Levitating ball toy
AssigneeMattel, Inc.
InventorsAlan Cusolito, Kevin W. Gray
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In one embodiment, the present invention provides a toy wherein a player manipulates a levitated object through an obstacle course. Furthermore, the present invention allows the player to design and build the obstacle course. The toy may include a playing field having a plurality of mounting stations distributed along a pathway and a plurality of obstacles adapted to interchangeably engage the mounting stations. A levitation mechanism may be adapted to produce an air stream and move the air stream along the pathway. In addition, the toy may further include a controller adapted to control movement of the air stream along the pathway.
Claims20
A toy comprising:
- a playing field including a plurality of mounting stations distributed along a pathway;
- a plurality of obstacles adapted to interchangeably engage the mounting stations;
- a levitation mechanism adapted to:
- produce an air stream;
- and
- move the air stream along the pathway;
- and
- a controller in communication with the levitation mechanism, the controller being adapted to control movement of the air stream along the pathway.
A method of playing a game comprising:
- selecting one or more obstacles from a plurality of obstacles;
- positioning the selected obstacles along a pathway to create an obstacle course;
- placing an object in an upwardly directed air stream such that the object is supported by the air stream;
- maneuvering the floatable object through the obstacle course by controlling the force of the air stream and the movement of the airstream along the pathway.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.