Within the translucent housing of a ball, there is an inertia switch which is connected to a lighting unit. The lighting unit includes a lamp and a battery which can be connected to form a series circuit by a time delay switch. Whenever the normally open inertia switch activates the time delay switch it closes the series circuit for a given period of time.
A toy grenade utilizes a self-powered camera flashcube in which one of the flash bulbs is activated upon an impact of the grenade with a surface after being thrown. The grenade includes fins at one end and a weight at the other end for providing a stabilized flight with the weight being rubber or the like and is designed for impact with the ground or other surface. Supporting the weight is a flexible resilient member, such as a wire, which is fixably connected to the body of the grenade. An actuating member extends from the weight through a hole in the grenade body so that it will enter one of the peripheral slots on the flashcube so that upon impact of the grenade on a surface, the actuating member moves into contact with a peripheral contact on the flashcube so as to activate the associated bulb in the flashcube in exactly the same manner that the bulbs in the flashcube are activated when mounted on a camera. The flashcube is contained within a transparent cylindrical shield which may be tinted or colored for effect and which effectively permits an efficient dispersion of the light generated by the activated flashcube bulb so as to visually simulate a grenade explosion. A safety wedge is provided to retain the actuating member in a non-activating position when reloading the grenade with an unused flashcube or when handling the grenade.
A spherical illuminator (10, 40, 50, 60) having an upper diffuser (17, 47, 56, 62) with a concave surface, and having either an opposing reflector (18, 41) or an opposing lower diffuser (57, 63) with a concave surface. The two concave surfaces are placed so that their concavities form a substantially spherical viewing area into which the object under inspection is placed. The upper diffuser (10, 40, 50, 60) has a viewing aperture. It transmits light uniformly to the object from approximately two-pi steradians. The reflector (18, 41) or the lower diffuser (57, 63) provides light to the object in another two-pi steradians, resulting in nearly four-pi steradians of illumination.
Self-illuminated luminous game balls for nighttime play which may be either inflated or self-supporting and consist of various apparently ordinary looking balls with portable electric lighting assemblies or chemi-luminescent lights, including fireworks inside them for exciting novel effects. A shaft manufactured integrally within a toroidal form is disclosed which firmly holds an electric or other lighting assembly such that said lighting assembly may be removed in its entirety for servicing or replacement, through a flush, waterproof cover designed for such purpose. A conveniently located On-Off switch is also located such that it may be actuated without deflating the ball, and its electrical connections to the batteries and bulbs are designed so that the center of gravity of said heavy batteries and other electronics are mounted near the center of gravity of said ball for optimum handling and closer simulation of a normal play ball. The methods described are versatile enough to light up virtually any existing game ball or facsimile thereof. These balls have been well tested for feasibility and provide a very new, and interesting and exciting nighttime recreation.
A three dimensional reflective device for attachment to an individual spoke of a spoked wheel includes a pair of matched and mating reflective elements which are attached to each other and to the spoke by a spoke-retention assembly which is completely enclosed by the reflective elements when the device is installed. The spoke-retention assembly includes a pin having a passage to accommodate the spoke, and a locking element which locks the spoke firmly to said pin within the passage. The pin is frictionally retained in a pair of bearing members projecting from the interiors of the reflective elements. Retention of the pin in the bearing members results both in the attachment of the reflective elements to each other, and in the securing of the locking element in its locking position, thereby firmly securing the entire device to the spoke.
An illuminated flying disk includes a plurality of light emitters mounted in a flying disk toy as well as a control circuit mounted in a centrally disposed circuit housing on the underside of the disk. A cap for the control circuit housing is rotatable to provide a simple yet rugged switch for selectively supplying power to the light emitters.