US20070072508A1

US20070072508A1 - Flying saucer structure

Info

Publication number: US20070072508A1
Application number: US11/233,136
Authority: US
Inventors: Kevin Hsu
Original assignee: Shine Sport Facility Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shine Sport Facility Co Ltd
Priority date: 2005-09-23
Filing date: 2005-09-23
Publication date: 2007-03-29

Abstract

A flying saucer includes a soft and hollow main body, a soft shape-maintaining ring positioned around and joined to an outward edge of the main body for maintaining the shape of the main body, and many pellet-shaped loads held inside the main body; the flying saucer is flying, the pellet-shaped loads will gather near the outward edge of the main body owing to centrifugal force, and the gravity center of the flying saucer will shift constantly; consequently, the flying path of the flying saucer is changeable, and the landing position more difficult to predict; in addition, the flying saucer won't cause pain or injury to the catcher's hand because the main body and the shape-maintaining ring are made of soft materials.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flying saucer, more particularly one, which is more interesting and safer to play with.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Conventional flying saucers are made of plastic materials, and in single part by means of injection molding therefore their gravity centers are fixed, and they will fly along a straight path after thrown into the air. Such conventional flying saucers have the following disadvantages: Although the flying saucers are made of hard plastic, the edges thereof are prone to become hairy owing to rubbing of the flying saucers against the ground and other hard objects. Consequently, the flying saucers will cause injury to the throwers' and the catchers' hands owing to the hairy edges. Second, because the flying saucers are relative hard, they can cause pain to the catchers' hands. And, if the flying saucers hit people's eyes, they will cause serious injury. Furthermore, the flying path of the flying saucers is easily predictable because the gravity centers are fixed. Therefore, the players will get bored after having been playing the flying saucers for a certain length of time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is a main object of the invention to provide an improvement on a flying saucer to overcome the above-mentioned problems. The flying saucer of the present invention includes a soft and hollow main body, a soft shape-maintaining ring positioned around and joined to an outward edge of the main body for maintaining the shape of the main body, and many pellet-shaped loads held inside the main body. When he flying saucer is flying, the pellet-shaped loads will gather near the outward edge of the main body owing to centrifugal force, and the gravity center of the flying saucer will shift constantly. Therefore, the flying path of the flying saucer is changeable, the landing position more difficult to predict, and the game is more challenging. In addition, the flying saucer won't cause pain or injury to the catcher's hand because it is soft.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be better understood by referring to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of a flying saucer in the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a view of the flying saucer of the invention in use (1),
FIG. 3 is a view of the flying saucer of the invention in use (2),
FIG. 4 is a view of the flying saucer of the invention in use (3),
FIG. 5 is a view of the flying saucer of the invention in use (4),
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the second embodiment, and
FIG. 7 is a view of the third preferred embodiment in use.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a first preferred embodiment of a flying saucer 1 of the invention includes a main body 11, a shape-maintaining ring 12, and many pellet-shaped loads 13.
The main body 11 is made of soft materials such as non-woven fabrics, and it has a ring shape with a through hole 111 on a middle portion thereof. Furthermore, the main body 11 is hollow, having a holding room therein. The shape-maintaining ring 12 is soft, and it is positioned around and joined to an outward edge of the main body 11 for maintaining the shape of the main body 11. The pellet-shaped loads 13 are held in the holding room of the main body 11.
To play with the flying saucer 1, referring to FIG. 3, the user should hold the flying saucer 1 with one hand, and move the hand in a curved path to make the flying saucer 1 fly away; the flying saucer 1 will rotate when flying along. And, the pellet-shaped loads 13 will move close to one side of the flying saucer 1 owing to the centrifugal force. Therefore, the pellet-shaped loads 13 will move in the tangential direction of the flying saucer 1 constantly, and in turn the gravity center of the flying saucer 1 will shift constantly. Consequently, the flying path of the flying saucer 1 is changeable, the landing position more difficult to predict, and the game is more challenging. In addition, the flying saucer 1 will fly higher and farther with the acceleration due to the eccentric gravity. The flying saucer 1 won't cause pain or injury to the catcher's hand because it is soft. And, if the flying saucer 1 accidentally hits people's fragile body parts such as eyes, it won't cause serious injury.
In addition, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, because the flying saucer 1 has a through hole 111 on the middle portion, people are allowed to train their capability of hand-eye coordination by means of trying to throw the flying saucer 1 in such a way as to make the flying saucer 1 fall onto a target 15.
In addition, people are allowed to fold the flying saucer 1 such that it is easier to carry and store.
Referring to FIG. 6, a second preferred embodiment of the invention further has a soft shape-maintaining ring 14. The soft shape-maintaining ring 14 is joined to an inward edge of a main body 1 of the flying saucer, which defines a middle through hole 111 of the main body 1; thus, the flying saucer is more comfortable to hold.
Referring to FIG. 7, a third preferred embodiment of a flying saucer 1′ in the invention includes a main body 11′, a shape-maintaining ring 12′, and many pellet-shaped loads 13′. The main body 11′ includes upper and lower thin parts 111′ and 112′, which have through holes 1111′ and 1121′ respectively on a middle portion; the through hole 1121′ of the lower thin part 112′ is smaller than the through hole 1111′ of the upper thin part 11′. The shape-maintaining ring 12′ is joined to outward edges of both the upper and the lower thin parts 111′ and 112′. Inward edges of the upper and the lower thin parts 111′ and 112′ are joined together such that a holding room is formed inside the main body 11′, and such that the upper thin part 111′ is taut, and the lower thin part 112′ is slacker than the upper thin part 111′ . Therefore, when the flying saucer 1′ is flying, the pellet-shaped loads 13′ will gather near the outward edge of the main body 11′, away from the middle portion of the main body 11′, and the middle portion will be made to raise in such a way as to look like a truncated cone by airflow, making the flying saucer 1′ look more pleasant and attractive, like an UFO.
From the above description, it can be easily seen that the present invention has the following advantages:
1. Because of the pellet-shaped loads held inside the main body, when the flying saucers are flying, the gravity center will shift constantly, thus making the flying path changeable, the landing position more difficult to predict, and the game more interesting and challenging.
2. The flying saucers won't cause pain or injury to the catcher's hand because it is soft. And, if the flying saucers hit people's fragile body parts accidentally, it won't cause serious injury.
3. The flying saucers each have a through hole on the middle portion therefore people are allowed to train their capability of hand-eye coordination by means of trying to throw the flying saucer so as to make the flying saucers fall onto a target.
4. The flying saucers are comfortable to hold because they each have a soft shape-maintaining ring joined to the inward edge of the main body thereof.
5. Because the main bodies and the shape-maintaining rings are soft, the flying saucers can be folded to be easy to carry and store.

Claims

1. An improvement on flying saucer structure, comprising

a soft and hollow main body;

a shape-maintaining ring positioned around and joined to an outward edge of the main body for maintaining a shape of the main body; and

a plurality of loads held inside the main body.

2. The improvement on flying saucer structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main body is made of non-woven fabrics.

3. The improvement on flying saucer structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the shape-maintaining ring is made of soft materials.

4. The improvement on flying saucer structure as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main body has a through hole on a middle portion thereof for allowing the flying saucer to be positioned around a target.

5. The improvement on flying saucer structure as claimed in claim 4, wherein a shape-maintaining ring is joined to an inward edge of the main body, which defines the through hole.

6. The improvement on flying saucer structure as claimed in claim 5, wherein the shape-maintaining ring is made of soft materials.