Amusement Device

Abstract

An amusement device having a particularly unpredictable performance when rolled over a playing surface is formed as an ovoid member having a generally hemispheroidal first end portion and a generally paraboloidal second end portion. The first end portion is formed with a hollow structure so that the center of gravity of the ovoid member is spaced apart from the geometric center of the longitudinal axis. The two end portions of the device meet at a maximum diameter position which has a center which is itself spaced apart from both the center of gravity and the geometric center of the longitudinal axis of the device.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to amusement devices or balls or pucks which can be used in many different ways in games, or merely for amusement.

More particularly, the invention relates to an amusement device having a particularly unpredictable behavior when rolled, or hit along the ground with a hockey stick or the like.

Although play balls having unpredictable and apparently erratic behaviors have previously been proposed, there is still a need for a ball or amusement device which will not only present a high measure of unpredictability but which will have a simple construction and configuration and consequently a relatively low manufacturing cost.

Accordingly, a principal object of this invention is to provide an amusement device of the type indicated and which is characterized by having a high measure of unpredictability in its behavior.

Another object of this invention is to provide an amusement device of the type indicated and which can be manufactured at a relatively low cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In its broadest scope, the present invention provides an amusement device which comprises an ovoid member having a major longitudinal axis around which said member is substantially symmetrical and of substantially circular cross-sectional configuration at each and every position therealong, said ovoid member having a maximum transverse diameter at a position longitudinally displaced from the geometric center of said longitudinal axis, and said ovoid member having a material distribution such that the center of gravity thereof is spaced apart from both said geometric center of said longitudinal axis and from the center of said maximum transverse diameter.

Other features of the invention will become apparent as the description herein proceeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described merely by way of illustration with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one particularly useful embodiment of an amusement device in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a vertical axial sectional view through the amusement device of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view through the amusement device of FIGS. 1 and 2 when taken as indicated by the arrows 3--3 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The amusement device shown in the accompanying drawings comprises an ovoid member of resilient material, generally indicated at 10 and which is generally symmetrical about its longitudinal axis as indicated at A--A in FIG. 2. The ovoid member 10 has a substantially circular transverse configuration at each and every position along its longitudinal axis A--A.

Referring particularly to FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that the ovoid member 10 has an asymmetrical longitudinal configuration having a maximum transverse diameter as indicated at 11, 12 at a position offset along the longitudinal axis A--A from the geometric center L of that axis.

In accordance with a particularly important feature of this invention, the ovoid member 10 is manufactured with a material distribution such that its center of gravity as indicated at G in FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings is spaced apart from both the geometric center L of the longitudinal axis A--A and from its center T at its maximum diameter. In the particular construction shown in the accompanying drawings, the center of gravity is disposed on the longitudinal axis A--A between the geometric center L and the maximum diameter transverse center T. It is, however, equally within the scope of this invention to vary the material distribution of the ovoid member 10 so that its center of gravity G is disposed in other positions provided that such center of gravity is spaced apart from both the longitudinal center L and the maximum diameter center T.

The ovoid member 10 may be formed in any appropriate manner to ensure such spaced apart positions for its three centers T, G and L and the particular construction shown in the accompanying drawings is described merely by way of illustration. That particular construction is, however, advantageous in that it permits the manufacture of the ovoid member 10 by a relatively simple and inexpensive moulding operation.

In the illustrated construction, the ovoid member 10 comprises a generally hemispheroidal end portion generally indicated at 14 and based on the aforementioned maximum diameter 11, 12 on one side thereof and a generally paraboloidal end portion generally indicated at 15 and based on the maximum diameter 11, 12 on the opposite side thereof to the hemispheroidal end portion 14. It should be emphasized that the invention is in no way restricted to an amusement device in which the generally paraboloidal end portion is precisely geometrically paraboloidal. Similarly, it is not essential that the end portion 14 of such an element be precisely geometrically hemispheroidal. Variations from such precise geometric configurations for the end portions 14 and 15 are possible provided that the aforementioned centers G, T and L are mutually spaced apart.

Many different constructions for the ovoid member 10 can be adopted to provide the material distribution necessary to ensure the desired location of the center of gravity. In the particular member 10 shown in the accompanying drawings, the generally paraboloidal end portion 15 of the ovoid member 10 is formed so as to be substantially solid whereas the generally hemispheroidal end portion 14 is formed as a hollow hemispheroidal shell 16 bounded by a hemispherical outer surface 17 and a concentric hemispherical inner surface 18, the inner surface 18 of the hemispheroidal shell 16 defining a hemispheroidal chamber or compartment 19 within the member 10. In the particular member 10 shown in the accompanying drawings, the chamber 19 extends a short distance into the generally paraboloidal end portion 15.

The ovoid member 10 can be manufactured by any suitable method and will generally be formed by moulding a resilient material such as an elastomer which, if desired, may be foamed. Normally the element 10 will be formed in two separate parts which can be bonded together, for example by the use of a suitable adhesive. The member 10 could, for example, be divided about its maximum diameter 11, 12 with the generally hollow hemispheroidal end portion 14 being formed separately from the solid generally paraboloidal end portion 15. Since such a manufacturing procedure would, however, require the use of two different moulds, it could well be advantageous to divide the member 10 longitudinally into two identical halves. Such halves could then be manufactured using a single mould and could be assembled, for example, by means of an adhesive as indicated by the seam 20 shown in the accompanying drawings. Although the invention is not restricted to any particular dimensions for the ovoid member 10, it can perhaps usefully be noted that one such member was manufactured with an overall length of 3 inches and with the generally hemispheroidal end portion 14 having a diameter of 2 inches.

The ovoid member 10 constituting an amusement device in accordance with this invention may be used in many ways in which its unpredictable behavior will be exhibited. It may, for example, be rolled by hand over any suitable playing surface or it may be used as a puck and hit over the playing surface by players using hockey sticks or similar equipment. During its movement, the behavior of the member or "puck" 10 will be very unpredictable due to the hereinbefore described spaced apart positions of the three centers T, G and L. For example, when rolling along a surface, the member 10 may flip end over end when its velocity is sufficiently high or it may roll about its longitudinal axis at lower velocities. As a result of the displacement of the center of gravity G relative to the longitudinal center L, the longitudinal axis A--A will normally be inclined relative to the horizontal during such rolling and the member 10 will, therefore, move across the surface along a curved path, the radius of which will vary in accordance with the speed of the member.

Similarly, the rebound behavior of the member 10 will be equally unpredictable depending on the speed at which it hits a surface, on the position on the element at which it hits the surface and on the angle of incidence. Furthermore, the behavior of the member 10 may be affected by differences in the resilience of its generally hemispheroidal end portion 14 and its generally paraboloidal end portion 15, such difference being caused by the hollow structure of the former and the generally solid construction of the latter. On the other hand, the material from which the member 10 is formed and the structure of the shell 16 may be such that the two end portions have more or less the same rebound resilience.

Claims

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An amusement device comprising an ovoid member formed of a resilient elastomeric material and having a major longitudinal axis around which said member is substantially symmetrical; a substantially circular cross-sectional configuration at each and every position therealong, said ovoid member having a maximum transverse diameter at a position longitudinally displaced from the geometric center of said longitudinal axis forming a generally hemispheroidal portion therein comprising a generally hemispheroidal shell defined by concentric inner and outer generally hemispherical surfaces defining a hemispherical chamber and a generally solid paraboloidal portion having its base on said maximum transverse diameter the opposite axial side thereof, so that the center of gravity of said ovoid member is located at a fixed point on said major longitudinal axis and spaced apart between said geometric center of said longitudinal axis and the center of said maximum transverse diameter.