Other

Flatau & Vanek, LLC

Oddzon, Inc.

Abraham Flatau

Chester F Vanek

Sung Hoon Kim

Thomas H Grimm

Mark C Sorensen

Robert B Brownell

William S Law

John W Hunter

A ring airfoil projectile is defined by an annular body which defines a central passage. The body is constructed so that a center of pressure is substantially coincident with a center of gravity thereof. The body is preferably constructed of a nose section and tail section, the nose section of a material having a higher density than the material forming the tail section. The ring airfoil projectile is configured to deliver a payload to a target. Cavities extend inwardly from the outer surface of the airfoil, preferably in the nose section. The cavities accept payload or a strip containing payload. The ring airfoil projectile is configured to travel with minimum path dispersion, and to deliver the payload upon impacting a target.

Payload delivering ring airfoil projectile

A ring airfoil style paintball comprises a ring airfoil carrying a visible marking agent. The marking agent is located in one more compartments in a nose portion of a body of the ring airfoil, or within one or more containers located in those compartments. The nose portion of the body of the airfoil is configured to rupture upon impacting a target, releasing the marking agent into contact with the target. Cartridges comprising a sabot containing the ring airfoil style paintball are launched from a launcher. The launcher includes a magazine for sequentially delivering cartridges for launch. A stripper associated with the launcher strips the sabot from the ring airfoil paintball, and an ejector ejects the stripped sabot from the launcher.

Ring airfoil style paintball and launcher

The invention is a multi-shot launcher adapted to launch ring airfoil projectiles. Each ring airfoil projectile is coupled to a sabot, the ring airfoil projectile and sabot mounted to a housing in a cartridge form. The cartridge has a length which is less than its diameter. The launcher includes a receiver defining a cartridge receiving area and a tubular passage through which the ring airfoil is launched from a fired cartridge. The launcher includes a trigger mechanism for firing a cartridge. The launcher includes an ejector for ejecting the housing of a spent cartridge from the receiving area and a loader for loading a new cartridge into the receiving area. The cartridge may be loaded from a magazine connected to the receiver.

Multi-shot ring airfoil projectile launcher

A launcher is configured to launch a plurality of ring airfoil projectiles. The launcher includes a body defining a launch passage. Ring airfoil projectiles are mounted on a magazine loaded into a first end of the passage. Movement of a trigger causes the magazine to be moved forward in the passage into engagement with a drive element, such as a pair of drive disks. Movement of the trigger also causes the drive element to be driven, and when engaged with a ring airfoil projectile on the magazine, to be launched from the second end of the passage. In one embodiment, the drive disks are driven by an electric motor and impart both a propelling and spinning force upon the ring airfoil projectile. Multiple ring airfoil projectiles may be loaded on the magazine and launched in succession without the need to reload.

Motorized multi-shot toy ring airfoil launcher

A ring airfoil launcher comprises a main support on which is movably mounted a ring airfoil accepting conical chuck and a retractor. A stop mounted on the main support for limiting forward movement of the chuck. A spring biases the chuck towards the stop. The retractor is mounted distal of the chuck and includes a latch for connecting it to the chuck. Rearward movement of the retractor causes rearward movement of the chuck, extending said spring. Twisting of the retractor rotates the chuck, winding the spring. A release disengages the latch from the chuck, allowing the spring to pull the chuck forward along the main support towards the stop, and rotating the chuck as it unwinds, causing the ring airfoil mounted on said chuck to be released from the launcher with forward velocity and stabilizing spin.

Ring airfoil launcher toy with safety features

A throwable or otherwise launchable aerial toy, which provides two relatively closely spaced colinearly aligned ring wings, with the forward ring wing being larger than the rear ring wing connected through a central slender member. The spokes connecting the rear ring wing to the central slender member can be configured in a fin shape to provide additional aerodynamic stability. The central slender member can be configured with a U-joint connection assembly to eliminate flight wobble due to manufacturing variations. The central slender member can also contain a rotating joint to permit the forward and rear wings or aerodynamic members to rotate independent of one another, separately or in combination with the U-joint connection in the same central slender member connection between the forward aerodynamic member assembly and the tail aerodynamic member assembly.

Ring wing toy

Toys and methods for safely and reproducibly launching ring airfoils in a flying orientation. The toys generally comprise a member, a ring airfoil support mounted on the member, and a propelling element configured to move the ring airfoil support along the member from a first to a second position. Contact between the ring airfoil and the ring airfoil support causes the ring airfoil to move with the ring airfoil support as the ring airfoil support moves; this contact is overcome as the ring airfoil support decelerates at the second position, causing the ring airfoil to be launched with forward or both forward and spinning motion. The toys further may comprise a housing to protect the toy and user, a return element to place the toy in an engaged, launch-ready configuration, and a trigger to hold the toy in the engaged configuration until launching. As an additional aspect of the invention, components of the device may be chosen so that the characteristics of the ring airfoil at launch are within certain safety limitations.

Growing community of inventors

Palo Alto, CA, United States of America

Abraham Flatau