HANDHELD FIDGET DEVICE

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is related to and claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/679,110 filed Aug. 4, 2024, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention applies to consumer applications and more specifically in the field of fidget toys or fidget devices.

RELATED ART

Hand-held fidget spinning toys are common devices that have been used to help tame fidgeting in people diagnosed with ADHD. Hand-held fidget devices allow for an outlet to dissipate nervous or anxious hand fidgeting allowing for people with ADHD to focus their attention elsewhere. The advent of 3D printers has revolutionized an industry of homemade inventors that can quickly innovate plastic prototypes that otherwise may be impossible to mold using traditional plastic injection molding techniques or it is too cost prohibitive due to the exorbitant tooling expenses associated with typical plastic molding techniques.

The idea of having a fidget device that has multiple concentric and nested geometric shapes that are interlocked is a new concept achieved with 3D printing and adding a freely rotating center puck that rotates about all axes and is removable is a novel concept.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known fidget toy art, the present disclosure provides a novel handheld fidget device. Some of the embodiments in this disclosure describe a fidget device that can spin in a hand, can be manipulated to make satisfying sounds as well as manipulated to make satisfying geometric shapes. The fidget device spins about a center puck and the center puck has a novel aspect that allows it to ‘pop out’ adding a dynamic use case for the fidget device.

According to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure, a fidget device is disclosed herein. The fidget device may include a main body including a plurality of segments in nested relation to each other, the segments together able to axially extend and retract along a central body axis; a center hub disposed centrally within the main body and including a central hub axis coaxial with the central body axis; and a center puck rotatably mounted within the center hub, the center puck being freely rotatable about three orthogonal axes intersecting at a point on the central hub axis.

According to one or more additional embodiments of the present disclosure, a fidget device may comprise a main body including a plurality of segments comprising a series of concentrically nested, equidistantly spaced rings configured to axially expand and contract relative to one another along a central body axis, thereby enabling the main body to extend into a three-dimensional shape and retract into a two-dimensional shape; a center hub disposed centrally within the main body and including a central hub axis coaxial with the central body axis; and a center puck including an outer radius of curvature removably nested inside an inner radius of curvature of the central hub such that the center puck is able to freely rotate about three orthogonal axes intersecting at a point on the central hub axis. The concentrically nested, equidistantly spaced rings may be configured to rotate about the central hub axis.

According to one or more additional embodiments still, a fidget device may comprise a hexagonal main body including a plurality of hexagonal segments in nested relation to each other, the hexagonal segments together able to axially extend and retract along a central body axis; a center hub disposed centrally within the main body and including a central hub axis coaxial with the central body axis; and a center puck rotatably mounted within the center hub, the center puck being freely rotatable about three orthogonal axes intersecting at a point on the central hub axis.

For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a handheld fidget device, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a top view of a hexagon shaped fidget device, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a diametric view of a hexagon shaped fidget device, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diametric cross-section view of a hexagon shaped fidget device, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a diametric cross-section view of a hexagon shaped fidget device, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a cross-section view of a hexagon shaped fidget with a perpendicular center, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a cross-section view of a hexagon shaped fidget with a parallel center puck, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a cross-section view of a hexagon shaped fidget showing the center puck and its gimbal-like rotationality, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a cross-section view of the center hub and the center puck, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a cross-section view of the center hub, the center puck and the first concentric hexagon ring, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 10 is a fully extended hexagon shaped fidget device showing the out edge of the center puck, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 is a fully extended hexagon shaped fidget device showing the center region of the center puck, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is an isometric view of a fully extended hexagon shaped fidget device, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following descriptions of the figures define the specifics of the invention relating to a fidget that is in the geometric shape of a hexagon. This is not meant to be specific relating to the invention as other geometric shapes can also be applied, such as, triangles, squares, diamonds, rhombus, trapezoids, pentagons, heptagon, nonagon, octagons, as well as other unique geometric patterns.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in FIGS. 1-12, various views of a fidget device 10. The figures outlined in this disclosure have common constituents defined as:

• • 1. outer region of center puck
  • 2. center region of center puck
  • 3. center hub
  • 4. first concentric nested ring
  • 5. last concentric nest ring
  • 6. inner radius of curvature of center hub
  • 7. main body
  • 8. plurality of segments
  • 9. central hub axis
  • 10. fidget device
  • 11. central body axis
  • 12. center puck

The fidget device 10 may include the main body 7 having a center puck 12 that can rotate inside the center hub 3 about all axes, similar to a gimbal. When held about the thumb and the forefinger on either side of the center puck 12, the fidget device 10 can become a spinner, allowing the plurality of segments 8 of the main body 7 to rotate about the central hub axis 9 (FIG. 5). The outer region 1 of the center puck 12 has an outer radius of curvature nested inside the radius of curvature 6 of the center hub 3, which is disposed centrally within the main body 7 and includes the central hub axis 11 (FIG. 6) coaxial the central body axis 9. This novel feature allows the center puck 12 to rotate freely and spin about three orthogonal axes intersecting at a point on the central hub axis 11. As demonstrated in FIG. 2, when the center puck 12 is positioned perpendicular about a flat surface of the center hub 3, it can be pushed out of the center hub 3 making it interchangeable, or configurable with a different puck.

FIG. 1 shows a hexagon shaped fidget device 10 with dimensioned angles of a plurality of segments 8 in nested relation to each other. Preferably, the segments 8 include a series of concentrically nested, equidistantly spaced rings (4 and 5 show the first and last nested ring, respectively). This figure demonstrates a total of ten nested hexagon rings 4, 5 rotated about an outer portion of the center hub 3 and the center puck 12 slightly angled within the center hub 3. In this example, the nested rings 4, 5 may be interlocked, allowing limited rotation about the center hub 3, staying confined between the spacing of the nested rings 4, 5. This results in satisfying visual geometric designs, satisfying hand stimulation, and accompanied by pleasant sounds. As above, all of the nested rings 4, 5 can rotate freely about the center puck 12, allowing the fidget device 10 to function as a spinner.

It should be appreciated that whilst ten hexagonal rings 4, 5 are shown throughout these figures, it should be appreciated that the fidget device 10 is not limited to ten rings 4, 5. Further, again, the fidget device 10 is not limited to the hexagon shape.

In FIG. 3 the isometric cross-section shows how the outer radius of curvature of the center puck 12 nests inside the inner radius of curvature 6 of the center hub 3. The center region 2 of the center puck 12 is where a magnet can be inserted or glued in place or custom logos, unique designs, personalization, text or other desirable art applied. In particular, the interchangeable center puck 12 can be customized with logos for businesses, sports teams, holidays or individuals, etc. They can also be custom art pieces and made to be collectable sets and have limited circulation, making them collectables.

Further, the center puck 12 can include a magnet that allows the fidget device 10 to attach to ferrous metal surfaces. In this embodiment the fidget device 10 has multiple use cases that include, but are not limited to, an interactive fixture to a refrigerator or an interactive drink coaster atop a metal bar drinking surface, even though it does not need to have a magnet or a metal bar surface to serve as a fascinating coaster for a drink. Having a magnetic center puck 12 can also create the ability to link several fidget devices 10 together giving additional utility to the novel platform described herein.

In FIG. 4 the center puck 12 is positioned flat with the other concentric rings 4, 5 and the space between the outer region 1 of the center puck 12 and the inner radius of curvature 6 of center hub 3 can be observed. Further, by way of example, FIG. 5-7 are cross-sections that demonstrate the free rotation that the center puck 12 has within the confinement of the center hub 3.

FIG. 8 is a cross-section of the center puck 12 and the center hub 3. A radius of the outer region 1 of the center puck 12 is quantified as well as the inner radius of curvature 6 of the center hub 3. FIG. 9 is a cross-section of the center puck 12 and the center hub 3 and the thickness of the first concentric ring 4 and a gap between the center hub 3 are dimensioned. The dimensions are in inches and the angles are in degrees. It should be appreciated that the dimensions provided in FIGS. 8-9 are provided as examples only and are not meant to be limiting. Other radii, thicknesses and gaps will result in the same concept.

Referring now to FIGS. 10-11, as shown here, the segments 8 together may be able to axially extend and retract along the central body axis 9 (FIG. 5). As above, the segments 8 include a series of concentrically nested, equidistantly spaced rings (4, 5). The nested rings 4, 5 may be configured to expand and contract relative to one another along the central body axis 9, thereby enabling the main body 7 to extend into a three-dimensional shape, as shown through FIGS. 10-11 and retract into a two-dimensional shape, as shown in FIGS. 1-9. As such, holding the fidget device 10 by the outer edge of the last concentric ring 5, the fidget device 10 can be moved up and down in succession and the fidget device 10 will move up and down and sag as shown in FIG. 11 and protrude as shown in FIG. 12. This also makes pleasant sounds. This concept will work with most geometric shapes and geometric shapes with straight line segments enhance the visual desirability.

Preferably, the fidget device 10 has sensory stimulation that is visual, auditory and tactile and implementing scented materials can touch the sense of smell, allowing this fidget device 10 to stimulate 4 of the 5 human senses.

The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.