US 4,906,007 AGranted

Hand-throwable flying toy

OwnerRobert P. Mitchell, Gary P. Peterseninventors

Life of this patent

Estimating the term…

Loading patent…

Abstract

A hand-throwable flying toy comprising a convex/concave surface with central aperture and peripheral flange-like rim that can be sailed through the air for use in short-range games of catch and short-range target games is disclosed. When thrown over short distances in a manner to produce both translational and rotational motion, the disclosed toy hovers at the apex of its flight path and then drops vertically downward without tendancy to bank left or right. In the preferred embodiment, means are provided to help stabilize the motion of the toy during descent: edge spoilers facilitate low-drag air flow past the outer edge of the toy; aperture spoilers facilitate low-drag air flow through a centrally-located circular aperture bounded by a circumscribed lip; lower spoilers placed in an annular region on the lower surface of the toy surround the aperture and facilitate the production of a surface-bound doughnut of turbulence that provides the toy with resistance against banking motion.

Claims18

Dependent claims

An aerodynamic toy device comprising:

(a) a ring-like part comprising a substantially planar circular annular section of substantially uniform thickness, said annular section having an outer boundary defined by a predetermined first radius, and said annular section having an inner boundary defined by a predetermined second radius;
(b) a lip placed along said inner boundary of said annular section, said lip being thicker than the average thickness of said annular section;
(c) an annular rim circumscribing said annular section, said rim being thicker than said annular section and said rim comprising a top edge, a bottom edge, a substantially cylindrical inner surface, and a curved outer surface, the curvature of said outer surface giving the outer edge of said toy device the shape of an airfoil, and the outermost edge of said rim being defined by a predetermined third radius, said third radius being equal to one-half the maximum width of said toy device, and said third radius being related to said second radius such that the ratio of said second radius to said third radius is in the range 0.25 to 0.40.
(d) a surface of curvature extending from said outer boundary of said annular section and curving downwardly to a point of juncture with said top edge of said rim;
(e) a principal rotation axis that is substantially normal to said annular section;
(f) an overall convex upper surface and an overall concave lower surface of said toy device formed from the combining of said annular section, said surface of curvature, and said rim, wherein parts of said upper surface most proximate said aperture are most substantially normal to said principal rotation axis;
(g) an overall weight distribution such that the ratio of the weight of said rim to the total weight of said toy device is in the range of 0.40 to 0.60.

4 more elements

An aerodynamic toy device comprising:

(a) a ring-like part comprising a substantially planar circular annular section of substantially uniform thickness, the outer boundary of said annular section being defined by a predetermined first radius, and the inner boundary of said annular section being defined by a predetermined second radius;
(b) a lip placed along said inner boundary of said annular section, said lip defining the periphery of a single aperture centrally located in said annular section, and said lip comprising:
(i) a top edge, an inner surface facing said aperture, and a bottom edge, and
(ii) aperture spoiler means for spoiling the laminar flow of air past said inner surface of said lip, said aperture spoiler means being placed along said inner surface of said lip;
(c) an annular rim circumscribing said annular section, said rim being thicker than said annular section and said rim comprising
(i) a top edge, a bottom edge, a substantially cylindrical inner surface, and a curved outer surface, the curvature of said outer surface giving the outer edge of said toy device the shape of an airfoil, and the outermost edge of said rim being defined by a predetermined third radius, said third radius being equal to one-half the maximum width of said toy device, and
(ii) edge spoiler means for spoiling the laminar flow of air past said outer curved surface of said rim, said edge spoiler means being placed along said outer curved surface of said rim from said bottom edge of said rim to said top edge of said rim;
(d) a surface of curvature extending from said outer boundary of said annular section and curving downwardly to a point of juncture with said top edge of said rim;
(e) an overall convex upper surface and an overall concave lower surface of said toy device formed from the combining of said annular section, said surface of curvature, and said rim, said concave lower surface comprising in part:
(i) an annular region whose inner boundary is defined by said bottom edge of said lip and whose outer boundary is determined by a predetermined fourth radius, and
(ii) lower spoiler means for spoiling the laminar flow of radially directed air flowing across said annular region of said concave lower surface, said lower spoiler means being placed in the area between said bottom edge of said lip and said outer boundary of said annular region of said lower surface;
(f) a principal rotation axis which is substantially normal to said annular section.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.