Abstract:
This is a great hand eye coordination toy for kids and enhances motor
skills; The serpentine slot is a relaxing eye watching pleasure; Gravity
pulls the balls through the slotted path in the base of the toy; Just
turn the toy 180 degrees and it repeats the process; This toy is for
entertainment use only; A slotted path is for multiple balls to follow.
Claims:
1. This is a toy made from wood and plastic; The wood is the base
structure of the toy; A clear polycarbonate plastic is the face of the
toy which is very durable and lets you watch the balls follow the slotted
path within the wood base.
Description:
[0001] A wooden handheld toy has come about through a much bigger toy of
the same characteristics. The first toy was about five feet tall and
about twelve inches wide. Lots of kids played this when they came over
for a birthday party or other family events. I made many other designs,
patterns, too.
[0002] One day I thought this would be great as a party favor or small
enough for my infant son to play with while sitting in the car when we
travel. My first one was with redwood fence board and acrylic cover with
round headed flat tip machine screws. I still have it in the shed. I
finally had a machine shop in oakdale Calif., make a template for my
router to make the serpentine path exact every time. I made the slot by
hand first, and doesn't look perfect. I had to buy a plunge router to be
able to use the fixture. That was almost $600. Being on permanent
disability that hurt the pocket. I bought a guide bushing set from home
depot so I could use it on the fixture Jared made at the machine shop for
me. Some people at toy stores said I should get rid of the machine
screws. Most kids liked to play with the round heads of the screws which
was never a thought to me that they would want to touch. So, I looked
around for some plastic fasteners. OSH was very expensive, about 0.14
cents each. I found a fastener company online who sent me a sample of
some. I ordered one I liked which is about 0.02 cents each. I started
spray painting them which made the slots too tight sometimes. That caused
too much sanding. I wanted to get away from the sanding completely. I
just went to a bigger sized router bit to get away from that hassle of
sanding so much. I have to sand the corners of the plastic and wood base
by hand too. Hopefully I can get a CNC router machine someday if these do
good. Deburring the plastic is a tedious process too. I started putting
stickers on these toys too. The plastic fasteners are getting painted too
to match. I've tried many lengths of the toy and have finally found one
that works good for children. Some adults have even played these toys for
a while. This has been many years in the making and hopefully will be
something people can enjoy for many years.
Patent applications in class ROLLING OR TUMBLING (E.G., WHEELED)
Patent applications in all subclasses ROLLING OR TUMBLING (E.G., WHEELED)
