Although there is a certain impulsiveness and spontaneity behind the whole thing a number of factors need to be in place , primarily hot and sunny weather and a relaxed and playful attitude amongst those to be drawn into any battle.
The catalyst for a fight to start is usually the actions of the person who has control of the hosepipe. At first intent on watering the flower beds, there is always that temptation to spray as close as possible to others in the garden or yard and inevitably the water fight is on. The hosepipe has always been the ultimate weapon of choice as long as the supply from the tap or outlet is safe and secure. In the mass scramble to retaliate hands grab other receptacles lying around, usually a washing up bowl, squeezy detergent bottle, saucepan, flower pot and car washing bucket.
These are no match for the hosepipe pressure and range as they have to be filled for each assault, typically from the kitchen sink. The volley from a pan or bucket is very hit and miss, relying on arm strength, co-ordination and courage under fire. As children, a regular pocket money purchase would be a small water pistol. More novelty than use these were usually in bright, see-through plastic, fillable through a small pluggable hole and with a trigger operation. The result, a weak single stream squirt and rapidly depleted. Again, no match for a well motivated individual with a garden hosepipe.
Things changed dramatically, however, with the granting of a US Patent , filed on May 27th 1986, under reference 4591071.
The back story behind this revolutionary invention is interesting.
Growing up in 1950's Alabama under the racial segregation of the time Lonnie Johnson had an obvious, natural aptitude for tinkering and invention. As a young child he scrounged parts and built his own engine to be mounted a go-kart to entertain himself and the kids in his neighbourhood . Interested in rockets Lonnie concocted his own fuel from readily available ingredients almost burning down his parents house in the process.
From the remains of an old Juke Box he made a workable robot which was some achievement in the era well before micro-processors and high-tec circuits. This won him first prize in a school competition but under the race laws of Alabama State he was not offered a Scholarship to progress to University which would otherwise be given to a white student.
He eventually attended an out of state university and was awarded academic degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering. Employment followed with the United States Military and Lonnie worked on the Stealth Bomber programme before going to NASA to develop propulsion for the Gallileo Space Probe.
His was an illustrious career path but there was always a desire to start his own research and technology company. The start up costs for such a commercial business would be prohibitive.
In the early 1980's Johnson, always keen to dismantle and re-engineer existing products, was working on a heat pump at home when he came across the possibilities for adapting it for another purpose, in this case a high pressure nozzle spray. Connecting it to the basin taps the result was a constant stream of water across the bathroom.
This intriguing outcome led Lonnie to build a prototype in his own workshop and the legendary Super Soaker water pistol was born.
Water fights were transformed overnight with the commercial release of the Super Soaker. The hosepipe was never again the weapon of choice. A new generation grew up with a serious water fight tool.
Lonnie Johnson made his fortune out of the toy with sales in 1991 reaching $200 million and going on in successive years to reach the billion dollar mark. The royalties due to Johnson allowed him to set up his own company and he began to work on projects of ultra-efficient batteries and thermal electric generation, the latter involving human body heat being able to power small appliances.
The Patent Description
"The principle utilizing compressed gas as a means for pressurizing water to effect a continuous stream of high velocity waterflow from a nozzle is common practice. However, the embodiment of this principle in a hand-held toy squirt gun having a futuristic space ray gun appearance and including sound effects is novel.Compressed air is provided by a manually actuated air pump physically mounted underneath the gun barrel. Sound is produced by a battery-powered electronic oscillator circuit. Sound is also produced by a flow actuated sound generator.To shoot the gun, a trigger is actuated to open a flow control valve and thereby permit pressurized waterflow through a nozzle. The water exits the nozzle and thereby the squirt gun at high velocity. The flow actuated sound generator is functionally coupled in series with the flow control valve and the nozzle to facilitate actuation of the sound generator by flowing water when the gun is shooting.The waterflow rotates an impeller which is mechanically linked to a vibration means consisting of a piston in a cylinder to effect back and forth motion of the piston and thereby pump air alternatingly through a pair of vibrating reed-type horns to produce sound. A switch coupled to the trigger is actuated simultaneously with opening of the control valve to switch on the oscillator circuit to produce sound"
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