"Throwing Good" (SkyBall)

[howardwhite 6]

This is an edited description of an invention described in U.S. Patent 6146292, invented by Atsushi Yanamaka and published 11-14-2000.

If you "perceive a sense of no-gravity-like-feeling" while skydiving, but are concerned that you might drop your Skyball and a human being "will suffer a fatal damage," you should read on.

A patent diagram is attached. I have no clue whether the "throwing good" made it to market.

HW

======

In sky diving, a person shouldering a folded parachute leaps down from a flying airplane and carries out various maneuvers during several tens seconds of free falling time, and it is known as an exciting sport.
During the free fall, the person can perceive a sense of no-gravity-like feeling which cannot absolutely be felt in the daily life, and after repeated exercise, the person becomes able to control his posture and falling speed at will to link together hands between falling divers or even to keep a desired formation. Accordingly, one of the pleasures of sky divers is to attempt various maneuvers in the process of free fall. In the recent time, there is an attempt to catch a thrown good such as a ball between separate sky divers, which is called "sky ball".
When the sky diver is carrying out "sky ball", he is under an obligation to capture and recover the thrown matter before opening the parachute for the sake of preventing its fall onto the ground surface. However, the diver may fail to catch the sky ball, and in such a case the throwing good will collide against the ground surface at a considerably high speed. If a human being is in that point, he will suffer a fatal damage.
In order to avoid this type of danger, there is an attempt to prepare a throwing good which automatically projects a parachute at a predetermined height and thereby reduces its falling speed and can land with safety, even if sky diver fails to catch it. This can be realized easily by providing a mechanism of automatically projecting a parachute in linkage with a timer and a manometer.
But, such a mechanism is so expensive that many of sky divers who are not affluent economically cannot use it daily.
Further, in such costly goods, there is a danger that a sky diver who has failed to catch it does not abandon the catching work but may pursue the throwing good until he enters a dangerous zone lower than the minimum allowable height for opening parachute; As a result, of which the diver loses the time for parachute opening and crashes against ground surface.
This invention relates to a throwing good for use in sky diving which includes a thin-gage, synthetic resin-made back body, a roughly circular opening window, a needle, a front body, and ballast water.
When the throwing good not caught by sky diver free-falls down to a prescribed height (for instance, 2,000 feet), the rubber band joining the front and back bodies is broken by the needle due to the difference in pressure between the inner and outer atmospheres, due to which the front body separates from the back body, the water filled in the throwing good is released into air, and the throwing good becomes a safe, light-weight body flutteringly falling onto the surface of the ground.

[BlueSBDeath 2]

Atsushi lives in Hawaii and jumps at Pacific International Skydiving Center. I remember him making lots of jumps to prefect the self destructing "Skyball" so it would fall harmlessly to earth.

I do not recall if he ever went to market with any design, but his idea is now patented.

BSBD...........Its all about Respect,

USPA#-7062, FB-2197, Outlaw 499

[Guru312 0]

It looks like you spent some time on Google/Patents and now the ball is in your court.

I mean...in your sky!

You must find the site as interesting as I do.

Guru312

I am not DB Cooper

[howardwhite 6]

Yup...Google patents is addictive, if one is so inclined.

So many players, so many ideas, so (relatively) few real breakthroughs.

HW

[cpoxon 0]

Quote

When the throwing good not caught by sky diver free-falls down to a prescribed height (for instance, 2,000 feet), the rubber band joining the front and back bodies is broken by the needle due to the difference in pressure between the inner and outer atmospheres, due to which the front body separates from the back body, the water filled in the throwing good is released into air, and the throwing good becomes a safe, light-weight body flutteringly falling onto the surface of the ground.

Sounds very similar to the Vladiball

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live