US2836927A - Aquatic amusement device - Google Patents

Description

June 3, 1958 H. A. WARNER AQUATIC AMUSEMENT DEVICE Filed Dec. 24, 1956 p Y w w m R ER m W 4 ]W. x A

beprov ided with a pouch linto the user ene more pellets: orincrea'sing the weight ni ed ates Pa en i 2,836,927 Patented June 3, 1958 v 2,836,921] AQUATIC AMUSEMENT DEVICE Harry A. Warner, Miami, Fla ApplicationDeeember 24, 1956, Serial No. 630,113

2 Claims. (CI. 46-92 i This invention relates to an aquatic toy for amusement or for commercial-display purpose.

The invention contemplatesa submersible device, such as a parachute with a suspended figure simulating a man andwith the parachute adapted to ascend and descend through a bodyof water and with the water being in a glass or plastic container whereby the parachute will be clearly visible throughout its motions. i M

An object of the invention isto provide a device in the a canopy of extremely thin form of a parachute; having lightweight material preferably shaped into a dome and with the circumferential edge of the canopy being constructed in a manner to maintain the contour of the device and alsoto have a connection with a band that carries a"plurality of relatively st-ifi shrouds that are inclined downwardly and inwardly 'to support a simulated H figure of a manatthe lower ends'thereof and'with the a a a a of a predetermined weight as the means tdcarise the parachute to descend and to also maintain .{the parachute in *an upright manner when .it i

has reached thelowermost point in its descent. It also contemplated that the simulated parachute passenger shall hich may be inserted by 3 The invention further contemplates .a simulated parachute that is fcausedto ascendvqand descend through a body of water under the influence of air bubbles that are dis charged at aYp'oint in fjthe container for the water whereby the air bubbles will rise and be entrapped be- ,;.neatl1' tl1 e canopy and, when suflicient air bubbles have been dischargedpitjcreates a j sufficient buoyancy to' the parachute to cause it to rise upwardly through the water to a point where it is substantially floating upon the upper surface a and with the parachute being so constructed that the air entrapped'within the canopypwill be,progres-.

I sively released to the point where the parachute will again t i s ettle downwardly for the reception of a further supply of air bubbles and whereby the operator may cause the parachute to rise and fall 1 h i at will.

The invention further contemplates. an aquatic toy and. amusement device having the above mentioned characteristics that may be associatedjwi'tha commercial display andlwhereby the animation willserve to attract the attentionof persons to adjacent merchandise.

Novel f eatures o fconstruction and operation of the device will be' more clearly apparent during the course of the following description, A reference being had to the accompanying drawings wherein has been illustrated preferred embodiments of, the device as wherein like charac- Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1 and,

. Figure 6 is the air supply tube.

Referrring specifically to the drawings, the numeral 5- designates a receptacle, formed of glass, plastic or the like. that is open at its top and with the receptacle sup 1 porting abody of water 6. While the receptacle has been illustrated as having straight side walls, it is obvious that any convenient type of receptacle can be employed, such as the conventional fruit jar. Insertable within the receptacle to a point adjacent its bottom, is

anair tube 7/ The air tube 7 may be of any desirable form, but is preferably constructed as illustrated fragmentarily inFigure 6. The air tube comprises a section of plastic, rubber or the like that has molded therein along one side a wire 8 and whereby the tube may be shaped by ,the user so that itwill retain a particular contour and, as illustrated in Figure 1 it is desirable that the discharge end of the tube beangled upwardly as shown at S3; The opposite .endofthe tube may be provided with a bulb 10 of conventional construction such as an atomizer bulb and through the medium of which air may be forced through the tube 7 to be discharged from the end 9 in the form of air bubbles, for a purpose to be presently described.

The toy herein disclosed is in the form of a para: chute, indicated as awhole by the numeral 11. The

parachute embodies a canopy of dome shape and with.

the canopy being formed of extremely thin material such as rubber or vinylplastic. The canopy 12 may be.

molded or otherwise produced so that it will maintain its shape, having the upper convex surface 13 and the lower concave surface 14. The marginal edge of the canopy is molded or otherwise formed'to provide a relatively. stiff head 15, see particularly Figure 3. The

canopy 12 at a predetermined point or points is pro vided with a relatively minute aperture 16, such aperture being determinedin accordance with the desired rate of movement of the device. Connected with the canopy 12 is a plurality of shroud lines 17. The shroud lines 17 are in the form of relatively stiff and relatively fine wires that are jointly connected at their upper ends to a'circular wire 18. The wire 18. and its connected lines 17 have snapping engagement with the bead 15 ofthe canopy, whereby the canopy and the lines 17 are 5 connected against separation.

1y connected at their lower ends to of a man 19. The man 19 is weighted, for purpose to be presently described. The man 19 has leg'portion's a fragmentary longitudinal section through a The wires 17 v are inclined inwardly and downwardly where they are joint-'" the simulated figure that are connected to a weighted fiat base 19' that normally rests upon the bottom wall of the receptacle 5 when the parachute is in the lowermost position. The man 19 is also provided upon his back portion with a pouch 19a, into which may be disposed one or more pellets, such as the conventional BB shot and whereby the weight of the device may be varied in accordance with the rate of descent desired by the user.

In the use of the invention so far described, when it is desired to actuate the parachute, the bulb is compressed, forcing air from the discharge end 9 of the tube 7 where they will rise in the form of bubbles upwardly to be entrapped beneath the canopy 12. Due to the pressure of the water over the apertures 16, the air will not leak out of the canopy and, when adequate air has been entrapped within the canopy, the parachute will rise upwardly to a point where it substantially floats upon the upper surface of the body of water. The canopy will continue to float and maintain the man 19 in suspended position until such time as sutficient air has spilled outwardly through the aperture 16 and permitting the weighted man 19 to cause the parachute to descend slowly through the water to the point where the base 19 of the man 19 rests upon the bottom of the container. The parachute may be caused to rise and fall in accordance with the wishes of the operator, providing a very novel and interesting animation as an amusement device.

Various means may be provided to control the escape of the entrapped air, such as one or more slits 20, illustrated in the modified form fragmentarily illustrated in Figure 4. The slits 20 may be cross-cut at 20' to form a plurality of flaps 20a and with the flaps being progressively shorter upwardly. The flaps 20a being progressively longer downwardly toward the bead 15, will be progressively more flexible as they increase in length and in the initial stages of the air escape, it will be relatively retarded by the shorter flaps and progressively larger in volume as it flexes the longer flaps thus, creating a progressively accelerated air escape.

tates the flow of the entrapped air to its point of discharge to the aperture 16 or the slits 20. It is contemplated that the aperture 16 or the slits 20 will function to control the rate of discharge of the air in accordance with the interval of time that it is desired to have the parachute float upon the upper surface of the water. It is also contemplated, that when the device is to be employed as an animated display in merchandise windows or the like, that means be provided whereby the air bubbles may be either continuously discharged or alternately discharged by automatic means (not shown) and whereby the device will be continuously actuated as a means to attract the attention of persons to the merchandise displayin the window and such automatic means will be arranged to cause the parachute to rise and fall at predetermined intervals.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a very novel aquatic toy or amusement device has been provided. It is well known that when air is trapped in an The underside 14 of the canopy may be provided with a film of oil that facili- V enclosed space and fully submerged in water, it will exercise a buoyancy upon the entrapping object and if this buoyancy exercised by the entrapped air is greater, then the downward pull of the entrapping object is overcome and the object will rise to the surface. Upon arriving at the surface the entrapping object will float similar to a bubble until the air therein is released. The device will continue to float upon the water until the entrapped air has been absorbed by the water which obviously would require a relatively long time, such not being desirable or suitable for an action toy. The air escape openings may be round or irregular in shape and the size and number will determine the volume of air to be released and the speed desired for the descent of the device. It

4 will of course be understood that the air discharge opening must be sufiiciently small as to prevent the escape of the entrapped air when the parachute is submerged otherwise, the parachute would not rise. The reason for this is the weight and corresponding pressure of the overhead water plus the effect of capillary action upon the upper and lower surfaces of the parachute combine to resist the effort of the entrapped air to escape and it also tends to hold the parachute in a relatively fixed position. When the parachute rises to the surface, the overhead water pressure no longer exists and the entrapped air having a greater pressure than the atmosphere forces its way out of the parachute. The escape of the air may be so quickly brought about by the predetermined size of the discharge opening that a distinct snap can be heard as of a miniature explosion. The canopy is of tissuethin material and of extremely light weight. The canopy will at all times due to its light weight remain erect throughout its travel. This is due largely to the stiff wire shroud lines 17. 'If the shroud lines were flexible, then the parachute would topple over when the suspended man reached the bottom and, in such a position it would be impossible to introduce the air for the next lifting operation. The parachute is merely dropped into the water and will immediately settle downwardly to cause the base of the suspended man to rest upon the bottom of the container. The air is then introduced as before described until a sufficient quantity has been entrapped into the parachute to cause the parachute to rise to the surface, where it will remain until the major portion of the air has escaped to the atmosphere. The parachutes may be made in various sizes in accordance with the particular use to which the device is to be put. For display purposes, it is obvious that the parachute will be made of a larger diameter than that for a toy and the air discharge opening or openings will be determined in accordance with the frequency of the rise and fall desired.

While a novel form of air tube has been illustrated, it

will be apparent also that any type of tube may be employed such as the conventional drinking straw or glass drinking tube, but it has been found that the novel form of air'tube herein described may be furnished at a relatively low cost and may be manually shaped so that it will have a discharge end that can easily be directed to discharge the air directly beneath the canopy.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction shown, but that changes are contemplated as readily fall within the spirit of the invention as shall be determined by the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An aquatic amusement device in combination with a transparent vessel for supporting a body of water, an object in the form of a simulated parachute that is submerged in the water, the parachute having a relatively fixed dome-shaped canopy open at its bottom and whereby to form an air entrapping chamber, the canopy around its marginal edge being provided with a thickened bead, shroud lines connected with the canopy, the shroud lines embodying a plurality of relatively stiff and relatively fine wires that are connected at their upper end to a wire ring, the said ring having a diameter for snapping engagement with the bead, the several shroud wires converging downwardly to be jointly connected to a simulated figure of a man and whereby the man is suspended from the canopy, the figure of the man having a flat weighted base that is adapted to have a fiat resting engagement upon the bottom of the vessel when the parachute is in a fully submerged position for maintaining the figure and the para chute in an upright position, the said canopy being provided with minute air escape openings, an air tube insertible within the vessel to a point adjacent its bottom and with a free end of the tube being directed upwardly and whereby air from the tube will bubble upwardly to be entrapped within the chamber of the canopy for im- 2. The device according to claim 1 wherein the simu parting buoyancy thereto, means carried at the upper end lated man is provided with an open pouch upon his back of the air tube for forcing air downwardly therethrough, for the reception of weighted pellets for increasing the i the said canopy rising upwardly through the body of water descent of the parachute.

when adequate buoyancy has been imparted thereto and 5 p whereby the canopy will float upon the water with the References Cited In the file of 1111s Pawnt simulated man in suspended position, the said parachute UNITED STATES PATENTS when sufiicient air has leaked therefrom through the openings shifting downwardly under the weight of the simu- 163955O Bender 1927 lated man and its weighted base to a point where the 10 FOREIGN ENT weighted base rests upon the bottom of the vessel for main- 11,478 Great Britain June 12, 1893 taining the parachute in a vertical position through the medium of the stiff shroud wires.

Images