Abstract:
A throwing and catching ball and several games using the same are disclosed. The ball has a perforated outer shell surrounding a hollow interior chamber containing a water-filled balloon. Activation of an actuator adjacent the outer shell, such as when catching the ball, causes a prick to extend into the chamber to burst the balloon and the liquid splashes from the chamber onto the catching victim. A removable fitting allows the balloon to be easily replaced after bursting. A filling system allows the balloon to be filled from outside of the ball after its insertion into the chamber.

Description:
FIELD 
     A throwing and catching ball and game, and in particular, a perforated hollow ball containing a water-filled balloon and a balloon bursting mechanism that may be inadvertently triggered by catching participants to cause the balloon to burst. 
     BACKGROUND AND OBJECTS 
     Numerous throwing and catching toys exist which contain water-filled balloons that may burst to soak victim participants. One such toy in the marketplace is manufactured by Galoob Toys Inc and sold under the trademark “Splash Out”. This toy is apparently the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,991,847 and 4,890,838 to Rudell et al. 
     The “Splash Out” is a hollow plastic ball which contains a replaceable water-filled balloon and a timer-activated balloon bursting mechanism. The bursting mechanism causes a prick to be extended into the balloon to burst the balloon and cause victim participants nearby to be splashed as the timer setting expires, which time is difficult for participants to predict. Participants play “catch” with the ball, knowing that the balloon will burst at some point in time, which is completely out of each participant&#39;s control. The object of the game is to avoid being a nearby participant at the moment that the balloon bursts. 
     Another such toy is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,456 to Liu et al. This toy is a hollow plastic housing having an integral inwardly-projecting prick. The housing contains a replaceable balloon, filled with water to cause the balloon to partially fill the interior of the housing without abutting the prick. Presumably, the user must precisely estimate the amount of water to fill into the balloon to avoid having it expand so large that it will abut the prick as it is inserted into the housing, which would cause it to immediately burst. The toy is then either thrown at or to a victim participant such that the continuing momentum of the balloon as the toy hits or is caught by a victim participant causes the balloon to abut the prick, thereby bursting the balloon and causing it to splash its water over the victim participant. Participants have essentially no control to avoid having the balloon burst as the toy is being caught or as it hits them. 
     Among the objects of the present disclosure is a throwing and catching toy containing a burstable water-filled balloon which allows catching participants some degree of control over the bursting of the balloon according to the manner in which they catch it. 
     Among the advantages of the present disclosure is that participants may increase skill with practice and decrease risk with dexterity and agility to catch the toy without bursting the balloon, and need not rely solely on chance to avoid being soaked by the bursting balloon. Also among the advantages of the present disclosure are both a simple means for replacing spent balloons and a simple and reliable means for filling new balloons with water. 
     Further objects and advantages will be apparent upon a review of the following description and drawings, which are intended to exemplify, but not limit the invention. 
     SUMMARY 
     Disclosed herein is a perforated hollow ball having a water-filled balloon inside and a balloon bursting mechanism that causes a prick to burst the balloon when the mechanism activated, such as when a burst activator of the mechanism is inadvertently pressed during catching by a participant. Depending on the ability of catching participants to avoid pressing the activator of the bursting mechanism, with either skill or luck, bursting may be avoided. The catching participants therefore have control to avoid being victim participants and getting soaked by water from the bursting balloon. 
     Participants may increase skill with catching practice and decrease risk with dexterity and agility to catch the toy without pressing the burst activator, and need not rely solely on chance to avoid being soaked by the bursting balloon. 
     When the burst activator is accidentally pressed during catching, water from the bursting balloon spills through the perforations of the ball&#39;s housing to soak the catching participant, thereby making that participant a victim. The perforations are disposed in an evenly dispersed array about the ball and have various sizes and shapes, which feature is found to optimize the spray distribution from the toy during bursting, thereby maximizing the soaking of victim participants. 
     Replacement and refilling of spent balloons is made simple and reliable by novel and convenient means which do not require disassembly of the toy or any dedicated adapters or additional components. The new balloon is filled after insertion into the toy, and the toy is adapted to minimize the risk of overfilling and inadvertent bursting during filling. 
     A more complete understanding will be realized upon review of the following description and appended drawings which provides disclosure of only one of the almost infinite number of possible arrangements and permutations of the present invention, and which is in no way intended to limit the scope of the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Features and advantages of the claimed subject matter will be apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments consistent therewith, which description should be considered with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a view of two participants playing catch with the disclosed ball; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the ball of  FIG. 1  showing its burst activator button; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded perspective view of the ball of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the ball of  FIG. 1  showing the removal of the balloon support mechanism for replacement of the balloon; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the filling of the balloon of the ball of  FIG. 1  at a spigot; and 
         FIG. 6  is a partial cross-sectional view showing the bursting of the balloon. 
     
    
    
     Although the drawings and following description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended that the claimed subject matter be viewed broadly. 
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     A preferred embodiment of the water-release throwing and catching toy is shown as ball  100  in  FIGS. 1  though  6 .  FIG. 1  depicts two players, throwing participant  204  and catching participant  202  playing a game of “catch” with ball  100 . Ball  100  comprises a first semi-spherical housing half  102  and a second semi-spherical housing half  104 . The housing halves are made of a thermoplastic material, such as ABS or polystyrene and are permanently joined together, such as by gluing or ultrasonic welding, to form hollow spherical housing  106 . Each of the housing halves  102  and  104  are perforated with holes  108  of various sizes and shapes, distributed somewhat evenly. 
     First housing half  102  is adapted to removably receive a balloon support/fill fitting  110  through orifice  112  of the housing. Second housing half  104  includes a burst mechanism  114 , including a prick  116  and actuator button  118  which are rigidly affixed together and translatable along a longitudinal axis  120  of the housing  106 . Springs  122  bias prick  116  and actuator button  118  outwardly from the hollow interior chamber  124  of housing  106 , so that the spherical outer surface  126  of actuator button  118  is normally co-spherical with housing  106  and so that the tip  128  of prick  116  is normally retracted into sub-housing  130  of burst mechanism  114 , and is thereby not exposed within the interior chamber  124 . 
     Spherical outer surface  126  of activator button  118  may be of a contrasting color to the surrounding portion of second housing half  104  to make it easier for participants to instantly differentiate and avoid the actuator button in embodiments of the ball that are intended for the less skillful. Alternatively, the button and surrounding portion of the housing may be of a similar color, making it more difficult to differentiate in embodiments of the ball that are intended for the more skillful. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , it can be seen that an inward force, represented by arrow  132 , against activator button  118 , causes the tip  128  of prick  116  to extend through hole  134  of sub-housing  130  and into hollow interior chamber  124 . Although disclosed prick  116  is a needle, it may also be another sharp-edged element such as a blade, and hole  134  could then be a slot through which the blade could extend when actuator button  118  is forced inwardly. 
     Balloon support/fill fitting  110  is removed from housing  106  by the bayonet-type “twist and pull” action represented by arrows  138  of  FIG. 4 . Balloon  140  may then be attached to post  142  of assembly  110  by stretching the mouth  144  of the elastic balloon over the fitting&#39;s inner end  146  and over retention flange  148 . Balloon support/fill fitting  110  comprises a fluid inlet  150  at the fitting&#39;s outer end  152  and a fluid outlet  154  at the fitting&#39;s inner end  146 . Fluid inlet  150  and fluid outlet  154  communicate via conduit  158  which extends between outer end  152  and inner end  146 . 
     Fluid inlet  150  comprises a resilient annular seal  160  to sealingly engage the face of a water supply fitting by pressing housing  106  there-against. Seal  160  may be made of rubber, foam rubber, or some similarly resilient material and may be glued to fitting  110 . Fluid outlet  154 , post  142 , and retention flange  148  collectively form a nipple. Check valve  162  is disposed within conduit  158  and allows fluid, preferably water, to flow there-through only from inlet  150  to outlet  152 , but prevents the backflow of water from the outlet to the inlet. 
     With balloon  140  properly stretch-fitted over post  142  and the balloon&#39;s interior in fluid communication with outlet  152 , the deflated balloon and the inner end  146  of fitting  110  are inserted through orifice  112  and the fitting is affixed to housing  106  with a reversal of the “twist and pull” removal action. In a bayonet-type “push and twist” action, hooks  164  are longitudinally inserted through tangential key slots  166  and the fitting is rotated clockwise for several angular degrees to lock the fitting into the housing so that the spherical outer surface  168  of outer end  152  is co-spherical with housing  106 . Balloon  140  now resides, in a deflated state, within hollow interior chamber  124 . 
     To fill balloon  140  with water, housing  106  is simply pressed up against a water supply fitting, such as spigot  200  of  FIG. 5 , with annular seal  160  engaging the face of the supply fitting, as shown in  FIG. 5 , and the spigot is turned on. The configuration of seal  160  allows for engagement with a variety of water supply fitting, such as the outlet terminus of a garden hose or the outlet of a kitchen faucet. Water from the turned-on supply flows into inlet  150 , through valve  162  and conduit  158 , and into the balloon  140  through outlet  154 , to inflate and fill the balloon. Viewing through holes  108  of housing  106 , one can readily recognize when the balloon is fully expanded to fill hollow interior chamber  124 , at which time either spigot  200  may be turned off or the housing  106  may simply be removed from the spigot to avoid overfilling and bursting the balloon by the pressure of the water supply. Because all interior surfaces of interior chamber  124  are smooth and tip  128  of prick  116  is not exposed, there is significant tolerance to overfilling of the balloon without its inadvertent premature bursting. 
     It is found through experimentation that filling may be optimized for certain balloons according to the length of post  142  and the position of the post&#39;s inner end  146  within chamber  124 . As some balloons are prone to expand during filling from their base to their tip, tube  142  is most suitable for filling the widest variety of balloons when its length is such that inner end  146  lies at approximately the center of interior chamber  124 . 
     In play, water-filled ball  100  is thrown back and forth amongst participants in various versions of the game of “catch”, as shown in  FIG. 1 . As a catching participant  202  catches ball  100 , he must be careful to try to catch it without touching activator button  118 . If activator button  118  is not touched, there is no chance for balloon  140  to burst and for participant  202  to be splashed. If, however, activator button  118  is touched during catching, it is likely that it will be moved inwardly and force prick  116  to extend through hole  134  of sub-housing  130  and into hollow interior chamber  124 , and will puncture balloon  140  and cause it to burst, thereby soaking the catching participant  202 . 
     In addition to the ornamental advantages of the design and disposition of holes  108 , because the holes are disposed in an evenly dispersed array about the ball, as seen in the figures, and because the holes have various sizes and shapes, it is found that the spray distribution from the toy during bursting is optimized, thereby maximizing the soaking of victim participants. 
     In variations of the games playable with ball  100 , victim participants who are soaked during catching may receive demerit points or be disqualified. In a first game, combatant participants may throw the ball back and forth “at” each other in the hopes that the balloon will burst and the competing participant will be disqualified. In a second game, teammate combatants may carefully throw the ball back and forth “to” each other in the hopes that the balloon will not burst, with merit points collected for each such successful exchange. 
     With practice, throwing participants may learn to throw the ball with more or less spinning motion to catching participants to make it harder or easier, respectively, for the catching participants to focus on the actuator button  118  during catching and to avoid touching it and getting soaked. For instance, if the two participants were on the same team, as in the second game described above, and competing against other team pairs, and the object of the game was to see which team could throw the ball back and forth the highest number of times without bursting the balloon, throwing participants would benefit from causing less spinning motion as the ball is thrown to make it easier for the catching teammates to see and avoid the actuator button during catching. While if the object of another game, such as the first game described above, was to eliminate competing participants by throwing the ball at them and trying to soak them, throwing participants would benefit from causing more spinning motion as they throw the ball to make it harder for their catching competitor to see and avoid the actuator button during catching. 
     Since the bursting of balloon  140  is entirely under the control of the participants, the participants may develop skill with practice, and players of equivalent skill levels may compete against each other knowing that their success will not be purely a matter of chance. 
     It will be appreciated by those skilled in the applicable arts that the foregoing teaches merely one of an infinite number of possible embodiments of the invention, and that the disclosure thereof is not meant to and should not limit the rights to which the inventor is entitled in any way, which rights should only be limited by the following claims.