US2877931A - Water gun - Google Patents

Description

March 17, 1959 A. E. GOLDFARB WATER GUN Filed May 3l. 1955 VIII IN VEN TOR.

3 IGI l mY Y 4 m f c 6 im y l eY MEW y, w n 4 a United States Patent C WATER GUN Adolph E. Goldfarb, North Hollywood, Calif. Application May 31, 1955, Serial No. 511,899

3 Claims. (Cl. 222-79) The present invention relates to a liquid squirting device, and more particularly to a water gun for ejecting a stream of water through a hole in the end of the gun barrel.

Toys and novelties should of necessity be made of rugged and economical construction. Liquid or water squirting devices, for example, should be designed for rough usage and economical mass production. This calls for relatively few parts, easily fabricated of tough, low cost materials, preferably by mass production method, and readily assembled with a minimum of labor.

Accordingly, it is an important object of my invention to provide a liquid squirting device of rugged and economical construction.

Another object is to provide a water gun designed for roughk usage and economical mass production.

A further object is to provide a water gun made of a minimum number of parts, capable of inexpensive fabrication from tough materials, and capable of ready assembly with the requirement of a minimum amount of labor.

Additional objects will become apparent from the following description.

Broadly stated, the liquid or water squirting device of my invention comprises the following. A barrel is provided with a pinhole through a Wall in the front end of the barrel. A resilient thimble of a plastic or rubbery material is positioned in the front end of the barrel to form a liquid-tight chamber communicating with the atmosphere through the pinhole. The barrel is slidably or telescopically mounted in a holder member. The holder member is provided with a projection extending into the rear of the barrel to the thimble. As the barrel is forced into the holder, the projection forces the wall of the thimble toward the front end of the barrel, and liquid is squeezed from the chamber in the barrel through the pinhole to the atmosphere.

For reasons of economy in fabrication and assembly of the parts of my invention I prefer to cast the barrel as a single unit, together with the front wall and any auxiliary, trigger, guide or slide means, of a synthetic plastic material. Similarly, I prefer to cast the holder member, together with the projection and any auxiliary, guide, side and grip means, as a single unit of synthetic plastic material. The thimble preferably is dimensioned to ft tightly in the barrel without the use of cement.

A more detailed description of a specific embodiment of my invention is given with reference to the drawing wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing an assembled water gun;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view in cross-section showing the barrel fully extended in the holder;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 2 showing guide and slide means for the trigger and the barrel;

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Figure 4 is a side elevational view in cross-section showing the barrel fully retracted in the holder; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the barrel unit of the water gun.

In the embodiment shown in the drawing, thebarrel member 10 is cast as a single unit consisting of hollow gun barrel 11, and end wall 12 in the end of the gun barrel, a pinhole 13 through the end wall 12, a stop protuberance 14 at the top rear of the barrel and a trigger and guide plate 16 extending from the bottom of the barrel. The barrel member 10 preferably is cast from a tough synthetic plastic or synthetic resin material.

Similarly, the holder member 17 is cast as a single unit consisting of a cylindrical chamber 18, a grip portion 19, and a projection 21. The holder member 17 also preferably is cast from the same tough material used for the barrel member 10.

The resilient thimble 22 preferably is made of a water resistant synthetic plastic or synthetic rubber material. The thimble 22 contains an annular bead or base 23 containing a flat surface 24 adapted to forcefully engage the interior annular surface of the barrel 11. This engagement results from an exertion of radial forces at the base 23 of the thimble because of the resiliency of the thimble material. The engagement of the interior surface of the barrel is suflciently tight to form a watertight seal and thus a water chamber 24 communicating with the atmosphere only through pinhole 13.

The top of the barrel 11 is provided with parallel slits 26 to impart resiliency to the protuberance 14. This arrangement permits protuberance 14 to be depressed so that barrel member 10 can be tted into holder member 17 so that barrel 11 is telescopically slidable in cylindrical chamber 18. Protuberance 14 then extends through slot 27 (Figure 1) to limit the extension of barrel 11 in cylindrical chamber 18.

Parallel rails 28 are formed on the inside of bottom 29 of the grip portion 19 to guide the movement of trigger plate 16. A slit 31 is formed in the trigger plate 16 adjacent barrel 11 to cooperate with the ledge 32, at the bottom of cylindrical chamber 18 and act as guide means for barrel 11 in chamber 18. Slit 31 and ledge 32 nest and act as a stop when the barrel is retracted.

It will be observed that the water gun is a snap assembly without the use of glue or outside fastening devices. The resilient bulb or thimble 22 acts as a spring to push the barrel 11 out from the handle or holder member 17 when linger pressure is released from the trigger or guide plate 16. The thimble 22 acts as a water container, cyilnder and piston device, and a return spring. It seals itself against the front end wall 12 and the sides of the barrel 11.

When barrel 11 is retracted into chamber 18, by pulling on trigger plate 16, while grip portion 19 is held against movement, elongate conical projection 21 is forced against the wall of thimble 22 as shown in Figure 4. The thimble wall is forced toward the front end of the barrel 11 and water under pressure is squirted from the watercontaining chamber 24 into the atmosphere through pinhole 13. The water chamber 24 is refilled by dipping the front end of the barrel 11 beneath the surface of a body of water and releasing the pressure on linger plate 16. The resiliency in thimble 22 forces its walls back to their normal, conical shape in barrel 11, as shown in Figure 2, and water is sucked into water chamber 24 through pinhole 13. The thimble 22 again is reloaded and barrel 11 again is extended for squirting.

It will be observed that I have provided a liquid squirting device of rugged, economical construction, designed for mass production at low material cost and for ready assembly at low labor cost.

The foregoing description is primarily for explanatory purposes, and is` given to illustrate a specific embodiment of my invention. It is understood that many variations and modifications in the structure, design and details of the water gun described above will occur to-one skilled in the art; Accordingly, itis understood-'that'such changes in the specific-embodiment illustrated and described above may be made Within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of thel invention.

What I claim is:

1. A water gun comprising a resilient thimble, a barrel member and a holder member in which the barrel member is telescopically mounted, the barrel member being cast as a unit and having a wall at the front end of the barrel with a pinhole through the wall, a plate extending from the bottom of the barrel serving as a trigger and guide means and a protuberance projecting from the top of the barrel serving as a slide and stop means; the thimbleA being of generally elongated conical shape and positioned coaxially with the barrel in the front end thereof with its apex extending toward the rear of the barrel and its annular base sealing o a liquid-tight chamber communicating with the atmosphere through the pinhole; and the holder member being cast as a unit and having a cylindrical chamber for telescopically receiving the barrel and a grip portion for slidably receiving the plate extending from the bottom of the barrel, the cylindrical chamber being provided with a slot on the top thereof for slidably receiving the protuberance projecting from the top of the barrel, a generally elongated conical re-entrant projection extending from the rear wall of the cylindrical chamber coaxially with the thimble and with its apex adjacent that of the thimble when the barrel is in its most extending position, and guide means inside the grip portion of the holder member for guiding the plate extending from the bottom of the barrel when the barrel is forcefully telescoped inside the cylindrical chamber of the holder member for squeezing water from the thimble as 4 the re-entrant projection forces the apex of the thimble toward the front' of the barrel.

2. In a water gun, a one-piece holder having an openended recess formed therein, a one-piece barrel member slidable in said recess, said barrel member having a wall provided with a free edge portion in said recess, parallel slots in said Wall from said free edge and defining therebetween a resilient finger, a projection on the end of said nger, and a closed-end slot in a wall of said recess, said projection being guidingly received by said closed-end slot` and means for expelling lluid from said barrel member when said barrel member is moved inwardly of said recess.

3. In a water gun, a generally cylindrical tubular barrel member having one end wall and open at the other end, a small opening in said end wall, a resiliently collapsible but normally distended open-ended thimble in said barrel with the open end thereof abutting the inner face of said end Wall, the open-end portion of said thimble fricitonally and sealingly engaging the inner surface of said tubular barrel, a holder having a recess slidably receiving said open end of said tubular barrel, a projection on said holder extending through said open end of said barrelV into engagement with said thimble whereby the resilience of said thimble urges said barrel outwardly of said recess, and stop means limiting outward movement of said barrel to a position wherein said projection still engages said thimble to hold the open end thereof against the inner face of said end wall.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 687,367 Barton Nov. 26, 1901 1,180,857 Lefever Apr. 25, 1916 FOREIGN PATENTS 593,216 France May 16, 1925

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