U.S. patent application number 12/432786 was filed with the patent office on 2010-04-01 for toy vehicle and terrain monitoring system used therein.
This patent application is currently assigned to HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY (ShenZhen) CO., LTD.. Invention is credited to WEN-YAN YANG.
Application Number | 20100081358 12/432786 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42048410 |
Filed Date | 2010-04-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20100081358 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
YANG; WEN-YAN |
April 1, 2010 |
TOY VEHICLE AND TERRAIN MONITORING SYSTEM USED THEREIN
Abstract
A toy vehicle includes a chassis, at least one light guide
plate, at least one sensor unit and a driving unit. The at least
one light guide plate includes a first portion and a second portion
and is embedded into the chassis by the first portion. The at least
one sensor unit is attached on the second portion of the at least
one light guide plate and includes an emitter for emitting light,
and a detector for receiving the reflected light and sending a
signal according to a propagation delay of a light emitted from the
emitter and received by the detector. The driving unit is
configured for controlling the motion of the toy vehicle according
to the signal outputted from the at least one sensor unit.
Inventors: |
YANG; WEN-YAN; (Shenzhen
City, CN) |
Correspondence
Address: |
PCE INDUSTRY, INC.;ATT. Steven Reiss
288 SOUTH MAYO AVENUE
CITY OF INDUSTRY
CA
91789
US
|
Assignee: |
HONG FU JIN PRECISION INDUSTRY
(ShenZhen) CO., LTD.
Shenzhen City
CN
HON HAI PRECISION INDUSTRY CO., LTD.
Tu-Cheng
TW
|
Family ID: |
42048410 |
Appl. No.: |
12/432786 |
Filed: |
April 30, 2009 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/465 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H 17/36 20130101;
G05D 1/0231 20130101; A63H 17/00 20130101; A63H 17/42 20130101;
G05D 2201/0214 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
446/465 |
International
Class: |
A63H 17/26 20060101
A63H017/26 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Sep 26, 2008 |
CN |
200810304689.1 |
Claims
1. A toy vehicle comprising: a chassis comprising an upper surface
and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface; at least one
light guide plate comprising a first portion embedded into the
chassis from the upper surface and projecting from the lower
suface, and a second portion connected to the first portion; at
least one sensor unit attached to the second portion of the light
guide plate, the at least one sensor unit comprising an emitter for
emitting light at certain wavelength and a detector for receiving
the certain wavelength light emitted by the emitter and sending a
signal according to a propagation delay of a light of certain
wavelength emitted from the emitter and received by the detector;
and a driving unit mounted on the chassis and electrically
connected to the at least one sensor unit, the driving unit being
configured for controlling the toy vehicle according to the signals
outputted from the detector of the at least one sensor unit.
2. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detector of
the at least one sensor unit sends an avoid signal to the driving
unit when determines the propagation delay of the light below a
predetermined value.
3. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the chassis
further comprises a flange formed along the edge of the chassis,
and defines at least one pair of through holes thereon adjacent to
the at least one sensor unit correspondingly; and the first portion
of the at least one light guide plate is embedded into the pair of
through holes.
4. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 3, wherein the chassis
further comprises a screen extending perpendicularly between the
pair of the through holes.
5. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the chassis
further comprises at least one back cover extending from the upper
surface and surrounding the through holes correspondingly.
6. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 5, wherein the at least one
back cover is higher than the screen to form a receiving space
between the screen and the at least one back cover; and the at
least one sensor unit is received in the receiving space.
7. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 5, wherein the at least one
light guide plate comprises a connecting sheet having a first
surface, a second surface facing away from the first surface, and a
slot defined in the middle of the connecting sheet with an open end
through an edge of the connecting sheet.
8. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein the first portion
of the at least one light guide plate comprises a first protrusion
and a second protrusion which are spacedly formed on the first
surface and received in the pair of through holes of the
chassis.
9. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second
portion of the at least one light guide plate comprises two light
guide members extending on the second surfae of the connecting
sheet and separated by the screen.
10. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 9, wherein the two light
guide members are longer than or equal to the screen in height
relative to the upper surface of the chassis.
11. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 7, wherein the at least one
light guide plate further comprises a reinforcing block formed on
the middle of the connecting sheet adjacent to the slot.
12. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 10, wherein the at least
one sensor unit is attached on the top ends of the light guide
members of the at least one light guide plate and surrounded by the
back cover.
13. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 12, wherein the emitter and
the detector of each sensor unit are aligned with the first
protrusion and the second protrusion of the at least one light
guide plate correspondingly.
14. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, further comprising two
wheel assemblies symmetrically mounted on two opposite edges of the
chassis and controlled by the driving unit.
15. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 14, further comprising a
roller being rotatably mounted on the chassis and positioned away
from the axis connecting the wheel assemblies.
16. The toy vehicle as claimed in claim 15, further comprising a
cover covering the chassis and the at least one sensor unit.
17. A terraim monitoring system comprising: a chassis comprising an
upper surface and a lower surface opposite to the upper surface; at
least one light guide plate comprising a first portion embedded
into the chassis from the upper surface and projecting from the
lower suface, and a second portion connected to the first portion;
and at least one sensor unit attached to the second portion of the
at least one light guide plate, the at least one sensor unit
comprising an emitter for emitting light at certain wavelength and
a detector for receiving the certain wavelength light emitted by
the emitter and outputting a signal according to a propagation
delay of a light of certain wavelength emitted from the emitter and
received by the detector.
18. The terraim monitoring system as claimed in claim 17, further
comprising at least two wheels assemblies symmetrically mountd on
two opposite edges of the chassis.
19. The terraim monitoring system as claimed in claim 17, wherein
the detector of the at least one sensor unit outputs an avoid
signal when determines the propagation delay of the light below a
predetermined value.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The disclosure relates to a toy vehicle, and particularly,
to a toy vehicle with a terrain monitoring system.
[0003] 2. Description of Related Art
[0004] Level ground is a basic factor for a toy vehicle moving
smoothly. If the terrain is rugged or any obstacles in the path of
the toy vehicle, the toy vehicle may have to change course or even
turn back from its intended course. However, conventional toy
vehicles are not equipped with any terrain detector to detect
obstacles and to avoid these obstacles.
[0005] Therefore, it is desirable to provide a toy vehicle with a
terrain detecting system for detecting terrain and other obstacles
in the path of the toy vehicle and automatically controlling the
toy vehicle to avoid the obstacles.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] FIG. 1 is an isometric, exploded view of a toy vehicle
according to an embodiment of the disclosure.
[0007] FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1, showing the toy vehicle
inverted.
[0008] FIG. 3 is a partly assembled view of the toy vehicle of FIG.
1.
[0009] FIG. 4 is an assembled view of the toy vehicle of FIG.
1.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0010] Refering to FIGS. 1-2, a toy vehicle 100 according to an
embodiment of the present invention, includes a chassis 110, at
least one light guide plate 120, at least one sensor unit 130, at
least two wheel assemblies 140, a roller 150, a cover 160, and a
driving unit 170. The chassis 110 includes an upper surface 114 and
a lower surface 112 on another side of the chassis 110 opposite to
the upper surface 114. The light guide plate 120 includes a first
portion and a second portion (not label) connected on the first
portion. The first portion of the light gude plate 120 is embedded
into the chassis 110 from the upper surface 114 and protrudes from
the lower surface 112. The sensor unit 130 are attached on the
second portion of the light guide plates 120 correspondingly. Each
of the sensor units 130 includes an emitter 132 for emitting light
at a certain wavelength, and a detector 134 capable to detect the
light of the certain wavelength emitted by the emitter 132. The
wheel assemblies 140 are symmetrically mounted on opposite edges of
the chassis 110. The roller 150 is rotatably mounted on the chassis
110 unaligned with the axis connecting the wheel assemblies 140.
The wheel assemblies 140 and the roller 150 cooperativly form a
triangular configuration stably supporting the chassis 110 and
other elements on the chassis 110. The cover 160 covers the chassis
110 for protecting the sensor unit 130. The driving unit 170 is
mounted on the upper surface 114 and electronically connected to
the sensor unit 130 for controlling the toy vehicle 100.
[0011] The chassis 110 further includes a flange 116 formed along
the edge of the chassis 110 and protruding away from the upper
surface 114. The chassis 110 defines one or more pairs of through
holes 118 adjacent to the sensor unit 130 correspondingly. A screen
113 extends perpendicularly between each pair of the through holes
118 for reducing interference between the light and light. One or
more back covers 115, corresponding to the through holes 118,
extend from the upper surface 114 of the chassis 110 partially
surrounding the through holes 118 correspondingly. The screen 113
is perpendicularly connected to the back cover 115. Each back cover
115 is higher than the corresponding screen 113 for forming a
receiving space upon the screen 113 for receiving the sensor unit
130.
[0012] Refering to FIGS. 1-4, the light guide plates 120 are
attached on the upper surface 114 of the chassis 110 and aligned
with the through holes 118. The light guide plate 120 includes a
connecting sheet 122 having a first surface 122a and a second
surface 122b facing away from the first surface 122a. A slot 122c
is defined in the middle of the connecting sheet 122 with an open
end through an edge of the connecting sheet 122. The connecting
sheet 122 snaps/holds the screen 113 by the slot 122c to securely
hold the connecting sheet 122 on the chassis 110. A first
protrusion 124 and a second protrusion 126 serve as the first
portion of the light guide plate 120 and are spacedly formed on the
first surface 122a and received in the through holes 118 of the
chassis 110 correspondingly. Two light guide members 128 serve as
the second portion of the light guide plate 120 and extend from the
second surface 122b of each connecting sheet 122, each of the light
guide members 128 is cylindrical and is made of transparent
material. The two light guide members 128 are separated by the
screens 113 of the chassis 110 correspondingly. The two light guide
members 128 of each light guide plate 120 are equal to or longer
than the screen 113 in height relative to the upper surface 114 of
the chassis 110 for stably supporting the sensor unit 130 on the
end of the two light guide members 128. A reinforcing member 122d
is formed in the middle of each of the connecting sheets 122
adjacent to the slot 122c for reinforcing the connecting sheet
122.
[0013] The sensor units 130 are attached on the top ends of the
light guide members 128 of each of the light guide plates 120 and
partially surrounded by the back covers 115 correspondingly. The
emitter 132 and the detector 134 of each sensor unit 130 are
aligned with the first protrusion 124 and the second protrusion 126
of each of the light guide plates 120 correspondingly. The emitter
132 of the sensor unit 130 is configured for probing the ambient
environment by emitting light at intervals. The detector 134 of the
sensor unit 130 receives the light at certain wavelength emitted by
the sensor unit, and sends a signal to the driving unit 170 to
control the toy vehicle 100 according to a propagation delay of a
light at certain wavelength emitted from the emitter 132 and the
certain wavelength light received by the detector 134.
[0014] Each wheel assemblies 140 includes a driving module 142 and
a wheel 144 rotatably attached to the driving module 142. The
driving modules 142 of the wheel assemblies 140 are symmetrically
mounted on the upper surface 114 of the chassis 110. The wheels 144
extend out of the lower surface 112 of the chassis 110 by a
predetermined distance.
[0015] The chassis 110, light guide plates 120 and sensor units 130
cooperately form a terrain monitoring system (not label) which can
be used in any vehicles such as automobiles, trucks and so on to
detect terrain and other obstacles and automatically control the
moving device to avoid the obstacles.
[0016] In use, the emitter 132 of the detector 130 emits light, and
the light travels through the light guide plate 120 away from the
toy vehicle 100 into the ambient environment until being reflected.
The light may come from the terrain or other obstacles (not shown).
Then the detector 134 computes the propagation delay of the light
emitted from the emitter 132 and received by the detector 134. When
the propagation delay is determined to exceed a predetermined
value, a continue signal is sent by the detector 134 of the sensor
unit 130 to the driving unit 170 to control the toy vehicle 100 to
continue on the current path. When the propagation delay is below
the predetermined value, the sensor unit 130 will send an avoid
signal to the driving unit 170 to control the toy vehicle 100 to
steer away from the current path.
[0017] Understandably, if a toy vehicle 100 employes two wheel
assemblies 140 which are arranged in a form capable of stably
supporting the chassis 110 and other elements of the toy vehcile
100, the roller 150 can be canceled.
[0018] It is believed that the present embodiments and their
advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and
it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto
without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure or
sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples
hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary
embodiments of the disclosure.
* * * * *