US20070178996A1

US20070178996A1 - Darts: kit dart modifications

Info

Publication number: US20070178996A1
Application number: US10/923,617
Authority: US
Inventors: George Fenn
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-01-04
Filing date: 2005-01-04
Publication date: 2007-08-02

Abstract

A dart is disclosed, by internal axii and radial modification, that has variously segmented positions that involve the forward or scoring embodiments for either soft tip darts or steel tip darts, their axial movement being through reciprocally staged bores for a depending shaft and enlarged collar; the central segment having both or singularly employed, a ribbed gripping segment and the possible addition of multiple weight referents at one or both sides of this stated locus that can be duplexly insertable at the receiving bore; an aftward flights carrying shaft, employing an internal collar against sympathetic staged bores receiving that actional shaft; a rubber spring stabilizing internal placement of the various components while controlling both axial and non-axial movement of either the forward or aftward end of this throwing projectile through lateral compression/displacement, thereby creating the severe reduction of deflection and rejection known in the art of this game device; and, separate thread bearers, against staged bores, to connect the used components into a completed barrel for the three dart set commonly used.

Description

Cross Referenced to Related application Ser. No. 09/781,494, which became 6,524,201.
This application changes the provisional status of 60/450,263, given Aug. 18, 2003, by filing via USPS Priority Mail # 0130 2990 0005 8669 1168 on the date of Aug. 18, 2004, and does seek patent pending status relative to the continuity here noted and requested by this small entity applicant for LETTERS PATENT.

DISCUSSION OF PRIOR ART

There have been an extremely large variety of advances made in and for the various games of darts. A dart is a hand held tubular projectile having a point, that is generally designed to be thrown at a target for the purposes of scoring within circularly and radially defined impact areas on the target. A typical dart also includes an attachable shaft carrier aft of and axially oriented to the main body which generally carries guidance vanes, called flights, to help stabilize the trajectory of the thrown dart.
In most cases, the advances have been applied to an external shape of the dart. Various materials are used to create the barrel or central segment of the dart body, such as wood, brass, various amalgams, or tungsten. Into these materials are formed various shapes or patterns, designed to enhance the user's grip or finger placement. Shapes may include dish-outs for finger placement or knurling.
Points for the darts may be either “soft-tip” or “steel tip.” The soft tip is usually of plastic, and designed to impact a target of densely packed sissal which can accept the scoring point, so that the player can visually establish the value of the thrown dart. A steel tip dart must remain in the target during the player's turn sequence (which may include the throw of multiple darts), to create a score. Both the electronic and sissal target boards include areas of different value separated thy thin metal or plastic dividers (sometimes called “spiders:). If a dart directly impacts a divider, it may bounce off the target without sticking or impacting a scoring position. Prior attempts have been made to design darts which will remain in the target even if a divider is struck or, at least, create an impact reference. And in reference to the soft-tip approach, against the use of a screw-in plastic tip, it is known that removal from the polymer scoring face and receiving plethora of holes therein requires an opposing rotation of the completed dart so as to use the removal aspect to break the moment weld of two plastics meeting under pico-second conditions that can reach or exceed 45 miles per hour by this projectile.
In one approach, the soft tip has been formed from a composite of carbon oriented plastic so as to provide a means of flexion when it strikes the target, thereby reducing the chance of rejection by a divider. In this composite dart tip, it has been shown that if dart tip is sharpened after deformation created by impact with an impediment, the harmonic signature of the dart is changed.
Another prior art point approach, has been to provide means to allow for the axial movement of the point within a forward containment area of the central dart body, with various controls therefor. Several approaches employ a floating point shaft contained in or by a screw-in race, one being a manually applied pinch effect of the taper of the point in an axial bore of the race, where, impact with the target releases the point so as to allow a hammer effect to drive the dart further into the target. Another approach involves an enlarged head on the axial point shaft, either being rounded or drop hammer formed in a manner called peening, with the head being constrained screw-in or press fitted race, or obverse placement, or by annularly placed resilient washers, or O-rings. Other approaches, rather than O-rings, have utilized axial placement of resilient strips in machined grooves to engage the shaft's collar in an attempt to slow the impact moment; where, a variation to the O-rings employs radially inwardly projecting fingers that interact with the enlarged collar to control the impact induced moment in the containment cavity. Again, these various structures are employed in a hammer system; but, there is a failure to recognize that this approach, during initial impact with a target or divider, does not allow the linear alignment between the dart's point and body to be altered.
Further, in several of the latter approaches, the O-rings have been placed in a subtending annular race of that enlarged shaft ending head; or, they have been placed in the orienting insert, within a radially outwardly positioned annular raceway; or, they have been placed, in combination, forwardly of that enlarged head and in the raceway. But, in these darts, it is common to find that substantial wear occurs, as the rotation of the variously placed O-rings are working against a stationary shoulder, thereby limiting the value of the point movement.
Another approach has been the usage of a spring body surmounted about a shaft positioner so as to provide an axially oriented progressive loading characteristic for impact with a scoring area. However, springs are known to lose temper due to the short compression cycle experienced by the impact of those darts.
In other darts, the aftward portion of the shaft-ending enlarged head can impact a taper formed cavity ending buttress, this to provide an angular distortion about the body or barrel's axis, a conoid machined shaft that impacts a similarly shaped and obversely positioned conoid body thereaft during impact-induced axial travel, this to provide a non-axial motion when impact with a target's dividers or impediments occurs, particularly the segments that have the highest scoring value. But, it is known that the use of springs, with their subsequent loss of temper caused by the pico-second impact can and do lose this non-axial utility: both coil springs and metal strips which are constrained against lateral movement outside the axis of the load causes direct loss of that ability.
Also, due to the various construction methods, none of these approaches have the ability to ignore the effects of gravity, which may eliminate their effectiveness, because, when the point is retained in the target board, the body of the dart may be angled downwardly relative to the point, and this body may block subsequent darts thrown toward small areas of high score value.
One such example is the internal and forward use of a resilient cylinder with an axially formed bore receiver for receipt of a point shaft, with the aftward end thereof being rounded, with the resilient body simply push-inserted into a receiver cavity of the dart, and placement being arrested by the round end of the shaft against a buttress. There are no provisions against the elastomeric cylinder's propensity to return to an unloaded state, distortion created by non-axial movement upon impact with a target would cause the cylinder to actually creep out of this position; and, this distortion would tear the bore therein.
Two other approaches employ either a wound spring on the depending shaft of the point, or a flight-carrying shaft, while showing some utility, neither recognizes that heat and/or non-axial loading will cause displacement or breakage of the point. The wound spring, like it's rubberoid counterpart, will actually displace itself from the containment cavity upon lateral displacement. The cupped spring with curved end catchments for the flight shaft, or any half-dome with a central hole receiver for that shaft carrier, faces two considerations: any spring, beyond heat loss, will attempt to return to an unladed state, thereby becoming an impediment that could interfere with the trajectory of subsequent darts; whereas, the fully cupped spring, beyond the increased potential of resistance, actually embodies a buckle effect. In addition, a strip-type spring, like those above, limits the flights-carrying shaft to only two directions of movement, they being along the axis formed by the width thereof.
Regarding the weights and shapes of darts available, there have been more than one approach. One is an end-threaded shaft that connects the fore and aft ends of the barrel. Various axially-bored pieces of varying density are placed along the shaft to create varying weights and shapes. Stability is improved by an O-ring positioned appropriately.
Another employs a similar internal shaft, and has a variety of weight beads that are placed thereon by the user, prior to insertion into an internal cavity of the barrel, where stability is derived, again, by an appropriately positioned O-ring.
Yet another employs various media, in the hammer approach, that are sometimes separated so as to provide a differing method of weight distribution within the internal chamber of the dart.
Then another employs a simple and fixed addition to the internal chamber, from the aft end, the density of which changes relative to the desired weight; but, whose forwardly positioned end in the tapered receiving bore is employed as a buttress, it affecting the point's reaction to impact with the impediments.
Additionally, another approach combines the annular receipt of an O-ring impinging a balled-ended shaft, with that ball impinging upon the forward end created by impact.
Then, there is the combination of a scoring shaft with a peened or formed head that rests on a ball bearing, with the latter impinging on a cylindrical rubberoid member, this arrangement supposedly allowing incremental movement of the scoring member during impact; but, due to the inability of the rubberoid member to expand laterally during impact transition, this cylindrical member can explode, thereby limiting its impact control.
In all of the above approaches, while showing some utility, none consider the effect of having a forwardly formed cavity which affects the desired forwardly induced weight differentials. Additionally, because of the possibility of loosening, which can cause rattling and distraction, or the fact that the loss of any one piece can eliminate that dart from play, the utility of this prior art are considered marginal at best.
And, regard guidance vanes or flights, there have been a variety of attachment variations: there is a polymer shaft, extending radially aftwardly from the central body, generally being threadably attached, and having forward molded receiver slots in an X-format, it receiving a press-insertion of the flights chosen by the player; or, obversely joined V's, the vertice junction creating a slot for that flight member insertion. And, there have been specialized flight-carrying shafts that receive a tripodal vane rather than the four vanes more commonly used for the guidance of the thrown projectile, this approach limiting the impediments involved in trajectory interference.
Another approach, called SLICKSTICK, employs that shaft but has a slot that is end-bounded that, in turn, receives the “X” flight slipped laterally into and positioned at the aftward end of the slot prior to the player's throw, this allowing forward but non-radial movement created from impact with any subsequently thrown dart. And, after the throw and removal from the target, must be manually moved to the backward station.
One of the first spinning flights, called DYNA-STAR, employs an aftwardly axial shaft that has an enlarged portion thereon for receipt of a pull-molded spine carrying the flights, that is slipped-pressed onto and beyond a pinch created shoulder of that shaft carrier. This will allow radial movement created by an incoming projectile thrown in close proximity to an at-rest dart.
There are others that are also rotational about the dart axis; but, none recognize that by the time the impact induces any spinning movement, the dart is well past the point of collision therewith. In addition, spinning about the axis can be a detriment; none take into account that the darts thrown have multiple speeds and trajectories.
In all of the prior art approaches noted, notwithstanding the displayed utility, the attempts have been to provide the player with a dart that will enhance their application of skills and growth in the game of darts. Yet, there are possible advances to that general application of dart design that will enable the particular user to create a more fully personalized involvement with this enjoyable game, thereby furthering the art of the game and the player's approach towards serious enhancement of their skills.

SUMMARY

As established from my patent works of 6,277,041 and the conjoining 6,524,201, and relative to the encompassing papers foundation created in 1994 that have both associational and developmental characteristics by a single hand author, this is a kit dart having “mix-and-match” capabilities across both soft tip and steel tip venues; but, within the aspect of said kit against the commonality of diameters and materials, in general, an appropriate facet hereof is the capability of being cross-applicational to known prior art because of the known aspect of utilizing the proven polybag approach for display of the various components at the retail level, called grid development hereby through the usage of “X & Y” axes against said retail board value, thereby allowing market driven values to produce a program necessary for the evolution of this encompassing kit darts approach to utility. Thus, it is known within the envelope hereof that certain portions for this approach to uncommon utility, through the factual difference of a rubber spring eliminating fatigue found in the “metal” spring utilization, that my scoring member and matching endcap can be employed in darts barrels already on the marketplace because of that impact controlling cylinder, the latter expanding oblately by lateral expression to disperse negative forces that can cause rejection and/or deflection known in prior art, thereby furthering the marketing grid employed herewith.
Because this dart also employs shafts depending forward or aftward of the main body, either by an integral or snap approach for the collar to a particular shaft, a radially positioned and axially oriented flat embodiment shall reciprocally prevent rotation of the shaft impinging the installable collar and/or impinging the particular endcap used to finish the end of the central segment of this darts invention; as, it was shown by the materials of 1994 and 1995, from both copyright and models fixation, the only way to remove the original soft-tip approach from the receiving polymer holes of the dartboard face was to jerk the dart from said board receiver.
What this invention does is modify the available shafts forwardly or aftwardly against the placement into an appropriate barrel for the completed dart; with any prior art shaft without a collar requiring a female receiver for click snap location of the enlarged collar, and inwardly of that is the noted flat being received in said collared end to prevent rotation, with that inwardly collar reciprocally having a flat slidably matching a positional reference within the endcap and axially referenced to further eliminate rotation against hand manipulation and/or impact considerations. But, in the matching of said collar to the endcap's internal structure, it is entirely possible to shorten the axial dimension from the forward end of the shaft's opening that interacts with the shaft's chord oriented collar portion, thereby allowing firstly the non-rotational aspect to be coupled to the rotational aspect through axially oriented travel of said collar past a determined point within that endcap, with a taper at that transition allowing an at rest return when resetting of the actional parts prior to the next competitive use by the player.
In the advent that this invention uses a “peened” collar, known in prior art, then it will have a flat machined against the edge that shall be considered a chord reduction, said difference allowing it to be employed singularly against a pre-tap bore in conjunction with the noted rubber cylinder of this invention as the flat impinging same is radially within the endcap, or in conjunction with an enlarged and particularly shaped collar for these bridging inventions while expressing the same attributes noted priorly.
In all of the above, the endcap for same that closes one or both ends of the central body or segment, can be created from cast and/or machined brass or by spin-casting aluminum such as T-6; or, where and if appropriate, it can be manufactured from a molten polymer carrying glass filaments known in prior art plastic injection molding.
And, in the use of a grip managing portion or separated body as shown in my grant of 6,524,201, it is possible to employ the obverse variant shown here, it being a radial series of ribs extending past the primary barrel diameter along it's axis, they being separated incrementally so as to improve finger/grip capture. While it is possible that their outward projection may become damaged through repeated trajectory impacts, even though their radial measurement increase against the chosen diameter is just thousandths of an inch, it's the ability to replace just one portion of the completed darts body that allows this simple convergence towards utility.
Within the replaceable aspects of this work, it is possible to use a variation of the loc-tite thread bearer that joins segments together for a completed darts body. Whether forward or aftward, against possible wear experienced by the abrasion caused from axial movement of the working portions, a tight fitting sleeve is loc-tite positioned between complex endward embodiments requiring extremely high tolerance machining and pre-formed tubes of sintered tungsten that only require the finish machining at both the external values and the staged bores to complete the assembly. The internal cuts of the end pieces conform to the insertable component values expressed hereby, while the proposed tube that may complete a portion whether used fore or aft of the grip provisioner continues the use of the noted thread bearer to connect same. Thus, it is possible to replace any one of the shown segments by the simple prior art act of heating at the joinery to break the loc-tite bond prior to parts replacement for the completed portional assembly.
A further development is the modified usage of the works found in 1994, which eliminates the need to utilize loc-tite in stress related areas that might be conducive to failure, by the change of the annotated circlip of Nov. 21, 1994 to a loc-tite sleeve with two portional slots located 180 degrees apart and circumferentially oriented; they relating to male prongs depending radially outwardly from a slide-in collar of close fitting means to said fixed position, this thread carrying body having two spring slots 180 degrees apart and placed 90 degrees out of phase from the noted partial slot receiver and partial prongs relating thereto. The simple values of and for engagement of the male and female portions, against the displacement of the noted slots that allow radial displacement during insertion into the receiver sleeve therefor, is created by insertion of the enlarged shaft depending axially inwardly that is found on either the flights shaft or scoring shaft that slidably relates to the threaded barrel endcap of this invention, with rotational closure of that endcap establishing stability in this close fitting approach. Removal of same, if desired, is through the use of a reverse jaw pliers mechanism and requiring nothing more than a simple axial pull due to the taper found on the male prongs, as this would reacquaint the found spring slot into the noted insertion value for displacement of the diameter. With this addition, caused by the sometimes found need to wait for a period longer than is equitable in the game venue due to the need for the general use of loc-tite to substantially cure, the requirement of any kind of heat value is also negated through this simple approach, thereby establishing the necessary cross-relational aspect for both steel tip and soft tip darts that this invention addresses.
Against the duplex annotation noted for weight inserts, found in 6,277,041 and 6,524,201, further possibilities involve a cylindrical tungsten billet having a fixed shaft extending from one or both ends; with the length and amalgam properties from 50/50/to 95/5 creating the weighting feature that allows personalization from that KIT DART aspect. The outward end/s of that locating shaft comprising either a concave face or partial bore, with either approach being utilized to provide a locus for at least one end of the rubber spring member of this invention, said resilient body expanding laterally during moments of impact to provide axial stability for those impinging darts members during that positioned stress.
The formulaic position of “f-cubed-tau over pi/r-squared,” being bracketed and squared can be found in my 1994 materials, and shown as a truncated reference in both previously mentioned works for this thrown projectile. Instead of “f” representing force, it represents “frequency” as a datum movement against time, whereas “pi/r-squared” represents a bound global means about the nullity of said functional reference. Since the toy uses radial boundary layers comprising tubular walls, which are datum values, the above expression is construed as an implicit “ring theorem” for the established position found in both works, and why the position is considered a truncation of the bound global datum entry means; where, the full deployment of same is knowingly reserved for the federal filings dated Oct. 6, 1983 (federal masque) and Aug. 25, 1987 (federal masque).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a prior art soft tip dart received in an electronic scoreboard.
FIG. 2 shows a prior art steel tip dart received in a sissal scoreboard.
FIGS. 3 a and 3 b show prior art arrangements for attaching dart flights to a shaft.
FIGS. 4 a, 4 b, 4 c, and 4 d reference prior materials; 4 a/b/c are known product values, while 4 d is parent material.
FIGS. 5 a, 5 b, 5 c, and 5 d show how modifications are made to prior art materials, thereby staying within the design envelope created by the parent materials.
FIGS. 6 a and 6 b are sleeves for this invention; with 6 a employed at the forwardly internal cavity, with a portional flat reducing the bore in a chord reduction, while 6 b is a full sleeve employed to allow the central segment to be separated into discrete portions for the possible placement of a gripping modulus.
FIGS. 7 a and 7 b are employed both forwardly and aftwardly in the invention.
FIG. 8 is a partial cutaway so that the flat is shown on a scoring member carrier, it matching the forwardly found chord function of FIG. 6 a.
FIG. 9 shows a possible weight body for the invention.
FIG. 10 is a completed assembly of the invention, including a 10 a detailed cutaway.
FIG. 11 shows, in a linear “a through f”, the segments that would create a darts barrel.
FIG. 12 is a partial view of a retail darts display board, with partial grid references thereon against X and Y, with a two dimensional view for three dimensional phaseal patterning for a simplified depiction of the curvelinear demand values that create marketing and manufacturing criterium.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, this shows a typical dart 10, with a soft tip, comprising a tubular central body or barrel 11 having an aftwardly positioned grip 12 creating a forward thrust or weight bias; screw-in scoring tip 13 with a tapered front 14 and larger shaft 15, and a screw-in collar 16 threadably joined to the barrel. At the rear of the dart is a screw-in flight-carrying shaft 17, with an X-slot 18 for receiving slide in flight 19.
The typical electronic dart board 20 includes scoring face 22, with areas of differing value delineated by boundaries or “spiders” 21. The scoring face includes holes 23 for receiving the dart tip. Impact planes 24 and 25 cooperate with signal plane 26 to record the score. The board is mounted on backing carrier 27.
FIG. 2 shows a typical steel tip dart received in a typical sissal board 28, having the same spiders 21 noted above.
FIG. 3 a shows a flight carrying shaft used in the prior art, comprising a round rod 29 for receiving a press fitted carrier 30 having an X-slot 18 to receive flight 19; while, FIG. 3 b shows that rod 29 may have a wire 31 extending therefrom, the wire having an indent 32 for receiving DYNA-STAR flights.

Claims

1. A dart comprising a central body having axially depending shafts outwardly therefrom, the forward member consisting of a shaft with sharply tapered end being the scoring embodiment, while the aftward depending shaft carries the guidance vanes of this invention;

the shaft at either end extending through a close-fitting slide bore, the internal stoppage being against an inwardly formed buttress wall surrounding that bore and reciprocally engaging the enlarged collar found inwardly at the end of that shaft;

an end-cap providing a buttress wall and staged throughbore for receiving that shaft and enlarged collar found either forwardly or aftwardly or at both ends, and threadably joined to the end of the central body;

the end-cap including a chordal reduction inwardly of the shaft's slide bore, considered a flat, that reciprocally matches the same found on the enlarged collar, that collar continuing to exhibit the first form of sliding in the bore receiving it;

an impact controlling resilient rubber spring abutting that enlarged collar and the end of a pretap bore, the starting bore sufficiently larger than the diameter of that spring body so as to allow non-axial expansion caused by impact, said act allowing axial movement by the shaft through those close fitting receiving bores;

a radially extending gripping body, beyond the common diameter of the central body, consisting of separated ribs that provide positive positioning for finger placement;

the central body placement of a gripping body providing axial chambers at one side or both for duplex oriented insertion of a weights body that can distort balance distribution of that completed central segment;

a fixably insertable sleeve against staged receiving bores that connect segmented positions at one or both ends of the central body, having a reciprocal bore against the internal diameter of the central body for receiving same;

thread bearers, insertably fixed in staged receivers for that central body, providing an attachment means upon rotation of the engaging members;

and polybagging of the cross-relational components, for either game venue, so as to allow a determined mix-and-match for a kit dart's approach to simplification.