Toy Parking Garage

Abstract

A toy representing a multistory car park and having a descending track along which toy vehicles, such as toy motor cars may roll, and a lift or elevator in a shaft for raising the vehicles from the lower level end to the upper level end of the track between an entrance into the lift shaft at one end of the track and an exit from the shaft at the other end of the track, a catch combined with an advance action catch being provided for intercepting a vehicle outside the entrance, characterized in that the toy vehicles are raisable by the lift above the level of the exit and possibly also lowerable to below the level of the entrance for selectably transferring the vehicles into and collecting them from parking bays at levels above the exit or below the entrance.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a toy representing a building inside which is a shaft in which is a lift or elevator for raising the vehicles from the lower level to the higher level end of a descending track between an exit from the shaft at one end of the track to an entrance into the shaft at the other end of the track, along which toy vehicles, such as toy motor cars, may roll and wherein a catch combined with an advance action catch is provided for intercepting the vehicles arriving at the entrance.

In a toy of the specified kind already known in the art the toy vehicles are raised by the lift from the entrance into the shaft to the exit from the shaft. At the entrance into the shaft a catch associated with an advance action catch for intercepting the arriving vehicle is provided, whereas at the exit there is a catch for retaining the outgoing vehicle until it is released by the following vehicle. The purpose of these intercepting catches is to retain each vehicle in the shaft until the next vehicle has entered the shaft and reached the exit. In this arrangement the vehicles all enter the shaft and leave the shaft in the same consecutive order. This does not in fact conform with what actually happens for instance in a real multistory car park.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides novel means for selectively positioning the toy vehicles into parking bays provided in a representation of a multistory car park and for selectively removing such toy vehicles from the parking bays.

According to the present invention this is achieved by making provision for the toy vehicles to be raised by the lift above the level of the exit, and possibly also to be lowered below the level of the entrance, for selectably transferring them into and collecting them from parking bays at levels above the exit, or below, the entrance.

It is an object of the present invention, for the benefit of the playing child, to provide facilities for changing the sequence of incoming and outgoing vehicles and to retain the vehicles in the "car park" for as long as may be desired.

In a particularly convenient embodiment the lift may be raisable and lowerable by a motor-driven coiled spring. This will then permit the lift to be raised and lowered through considerable distances. The driving motor may be an electric or a clockwork motor.

In order to raise or lower the lift, as may be required, a reversing gear may be interposed between the driving motor and the coiled spring, the reversing gear being operable by a lever for reversing the direction of rotation of the coiled spring. This eliminates the need for a reversible driving motor.

Preferably the reversing gear comprises a crown wheel driven by a worm and adapted to be selectably brought into engagement with either of two spur wheels mounted on a drive shaft for the coiled spring.

It is further preferred to attach a normally nonrotating toothed wheel to the lift for cooperation with the coiled spring in order to raise and lower the lift. However, the toothed wheel is preferably merely prevented from rotating by a friction clutch. This means that the toothed wheel is in fact capable of rotating to permit continued rotation of the coiled spring in the event of the lift striking and being retained by an obstacle. Conveniently the friction clutch may simply be constituted by a spring adapted to urge the toothed wheel into frictional contact with a surface on the lift.

According to another feature of the invention, the vehicles may be transferable from the lift into the parking bays and from the parking bays into the lift by the floor of the lift and the floors of the parking bays being tiltable in opposite directions. In a preferred arrangement of this kind the floor of the lift may be tiltable about a horizontal axis located adjacent a vertical wall of the lift near its front end when viewed in the direction of vehicle travel, while the floors of the parking bays are tiltable about horizontal axes located at the rear end of the floor when viewed in the direction of vehicle travel.

For tilting the floor of the lift and the floors of the parking bays, a manually operable cranked lever may be rocked into cooperation either with the underside of the floor of the lift or of the floor of a parking bay. For cooperation with the cranked lever the floor of the lift may be provided with a downward projection.

Moreover, by associating with each parking bay, with the exception of the highest and the lowest level bays, a manually controllable stop it is possible to ensure that the lift will always be stopped in correct position for unloading or loading a vehicle. Preferably a counterstop on the lift may be arranged to cooperate with the controllable stop.

In a particularly convenient arrangement the stop may be formed by the angled end of an actuating lever, whereas the counterstop is an angled extension of the backwall of the lift. Preferably stop and counterstop are thin section elements, since this will permit the same controllable stop to be used for stopping the ascending as well as the descending lift at substantially the same level.

For limiting the tilt of the floors of the parking bays there may be associated with each floor a projection from the wall of the shaft.

According to another feature of the invention, the toy vehicles may have a laterally projecting stop which cooperates with a stop on the backwall of the lift when the floor of the lift is tilted contrary to the slope of the track, said stop of the backwall being nonobstructive, when the floor is tilted in the direction corresponding with the slope of the track. This prevents the vehicles from accidentally rolling off the floor of the lift.

The stop on the toy vehicle may conveniently consist of an extension of one of the vehicle axles beyond the side of the vehicle.

In order to ensure appropriate slope of the floor of the lift at the entrance, the latter may be provided with a supporting fillet for cooperation with the floor of the lift.

The catch at the entrance preferably has the form of a hand-operable lever of a kind which is known in the art, and which has two intercepting lugs which alternately project upwards through the track.

The interest of the child in the toy may be further increased by the provision of a further catch for intercepting the vehicles on the track outside the building which may represent a multistory car park, said catch being releasable by the arrival of the following vehicle. The catch may preferably be associated with an imitation building, such as a carwashing bay. The arrangement will then operate for a short time to retain the vehicles travelling down the track from the exit to the entrance in the "carwashing bay."

The catch inside the imitation building may consist of a two-armed lever tiltable on an VI traverse to the track and having two arms extending in the direction of the track, one of said arms carrying a stop face for intercepting a toy vehicle, but being tiltable into a release position by a following vehicle which strikes the other end of the lever arm. In such an arrangement the catch may conveniently cooperate with a stop on the roof of the toy vehicle. This stop on the roof of the vehicle preferably consists of an outward indentation formed with a forward-facing vertical edge. To facilitate the release of the catch by the following vehicle the end of the lever arm which causes the catch to release may with advantage be provided with an arched ramplike surface for cooperation with the arriving vehicle. The leading vehicle will not then be released until the next vehicle has entered the imitation building and lifted the catch.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toy,

FIG. 2 is a plan view,

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line III-III in FIG. 2,

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line IV-IV in FIG. 3,

FIG. 5 is a section taken on the line V-V in FIG. 3,

FIG. 6 is a view of the lift in the direction indicated by the arrow V( in FIG. 3,

FIG. 7 is a section taken on the line VII-VII in FIG. 2, and

FIG. 8 is a section taken on the line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Mounted on a base 2 formed with a track 1 is a multistory car park building 3 as well as a simulated carwashing bay building 4, The track 1 descends from a more elevated exit 5 from the car park to a lower level entrance 6. Owing to the downward gradient of the track 1 the vehicles 7 will roll down the track without requiring drive means. Outside the entrance 6 there is provided in the track an and intercepting catch 8 combined with an advance action catch for the vehicles 7.

Inside the car park building 3 several parking bays 10 are provided above the floor 9 of the exit 5, which slopes downwards in the direction of travel. The vehicles 7 can be raised by a lift or elevator 11 from the level of the entrance 6 to the level of the exit 5 or further raised or lowered to and from one of the several parking bays 10.

For operating the lift 11 a coil spring 12 embraces one leg 13 of a U-shaped rod 14 vertically mounted inside the car park 3. The leg 13 of the rod 14 is shorter than the other leg 43 which also serves for locating the U-shaped rod 14 in the car park 3. The end 15 of the coil spring 12 which extends beyond the end of the leg 13 is attached to a drive shaft 16 carrying two spur wheels 17, 17' which can be selectably shifted into engagement with a crown wheel 18 driven by a worm 19 on the shaft of an electric motor 20. Engagement of the spur wheels 17, 17' is effected by means of a hand lever 22 (FIG. 3) projecting to the outside through a slot 21 in the wall of the car park building 3. This arrangement permits the direction of rotation of the coil spring 12 to be reversed without reversing the motor 20. The batteries for the motor 20 are housed in a contained 23 which is accessible through a flap 25 in the roof 24 of the car park 3. The flap 25 for closing the container 23 also carries a switch 26 for controlling the motor 20.

The coil spring 12 cooperates with a toothed wheel 28 on the backwall 27 of the lift 11 (FIG. 6). The toothed wheel 28 is urged by a spring 29 into frictional contact with the backwall 27 of the lift so that normally this wheel will not rotate. However, the wheel can rotate when the lift 11 is kept stationary. This prevents the coil spring from being blocked and protects the motor 20 from being damaged.

Projecting from the vertical backwall 27 of the lift 11 is a substantially horizontal platform 30 which has an upright edge 31 remote from the back. This edge 31 and the backwall 27 are each provided with a hole 32 in which pins 34,34' projecting from the tiltable floor 33 of the lift 11 respectively engage. The tiltable floor 33 has a downward projection 35 which passes through the platform 30, as well as a stop 36 near its rear edge as viewed in the direction of travel. This stop 36 bears against the floor 37 of the car park 3 when the lift is in its bottom position indicated by dot-dash lines in FIG. 3, thus ensuring that the floor 33 of the lift is substantially horizontal.

The side of the backwall 27 of the lift 11 facing away from the tiltable floor 33 carries a guide plate 38. This guide plate 38 is formed with two sleeves 39, 39' which embrace and guide the coil spring 12. An abutment face 40 provides purchase for the compression spring 29 which bears against the toothed wheel 28. The free edge 41 of the guide plate 38 has two substantially horizontal lugs 42, 42' provided with holes through which the other leg 43 of the U-shaped rod 14 passes. The described arrangement guides the lift 41 reliably both in the horizontal and in the vertical direction.

The parking bays 10, 10' have tiltable floors 44, and 44'. The rear ends of these floors 44, 44' in the direction of travel, hinge on cranked shafts 45.sup.2 and 45 which pass through holes in the wall of the car park building 3. The tilt of the floor 44 is limited by stops 46 and 46' formed by portions bent out of the wall 47 of the car park building 3 while the tilt of the floor 44' is limited by similar stops 46.sup.2, 46.sup.3 similarly formed.

The cranked shafts 45 and 45.sub.2 serve for tilting the floors 44, 44' of the parking bays 10, 10' and also for tilting the floor 33 of the lift 11. By turning one of the knobs 48, 48' or 48.sup.2 on the ends respectively of the cranked shafts 45.sub.2, 45 and 45' outside the wall of the car park 3 the cranked part of the respective cranked shaft can be swung into engagement either with the underside of the floor of its parking bay or the projection 35 of the tiltable floor 33 of the lift 11. This permits such floors to be tilted into the positions indicated in dashed lines in FIG. 3. The floor 9 at the exit 5 is mounted similarly to the floors 44, 44' and tilting is prevented by a stop 50 (similar to the stops 46', 46.sup.2) so that operation of the cranked lever 45' at this level permits only the floor 33 of the lift 11 to be tilted.

Associated with the parking bay 10' and also with the exit 5 are controllable stops 51, 51', which determine the positions in which the lift 11 stops, but a stop 52 associated with the highest level parking bay 10 is fixed. These stops 51, 51' and 52 cooperate with a counterstop 53 (FIG. 3) on the backwall 27 of the lift 11. The stops 51, 51' are angled extensions of respectively operating levers 54, 54' which have hand-operable ends 55, 55' projecting through one wall of the car park building 3 to the outside. The counterstop 53 on the lift 11 is formed by an angled lug formed on the backwall 27. The stops 51, 51' and the counterstop 53 are thin sections elements preferably consisting of sheet metal.

In order to prevent a vehicle on the floor 33 of the lift 11 from rolling backwards when the floor 33 is tilted contrary to the slope of the track 1 (as in the full line showing in FIG. 3), the backwall 27 is provided with a retainer 56 which projects in the direction towards the floor 33, for cooperation with an extension 57 of the rear axle of the vehicle 7 beyond its sidewall. However, when the lift 11 is in the lowermost position shown in dot-dash outlines in FIG. 3, then the floor 33 is sufficiently raised to ensure that the portion of the stop 56 projecting above the floor will not obstruct the axle extension 57 of the entering vehicle 7.

The intercepting catch 8 at the entrance 6 has the form of a two-armed rockable lever 59 which is held in position by bentover lugs 58 passed through the base 2. The rockable lever 59 comprises two intercepting lugs 60, 61 of which either one can project from the track 1 to intercept a vehicle 7. The lever is operable by a finger rest 62 (FIG. 2).

Substantially halfway down the track 1 is the simulated "car wash" building 4 and inside this building is another intercepting catch 63 for the toy vehicles 7. This catch releases an intercepted vehicle 7 when the next vehicle arrives. The catch has the form of a double-armed lever which is deflectably mounted across the width of the track 1 (of FIG. 8). The front end of the lever 63 in the direction of travel of the vehicles 7 carries an intercepting lug in the form of an angle member 64 for cooperation with a stop 65 on the roof of the vehicles 7. The stop 65 on the roof of the vehicles 7 is formed by an outward indentation which has a substantially vertical front face 66 (FIG. 7). The rear end of the lever 63 is formed with a sloping face 67 forming an inverted ramp.

THE DESCRIBED TOY FUNCTIONS AS FOLLOWS

When the lift 11 is in the lowermost position, indicated in FIG. 3 by a dot-dash outline, the finger rest 62 may be depressed to lower the retaining lug 60 of the entry catch 8 and thereby allow a stationary vehicle 7 to roll forward onto the floor 33 of the lift 11. The forward motion of the vehicle is stopped by a vertical wall 68 formed by the base 2. When the retaining lug 60 descends the other retaining lug 61 simultaneously rises to stop any further vehicles 7 which may be approaching or waiting outside the entrance 6. When the finger rest 62 is released the intercepting catch 8 returns into its former lowered position shown in FIG. 3, allowing any waiting vehicle outside the entrance 6 to advance to the second retaining lug 60.

When the vehicle 7 has rolled onto the floor of the lift 11, the motor 20 is started by operating the switch 26, and the lever 22 is raised. The coil spring 12 will then begin to rotate and raise the lift 11 by cooperating with the toothed wheel 28. The lift 11 continues to ascend until its counterstop 53 is intercepted for instance by the stop 51. If the cranked shaft 45 is now tilted, as indicated by the arrow 69, it will strike the projection 35 under the floor 33 of the lift, thereby tilting the floor into the dotted position in FIG. 3 and thus permitting the vehicle 7 to roll down the floor 9 and out through the exit 5 onto the track 1. However, if the stop 51 has been deflected out of range of the counterstop 53, the lift 11 will continue to ascend until the counterstop 53 strikes the stop 51' or stop 52, when the deflection of the associated cranked shaft 45 or 45.sup.2 will permit transfer of a vehicle 7 into one of the parking bays 10, 10'.

Assuming that it is now desired to move a vehicle parked in the parking bay 10' to the exit 5, this is done by deflecting the stop 51' into range of the counterstop 53 by operating the arm 55', thereby bringing the lift 11 to a stop at the level of this parking bay 10'. By then deflecting the cranked shaft 45, in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow 69, the floor 44' of the parking bay 10' can be tilted so that the parked vehicle 7 will roll back onto the floor 33 of the lift 11. The stop 51 is now deflected into the path of the counterstop 53. By then depressing the lever 22 the rotation of the coil spring 12 is reversed and the lift 11 therefore descends until the counterstop 53 strikes the stop 51, this being the position illustrated in full lines in FIG. 3. In the manner that has already been described the vehicle can now be released by operation of the shaft 45' to leave through the exit of the car park.

If the lift 11 is desired neither to ascend nor to descend, the lever 22 need merely be placed in a position in which neither of the two spur wheels 17 meshes with the crown wheel 18.

In the described car park the vehicles 7 can therefore be parked in the parking bays 10 in any desired sequence or they can be recovered from the bays and allowed to leave the car park as may be desired. The toy therefore reproduces every aspect of the operation of a real multistory car park.

When the vehicle 7 has left by the exit 5 it will roll down the track 1 until it reaches the car washing bay 4 wherein it is intercepted by the lug 64 of the lever 63. When the next vehicle reaches the washing bay 4 the stop face 65 strikes the sloping underside 67 of the lever 63, tilting the lever and thereby releasing the first vehicle 7 in the washing bay. At the same time the arriving vehicle 7 is intercepted by the lug 64.

Naturally the parking bays 10 need not necessarily be at elevations above the floor 9 of the exit. they might also be at levels below the floor 9, in which case the elevating height of the lift 11 would have to be extended accordingly.

Claims

I claim:

1. A garage toy for parking toy vehicles, said toy comprising in combination:

a base;

a hollow body simulating a building extending upright from said base, said building including partition walls defining a row of two or more superimposed spaced-apart parking platforms each for parking one vehicle, and having in its outer walls a vehicle exit opening located above the level of the base and in horizontal alignment with one of said parking platforms and a vehicle entrance opening located substantially level with the base;

a track for vehicles leading from said exit opening to said entrance opening;

an elevator assembly including a platform selectively movable parallel to the parking platforms up and down within said building into and out of a position of horizontal alignment with the selected one of said parking platforms, each of said parking platforms and said elevator platform being tiltably mounted,

actuating means coacting with said platforms for individually and selectively tilting any one of the parking platforms or the elevator platform with reference one to another so as to cause a vehicle on one of the parking platforms to roll upon the elevator platform or through the exit opening upon the track, or a vehicle on the elevator platform to roll upon one of the parking platforms;

power drive means coacting with said elevator platform for lifting and lowering the same relative to the parking platforms; and

stop means supported by the building for each of said parking platforms with the exception of the uppermost one of said platforms, each of said stop means being selectively settable into a STOP position in which it arrests the elevator platform when the same is in horizontal alignment with the respective parking platform or into a GO position in which it permits the elevator platform to pass the respective parking platform.

2. The toy according to claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a rotatably mounted coil spring disposed upright within the building and drivingly coupled with said elevator platform for lifting and lowering the same in response to rotation of said spring in one or the other direction, and a reversible motor means coupled to said coil spring for rotating the same in the selected direction.

3. The toy according to claim 2 wherein said motor means includes a reversible gear train coupling said motor means to said coil spring, and actuating means coacting with said gear train and operable for selectively setting the same for rotation of the spring in one or the other direction.

4. The toy according to claim 3 wherein said gear train comprises a worm driven by said motor, a crown gear in driving engagement with said worm and a pair of spur gears, each of said spur gears being coupled to the coil spring for driving the same in one or the other direction and movable into and out of driving engagement with said crown gear, said actuating means coacting with said spur gears for selectively moving one of said gears into engagement with the crown gear for rotating the coil spring in the respective direction.

5. The toy according to claim 2 wherein a gear is rotatably mounted on a wall upwardly extending from each of said elevator platforms for up and down movement in unison therewith, each of said gears being engaged with windings of the coil spring for lifting and lowering the respective platform by rotation of the spring.

6. The toy according to claim 5 wherein a friction brake means restrain rotation of each of said gears.

7. The toy according to claim 6 wherein each of said friction brake means comprises a spring abutting against the respective gear and the respective wall.

8. The toy according to claim 1 wherein said elevator assembly further comprises a wall upwardly extending from one edge of the elevator platform, said wall being disposed parallel to the direction of travel of a vehicle from and upon said elevator platform and mounting adjacent to its end facing the parking platforms a horizontal pivot pin for tilting the elevator platform.

9. The toy according to claim 1 wherein each of said parking platforms is pivotal about a horizontal pivot pin adjacent to its end facing the elevator platform, each of said pins being supported by an outer wall of said building.

10. The toy according to claim 1 wherein said actuating means comprise for each parking platform and for the elevator platform a manually operable two-arm lever, said lever being supported by said building below the respective platform and selectively tiltable into angular positions causing vehicles to roll from the elevator platform upon a parking platform, and vice versa.

11. The toy according to claim 10 wherein a nose protrudes downwardly from the elevator platform, said nose being engageable with the respective two-arm lever to effect tilting of said platform upon actuation of the respective lever.

12. The toy according to claim 1 wherein limit means on an outer wall of said building limit tilting of the parking platforms to predetermined angles.

13. The toy according to claim 1 wherein a counterstop supported on the elevator platform coacts with each one of said adjustable stop means.

14. The toy according to claim 13 wherein each of said stop means comprises an actuating lever mounting a nose and pivotally supported in an outer wall of said building, said lever being operable from the outside of said wall for moving said nose into and out of engagement with the elevator platform, and wherein each of said counterstops is formed by a protrusion on a wall upwardly extending from said elevator platform.

15. The toy according to claim 1 and comprising a toy vehicle having a laterally protruding arm, and wherein said elevator assembly comprises a stop which is uncovered for engaging said arm thereby arresting a vehicle on the elevator platform and is covered for releasing the vehicle when the elevator platform is tilted for causing the vehicle to roll upon a parking platform.

16. The toy according to claim 15 wherein said arm is formed by an extension of a wheel axle of the vehicle.

17. The toy according to claim 1 wherein a protrusion on the bottom side of said elevator platform engages the bottom wall of the building to retain said platform in horizontal position when it is in its lowermost position.

18. The toy according to claim 1 wherein a releasable stop means is mounted on said track adjacent to said entrance opening into the building, said stop means releasably retaining a first vehicle on the track by engagement therewith and being actuated by a second vehicle arriving on the track at the stop means so as to release the retained vehicle for travel through the entrance opening upon the elevator platform and to retain the second vehicle.

19. The toy according to claim 18 wherein said stop means is manually operable from the outside of the building.

20. The toy according to claim 1 wherein at least two vehicles are provided and a stop means adjacent to an intermediate portion of the track alternately releases a first vehicle and arrests a second vehicle following the first vehicle on the track, said stop means comprising a two-arm lever tiltably mounted above said track portion, said lever being biased into an initial position in which one arm thereof engages the first vehicle thereby arresting the same and the other arm is engageable in said biased position of the lever by the second vehicle, engagement of said other arm by the second vehicle pivoting the lever into a position releasing the first vehicle, the second vehicle being arrested by return of the lever into the initial position.

21. The toy according to claim 20 wherein said stop means is disposed within a second hollow body simulating a carwash station, said second body having in its walls an entrance opening and an exit opening for passage of vehicles through said carwash station.

22. The toy according to claim 20 wherein said lever is disposed parallel with said track portion, said one lever arm terminating in a catch nose, and wherein each of said vehicles has on an upper part of its body a protrusion engageable with said nose thereby arresting the respective vehicle and further has a slanted body portion engageable with the other arm of the lever to pivot the lever into an angular position releasing the vehicle held by said nose.

23. The toy according to claim 2 wherein said other arm of the lever terminates in a slanted portion engageable with said slanted body portion of the vehicles.