DISK BALL

Abstract

 Disclosed herein is a disk ball, comprising a rotation shaft; a first rotation body disposed around the upper portion of the rotation shaft and provided with a ball transfer unit at the center of the upper end thereof, a second rotation body disposed around the lower portion of the rotation shaft and provided with a ball transfer unit at the center of the lower end thereof, wherein at least one of the first rotation body and the second rotation body is rotatable relative to the rotation shaft; a middle rotation body disposed between the first rotation body and the second rotation body and fixed around the middle of the rotation shaft or rotatably connected to the middle of the rotation shaft, which is an elastic member with the diameter larger than the diameters of the first and the second rotation bodies; and a plurality of hammers. The disk ball as provided herein increase the travel distance.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priorities to Chinese Patent Application Serial No. 201810730977.7, filed on July 5, 2018, entitled "DISK BALL", and Chinese Utility Model Application Serial No. 201821066097.6, filed on July 5, 2018, entitled "DISK BALL", the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention relates to a disk ball.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] Tops produce a moment due to its rotation. The tops will not tip over due to this moment. Because of this special phenomenon, the tops attract increasing interest from players. When playing the tops, an external force is applied to the tops to keep them rotating and moving forward. Such external force provide power for rotation of the tops. Meanwhile, the external force generates a tangential component force along the edge of the tops to facilitate movement forward. Since this component force is small, the travel distance of the tops is generally small and thus it is difficult to make full use of large sport field and to provide sufficient amount of exercise for players, with limited entertainment and exercise.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] Provided herein is a disk ball. When an external force applied to this disk ball, the external force can be converted into power for moving forward. And meanwhile, the disk ball also keeps rotation. The travel distance of the disk ball can be significantly increased.

[0005] The disk ball as provided herein comprises, but not limited to, a rotation shaft; a first rotation body disposed around the upper portion of the rotation shaft and provided with a ball transfer unit (BTU) at the center of the upper end thereof, a second rotation body disposed around the lower portion of the rotation shaft and provided with a BTU at the center of the lower end thereof, wherein at least one of the first rotation body and the second rotation body is rotatable relative to the rotation shaft; a middle rotation body disposed between the first rotation body and the second rotation body and fixed around the middle of the rotation shaft or rotatably connected to the middle of the rotation shaft, which is an elastic member with the diameter larger than the diameters of the first and the second rotation bodies; and a plurality of hammers hanged above the middle rotation body via a connection rod so as to hit the first rotation body or the second rotation body when an external force is applied to the disk ball.

[0006] In some embodiments as described herein, the disk ball further comprises a first bearing disposed between the first rotation body and the rotation shaft, and/or a second bearing disposed between the second rotation body and the rotation shaft.

[0007] In some embodiments as described herein, one of the first bearing and the second bearing or both of them is/are one-way ball bearing or one-way roller bearing.

[0008] In some embodiments as described herein, the first rotation body can be fixed to the inner ring or outer ring of the first bearing, and/or, the second rotation body can be fixed to the inner ring or outer ring of the second bearing.

[0009] In some embodiments as described herein, the first and the second rotation bodies are in cone shape or disk shape or propeller shape.

[0010] In some embodiments as described herein, the first and the second rotation bodies are configured to be mirror symmetry with each other relative to the middle rotation body. For example, the end on which ball transfer unit of the first rotation body is disposed is configured to face upward and the end on which the ball transfer unit of the second rotation body is disposed is configured to face downward.

[0011] In some embodiments as described herein, the apex angle of the cross section along the conical generatrix, facing the bottom surface of one or both of the first rotation body and the second rotation body ranges from 116 degrees to 168 degrees.

[0012] In some embodiments as described herein, hitting portions hitted by the hammers during rotation of the middle rotation body are disposed on and protruded from the surfaces of the first and the second rotation bodies.

[0013] In some embodiments as described herein, one or both of the hammers and the hit portions is/are made of elastic or non-elastic materials.

[0014] In some embodiments as described herein, the middle rotation body comprises an inner ring sleeved on the rotation shaft; an outer ring made of elastic materials, above which a plurality of hammers are hanged; and elastic support members radially connected between the inner ring and the outer ring.

[0015] In some embodiments as described herein, a third bearing is disposed between the inner ring and the rotation shaft.

[0016] In some embodiments as described herein, the connection rod is fixed to the top or the bottom of the outer ring of the middle rotation body.

[0017] In some embodiments as described herein, the disk ball further comprises a motor disposed within the first rotation body or the second rotation body, with an output shaft connected to the rotation shaft; a controller disposed within the first rotation body or the second rotation body, for controlling the rotation of the motor; and a power electrically connected to the motor and the controller.

[0018] In some embodiments as described herein, the ratio of the distance between the ball transfer unit on the upper end of the first rotation body and the ball transfer unit on the lower end of the second rotation body to the diameter of the middle rotation body ranges from 1:18 to 8:5.

[0019] When hitting the outer ring of the middle rotation by a hitting tool, the external force applied to the disk ball can be converted into the force for moving forward by the outer ring made of the elastic materials, and meanwhile the disk ball keeps rotating. As such, the disk ball as provided herein can fully utilize large sport field and provide sufficient amount of exercise for the players, thereby increasing entertainment and exercise of the disk ball.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description that sets forth illustrative embodiments, in which the principles of the invention are utilized, and the accompanying drawings of which:

Figure 1a is a main view of the cross-section of the disk ball as described herein along the longitudinal direction.

Figure 1b is a top view of the cross-section of the disk ball as described herein along the horizontal direction.

Figure 2a is a main view of the disk ball as described herein.

Figure 2b is a top view of the disk ball as described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0021] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

[0022] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0023] Figures 1a and 1b respectively show a main view of the cross-section of the disk ball along the longitudinal direction and a top view of the cross-section of the disk ball along the horizontal direction. As shown, the disk ball comprises, but not limited to, a rotation shaft 1, a first rotation body 2, a second rotation body 3, and a middle rotation body 5. In particular, the first rotation body 2 is disposed on the upper portion of the rotation shaft 1 and the second rotation body 3 is disposed on the lower portion of the rotation shaft 1. Ball transfer units 4 are respectively disoposed on the upper end of the first rotation body 2 and the lower end of the second rotation body 3, which can be made of pure metals, alloy materials or other wear resistant ceramic materials. The middle rotation body 5 is disposed between the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3.

[0024] In the embodiments as described herein, the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3 can be in cone shape and the ball transfer units 4 are disposed on the top of the cone. The first rotation body and the second rotation body are configured to be mirror symmetry with each other relative to the middle rotation body 5. In other words, as shown in Figure 1a, the first rotation body 2 is placed upright and the second rotation body 3 is placed upside down. In other embodiments as described herein, the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3 can be in disk shape or propeller shape. In the embodiment where the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3 are in cone shape, the apex angle of the cross section along the conical generatrix, facing the bottom surface of one or both of the first rotation body and the second rotation body ranges from 116 degrees to 168 degrees, e.g., the apex angle can be 116 degree, 120 degree, 140 degree or 168 degree. In this embodiment, the apex angle can be 120 degree. The first rotation body 2 is connected to the rotation shaft 1 via a first bearing 7. The second rotation body 3 is connected to the rotation shaft 1 via a second bearing 8. In particular, as shown in Figures 1a and 1b, in this embodiment, the inner ring of the first bearing 7 is fixed to the rotation shaft 1 and the outer ring of the first bearing 7 is connected to the first rotation body 2. The inner ring of the second bearing 8 is fixed to the rotation shaft 1 and the outer ring of the second bearing 8 is connected to the second rotation body 3. In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the outer ring of the first bearing 7 can be fixed to the rotation shaft 1 and the outer ring of the second bearing 8 can be fixed to the rotation shaft 1. The inner ring of one of the first and the second bearings 7 and 8 can be fixed to the rotation shaft 1 and the outer ring of the another one can be fixed to the rotation shaft 1. Moreover, in the embodiments as described herein, the first and the second bearings 7 and 8 are one-way bearings, i.e., they merely rotate around the rotation shaft 1 along a fixed direction. If they rotate along a reverse direction, they will be locked. One or both of the first and the second bearings 7 and 8 is/are ball bearing(s) or roller bearing(s), or they can be other bearings for achieving one-way rotation. In other embodiments of the present invention, one of the first and the second bearings 7 and 8 is a one-way bearing and the other is a two-way bearing. Or, both of them can be two-way bearings. In another embodiment of the present invention, the first bearing 7 and/or the second bearing 8 can be omitted. The first rotation body 2 can be directly sleeved on the rotation shaft 1 to rotate around the rotation shaft 1 and the second rotation body 3 can be directly sleeved on the rotation shaft 1 to rotate around the rotation shaft 1.

[0025] In the embodiments of the present invention, the ratio of the distance between the ball transfer unit 4 on the upper end of the first rotation body 2 and the ball transfer unit 4 on the lower end of the second rotation body 3 to the diameter of the middle rotation body 5 ranges from 1:18 to 8:5, such as 1:10, 1:5, 4:9 or 1:1 and the like.

[0026] In the embodiments of the present invention, a motor 9, a controller 10 and a power 11 are disposed within the first and the second rotation bodies 2 and 3. The output shaft of the motor 9 is connected to the rotation shaft 1 or can be connected to the rotation shaft via a retarding mechanism. Rotation of motor 9 produces an interaction force with the rotation shaft 1, such that the rotation shaft 1 rotates relative to the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3. The controller 10 and the power 11 are symmetrically disposed at two sides of the rotation axis of the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3 to achieve stable rotation of the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3. In other embodiments of the present invention, the controller 10 and the power 11 can be disposed in other ways. For example, the controller 10 and the power 11 can be disposed on one side of the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3 and a balance weight can be disposed on the other side to ensure that the center of balance of the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3 is on the rotation axis. In another embodiment of the present invention, the motor 9, th controller 10 and the power 11 can be omitted.

[0027] In the embodiments of the present invention, the middle rotation body 5 may comprise a third bearing 54 sleeved on the middle of the rotation shaft 1, an inner ring 53 sleeved on the third bearing 54, an outer ring 51 made of elastic materials and elastic support members 52 for connecting and supporting the inner ring 53 and the outer ring 51. For example, the elastic support members 52 can be a spring. In addition, hammers 55 are disposed above or below the outer ring 51 of the middle rotation body 5, which is fixed to the outer ring 51 via a connection rod 56. Hitting portions 6 are also disposed on the surfaces of the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3. For example, the hitting portions 6 can be a round protrusion disposed on and protruded from the surface of the first rotaion body 2 or the second rotation body 3. The hitting portions 6 can be in other shapes. In an alternative embodiment, the hitting portions 6 and the hammers 55 can be omitted. In the embodiments of the present invention, the hammers 55 or the hitting portions 6 can be made of elastic materials or can be made of other non-elastic materials. For example, in the embodiment where the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3 are in propeller shape, the hammers 55 and the hitting portions 6 can be made of elastic materials to obtain double hitting force, such that the disk ball can keep moving for a long time and in a long distance to increase amount of exercise for the players. In an alternative embodiment, one or both of the hammers 55 and the hitting portions 6 can be made of elastic materials or non-elastic materials.

[0028] Figures 2a and 2b respectively show the main view and the top view of the disk ball as described herein. There is a gap between the hammers 55 and the hitting portions 6, and thus they do not contact with each other. When the middle rotation body 5 is hitted by an external force to exhibit deformation, the hammers 55 contact with and hit the hitting portions 6. After the external force is removed, the outer ring 51 regains the original shape. At this time, the hammers 55 are spaced away from the hitting portions 6 with a certain gap.

[0029] When the middle rotation body 5 is hitted by a hitting tool, it exhibits deformation, such that the disk ball generates large movement force. Meanwhile, the external force facilitates rotation of the middle rotation body 5 and hits the hitting portions 6, such that the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3 rotate to achieve movement forward and rotation of the disk ball.

[0030] The middle rotation body 5 rotates or is fixed relative to one or both of the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3. In the embodiments of the present invention, the middle rotation body 5 can independently rotate relative to the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3.

[0031] The elastic support members 52 for supporting the outer circule 51 are uniformly distributed to the periphery of the inner ring 53. The number of the elastic support members 52 can be 3 or more. The angles between two elastic support members 52 that are adjacent to each other are the same. In the embodiments of the present invention, four elastic support members 52 are disposed. The angles between two elastic support members 52 that are adjacent to each other are 90 degree respectively. In other embodiments of the present invention, the angles between two elastic support members 52 that are adjacent to each other can be not the same. That is to say, it is not necessary to uniformly distribute the elastic support members 52 to the periphery of the inner ring 53.

[0032] The number of the hammers for hitting the hitting portions 6 is at least two. The hammers are uniformly distributed to the periphery of the outer ring 51 and the central angles corresponding to two hammers that are adjacent to each other are the same. In the embodimemts of the present invention, it is preferable to disposed four hammers 55, and the central angles corresponding to two hammers that are adjacent to each other are 90 degree respectively. In other embodiments of the present invention, the central angles corresponding to two hammers that are adjacent to each other can be not the same. That is to say, it is not necessary to uniformly distribute the hammers 55 to the periphery of the outer ring 51.

[0033] In the embodiments of the present invention, the number of the hitting portions 6 that are uniformly distributed to the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3 is at least two. The central angles corresponding to two hitting portions that are adjacent to each other are the same. In the embodiments of the present invention, it is preferable to disposed four hitting portions 6. The central angles corresponding to two hitting portions 6 that are adjacent to each other are 90 degree respectively.

[0034] The disk ball as described herein can be operated as below.

[0035] Firstly, the middle rotation body 5 is initiated to rotate by using an initiation device. The disk ball keeps standing on the ball transfer unit 4 as the supporting point, which is below the second rotation body 3, due to gyroscopic effect resulting from rotation. At this time, the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3 do not rotate. An external force is applied to the outer ring of the middle rotation body 5 to lead to deformation of the outer ring 51. At this time, the hammers 55 contact the hitting portions 6 and hit the hitting portions 6 so as to initiate the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3 to rotate. When the external force is removed, the outer ring 51 regains its original shape and the hammers 55 are spaced away from the hitting portions 6. By continuously applying the external force to the outer ring 51 to lead to deformation of the outer ring 51, the hammers 55 continuously hit the hitting portions 6, so as to facilitate rotation of the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3.

[0036] In addition, the outer ring 51 is made of elastic materials that can effiectively avoid loss of energy due to impaction between the force-generating object and the disk ball so as to convert the energy resulting from impaction to elastic potential energy. When applying the external force, the outer ring 51 will generates a counterforce, such that the elastic potential energy will drive the disk ball to travel a long distance along the force-generating direction, thereby increasing the travel distance of the disk ball.

[0037] In the embodiments of the present invention, the movement time of the disk ball can be increased by disposing the motor 9, the controller 10 and the power 11 within the first and the second rotation bodies 2 and 3. The power 11 supplies electric energy to the motor 9 and the controller 10. The output shaft of the motor 9 is connected to the rotation shaft 1. A rotation speed detection element is disposed within the controller 10. After initiating the disk ball by using an initiation device, the controller 10 starts to work. Since friction generates between the first bearing 7 or the second bearing 8 and the rotation shaft 1 and between the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3 and air, after consuming the energy, the rotation speed of the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3 will be decreased. When the rotation speed detection element detects that the rotation speed of the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3 is lower than a certain value, the motor 9 is initated to drive the rotation shaft to rotate in reverse relative to the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3, thereby generating a counterforce to increase the rotation speed of the first rotation body 2 and the second rotation body 3. As such, the disk ball can keep rotating for a long time. When the rotation speed goes beyond a certain value, the motor 9 stops driving the rotation shaft. Alternatively, the motor 9 can be configured to be operated for a certain time period and then to be stopped. In the embodiments of the present invention, the motor 9 is configured to be stopped when the rotation speed of the first rotation body 2 or the second rotation body 3 is detected above a certain value.

[0038] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that these embodiments are only for the purpose of illustration. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous variations, modifications and substitutions can be made to these embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and the methods and structures as fall within the claims together with the equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A disk ball, comprising

a rotation shaft;

a first rotation body disposed around the upper portion of the rotation shaft and provided with a ball transfer unit at the center of the upper end thereof,

a second rotation body disposed around the lower portion of the rotation shaft and provided with a ball transfer unit at the center of the lower end thereof, wherein at least one of the first rotation body and the second rotation body is rotatable relative to the rotation shaft;

a middle rotation body disposed between the first rotation body and the second rotation body and fixed around the middle of the rotation shaft or rotatably connected to the middle of the rotation shaft, which is an elastic member with the diameter larger than the diameters of the first and the second rotation bodies; and

a plurality of hammers hanged above the middle rotation body via a connection rod so as to hit the first rotation body or the second rotation body when an external force is applied to the disk ball.

2. The disk ball of claim 1, further comprising a first bearing disposed between the first rotation body and the rotation shaft, and/or a second bearing disposed between the second rotation body and the rotation shaft.

3. The disk ball of claim 2, wherein one of the first bearing and the second bearing or both of them is/are one-way ball bearing or one-way roller bearing.

4. The disk ball of claim 2, wherein the first rotation body is fixed to the inner ring of the first bearing, and/or, the second rotation body is fixed to the inner ring of the second bearing.

5. The disk ball of claim 2, wherein the first rotation body is fixed to the outer ring of the first bearing, and/or, the second rotation body is fixed to the outer ring of the second bearing.

6. The disk ball of claim 1, wherein the first and the second rotation bodies are in cone shape or disk shape or propeller shape.

7. The disk ball of claim 6, wherein the first and the second rotation bodies are configured to be mirror symmetry with each other relative to the middle rotation body.

8. The disk ball of claim 6, wherein the apex angle of the cross section along the conical generatrix, facing the bottom surface of one or both of the first rotation body and the second rotation body ranges from 116 degrees to 168 degrees.

9. The disk ball of claim 1, wherein hitting portions hitted by the hammers during rotation of the middle rotation body are disposed on and protruded from the surfaces of the first and the second rotation bodies.

10. The disk ball of claim 9, wherein one or both of the hammers and the hit portions are made of elastic or non-elastic materials.

11. The disk ball of claim 1, wherein the middle rotation body comprises:

an inner ring sleeved on the rotation shaft;

an outer ring made of elastic materials, above which the plurality of hammers are hanged;

elastic support members radially connected between the inner ring and the outer ring.

12. The disk ball of claim 11, wherein a third bearing is disposed between the inner ring and the rotation shaft.

13. The disk ball of claim 11, wherein the connection rod is fixed to the top or the bottom of the outer ring.

14. The disk ball of claim 1, further comprising:

a motor disposed within the first rotation body or the second rotation body, with an output shaft connected to the rotation shaft,

a controller disposed within the first rotation body or the second rotation body, for controlling the rotation of the motor;

a power electrically connected to the motor and the controller.

15. The disk ball of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the distance between the ball transfer unit on the upper end of the first rotation body and the ball transfer unit on the lower end of the second rotation body to the diameter of the middle rotation body ranges from 1:18 to 8:5.

Drawing