Patent Publication Number: US-6908359-B2

Title: Water skipping toy

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The preseent invention relates generally to a toy configured for being tossed along the surface of a body of water such as a swimming pool or the ocean. The invention relates more specifically to a water skipping toy that is safe to use, inexpensive to produce and readily manufactured from only three simple parts. 
   2. Background Art 
   There are a surprising number of prior art U.S. patents which relate to water skipping toys. These patents are variously entitled “Saucer-Shaped Water Skipping Devices” (U.S. Pat. No. 5,679,082); “Skimming Disk” (U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,052); “Hydrodynamic Throwing Device” (U.S. Pat. No. 6,241,570); and “Hydroplaning Disk” (U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,840). All of these prior toy designs are generally similar. They are disk or saucer-shaped devices designed to be tossed or thrown generally parallel to the surface of water against which they tend to bounce or skip one or more times until they come to a floating rest on the water surface. Some of these prior art water skipping toys are relatively exotic with special gripping perimeters and materials to optimize their aerodynamic and hydrodynamic performance. However, such devices are more costly to manufacture thereby making them too expensive to be commercially successful as a relatively simple toy concept; i.e., throw it and see it skip along the water surface. Even the more simple prior art skipping toys are not configured for modern low cost manufacturing. They are typically not configured for injection molding or easy assembly with minimal hands-on labor. They employ too many parts and too many specially shaped components which require more expensive tooling and assembly. 
   Accordingly, it would be highly desirable to have a water skipping toy which had the advantages of being simple in design and of few parts that are easily manufactured and assemblied so that the toy is low cost at the retail level and thus more accessible to the marketplace. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention in its preferred embodiment, comprises a water skipping toy which has the desired characteristics of a few, simple, low cost parts that are easily produced using injection molding and minimal assembly time. The resulting toy is easily accessible to the marketplace which promotes high volume sales of an inexpensive, safe water toy. 
   The preferred embodiment comprises two substantially identical convex plastic discs each having an annular flange recessed from the outer perimeter of the disc. The flange of one of the discs is taller and has a slightly larger diameter than the flange of the other disc so that the two flanges are radially juxtaposed when the two discs are joined together. The discs may be secured together by the press fit engagement of the two annular flanges or the flanges may be glued to each other by a common adhesive along contiguous radial surfaces of the flanges. When so joined together, the discs form an internal air pocket which makes the toy lighter than solid versions of the prior art and also makes the toy sufficiently buoyant to float on the water surface. The third component of the preferred embodiment comprises a relatively soft rubber ring. The ring has a larger semi-circular cross-section along its outer perimeter to provide a safety bumper to protect children who may come in contact with a thrown toy. The ring has a smaller trapezoidal cross-section along its inner perimeter which is designed to be received in an annular recess or groove formed between the joined discs outside the mating flanges. Thus, the ring is configured to be secured around the perimeter of the discs with the larger portion thereof extending beyond the discs&#39; outer edges for protection of the players. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The aforementioned objects and advantages of the present invention, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will be more fully understood hereinafter as a result of a detailed description of a preferred embodiment when taken in conjunction with the following drawings in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a top view of the preferred embodiment of the invention; 
       FIG. 2  is an edge view of the preferred embodiment; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional edge view; and 
       FIG. 4  is an exploded view thereof. 
   

   BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Referring to the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that a preferred embodiment of a water skipping toy  10  of the present invention comprises a first convex disc  12 , a second convex disc  14  and a flexible ring  16 . First convex disc  12  has a radial flange  18  extending parallel to the axis of the disc from the inner concave surface  13  thereof. Second convex disc  14  has a radial flange  20  extending parallel to the axis of the disc from the inner concave surface  15  thereof. Flange  20  is slightly higher and slightly bigger in diameter than flange  18  as seen best in FIG.  3 . The two discs form an internal air pocket  29 . 
   As also seen best in  FIG. 3 , each flange is recessed from the respective outer peripheral edges  17  and  19  of the discs  12  and  14  whereby a ring receiving annulus  25  is formed when the discs are joined together. Ring  16  has an inner portion  24  and an outer portion  22 , the latter overlapping edges  17  and  19  for safety of the players. Inner portion  24  is received in the ring receiving annulus  25  and is secured therein by the slight expansion of the overall diameter of ring  16  to engage the discs  12  and  14 . 
   In the preferred method of manufacture of the illustrated embodiment, the discs  12  and  14  are injection molded rigid plastic components. Ring  16  is a molded rubber or rubber-like component of selected flexibility and softness to provide easy assembly and player safety. 
   Having thus disclosed an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, it will now be understood that various modifications and additions may be made thereto. By way of example, while the disclosed embodiment is shown to be of a size suitable for grasping between the thumb and forefinger of a player, other sizes, both larger and smaller, may be readily provided. Moreover, the precise shape of each disc may be readily altered without departing from the salient features of the invention. Accordingly, the scope hereof is limited only by the appended claims and their equivalents.