Fan with a separable flying disc

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a fan with a separable flying disc and particularly a fan that also provides the recreational function of a Frisbee™.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The commonly used fans have a round body and a handle fixedly fastened together. They usually have a bulky size and are difficult to store. To remedy this problem, some producers have developed fans with a movable handle that is foldable. While the foldable handle overcomes the storing problem, it cannot be anchored on the fan body and is not effective for generating airflow. Moreover, the conventional fans serve only the function of the fan, thus have limited value.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the aforesaid disadvantages, the primary object of the invention is to provide a fan with a separable flying disc that provides dual functions of the fan and the Frisbee™ or flying disc. The novel fan thus made offers more added value and has a greater appeal to consumers.

The fan according to the invention includes a fan body and folding plate. The fan body is made from a fabric having a flexible strip border on the peripheral rim. The folding plate is fastened to a tangent side of the peripheral rim of the fan body to form a force applying zone to enable a user's hand to grasp and wave the fan body. When the folding plate is grasped by the hand, it is depressed to contact the fan body flatly, thus the force applying area is expanded from point contact to surface contact. Waving force applying on the fan is more effective. In addition, the flexible strip is foldable and allows the fan body be twisted and folded to a smaller size and encased in the folding plate to facilitate storing. Moreover, the fan body and the folding plate may be separated to become two independent items. The separated fan body may be used as a Frisbee™ to serve recreational function.

The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1

is an exploded view of the invention.

FIG. 2

is a perspective view of the invention.

FIG. 3

is a side view of the invention.

FIG. 4

is a fragmentary sectional view of the invention.

FIG. 5

is another fragmentary sectional view of the invention.

FIG. 6

is a top view of a design profile of the invention.

FIG. 7

is a schematic top view of the invention showing force distribution.

FIG. 8

is a schematic view of the invention in a use condition −1.

FIG. 9

is a schematic view of the invention in a use condition −2.

FIG. 10

is a schematic view of the invention in a use condition −3.

FIG. 11

is a schematic view of the invention in a use condition −4.

FIG. 12

is a schematic view of the invention in a use condition −5.

FIG. 13

is a schematic view of the invention showing the fan body being twisted.

FIG. 14

is a schematic exploded view of the invention for folding.

FIG. 15

is a schematic view of the invention after being folded.

FIG. 16

is a sectional view of the invention after being folded.

FIG. 17

is a schematic view of the invention for use as a flying disc.

FIG. 18

is an exploded view of another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 19

is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the invention seen in FIG.

18

.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to

FIG. 1

, the invention includes a fan body

1

and a folding plate

2

. The fan body

1

is made from a fabric

100

bordered by a flexible strip

10

on the peripheral rim. The fan body

1

may be printed with patterns. The fan body

1

has a coupling blade

11

extending from a tangent side of the perimeter thereof and an anchor hole

12

formed at a desired location. The folding plate

2

is made from paper and includes a first plate

23

and a second plate

24

formed in a selected pattern and connected together. The first plate

23

has a top end with a latch member

22

formed thereon. The latch member

22

has a latch hole

220

of a selected width. The first plate

23

further has two coupling holes

20

and

200

formed on selected locations. The second plate

24

has a top end with a latch stem

21

located thereon to engage with the latch member

22

. The latch stem

21

has a wider front end.

Referring to

FIGS. 2 through 5

, for assembly of the invention, clamp the fan body

1

from the peripheral rim with the first plate

23

and the second plate

24

of the folding plate

2

, and insert the coupling blade

11

into the coupling holes

20

and

200

to form a movable fastening (as shown in FIG.

4

). Then insert the latch stem

21

from one side of the fan body

1

into the latch member

22

on the other side of the fan body

1

to form a cross engagement (as shown in FIG.

5

). The assembly thus formed may be disassembled and separated to become two independent items again whenever desired.

Referring to

FIG. 6

, the folding plate

2

may be formed with a selected profile to mate with the pattern of the fan body

1

(such as a bear head shown in the drawing). Moreover, the diameter of the one plate (

23

or

24

) coincides with the distance between the anchor hole

12

and the tangent side; of the perimeter so that the fan body

1

may be folded and encased within the folding plate

2

for storing.

Referring to

FIGS. 7 and 8

, when the hand

3

clamps two sides of the folding plate

2

, the entire folding plate

2

is flattened and in contact with the surface of the fan body

1

. The force applying on point A is expanded to area B to become a forcing surface (as shown in FIGS.

9

and

10

). When the hand waves the fan on the thrust locations C and D, the fan body is bent from the bordering rim to where the fan body is clamped by the folding plate

2

due to resistant force, thus the left and right fanning motions of the fan body can generate more airflow (referring to FIGS.

11

and

12

).

When the fan is not in use in the extending form, the flexible strip

10

may be twisted to shrink the size of the fan body

1

(as shown in FIG.

13

). Then the shrunk fan body

1

may be encased within the folded folding plate

2

with the coupling blade

11

latching on the coupling hole

20

to form a storing condition (as shown in

FIGS. 14

,

15

and

16

).

In addition, as the fan body

1

and the folding plate

2

are fastened in a semi-fixing manner, they may be separated to become two independent items. Then the fan body

1

may be used as a Frisbee™ for recreational purpose (as shown in FIG.

17

).

FIGS. 18 and 19

illustrate another embodiment of the invention. The fan body

1

has a flat surface. And a coupling blade

11

is provided to engage with the folding plate

2

to generate desired fan functions.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.