US20140011427A1

US20140011427A1 - Sky ball yo-yo

Info

Publication number: US20140011427A1
Application number: US14/024,298
Authority: US
Inventors: Brian Kessler
Original assignee: Maui Toys Inc
Current assignee: Maui Toys Inc
Priority date: 2012-03-13
Filing date: 2013-09-11
Publication date: 2014-01-09
Also published as: WO2013138279A1; CN104321117A

Abstract

A yo-yo construction includes balls, wheels or the like as exterior elements, which balls, wheels or the like have a high bounce ability, and are preferably inflated.

Description

This is a CIP of PCT/US2013/030379. The present invention relates to a new toy construction including a ball or wheel modified yo-yo, and the present application incorporates by reference Kessler application 61/610,265, on which this application is based.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

The invention comprises a centrally disposed yo-yo which may have a typical yo-yo construction of the various types presently known. The central yo-yo part of the present device need not differ from the usual yo-yo construction, e.g. see www.yoyonation.com; Duncan U.S. Pat. No. 3,805,443; Levy U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,850; Kuhn U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,701; Elzen U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,897; O'Sullivan U.S. Pat. No. 5,984,759; the contents of which are incorporated by reference. Only the outside shape and characteristics of the yo-yo body halves need to differ from the conventional constructions in the preferred embodiments, and these have the added features explained below, including two preferably hollow balls or wheels as outriggers or axial end elements of the yo-yo.
The yo-yo of the present invention introduces a new level of skill into the art of play with a yo-yo. The two balls or wheels which constitute novel features of the present yo-yo construction have a high degree of bounce, such balls or wheels being desirably in accordance with the construction of Kessler U.S. Pat. No. 8,123,638, the contents of which are incorporated by reference. The player must develop not only the skill of working the yo-yo consistent with previously known yo-yos, but also must control the yo-yo to controllably bounce off a hard surface, e.g. the ground, a floor or even a wall. When bouncing the yo-yo off a hard surface, the player must ensure that the two balls or wheels strike the hard surface with substantially equal force. If the balls do not hit with equal force, the yo-yo becomes more difficult to control, and this leads to the requirement for still an additional skill level.
Novel features of the preferred embodiments of the present invention involve the outside shape of the yo-yo body halves which are each desirably hemispherically shaped or egg-shaped to receive or comprise, in a complimentary fashion, a hollow ball or wheel as illustrated in the attached drawings. The balls or wheels are inflatable or pre-inflated, and desirably spherical, or they could be egg-shaped or in the shape of an ellipsoid or even cylindrical, or axially elongated wheel shaped, or hemispherical, so long as the balls or wheels or the like are capable of first bouncing and then rolling along a surface, e.g. a floor. The balls or wheels are the yo-yo halves and desirably have a diameter parallel to the axis of the yo-yo halves, which diameter is greater than the diameter of conventional yo-yo halves, so that the balls or wheels roll on the ground rather than the edges of the walls of a typical or conventional yo-yo.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be readily understood from the following drawings and description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a yo-yo in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view and elevational view thereof, the illustrated yo-yo embodiment being symmetrical along an axis thereof.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view along line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded assembly view showing the component parts of the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the yo-yo embodiment 10 in accordance with the present invention including two inflated balls 12 side-by-side with a yo-yo mechanism 14 therebetween, all anchored together to provide a composite structure. The yo-yo mechanism 14 includes a yo-yo string 16 by which the player is capable of drawing or moving the yo-yo up and down, and also provide various yo-yo tricks.
The balls themselves can be of various types, but the preferred types are the balls of the “SKY BALL®” construction of Kessler U.S. Pat. No. 8,123,638, incorporated herein by reference, which balls are inflated high bounce balls having a shell or skin formed of polyurethane. The balls are also preferably transparent, although they may be tinted and may comprise patterns on the surface thereof, or they may be opaque.
As best shown in FIG. 3, the yo-yo side walls 18 of the two balls 12 which form the side walls of the yo-yo mechanism 14 are preferably molded integral and unitary with the shells of the balls 12, but with such unitary side walls 18 being thicker to provide sufficient rigidity. Such side wall 18 rigidity could be formed by other means and mechanisms, such as by adhering a separate plate or the like at the appropriate location of the yo-yo side walls 18, which location is shown in FIG. 3. For example, the balls 12 or wheels or the like can alternatively be adhesively attached to complementary shaped exterior surfaces of a yo-yo body halves. Or the balls or wheels can be adhered to a yo-yo body by other means, for example by molding or spin welding.
FIG. 4, an exploded view, best shows details of a suitable yo-yo mechanism 14, including a pin 20 which serves to join the two balls 12 including the yo-yo side walls 18 or the like together, and a spool 22 around which the string 16 is wound.
FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate the second embodiment 100 wherein the outside shape of the yo-yo body halves 112 are in the form of inflated wheels side-by-side with a suitable yo-yo mechanism 114 therebetween, which yo-yo mechanism 114 may be the same as the yo-yo mechanism 14 of the embodiment 10 of FIGS. 1-4. The yo-yo embodiment 100 of FIGS. 5 and 6 will also be provided with a yo-yo string, not illustrated for this embodiment.
The wheels 112 each have an exterior, outwardly facing appearance which is generally a donut shape, with a solid interior wall 118 which is thicker and more rigid than the remainder of the walls of the wheels 112. As with the embodiment 10 of FIGS. 1-4, the wheels 112 are inflated high bounce wheels like the balls of Kessler U.S. Pat. No. 8,123,638, with the shell or skin of the wheels 112 being formed of polyurethane. As with the balls 12 of yo-yo embodiment 10 of FIGS. 1-4, the wheels 112 of the wheel embodiment 100 of FIGS. 5 and 6 may be transparent, tinted, opaque or have patterns on the surface thereof.
What is essential is the high bounce capability of yo-yos in accordance with the present invention, whether such yo-yos are hollow and inflated as in the illustrated embodiments, or even solid. Providing high inflated hollow bodies such as the illustrated balls and wheels ensures the degree of desired bounceability.
Among the advantages of the present yo-yo construction are the ability of the yo-yo to bounce off a solid surfaces by virtue of the high bounce ability of the balls or wheels, to roll along and against a solid surface, and to provide a twirling and twisting effect, while at the same time retaining usual characteristics of a yo-yo, while also providing a visual effect quite different from previous yo-yo constructions.
The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without undue experimentation and without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. The means, materials, and steps for carrying out various disclosed functions may take a variety of alternative forms without departing from the invention.
Thus the expressions “means to . . . ” and “means for . . . ”, or any method step language, as may be found in the specification above and/or in the claims below, followed by a functional statement, are intended to define and cover whatever structural, physical, chemical or electrical element or structure, or whatever method step, which may now or in the future exist which carries out the recited function, whether or not precisely equivalent to the embodiment or embodiments disclosed in the specification above, i.e., other means or steps for carrying out the same functions can be used; and it is intended that such expressions be given their broadest interpretation.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A yo-yo construction comprising side walls having high bounce ability balls, wheels or the like attached to or forming a part of exterior surfaces of yo-yo side walls.

2. The yo-yo of claim 1, wherein the balls, wheels or the like are hollow and inflated.

3. The yo-yo of claim 2, wherein the balls, wheels or the like each have an inwardly facing thickened wall portion to which is attached a yo-yo mechanism including a spool.

4. The yo-yo of claim 2, wherein the balls or wheels are spherical or egg-shaped or shaped as wheels or donuts.

5. The yo-yo of claim 3, wherein the balls or wheels are spherical or egg-shaped or shaped as wheels or donuts.

6. The yo-yo construction of claim 1, wherein the yo-yo side walls are unitary and integral with the balls, wheels or the like.

7. The yo-yo construction of claim 2, wherein the yo-yo side walls are unitary and integral with the balls, wheels or the like.

8. The yo-yo construction of claim 3, wherein the yo-yo side walls are unitary and integral with the balls, wheels or the like.

9. The yo-yo construction of claim 1, wherein the balls or wheels correspond in characteristics to those disclosed in Kessler U.S. Pat. No. 8,123,638.

10. The yo-yo construction of claim 8, wherein the balls or wheels correspond in characteristics to those disclosed in Kessler U.S. Pat. No. 8,123,638.