Abstract:
Marker tag darts, dart guns therefor, and methods which allow a toy gun to receive a marker tag dart, to put water in the forward tip of the dart and to shoot the dart. The marker tag dart itself has slits in the wall of a small chamber at the front of the dart so that on impact with a target, the inertia of the water causes deformation of the tip and opening of the slits to eject water for marking the location of the marker tag dart hit. The dart guns are spring chocked, and propel the dart with a blast of air from an air pump powered by the spring. Various embodiments and modes of operation are disclosed.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of toy marker darts and water guns therefor. 
     2. Prior Art 
     Water guns and dart guns are well known in the prior art. See for instance U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,190,654, 3,330,561, 3,415,420, 3,528,662 4,257,188 4,743,030, 5,074,437, 5,241,944, 5,377,656, 5,381,928, 5,448,984, 5,626,343, 5,730,321, 5,826,879, 6,149,488, 6,203,397, 6,247,995, 7,185,787 and 7,267,118 and U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2007/0012720, 2009/0064919, 2009/0127789 and 2009/0140493. However the present invention incorporates features not found in the prior art. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIGS. 1   a  through  1   d  illustrate one embodiment of a marker tag dart in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIGS. 2   a  through  2   c  illustrate the maker tag dart of  FIGS. 1   a  through  1   d  when the marker tag dart impacts an object. 
         FIGS. 3   a  through  3   c  illustrate an alternate embodiment of a marker tag dart. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a toy gun for shooting the marker tag darts of the present invention in a cocked ready to shoot state. 
         FIG. 5  illustrates the toy gun of  FIG. 4  when shooting a marker tag dart of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  illustrates an exemplary target in the form of a vest type article worn by each player in a tag type game. 
         FIG. 7  illustrates an alternate embodiment of a toy gun for shooting the marker tag darts of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a further alternate embodiment of a toy gun for shooting the marker tag darts of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     First referring to  FIGS. 1   a  through  1   d , one embodiment of a marker tag dart in accordance with the present invention may be seen.  FIG. 1   a  is a side view of this embodiment, with  FIG. 1   b  being a cross section of the dart and  FIG. 1   d  being a front view of the dart of  FIG. 1   a  illustrating one technique for injection of water into the forward end of the dart. The main dart body  20  is a tubular flexible foam member, preferably a closed cell urethane foam or similar material. At the forward end of the dart is a flexible rubber cap  22 , such as a molded silicon rubber cap, which mounts to the forward end of the body  20  with a rubber plug  24  therein. The flexible rubber cap  22  in this embodiment is somewhat thicker at the front than at the sides, and defines a chamber therein. A center plug  26 , which may be a separate piece or integral with the rubber plug  24 , has a central slit therein which will allow a needle, such as needle  28 , to poke through the slit to inject a quantity of water  30  therein, as to be subsequently described. The center rubber plug  26  with slit  32  therein may be seen in  FIG. 1   c . By proper selection of the material for the center plug and design of the slit, the slit will easily open to receive needle  28 , though will be self closing on withdrawal of the needle to resist significant leakage of the water  30  back through the slit once needle  28  is withdrawn. The center plug  26  may have a duckbill type valve configuration which will be self sealing, particularly when the water  30  presses against the center plug  26  when the dart is propelled forward, also as shall be subsequently described. 
     Of particular importance to the dart of  FIGS. 1   a  through  1   d  are slits  34  in the rubber cap  22 . These slits pass all the way through the skin of the rubber cap, though normally stay sufficiently closed when the rubber cap  22  is in its free state to contain water  30  when injected therein. However, as shown in  FIGS. 2   a  through  2   c , when the dart impacts an object  36 , the rubber cap  22  deflects opening slits  34 , with the inertia of the water  30  causing the water to squirt out through the slits  34  as illustrated in these Figures. 
     The foam body  20  is very light, and together with the fact that the center of gravity of the marker tag dart is very far forward, assures that the dart will not tumble when propelled through the air. Instead, the axis or the dart will remain aligned with its direction of travel. 
     Now referring to  FIGS. 3   a  through  3   c , an alternate embodiment of a marker tag dart may be seen. This embodiment is nearly identical to the embodiment of  FIGS. 1   a  through  1   d  and  2   a  through  2   c , though instead of the rubber plug  24 ′ having an integral or separate center plug, such as center plug  26  of the prior embodiment, the rubber plug  24 ′ does not have a slit, but instead the forward end of the rubber cap  22 ′ has a slit  38  so that a needle such as needle  28 ′ may be used to inject water into the cavity within the rubber cap  22 ′ from the forward end thereof. Otherwise the marker tag dart of  FIGS. 3   a  through  3   c  functions the same way as the previously described embodiment. 
     Now referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a toy gun for shooting the marker tag darts of the present invention may be seen.  FIG. 4  illustrates the toy handgun with a marker tag dart loaded therein and cocked to shoot the marker tag dart, and  FIG. 5  illustrates the actual shooting of the marker tag dart. These Figures are somewhat schematic, though well illustrate this embodiment. The gun in outward appearance has a handgun like body  40  with a trigger  42  and an air chamber cocking mechanism  44 . Internally, in the handgrip region of the handgun is a water reservoir  46 , a water pump  48  powered by trigger  42  and a barrel  50  with a connected portion  52  of an air chamber  54 . The rear portion of the air chamber  54  is formed by a member  56  coupled to the air chamber cocking mechanism  44  and acting against coil spring  58 . A latch  60  holds the member  56  of the air chamber  54  in a rearward position when the gun is cocked and ready to shoot, as shown in  FIG. 4 . When the marker tag dart  62  is loaded, needle  28  (see also  FIG. 1   b ) will penetrate the slit  32  ( FIG. 1   c ) as shown, with the needle  28  being coupled to the water pump  48  through water output tube  66 . 
     When the trigger  42  is pulled and the trigger starts to move to the left as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , water is first pumped by pump  42  from the water reservoir  46  through water output tube  66  and needle  28  into the nose of the marker tag dart  62 . As the trigger continues to move, member  68  will engage latch  60  as shown in  FIG. 5  and release the member  56  of the air chamber  54  to allow the coil spring  58  to push the member  56  of the air chamber forward as shown in  FIG. 5 , sending a blast of air into the barrel to launch the marker tag dart marker tag dart  62  as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In a typical use, a target may be used which changes color when wetted. In that regard, suitable hydrochromatic inks are readily commercially available. Alternatively, a target may use a thin cloth with a second layer of a different color behind the thin cloth, so that when wetted, the color of the second layer is visible through the wetted area of the thin cloth. The target might be a fixed target, or in a tag type target game, may be a vest type article worn by each player, one form of which is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . Alternatively, disappearing ink could be used instead of water so that no target in necessary. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 7 , an alternate embodiment of the marker tag gun may be seen. In this embodiment, the water output tube  66  does not go directly to needle  64  for loading the marker tag dart  62 , but instead goes to a valve  69  which controls the flow of water in the water output tube  66 . In particular, when in position  1  as shown, the water pumped by the initial pulling of the trigger is provided to the marker tag dart  62  through needle  64  prior to releasing the marker tag dart  62 , as in the previously described embodiment. When valve  69  is in the second position, water flow is blocked so that the marker tag dart  62  will be released without having supplied water to its forward tip. In that regard, water pump  48  is a rather leaky pump, so that the trigger  42  can still be pulled even though water flow is blocked. When valve  69  is in the third position, water is supplied not to the tip of the marker tag  62 , but rather through tube  70  to output nozzle  72  to shoot a stream of water starting just before the dart itself is released. 
     Now referring to  FIG. 8 , a further alternate embodiment is shown. This embodiment has a number of similarities to the prior embodiments. Accordingly, a number of parts may be identical to that of the earlier embodiments and are therefore given the same identification numerals. In some other cases, minor variations in the parts and/or their function have been made, and in such instances, such parts have been given the same identification numerals as the earlier embodiments, though followed by a prime to indicate some differences. By way of example, pump  48  in  FIGS. 4 ,  5  and  7  is labeled pump  48 ′ in the embodiment of  FIG. 8  because of a minor variation thereof. The main difference in the embodiment of  FIG. 8  is that pump  48 ′ is actuated by a rear tab  71  on member  56 ′. In particular, pump  48 ′ is actuated when the gun is cocked by pulling back on the cocking mechanism  44 ′ until latch  60  engages the forward part of member  56 ′ to hold the same in the cocked position against the force of spring  58 . During this cocking motion, the rear tab  71  engages the water pump  48 ′ to put water in the dart  62  through needle  64  and water output tube  66 . Thus on pulling the trigger  42 ′, the cocking mechanism is immediately released to fire the marker tag dart as before. The advantage of this embodiment is that the marker tag dart is preloaded with water so that no further water is ejected through needle  64  after the marker tag dart is launched, thereby avoiding any slight further water discharge of the earlier described embodiments because of some continued travel of the trigger pumping such additional water. 
     Thus the present invention has a number of aspects, which aspects may be practiced alone or in various combinations or sub-combinations, as desired. While certain preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed and described herein for purposes of illustration and not for purposes of limitation, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the full breadth of the following claims.