ALEXANDRIA, Va., Aug. 6 -- United States Patent no. 12,377,364, issued on Aug. 5.
"Magnus effect cylindrical projectile and launcher" was invented by L. Taylor Arnold (Raleigh, N.C.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A toy launcher system is described, in which a lightweight projectile has an exterior surface symmetrically disposed about an imaginary longitudinal axis and is generally spool-shaped. The launcher is composed of a flexible shaft to which a flexible curled band is attached. The flexible curled band holds the projectile within its curvature. A user applying a bending force to the flexible shaft creates a spring force within the shaft. When the user removes the bending force, the sprin...