Dermot F Sims
Original assignee: Mattel Inc
Current assignee: Mattel Inc
Priority date: 1974-02-11
Filing date: 1974-02-11
Publication date: 1975-05-20
Anticipated expiration: 1992-05-20
Also published as: CA1008895A; GB1432515A

Abstract

A toy shooting gallery having concealed pneumatic apparatus for ''''hitting'''' a plurality of targets. The toy shooting gallery includes a primary target board that is remotely located from the targets that are ''''hit.'''' All of the targets are located approximately the same distance from the gun, but the skill involved in hitting targets is a function of the size of the respective apertures of the primary target board.

Description

1451 May 20, 1975 United States Patent 1191 Maurer et al.

[ PNEUMATIC PROJECTOR AND 3,685,828 8/1972 getgey 3,7] L097 1/1973 egley......... PNEUMATICALLY RESPONSIVE TARGETS 3,802,705 4/1974 Bums Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind S r. ne m ow m TMC r nms h t amm MSb J m M m ami nr 08% DDP & r o t n e V n I H 7 Attorney, Agent, or FirmMax E. Shirk; Stephen L. King ABSTRACT [2]] Appl. No.: 441,537

A toy shooting gallery having concealed pneumatic apparatus for hitting a plurality of targets. The toy shooting gallery includes a primary target board that is remotely located from the targets that are hit. All of the targets are located approximately the same dis HMLH 4/.IN4 N M 0H .sM Q 2 1h L Ol .1 m m .2 M m m 713 3 2 b7 mm32 "1 mmhm N .7. Ha Us .l I L8 ..l UIF mum 555 tance from the gun, but the skill involved in hitting References cued targets is a function of the size of the respective aper- UNITED ST E PATENTS tures of the primary target board.

2,846,996 8/1958 124/1 3,620534 11/1971 Emfalt 273/1012 16 Clalms, 12 Drawlng Figures PMENTED MAY 2 01975 SHEET 3 OF 6 PATENTED HAYZO I975 SHEET 6 UP 6 PNEUMATIC PROJECTOR AND PNEUMATICALLY RESPONSIVE TARGETS FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to toy shooting galleries and more particularly to a toy shooting gallery utilizing pneumatic means for hitting targets.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART There have been many types of toy shooting galleries marketed in the past. For the most part, these prior art shooting galleries have used mechanical means for knocking over targets. For example, small metal pellets have been propelled out of a toy gun to knock over targets. Sticks or rod members have been manipulated to knock over targets. For the most part, even children could easily understand the means that were utilized for knocking over the targets. While a certain degree of skill was involved, there was nothing fascinating or mysterious about these prior art toy shooting galleries.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel toy shooting gallery that involves not only skill, but also includes a fascinating novelty effect.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel toy shooting gallery that includes concealed pneumatic means for hitting targets.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a novel toy shooting gallery which includes primary target means that are remotely located from the actual targets that are hit.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel toy shooting gallery wherein all of the targets are located approximately the same distance from the gun, but the skill involved in hitting the targets is a function of the size of the respective apertures of the primary target means.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel toy shooting gallery wherein respective actuation means within several of the targets provide exciting responses to hit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A toy shooting gallery having concealed pneumatic means for hitting a plurality of targets. The toy shooting gallery includes primary target means that is remotely located from the targets that are hit. All of the targets are located approximately the same distance from the gun, but the skill involved in hitting targets is a function of the size of the respective apertures of the primary target means.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Additional objects, advantages and characteristic features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiments of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy shooting gallery in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view, partially sectioned, of the coupling means for actuating the target in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged rear elevational view of the interior of the primary target means of the toy shooting gallery in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side elevational view, partially sectioned, of the pneumatic means of the toy shooting gallery in accordance with the present invention;

FIG.- 5 is a schematic representation of the aperture of the primary target means that is related to the easiest target to hit of the toy shooting gallery in accordance with the present invention; I

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of the aperture of FIG. 5, and further illustrates the alignment of the pneumatic means with such aperture in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of an aperture of the primary target means that is related to the hardest target to hit in the toy shooting gallery in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of the aperture of FIG. 7, and further illustrates the alignment of the pneumatic means with such aperture in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged rear elevational view, partially sectioned, of the duck target in accordance with the present invention; 7

FIG. 10 is an enlarged rear elevational view, partially sectioned, of the skeleton target in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged side elevational view, partially sectioned, of the jug target in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is an enlarged rear elevational view, partially sectioned, of the bullseye target in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS- Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view ofa toy shooting gallery 10 in accordance with the principles of the present invention. The toy shooting gallery 10 is generally comprised of a target area 11, pneumatic shooting means 12, and connecting means 13. The target area 11 is generally comprised of a target mounting board 14 on which is located a bullseye target 15, a duck target 16, a jug target 17, a can target 18, a skeleton target 19 and a plurality of foliage members 20. The pneumatic shooting means 12 includes a gun 21 that is pivotally mounted on a gun mounting board 22 and pneumatic means which are located within the gun-mounting board 22. The pneumatic means will be fully illustrated in several of the remaining figures and will be discussed later in the specification. The pneumatic shooting means 12 further includes sighting means 23 and a trigger 24. The connecting means 13 includes indicia means 25, such as numerals from O to 200. On either side of the indicia means 25 are located a plurality of scoring holes 26 which may be utilized to count the score of a player or the respective players who are competing against each other. The toy shooting gallery also includes pegs, not shown, that may be placed into the holes to keep count of the scoring. Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown an enlarged perspective view of the coupling means of the toy shooting gallery I0. On the right side of the drawing, there is illustrated primary target means 27. The primary target means 27 is normally concealed within the gun-mounting board 22, approximately underneath the front end of the gun 21. Further illustrated are a plurality of apertures 33 through 37 on the front face of the primary target means 27. The apertures 33 through 37 vary in size from the smallest aperture 33 which has an inside diameter of 0.250 inches to the largest aperture 37 which has an inside diameter of 0.350 inches.

The smallest aperture 33 is related to the easiest target to hit, namely, the bullseye target 15, which scores points, and the largest aperture 37 is related to the hardest target to hit, namely, the skeleton target 19, which scores 50 points. The aperture 34, having an inside diameter of 0.275 inches, is related to the duck target 16, which scores 20 points; the aperture 35, having an inside diameter of 0.300 inches, is related to the jug target 17, which scores 30 points, and the aperture 36, having an inside diameter of 0.325, is related to the can target 18, which scores 40 points.

It should be understood that while the specific dimensions of the inside diameters of the apertures 33 through 37 have been set forth above, such dimensions are only representative of the general principle of this invention that the smallest aperture is related to the easiest target to hit and the largest aperture is related to the hardest target to hit.

Connected to the bottom rear portion of the primary target means 27 via a plurality of output coupling means 32, one of which is illustrated, are a plurality of conduits 31 for carrying air. On the left side of the drawing, there is shown one of the individual target actuation means 28 of the toy shooting gallery 10. The target actuation means 28 is comprised of a cylinder 29 and a piston rod 30. While only one of the individual target actuation means 28 is shown, it should be understood that all of the targets through 19 include a similar target actuation means 28 that is coupled to one of the plurality of conduits 31. In some of the cases, the piston rod 30 varies in length depending upon the distance between a specific target and the top of the cylinder 29. While the plurality of conduits 31 have been described as carrying air, it should be understood that the toy shooting gallery 10 could be designed so that water, or some other fluid, is carried within the conduits 31.

Referring now also to FIG. 3, there is shown an enlarged rear elevational view of the interior of the primary target means 27. As stated earlier, the primary target means includes apertures 33 through 37 which represent the primary locating means for aligning the gunsight 23 with the respective targets 15 through 19. Located near the bottom portion of the primary target means 27 are output apertures 33' through 37'. The output apertures 33' through 37' are aligned with the plurality of output coupling means 32, which, as discussed above with regard to FIG. 2, allow a plurality of conduits 31 to be attached to the primary target means 27. The primary target means 27 includes a plurality of walls 38 which allow air to be coupled from the pneumatic shooting means 12 through the primarytarget means 27 via the respective apertures 33 through 37 to the respective output apertures 33 through 37.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown an enlarged side elevational view, partially sectioned, of the pneumatic shooting means 12 in accordance with the principles of this invention. The pneumatic shooting means 12 is rotatably mounted by means of a ball-shaped portion 50 which rests in a socket 51 of the gun-mounting board 22. The pneumatic shooting means 12 includes a gun cylinder 39 that is located below the front portion of the gun 21. Located within the gun cylinder 39 is a gun piston 40a and a gun piston spring 40b. Further illustrated is a lever 41 which is rotatably mounted to pivot means 42. As can be readily appreciated, when the trigger 24 is pulled to left, the lower portion of the lever 41 is pulled to the left and in turn the piston 40a is pulled to the left. When the trigger 24 is at the end of its stroke, the top portion 24a slips under the upper left portion 41a of the lever 41. The gun piston spring 40b urges the piston 40a to the right to expel air from the gun cylinder 39 via a gun cylinder aperture 43. Mounted to the end portion 430 of the pneumatic shooting means 12 is a nozzle member 44 which includes spring retaining means 44a. At all times, the nozzle member 44 is urged against the front wall of the primary target means 27 by means of the nozzle spring 45. The nozzle member 44 further includes a nozzle aperture 46 which the player attempts to line up with any one of the primary target apertures 33 through 37.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 through 8, there is shown schematic representations of several of the apertures of the primary target means 27. FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the smallest aperture 33, that, as stated earlier, is related to the bullseye target 15, which is the easiest target to hit. It is noted that the inside diameter of the aperture 46 of the nozzle 44 is 0.250 inches and the inside diameter of the aperture 33 is 0.250 inches. Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 5 if the aperture 46 of the nozzle 44 is aligned exactly with the aperture 33 of the bullseye target, all of the air expelled from the gun cylinder 39 will travel through the primary target means 27 and through one of the conduits 31 to the individual target actuation means 28 of the bullseye target 15. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 6, if theaperture 46 is not exactly aligned with the aperture 33, all of the air expelled from the gun cylinder 39 will still pass through the primary target means 27 to hit the bullseye target 15.

Referring now specifically to FIGS. 7 and 8, if the aperture 46 of the nozzle 44 is aligned with the largest aperture 37, that is related to the skeleton target 19, the outside diameter of the nozzle 44, defined by the numeral 48 and having a dimension of 0.350 inches, will just cover the aperture 37 (which has an inside diameter of 0.350 inches) and all of the air expelled from the gun cylinder 39 will travel through the primary target means 27, through one of the conduits 31, and through the target actuation means 28 of the skeleton target 19 to knock the hat off of the skeleton. However, referring now to FIG. 8, if the nozzle 44 is slightly misaligned with the aperture 37, most of the air expelled from the pneumatic shooting means 12 will not enter the aperture 37, but will flow back into the interior of the gunmounting board 22, as illustrated by the arrow 49. Thus, a sufficient amount of air loss escaping into the gun-mounting board 22 will deprive a target actuation means 28 of the necessary force to be actuated, and its respective target will not be hit. It is noted that while the outside diameter of the nozzle has been described as being equal to the diameter of the largest aperture 37, the degree of skill involved in the toy shooting gallery 10 may be lessened by increasing the size of the outside diameter 48, or in the alternative, decreasing the size of the largest diameter aperature, and so forth.

As can be readily appreciated, it will take less skill to align the nozzle 44 with the aperture 33 because of the high tolerance, thus one can consistently hit the bullseye target 15 to score 10 points. On the other hand, it will take a greater amount of skill to consistently hit the skeleton target 19 to score 50 points because a misalignment will allow air to escape into the gunmounting board 22. Of course, it is easily recognized that to hit targets 16, 17 and 18, intermediate degrees of skill are required.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 through 12, there are shown four of the respective mechanisms of the various targets. In all four figures, a target actuating means 28 is illustrated. While the size of the cylinder 29 is approximately the same in all cases, in some cases the length of the piston rod 30 will be different. Referring now specifically to FIG. 9, there is shown an enlarged rear elevation view of the duck target 16. The duck 16 is retained on a duck mounting member 64 by means of a spring 54. The duck 16 further includes a tab 53 on the lower end of its body. An L-shaped retaining means 52 holds the duck 16 in its normal position, as shown. When the piston 30 is actuated by air, the piston 30 will travel upwardly to hit the lower end of the L-shaped retaining means 52, whereupon the top portion of the rotatably mounted retaining means 52 will rotate away from the duck 16 and the tab 53, and the duck 16 will spring upwardly to expose a score of 20.

Referring now to FIG. 10, there is shown an enlarged rear elevational view of the skeleton 19. A hat portion 57 of the skeleton 19 covers a scoring number of 50. An arm 47, which holds the hat 57, is pivotally mounted to the skeleton 19 by means of pivot means 56. Further mounted to the arm 47 is actuating means 55 for the skeleton. Thus, as can be readily appreciated, when the piston 30 is actuated, it will travel upwardly to hit the actuating means 55 so as to rotate the arm 47 downwardly so that the hat 57 will no longer cover the score of 50.

Referring now to FIG. 1 1, there is shown an enlarged side elevation view, partially sectioned, of the jug target 17 that is rotatably mounted to a stand 58 by means of pivot means 59. When the target actuation means 28 of the jug 17 is actuated the piston arm 30 will hit a bottom portion 65 of the jug l7, and the jug 17 will be rotated in the backward direction, as illustrated by the arrow 66. Located on the underside of the bottom portion 65 is a score of 30 which will be exposed to the operator of the toy shooting gallery 10.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is shown an enlarged rear elevational view of the bullseye target of the toy shooting gallery 10. Mounted to the rear ofthe bullseye target 15 is a rotatable ratchet wheel 60, an actuating means 61, advancing member 62, a ratchet member 68, and a bell 63. When the target actuation means 28 of the bullseye target 15 is actuated, the piston 30 will come in contact with the actuating means 61 and the actuating means 61 will rotate counter-clockwise to ring the bell 63. The ratchet member 68 prevents the ratchet wheel 60 from moving in the counter-clockwise direction (as shown from the rear). Upon the descent of the actuating means 61, the biased advancing member 62 of the actuating means 61 will engage the teeth of the ratchet wheel 60 to rotate it one turn. The front side ofthe ratchet wheel includes scores from 10 to 100 which score will show through an opening 67 on the front of the bullseye target so as to make the cumulative score visible to the player of the toy shotting gallery 10.

While five apertures have been shown in the primary target means 27 and five corresponding targets, it should be understood that the number of apertures and corresponding number of targets may be increased or decreased as required or desired.

Thus, although the present invention has been shown and described with reference to particular embodi- 5 ments, for example, a nozzle having an outside diameter that is equal in size to the inside diameter of the largest aperture of the primary target means, nevertheless, various changes and modifications obvious to a person skilled in the art to which the invention pertains, for example, increasing the size of the outside diameter of the nozzle to lessen the degree of skill required, are deemed to lie within the spirit, scope, and contemplation of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is: l. A toy shooting gallery having a plurality of targets comprising:

shooting means for shooting at a plurality of targets, said shooting means having sighting means and a pneumatic source for actuating a plurality of targets; target means having a plurality of targets located thereon; and connecting means remote from said sighting means and coupling said shooting means to said target means for respectively transferring the output of said pneumatic source to said respective plurality of targets and actuating said targets upon proper aiming of said shooting means. 2. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 1 wherein:

all of the targets of said target means are located approximately the same distance from said shooting means; and said shooting means includes primary target means comprised of a number of input apertures in equal number to the plurality of targets, the respective diameters of said input apertures varying in size so as to determine the skill involved in actuating the respective targets. 3. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 2 wherein:

the smallest input aperture is related to the easiest target to hit and the largest input aperture is related to the hardest target to hit. 4. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 3 wherein:

said plurality of targets is five targets; and said input apertures of said primary target means are five in number and the respective diameters of said input apertures are 0.250 inches, 0.275 inches, 0.300 inches, 0.325 inches, and 0.350 inches. 5. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein:

said connecting means includes five separate conduits; the relationship between said plurality of targets and said input apertures is as follows: a bullseye target coupled to the input aperture having a 0.250 inch diameter, a duck target coupled to the input aperture having a 0.275 inch diameter, a jug target coupled to the input aperture having a 0.300 inch diameter, a can target coupled to the input aperture having a 0.325 inch diameter, and a skeleton target coupled to the input aperture aperture having a 0.350 inch diameter. 6. A toy shooting gallery asv f'ecited in claim 4 wherein:

each of said targets includes a respective piston and cylinder combination actuation means. 7. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein:

said bullseye target includes a bell and respective scoring indicia means, whereupon actuation of said bullseye target, said bell rings and said respective scoring indicia means registers 10 additional points. 8. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein:

said duck target includes respective scoring indicia means and said duck target is normally mounted in a first position to said target means, so as upon actuation of said duck target, said duck target moves to a second position and said respective scoring indicia means registers additional points. 9. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein:

said jug target includes respective scoring indicia means and said jug target is rotatably mounted to said target'means, upon actuation of said jug target, said jug target rotates and said respective scoring indicia means registers additional points. 10. A shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein: said .can target includes respective scoring indicia means and upon actuation of said can target, said respective scoring means registers 40 additional points. 11. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein:

said skeleton target includes a rotatably mounted arm and respective scoring indicia means, whereupon actuation of said skeleton target, said arm rotates and said respective scoring indica means registers 50 additional points. 12. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 2 wherein:

said connecting means includes five separate conduits; and said primary target means of said shooting means includes five of said input apertures, five output aperturesthat are respectively coupled to said five sep arate conduits, and coupling means for respectively transferring said output of said pneumatic source from said respective input apertures to said respective output apertures.

13. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 2 wherein said shooting means is comprised of said pneumatic source, said primary target means, a rotatably mounted gun, a trigger member, a lever mechanism coupled between said trigger member and said pneumatic source, and a spring biased output nozzle memher, said pneumatic source is a piston and cylinder combination, said spring biased output nozzle member is mounted to the output end of said piston and cylinder combination and is biased to be moveable abutted against said primary target means, and upon actuation of said trigger member, said lever mechanism actuates said piston to expel air out of said cylinder via said spring biased output nozzle member and towards said primary target means.

14. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 13 wherein said shooting means includes sighting means for aiming said gun at a respective target whereupon said spring biased output nozzle member is alined with the input aperture of said primary target means corresponding to the respective target sighted.

15. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 13 wherein proper alinement of said spring biased output nozzle member with one of said input apertures of said primary target means ensures that substantially all of said air expelled from said pneumatic source enters said primary target means to actuate the target corresponding to said alined input aperture, and wherein partial alinement of said spring biased output nozzle member with said one of said input aperture of said primary target means allows only a portion of the air expelled from said pneumatic source to enter said primary target means, said portion of air being an insufficient amount to actuate a target.

16. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 2 wherein said pneumatic source includes a spring biased output nozzle member, said nozzle member having an inside diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the smallest input aperture of said primary target means, and said nozzle member having an outside diameter approximately equal to the diameter of the largest input aperture of said primary target means.

Claims

1. A toy shooting gallery having a plurality of targets comprising: shooting means for shooting at a plurality of targets, said shooting means having sighting means and a pneumatic source for actuating a plurality of targets; target means having a plurality of targets located thereon; and connecting means remote from said sighting means and coupling said shooting means to said target means for respectively transferring the output of said pneumatic source to said respective plurality of targets and actuating said targets upon proper aiming of said shooting means.

2. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 1 wherein: all of the targets of said target means are located approximately the same distance from said shooting means; and said shooting means includes primary target means comprised of a number of input apertures in equal number to the plurality of targets, the respective diameters of said iNput apertures varying in size so as to determine the skill involved in actuating the respective targets.

3. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 2 wherein: the smallest input aperture is related to the easiest target to hit and the largest input aperture is related to the hardest target to hit.

4. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 3 wherein: said plurality of targets is five targets; and said input apertures of said primary target means are five in number and the respective diameters of said input apertures are 0.250 inches, 0.275 inches, 0.300 inches, 0.325 inches, and 0.350 inches.

5. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein: said connecting means includes five separate conduits; the relationship between said plurality of targets and said input apertures is as follows: a bullseye target coupled to the input aperture having a 0.250 inch diameter, a duck target coupled to the input aperture having a 0.275 inch diameter, a jug target coupled to the input aperture having a 0.300 inch diameter, a can target coupled to the input aperture having a 0.325 inch diameter, and a skeleton target coupled to the input aperture aperture having a 0.350 inch diameter.

6. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein: each of said targets includes a respective piston and cylinder combination actuation means.

7. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein: said bullseye target includes a bell and respective scoring indicia means, whereupon actuation of said bullseye target, said bell rings and said respective scoring indicia means registers 10 additional points.

8. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein: said duck target includes respective scoring indicia means and said duck target is normally mounted in a first position to said target means, so as upon actuation of said duck target, said duck target moves to a second position and said respective scoring indicia means registers 20 additional points.

9. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein: said jug target includes respective scoring indicia means and said jug target is rotatably mounted to said target means, upon actuation of said jug target, said jug target rotates and said respective scoring indicia means registers 30 additional points.

10. A shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein: said can target includes respective scoring indicia means and upon actuation of said can target, said respective scoring means registers 40 additional points.

11. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 4 wherein: said skeleton target includes a rotatably mounted arm and respective scoring indicia means, whereupon actuation of said skeleton target, said arm rotates and said respective scoring indica means registers 50 additional points.

12. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 2 wherein: said connecting means includes five separate conduits; and said primary target means of said shooting means includes five of said input apertures, five output apertures that are respectively coupled to said five separate conduits, and coupling means for respectively transferring said output of said pneumatic source from said respective input apertures to said respective output apertures.

13. A toy shooting gallery as recited in claim 2 wherein said shooting means is comprised of said pneumatic source, said primary target means, a rotatably mounted gun, a trigger member, a lever mechanism coupled between said trigger member and said pneumatic source, and a spring biased output nozzle member, said pneumatic source is a piston and cylinder combination, said spring biased output nozzle member is mounted to the output end of said piston and cylinder combination and is biased to be moveable abutted against said primary target means, and upon actuation of said trigger member, said lever mechanism actuates said piston to expel air out of said cylinder via said spring biased output nozzle member and towards said primary target means.