Toy hoop guide rod

A guide rod, for rolling a toy hoop, formed of a squared U-shaped guide portion with a short shaft portion arranged approximately perpendicular to the plane of said guide portion and integral with the free end of one of the legs of the guide portion. An elongated pole-like handle is releasably connected to the end of the shaft. The guide portion is made in interchangeable left and right hand configurations, by arranging the U-shape on its side, to open sideways, with the shaft formed on the free end of the upper leg, and with the shaft extending approximately perpendicularly away from the plane of the U-shape in either one or the opposite direction to form either a left or right handed guide, either of which may interchangeably be used with the same handle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention herein relates to a toy rolling hoop which is guided and 
propelled by means of a long rod provided with a U-shaped end portion for 
engaging the hoop. Examples of hoops and guide rods of the general type 
involved are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,984,937 issued May 23, 1961 to 
Rendon, U.S. Pat. No. 3,535,820 issued Oct. 27, 1970 to Thompson, U.S. 
Pat. No. 3,731,425 issued May 8, 1973 to Streeter and U.S. Pat. No. 
3,956,851 issued May 18, 1976 to Tapinekis. 
In the past, the guide rods were typically made for a right handed 
operation. Use of such a device by a left handed child is generally more 
difficult and somewhat frustrating. Hence, it would be desirable to 
provide a push rod device which can be easily used in either a right 
handed or left handed manner and yet is made very inexpensively since toys 
of this character are classified in the low price category. Hence, the 
invention herein is concerned essentially with the provision of a guide 
rod which may be selectively formed in either a right or left handed 
manner. 
SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
The invention herein concerns the provision of a toy hoop guide rod which 
is formed in two separable parts, namely a guide end portion and a handle 
portion, with the guide end portion being formed either in a right handed 
or left handed use configuration, for interchangeable connection to a 
single handle or rod portion. In essence, the invention herein 
contemplates forming, as by molding out of plastic, a squared U-shaped 
guide having an integral short mounting shaft connected with one of the 
free legs of the U-shape and depending upon which direction the leg 
extends relative to the plane of the U-shape, the guide forms either a 
left or right hand configuration. Since the guides are otherwise 
identical, they may be selectively used with a single handle which is in 
the form of a long, pole-like rod which is mechanically coupled to the end 
of the shaft. 
The manufacturer normally would form three parts, namely a left handed 
guide, a right handed guide, and a single handle and the sellers would 
normally sell a handle with either or both a left handed or a right handed 
guide for mechanical coupling together. Hence, a choice of a left handed 
or right handed guide may be provided with the hoop toy at very low cost. 
Various objects and advantages of this invention, in addition to those 
expressed above, will become apparent upon reading the following 
description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
FIG. 1 illustrates a guide rod 10 engaging a toy hoop 11. The hoop is 
conventional, and may be, for example, of a foot and one half in diameter 
and made of either hollow tubing joined at its opposite ends into a 
hoop-form, or of a solid material. 
The guide rod is formed of either a right hand guide member 12 (see FIGS. 
2, 3 and 5) or a left hand guide member 12a (see FIGS. 4 and 6). These 
guide members are identical with one exception, as will be described 
below. 
The guide members, whether left or right handed, are formed of a squared 
U-shaped guide portion 13 having a base part 14 with integral legs 15 and 
16. A short shaft 18 is formed integral with the end of one leg and the 
free end of the shaft provided with a threaded socket 19. The shaft is 
roughly perpendicular to the plane containing the U-shaped guide portion 
14. That is, the shaft may be actually perpendicular or may be angled 
upwardly relative to a vertical plane. Depending upon which direction the 
shaft extends relative to the plane of the U-shaped guide portion, a left 
hand or right hand guide is formed. For example, FIG. 5 illustrates a 
right hand guide and FIG. 6 illustrates a left hand guide, both identical 
except, as can be seen for the relative positioning between the shafts and 
the bases 14. 
Because of the similarity in construction, except for the direction of 
extension of the shaft, suitable molds can be made which can be adapted to 
mold, out of plastic, either left or right hand guides depending upon the 
cavity arrangements for the shaft. Thus, the guides can be inexpensively 
made out of molded plastic of a suitable commercially available type. 
Alternatively, it could be formed out of heavy bent wire-like metal, 
although that is likely to be more expensive. 
The handle 20 of the guide rod is formed of an elongated pole-like rod 
whose length may be varied, but which is considerably longer than the 
shaft. A threaded extension 21 is formed on one end of the rod for 
threadedly engaging within the threaded socket 19 on the shaft to thereby 
releasably couple the handle to the shaft and thus to the guide member. As 
can be seen, a single handle 20 can be utilized with either a left hand or 
a right hand guide member, whichever is pre-selected. 
In use, the child operater who is rolling a hoop, normally, if right 
handed, would keep the guide in the position shown in FIG. 2, that is with 
the base 14 essentially vertical and to the right side of the user. The 
reverse is the position for the left handed user, i.e., with the base 14 
on the left side. An alternative use position could be with the base 14 
arranged horizontally at the lower rear quadrant of the hoop, and the leg 
15 arranged vertically and on the right side of the right hand 
configuration or the left side of the left hand configuration. In this 
manner, the hoop is guided and pushed for rolling motion. 
FIG. 7 illustrates a modified form of coupling between the handle 20 and 
the modified shaft 18a. Here, the end socket 25 is provided with a 
conventional bayonet slot 26 for receiving the handle extension 27 and a 
protuberance or bump 28 which interlocks with the bayonet slot. Other 
forms of mechanical interlocking may be utilized for interconnecting the 
handle to the shaft. 
FIG. 8-10 illustrate modifications which incorporate the use of magnets 
within the guide member for magnetically interacting with the hoop. Thus, 
as illustrated in FIG. 8, a relatively weak, permanent magnet 30 is 
embedded within the base 14 of the guide portion. FIG. 9 shows a magnet 31 
embedded within the leg 16 of the guide portion. In either case, the hoop 
11 is provided with a layer or lining 32 of a magnetically responsive 
ferrous material so that the hoop is magnetically attracted to the guide 
and the two tend to stay together even though the magnetic attraction is 
not sufficient to interfere with the rolling motion of the hoop relative 
to the guide. Of course, the entire hoop can be made of metal in any 
conventional manner. However, FIG. 10 illustrates a construction wherein 
the hoop is made out of a plastic material which is provided with a metal 
liner 32, bonded to the plastic. 
FIGS. 11-13 illustrate another modification wherein the shaft is formed 
separately from the guide and may be secured in either one of two 
positions for left or right hand use. Here, the U-shaped guide member 35 
is provided with a tongue 36 at the end of one its legs. An opening 37 
extends through the tongue. The shaft 38 is formed with a slot 29 to 
receive the tongue and an opening 40 for alignment with the opening 37 of 
the tongue. A mechanical fastener, such as a bolt 41 extends through the 
aligned openings 40 and 37 and may be locked in place by a suitable nut 
42. Thus, the shaft may be secured in a right hand use position as 
illustrated by the solid lines in FIGS. 12 and 13 or alternatively, it may 
be swung around into a left hand use position as illustrated by the dotted 
lines. 
The free end of the shaft is provided with a threaded opening 43 to receive 
the threaded extension 21 of the handle 20. 
FIG. 14 illustrates the hoop 11 in perspective. This hoop may be made 
hollow, such as is illustrated in FIG. 15. That is, the hoop may be made 
of a sheet material which is bent around to provide a hollow interior 45. 
This interior may be filled with sand 46 or the like particulate material 
to give the hoop additional weight. In order to fill the interior of the 
hoop, at least one opening 47 is provided and a suitable cap or filler or 
even putty may be used to plug up the hole after filling. 
With this construction, the hoop may be handled and shipped empty to save 
weight and then may be filled later before sale or after sale, whichever 
is more desirable.