US3893256A

US3893256A - Tethered flying toy

Info

Publication number: US3893256A
Application number: US421333A
Authority: US
Inventors: Tobin Wolf; Ned M Cain
Original assignee: SAID TABIN WOLF BY SAID NED CA
Current assignee: SAID TABIN WOLF BY SAID NED CA; SAID TABIN WOLF BY SAID NED CAIN
Priority date: 1973-12-03
Filing date: 1973-12-03
Publication date: 1975-07-08
Anticipated expiration: 1992-07-08

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a flying toy which permits realistic control of a toy airplane, doll or the like wherein the toy is suspended from a sleeve or bearing through which pass a pair of filaments which are fixed together on a wall or the like at one end and are hand held at their other end. By moving apart the filaments and holding the filaments at a level below that at which they are attached to the wall, the toy can be made to travel uphill along the filaments. The forward nose of the toy may weighted whereby, upon the cessation of upward movement, the nose turns around due to the weight therein for subsequent downward travel along the filaments as they are again brought together. A second feature of the disclosure is the use of plastic monofilaments which display low friction and allow operation using a sleeve, tube or wire loop and makes the use of rollers or pulleys unnecessary.

Description

United States Patent 191 Wolf et al.

[ TETHERED FLYING TOY [75] Inventors: Tobin Wolf, 285 Aycrigg Ave,

Passaic, NJ. 07055; Ned M. Cain, West Patterson, NJ.

[73] Assignee: said Tabin Wolf by said Ned Cain [22] Filed: Dec. 3, 1973 [2]] Appl. No.: 421,333

[52] US. Cl. 46/1 R; 46/77 [51] Int. Cl. A63]! 33/00; A63H 27/04 [58] Field of Search 46/] R, 77; 272/57 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,743,280 7/l973 Martinez 272/57 R Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Robert F. Cutting Attorney, Agent, or Firm.lay M. Cantor [451 July 8,1975

[5 7 ABSTRACT The disclosure relates to a flying toy which permits realistic control of a toy airplane, doll or the like wherein the toy is suspended from a sleeve or bearing through which pass a pair of filaments which are fixed together on a wall or the like at one end and are hand held at their other end. By moving apart the filaments and holding the filaments at a level below that at which they are attached to the wall, the toy can be made to travel uphill along the filaments. The forward nose of the toy may weighted whereby, upon the cessation of upward movement, the nose turns around due to the weight therein for subsequent downward travel along the filaments as they are again brought together.

A second feature of the disclosure is the use of plastic monofilaments which display low friction and allow operation using a sleeve, tube or wire loop and makes the use of rollers or pulleys unnecessary.

12 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures TETI-IERED FLYING TOY This invention relates to a flying toy capable of simple and realistic control and, more specifically, to a flying toy capable of upward movement by means of a pair of monofilaments, the toy, if desired, also being capable of automatic rotation of 180 when upward movement thereof substantially ceases.

The concept of providing a toy aircraft or the like having a pair of strings passing therethrough which strings are attached at one end to a wall at a level higher than the position of the toy operator wherein separation of the strings by the operator causes the top aircraft to travel uphill along the strings has been known in the prior art as exemplified by US. Pat. No. 1,676,989. Toy aircraft of this type lack realism because they are capable of travelling up and down the strings in only one direction, that is, the nose of the aircraft is always facing upward or downward. Furthermore, the use of normal string or the like does not provide good slippage, thereby requiring that the angle for descent be large to prevent the aircraft from stopping due to friction between the string and sleeve, or alternatively requiring rollers to overcome the above noted prior art problem.

Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, the above noted problems of the prior art are overcome and there is provided a flying toy which is capable of realistic control in both the ascending and descending states. This is accomplished by utilizing monofilament strings passing through the sleeve which substantially diminish friction between strings and bearing. In addition, a weight can be positioned in the forward nose of the flying toy, the toy being capable of rotating 180 with respect to the sleeve whereby, when the forward velocity of the toy is sufficiently diminished, the turning movement due to the weight in the toy nose causes the toy to rotate by 180 whereby the toy can now descent in a forward position. If desired, a rudder-type device can be used to aid in prevention of rotation during toy movement, though this is not essential.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a flying toy which permits realistic control.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an inexpensive and simple flying toy capable of realistic control.

It is another object of this invention to provide a flying toy riding along a pair of plastic monofilament strings to obviate the requirement of pulleys or rollers.

The above objects and still further objects of the invention will become immediately apparent to those skilled in the art after consideration of the following preferred embodiments thereof, which are provided by way of example and not by way of limitation, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a view of elevation of a first embodiment of a flying toy in accordance with the present invention in the ascending state;

FIG. 2 is a view as in FIG. 1 but in the descending state;

FIG. 3 is a view as in FIG. 2 wherein the rate of descent is decreased by moving the monofilament strings apart;

FIG. 4 is a view of FIG. 3 with the distance from wall to operator shortened for landing;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the sleeve or bearing on the toy with monofilament strings separated for toy ascent;

FIG. 6 is a view as in FIG. 5 with strings together for toy descent;

FIG. 7 is a view as in FIG. 6 with strings separated to decrease rate of descent;

FIG. 8 is a front view of the sleeve mechanism;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional side view of a toy aircraft according to the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional a portion of view of the aircraft of FIG. 9;

FIG. I1 is a view as in FIG. I wherein the aircraft has been replaced by a doll; and

FIG. 12 is a view as in FIG. 2 wherein the aircraft has been replaced by a parachutist attempting to land in a target.

Referring now to FIG. I, there is shown an operator 1 holding a pair of

taut monofilament strings

3 and 5 in his hands, the strings passing through a sleeve 7 of a turning mechanism 9. The strings are attached to a wall 11 by means of a hook or the like 13, the hook being preferably positioned above the head of the operator 1. It should be understood that a single string can be used in place of

strings

3 and 5, the single string being secured at its midpoint to the hook 13. Handles l5 and 17 are affixed to the

strings

3 and 5 respectively for grasping by the hands of the operator 1. The aircraft 19 is secured to the turning mechanism 9, the aircraft and turning mechanism travelling up hill due to separation of the

strings

3 and 5. This is shown in greater detail in FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the aircraft is shown during descent with the aircraft having rotated for reasons as will be explained in detail hereinbelow. It can be seen that

strings

3 and 5 have been brought together to allow the aircraft 19 to travel down hill due to gravity and due to the reduced friction between strings and sleeve 7 due to the use of monofilament strings. This operation is shown in greater detail in FIG. 6.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown the same operation as in FIG. 2. However, the rate of descent of the aircraft 19 is controlled by slight separation of the

strings

3 and 5, the strings being allowed to converge at a predetermined rate as determined by the operator. This operation is shown in greater detail in FIG. 7.

Referring now to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the

strings

3 and 5 are no longer taut as they were in the prior FIGURES. This is accomplished by having the operator I move forward. Forward movement of the operator combined with judicious operation of

strings

3 and 5 will allow for a proper landing on the ground of aircraft 19.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the turning mechanism 9 is shown in detail. The mechanism 9 includes a sleeve or bearing portion 7 having a shaft 21 secured thereto and to a stop 23 at its other end. The operation of the turning mechanism is described with respect to FIGS. 9 and 10. It can be seen that the turning mechanism 9 has the shaft 21 passing through the top surface of the fuselage 25 of the aircraft 19, the stop 23 which is a flange on the shaft 21 being rotatable between

ribs

27 and 29 on which ribs the stop abuts. This allows 180 movement to the stop and correspondingly to the shaft 21 and sleeve 7. A weight 31 is secured in the nose or forward end of the aircraft 19 which is positioned to tend to turn the aircraft counterclockwise due to the force of gravity as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The turning force is purposely small so that air currents against the tail section or rudder 33 during aircraft ascent will counterbalance the turning force from the weight 31. However,

as the rate of aircraft ascent diminishes near the end of the uphill run, the airstream acting on the rudder becomes insufi'icient to counterbalance the rotational force due to weight 31, thereby allowing the aircraft to rotate l80 whereby the toy rotates causing

ribs

27 and 29 to rotate whereby rib 27 is then positioned against stop 23 as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. The aircraft is now ready for descent as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4.

Referring now to FIG. ll, there is shown a toy as in FIG. 1 except that the aircraft has been replaced by a doll 35. The interior of the doll will have the same turning structure as shown in FIGS. 8 to 10. The ruddertype element is not necessary since turning can take place without it, if desired.

Referring now to FIG. 12, there is shown a toy as in FIG. 3 except that the aircraft has been replaced by a parachutist 37. There is also shown a target 39 whereby the parachutist 37 can be made to land in the target by judicious operation of the toy as described above with respect to H65. 2 to 4.

Though the invention has been described with respect to specific preferred embodiments thereof. amny variations and modifications will immediately become apparent to those skilled in the art. lt is therefore the intention that the appended claims be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of the prior art to include all such variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:

l. A flying toy movable along a pair of string portions by separation and convergence of said strings which comprises, in combination:

a. a toy member;

b. a hollow ring member secured to the toy through which both string portions extend, and

c. turning means secured within said toy member and responsive to a predetermined velocity of ascent of said toy member for rotating said toy member about an axis normal to the direction of travel of the toy member.

2. A flying toy as set forth in claim 1 wherein the toy member includes means responsive to the flow of air therealong to provide an impediment to rotational forces on said toy member.

3. A flying toy as set forth in claim 2 wherein said means responsive to the flow of air is a rudder.

4. A flying toy as set forth in claim 1 wherein said turning means includes a weight in the forward portion of said toy member. shaft means rearward of said weight and extending externally of said toy member about which it rotates. said ring member being secured to said shaft means externally of said toy member for receiving said string portions.

5. A flying toy as set forth in claim 4 wherein said shaft means includes a projection thereon within said toy member and stop means within said toy member engageable by the projection for limiting rotation of said flange member.

6. A flying toy as set forth in claim 4 wherein said string portions are formed from a monofilament.

7. A flying toy movable along a pair of string portions by separation and convergence of said strings which comprises. in combination:

a. a toy member,

b. a sleeve member mounted on said toy member,

and

CY a pair of plastic monofilament string portions passing through said sleeve member, said string portions each being anchored at one end thereof and free at the other end thereof.

8. A flying toy as set forth in claim 7 wherein said string portions are each a portion ofa single continuous monofilament string.

9. A flying toy as set forth in claim 7 wherein said string portions are each a portion of separate monofilament strings, said strings being secured at one end of each to a common anchoring point.

10. A flying toy movable along a pair of strings supported at one end at a height above the other end of the pair during play, comprising:

a toy member,

means supporting the toy member for rotation about an axis normal to the direction of movement of the toy member,

a tubular member secured to the supporting means through which both strings extend.

a mass on the toy member spaced from the axis in one direction,

a rudder on the toy member spaced from the axis in an opposite direction for maintaining the toy member with the mass forward during ascent of the toy member beyond a predetermined speed when the strings of the pair are separated at its said other end,

said mass turning said toy member by gravity about the axis of ths supporting means upon a decrease from said predetermined speed.

11. A flying toy according to claim 10 including a pair of cooperating stop members on the means sup porting the toy member and the toy member for limiting its rotation to I".

12. A flying to according to claim ll wherein the strings are monofilament.

Claims

1. A flying toy movable along a pair of string portions by separation and convergence of said strings which comprises, in combination: a. a toy member; b. a hollow ring member secured to the toy through which both string portions extend, and c. turning means secured within said toy member and responsive to a predetermined velocity of ascent of said toy member for rotating said toy member about an axis normal to the direction of travel of the toy member.

4. A flying toy as set forth in claim 1 wherein said turning means includes a weight in the forward portion of said toy member, shaft means rearward of said weight and extending externally of said toy member about which it rotates, said ring member being secured to said shaft means externally of said toy member for receiving said string portions.

7. A flying toy movable along a pair of string portions by separation and convergence of said strings which comprises, in combination: a. a toy member, b. a sleeve member mounted on said toy member, and c. a pair of plastic monofilament string portions passing through said sleeve member, said string portions each being anchored at one end thereof and free at the other end thereof.

8. A flying toy as set forth in claim 7 wherein said string portions are each a portion of a single continuous monofilament string.

10. A flying toy movable along a pair of strings supported at one end at a height above the other end of the pair during play, comprising: a toy member, means supporting the toy member for rotation about an axis normal to the direction of movement of the toy member, a tubular member secured to the supporting means through which both strings extend, a mass on the toy member spaced from the axis in one direction, a rudder on the toy member spaced from the axis in an opposite direction for maintaining the toy member with the mass forward during ascent of the toy member beyond a predetermined speed when the strings of the pair are separated at its said other end, said mass turning said toy member by gravity about the axis of ths supporting means upon a decrease from said predetermined speed.

11. A flying toy according to claim 10 including a pair of cooperating stop members on the means supporting the toy member and the toy member for limiting its rotation to 180*.

12. A flying to according to claim 11 wherein the strings are monofilament.