Patent Publication Number: US-2011068122-A1

Title: Water cannon toy with clean-out connection

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to toys and, more specifically, to large squirt gun toys, commonly known as “water cannons.” 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Large squirt guns, commonly known as “water cannons,” have become very popular toys. Water cannons generally comprise a pair of telescoping tubes, the distal end of the innermost tube comprising a plunger. To load the water cannon, one merely submerges the nozzle end under water and draws back the inner tube so as to draw water into the outer tube. To expel water from the water cannon, one slides the outer tube rearwardly over the inner tube. As pressure is thereby developed in the outer tube, water is expelled through the nozzle end of the outer tube. 
     A problem with such water cannons arises because the water cannon tends to accumulate dirt within the tubes. Such sand and dirt can quickly erode the components of the water cannon, causing it to fail. 
     Most prior art water cannons have no ability to clean sand and dirt from the interior components of the water cannon. Attempts have been made, however, to allow for the cleaning of water cannon components by allowing the inner tube to slip out of the outer tube. Problems arise from such a configuration, however, in that the inner tube often becomes separated from the outer tube during normal operation—when water is being drawn into the outer tube. 
     Accordingly, there is a need for a water cannon toy which avoids the aforementioned problems in the prior art. 
     SUMMARY 
     The invention satisfies this need. The invention is a water cannon toy comprising (a) an outer tube having an open proximal end, an open distal end, an interior and an exterior, (b) an inner tube disposed in slideable, telescoping fashion within the outer tube, the inner tube having a proximal end, a distal end, an interior and an exterior, (c) a plunger disposed at the distal end of the inner tube, the plunger being sized and dimensioned to remain in contact with the outer tube and to substantially prevent the leakage of liquid from the interior of the distal end of the outer tube to the exterior of the distal end of the inner tube, (d) an inner tube retainer attached to the proximal end of the outer tube. The inner tube retainer has (i) a locked position wherein the distal end of the inner tube is prevented from exiting the proximal end of the outer tube, and (ii) an unlocked position wherein the distal end of the inner tube is free to exit from the proximal end of the outer tube, the inner tube retainer being capable of alternatively transitioning between the locked position and the unlocked position by hand without the need for use of tools. 
     In a typical embodiment of the invention, the inner tube retainer is provided by a threaded cap having a central opening with a diameter greater than the outside diameter of the inner tube, but less than the outside diameter of the plunger. 
    
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
       These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where: 
         FIG. 1  is a side view of a water cannon toy having features of the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional side view of the water cannon toy illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is an exploded side view of the water cannon toy illustrated in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the water cannon toy of  FIG. 1  showing how water is loaded into the water cannon toy; 
         FIG. 5  is a detailed cross-sectional view of the water cannon toy illustrated in  FIG. 4 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a detailed cross-sectional view of the water cannon toy illustrated in  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well. 
     The invention is a water cannon toy  10  comprising an outer tube  12 , and inner tube  14 , a plunger  16  and an inner tube retainer  18 . A typical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in  FIGS. 1-6 . 
     The outer tube  12  typically has a circular cross section with a diameter between about______inches and about______inches. The outer tube  12  has an open proximal end  20 , an open distal end  22 , an interior and an exterior. 
     A nozzle  23  is disposed across the open distal end  22  of the outer tube  12 . 
     The inner tube  14  is disposed in slidable, telescoping fashion within the outer tube  12 . The inner tube  14  also typically has a circular cross section. The outside diameter of the inner tube  14  is only slightly less than the inside diameter of the outer tube  12 , so that the inner tube  14  fits snugly but slidably within the outer tube  12 . The inner tube  14  has a proximal end  24 , a distal end  26 , an interior and an exterior. 
     The plunger  16  is disposed at the distal end  26  of the inner tube  14 . The plunger  16  is sized and dimensioned to remain in contact with the outer tube  12  and to substantially prevent the leakage of liquid from the interior of the distal end  22  of the outer tube  12  to the exterior of the distal end  26  of the inner tube  14 . 
     Typically, a grease or other suitable soft sealant is applied to the plunger  16  to assist the plunger  16  in preventing the leakage of liquid from the interior of the distal end  22  of the outer tube  12  to the exterior of the distal end  26  of the inner tube  14 . 
     In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the plunger  16  further includes an O-ring seal  28  disposed around the exterior of the inner tube  14 . 
     It is also typical that the water cannon  10  of the invention further comprises a handle  30  attached to the proximal end  24  of the inner tube  14 . 
     The inner tube retainer  18  is attached to the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12 . The inner tube retainer  18  has (i) a lock position wherein the distal end  26  of the inner tube  14  is prevented from existing the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12 , and (ii) an unlock position wherein the distal end  26  of the inner tube  14  is free to exit from the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12 . The inner tube  14  is adapted so as to be capable of alternatively transitioning between the locked position and the unlocked position by hand without the need for use of tools, such as wrenches, pliers, screwdrivers, allen wrenches, etc. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the inner tube retainer  18  is provided by a cap  32  which is threaded to the outer tube  12 . The threaded cap  32  has a central opening  34  with a diameter which is greater than the outside diameter of the inner tube  14  and less than the outside diameter of the plunger  16 . By this design, it can be seen, that the distal end  26  of the inner tube  14  cannot be removed from the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12  unless and until the threaded cap  32  is detached from the outer end of the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12 . Thus, in the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the lock position of the inner tube retainer  18  is provided by the cap  32  when it is threaded onto the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12  and the unlock position of the inner tube retainer  18  is provided when the threaded cap  32  is detached from the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12 . 
     Virtually all of the components of the water cannon  10  of the invention are made from inexpensive plastic material such as PVC, ABS and polypropylene. Such plastic materials are light weight and inexpensive to manufacture, and are also not degraded by frequent exposure to water. Components made from aluminum and steel can also be used in the invention. 
     In operation the inner tube  14  is disposed in telescopic fashion within the outer tube  12 , as illustrated in  FIGS. 1-3 , and the inner tube retainer  18  is placed in the locked position. Thereafter, the user of the invention loads water into the distal end  22  of the outer tube  12 , as illustrated in  FIG. 4 , by drawing rearwardly on the inner tube  14 , thus drawing water back into the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12 . Because of the continuous contact between the plunger  16  disposed at the distal end  26  of the inner tube  14  and the interior of the outer tube  12 , the drawing backwards of the inner tube  14  causes a sufficient vacuum within the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12  to draw water back into the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12 . 
     After water is loaded into the proximal end  20  of the outer tube  12 , the user can freely discharge water from the distal end  22  of the outer tube  12  by pushing the inner tube  14  forwardly such that the plunger  16  is moved towards the distal end  22  of the outer tube  12 . Because the plunger  16  substantially prevents leakage of liquid from the interior of the distal end  22  of the outer tube  12  to the exterior of the distal end  26  of the inner tube  14 , the pushing forward of the plunger  16  forces water out of the nozzle  23  at the distal end  22  of the outer tube  12 . 
     After frequent uses of the invention, when sand, dirt or other contaminants has fouled the interior components of the water cannon  10 , the user can quickly and conveniently clean out the components, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , by placing the inner tube  14  container into the unlocked position, removing the inner tube  14  from the outer tube  12 , cleaning both the exterior of the inner tube  14  and the interior of the outer tube  12 , replacing the inner tube  14  back into the outer tube  12  and moving the inner tube retainer  18  back into the locked position 
     Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove and as described hereinbelow by the claims.