US3284034A - Kite sky diver kit - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 8, 1966 R. M DQUGAL KITE SKY DIVER KIT 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 10, 1964 INVENTOR.

RUDOLPH MC DOUGAL BY W7 4 )AM ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1966 R. MQDOUGAL KITE SKY DIVER KIT 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 10, 1964 FIG.

INVENTOR.

R UDOLPH MC DOUGAL BY ATTORNEY Nov. 8, 1966 R. MODOUGAL 3,284,034

KITE SKY DIVER KIT Filed Sept. 10, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 5 FIG. 6

FIG.4 'l? FIG.8

FIG. 9

INVENTOR.

RUDOLPH MC DOUGAL ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,284,034 KITE SKY DIVER KIT Rudolph McDougal, 1014 Campeau St., South Bend, Ind. Filed Sept. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 395,373 Claims. (Cl. 244-155) The present invention relates to kites, and more particularly to a toy sky diver attachment for a kite.

Sky diving toys are quite popular with children and have long been used with kites to be released far above the ground. Children enjoy both merely watching the parachutes float down and fitting them into a multitude of games, such as target and war games. However, conventional parachute attachments have many failings; for example, they frequently require a special releasing mechanism to be attached to the kite string before the kite is flown, and these special releasing mechanisms allow the release of the parachutes at only one certain point along the kite string. In addition, the prior devices were frequently complex and expensive, liable to be damaged by the rough play of chlidren and difiicult for a child to buy and use himself. They are often rather uninteresting, since they release only one parachute at a time and are lacking in versatility. Therefore, it is one principal object of the present invention to provide a versatile parachute attachment for kites which is simple in construction and use and which may be released at any point along a kite string without requiring a special release mechanism.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a parachute sky diving toy which is adapted to release a plurality of objects, resembling both men and field supplies, which then parachute separately to the ground.

Yet another object is to provide such a sky diver toy which is easily repacked for repeated use.

A further object is to provide a simple parachute drop of the above character which is versatile and stimulates children to invent many new games to be played with the toy.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a toy of the type described which is inexpensively manufactured from readily available materials, and which children can use with no special instruction.

Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of the sky divers cabin used in the present invention, showing it as it is carried up the kite string;

FIGURE Z-is a perspective view of the cabin as it is being released from the kite string;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the cabin shortly after its release from the kite string and during the release of the divers to be parachuted to the ground;

FIGURE 4 is a rear elevational view of one of the divers as it drops toward the earth;

FIGURE 5 is a side elevational view of a diver with out its parachute;

FIGURE 6 is a bottom view of the diver without its parachute;

FIGURE 7 is a side elevational view of the diver with its parachute in folded position;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevational view of the cabin;

FIGURE 9 is an end elevational view of the cabin;

FIGURE 10 is a top plan view of the cabin; and

FIGURE 11 is a perspective view of a diver as it is used without the cabin.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGURES 1, 2 and 3, a cabin 10 is drawn up a kite string 12 by a pilot parachute 14, connected to cabin 10 by a yoke 16. Cabin 10 is suspended from kite string 12 by hooks 20 attached to the middle of the top edge of each of the ends 22 of the cabin, and when it is released, the wind draws it up the string by blowing parachute 14 in a well known manner. One or more divers 26 are contained in cabin 10, as will be described more fully hereinafter, to be released when a desired height has been reached by the cabin.

A diver 26, made of balsa wood or plastic, is shown in detail in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6, wherein it takes the form of a man, although if desired it may be formed as a model of a weapon, crate of supplies, or the like. Four thread-like shrouds 30 are tied or otherwise secured at degree intervals about the circumference of a disc-shaped parachute 32, which is approximately five and one-half inches in diameter and made of thin sheet plastic in the illustrated embodiment. The shrouds 30 extend to a point on the diver somewhat above its center of gravity,

as for example, in the back of the head of the man as shown, and are connected thereby, being tied or otherwise secured to a staple 34 mounted in the diver. The mass of the diver is suflicient to give the combination of parachute 32 and diver 26 the stability necessary to fall slowly through the air with the diver supported by parachute 32. As seen in FIGURE 7, parachute 32 is easily packed by wrapping shrouds 30 loosely about the body'of diver 26 and folding the parachute several times along its radii into .an elongated bundle, with the center of the parachute at one end and the edge at the other end, which is then placed at the back of the diver with the folded opening at either the foot or the head of the diver. However, children are generally careless and hasty and will often pack diver 26 with its parachute into cabin 10 by merely crumpling and compressing the parachute, rather than carefully folding it in the described manner; therefore, the parachute should have a tendency to unfold itself even when crumpled, thus assuring that the .diver will float down even when carelessly packed into I the cabin.

wardly from bottom to top, the bottom being slightly larger than the length and breadth of diver 26. In use, one or more'divers26 are placed in the cabin with their parachutes packed as described previously and positioned flat on the bottom of the cabin, with the divers on top of the parachutes. The flaring of the sides and ends allows the divers to slide in and out of the top of the cabin easily. In addition/top edge 44 of each end 22 is formed in a shallow V-shape, with hook .20 mounted in the bottom of the V; thus, when the cabin is loaded and hooks 20 placed over string 12, the string acts as a top to hold divers 26 in cabin 10 until the cabin is released from the string.

Four thread-like shrouds 50' are glued or otherwise connected at 90 degree intervals about the circumference of pilot parachute 14, which is made of plastic, paper or the like. The parachute is approximately nine inches in diameter in the embodiment illustrated and is provided with a vent 51 in the well known manner. Shrouds 50 of the parachute are connected to a cross bar 52 of yoke 16 by being tied, as shown, or by any other desired method. The yoke consists of two side bars 53 extending at right angles to cross bar 52 to points near the bottom edge of sides 40 and spaced relatively closer to one end 22 than to the other. At these points, the yoke is rotatably mounted, pivots 54 extending from side bars 53 into holes 55 provided in sides 40, or into metal or plastic bracket mounted on sides 40 for strength. As

seen in FIGURES l and 3, this construction allows parachute 14 to drag cabin with a force applied to a point near one end of the cabin, thus gaining a mechanical advantage. However, when the cabin is released from string 12, as seen in FIGURE 3, the cabin can readily swing about the pivots-54 to an upside-down position beneath the parachute, allowing the divers to fall out readily, as will be described hereinafter.

In use, parachutes 32 are folded and shrouds 30 wrapped about divers 26; the divers are then packed into cabin 10 with the parachutes placed beneath the divers as described previously. Hooks 20 are placed over string 12 and parachute 14 opened to allow the wind to flow the assembly up the string. When cabin 10 reaches the desired height on the kite string, string 12 is given a quick snap, and the resultant Wave travelling along the string kicks cabin 10 oh? the string. Divers 26 are forced from cabin 10 by the pressure from the unfolding action of their parachutes as well as by the turning of cabin 10 about pivots 54 when the cabin drops from the string. Thus, before the descent is'well started, the divers and cabin are separated and parachute to the ground as a scattered group. The cabin in this group gives the appearance of a bundle of supplies for the divers and thus is quite stimulating to the imaginations of children.

In one game that may be played with this equipment, a large circle is drawn on the ground downwind from the child approximately beneath the kite or kite string. When the cabin reaches a point judged to be over the circle, it is released to drop the divers in or near the circle. This forces the child to judge the probable drift of the parachutes before he releases them, and in addition, requires that he know approximately how far the cabin is from the circle. Scoring is accomplished by determining either the number of parachutes the child gets into the circle or the distance of each parachute from the center of the circle.

Since children often lose or break their toys, or lose parts of multiple-piece toys, it will occasionally happen that cabin 10 will be lost or broken. In addition, there are time when a child prefers not to see the cabin parachute to the ground, and wants only one diver to drop. Therefore, a double hook-shaped notch 60 is provided at the foot end of diver 26 to allow the diver to be used with a kite Without the cabin. As shown in FIGURE 11, string 12 is slipped into notch 60 and parachute 32 draws diver 26 upwardly along the string. When the diver is to be released, string 12 is jerked as previously described, and the diver drops from the string to parachute to the ground.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the divers may be prepared separately from the cabin and sold as a kit to supplement the divers provided with the cabin or to replace broken or lost divers.

I claim:

1. A sky diver kit for use with a kite and kite string, comprising a bottom, two sides and an end flaring upwardly and outwardly from said bottom to form a cabin,

'the top edge of said end being formed with a slight V- shaped depression therein, a hook mounted in said depression for hooking over said kite string, a yoke rotatably connected to said sides adjacent said bottom and closer to one end of said sides than the other, a vented parachute having four shrouds, said shrouds being connected to said yoke, a sky diver loosely carried in said cabin, a staple on said diver near one end thereof, a second parachute substantially smaller than said vented parachute and having four shrouds, said shrouds being connected to said staple, and means defining a hook-shaped notch in one end of said diver for hooking on a kite string.

2. A sky diver kit for use with a kite and kite string, comprising a bottom, two sides, and an end flaring upwardly and outwardly from said bottom to form a cabin, the top edge of said end being formed with a slight V- shaped depression therein, a hook mounted in said depression for hooking over said kite string, a yoke rotatably connected to said sides adjacent said bottom and closer to one end of said sides than the other, a first parachute having shrouds, said shrouds being connected to said yoke, a sky diver carried in said cabin, a second parachute substantially smaller than said first parachute and having shrouds, said shrouds being connected to said diver, and means defining a hook-shaped notch in one end of said diver for hooking on a kite string.

3. A sky diver kit for use with a kite and kite string, comprising a bottom, two sides and an end flaring upwardly and outwardly from saidbottom to form a cabin, a hook mounted on said end for hooking over said kite string, a yoke rotatably connected to said sides and closer to one end of said sides than the other, a para chute having shrouds, said shrouds being connected to said yoke, a sky diver carried in said cabin, a second parachute having shrouds, said shrouds being connected to said diver, and means defining a hook in one end of said diver for hooking on a kite string.

4. A sky diver kit for use with a kite and kite string, comprising an elongated generally rectangular open top cabin, a hook mounted on said cabin for hooking over said kite string a yoke rotatably connected to said cabin adjacent the bottom thereof, a parachute having shrouds, said shrouds being connected to said yoke, a sky diver carried in said cabin, a second parachute having shrouds, said shrouds being connected to said diver, and means defining a hook on said diver for hooking on a kite string.

5. A sky diver kit for use with a kite and kite string, comprising an open top elongated cabin, hook means for slidably holding said kite string in a top covering relation with said cabin, a yoke connected to said cabin, and a parachute connected to said yoke.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,735,309 11/1929 Albrecht 244155 3,034,751 5/1962 Droullard 244l 3,052,434 9/ 1962 Tucci 244 FOREIGN PATENTS 922,478 2/ 194-7 France.

MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner. ALFRED E. CORRIGAN, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. 5. A SKY DIVER KIT FOR USE WITH A KITE AND KITE STRING, COMPRISING AN OPEN TOP ELONGATED CABIN, HOOK MEANS FOR SLIDABLY HOLDING SAID KITE STRING IN A TOP COVERING RELATION WITH SAID CABIN, A YOKE CONNECTED TO SAID CABIN, AND A PARACHUTE CONNECTED TO SAID YOKE.

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