Action toy featuring object collisions inside a vacuum chamber
OwnerRobert D. Silfvastinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An action toy employs a vacuum chamber and vacuum pressure to propel projectiles inward to collide with materials or objects or structures inside the sealed vacuum chamber. Users are entertained by observing high-speed demolition and wrecking action. Air-tight containment of the chamber is required to create a vacuum, ensuring user safety and mess-free operation while providing close-up viewing and video capture from outside the chamber. Users can experiment with a wide variety of high-speed collisions, watch the results in slow-motion replay, and share replay clips with others using a smartphone. The toy can be used to create art works by blasting materials onto a canvas.
Claims20
A method for facilitating an entertainment experience comprising the steps of
- placing one or more materials or objects within the interior of an opened vacuum chamber having one or more launch tubes each fitted with an air-inlet valve, said one or more materials or objects located within a said launch tube on the interior side of said air-inlet valve, followed by
- closing said vacuum chamber with an air-tight seal to prepare said vacuum chamber for evacuation, followed by
- evacuating air from said vacuum chamber to produce a substantial pressure differential inside said vacuum chamber relative to its exterior environment, followed by
- abruptly opening at least one of said air-inlet valves to produce an in-rush of air into said launch tube thereby directing force onto said one or more materials or objects placed inside said launch tube thereby accelerating said one or more materials or objects to produce a collision inside said vacuum chamber.
An apparatus comprising
- a chamber having an interior volume and means for said interior volume to be isolated from its exterior environment by an air-tight barrier, and
- one or more launch tube sections adjoined to said chamber, each having an inlet end away from said chamber and an exit end adjoined and open to said chamber's interior volume, and each having means to be closed or open at its inlet end via an air-inlet valve, and
- means for an operator to place one or more projectiles inside any of the one or more launch tube sections, on the interior side of said launch tube section's air-inlet valve, and
- means to evacuate air from said chamber thereby producing an air pressure differential between said exterior environment and said interior volume when all of said air-inlet valves are closed, and
- means to abruptly open at least one of said one or more air-inlet valves, resulting in said one or more projectiles accelerating into said chamber by the force of in-rushing air caused by said pressure differential.
An apparatus for creating art works, comprising
- a chamber having an interior volume and means for said interior volume to be isolated from its exterior environment by an air-tight barrier, and
- one or more launch tube sections adjoined to said chamber, each having an inlet end away from said chamber and an exit end adjoined and open to said chamber's interior volume, and each having means to be closed or open at its inlet end via an air-inlet valve, and
- means for an operator to place one or more projectiles in any of the one or more launch tube sections, on the interior side of said launch tube's air-inlet valve, and
- means to evacuate air from said chamber thereby producing an air pressure differential between said exterior environment and said interior volume when all of said air-inlet valves are closed, and
- means to abruptly open at least one of said one or more air-inlet valves, resulting in one or more of said projectiles accelerating inward into said chamber by the force of in-rushing air caused by said pressure differential, thereby causing a collision that results in dispersion of materials onto surfaces inside said chamber, and
- means to capture and save the resultant dispersed materials as an image or as a physical art work or as both an image and a physical art work.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.