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US 4,756,529 AGranted
Generally spherical object with floppy filaments to promote sure capture
AssigneeOddzOn Products, Inc.
InventorScott H. Stillinger
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An amusement device which has a substantially spherical configuration, and which is formed from a large plurality of floppy, elastomeric filaments that radiate in a dense, bushy manner from a central core region. The filaments are sufficiently floppy to collapse on impact, thus to absorb enough energy to avoid any tendency to bounce. They are also sufficiently dense and floppy that they tend to quickly thread their way between the fingers of a user on contact with the hand. These features promote sure and quick capture of the device during the act of catching.
Claims8
An amusement device comprising
- a core region, and
- plural, elongate, floppy, tiny-diameter, elastomeric filaments, each having a cross-sectional dimension which is extremely small in relation to its length, said filaments radiating in plural angularly offset planes in a dense, bushy configuration from said core region to form a generally spherical object, with the filaments being sufficiently floppy to collapse significantly on impact, thus to absorb enough energy to avoid any tendency to bounce, and with the filaments being sufficiently dense and floppy that a large plurality thereof tend to thread their way between adjacent fingers of a user's hand upon contact of the filaments with the hand during the act of catching, thereby to promote sure and quick capture of the device.
An amusement comprising
- a plurality of elongate, floppy, tiny-diameter, elastomeric filaments, each having a cross-sectional dimension which is extremely small in relation to its length, and
- means joining said filaments intermediate their ends in such a manner that they radiate from a core region to form a dense, bushy configuration,
- said filaments collectively forming a generally spherical object, and being sufficiently floppy to collapse significantly on impact, thus to absorb enough energy to avoid any tendency to bounce, with the filaments being sufficiently dense and floppy that a large plurality thereof tend to thread their way between adjacent fingers of a user's hand upon contact with the hand during the act of catching, thus to promote sure and quick capture of the device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.