Bubble Producing Toy

Abstract

A bubble producing toy which has a rotatably mounted apertured disc in which some of the apertures are submerged within a bubble producing solution. The apertured disc is provided with vanes which cause the disc to rotate in response to pneumatic pressure being applied. The same pneumatic pressure is utilized to form the bubbles.

Description

This invention relates generally to bubble producing toys and more particularly to a toy, particularly of the premium type which is designed to produce a plurality of bubbles by utilizing a stream of air to rotate an apertured vaned disc through a bubble solution and simultaneously utilize the air stream to create the bubbles.

Devices to form bubbles have long been used to amuse children. The most common is the wire or plastic loop, with an attached handle, which is dipped into a liquid bubble solution and subsequently blown by the child to form a large soap bubble.

The emphasis, as of late, upon the children's toys and amusement devices, many elaborate toys have been developed which are designed to produce bubbles to amuse children. These prior art devices have taken many forms. One such device, as seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,736,988, has an element which rotates through a bubble solution by turning a hand crank. In conjunction with the cranking, a stream of air is forced through a tube to effect the bubble formation. In another prior art device, seen in U.S. Pat. No. 2,987,847 the bubble making apparatus is placed in a housing with the bubble wheel partially submerged in the bubble solution. A stream of air is forced into the housing and turns an impeller, which, by use of a series of axles and gears, turns the bubble wheel which in turn produces the bubbles. In still another devise, a wound-up rubber band is used as the motive power to turn the bubble wheel.

These prior art devices have a common disadvantage; namely, that they require many manufactured parts and a large amount of labor to assemble the toy. The result is that these devices are expensive.

Toys and amusement games for children which are given away as premium items in contests, cereal boxes, etc. must be interesting to the children and additionally they must be very inexpensive to produce. The prior art multi-bubble devices are completely unfit for use as premium items both because of their excessive size and more importantly, because of the high cost due to their complicated construction.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a premium toy which will produce a plurality of bubbles.

Another object of this invention is to provide a bubble producing toy which is small and compact so as to be suitable for use as a premium item.

Still another object is to provide a multi-bubble toy which is of simple design and construction.

A further object is to provide a bubble producing toy in which blowing by the user both turns the apertured bubble disc and produces a plurality of bubbles.

A still further object is to provide a multi-bubble producing toy which is inexpensive when produced in large quantities.

Another object is to provide a bubble producing toy which conserves and uses a minimum amount of bubble producing liquid.

Another object is to produce a toy which can be utilized by and still be entertaining to children of widely varying ages.

Another object is to produce a toy which will be durable and not easily broken by children during use.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The foregoing and other objects of the invention not specifically enumerated are accomplished by providing a multi-bubble producing toy utilizing an apertured disc which is rotatably mounted on a frame designed to hold a supply of liquid bubble solution. The apertured disc is mounted so that each aperture is sequentially submerged into the liquid as the disc turns. The apertured disc is further provided with vane elements attached thereto. These vanes are placed on the apertured disc such that when a pneumatic force is placed against the vanes, the apertured disc will be caused to rotate about its axis. The vanes are designed to function in much the same manner as the vanes of a windmill. The solution holding frame is further adapted to be used as a handle while the premium toy is being used or a separate handle may be attached to the frame.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, properties, and the relation of elements which will be exemplified in the article hereinafter described, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the spinning bubble wheel.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a partially broken front view of the spinning bubble wheel.

FIG. 4 is a cut-away side view through line 4--4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a modified front view of the present invention.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawing.

The amusement device illustrated by the Figures comprises a liquid bubble solution holder 10, which consists of two semi-circular side walls 12 and 14 which are held in a parallel fixed relationship to each other by a semi-annular end wall 16. The solution holder 10 may be of unitary construction, as shown in the figures, or the side and end wall elements may be manufactured separately and assembled by glue or other suitable bonding method. Further, the solution holder may be molded from any suitable material such as plastic, rubber, metal, or other similar workable substance.

An apertured disc 18 is provided which is rotatably mounted within the solution holder 10. The disc 18 is centrally mounted within the holder 10, by providing side wall 12 with a nub or projection 20 while providing side wall 14 with a medially placed aperture 22. The axle 24 of disc 18 is transverse to the disc and is provided with an indent 26 and a projection or nub 28 which are respectively adapted to snap over nub 20 on side wall 12 and project through aperture 22 on side wall 14. With such a construction, a relatively simple and low friction bearing is provided which allows disc 18 to be easily rotated. It should be realized however, that any suitable type of simple construction could be utilized to enable the disc 18 to easily rotate and it is not intended that this device be limited to this particular axle construction.

Disc 18 has a plurality of apertures 30 spaced about its perimeter, as may be seen in FIG. 2. Integral with the disc and spaced between the apertures are vanes 32. These vanes 32, as shown in the figures, project radially from the axis 24 and extend outward from the surface of disc 18. When a pneumatic force is applied to the surface of the disc 18 in the directions indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2, the disc 18 will rotate in the opposite direction. When the disc 18 rotates, the apertures 30 serially submerge and emerge from the bubble producing solution. The emerging apertures 30 are covered with a thin film of solution and as these apertures are rotated up they are struck by the pneumatic force which drives the vanes 32. This force forms a multiplicity of bubbles from each aperture while that particular aperture rotates back down into the bubble producing solution. Therefore, a continuous stream of bubbles are produced. The bubble production will remain continuous until insufficient bubble solution remains in holder 10.

The premium toy is designed to be held in the fingers by grasping holder 10. The toy is small and lightweight. It is also contemplated that the premium toy would be provided with a handle 34, as is shown in FIG. 5. Handle 34 would be made of the same material as holder 10 or disc 18 and it may be molded or adhesively bonded in any suitable manner.

It is further contemplated that other modifications in the design be made, for instance, the solution holder might be of a rectangular form so that it would be able to stand by itself. Similarly, the size and shape of the apertured disc and vanes could be varied to effect varied speeds and bubble sizes.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description, are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above article without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention, which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described;

Claims

what is claimed is:

1. A bubble producing toy comprising a container for holding a bubble producing solution, an apertured disc rotatably mounted so that at least one of said apertures is submerged in said solution, impeller means integrally formed on said disc adapted to rotate said disc in response to a pneumatic force applied against said disc, whereby said pneumatic force will also cause bubbles to be blown from film picked up by said apertured disc as it rotates.

2. The bubble producing toy of claim 1 wherein said impeller means consist of a plurality of vanes extending radially from said disc and further wherein one vane is located between each of said apertures.

3. The bubble producing toy of claim 2 wherein said radially extending vanes attached to said apertured disc are perpendicular to said apertured disc.

4. The bubble producing toy of claim 1 wherein said container is of a unitary, molded plastic construction.

5. The bubble producing toy of claim 3 wherein said apertured, vaned disc is of molded plastic construction.

6. The bubble producing toy of claim 4 where a plastic handle is attached to said unitary container.