Patent Publication Number: US-9844734-B2

Title: Shooting toy

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is the U.S. National Stage Application of International Application No. PCT/EP2014/054840, filed on 12 Mar. 2014, and published on 18 Sep. 2014 as WO 2014/140102 A1, which claims the benefit of priority to Danish Patent Application Serial No. PA 2013 70148, filed on 12 Mar. 2013, the disclosure and teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     The present invention relates to a shooting toy including a shooter and a projectile to be ejected from the shooter, the shooter including a shooter body, at least one pinching element adapted to pinch the projectile and thereby hold it in the shooter body in a loaded position and a trigger element being movably mounted in the shooter body between a passive position, in which the projectile may occupy its loaded position in the shooter body, and an activated position, the trigger element having a pusher part adapted to push the projectile away from its loaded position when the trigger element is moved from its passive position to its activated position, the trigger element having a finger touch part adapted to be activated by an operator, and the projectile having a cylindrical surface. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,068 discloses a flying saucer toy consisting of a pistol and a flying disc to be fired from said pistol. The pistol includes a pair of resilient pinching blades between which the flying disc is retained in its loaded position, one pinching blade having a first relatively high friction corner while the other having a second slippery or relatively low friction corner. In the loaded position of the disc, the disc is gripped mechanically between said first and second corners as these corners are spaced slightly less from each other than the diameter of the disc, thereby holding around the periphery of the disc. As the disc is launched, a thrust is being provided by the pinching blades to the disc, being transformed into a torque between the first relatively high friction corner and the second slippery or relatively low friction corner, thereby rotating the disc. The flying disc has an inwardly concave bottom adapted to receive a lift efficiently. However, because of its configuration adapted to apply a rotating movement to the flying saucer, this toy is specifically suitable to eject a flat, disc-formed element and not a projectile having another form, such as for instance a ball or a short stud-formed element. Furthermore, this toy would be difficult to operate in a relatively small scale version, because a suitably sized handle is necessary in order to hold the device when operating the trigger. 
     JP10216370 A discloses a similar flying saucer toy consisting of a pistol and a flying disc to be fired from said pistol. In the loaded position of the disc, the disc is gripped mechanically between two opposed half-circular arms abutting the periphery of the disc, thereby mechanically locking the disc in position. This toy is also specifically suitable to eject a flat, disc-formed element and not a projectile having another form, such as for instance a ball or a short stud-formed element. This toy would also be difficult to operate in a relatively small scale version, because a suitably sized handle is necessary in order to hold the device when operating the trigger. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,460,527 B1 discloses a projectile and launcher combination, in which the launcher is formed with a tubular passage having a convergently tapered inner end. A projectile element is provided at its back end with a plurality of rearwardly extending, cantilever mounted resilient leaf spring elements arranged to be received in and displaced radially inward by the convergently tapered portion of the tubular passage. When the projectile is loaded into the launcher, the leaf spring elements tend to eject it forwardly. A retention arrangement is provided to hold the projectile until it is ready to be ejected: A guide shaft extends rearwardly well beyond the free ends of the leaf spring elements and is provided with a rounded annular enlargement adapted to be received in a shallow annular groove in the launcher. Thus, during the last portion of the projectile loading operation, extra force must be applied to the projectile element to force it in place. When the projectile is released from retention, the outward pressure of the leaf spring elements on the convergent walls forcibly ejects the projectile from the launcher passage. However, this toy is only suitable for a relatively long projectile, because the projectile must be provided with said preloaded, resilient leaf spring elements. Furthermore, these leaf spring elements will lose their elasticity over time, so that if the projectile has been loaded in the launcher for instance during a period of one year or more, leaf spring elements will not operate properly anymore. This may indeed not be satisfactorily for quality toy products, as these are often stored for years and then reused for younger children. 
     The prior art shooting toys discussed above are specifically suitable for either disc-shaped or missile-shaped projectiles. For instance, these prior art shooting toys are not suitable for ejecting a certain well known, relatively small circular coupling device being one of the various plastic toy construction elements available under the name LEGO (registered trademark). This circular coupling device, in this description denoted the 1×1 circular stud coupling, is provided in the form of a rotationally symmetrical unit and comprises a coupling stud on its top surface and a coupling skirt on its underside which is complementary relative to the coupling stud so that two of these coupling devices may be interconnected or that they may be connected to any one of the above-mentioned several other various plastic toy construction elements available under the name LEGO. 
     The object of the present invention is to provide a simple shooting toy suitable for ejecting a relatively small projectile. 
     In view of this object, the shooter is adapted to eject the projectile along a centre axis of the cylindrical surface of the projectile, the at least one pinching element is adapted to prevent ejection in said direction of the projectile in its loaded position in the shooter body by means of frictional force acting between at least one pinching surface of the at least one pinching element and the cylindrical surface of the projectile, and said at least one pinching surface is adapted to guide the cylindrical surface of the projectile in the ejection direction of the projectile along the centre axis of the cylindrical surface of the projectile during ejection of the projectile. 
     In this way, a stationary frictional force acting between the pinching surface of the pinching element and the cylindrical surface of the projectile may retain the projectile in its loaded position during the building-up of a suitable ejection force acting on the projectile by means of the pusher part of the trigger element. When the required ejection force is reached, the stationary friction force may be overcome and the projectile may be released and may be ejected powerfully enough to fly a certain distance through the air. 
     In an embodiment, the at least one pinching element has the form of a tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element adapted to interact with the cylindrical surface of the projectile by means of the at least one pinching surface. Thereby, in its simplest form, the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element may have a cylindrical face forming the pinching surface or being provided with one or more pinching surfaces. For instance, the above-mentioned 1×1 circular stud coupling may be loaded by inserting the coupling stud on its top surface into the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element forming the pinching element or, alternatively, said tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element forming the pinching element may be inserted into the coupling skirt on the underside of the stud coupling. 
     In an embodiment, the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element forming the at least one pinching element, at least along a part of its length, is divided into parts by means of at least one cut-out in a wall of said element. Thereby, the part or parts of the wall formed between the at least one cut-out in the wall, depending on the material forming the pinching element, may be allowed to flex, preferably elastically, more or less, whereby a larger frictional force may be build up between the pinching surface of the pinching element and the cylindrical surface of the projectile when the projectile is inserted into its loaded position in the shooter body. 
     In an embodiment, the at least one pinching surface has the form of a raised surface on an at least partly cylindrical surface of the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element. Thereby, by a certain limitation of the extent of the contact surface between the pinching surface and the cylindrical surface of the projectile, it may be ensured that the pinching surface is in fact evenly pressed suitably against part of the cylindrical surface of the projectile, also in the case that the pinching element is allowed to flex elastically during insertion of the projectile. If, on the other hand, the pinching surface would be formed almost entirely by a cylindrical surface of the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element, flexing of the pinching element could result in the pinching surface being not evenly pressed against the cylindrical surface of the projectile. 
     In an embodiment, the shooter body is at least partly formed by a tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element having a first part forming the at least one pinching element and having a second part accommodating the trigger element. Thereby, a compact device may be obtained. 
     In an embodiment, the trigger element is mounted pivotally in a slot in a wall of the shooter body so that the pusher part is located inside the at least partly or substantially tubular element and so that the finger touch part is located outside said element. 
     In an embodiment, the trigger element is so arranged in the shooter body that a line extending through the pusher part and the finger touch part forms an acute angle with a central axis of the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element of the shooter body. Thereby, it may be possible triggering the shooting toy simply by pressing it between two fingertips, one fingertip pressing the finger touch part of the trigger element and the other fingertip pressing an opposed part of the shooter body. Thereby operation of even very small-scale versions of the shooting toy may be facilitated. 
     In an embodiment, the trigger element has a V-formed part, each leg of the V-form forming a separate pusher part at its end, and the entire trigger element is symmetrical or substantially symmetrical about the symmetry axis of the V-form. Thereby, the trigger element may be mounted in the shooter body by the user without possibility of mounting the trigger element wrong. 
     In an embodiment, the projectile has the form of a circular stud coupling in the form of a rotationally symmetrical unit comprising a coupling stud on its top surface and a coupling skirt on its underside which is complementary relative to the coupling stud, wherein the at least one pinching element is adapted to interact with the coupling stud of the projectile, and wherein the shooter body, opposite the at least one pinching element, is provided with a coupling stud corresponding to the coupling stud of the circular stud coupling and adapted to interconnect with the coupling skirt of the circular stud coupling. Thereby, a number of spare projectiles may be stored on the shooter body by connecting them to the coupling stud of the shooter body. 
    
    
     
       The invention will now be explained in more detail below by means of examples of embodiments with reference to the very schematic drawing, in which 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a Lego minifigure holding a shooting toy according to the invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a shooting toy according to the invention, however, without a projectile loaded; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of the shooter body of the shooting toy in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the trigger element of the shooting toy in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 5  is an end view of the shooter body in  FIG. 3 , seen from the right side; 
         FIG. 6  is an end view of the trigger element in  FIG. 4 , seen from the right side; 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the shooting toy in  FIG. 2 , however with a projectile loaded; 
         FIG. 8  is an end view of the shooting toy in  FIG. 7 , seen from the left side; 
         FIG. 9  is an axial section through the shooting toy in  FIG. 8  taken along the line IX-IX; 
         FIG. 10  is a top view of the shooting toy in  FIG. 7 ; 
         FIG. 11  is an axial section through the shooting toy in  FIG. 7  taken along the line XI-XI; 
         FIG. 12  is an end view of the shooting toy in  FIG. 7 , seen from the right side; 
         FIGS. 13 to 17  correspond to  FIGS. 7 to 10 and 12 , respectively, however, without a projectile loaded; 
         FIG. 18  is a cross-section through the shooting toy in  FIG. 16  taken along the line XVIII-XVIII; 
         FIG. 19  is a side view of a projectile as shown in  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 20  is a perspective view of the projectile in  FIG. 19 . 
     
    
    
       FIG. 1  illustrates a Lego minifigure  2  holding a shooter  5  of a shooting toy  1  according to the present invention in a left hand  3 , whereby a projectile  4  in the form of the above-described 1×1 circular stud coupling is just ejected from the shooter  5  of the shooting toy  1 . The projectile  4  is ejected by pressing a trigger element  6  by means of a finger of the user, for instance a child playing with the minifigure  2 . 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the shooter  5  in greater detail, however without the projectile  4 . The shooter  5  includes a shooter body  7 , a pinching element  8  adapted to pinch the projectile  4  and thereby hold it in the shooter body  7  in a loaded position as for instance illustrated in  FIGS. 7 and 9 . The shooter  5  furthermore includes the trigger element  6  being movably mounted in the shooter body  7  between a passive position, in which the projectile  4  may occupy its loaded position in the shooter body  7 , as for instance illustrated in  FIGS. 2, 7 and 9 , and an activated position, as for instance illustrated in  FIGS. 1, 13 and 15 . 
     The trigger element  6  has a pusher part  10  adapted to push the projectile  4  away from its loaded position when the trigger element  6  is moved from its passive position to its activated position, so that the projectile  4  may be ejected from the shooter body  7 . The trigger element  6  furthermore has a finger touch part  11  adapted to be activated by the finger of an operator. Although this finger touch part  11  conveniently may be activated by pressing it by means of the tip of a finger, of course, it may also be activated by any other suitable means, such as by means of a toy tool, for instance a toy brick or the like. 
     As explained above, the projectile  4  may have the form of a 1×1 circular stud coupling  13 , illustrated for instance in  FIG. 20 . The 1×1 circular stud coupling  13  is provided in the form of a rotationally symmetrical unit and comprises a coupling stud  14  on its top surface and a coupling skirt  15  on its underside which is complementary relative to the coupling stud  14  so that two of these coupling devices may be interconnected by insertion of the coupling stud  14  of one coupling device into the coupling skirt  15  of another coupling device, as it is well known, or that they may be connected to any one of the abovementioned several other various plastic toy construction elements available under the name LEGO. The coupling stud  14  has a top surface  18  which the pusher part  10  of the trigger element  6  may abut when the projectile  4  is to be ejected. As illustrated in  FIGS. 19 and 20 , the 1×1 circular stud coupling  13  has a cylindrical part  19  between the coupling stud  14  the coupling skirt  15 . However, the projectile  4  may also be a not shown, however well known, 1×1 square stud coupling having a square skirt instead of the cylindrical part  19  and the circular coupling skirt  15  of the illustrated 1×1 circular stud coupling  13 . 
     As also illustrated in  FIG. 20 , the projectile  4  has a cylindrical surface  12 . The shooter  5  is adapted to eject the projectile  4  along a centre axis  16  of the cylindrical surface  12  of the projectile  4 , as illustrated for instance in  FIGS. 1 and 9 . 
     The pinching element  8  is adapted to prevent ejection in the abovementioned direction of the projectile  4  in its loaded position in the shooter body  7  by means of frictional force acting between pinching surfaces  17  of the pinching element  8  and the cylindrical surface  12  of the projectile  4 . Furthermore, as it will be understood, said pinching surfaces  17  are adapted to guide the cylindrical surface  12  of the projectile  4  in the ejection direction of the projectile  4  along the centre axis  16  of the cylindrical surface  12  of the projectile  4  during ejection of the projectile  4 . 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the pinching element  8  has the form of a tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element adapted to interact with the cylindrical surface  12  of the projectile  4  by means of four pinching surfaces  17 , each having the form of a raised surface on a cylindrical surface  20  of the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element forming the pinching element  8 , as illustrated in  FIG. 18 . The distance between two opposed pinching surfaces  17  is slightly smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical surface  20 . Any suitable number of pinching surfaces  17  is possible, and the pinching surfaces  17  may simply be positioned on a diameter  38  being slightly smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical surface  20 . 
     Furthermore, as illustrated in  FIG. 18 , the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element forming the at least one pinching element  8 , is divided into two opposed parts  22  by means of two opposed cut-outs  23  in a wall  21  of said element. The tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element forming the at least one pinching element  8  may be divided into any suitable number of parts, such as three, four, five or even any larger number. 
     The shooter body  7  is at least partly formed by a tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element having a first part  24  forming the at least one pinching element  8  and having a second part  25  accommodating the trigger element  6 . The trigger element  6  is mounted pivotally in a slot  26  in a wall  27  of the shooter body  7  so that the pusher part  10  is located inside the at least partly or substantially tubular element and so that the finger touch part  11  is located outside said element. The trigger element  6  is provided with pivot pins  32  adapted to be mounted in bearings  33  in the wall  27  of the shooter body  7 . The bearings  33  are adapted to elastically flex and thereby grip the pivot pins  32  when the user presses the pivot pins  32  into engagement with the bearings  33 . The bearings  33  therefore has a first section  34  with a diameter corresponding to or slightly larger than that of the pivot pins  32  and a second section  35  with a cross-sectional dimension slightly smaller than said diameter. 
     The shooter body  7  is provided with a handle  36  in the form of a slightly angled pin extending downwardly from the lower part of the shooter body  7  so that a Lego minifigure  2  may hold the shooter  5  in its hand  3  by said handle  36 . 
     The trigger element  6  is so arranged in the shooter body  7  that a line  28  extending through the pusher part  10  and the finger touch part  11  forms an acute angle with a central axis  29  of the tubular or at least partly or substantially tubular element of the shooter body  7 , as illustrated in  FIGS. 9 and 15 . Thereby, it may be possible triggering the shooting toy  1  simply by pressing it between two fingertips, one fingertip pressing the finger touch part of the trigger element and the other fingertip pressing an opposed part of the shooter body. Thereby operation of even very small-scale versions of the shooting toy may be facilitated. Preferably, the shooter body  7  has a diameter of less than 15 mm, more preferred less than 12 mm and most preferred less than 10 mm. Preferably, the shooter body  7  has a length of less than 25 mm, more preferred less than 20 mm and most preferred less than 18 mm. 
     The trigger element  6  has a V-formed part  30 , each leg of the V-form forming a separate pusher part  10  at its end, and the entire trigger element  6  is symmetrical or substantially symmetrical about the symmetry axis of the V-form as best illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
     As illustrated in the figures, opposite the pinching element  8 , the shooter body  7  is provided with a coupling stud  31  corresponding to the coupling stud  14  of the 1×1 circular stud coupling  13  and adapted to interconnect with the coupling skirt  15  of the 1×1 circular stud coupling  13 , thereby enabling the user to store a number of projectiles  4  on the back of the shooter body  7 . 
     Advantageously, the pinching element  8  and possibly the shooter body  7  may be formed, for instance by injection moulding, from ABS which among its properties has good toughness and rigidity, low creep, and good dimensional stability. Thereby, the pinching element  8  may retain its elasticity over a very long time, such as 10 years or more. 
     In the embodiment illustrated in the figures, it may be understood that the projectile  4 , in its loaded position, is held practically only by friction force between the pinching surfaces  17  and the cylindrical surface  12  of the projectile  4 . Furthermore, it may be understood that in the loaded position of the projectile  4  in the shooter body  7 , the two opposed parts  22  of the pinching element  8  may be flexed slightly away from each other in relation to a resting position that they take up when the projectile  4  is not loaded. This may be obtained by forming the diameter on which the pinching surfaces  17  are located in the resting position of the two opposed parts  22  slightly smaller than the diameter of the cylindrical surface  12  of the projectile  4 , such as, for instance, more than 1%, more than 3% or even more than 5% smaller. By this arrangement, it may be obtained that a larger friction force is present between the pinching surfaces  17  and the cylindrical surface  12  of the projectile  4  in the loaded position of the projectile  4 . Furthermore, thereby it may be possible to slightly boost the ejection of the projectile  4  just before it leaves the shooter body  7  by rounding a tip end  37  of the pinching surfaces  17  so that this rounded tip end  37  may “kick” the projectile  4  in the ejection direction as the two opposed parts  22  flex back to their resting position. It may also be understood, that in the embodiment illustrated in the figures, the two opposed parts  22  of the pinching element  8  are not flexed further away from each other during ejection of the projectile  4 . However, in a not shown embodiment, this could be the case, if the two or more opposed parts  22  of the pinching element  8  were formed with a slightly hook-formed tip end gripping over the cylindrical part  19  or other part of the 1×1 circular stud coupling  13  in the loaded position of the projectile  4 .