Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a toy device for ejecting a projectile such as a foam ball by air or wate.r pressure.

Background of the Invention Devices, such as the device proposed in United States Patent number 4,892,081, are known for ejecting projectiles such as foam balls. Such devices, however, typically operate by pressure developed by a single stroke of a hand pump, and actuation of such devices typically requires repetitive strokes by the hand pump in order to eject a plurality of balls. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a device for ejecting projectiles such as foam balls which can accumulate pressure in order to repeatedly eject balls without individual actuation of a pumping mechanism for each ball to be ejected.

Summary of the Invention According to the present invention, a device for ejecting projectiles includes a hollow barrel adapted to receive at least one projectile. A pressure accumulator is provided, which may be partially filled with water, and an air pump is connected to this accumulator for compressing air therewithin under pressure for storage. A valve, actuated by a trigger, connects the output of the pressure accumulator with the barrel. The pressure of the contents from the accumulator is regulated and a valve, actuated by a trigger, connects the regulated pressure with the barrel. The barrel of the present invention can be adapted to receive a plurality of compressible balls which will be aligned longitudinally within the barrel. A restricted

opening, having a size less than that of the unconstrained diameter of the balls, is provided at a forward.end of the barrel so that the balls can be inserted into the barrel by being compressed through this forward opening. A resilient means such as a compression spring extends longitudinally within the barrel and urges the loaded balls within the barrel towards the restricted opening with the forwardmost ball seated against the restricted opening. In this way, as air pressure is supplied to the barrel, the forwardmost ball can be forcibly ejected while it compresses through the restricted opening.

The valve includes an actuating stem for opening and closing, and the preferred trigger includes a slide member biased resiliently in the forward direction. A resilient arm is carried by the slide member and has a projection adapted to engage the actuating stem of the valve in the forward position of the slide member, and serves to open the valve as the slide member is moved rearwardly. The arm also carries a camming surface, and a cam is provided to engage this camming surface to separate the projection from the valve stem as the slide member is moved further rearwardly, and thus close the valve.

The air pump preferred for the present invention may include a piston chamber, and a piston within the chamber. A shaft extends from the piston externally of the device so that the user can actuate the piston repetitively to pump air into the accumulator. In one form of the present invention, the piston divides the piston chamber into respective compartments and each compartment has an opening leading to the ambient through a one-way valve permitting ambient air to be drawn into the respective compartment as the piston is moved to enlarge the compartment and an outlet leading to the accumulator through a one-way valve to force air into the accumulator as the piston is moved in the direction to reduce the size of the compartment. In this way, air can be forced into the accumulator both during forward and rearward sliding action of the piston to pump

air into the accumulator during the forward and rearward stroke.

The projectile may be foam balls, as discussed previously, or may be a projectile having an opening adapted to fit over the forward end of the barrel. In such case, it is preferred that the opening have resilient means engaging the outer surface of the barrel so that the projectile will not be ejected from the barrel until a predetermined pressure thrust is provided upon opening the valve by the trigger.

These and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the description of preferred embodiments made below in connection with the attached drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. l is a schematic illustration of the present invention illustrating use with a plurality of foam balls;

Fig. 1A is a schematic illustration of the valve of the present invention; Fig. 2 is a schematic illustration of the present invention illustrating the use of a foam arrow as the projectile;

Fig. 3 is alternate embodiment of the present invention illustrating the use of a dual barrel arrangement; and Fig. 4 is a another embodiment of the present invention illustrating the use f a battery powered pump mechanism.

Description of Preferred Embodiments Fig. 1 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention, and includes a device 10 having a barrel 12 connected at its rearward end to a housing 14. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the barrel 12 is hollow, and has attached to its rear wall 16 a compression spring 18. the compression spring 18 is adapted to extend the length of the barrel 12, and carries at its forward portion a cup member 19 having projections 20 serving to engage the inner surface of the barrel 12 slidingly.

The forward portion 22 of the barrel has a restricted opening 23 formed by shoulder 24. Flared entry 26 is provided for the restricted opening 23 of the barrel, and as would be understood by those skilled in the art, compressible balls 28 can be inserted through the restricted opening 23 by first being seated within the flared entry 26 and then being forced inwardly through the restricted opening 23 to engage the cup member 19. As compressible balls 28 are loaded within the barrel 12, the spring 18 is compressed to accommodate several balls, and the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 houses four balls 28 within the barrel 12. It should be understood, however, that eight or even ten balls have been found to be accommodated in a properly proportioned barrel. Regardless of the number of balls that are loaded in the barrel, the forward ball will be seated against the shoulder 24 of the restricted opening 23 by the compression spring 18.

A pressure accumulator 30 is connected to the housing 14, and in the illustrated embodiment, the pressure accumulator 30 is located interiorly of the housing 14. An air pump 32 is connected to the accumulator, and as illustrated, the air pump may be located axially within the accumulator 30. The air pump 32 may be a piston pump formed with chamber 34 and piston 36. Connected to the rearward surface of piston 36 is piston shaft 38 extending externally of the housing to an actuating handle 40.

In preferred form, the piston pump 32 is a dual acting pump serving to force air into the accumulator 30 to compress air therewithin under pressure for storage within the accumulator 30. The piston 36 divides the piston chamber 34 into two compartments, including forward compartment 42 and rearward compartment 44. Each compartment has a respective opening leading to the ambient, and as illustrated, compartment 42 has opening 46 having one-way entry valve 48 leading to conduit 50 extending to an opening 52 leading to the ambient. Opening 52 may preferably be covered with a suitable screen element to prevent entry of foreign materials. Similarly, compartment

44 has an opening 54 with one-way entry valve 56 leading to the opening 52.

Compartment 42 has an outlet opening 58 sealed by a one-way exit valve 60; and compartment 44 has an outlet opening 62 and a one-way exit valve 63 situated thereover. As would be understood, forward motion of the piston 36 by actuation of handle 40 from the position shown in Fig. 1 would close one-way entry valve 48 for the compartment 42 while drawing ambient air into compartment 44 through on-way entry valve 56; forcing air through outlet 58 by the opening of valve 60 into the pressure accumulator 30. Withdrawing the piston 36 from the forward position in piston chamber 34 would close valve 60 while opening valve 48 to draw ambient air through opening 52 into compartment 42 while simultaneously closing valve 56 and opening the valve 63 from the outlet 62 of compartment 44. In this way, the rearward stroke of the piston 36 would force air from compartment 44 into the pressure accumulator 30. Repeated strokes of the piston pump can thus serve to build air pressure rapidly within the accumulator.

It should be noted that other types of pumps may be utilized with the present invention. For example,the pump may be a single acting pump which forces air into the accumulator 30 through a single one-way entry valve. The pressure accumulator 30 has an outlet 64 leading to control valve 70 illustrated schematically in Fig.la. Control valve 70 has seat 72 receiving the valve member 74 to provide an air-tight seal. Valve member 74 is carried on actuating shaft 76 and is biased in its seated position by compression spring 78. Actuating shaft 76 of the valve 70 extends to a forward actuator 80 having inclined rearward ramp surface 82. 0-ring 84 is provided around the actuating shaft 76 to seal the valve and prevent egress of air when the actuating stem 76 is moved rearwardly against the action of the spring 78 to unseat the valve member 74.

The valve 70 is actuated by the trigger mechanism 90 which will be described with reference specifically to Figs. 1 and 2. Trigger mechanism 90 includes a slide member 92

reciprocal within trigger housing 94. Slide member 92 is biased in its forward position illustrated in Fig.2 by compression spring 96. The slide member 92 is preferably formed of a resilient plastics material such as nylon, and includes a resilient arm 97 having a protection 98 carried at its forward end. Projection 98 in the rest position with the valve closed abuts the actuator 80 of the valve stem 76, and rearward motion of the trigger element 100 connected to the slide member 92 results in the valve stem 76 to be retracted rearwardly to open the valve 70. This position of the slide member 92 enables air to be delivered through conduit 104 to the barrel 12 to eject the forwardmost ball 28 through the restricted opening 23.

As the slide member 92 is moved past this position initially opening the valve 70, cam surface 106 carried on the upper portion of the resilient arm 97 engages the inner surface of the top wall 108 of the housing 94 to flex the resilient arm 97 downwardly and release the engagement of first projection 98 from the actuator 80. Spring 96, consequently, on the valve then serves to move the valve stem 76 forwardly to re-seat the valve member 74 against the seat 72. In this way, a single shot is provided by the device, and a single ball 28 can be ejected through the restricted opening 23. The embodiment of Fig. 2 is essentially identical to the embodiment of Fig. 1. However, instead of having ball 28 inserted within the barrel 12, a projectile in the form of the arrow 110 has a hollow center 112 leading to a rearward opening to enable the projectile 110 to fit over the outer surface of the barrel. In a preferred form, the projectile 110 has an inner surface formed of a foam material to enable it to be readily compressible, and a circular bead 114 is provided around the outer surface of the barrel 12 to hold the projectile 110 on the barrel as pressure is delivered to the barrel 12. As it would be well understood by those skilled in the art, the release of air pressure into the barrel 12 will cause the projectile 110 to fly from the device.

Fig.3 illustrates an alternate embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 differs from the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2 by having a dual barrel arrangement with two triggers. Each trigger separately activates a respective valve comparable to the valve illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 directing air pressure to a respective barrel. Alternately, a single trigger may be utilized in combination with a diverter positioned between the pressure accumulator and the respective valves to enable air pressure from the accumulator to be directed to the respective valves upon actuation of the trigger.

The embodiment of Fig. 3 enables a plurality of projectiles to be ejected from selected barrels of simultaneously from both barrels as would be understood by those skilled in the arts.

In another embodiment, shown in Fig. 4, the hand actuated pump and associated valves may be replaced with an electric pump system. Electric pump system 120 includes piston pump 122, motor 124 operatively connected to piston pump 122 via gears 126 and pressure switch 128. Power is supplied to motor 124 by batteries 130.

Operationally, when the pressure in accumulator 30 falls below a predetermined valve, pressure switch 128 activates thereby energizing motor 124. Motor 124 activates piston pump 122 via gears 126 until pressure switch 128 senses a predetermined pressure within accumulator 30. Ejection of the projectile, i.e., balls 28, is accomplished in the same manner as discussed above.

The present invention is not intended to be limited by the description of the embodiments above, but by the appended claims.