US3160152A - Marble shooter - Google Patents

Description

J. E. WATKINS Dec. 8, 1964 MARBLE SHOOTER 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 29. 1962 aw y. 5 1

INVENTOR.

JOHN E. W4 TK/NS.

1964 J. E. WATKINS 3,160,152

MARBLE SHOOTER Filed March 29. 1962 3 s s 2 Eur/0.

:El -12.. L

INVENTOR.

JOHN E. WA TK/NS.

Dec. 8, 964 J. E. WATKINS 6 MARBLE SHOOTER JOHN E. W4 TK/NS.

United States Patent Ofitice 3,16,152 Patented Dec. 8, 1964 3,166,152.v MARBLE SIIQOTER John .E. Watkins, Council Blufis, Iowa. (10402 Helendale Aye, Tnjungmfialif.) Filed Mar. 29, 1962, Ser. No. $3,445 6 tllaims. (6E. 124'-21) My invention relates to improvements-in marble shootersor guns, and the object of; my invention is to make a-simple, inexpensive and amusing device which isespecially-adapted for shooting the taw in playing marbles, so that it will roll along the ground or, floor, insead of propelling it through the-air. To this end my invention comprises a two piece body portion having a hand grip at its upper rear end, and having its lower end portion formed into a barrel-portion, the bottom of the body resting uponthe ground, and from which the marble is expelled. My invention is intended to produce a-marble shooter of this character in which the body will act as the storage chamber to receive and carry a marble, and with this form of construction, the body, the barrel and the hand grip are arranged so that the lower wall of the body, with thebarrel adjacent thereto, can be'firmly held upon the ground and easily sighted so that the marble when expelled will roll accurately toward the mark. My-

invention is further intended to be constructed with a short, or tall body portion so it can be used by the operator in a standing or kneeling position relative to the ground. It is further intended to produce a simple trigger and resilient meansfor actuating the arm, it acting as a hammer, which will discharge the marble from the barrel with sufiicient force to carry ittoward the object intended; all of which will be more clearly understood from the description which follows.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings.

forming a part of this specification, in which similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts in all figures. FIGURE 1 is a broken side elevation of a pistolltype marble shooter embodying my invention;

FIGURE 2 is a front View of the same, taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical cross sectional view taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIGURE 4 is a side view of the shooter shown by FIG. 1;

.FIGURE 5 is a top plan view. of the hammer arm shown in FIG. 1 and showing the channels for holding the rubber band retaining pin;

FIGURE 6 isan enlarged side-view of'the rubber band retaining pin;

FIGURE 7 is a-fragmentary perspective view of: the bolttype clamping meansafor securing the two free ends of the rubber band shown in FIG. 1;

FIGURE Sis a side elevational view of the hammer hammer arm release lever;

FIGURE 9 is a top plan View of release lever shown by FIG. 8;

- FIGURE 10 Jisa broken side eleyationofmodificationof the marble; shooter embodying. a long vertical body portion;

FIGURE 11 is a. frontview of, the marble shooter shown by FIG. 10;

FIGURE 12 is afurther modification, a springbeingemployed in place of theusualrubber band;

FIGURE 13, isa brokensideelevation ofapistol type marble shooter embodying ahorizontal'arrangedbarrel;

FIGURE 14' is a top plan view of the marble shooter shown by FIG. 13;

FIGURE 15 is a front view of the marble shooter shown by FIGS. 13 and 14;

FIGURE 16 is a broken top plan view of the hollow hammer arm shown by FIG. 13;

FIGURE 17 is a side view of the hollow hammer arm as in FIG. 16; and

FIGURE 18 is a side view of the striking pin shown by'FIG. 13 where it is assembled within the hollow hammer arm.

In carrying out my invention withthe illustrated examples, the device-shown by FIGURE 1-9 is provided with a simple box-like main body portion 20 which is adapted to be heldvertically, andwhich is itself equipped with side by side companion sections 21' and 22, having flat bottoms 21' and 22' respectively and as viewed from the front end as in FIG. 2, the right side section 21 being thicker transversely than the left section 22: 21 is formed'with hollow portions to receive the various working parts, while section 22- acts as a lid or cover. Both sections Z1-and22 providedwith concaveportions to form the barrel, both sections removably secured together forming the complete barrelZS; The barrel 23 is con nected to a vertical tubularmagazine'by means of a curved tubular section which may be referred to as a chamber,

or magazine 26, to carry the marble, or the like, to be shot from the barrel 23.- An opening 24 is provided in the side wall of section 22- of sufiicient size through which the marbleZS may be inserted'and dropped into the magazine 26 and shot from the barrel by the operator. A flexible pin member Zfiiis arranged in the wall of section 22, and it has a free endextending inwardly and downwardly into the magazine 26 to temporarily retain the marble 25 Within the magazine 26; its flexibility permits the marble 25 to passthereby into the barrel 23- when struck by suitable means.

While the body 2%) can be made of any suitable design andmaterial, suchas aluminum,- stecl, plastic or wood, it canbe conveniently formed with a hand grip 7Ssuch as a pistol grip and arranged at the top of the body and adjacent the back side and substantially paralleltherewithwhereby the user can grasp thegrip, restthe bottom surfaceof'body 2% upon the ground, and direct the openingofthe barrel23'in the desired direction when he is to use it.

The upper portion fo the bodysection 21- has cut-out portion 28and has'therein a hammerarrn-29 secured upon a square portion 3tlof a transverse shaft 31 to be rotated therebygwhen the operator turnsthe knurled knob 32- arranged outside the body ZtPiand rigidly secured to the outer end of shaft-31. A rubberband-35 has its free ends; 36 secured to the forward lower of body section-2 1* bymeans of arr-angle plate 37 and nut 39' uponthreaded bolt 38. The hammer arm 2? is clearly shown by FIGURE 5' witha vertical rubber band-passage opening 49,- horizontal pin'passage 41 shown dotted, and opening 42 to'receivestub 43 vertically assembled-with pin44 clearly shown by;

FIG. 6. The looped portion of'the band 3-5-ispositioned' over pin 44- and through passagedtlandclampedby nut; 39 upon plate 37, the rubber band being; stretched as shown by FIG. l todraw the hammer arm 29dow-nwa rdly when released,

portion or compartment 47.

bore 49' by the spring 50 therein; As shown by FIGURES 8 and 9,- a link 52'is formed'with anoii-set rear portion which'ispinnedto the trigger 451 The link 52' slides horizontally within a groove formed in section 21 between ent-out portion 7 and upper portion of magazine 26.

The pointed free end of link 52 projects forwardly and beneaththe rear end ofhammer arm 29. The sections 21;

The section and 22 are bolted together by suitable means, as well as the two sections of the grip 28 are secured by screw means 55 shown in FIG. 1.

When the shooter shown by FIG. 1 is used it will have a marble in its magazine, the operator will turn the knob 32 clockwise which will elevate the hammer arm to a horizontal position and will be held there by link 52, The

operator will sight the device after its placement upon the ground and he will then pull the trigger. The Link 52 Will allow the hammer arm 29 to drop; it will strike the marble driving it past the flexible pin 27. The hammer arm follows in counter-clockwise direction and expels the marble from the barrel 2:3 and body 2%, as shown dotted in FIG. 4. V e

. In FIGURES through 12 I have shown a slight modification of the trigger mechanism and its connection withthe hammer arm, and embodying a body extension so the operator can operate the shooter from a standing position even when the shooter is on' the ground; these slight modifications do not affect the principle of the invention. As here shown, the body 24) has a box-like structure 60 extending upwardly from the top rear portion thereof. The pistol grip i8 is arranged here at the top of the box-like structure 60 and on the back sidein, alignment with'bottom of the body 20, so that the user can grasp the grip, rest the body 2% upon the ground, and direct it to the desired point when he is to use it. In FIGURES 10 and 11 the rubber band 35 draws the hammer arm 29 downwardly when the trigger 45 is moved upwardly. A long rod 61 is attached at its upper end with the trigger and at its lower end, inside the box-like in a downwardly direction, the cap 86 governing the out- Ward travel of the pin 85. The latch member 90 is pivotally mounted upon pin 92, the upper end thereof attached to a coil spring 93, the lower end held in locking engagement with the hollow arm 84 by the coil spring 93. FIGURE 16 shows the rectangular shaped opening 87 in the upper surface of tubular arm 84, the spring being undercut so that the tongue of the latch member 98 will form a'tongue and groove fastener with said opening 87. The trigger 45 has a bar-link as pivoted therewith and extending forwardly therefrom. A toggle link 97 is pivoted intermediate its ends upon pin 98 located above and to the rear of said latch member 90. The upper end of link 97 is pivotally connected with the outer free end of bar-link 95. When the trigger 45 is drawn backwardly, the barlink 96 will pull upon the upper end of link 97, the lower end thereof striking the upper end of latch member 90, releasing the tubular arm 84 which is drawn downwardly by rubber band 35. When said arm 84 is moved in structure 60, it is attached to a pin 62 which is secured v to a pinion gear 63, the gear mounted upon a pin 64 and in mesh with a rack gear on top of link 65 which is forced outwardly by spring 66 to engage and supportthe hammer arm 29. 'When the trigger is pulled, the gear 63 turns in clockwise direction; this moves the rack gear 65 to the left, thereby releasing the hammer arm 29, it being drawn downwardly by rubber band 35, driving any marble in the magazine out the barrel 23: as desired. In FIG. '12, a coil spring 68 replaces the usual rubber band 35. One end 69 of said coil spring 68 is attached to the upper and forward corner of the body 20, while the lower end 70 is attached to a pin inserted in the pivoted end of the hammer arm'29. The operation of the shooter is the same as described with regard to FIGURES l0 and 11. The pinion gear 63 and rack gear Showever have been eliminated and a shaft 72, pin 73 and slide bar 74 substituted therefor, their operation being obvious from the drawing.

In FIGURES 13 through 18 I have shown a slight modicounter-clockwise direction by said rubber band 35, the lower free end 88 of pin 85 will strike the marble 25 and travel along with the marble-until the arm assumes a vertical position and effecting the marble to leave the barrel 82 under suitable speed and direction. The lower end 99 of the free end portion 88 of pin 85 will strike the bottom of the barrel during the downward and forward travel; however, the spring 91 permits the pin 85 to move upwardly within the arm 84 without any damage thereto. It is clearly seen by FIGURE 17 that the arm 84 is provided with a clamp member 89 with rubber band receiving opening therein. Doubtless other forms of trigger and hammer mechanisms can be used without departing from the invention, and it will be noted that the important thing is to have a two section vertical body with a magazine portion joined with a barrel with horizontal outlet portion, the lower wall of the body adapted to rest upon the ground, and suitable hammer and trigger mechanism combined with rubber band or coil spring structure whereby the single marble in'the magazine will be forced out of the barrelin its course straight for the target.

Whereas I have described my invention by reference to a specific form thereof, and a modification, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, a novel, cheap device for shooting the taw in playing marbles.

I claim:

1. A toy marble shooter comprising a vertical body portion, said body portion consisting of two vertical subfication of the marble projecting mechanisms; however,

these modifications do not affect the principle of the invention. The housing 20, grip 78 and rubber band 35 and associated parts are the same as in FIGURE 1. In FIGURES 1 through 12 the magazine 26 and barrel 23 are a continuous curved tubular passageway, the striking arm 29 having its free end traveling from end to end of said passage- 87 therein; the cap 86 is threaded upon the free end of 7 arm 84. The smallerand lowerend 88 of pin normally extends into the elbow portion 81 above and behind the marble 25 in engagement with pin 83. The arm 84 is'maintained at substantially 45 degrees with relation to the barrel 82, it being held there by latch member 90 against the'tension ofrubber band 35. A spring 91 is assembled within the arm 84- behind the pin85 forcing it stantially companion body sections joined together, said body portion having a flat bottom horizontally arranged and adapted to rest upon the ground when in use, said body portion embodying a vertical magazine chamber and a tubular barrel joined together, an opening in the side wall of one of said vertical body sections for permitting insertion of a marble into the magazine chamber, a resilient pin member secured to the rear wall of one of said body sections and with its free end extending inwardly and downwardly into said vertical magazine chamber for retaining a marble temporarily in said magazine chamber, a transversely arranged shaft located in the upper forward portion of said body portion, a vertically swingable hammer-arm pivotally mounted on said shaft, said hammer-arm having a rearfree end which swings downwardly and forwardly in a counter-clockwise direction to expel the marble from the said tubular barrel, a hand grip extending fromthe upper rear end portion of said body portion, trigger mechaism arranged in theupper rear end portion of said body portion for controlling the hammer.- arm pivotally mounted at the forward end of said body portion, a finger of said trigger mechanism extending downwardly between said hand grip and said body portion,. a'nd a rubber band secured to the inner forward lower portion of said body portion and to the rear free end portion of said hammer-arm for urging said hammerarm in said counterclockwise direction.

2. A toy marble shooter comprising a vertical body portion, said body portion consisting solely of two vertical substantially companion body sections joined together by suitable means, said body portion having a fiat bottom horizontally arranged and adapted to rest upon the ground when in use, said body portion embodying a vertical magazine chamber therein and a tubular barrel joined together, an opening in the vertical side wall of one of said vertical body sections for permitting insertion of a marble into said magazine chamber, a resilient member secured to the rear inner wall of said body portion with its free end extending inwardly and downwardly into said vertical magazine chamber for retaining a marble temporarily in said magazine chamber, a shaftmounted transversely in horizontally aligned bores in both of said body sections and adjacent the upper forward end portion of said body portion, a vertically swingable hammer-arm pivotally mounted upon said shaft, said hammer-arm having a rear free end which swings downwardly and forwardly in a counter-clockwise direction to expel the marble from the said tubular barrel, a hand grip extending rearwardly and downwardly from the upper rear portion of said body portion, trigger mechanism arranged in the upper end portion of said body portion and said hand grip for controlling the hammer-arm mounted on said transverse arranged shaft, said shaft having means mounted upon one end thereof for rotating said hammer-arm to move it into an upper horizontal position and into a position for engagement with said trigger mechanism, a finger of said trigger mechanism extending downwardly between said hand grip and said body portion, and a rubber band secured to the inner forward and lower portion of said body portion and also to the rear free end portion of said hammer-arm for urging said hammer-arm in said counterclockwise direction.

3. The toy marble shooter according to claim 2 wherein said hammer-arm embodies an opening therein through which said rubber band extends and also embodies a removable pin to assemble the rubber band with said hammer-arm.

4. A toy marble shooter of the kind described comprising a vertical body portion adapted for location in vertical position, and a hand grip extending rearwardly and down wardly from the upper rear end portion of said body portion, said body portion consisting of two vertical substantially companion body sections joined together by suitable means, said body portion having a flat bottom horizontally arranged and adapted to rest upon the ground when in use, one of said body sections being thicker transversely than the other, said body portion embodying an inner vertical magazine chamber and a tubular barrel joined together, an opening in the side wall of one of said vertical body sections for permitting insertion of a marble into the said magazine chamber, a transversely arranged shaft located in the upper forward portion of said body portion, a vertically swingable hammer-arm pivotally mounted upon said shaft, said hammer-arm having a rear free end which swings downwardly and forwardly in a counterclockwise direction to expel the marble from the said tubular barrel, a trigger mechanism for controlling said hammer-arm, a rubber band rigidly secured at one end thereof to said body and its opposite end assembled to said hammer-arm at the rear free end thereof whereby said rubber band is under tension when in a restricted horizontal position under the control of said trigger mechanism, a striking pin, said hammer-arm being tubular with said striking pin resiliently held in the lower end thereof.

5. A marble shooter of the kind described comprising a vertical body portion composed of a pair of companion vertical body sections, a hand grip extending rearwardly and downwardly from the upper rearvend portion of said body portion, a vertical tubular marble magazine chamber within said body portion, a horizontal tubular marble barrel arranged in the bottom portion of said body portion, a-curved tubular passageway joining said magazine with said barrel, a vertically swingable hammer-arm pivotally mounted with a shaft arranged transversely in the forward portion of said body portion, said hammer-arm having a rear free end which is able to swing downwardly and forwardly in a counterclockwise,direction to expel the marble from the said tubular barrel, a transversely disposed solid cylindrical shaft, trigger mechanism adjacent to the hand grip for controlling the action of said hammer-arm, said trigger mechanism embodying a tubular shaft mounted upon said solid shaft, said tubular shaft having a pair of pins extending outwardly therefrom, a trigger forming a part of said trigger mechanism, one pin extending outwardly and horizontally and connected by means of a rod with said trigger, a link horizontally and slidably movable beneath the free end of the said hammer-arm whereby said hammer-arm is held under tension and control, the other pin extending downwardly through having a body portion composed of a pair of vertical body companion sections secured together, one of said body sections being thicker than the other, a hand grip integrally secured with the top rear portions of said body sections, a marble magazine arranged within said body with its upper end extending vertically upwardly, said magazine having resilient means attached to its rear wall and extending forwardly and downwardly therein, said resilient means to retain temporarily a taw to be projected, a barrel within the lower part of said body with its rear end joined with said magazine and having its opposite end portion extending horizontally and forwardly, a transversely arranged shaft located in and extending between said body sections at the upper forward portion thereof, a vertically swingable hammer-arm mounted uponsaid shaft, the rear end of said hammer-arm swingable through said magazine and said barrel, aspring having one end thereof attached to said hammer-arm adjacent its rear end, the opposite end of said spring attached to the body section of greater thickness, said spring adapted to be stressed and deformed while said hammer-arm is in a raised horizontal position for striking a taw when released,

-rneans connected with said transversely arranged shaft for rotating said hammer-arm to move it into an upper horizontal position, and trigger means located in said body portion and said grip to release said hammer-arm and the stressed spring when said hammer-arm is in its horizontal position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,073,544 3/37 Alonso 124-26 2,371,249 3/45 Majewski 124-27 2,437,727 3 48 Drumheller 124-27 3,026,864 3/62 Gray 12427 LOUIS R. PRINCE, Primary Examiner.

JAMES W. LOVE, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A TOY MARBLE SHOOTER COMPRISING A VERTICAL BODY PORTION, SAID BODY PORTION CONSISTING OF TWO VERTICAL SUBSTANTIALLY COMPANION BODY SECTIONS JOINED TOGETHER, SAID BODY PORTION HAVING A FLAT BOTTOM HORIZONTALLY ARRANGED AND ADAPTED TO REST UPON THE GROUND WHEN IN USE, SAID BODY PORTION EMBODYING A VERTICAL MAGAZINE CHAMBER AND A TUBULAR BARREL JOINED TOGETHER, AN OPENING IN THE SIDE WALL OF ONE SAID VERTICAL BODY SECTIONS FOR PERMITTING INSERTION OF A MARBLE INTO THE MAGAZINE CHAMBER, A RESILIENT PIN MEMBER SECURED TO THE REAR WALL OF ONE OF SAID BODY SECTIONS AND WITH ITS FREE END EXTENDING INWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY INTO SAID VERTICAL MAGAZINE CHAMBER FOR RETAINING A MARBLE TEMPORARILY IN SAID MAGAZINE CHAMBER, A TRANSVERSELY ARRANGED SHAFT LOCATED IN THE UPPER FORWARD PORTION OF SAID BODY PORTION, A VERTICALLY SWINGABLE HAMMER-ARM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, SAID HAMMER-ARM HAVING A REAR FREE END WHICH SWINGS DOWNWARDLY AND FORWARDLY IN A COUNTER-CLOCKWISE DIRECTION TO EXPEL THE MARBLE FROM THE SAID TUBULAR BARREL, A HAND GRIP EXTENDING FROM THE UPPER REAR END PORTION OF SAID BODY PORTION, TRIGGER MECHANISM ARRANGED IN THE UPPER REAR END PORTION OF SAID BODY PORTION FOR CONTROLLING THE HAMMERARM PIVOTALLY MOUNTED AT THE FORWARD END OF SAID BODY PORTION, A FINGER OF SAID TRIGGER MECHANISM EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY BETWEEN SAID HAND GRIP AND SAID BODY PORTION, AND A RUBBER BAND SECURED TO THE INNER FORWARD LOWER PORTION OF SAID BODY PORTION AND TO THE REAR FREE END PORTION OF SAID HAMMER-ARM FOR URGING SAID HAMMERARM IN SAID COUNTERCLOCKWISE DIRECTION.

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