Children enjoy toys that can captivate their attention. A toy ball is a particular play item that has endured the test of time and remained a favorite with children of all ages (infants, toddlers, etc.).
However, as with any child's toy, some intrinsic dangers must be avoided. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, small objects can easily be lodged in the airway of young children, creating a choking hazard. Thus, it is imperative to create toy balls that are increasingly safe for use by children.
Furthermore, a toy ball is often constructed from more than one base component (e.g., two half-spherical (hemispherical) shells that may be attached together to form a substantially spherical shell) in order to form a spherical structure. If these components that are used to construct the toy balls also contain small parts, they may create additional choking hazards to children in the event they come free during use. Thus, the particular construction of the components making up the toy ball must be considered so as to ensure safe use by children.
In addition, ancillary entertainment features are often incorporated into toy balls (e.g., figurines, rattling elements, fluids, etc.) in order to further captivate and hold a child's attention. Such ancillary features are intended to be stimulating and aesthetically pleasing so as to maintain the attention span of most children. It should be noted, however, that some of these ancillary entertainment features may be sufficiently small in size so as to pose a potential choking hazard to children.
Children sometimes play in rough manner. Thus, toys should generally be constructed so as to minimize the risk of damage during the normal course of play. In the instant case, a toy ball is sometimes subjected to rough play. A toy ball is subject to a plethora of physical activities (e.g., being thrown, rolled, dropped, hit, batted, etc.). Should a toy ball be broken apart in the course of play, the contents within the ball would be exposed/set free and, as such, the freed contents may constitute a risk to the safety of children playing with the toy. Additionally, the broken toy would be rendered unfit for future use.
Prior art toy balls typically are constructed from two shell halves mated together to form a seam along an equator of the toy ball. Such prior art toy balls are illustrated in U.S. Design Pat. No. 274,070 to Ma, U.S. Design Pat. No. 190,036 to Lakin, U.S. Design Pat. No. 314,598 to Capper et al. (illustrated in FIG. 1), U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,911 to Strauss, U.S. Pat. No. 2,519,248 to Hulbert, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,351,762 to Hoover. The method of affixing one shell half to another can include but are not limited to cementing, heat-sealing, ultrasonic welding, and dielectric welding. Still other toys have a substantially formed sphere, with an opening to insert an additional entertainment item, and are then capped to encapsulate the item within the sphere. An example of such a prior art toy ball is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,675 to Robinson.
During rough play, the toy balls have an increased risk of breaking open. The toy balls found in the prior art are not inherently resistant to forces acting perpendicular to the seam running along the ball's equator. More specifically, the equatorial seam provides little resistance to a shearing force applied at the seam or to tensile forces acting on the two shells perpendicular to the seam. Thus, it would be desirable to provide toy balls with a greater factor of safety for children. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a toy ball that possesses additional strength to withstand shearing forces acting on the seam of the toy ball. Additionally, it would be desirable to provide a toy ball that possesses additional strength to withstand tensile forces acting on the two shells perpendicular to the seam. Such additional strength would enhance the intrinsic value of a toy by providing an additional level of safety for children. Furthermore, while the addition of an element to structurally strengthen the toy ball is desired, any such element should not detract from the aesthetically pleasing nature of the toy ball to a child.
Thus, there exists a need for providing a toy ball that has a construction that adds strength to the ball's seam in order to prevent the toy ball from breaking open and exposing its contents to the child playing with the ball. Furthermore, any additional element incorporated into the construction of the toy ball should be generally aesthetically pleasing to a child. Providing such an arrangement that both increases the toy's safety and makes the toy more aesthetically desirable not only increases a child's enjoyment, but also increases the attractiveness of the toy to anyone concerned with the safety of children.
This invention is directed generally to a toy ball with additional strength to resist forces in a tensile direction or shearing forces applied to a main seam. More specifically, this invention is directed to a toy ball having two shells (hemispherical or unequal in size) fused together forming a seam, the toy ball also having opposing end caps, each end cap capturing a portion of each shell to resist both shearing and tensile forces acting on the seam.