U.S. patent application number 14/064814 was filed with the patent office on 2014-02-20 for wheelie toy vehicle.
This patent application is currently assigned to MATTEL, INC.. The applicant listed for this patent is Mattel, Inc.. Invention is credited to Stacy O'CONNOR, Jebraeil SAMO, Huang SHIXIONG, Brendon VETUSKEY.
Application Number | 20140051327 14/064814 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50100350 |
Filed Date | 2014-02-20 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140051327 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
O'CONNOR; Stacy ; et
al. |
February 20, 2014 |
WHEELIE TOY VEHICLE
Abstract
A toy vehicle having front and rear road wheels is provided with
a mechanism to elevate the toy vehicle from an initial orientation
supported on all of the road wheels into a wheelie orientation
supported on the rear road wheels and to return the vehicle to the
initial orientation supported on all of the road wheels. The
mechanism includes: a crank; a spring loaded wheelie bar; and a
slide plate driven by the crank so as to release the wheelie bar
beneath the vehicle to elevate the vehicle from the initial
orientation into the wheelie orientation and to thereafter extend a
tongue member from a rear end of the vehicle to return the vehicle
back to the initial orientation.
Inventors: |
O'CONNOR; Stacy; (Long
Beach, CA) ; VETUSKEY; Brendon; (Long Beach, CA)
; SAMO; Jebraeil; (Rowland Heights, CA) ;
SHIXIONG; Huang; (Zhanjiang City, CN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Mattel, Inc. |
El Segundo |
CA |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
MATTEL, INC.
El Segundo
CA
|
Family ID: |
50100350 |
Appl. No.: |
14/064814 |
Filed: |
October 28, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
PCT/US2011/067697 |
Dec 29, 2011 |
|
|
|
14064814 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
446/448 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H 17/004
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
446/448 |
International
Class: |
A63H 17/00 20060101
A63H017/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 29, 2011 |
CN |
201110110505.X |
Claims
1. In a toy vehicle having a plurality of front and rear road
wheels, a mechanism is provided to elevate the toy vehicle from an
initial orientation supported on all of the plurality of road
wheels into a wheelie orientation supported on only the rear road
wheels of the plurality of road wheels and to return the vehicle to
the initial orientation supported on all of the road wheels, the
mechanism comprising: a crank; a spring loaded wheelie bar; and a
slide plate driven by the crank so as to release the wheelie bar
beneath the vehicle to elevate the vehicle from the initial
orientation into the wheelie orientation and to thereafter extend a
tongue member from a rear end of the vehicle to return the vehicle
back to the initial orientation.
2. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein the slide plate includes a
latch member configured to releasably hold the wheelie bar and
wherein a rear end of the slide plate forms the tongue member.
3. The mechanism of claim 2 further comprising a main beam fixedly
positioned in a chassis of the toy vehicle, the main beam having an
upper side supporting the slide plate for longitudinal sliding
movement in the vehicle and further rotatably supporting the crank
in engagement with the slide plate.
4. The mechanism of claim 3 wherein the crank includes a cam and
the slide plate includes a cam follower surface and wherein the
mechanism further comprises a spring positioned to bias the slide
plate to the rear end of the vehicle and the cam follower surface
of the slide plate into contact with the cam of the crank.
5. The mechanism of claim 4 wherein the cam follower surface is
formed by an opening in the slide plate, the opening including a
transverse forward edge contacted by the cam to push the slide
plate forward thereby releasing the latch member from the wheelie
bar while retracting the tongue member into the chassis.
6. The mechanism of claim 5 wherein the cam follower surface formed
by the opening is further formed by a longitudinal slot extending
forward in the slide plate from a lateral end of the transverse
forward edge of the cam following surface at a forward end of the
opening, the longitudinal slot being configured to receive at least
a trailing edge of the cam of the crank to permit the slide plate
to be moved rearward by the spring and extend the tongue member
from the rear end of the toy vehicle.
7. The mechanism of claim 4 wherein the toy vehicle includes a
chassis, a rear axle mounting a rear pair of the plurality of road
wheels, the rear axle being supported for free rotation in openings
in the chassis, the mechanism further including a worm fixed to the
rear axle so as to rotate with the rear wheels and the rear
axle.
8. The mechanism of claim 7 further comprising a pivot arm
supporting the rear axle with the worm for up and down movement in
the openings in the chassis.
9. The mechanism of claim 8 further comprising another spring
located to bias the pivot arm so as to engage the worm with a worm
gear forming the crank with the cam.
10. The mechanism of claim 9 wherein the wheelie bar is also
supported for pivotal movement from a bottom side of the main
beam.
11. The mechanism of claim 10 wherein the wheelie bar includes an
arm pivotally supported from the main beam and wherein the pivot
arm supporting the rear axle and worm includes a lever extending
into contact with the wheelie bar arm, the wheelie bar arm
including another cam positioned to strike the lever and pivot the
lever and the pivot arm so as to disengage the worm from the worm
gear to permit reinitialization of the crank.
12. The mechanism of claim 1 further comprising a weight located
above the rear axle so as to shift a center of gravity of the
vehicle from in front of the rear axle in an initial orientation
with all of the plurality of road wheels on a support surface to a
location over or slightly behind the rear axle to maintain the
vehicle elevated in the wheelie orientation on only the rear road
wheels of the plurality of road wheels.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is continuation of International Patent
Application No. PCT/US2011/067697, filed Dec. 29, 2011, designating
the United States and published in English on Nov. 1, 2012 under
International Publication No. WO 2012/148486 and which claims the
benefit of Chinese Patent Application 210010110505.X filed Apr. 29,
2011.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A number of mechanisms have been disclosed for elevating a
toy vehicle from an initial or normal configuration supported on
all of its road wheels to a wheelie configuration supported on only
its rear road wheels.
[0003] For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,772,824 and 4,438,589 describe
toy vehicles having weights which can be manually repositioned to
selectively maintain a toy vehicle in an elevated wheelie
orientation or on all of its road wheels. U.S. Pat. No. 1,682,764
describes a toy vehicle with an internal, motor shifted weight to
do the same thing automatically.
[0004] Several US Patents describe motor driven toy vehicles with
extendable fifth wheels or wheelie bars. U.S. Pat. No. 2,587,052
describes one with a motor driven rotary arm that regularly raises
one side of the vehicle to cause the vehicle to turn at regular
intervals. U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,267 describes one with a motor
driven rotary crank that regularly raises and lowers a fifth wheel
located beneath the bottom center of the vehicle slightly forward
of the center of the four road wheels to raise and lower the front
end of the vehicle at regular intervals. U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,187
describes one with an eccentric on a motor driven wheel that
through a linkage extends and retracts a centrally located wheelie
bar. U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,931 describes one having a worm on an
undriven wheel axle that drives a gear mechanism, the gear
mechanism permitting selective adjustment of the distance moved by
the vehicle before a brake member is activated by the mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,009 describes one having a side pivoting lift
lever that is regularly deployed by an eccentric on a gear driven
by the motor which cams the lever during each rotation of the gear.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,042 describes one having a spring
loaded and latched flip arm that is released by a sector worm gear
driven by a worm on an undriven wheel axle of the vehicle and that
is designed to flip the toy vehicle entirely over. The latching arm
needs to be manually reset.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] In a toy vehicle having a plurality of front and rear road
wheels, a mechanism (30) is provided to elevate the toy vehicle
from an initial orientation supported on all of the plurality of
road wheels into a wheelie orientation supported on only the rear
road wheels of the plurality of road wheels and to return the
vehicle to the initial orientation supported on all of the road
wheels, the mechanism comprising: a crank; a spring loaded wheelie
bar; and a slide plate driven by the crank so as to release the
wheelie bar beneath the vehicle to elevate the vehicle from the
initial orientation into the wheelie orientation and to thereafter
extend a tongue member from a rear end of the vehicle to return the
vehicle back to the initial orientation.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed
description of the invention, will be better understood when read
in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of
illustrating the invention, there are shown in the drawings
embodiments which are presently preferred. It should be understood,
however, that the invention is not limited to the precise
arrangements and instrumentalities shown. In the drawings:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a toy vehicle of the
present invention ;
[0008] FIG. 2 is an opposing rear perspective view of the toy
vehicle of FIG. 1;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the toy vehicle of FIG.
1;
[0010] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the chassis halves of the toy
vehicle of FIG. 1
[0011] FIG. 5 is a top perspective view of the right chassis half
with the wheelie mechanism installed;
[0012] FIG. 6 is an view of the right chassis half with the wheelie
mechanism separated;
[0013] FIGS. 7A-7C are broken away side elevations of the toy
vehicle illustrating the steps performed by the toy vehicle in
elevating itself into a wheelie orientation and returning to its
normal orientation supported on all four road wheels.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0014] The various figures depict a toy vehicle 10 of the present
invention. The vehicle 10 is preferably unpowered and is operated
by being pushed but the invention could be used on a motor
propelled vehicle. The vehicle 10 includes a front end 10a and an
opposing rear end 10b. The vehicle 10 includes a decorative body 14
on a chassis 12. The chassis 12 is preferably divided into right
and left halves 12a, 12b. The vehicle 10 preferably includes four
identical road wheels 20. A front pair of the road wheels 20a is
mounted on a front axle 22 that is itself supported for free
rotation in mirror image journal openings 23 in the chassis halves
12a, 12b. A rear pair of the road wheels 20b is mounted on a rear
axle 24 that is also supported for free rotation in mirror image
journal openings 25 in the chassis halves 12a, 12b. Fixed to the
rear axle 24 to rotate with the rear axle and pair of rear road
wheel 20b is a worm 26.
[0015] Supported between the chassis halves 12a,12b is a wheelie
mechanism indicated generally at 30. Wheelie mechanism 30 is
preferably a subassembly of the toy vehicle 10. Wheelie mechanism
30 includes a main beam 32 which is fixedly positioned in the
chassis 12 between the chassis halves 12a, 12b and a linear sliding
carriage or "slide plate" 50. The main beam 32 supports the slide
plate 50 on its upper side for longitudinal sliding movement and
further supports for rotation beneath the slide plate 50, a worm
gear 34 for engagement with the worm 26. A cam 36, preferably
arcuate in shape, extends up from the top surface of the worm gear
34 and rotates with the worm gear 34. The combination of the worm
gear 34 with the cam 36 forms a crank indicated at 37. A projection
40 from a bottom side of the main beam 32 supports a wheelie bar 42
on an axle 46. The wheelie bar 42 includes an arm 43 pivotally
supported by the main beam 32 from projection 40 and the axle 46,
The wheelie bar 42 further includes a pair of wheels 44 rotatably
supported at a distal end of the arm 43. A spring 48 (see FIG. 7B),
preferably a torsion spring, is located between the arm 43 of
wheelie bar 42 and the projection 40 so as to bias to the wheelie
bar 42 to its rearward, actuated position shown in the various
FIGS. 2-6.
[0016] The slide plate 50 supports near its front end 50a a hook
shaped latch member 52 that extend down from the chassis 12 through
an opening 33 in the main beam 32 (see FIG. 3). Referring to FIG.
6, to the rear of the latch member 52, the slide plate 50 has an
elongated opening 54 with an inner facing cam follower surface 55.
The rear end 50b of the slide plate 50 is shaped into a tongue
member 56, which normally projects from the rear end 10a of the
chassis 12 and toy vehicle 10. Another spring 58, preferably a
compression spring, is located between the slide plate 50 and the
main beam 32 so as to bias the slide plate 50 with the latch member
52 and tongue member 56 rearward on the main beam 32. The latch
member 52 is configured to engage a cross beam 43a of the wheelie
arm 43 when the wheelie bar 42 is manually pivoted forward from its
rearward, actuated position in FIGS. 2-6 to a forward, latched
position (seen only in FIG. 7A) and is biased by spring 58 to
retain the wheelie bar arm 43 in the latched position.
[0017] The cam 36 extends up through the elongated opening 54 in
the slide plate 50. The opening 54 is preferably of an elongated
race track shape with a narrow slot 54a extending forward from a
front left end of the opening 54. The slide plate 50 is moved,
preferably pushed, forward from its rearward, actuated position
indicated in the various FIGS. 2-6 by the cam 36 as the cam 36 is
rotated by the worm gear 34.
[0018] A relatively heavy, metal weight 16 (silver cylinder) is
fixedly positioned in the vehicle 10, preferably received in
cylindrical wells 16a, 16b in the chassis halves 12a, 12b, so as to
be fixedly positioned above and slightly to the rear of the rear
axle 24 to move the center of gravity of the vehicle 10 to a
position above and sufficiently close to the rear axle 24 in a
longitudinal direction to more easily raise and lower the vehicle
10 as will be described. A roller 18 is preferably provided in the
rear center of the chassis 12 and forms a third point of contact
with the pair of rear wheels 20b to support the vehicle 10 on the
support surface S in the elevated wheelie orientation (FIG.
7C).
[0019] Referring to FIG. 7A, the initial orientation of the toy
vehicle 10 is standing on a support surface S on all four road
wheels 20 with the wheelie bar 42 pivoted forward into engagement
with latch member 52 and with the tongue member 56 projecting out
the rear end of the chassis 12. The car 10 is manually pushed in a
forward direction. Rotation of the rear wheels 20b rotates the rear
axle 24 with worm 26. Worm 26 rotates worm gear 34 and cam 36. The
leading edge of the cam 36 strikes a transverse forward edge 55a of
the cam follower surface 55 of the opening 54 and pushes the slide
plate 50 forward sufficiently for the latch member 52 to release
the wheelie bar 42. The spring biased wheelie bar 42 rotates
rearward (clockwise in FIG. 7B) elevating the front end 10a of the
vehicle 10 and the front pair of wheels 20a from the support
surface S onto its rear wheels 20b and the roller 18 (FIG. 7C). The
wheelie bar 42 continues to rotate back to its rearward, released
position shown in FIGS. 2-6 and 7C where it remains until manually
returned to its forward, latched position (FIG. 7A). The cam 36
further moves the slide plate 50 sufficiently forward for the
tongue member 56 to retract into the chassis 12 enough for the
vehicle 10 to be raised by the wheelie bar 42 onto the rear road
wheels 20b and the roller 18. As the cam 36 continues to rotate
past the transverse support surface 55a, a trailing end of the cam
36 (with the metal pin 39) leaves the transverse surface 55a and
aligns with the narrow slot 54a. This permits the slide plate 50 to
be sprung rearward, abruptly extending the tongue member 56 into
contact with the support surface S with enough force to rotate the
vehicle 10 forward about its rear wheels 20b and back onto all four
road wheels 20a, 20b (FIGS. 1-2). The vehicle 10 is picked up to
manually rotate the wheelie bar 42 forward to engage again with the
latch member 52.
[0020] The invention includes a reset mechanism indicated generally
at 60 that permits the crank 37 to be reset to an initial position
when the vehicle 10 is raised and the wheelie bar 42 manually reset
to the forward, latched position (FIG. 7A). A preferably tension
type return spring 38 is attached to what is a trailing edge of the
cam 36 through metal pin 39 fixed at that trailing edge of the cam
36. The spring 38 is located so as to rotate the cam 36 and crank
37 back to an initial or starting position when the worm gear 34 is
released from the worm 26. The rear axle 24 and worm 26 are
supported for up and down movement in chassis opening 25 by a pivot
arm 62. Pivot arm 62 is pivotally supported on chassis 12 from
another axle 66. The range of movement of axle 24 and worm 26 is
indicated by the length of slot 25 seen in chassis half 12b in FIG.
4. Yet another spring 68 (preferably a torsion spring as depicted
only in FIGS. 7A-7C) is positioned to bias the axle 24 up in slot
25 and the worm 26 into engagement with the worm gear 34. A lever
64 projects forwardly from the pivot arm 62. It is configured and
located so as to be struck by a cam 45a on one of the gudgeons 45
on which the wheelie bar arm 43 is pivotally supported. Comparing
FIGS. 7A and 7C, it can be seen that when the wheelie bar 42 is
released from an initial, forward, latched position (FIG. 7A), it
rotates clockwise in FIGS. 7B and 7C to the rearward , released
position. The wheelie bar 42 remains there until it is manually
returned to the forward, latched position.
[0021] When the vehicle 10 is raised from the support surface S and
the wheelie bar 42 is manually returned to its forward, latched
position, the cam 45a on gudgeon 45 of the wheelie bar arm 43
strikes lever 64 and pushes lever 64 and pivot arm 62 downward,
thereby disengaging the worm 26 from the worm gear 34. That permits
return spring 38 to return the worm gear 34 and cam 36 to their
initial or starting position. Preferably, lever 64 has side to side
and up-down tapers. Lever 64 is thinnest at a sloping bottom edge
64a and thickens as it extends upward to top edge which forms a cam
following surface 64c. As a result, a sloping surface 64b is
provided between the bottom edge 64a and cam following surface 64c.
Cam 43a also tapers up in thickness from a leading edge (rear
facing edge in FIG. 7A) to a trailing edge (forward facing edge in
FIG. 7A) also providing a laterally sloping surface that faces
sloping surface 64b. The sloping surfaces slope in the same
direction and permit lever 64 to be pushed aside by the cam 43a
contacting the lever 64 beginning at the bottom edge 64a when the
latch member 52 releases the wheelie bar 42 to rotate and elevate
the front end 10a of the vehicle 10. The upper, cam following
surface 64c of lever 64 is sufficiently wide to be engaged by the
thicker edge of gudgeon cam 45a when the wheelie bar 42 is manually
rotated and returned to its forward, latched position. The surfaces
remain engaged until the gudgeon cam 45a passes off the distal tip
of lever 64. While engaged, the pivot arm 62 is pushed downward
against the bias of spring 68 depressing the rear axle 24 in slot
25 and disengaging the worm 26 from the worm gear 34. This
arrangement keeps the worm 26 engaged with the worm gear 34 during
elevation and wheelie operation of the vehicle 10 until the cam 36
on the worm gear 34 can rotate sufficiently to release the slide
plate 50 to project the tongue member 56 out the rear of the
vehicle 10 and pitch the vehicle 10 down to its normal operating
position with all four road wheels 20 on the support surface S. The
worm gear 34 is thus permitted to return to its initial or start
position only when the wheelie bar 42 is manually returned to its
forward, latched position.
[0022] It will be appreciated that the strength of the slide plate
biasing spring 58, the wheelie bar torsion spring 46, lengths of
the wheelie bar 42 and tongue member 56 protruding from the chassis
12 as well as the amount and location of the weight 16 all have to
be adjusted to permit the elevation of the vehicle 10 from and the
return of the vehicle to its four wheel normal operating
position.
[0023] It will further be appreciated that there are slight
differences in appearance between some of the components shown in
FIGS. 1-6 and those in FIGS. 7A-7C. However the same functional
components are identified by the same reference numerals in both
sets of FIGS and operate as previously described.
[0024] It will also be appreciated that although the invention is
described with respect to a four wheel vehicle, the vehicle could
be provided with three road wheels, a front and a pair of rear
wheels. While the four road wheels are identical the road wheels
may differ in size front and rear. A pair of body receiving members
82 are provided supported between the chassis halves 12a,12b to
assist in the assembly of the toy vehicle 10 but other means may be
used to join the body 14 with the chassis 12. It further will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art that still other changes
could be made to the embodiments described above without departing
from the broad inventive concept thereof. This invention is not
limited to the particular embodiments disclosed.
* * * * *