U.S. patent application number 14/987611 was filed with the patent office on 2017-07-06 for modular, connectable moving system.
The applicant listed for this patent is Schaefer Daniel, Edward Lopatinsky. Invention is credited to Schaefer Daniel, Edward Lopatinsky.
Application Number | 20170189822 14/987611 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 59235215 |
Filed Date | 2017-07-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170189822 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lopatinsky; Edward ; et
al. |
July 6, 2017 |
Modular, Connectable Moving System
Abstract
A modular, connectable loop toy track set capable of being
interconnected in a releasable engagement including different
shapes and sizes and contains an amount of track sections to form a
closed loop. All track sections are comprised of a plurality of
square modules. Each square module has size "A". A minimum size
A.times.A of modular toy track set comprises at least two curve
sections that are mechanically connected and a moving body located
on said track to form a closed loop track system. The moving system
manufactured as a linear induction motor including a stator made as
PCB with printed coils on it and all moving objects having
permanent magnets, as a rotor and in such case at any given time
only 2 sections of the entire connectable loop track are under
temporary power which rolls over to the next section as the moving
objects pass through.
Inventors: |
Lopatinsky; Edward; (San
Diego, CA) ; Daniel; Schaefer; (Kanarravile,
UT) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Lopatinsky; Edward
Daniel; Schaefer |
San Diego
Kanarravile |
CA
UT |
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
59235215 |
Appl. No.: |
14/987611 |
Filed: |
January 4, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H 18/16 20130101;
A63H 18/14 20130101; A63H 18/02 20130101 |
International
Class: |
A63H 18/02 20060101
A63H018/02; A63H 18/12 20060101 A63H018/12 |
Claims
1. Modular connectable loop toy track set that is capable of being
interconnected in a releasable engagement including different
shapes and sizes and comprising: an even amount of track sections
with the central line of said track mechanically connected, so as
to form said closed loop, ii. made from a plurality of rectangular
modules, iii. each of said track section located within some of
said modules in a way that said central line of every track section
coincides with two corners (nodes) of said rectangular module and
its (vector) tangential line from said nodes is substantially
perpendicular or parallel to side lines of said rectangular
module.
2. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 1 wherein
each of said rectangular modules made as a square sized "A".
3. The modular connectable toy track set per claim 1 comprising at
least two said sections that mechanically connected and at least
one moving body located on said track, to form a close loop track
system.
4. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 1 wherein
some of said sections represented as a curve section with the angle
of said curve section of 90 degrees and the radius equal to
"A".
5. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 1 wherein
some of said sections per claim 1 represented as a curve section
with the angle of said curve section of 180 degrees and the radius
equal to "A/2".
6. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 1 wherein
some of said sections represented as a strait section with its
length equal to "A".
7. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 1 wherein
each said mechanical connection represents a pillar and a clamp
located and secured on every end of said sections (straight and
curved).
8. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 1 wherein
each of said section per claim 1 contains plurality of electrical
coils along said central line, to provide an electrical moving
option for the system.
9. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 1 comprising
at least two said sections that electrically connected and at least
one moving body located on said track, wherein said electrical
coils after connection of said track sections form a multiphase
linear stator.
10. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 9 wherein
each said electrical connection represents an electrical connector
located and secured on every end of said sections (straight and
curved).
11. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 9 wherein
one of the said track sections contains elements of the power
connection to the electronic controller.
12. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 8 wherein
the total amount of said electrical coils located on every of said
track section (curved and straight) should be divisible by 6, so
the said track would represent a 3 phase stator of said linear
motor.
13. The modular connectable loop toy track set of claim 8 wherein
the electrical resistance of said curve sections is substantially
equal to the electrical resistance of said coils for said straight
sections.
14. A modular, connectable, closed loop toy track set capable of
being interconnected in a releasable engagement including different
shapes and sizes containing different shapes track sections each of
them having "L" shape cutoff on both ends from opposite sides of
said track section wherein long leg of "L" made along the flat side
of said track section is substantially equal to half of the printed
coil and the short leg of "L" is substantially equal to half of the
thickness for said track section, so it provides an interaction for
the overlapping coil design.
Description
[0001] The present application claims priority from U.S.
Provisional Application No. 62/099,542 filed on 1 Apr. 2015
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates generally to systems for
moving mechanical bodies along the closed loop connectable tracks.
More particularly, the present invention relates to toy and/or
entertainment systems for people and animals, and all subsystems in
which it is useful to move an object along the track. The present
invention is particularly, but not exclusively, useful for systems
that relate to toy motion devices, such as vehicles, trains, slot
cars, figurines, racing toy cars, toy boats and etc.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0003] There are numerous designs of a closed loop track, such as
Variable Track for a Toy Vehicle U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,777 (A). It
does have a plurality of connectable sections that define the
variable shape track with moving objects located on said track.
This track comprises a closed loop system with pliable adjustable
elements that could manually change shape for the course of
traveling.
[0004] There is also a Pet Toy with Captive Chase Ball, US patent
2010058994 (A1) which incorporated in this application by reference
that discloses the reconfigurable animal toy made as the continuous
loop track comprising a plurality of connectable track
sections.
[0005] One more example is the Track Structure with Building Blocks
CN 203355386 U that comprises a plurality of half- and full-track
building blocks that could be assembled as a closed loop track
motion system.
[0006] Another type of continuous track system, for example,
GB907940 (A) "Track System for toy Vehicle". It comprises a closed
loop track made comprising several connectable sections. The main
problem of all such known systems is that all these above mentioned
tracks comprising connectable sections of the closed loop are not
universal. They do have a predetermined shape (shapes) and as such
cannot be reassembled in order to obtain a multitude of different
configurations and sizes.
[0007] Therefore, it would be generally desirable to provide
fully-configurable modular track system of virtually unlimited
layout, size and configuration that could be easily reassembled in
needed shape or size.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
[0008] The object of the present invention is to provide a
fully-configurable 3-D continuous track system for toy vehicles,
such as trains, slot cars, figurines, racing cars, boats et al that
could easily change the size and shape to yield a multitude of
configurations, as well as offer endless entertainment options for
the users.
[0009] In order to achieve these objectives in accordance with the
present invention a modular, connectable, closed loop toy track set
capable of being interconnected in a releasable engagement
including different shapes and sizes comprising: [0010] an even
amount of plurality of square modules each of said modules
including a track section with the central line of said track. All
track sections are mechanically connected to form a closed loop
moving system.
[0011] Each of said closed loop toy tracks has at least one moving
object capable to move along said center line of every track
section.
[0012] Each of said track section located within its modules in a
way that said central line of every track section coincides with
two corners (nodes) of said square module and its tangential line
(vector) from said nodes is substantially perpendicular or parallel
to side lines of the square module.
[0013] Each of said square modules has a side size equal to
"A".
[0014] Some of the track sections made as a 90 degrees curve with
the radius to said central line equal to "A".
[0015] Some of the track sections made as a 180 degrees curve with
the radius to said central line equal to "A/2".
[0016] Minimum size of such system comprising at least two 180
degrees sections that are mechanically connected and at least one
moving body located on said track.
[0017] Some of said sections represented as a straight section with
the length of said straight section equal to "A".
[0018] Some of said sections represented as an S-shape section with
the size of said S-section from the start to the end equal to
"A".
[0019] Each said mechanical connection represents a pillar and a
clamp located and secured on every end of any section (straight and
curved);
[0020] For the electrical driven tracks each of said track section
contains plurality of electrical coils distributed along said
central line and electrical connectors on both ends of the said
track section. Minimum size of such electrically driven system
comprising at least two 180 degrees sections that are electrically
connected and at least one object with magnets located on said
track, wherein said electrical coils after connection of said track
sections form a stator and said object with magnets forms a rotor
of multiphase linear induction motor.
[0021] Each said electrical connection represents an electrical
connector located and secured on every end of said sections
(straight and curved);
[0022] The total amount of electrical coils located on every said
track section (curved and straight) should be divisible by 6, so
the said track would represent a 3 phase stator of the linear
induction motor.
[0023] The electrical resistance of said coils for all sections is
substantially the same.
[0024] All electrical and logic description for such system could
be done as it was presented in the application Ser. No. 11/799,203
Switching Electromagnetic Moving system filed on May 1, 2007 which
incorporated in this application by reference.
[0025] The maximum size of proposed system could have unlimited
even amount of curved and straight sections including principals
per said application Ser. No. 11/799,203 is virtually unlimited at
the same level of power consumption.
[0026] All electrical coils made as printed overlapping coils on
the PC boards in accordance with the U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,013 which
incorporated in this application by reference. The foregoing and
other objectives, features and advantages of the invention will be
more readily understood upon-consideration of the following
detailed description of the invention, in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0027] FIG. 1a is a view showing the square module size A with
first 90 degrees curved section of the present invention;
[0028] FIG. 1b is a view showing the square module size A with
second 180 degrees curved section of the present invention;
[0029] FIG. 1c is a view showing the square module size A with
straight section of the present invention;
[0030] FIG. 1d is a view showing the square module size A with
third curved S-shape section of the present invention;
[0031] FIG. 2 showing views some of the many options of the
different sizes and shapes mechanically assembled from the track
sections per FIG. 1a, FIG. 1b, FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d;
[0032] FIG. 3 showing views some of the many options of the
different sizes and shapes mechanically assembled from the track
sections per FIG. 1a, FIG. 1b, FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d;
[0033] FIG. 4 showing the minimum size (A.times.A) assembled track
made from two curved sections 2 FIG. 1 b.
[0034] FIG. 5 is a view showing relatively large size mechanical
connections for some of the track sections of the present invention
per FIG. 1a, FIG. 1b, FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d;
[0035] FIG. 6 showing a 3 Dimension view of the mechanical circular
track system.
[0036] FIG. 6a showing a 3 Dimension view of locking elements for
the mechanical circular track system.
[0037] FIG. 7a showing several square modules of the electrically
driven track sections with the overlapping coils in accordance with
the U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,013--which incorporated in this application
by reference.
[0038] FIG. 7b showing several square modules of the electrically
driven track sections with the overlapping coils in accordance with
the U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,013.
[0039] FIG. 7c showing several square modules of the electrically
driven track sections with the overlapping coils in accordance with
the U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,013.
[0040] FIG. 7d showing several square modules of the electrically
driven track sections with the overlapping coils in accordance with
the U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,013.
[0041] FIG. 8 showing the minimum size (A.times.A) assembled
electrically driven track made from two curved 180 degrees sections
per FIG. 7b.
[0042] FIG. 9 showing 3 Dimension view of L-shape cut-off made on
both ends of every electrically driven sections including
overlapping coils in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,013.
[0043] FIG. 9a showing the cross section view of L-shape cut-off
made on both ends of every electrically driven sections.
[0044] FIG. 9b showing the cross section view of 2 assembled
L-shape different track sections.
[0045] FIG. 9c showing the electrical connector 32 for all
electrically driven track sections per FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c,
FIG. 7d.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0046] The present invention will be described in detail below with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0047] A modular, connectable, closed loop toy track set that is
capable of being interconnected in a releasable engagement
including different shapes and sizes contains:
[0048] an even amount of curved 1, 2, 4 and straight 3 track
sections per FIG. 1a, FIG. 1b, FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d with at least one
moving object 4a located at the central line 5 per FIG. 2. Any
combination of even amount of these sections are mechanically
connected, so as to form different size and shapes close loops
moving systems, for example, per FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and
FIG. 6 FIG. 5 is a view showing mechanical connections of the
relatively large track made from some track sections FIG. 1a, FIG.
1b, FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d of the present invention that include
connectable hardware such as pillow 16 and clamp 17 that connected
and secured all needed sections, for instance 1, 3 per FIG. 1a,
FIG. 1c;
[0049] FIG. 6 and FIG. 6a showing a 3-Dimensional view of the
circular track system that include pillow 16 and clamp 17 that
connected and secured assembly from 4 curved 90 degrees sections 1
per FIG. 1a.
[0050] FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c, FIG. 7d_showing several square
modules that represent different electrically driven track sections
21, 22, 23, 24 of the present invention with printed overlapping
coils 25, 26, 27, 28 on them;
[0051] FIG. 8 showing the minimum size (A.times.A) assembled track
made from two electrically driven curved sections from FIG. 7 b
with printed overlapping coils 26 on them.
[0052] FIG. 9 showing 3 Dimension view of overlapping coils 29 in
relation of the L shape cutoffs 30 and 31 from both ends of the
track sections 21, 22, 23, 24 per FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c, FIG.
7d.
[0053] FIG. 9a showing that the long leg of "L" made along the flat
side of said track section is substantially equal to half of the
printed coil and the short leg of "L" is substantially equal to
half of the thickness of PC board track section, so it provides an
electrical connection and coils interaction for the overlapping
coil design. Such interaction of overlapping coils from both ends
of the sections 21, 22, 23, 24 per FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c, FIG.
7d would produce the strong electromagnetic field.
[0054] All used track sections (1, 2, 3, 4) per FIG. 1a, FIG. 1b,
FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d are located within square modules 7 size A in a
way that said central line 5 of every track section (1, 2, 3, 4) is
coinciding with two corners (nodes) 9, 10 of each square module 7
and it's (vector) 11 (tangential line) from nodes 9, 10 is
substantially perpendicular or parallel to side lines 12, 13 of the
module 7.
[0055] Each of said rectangular module 7 made as a square sized
"A". Some of sections 1, 2, 4 showing on FIG. 1a, FIG. 1b, FIG. 1d
represented as a curve sections.
[0056] FIG. 1c is a view showing the straight section 3 with length
size equal square module size A.
[0057] The angle of curve section 1 FIG. 1a is 90 degrees and the
radius is equal to size "A".
[0058] The angle of curve section 2 FIG. 1b is 180 degrees and the
radius is equal to size "A/2".
[0059] FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are showing few of
the possible assemblies that consume different shapes and sizes
made from curved 1, 2, 4 and straight sections 3 per FIG. 1a, FIG.
1b, FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d.
[0060] FIG. 4 showing a minimum size equal A.times.A of connectable
toy track set comprising two sections 2 per FIG. 1 b that
mechanically connected and at least one moving body located on said
track, to form a close loop track system.
[0061] FIG. 5 is showing sections 1 and 3 per FIG. 1a and FIG. 1c
in respect to a mechanical connection that represents a pillar 16
and a clamp 17 located and secured on every end of all sections 1,
2, 3, 4 (straight and curved);
[0062] FIG. 6 is showing and assembly of 4 curved sections 1 per
FIG. 1a connected and secured by pillows 16 and clamps 17.
[0063] FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c, FIG. 7d are showing all shapes
track sections 21, 22, 23, 24 could be powered by placing plurality
of electrical coils 25, 26, 27, 28 along said central line 5.
[0064] The smallest size of electrically powered connectable track
set equal A.times.A shown on FIG. 8 comprising at least two
sections 22 per FIG. 7b that mechanically and electrically
connected and at least one moving body located on the track (4a per
FIG. 2), wherein said electrical coils 26 after connection form a
multiphase linear stator 33.
[0065] FIG. 9 showing 3 Dimension view of overlapping coils 29 in
relation of the L shape cutoffs 30 and 31 from both ends of the
track sections 21, 22, 23, 24 per FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c, FIG.
7d.
[0066] FIG. 9a showing the cross section of L shape cutoffs 30, 31
from the opposite side of the PC board.
[0067] FIG. 9b is showing the cross section of the connecting parts
for any of 2 track sections 21, 22, 23, 24 per FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b,
FIG. 7c, FIG. 7d.
[0068] One of the track sections 34 per FIG. 5 from the entire
system contains elements of the power connection to the electrical
controller (not shown).
[0069] The total amount of said electrical coils 25, or 26, or 27,
or 28 per FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c, FIG. 7d located on every track
section (curved and straight) should be divisible by 6, so the said
track would represent a 3 phase stator of said linear motor 32.
[0070] The value of electrical resistance of coils 25, 26, 27, 28
per FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b, FIG. 7c, FIG. 7d of said sections is
substantially close to each other.
[0071] Using mechanical components 1, 2, 3, 4 per FIG. 1a, FIG. 1b,
FIG. 1c, FIG. 1d many of the possible options of the mechanical
tracks could be assembled, reassembled and operated by mechanically
driven objects (4a per FIG. 2) along these tracks.
[0072] Using components 25, 26, 27, 28 shown on FIG. 7a, FIG. 7b,
FIG. 7c, FIG. 7d, many of the possible options of the tracks could
be assembled, reassembled and operated by electrically self-driven
objects along these tracks.
[0073] All detailed operations are described in details per.
Application Ser. No. 11/799,203 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,623,013 which
are incorporated in the application by reference.
* * * * *