Toy glider with pneumatic launcher

A toy glider comprising a projectile and a pneumatic launcher configured essentially as a bracelet for wearing on the user's wrist. The pneumatic launcher comprises an essentially bracelet-shaped, flexible conduit and an open-ended launching tube having one of its ends in fluid communication with the flexible conduit. The flexible conduit has an integrally formed air bulb which is positionable for concealment in the palm of the user's hand when the flexible conduit is positioned around the user's wrist. The projectile comprises a wing fastened to a flight tube which is moveably positionable on the launching tube of the pneumatic launcher. The wing is fastened to the flight tube by a pair of integrally formed straps which encircle the flight tube and a plurality of integrally formed fingers which are folded into one end of the flight tube and restrained by an end plug.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates generally to toy gliders comprising projectiles and 
pneumatic launchers, and particularly, to such a toy glider having its 
pneumatic launcher configured essentially as a bracelet. 
Various toy gliders, toy rockets and similar toy devices comprising 
projectiles and pneumatic launchers are provided by the prior art. In 
general, such prior art toy devices utilize a pneumatic launcher having a 
conventional air bulb or bellows in fluid communication with a launching 
tube and a projectile having a receiving recess or other receiving means 
positionable over the launching tube to receive compressed air. Most prior 
art toy gliders, toy rockets and similar toy devices of this general type 
are designed for either hand-held operation or floor or table top 
operation. An exemplary prior art toy rocket which utilizes a pneumatic 
launcher having a generally rectangular air bulb mounted on a flat base 
and adapted to withstand a sudden impact from the user's hand or foot is 
disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,006, issued to Breslow, et al., for a 
"Toy Rocket with Pneumatic Launcher". 
While many of the various prior art toy gliders, toy rockets and similar 
toy devices comprising projectiles and pneumatic launchers are 
satisfactory for their intended use, it is desirable to have such a toy 
device which encourages a child to make greater use of her or his 
imagination during play activities than would be the case if he or she 
were engaged in play activities with most prior art toy devices of this 
general type. It is believed that a toy glider of this general type having 
a pneumatic launcher configured essentially as a bracelet to be worn 
around a child's wrist would encourage the wearing child to make 
substantially greater use of his or her imagination during play 
activities. It is further believed that a child wearing such a pneumatic 
launcher on her or his wrist would be encouraged to make still greater use 
of her or his imagination during play activities if the pneumatic launcher 
is configured such that its air bulb or bellows can be positioned in the 
palm of her or his hand in a manner which conceals the air bulb or bellows 
from the view of others during its operation and use. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a toy glider comprising a projectile and a 
pneumatic launcher. More particularly, the present invention provides such 
a toy glider having its pneumatic launcher configured essentially as a 
bracelet which can be worn on the user's wrist with its air bulb concealed 
from view in the palm of his or her hand. 
The pneumatic launcher of the toy glider of the present invention comprises 
an essentially bracelet-shaped, flexible conduit having an integrally 
formed air bulb, and an open-ended launching tube having one of its ends 
in fluid communication with the flexible conduit. In the preferred 
embodiment, the flexible conduit is a one piece hollow body formed by blow 
molding a rubberized plastic material. The launching tube is preferably 
formed from a hard plastic material and has means for frictionally holding 
the projectile in position prior to launching. Both the flexible conduit 
and the launching tube are impervious with an air tight seal between them. 
The projectile of the toy glider of the present invention comprises a 
flight tube having one open end and one closed end, and a wing fastened to 
the flight tube. The flight tube is moveably positionable on the launching 
tube of the pneumatic launcher to accept compressed air for launching. In 
the preferred embodiment, the wing is formed from a semi-rigid, felt-like, 
fiberous material and has a pair of integrally formed parallel straps and 
a plurality of integrally formed foldable fingers. The flight tube is 
preferably a semi-rigid, thin-walled, plastic tube which is open on both 
ends prior to assembly of the projectile. The projectile is assembled by 
inserting the flight tube through the strap openings in the wing and 
folding the fingers into an open end of the flight tube. An end plug is 
then inserted in the same open end of the flight tube to restrain the 
fingers. 
These and many other advantages, features and objects of the present 
invention will be apparent from the following brief description of the 
drawings, detailed description of the preferred embodiment and claims, and 
the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The preferred embodiment of the toy glider of the present invention is 
illustrated in FIGS. 1-6. 
Referring to FIG. 1, the toy glider which is illustrated comprises a 
pneumatic launcher 10 and a projectile 40. As best illustrated in FIG. 2, 
the pneumatic launcher 10 consists essentially of a generally 
bracelet-shaped, impervious, flexible conduit 12 having an integrally 
formed air bulb 14 and an integrally formed compressed air mixing chamber 
16, and an open-ended, impervious rigid launching tube 20 having one of 
its ends in fluid communication with the mixing chamber 16. Preferably, 
the launching tube 20 is provided with a first flange 22 and a second 
flange 24 on its end in fluid communication with the chamber 16 of the 
conduit 12 so that an air-tight seal can be formed between the mixing 
chamber 16 and the launching tube 20 by force fitting the first flange 22 
of the launching tube 20 in the bore of an open tubular protrusion 18 of 
the mixing chamber 16 and force fitting a sealing ring 19 over the second 
flange 24 and the tubular protrusion 18. 
Both the flexible conduit 12 and rigid launching tube 20 can be fabricated 
from various conventional materials by various conventional means. 
However, it is preferable to fabricate the flexible conduit 12, including 
its air bulb 14 and mixing chamber 16, by blow molding a suitable 
rubberized plastic material as a single, hollow body having only one 
opening through its wall, i.e. the bore of the tubular protrusion 18 of 
the mixing chamber 16 for receipt of the launching tube 20. And, it is 
preferable to fabricate the launching tube 20 from a suitable hard plastic 
material by an injection molding process. 
As best illustrated in FIGS. 3-6, the projectile 40 consists essentially of 
an open-ended, impervious, semi-rigid flight tube 42, an end plug 44 which 
closes one end of the flight tube 42, and a semi-rigid wing 46 which is 
attached to the flight tube 42. The flight tube 42, end plug 44 and wing 
46 can be fabricated from various conventional materials by various 
conventional means. However, to simplify final assembly of the projectile 
40, it is preferable to fabricate the wing 46 by cutting a generally 
triangular piece from a sheet of a suitable felt-like, fiberous material, 
perforating the triangular piece along its longitudinal axis and 
appropriately located fold lines (such as lines 47, 48, 49 and 50), 
cutting a pair of parallel openings 52 and 54 through the triangular piece 
to form a pair of parallel straps 56 and 58 perpendicular to its 
longitudinal axis, and cutting the vertex area of the triangular piece to 
form a plurality of foldable fingers 60. Preferably, the flight tube 42 is 
fabricated by cutting commercially available semi-rigid, thin-walled, 
plastic tubing to the desired length. The end plug 44 is preferably 
machined from suitable hard plastic rod stock. 
Prior to assembly of the projectile 40, the wing 46 is folded along its 
perforated longitudinal axis and perforated fold lines 47, 48, 49 and 50 
to aerodynamically shape the wing 46 as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4. 
While the wing shape illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4 has proved to be 
satisfactory for stable flight of the projectile 40, it will be 
appreciated by those skilled in aerodynamic design that other wing shapes 
can be used. It will also be readily appreciated that other wing shapes 
can be provided for the wing 46 by adding, deleting or relocating 
perforated fold lines during the fabrication process described above. And, 
of course, geometrical forms other than triangles can be used for the wing 
46. 
The projectile 40 is assembled by inserting the flight tube 42 through the 
openings 52 and 54 in the wing 46 and positioning the flight tube 42 along 
the longitudinal axis of the wing 46 such that the wing 46 is partially 
fastened to the flight tube 42 by the parallel straps 56 and 58. Next, the 
fingers 60 extending from the strap 56 near the vertex of the wing 46 are 
folded into the adjacent open end of the flight tube 42. The end plug 44 
is then inserted in said open end of the flight tube 42 to restrain the 
fingers 60 in the interior of the flight tube 42, and, thereby, further 
fasten the wing 46 to the flight tube 42. 
Having described the structure of the preferred embodiment of the toy 
glider of the present invention, its use will now be described. As best 
illustrated in FIG. 1, the user of the toy glider of the present invention 
places the pneumatic launcher 10 on one of his or her wrists with the free 
end of the launching tube 20 pointing away from his or her body by 
inserting his or her hand through the opening circumscribed by the 
bracelet-shaped, flexible conduit 12. With the free end of the launching 
tube 20 pointed away from the user's body in this manner, the air bulb 14 
of the pneumatic launcher 10 will be positioned in the palm of the user's 
hand. The user of the toy glider next positions the projectile 40 on the 
launching tube 20. This is accomplished by placing the open end of the 
flight tube 42 on the free end of the launching tube 20 and sliding the 
flight tube 42 toward the flanged end of the launching tube 20 until the 
open end of the flight tube 42 expands and engages the taper 26 of the 
flange 24 to form an air tight seal between the launching tube 20 and the 
flight tube 42. 
When the open end of the flight tube 42 engages the taper 26 of the flange 
24, the frictional force between the interior surface of the flight tube 
42 and the surface of the taper 26 is sufficient, even when the free end 
of the launching tube 20 is tilted downward, to hold the projectile 40 in 
position on the launching tube 20 until the projectile 40 is launched. The 
user launches the projectile 40 by rapidly and firmly squeezing the air 
bulb 14 with her or his hand to force two separate streams of compressed 
air through the flexible conduit 12. The separate streams of compressed 
air join in the mixing chamber 16, flow through the launching tube 20, and 
discharge into the interior of the flight tube 42. 
The compressed air discharged through the launching tube 20 into the flight 
tube 42 impinges on the rear surface of the end plug 44, and, when the 
resulting accelerational force exceeds the frictional force between the 
taper 26 and expanded end of the flight tube 42, the air tight seal 
between the launching tube 20 and the flight tube 42 breaks with a loud 
popping sound as the projectile 40 is launched for its gliding flight. 
Once the projectile 40 is launched, the inertia from the weight of its 
flight tube 42 and its end plug 44 sustains its gliding flight. And, of 
course, its wing 46 guides and controls its gliding flight. 
While the present invention has been disclosed in connection with its 
preferred embodiment, it should be understood that there may be other 
embodiments which fall within the scope and spirit of the invention as 
defined by the claims.