U.S. patent application number 12/347302 was filed with the patent office on 2009-07-02 for amusement device including a fabric formed of a plastic strand.
This patent application is currently assigned to Rhino Toys, Inc.. Invention is credited to David E. Silvergate.
Application Number | 20090170645 12/347302 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40799195 |
Filed Date | 2009-07-02 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090170645 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Silvergate; David E. |
July 2, 2009 |
Amusement Device Including a Fabric Formed of a Plastic Strand
Abstract
An amusement device is provided. One embodiment of the amusement
device includes a plastic strand wound upon itself to form a fabric
that encloses a void. The plastic strand is plastically welded to
itself at a plurality of locations throughout the fabric. Such a
construction may yield a fabric that is resiliently deformable, and
may be formed into a variety of shapes, such as a ball. In some
cases, a plurality of nested fabrics may be employed in the
amusement device.
Inventors: |
Silvergate; David E.; (Santa
Cruz, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
ALLEMAN HALL MCCOY RUSSELL & TUTTLE LLP
806 SW BROADWAY, SUITE 600
PORTLAND
OR
97205-3335
US
|
Assignee: |
Rhino Toys, Inc.
Santa Cruz
CA
|
Family ID: |
40799195 |
Appl. No.: |
12/347302 |
Filed: |
December 31, 2008 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61018593 |
Jan 2, 2008 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
473/612 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63B 39/00 20130101;
A63B 2208/12 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
473/612 |
International
Class: |
A63B 39/00 20060101
A63B039/00 |
Claims
1. An amusement device, comprising: at least one plastic strand
wound upon itself to form a fabric enclosing a void; wherein the at
least one plastic strand is plastically welded to itself at a
plurality of locations throughout the fabric.
2. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the fabric forms a
closed surface.
3. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the amusement device
substantially covers the area of a three dimensional surface of
revolution.
4. The amusement device of claim 2, wherein the fabric is in the
shape of a sphere.
5. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the plastic strand is
plastically welded to itself at a plurality of asymmetric locations
on the fabric.
6. The amusement device of claim 5, wherein the plastic strand
forms multiple loops intersecting at varying angles.
7. The amusement device of claim 7, wherein the plastic strand
defines a plurality of gaps in the fabric.
8. The amusement device of claim 7, wherein the gaps have
substantially straight sides, as viewed in plan view.
9. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the plastic strand has
a durometer hardness between 70 A and 90 A.
10. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the plastic strand has
a diameter of between about 1 and 4 millimeters.
11. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the plastic strand
substantially maintains its cross sectional shape throughout the
location of each weld.
12. The amusement device of claim 11, wherein the cross sectional
shape is substantially round or oval.
13. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the fabric is
resiliently deformable.
14. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the fabric is a first
fabric and the plastic strand is a first plastic strand, the
amusement device further comprising: at least one second plastic
strand wound upon itself to form a second fabric enclosing a void;
wherein second fabric is nested within the first fabric.
15. The amusement device of claim 14, wherein the first fabric and
second fabric are plastically welded to each other.
16. The amusement device of claim 14, wherein the first plastic
strand and second plastic strand have a different cross sectional
shape, a different diameter, and/or a different color.
17. The amusement device of claim 1, wherein the fabric is formed
in the shape a ball.
18. The amusement device of claim 17, wherein the amusement device
in the shape of the ball includes surface ornamentation formed from
an additional plastic strand adorned on the ball.
19. An amusement device, comprising: at least one plastic strand
wound upon itself to form a fabric enclosing a void; wherein the
plastic strand is plastically welded to itself at a plurality of
asymmetric locations throughout the fabric; wherein the plastic
strand forms multiple loops around the void intersecting at varying
angles to define a plurality of gaps in the fabric; wherein the
plastic strand substantially maintains its cross sectional shape
throughout the location of each weld; and wherein the fabric is
resiliently deformable.
20. An amusement device, comprising: at least one plastic strand
laid upon itself to form a fabric; wherein the plastic strand is
plastically welded to itself at a plurality of asymmetric locations
and varying angles throughout the fabric; wherein the plastic
strand defines a plurality of gaps in the fabric; and wherein the
plastic strand substantially maintains its cross sectional shape
throughout the location of each weld.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. .sctn.119
to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/018,593,
entitled AMUSEMENT DEVICE INCLUDING A FABRIC FORMED OF A PLASTIC
STRAND, filed on Jan. 2, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is
herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Balls are one of the oldest forms of toys and sports
equipment. Many popular games today still involve rolling, passing,
kicking, tossing, catching, bouncing, or hitting balls. One problem
with conventional balls is that they are often boring or
unexciting, for example, they may lack sufficiently interesting
color, texture or design to excite ever demanding consumers.
Another problem is that conventional balls often do not offer a
surface configuration that promotes quick and sure gripping and
conventional balls that are bouncy may be relatively rigid and
nonpliable, making them difficult or even uncomfortable to catch or
hold, particularly for children. Further, many bouncy balls have to
be periodically inflated, for example by blowing or pumping up the
ball with a pump, which can be burdensome and can result in a hard
outer surface.
SUMMARY
[0003] An amusement device is provided. One embodiment of the
amusement device includes a plastic strand wound upon itself to
form a fabric that encloses a void. The plastic strand is
plastically welded to itself at a plurality of locations throughout
the fabric. Such a construction may yield a fabric that is
resiliently deformable, and may be formed into a variety of shapes,
such as a ball. In some cases, a plurality of nested fabrics may be
employed in the amusement device.
[0004] This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of
concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in
the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify
key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter,
nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed
subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not
limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages
noted in any part of this disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of an
amusement device formed in the shape of a sphere, and including a
first fabric that is nested within and enclosed by a second fabric,
each fabric being formed of a plastic strand.
[0006] FIG. 2 is a detail view of a section of the fabric of the
amusement device of FIG. 1.
[0007] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross sectional view illustrating of
the amusement device of FIG. 1, illustrating the nested first
fabric and second fabric.
[0008] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a second embodiment of an
amusement device formed in the shape of a football.
[0009] FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the amusement device of FIG.
1, shown temporarily crushed by the hand of a user.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of an amusement device 100.
The amusement device may include at least a first plastic strand
102 wound or laid upon itself to form a first fabric 104 enclosing
a void 105, shown in FIG. 3. The plastic strand 102 is plastically
welded to itself at a plurality of asymmetric weld locations 106
throughout the fabric 104, as shown in FIG. 2. The plastic strand
102 forms multiple loops around the void 105, intersecting itself
at varying angles on the fabric 104 to form plastic welds at the
weld locations.
[0011] As shown in detail in FIG. 2, the strand may substantially
maintain its cross sectional shape throughout the location of each
weld, thereby maintaining its integrity as a strand. This cross
sectional shape may be substantially round or oval, for example.
The resulting fabric 104 formed by strand 102 provides structural
rigidity to hold its shape during play, while being resiliently
deformable to provide springback during bouncing, kicking, batting,
crushing, etc.
[0012] The strand 102 may be looped and joined via the plastic
welds at the weld locations 106 to define a plurality of gaps 108
in the fabric 104, which have substantially straight sides, as
viewed in plan view, i.e. from above. The gaps 108 in the fabric
104 enable a user to see through the amusement device, and reduce
wind resistance on the device when thrown. The gaps 108 also enable
the amusement device 100 to sink during water play, unlike
inflatable toys, which can be advantageous. The gaps 108 further
provide texture for the small hands of a child to grasp at during
play. The strand 102 and gap 108 construction can result in a
pleasing and unique look and feel.
[0013] The amusement device 100 may further include a second
plastic strand 112 wound upon itself to form a second fabric 114
enclosing the void 105. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the second fabric
114 may be nested within the first fabric 104. In the illustrated
embodiment, the second fabric 114 is slightly smaller in diameter
than the first fabric 104. To provide structural support, the first
fabric 104 and second fabric 114 may be plastically welded to each
other at locations intermediate the two fabrics. Alternatively, the
second fabric 114 may be significantly smaller than the first
fabric 104, and/or the fabrics may not be interconnected.
[0014] For visual contrast, the first fabric 104 and second fabric
114 may be different colors. A wide variety of color combinations
may be used. For example, black and white, blue and green, red and
orange, purple and red, etc. Further, the first plastic strand 102
and second plastic strand 112 may have a different cross sectional
shape and/or a different diameter, to further provide visual
contrast and/or variations in structural properties.
[0015] Each of the fabrics may form a closed surface, and may
substantially cover the area of a three dimensional surface of
revolution such as a sphere, as illustrated in FIG. 1. Thus, the
fabric may be formed in the shape of a ball, such as the spherical
ball depicted in FIG. 1 or the oblong shaped football 100A depicted
in FIG. 4. Alternatively, the ball may be formed in the shape of a
basketball, soccer ball, tennis ball, baseball, etc. The amusement
device 100 may be formed in a variety of other shapes, such as a
dog chew toy in the shape of a bone, an ornament or accessory in
the shape of a snowman, etc., in addition to the aforementioned
ball shapes.
[0016] In some embodiments, the ball may include surface
ornamentation formed from another plastic strand 118 adorned on the
ball. For example, the football 100A depicted in FIG. 4 includes
such surface ornamentation 120 to form stripes and stitching on the
ball.
[0017] In one specific example, the amusement device 100 of FIG. 1
may be formed in the shape of a spherical ball that is about four
inches in diameter, and can be deformed with under three pounds of
force. Such a construction enables the ball to spring back when
kicked, bounced and crushed under the force of a user's hand, for
example, as shown in FIG. 5. To achieve such deformable resiliency,
the plastic strand 102 and plastic strand 112 may have a diameter
of between about 1 and 4 millimeters.
[0018] In some embodiments, the plastic strand 102 and the plastic
strand 112 may be made of soft or pliable materials, for example
the plastic strands may have a durometer hardness between 70 A and
90 A. In one particular example, the plastic strands may have a
durometer hardness of about 85 A.
[0019] As discussed above, the fabric 104 and fabric 114 formed
from the plastic strand 102 and plastic strand 112 may be pliable,
for example resiliently deformable by the hand of a user. Thus, the
amusement device 100 may be deformed by being crushed and then may
return substantially or even completely to its original shape.
[0020] Having the amusement device being constructed of at least
one plastic strand wound upon itself to form a fabric that encloses
a void, a textured surface configuration is provided for easy and
sure gripping, furthermore a bouncy, yet pliable body is provided
for easy and comfortable catching and/or holding. In addition, such
an amusement device may have the advantage of being less expensive
to make to make, for example when compared to a ball having a mesh
surface made of loop structures.
[0021] FIG. 4 is a schematic view of another embodiment of an
amusement device 100A, in the form of a football. In this
embodiment, the amusement device 100A includes a first plastic
strand 102 wound upon itself to form a first fabric 104 in the
shape of the football. The first fabric 104 is shown to enclose the
void 105. The present embodiment amusement device 100 is shown to
also include additional plastic strands 118 wound upon themselves
to form surface ornamentations 120, including two ring shaped
surface ornamentations placed at the two ends of the football
surface and a plate shaped ornament placed at the center of the
football surface, to appear as finger stitching on the
football.
[0022] FIG. 5 illustrates amusement device 100 temporarily crushed
or deformed by the hand of the user. Since the amusement device 100
may be resiliently deformable, the amusement device may return
substantially or completely to its original shape after being
crushed in this manner.
[0023] In some embodiments, the amusement device 100 may include
accessories attached to the amusement device 100, for example, by
welding, sewing, and/or crimping some or all of the accessories to
the amusement device 100. The accessories may include for example
objects of interest to children, such as rattles and body parts of
animal, such as eye, nose/snout, ear, hand, arm, feet, leg,
whisker, heart, and tail, etc.
[0024] It should be understood that the embodiments herein are
illustrative and not restrictive, since the scope of the invention
is defined by the appended claims rather than by the description
preceding them, and all changes that fall within metes and bounds
of the claims, or equivalence of such metes and bounds thereof are
therefore intended to be embraced by the claims.
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