Toy gun having an expandable tear drop shaped bladder for ejection of liquid therefrom

An expandable bladder toy water gun adapted to eject a stream of liquid, comprising:

• (a) a main housing having a liquid ejection nozzle, a handle and a trigger located thereon;
• (b) an expandable bladder connected to the main housing, the bladder having a tear drop shaped body with an elongated neck and a single inlet/outlet opening;
• (c) a rigid, substantially spherical bladder housing connected to the main housing and encompassing the body of the tear drop shaped bladder, the bladder housing being generally spherical with a predetermined volume to contain the bladder when the tear drop shaped body is inflated to a maximum volume and expands into a substantially spherical shape within the predetermined volume to prevent further expansion of the bladder body within the bladder housing;
• (d) an inlet/outlet tube connected to the inlet/outlet opening at the neck of the bladder;
• (e) a liquid storage tank located on the main housing, the liquid storage tank including an outlet;
• (f) a pump located on the main housing and connected to the tank, the pump being adapted to transfer liquid from the tank to the bladder through the inlet/outlet tube to expand and fill the bladder with liquid such that the bladder expands to the substantially spherical shape, wherein the expanded bladder provides a motive force for ejection of liquid from the toy gun;
• and
• (g) a bladder release valve having an upstream side and a downstream side, the upstream side being in fluid communication with the bladder inlet/outlet tube and the downstream side being connected to the nozzle, the release valve being actuatable by the trigger for opening thereof, the release valve having a first, closed position and a second, open position for ejection of pressurized liquid from the bladder through the nozzle.

An expandable bladder toy water gun adapted to eject a stream of liquid, comprising:

• (a) a main housing having a liquid ejection nozzle, a handle and a trigger, and a release mechanism connected to the trigger;
• (b) an expandable bladder connected to the main housing, the bladder having a tear drop shaped body with an elongated neck and a single inlet/outlet opening, the body being expandable from a first, unexpanded shape to a second, substantially spherical expanded shape;
• (c) a rigid, substantially spherical bladder housing connected to the main housing and encompassing the body of the tear drop shaped bladder, the bladder housing being generally spherical with a predetermined volume to contain the bladder when the bladder body is inflated and expands to the second, substantially spherical shape within the predetermined volume to prevent further expansion of the bladder body within the bladder housing;
• (d) an inlet/outlet tube connected to the inlet/outlet opening at the neck of the bladder;
• (e) a liquid storage tank located on the main housing, the liquid storage tank including an outlet;
• (f) a pump located on the main housing and connected to the tank and the inlet/outlet tube, the pump being adapted to transfer liquid from the tank to the bladder through the inlet/outlet tube to expand and fill the bladder with liquid such that the bladder expands to the second, substantially spherical shape, wherein the expanded bladder provides a motive force for ejection of liquid from the toy gun, the pump including a first one way valve which only permits pumping of liquid from the tank to the bladder;
• and
• (g) a bladder release valve having an upstream side and a downstream side, the upstream side being in fluid communication with the bladder inlet/outlet tube and the downstream side being connected to the nozzle, the release valve being connected by the release mechanism to the trigger for opening the release valve, the release valve having a first, closed position and a second, open position for ejection of pressurized liquid from the bladder through the nozzle.