US20070072508A1 - Flying saucer structure - Google Patents

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.

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.