U.S. patent application number 09/915978 was filed with the patent office on 2003-01-30 for gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement.
Invention is credited to Beged-Dov, Gabriel.
Application Number | 20030022586 09/915978 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 25436510 |
Filed Date | 2003-01-30 |
United States Patent
Application |
20030022586 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Beged-Dov, Gabriel |
January 30, 2003 |
Gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement
Abstract
A unique throwable implement provides packaging and distribution
of a recorded medium and opportunity for promotional dissemination.
A CD is disposed with a Frisbee.TM.-like implement for distribution
of the CD. The gyroscopic stability of the implement is not
unnecessarily compromised while physical protection of the CD is
maintained.
Inventors: |
Beged-Dov, Gabriel;
(Corvallis, OR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY
Intellectual Property Administration
P.O. Box 272400
Fort Collins
CO
80527-2400
US
|
Family ID: |
25436510 |
Appl. No.: |
09/915978 |
Filed: |
July 25, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/46 ; 206/216;
206/308.1; G9B/33.011 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H 33/18 20130101;
G11B 33/0427 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
446/46 ; 206/216;
206/308.1 |
International
Class: |
A63H 027/00; B65D
085/57 |
Claims
I claim:
1. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement comprising: a
disk-shaped body having an essentially convex first surface and an
essentially concave second surface; a depression disposed in said
first surface, having an essentially flat bottom, and centered on
an axis of rotation of the implement; and a plurality of flexible
fingers disposed in a first circle on a bottom of said depression
and protruding for a predetermined distance away from said bottom,
said first circle having a center essentially concentric with said
axis of rotation.
2. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement in accordance
with claim 1 wherein said body further comprises a lip edge forming
a peripheral boundary of said depression at said first surface.
3. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement in accordance
with claim 1 wherein said plurality of fingers further comprise an
attachment portion affixed to said bottom in a second circle
concentric with said first circle and having a radius greater than
said first circle and a cantilever portion, elevated and parallel
to said essentially flat bottom, and disposed between said
attachment portion and said first circle.
4. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement in accordance
with claim 3 wherein said plurality of fingers further comprise a
crooked portion directed toward the axis of rotation, disposed
parallel to said essentially flat bottom, and elevated by a
predetermined distance from said essentially flat bottom.
5. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement in accordance
with claim 1 wherein said plurality of fingers further comprise a
ridge portion disposed at an end of each said fingers spaced away
from said essentially flat bottom surface, at said first circle,
and projecting away from said axis of rotation.
6. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement comprising: a
disk-shaped body having at least a first surface and a second
surface configured to provide aerodynamic lift when thrown and
gyroscopic stability when rotated about an axis of rotation; a
plurality of flexible fingers attached to one of said first surface
and said second surface, disposed in a first circle concentric with
said axis of rotation, and protruding for a predetermined distance
away from said one of said first surface and said second surface,
whereby a recordable disk medium may be releasably coupled to said
body.
7. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement in accordance
with claim 6 wherein said disk-shaped body further comprises a
depression disposed in one of said first surface and said second
surface and centered about said axis of rotation.
8. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement in accordance
with claim 7 wherein said disk-shaped body further comprises a lip
edge forming a peripheral boundary of said depression.
9. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement in accordance
with claim 6 wherein said plurality of fingers further comprise a
crooked portion directed toward said axis of rotation, disposed
parallel to said one of said first surface and said second surface,
and elevated by a predetermined distance from said one of said
first surface and said second surface.
10. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement in accordance
with claim 6 wherein said plurality of fingers further comprise a
ridge portion disposed at an end of each said fingers spaced away
from said one of said first surface and said second surface at said
first circle, and projecting away from said axis of rotation.
11. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement adapted to
include a recordable medium comprising: a disk-shaped body having
at least a first surface and a second surface configured to provide
aerodynamic lift when thrown and gyroscopic stability when rotated
about an axis of rotation, said disk-shaped body having an aperture
extending through said disk-shaped body from said first surface to
said second surface, said aperture having an areal shape congruent
with and essentially equal to that of the recordable medium,
centered about said axis of rotation, and bounded along at least a
portion of its periphery by an indented lip pair having a spacing
dimension between each lip of said lip pair equal to or less than
the thickness dimension of the recordable medium, whereby said body
removably encompasses the recordable medium.
12. A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement and recordable
medium comprising: a disk-shaped body having at least a first
surface and a second surface configured to provide aerodynamic lift
when thrown and gyroscopic stability when rotated about an axis of
rotation; and means for removably attaching the recordable medium
to said disk-shaped body, parallel to one of said first surface and
said second surface, and disposed with recordable medium mass
essentially balanced about said axis of rotation.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention generally relates to throwing
implements and more particularly relates to gyroscopically
stabilized throwing implements that include a recordable disk
medium such as a CD.
[0002] Most people are familiar with a throwable gyroscopically
stabilized aerodynamically favorable implement as a toy generally
known as a Frisbee.TM.. Historically, the Frisbie Pie Company of
Connecticut offered pies in a pie-tin that, once the pie was eaten,
was used by Ivy-league college students as an implement to be
tossed between throwers for Frisbie-ing entertainment. Others also
sailed flat disks for entertainment resulting in various
improvements in aerodynamics, mass distribution, materials, and
additional features culminating in the Frisbee.TM. toy and its
cousins we see today.
[0003] It has become commonplace for large volumes of information
to be stored in digital form on a recordable disk storage medium
generically called a CD. A CD, however, is more accurately
described as a discoidal laminate of plastic, metallic, and/or dye
having discontinuities in an optically readable (and writable)
layer or layers that encode digital information according to
predetermined standards. Different standards (and materials) are
used to define a Compact Disk (CD) for digital audio recordings, a
Video CD for digital video recordings, a Digital Video Disk (DVD)
for high quality video recordings (sometimes called a Digital
Versatile Disk), and CD-ROM (CD-R and CD-RW for writable storage)
for storage of data.
[0004] Toys and information storage media are not inherently or
conceptually linked so the bringing of the two together may offer
unique possibilities heretofore unheard of.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] A gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement and
recordable medium includes a disk-shaped body having at least a
first surface and a second surface configured to provide
aerodynamic lift when thrown and gyroscopic stability when rotated
about an axis of rotation. The implement includes a feature that
removably attaches the recordable disk medium to the disk-shaped
body. The recordable medium is held parallel to one of the first
surface and the second surface, and disposed with the mass of the
recordable medium essentially balanced about the axis of
rotation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is a cross section of a recordable medium such as a
discoidal CD which may be employed in the present invention.
[0007] FIG. 2 is a top plan view of a recordable medium such as a
CD that has been formed into a credit card size and shape.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a throwable gyroscopically
stabilized aerodynamic implement which may be employed in the
present invention.
[0009] FIG. 4 is a cross section of the implement of FIG. 3 taken
along section line 4-4.
[0010] FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are magnified cross sections of spring
finger and recordable medium capture embodiments which may be
employed in the present invention.
[0011] FIG. 6 is a cross section of an alternative embodiment of a
throwable gyroscopically stabilized aerodynamic implement which may
be employed in the present invention.
[0012] FIG. 7 is a cross section of an alternative embodiment of a
throwable gyroscopically stabilized aerodynamic implement which may
be employed in the present invention.
[0013] FIG. 8 is a cross section of an alternative embodiment of a
throwable gyroscopically stabilized aerodynamic implement which may
be employed in the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0014] A novel combination of a Frisbee.TM.-like toy and a CD
offers those who wish to distribute a CD in a surprising way just
such an opportunity. It can be envisioned that a popular concert
would include, as a stimulus for the concert-goers to purchase an
audio CD or a DVD by the performers, a distribution from the stage
of a limited number of CD-including Frisbee.TM.s by launching the
implements from the stage. The advent of rapid recording of CDs
makes it possible for a recording of that very concert to be
impressed upon the CD being sailed out among the audience
immediately following the conclusion of the concert. Other
advertising and promotional uses easily fall within the purview of
the implement.
[0015] A mere flat disk does not have the aerodynamically
advantageous shape to provide a reasonable flight experience that a
Frisbee.TM. offers. The curved upper surface coupled with the flat
lower surface and the angle of attack into a flowing airstream
provide lift to enable flight for the disk. Since the Frisbee.TM.
is launched with a spin imparted by the thrower and since most
Frisbee.TM.s are created with a significant proportion of the mass
of the disk located in an annular band at the circumferential edge
of the disk, a substantial amount of angular momentum is created
around the axis of rotation of the disk. This angular momentum
gyroscopically resists changes in the direction of the angular
momentum vector along the axis of rotation and results in a long
and interesting flight for the Frisbee.TM..
[0016] A conventionally manufactured flat disk (without aerodynamic
shaping) 101 is used as an information storage medium (a CD) is
shown in a cross section of the disk in FIG. 1. Generally,
information in excess of 650 Mbytes of data (740 Mbytes of audio)
can be stored on the CD. The most common physical implementation of
a CD has a diameter, d.sub.1, of 120 mm and a thickness, t, of 1.2
mm and a mounting hole 103 having a diameter, d.sub.2, of 15 mm.
The top surface 105 is generally available for message and image
printing while the bottom surface 107 is typically optically
transparent and allows laser reading (and writing) of information
from an internal lamina via this surface. Also widely available is
a MiniCD, which is often encoded with digital audio--and often in
MP3 format. Such a MiniCD is physically smaller (a disk diameter,
d.sub.1, of 70 mm) with a correspondingly smaller information
storage capacity (160 Mbytes of audio or 140 Mbytes of data).
Non-discoidal CD shapes have been introduced, for example the
credit card size and shape depicted in the plan view of FIG. 2, but
the information stored is typically limited to the complete data
tracks 201 between the lead in track 203 and the card edge 205.
[0017] A top plan view of a preferred embodiment of a
gyroscopically stabilized throwable implement employing the present
invention is shown in FIG. 3. The implement 301 of the preferred
embodiment, casually referred to as a Frisbee.TM., employs a
plastic body shaped in the form of a disk. Of course, other shapes
offering a stable angular momentum vector through the body may also
be used provided that the angular momentum and the lift of the
implement are arranged for stable flight. In addition to the
aerodynamic turbulence ridges 303 circumferentially molded into the
convex top surface 305, a depression 307 is molded into the crown
of the body. Many, if not all, of the turbulence ridges 303 and the
depression 307 are concentric among themselves and with the center
of rotation (the center of the angular momentum vector) of the
body. In a preferred embodiment where the CD 101 is a standard size
discoid, the depression 307 is circular. When other shapes for the
CD are to be specially accommodated, the shape of the depression
can be molded to match. Also centered on the axis of rotation is a
securing mechanism for the CD. In a preferred embodiment, twelve
flexible fingers 309 are arranged in a circle about the axis of
rotation and protrude away from the bottom of the depression. The
circle defined by the outer surface of the flexible fingers is
slightly larger than the diameter of the mounting hole 103 of the
CD 101 such that an interference fit with the CD mounting hole is
realized. The arrangement between the components can be appreciated
from FIG. 4, a cross section of the implement taken at 4-4.
[0018] The concave under surface 401 and the circumferential
distribution of mass 403 of the body can be apprehended from the
cross section illustrated in FIG. 4. In order to provide compliance
in the spring fingers 307, the protruding portion of the fingers
are mounted on cantilevers that are attached to the flat bottom 405
of the depression in a circle 311 centered on the axis of rotation
407 and concentric with the fingers' circle but having a larger
radius. Refer to FIG. 5A for a detailed sectional illustration of
the spring finger assembly. The diameter of the depression 307 in a
preferred embodiment is slightly larger than the diameter of a CD
so that the CD 101 can be relatively easily inserted and removed
from the body 301. The ease of insertion and removal must be
balanced against the forces expected during flight and landing of
the implement, which can be violent on a small scale.
[0019] The easiest insertion and removal is realized by forming the
spring fingers and the depression as shown in FIG. 5A. One spring
finger 309 is magnified and shown in cross section. The portion of
the spring finger that contacts the hole of CD 101 is a portion 501
that protrudes essentially perpendicularly away from the bottom
surface 405 of the depression 307 and offers frictional contact
with the hole of the CD 101 to maintain the CD in place and
clearing the peripheral walls of the depression by a distance, c,
of 1.6 mm. The fingers are disposed at the distal end of a
cantilever portion 503 that is, in the preferred embodiment,
elevated parallel to the bottom surface 405 at a spacing, b, of 1.2
mm and bonded to the bottom surface 405 of the depression 307 by an
attachment portion disposed at the proximal end of the cantilever
in a circular ring having a larger diameter than the circle formed
by the protruding portion of the spring fingers, at 505. The length
of the cantilever, from the CD-contacting surface of the protruding
portion of the spring finger to the point of bonding in a preferred
embodiment is 4.0 mm The thickness, m, of the plastic material
forming the spring finger is 0.8 mm. In order to aid the removal of
the CD, the spring finger is bent into a crooked portion 507
directed toward the axis of rotation (not illustrated in FIG. 5A),
disposed parallel to the bottom surface 405 of the depression 307,
and elevated by a distance, h, of 3.2 mm from the bottom surface.
Removal of the CD is accomplished by placing a human finger or
stylus at the tip of the crooked portion 507 of the spring fingers
and pushing toward the bottom surface 405. This pressure causes the
cantilever portion 503 to deflect a sufficient amount that the
frictional force supplied by the protruding portion of the finger
against the CD is released. The CD may then be pulled out of the
depression 307.
[0020] When increased protection is needed to prevent the CD from
being dislodged from the implement body during a collision of the
implement and an object in the flight path, a ridge 509 is added to
the spring fingers 309 at the junction of the protruding portion
501 and the crooked portion 507 as illustrated in FIG. 5B. This
ridge 509 extends beyond the CD-contacting surface of the spring
finger 309 protruding portion 501 by a distance, f, of 0.8 mm. The
ridge makes the insertion and removal of the CD more difficult for
the human but also makes the inadvertent dislodgement more
unlikely. Yet another technique of securing the CD into the body is
illustrated in FIG. 5C. The outer edge of the CD is captured by a
lip 511 that defines the periphery of the depression. In this
embodiment, the depression is formed with a diameter that is only
slightly (1.6 mm in the alternative embodiment) larger in diameter
than the CD. The lip 511 extends beyond the essentially flat
sidewall 513 of the depression 307 by a distance, g, of 1.6 mm,
thereby capturing the CD edge. The lip need not be continuous
around the periphery but should capture the CD in at least two
places. Insertion and removal of the CD is difficult, requiring the
body of the implement to be flexed at the same time the spring
fingers are depressed. However, the likelihood of the CD being
dislodged is diminished considerably.
[0021] An alternative embodiment that replaces the depression with
a through-hole 601 in the body 301 from the top surface 305 to the
under surface 401 is illustrated in the cross section of FIG. 6.
The through-hole has at least two edges, and as much as a complete
periphery, that is approximately the same diameter as the CD and
has an indented lip pair 603 that has a separation between each lip
of 1.0 mm, less than the thickness of the CD and an overlap of the
CD, for a full capture of the CD edge, of 1.6 mm.
[0022] An alternative embodiment in which the CD 101 is attached to
the under surface 401 of the body 301 is illustrated in the cross
section of FIG. 7. The top surface 305 and crown of the body can be
maintained without change from a conventional Frisbee.TM. and
include advertisement or other adornment in the discretion of the
designer. Spring fingers 309' protrude away essentially
perpendicularly from the under surface 401 to frictionally capture
the CD at its through hole, as described above. Also as described
above, the spring fingers are affixed to the surface of the body,
albeit in this embodiment to the under surface 401, by way of a
cantilever portion and are arranged in a circle having a center
coincident with the center or rotation 407 of the implement.
Although this embodiment offers increased physical protection to
the CD, its presence is not as readily observed and any
advertisement or promotional material that is present on a surface
of the CD is not as prominent. In order to compensate for this
hiddenness, the body of the implement can be formed of a
transparent plastic, either in whole or just in an area near the
crown of the body.
[0023] Another embodiment of the present invention is illustrated
in the cross section of FIG. 8. A depression 307 is formed in the
top surface 305 of the body 301, having an essentially flat bottom
surface 405 and a shape and depth to accommodate the expected CD
101. A pedestal 801 is disposed on the bottom surface 405 and
arranged symmetrically about the axis of rotation 407. For those
instances where the pedestal is circular, the diameter of the
pedestal is approximately 30 mm to contact the CD within the
clamping area, and the height of the pedestal is 1.2 mm to prevent
the surface of the CD from generally contacting the bottom surface
405 of the body. A paper or plastic tape 803 is disposed over the
CD 101 and the depression 307 and extends for an overlap distance
805 on the upper surface 305 of the body. In a preferred
embodiment, this paper or plastic tape is selectively coated on its
inner side with an adhesive in the overlap distance 805 and in the
contact ring area 807 such that the CD is secured and protected
within the depression 307. Advertisement and promotional material
can be printed or disposed on the outer side of the paper or
plastic tape.
[0024] Thus, a CD is disposed with a Frisbee.TM.-like implement for
packaging and distribution of the CD. The gyroscopic stability of
the implement is not unnecessarily compromised with the mountings
described while the protection of the CD is maintained.
* * * * *