Recreational Water Projectile and Uses Thereof

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/364,265, filed on Aug. 2, 2023, and is a bypass continuation of PCT Application No. PCT/CA2024/051016, filed Aug. 1, 2024, which claims priority to Canadian Patent Application No. 3208209, filed Aug. 2, 2023; and this application incorporates each of the foregoing applications by reference into this document as if fully set out at this point.

This invention relates to manually thrown toy torpedoes suitable for recreation in a body of water, such as a swimming pool.

Solid rubber or plastic torpedo-shaped projectiles that are intended to be thrown by hand underwater in a swimming pool have existed since the 1990's. An early such toy, called Poolaris (™), was briefly sold through Walmart stores. Later, a similar product named Toypedo (™) marketed by Swimways (™), formerly of Norfolk, West Virginia and which is marked with patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,023 (Warner 1996). Those products were typically sold alongside swimming pool supplies and water toys. Swimways Corporation later replaced this with a new hourglass projectile design, the 25Anniversary Edition Toypedo (Table 1), which was discontinued within a year.

Modified, toy, underwater projectiles have been described, including a 3-finned projectile used in conjunction with a hand-held device that launches the projectile (Silverglate 2006) (U.S. Pat. No. 7,052,357). Other modified projectiles for underwater use have been described that incorporate various adjustable tail sections or tail fins (Warner 1996) (Warner U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,091 B1). Hollow projectiles such as the Sharkpedo (®) that fill with water from openings at front and back of the projectile also exist. Alternatively, hollow, torpedo shaped objects, such as the Toypedo Hydro, by Swimways, currently a division of Spinmaster Inc, are filled with water from a hose through an inflation pin, the way soccer and basketballs are filled with air. These toy torpedoes are summarized in Table 1, appended hereto.

Hydrodynamic testing has shown that for submarines, “The ideal form involves a continuously changing diameter along its length. The bow would be ellipsoidal and the stern paraboloidal in shape” (Joubert 2004). The classic implementation of this design was the 1950's-era, United States Navy's Albacore submarine. The navy discontinued use that hydrodynamically optimal, tear-dropped hull shape, because the shape made construction complex, and because of the poor utility of the irregular shape of the interior volume (Joubert 2004). An implementation of this shape relevant to toy torpedoes was the original Toypedo (®) by Swimways Inc, USA, and this shape almost identical to the form of the classic V2 rocket of the Second World War. The original Toypedo (®) was discontinued around 2015, but manufacture of a similar toy torpedo having that exact size and shape has been introduced recently by the Underwater Torpedo League, and is currently sold through Amazon.com. Also on Amazon.com are the Torpedo STRIKE, and the Josket torpedo that are of the same material, shape and weight as the original Toypedo® and the Underwater Torpedo Leage products. These and previous toy torpedoes are made of hard materials, and newer models are made of even harder than the earlier products. See Table 1 for a summary of features of prior art passive-motion toy and experimental torpedoes. Early models had Shore-A durometer values between 70 and 80, while the newest toy torpedoes, sold on Amazon by the Underwater Torpedo League and the product called Torpedo Strike have a hardness reading of 87 durometer, which is the durometer-hardness reading of an ice-hockey puck.

Existing toy projectiles are typically advertised as being able to move up to 9 meters (30 feet) underwater. However, through experimentation, it was found that the projectiles only move quickly during the first 5 meters (16 feet) from where they are thrown. Beyond that distance, even the best hand-thrown current projectiles weighing less than 400 grams drift downward in a slow-moving and feeble manner that is not suitable for a sport or playing catch. Hand-propelled projectiles that travel farther do exist. For example, the Toypedo Hydro is a large, 1.6 kilogram projectile, whose mass helps it to possess the force of momentum to push the projectile a longer distance. However, greater mass not only makes the projectile more difficult to aim quickly in a competitive sports environment but the greater force increases risk of injury.

One aspect of the present invention is a recreational water projectile or torpedo that is safer to throw underwater by hand.

The present disclosure describes a projectile for a water sport-type game, which can be played in a swimming pool, for example. In one application of this game, one person throws one or more projectiles, intending for the projectiles to hit or touch another person who tries to dodge to avoid being hit or touched by each projectile. Players may alternate between being the thrower and the dodger and score can be kept by counting the number of times the projectiles hit or touch each player.

In some examples, the present disclosure describes a projectile for throwing underwater by hand or single-handedly, the projectile comprising: an elongate body having a hemispherical nose and a paraboloid tail portion extending from the hemispherical nose to a flat end; and multiple tail fins extending away from the elongate body and positioned proximate the flat end.

In some examples, the outer surface of the paraboloid tail portion tapers generally according to the equation:

wherein Y is a length from a vertex of a parabola defining the paraboloid tail portion, and X is a distance from a midline of the parabola. In further examples, the elongate body is solid and the hemispherical nose comprises a channel extending therethrough, the channel being orientated perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the elongate body, creating a bumper between a tip of the hemispherical nose and the channel.

In further examples, the elongate body is hollow and comprises a first section, and a second section releasably securable to the first section, the first section forming at least 15 percent of the elongate body, the first section and the second section collectively forming an interior space within the elongate body when releasably secured together.

In further examples, the elongate body is hollow, and comprises an interior space and a hole positioned at the flat end in fluid communication with the interior space.

The present disclosure further describes a method of filling the above-described projectile with water, the method comprising: holding the projectile under the water with the flat end of the projectile facing a top surface of the water; and shaking the projectile vertically under the water.

The present disclosure further describes a method of using the above described projectile in a game played in a body of water, the method comprising the steps of: positioning a first player a predetermined distance from a second player in the body of water; the first player throwing the projectile underwater at the second player; and the second player dodging or attempting to dodge the thrown projectile from the first player.

The present disclosure describes structural modifications that make the classic V2 rocket-style structure of the original Toypedo® safer. The present disclosure describes a double-nose V2 rocket-shaped projectile which embodies one of such modifications. In another embodiment, the nose has long sidewalls that can flex outward from the body to allow for collapse of the front nose, softening the impact when the projectile hits another person.

The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the present invention, as to its structure, organization, use and method of operation, together with further objectives and advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following discussion and a review of the attached drawings in which presently preferred embodiments of the invention will now be illustrated by way of example only.

It is expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. Also, unless otherwise specifically noted, all of the features described herein may be combined with any of the above aspects, in any combination. In the drawings, like reference numerals depict like elements.

One aspect of the present disclosure is a recreational water projectile or torpedo that is safe to throw underwater by hand, even when it is thrown with the intent of actually hitting another person. The projectile can be thrown underwater by hand as part of games and/or sport and can move quickly enough to make the game/sport a challenge, and can be controlled for throwing during a competitive play.

The recreational water projectilegenerally includes an elongate bodyand multiple tail finsextending away from the elongate body.

In known toy torpedoes, features for the projectile were optimized hydronamically, which included features such as a pointy nose and pointed tail. However, hard, pointed nosed tend to be dangerous if the object is thrown in a forceful manner and hits another player, particularly in in the face, mouth, or the eye. It was discovered that a projectile with a hemispherical nose and paraboloid body shape offered the best compromise between safety and speed of the projectile for a dodge-the-torpedo type of game. Thus, as best seen in, the elongate bodyhas a hemispherical nosewith a tipand a paraboloid tail portionthat extends from the hemispherical noseto a flat end. In some applications, the hemispherical nosemay have a diameter from 3.5 to 5.5 cm, and preferably a diameter of about 4.5 cm.

The paraboloid tail portionmay be paraboloid in that an outer surface of the paraboloid tail portiontapers or narrows as it extends from the hemispherical nose. In some applications, the outer surface of the paraboloid tail portiontapers generally according to the equation:

where Y is a length from a vertex of a parabola defining the paraboloid tail portion, and X is a distance from a midline of the parabola.

The drag coefficient on a spherical nose structure is generally understood to be six times greater than the drag coefficient on a more pointy, ellipsoidal nose (page 41 of Joubert document) (Joubert 2004). To compensate for the drag of the hemispherical nose, the tail portion was designed to be fully paraboloid, and asymptotic to the hemisphere at the nose. This paraboloid body shape helps to compensate for the initial resistance at the nose by lowering water pressure and flow along the rear section of the torpedo. In effect, this adjusts the flow of water along the body length to helping push the device forward.

Based on direct measurements of material hardness, as set out in Table 1, existing toy torpedoes manufactured using solid rubber or solid plastic all have a hardness of at least 70 durometer. Indeed, the material hardness has actually trended higher over the years. The newest available toy torpedoes include that produced by the Underwater Torpedo League (UTL) that copies the V2-rocket-shape of the Original Toypedo of Warner 1996, as well as the identically shaped Torpedo STRIKE® that are intended for team sport similar to underwater rugby. The UTL torpedo and the Torpedo Strike products are all about 87 durometer in hardness, which is the same hardness as an ice-hockey puck. The official torpedo of the Underwater Torpedo League and the Torpedo Strike® product are both exact physical copies of the shape of the discontinued original Toypedo, which measured 79 durometer in hardness. The rationale for using such a hard material for the UTL torpedo league may be to suit that rugby-like sport, in which players battle underwater to rip the torpedo out of each others' hands. Even all of the versions of the Toypedo by Swimways has/had a hardness of 79 to 88 durometers (see Table 1).

For the present application, the recreational water projectileis intended to be thrown with the intent of actually hitting another person. Thus, the recreational water projectilemay have a hardness of 70 durometer or less, preferably a hardness of 65 durometer or less, and more preferably a hardness of 60 durometer.

To identify the preferred hardness of the recreational water projectile, prototype toy torpedoes with hardness values of 49, 55, 60, 65, and 70 durometer were made of rubber and tested (see Table 1). The feel in the hand during game play, and the performance through the water were found to be the same for all hardness values tested. However, the most striking difference between the different rubber-hardness prototypes was observed by bumping the nose of the prototype torpedoes onto a person's forehead by hand. The 49-durometer toy torpedo was tolerable when hitting or tapping it on a person's forehead, and the 49-durometer torpedo was very unlikely to cause a bump on the forehead from underwater play. However, the 70-durometer toy torpedoes were found to be very painful when hitting or tapping on the forehead, and those could certainly cause a bump on the head or break a tooth during underwater play. It was found that toy torpedoes manufactured of solid rubber or solid plastic material with a hardness reading that is less than 60 durometer perform as well as those made of harder materials.

Further, the recreational water projectilemay be solid (see, for example) or hollow (sec, for example).

In applications where the recreational water projectileis solid, a further safety feature is shown in. The depicted recreational water projectilecomprises a channelpositioned proximate the tipin the hemispherical nosethat extends from one side of the recreational water projectileto the other. The channelis shown to extend generally perpendicular relative to the longitudinal axis of the recreational water projectile, and is oval-shaped in cross-section. In alternate applications, the channelmay be a different shape, such as rectangular in cross-section. The channelmay be located 2 to 5 millimeters behind the tipof the hemispherical nose, whereby the dimensions of the channelmay have a height of about 3 to 5 millimeters and a length of about 10 to 20 millimeters through the hemispherical nose. In a preferred embodiment, the channelmay be located 4 millimeters behind the tipof the hemispherical nose, and the dimensions of the channelmay have a height of about 4 millimeters and a length of about 15 millimeters. In other applications, the channelmay be positioned at a different distance from the tipand may have different dimensions.

The channelpositioned in the hemispherical nosecreates a type of “bumper”at the tipend of the recreational water projectile. With harder materials, a bumper may not be of much use, because the harder material will not flex much. But in application where the recreational water projectileis made from 65-or-lower durometer rubber, the introduction of the channeljust behind the tipallows the bumperof the hemispherical noseto compress (such as by a few millimeters) if/when the recreational water projectilehits a person or object underwater. The presence of the flexible bumperhelps prevent injury to the tooth, eye, or face when the recreational water projectileis thrown at someone.

Hollow, water-filled toy torpedoes are known, for example, the Toypedo Hydro by Swimways, is filled with water through an inflation nozzle that seals the water cavity like air in an inflated ball. Another water-filled toy torpedo is the Sharkpedo (®), which has openings at the bow and the stern (nose and tail) to let air escape so water fills the device easily. However, those underwater projectiles that are filled with water are heavy, and they weigh more than one kilogram. They are far too cumbersome for use in a one-on-one goal-scoring game, and can cause injury if thrown at another player. The current underwater projectiles that have openings at the front and back may be easy to fill and empty with water. However, they are inefficient for the present purposes, because the sudden throwing force tends to push water out of the hole at the back of the object. The acceleration from throwing the object, like the Sharkpedo®, drains water out through the tail end, wasting much of the kinetic energy of momentum that would normally push a solid device forward through the water.

Thus,illustrate an embodiment of the recreational water projectilewith a hollow interior space, and with a single aperture or holepositioned within the diameter of the flat endin fluid communication with the interior space. In an alternative embodiment, the holemay be positioned between the tail fins. Further, the hole may have a diameter from 8 to 16 mm. In the depicted embodiment, the diameter of the hole is about 10 mm.

illustrate another embodiment of the recreational water projectilewith a first sectionand a second sectionthat is releasably securable to the first section. When releasably secured together, the first sectionand the second sectioncollectively form the interior spacewithin the elongate body. In the depicted embodiment, for the sections to be releasably securable together, the first sectioncomprises a threaded portion, and the second sectioncomprises a corresponding threaded portion. When the threaded portionand the corresponding threaded portionof the first sectionand the second sectionare operatively coupled together, the second sectionis releasably secured to the first sectionto form the elongate bodywith the interior spacetherein. In other applications, the first and second sections,may have different coupling structures to releasably secure the first and second sections,together. For example, the first and second sections,may each have corresponding snap-fit features or may be dimensioned to frictionally engage together. In other applications, the first and second sections,may be releasably coupled together with magnets. In cases when the first and second sections,have snap-fit features, magnets, or frictionally engage together, the coupling may be configured (or loosely coupled) such that the first and second sections,break apart when the recreational water projectilehits another object with sufficient force.

In the depicted embodiment, a scambetween the sections,is positioned laterally, approximately halfway, along the elongate body. In this manner, the first sectionforms approximately half of the elongate bodyand includes the hemispherical nose, while the second sectionforms approximately the other half of the elongate bodyand includes the flat end. In other applications, the first sectionmay form 15 percent or more of the elongate body, with the second sectionforming the remaining portion of the elongate body. In that regard, the seammay be positioned laterally at a different place along the elongate body, for example, where the hemispherical nosemeets the paraboloid tail portion. In alternative applications, the seammay be positioned longitudinally along the elongate body, or may be positioned at a non-perpendicular or non-parallel angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the elongate body.

With this embodiment, the recreational water projectilemay be filled with water by holding the first and second sections,under the water and twisting the threaded portionand the corresponding threaded portiontogether. The recreational water projectilemay correspondingly be emptied of water by unscrewing the first and second sections,apart.

In some applications, the first and second sections,may be made of the same material with the same or similar hardness level. In other applications, the first and second sections,may be made of different materials that may have different hardness levels. For example, for further safety purposes, the first sectionmay be made of a material with a lower hardness level (i.e. is softer) than the second section.

Some of the advantages of the recreational water projectileare that the plastic parts can be manufactured inexpensively, they are light when empty, and are exceptionally easy to fill and empty with water (as will be described further below).

The embodiments of the recreational water projectileshown ineach further have four tail finsthat extend away from the elongate bodyand are positioned proximate the flat end. Notably, each of the multiple tail fins extendpercent or less than a length of the elongate body, and each of the multiple tail finsis positioned at least 0.5 cm from the flat end. In the depicted embodiment, the tail finsare positioned “straight”, or in parallel, with the longitudinal axis of the recreational water projectile. In other applications, the recreational water projectilemay have a different number of tail fins, and the tail finsmay be positioned in a “spiral” formation around the elongate body. In yet further other applications, the tail finsmay be positioned from 0.25 cm to 0.75 cm from the flat end. The flat endmay have a circumference of 1 to 2 cm, or preferably about 1.4 cm.

The recreational water projectileof the present disclosure may range in length from about 10 to 40 cm, and more preferably, between 18 cm and 26 cm, with a length to width ratio of about 4 and 6, and more preferably, between 4.5 and 5.5. They preferably have a mass of between about 50 and 500 grams, and more preferably, between 250 and 350 grams.

To assess the ability of the recreational water projectileto travel through water via manual propulsion, three-dimensional, hollow plastic printings were made.show four torpedoes of differing shapes produced for testing. The body of the embodiment ofhas an ellipsoid shape, while the body of the embodiments inhave the hemisphere-paraboloid shape. The four torpedoes produced were 25 cm long, hollow, hard-shell plastic, three-dimensional prototypes manufactured by 3D printing.

The ellipsoid shape ofis also referred to herein as a “modified ideal form”. A toy torpedo having the “ideal form” is described in Warner (U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,023) (Warner 1996), and this form was manufactured as a toy torpedo by Swimways Corporation USA, referred to as the original Toypedo. This “ideal form” was modified to achieve the present “modified ideal form” by incorporating a planar truncation at the tail end. This planar truncation at the tail end provided a flat surface to place a finger behind the tail fins. Notably, the tip of the nose of the “ideal form” torpedo was also flattening out.shows the outline of the prototype described above as “modified ideal form”, overlaid onto an example toy torpedo with the “ideal form” for a submarine or torpedo (Joubert 2004). The dimensions of the prototype shown inis set out below in Table 2.

The embodiments depicted ineach have a hemispherical nose with a diameter of 4.4 cm at their widest, and the equation for the silhouette of the shaft parabolas is Y=5.7X+0X−3.2, where Y is the cm length from the vertex of the parabola, and X is the cm distance from the midline of the parabola. The flat end of the toy torpedo is the plane across 3.2 centimeters above the vertex, and the asymptotic sphere at the nose end is located at Y=23 centimeters from the tail. The embodiment shown inhas five short spiral fins, the embodiment shown inhas four short straight fins, and the embodiment shown inhas four long straight fins.

The prototypes ofwere tested along with the original Toypedo having the “ideal form”, and a solid rubber prototype have the “modified ideal form” as described above.

At first, the hollow shell prototypes were tested for underwater performance by injecting them with a semi-solid jell, through a 10 mm hole drilled into the tail. Performance of the gel-filled modified ideal form prototype was suitable, but eventually, the gel broke down, since the three-dimensional printed shell was porous and storage of the device in the water dissolved the gel. Subsequently, it was discovered that performance of the water-filled prototype remained acceptable.

Generally, it was expected that the less-streamlined, hemisphere-paraboloid design would be less efficient than the more streamlined ellipsoid toy torpedoes. Another expectation was that that the passive travel distance with the hemisphere structure, when thrown by hand underwater, would not be as far as the distance of the modified ideal form described above, or of the original Toypedo, with its shape that matches the ideal form according to Joubert (Joubert 2004) and of Warner (Warner 1996).

Testing was done by throwing the modified ideal form, the hemisphere-parabola versions, the original Toypedo, of similar size and mass of about 290 grams (but which has the ideal form), and other existing toy torpedoes in a swimming pool with a constant water depth of four feet. See Tables 3 and 4. The toy torpedoes were thrown by hand using about 75% maximal throwing force, releasing them from the hand within one foot (30 cm) of the water surface. Harder throws using 100% effort was found to cause the torpedoes to veer wildly off course. Manual testing was used because the purpose of the experiment was to study torpedo performance using the hands of a person, as that is the method of actual and intended use for the recreational water projectile.

The distance travelled was measured from the wall of the swimming pool, which was the point where the thrower's back foot was planted, to the point where the torpedo settled on the bottom. One throw of each torpedo was done in random order, and the distance recorded. The process was repeated, and the results, the mean distances travelled, and the variability of those distances are presented in Table 3.