Toy Vehicle With Adjustable Body

Abstract

A toy vehicle having a chassis including two upstanding spring members which are received by two sleeves of the vehicle's body so as to cause a frictional engagement when the body and chassis are brought together. The frictional engagement allows an operator to place the body in any one of various positions relative the chassis thereby simulating real hot rod type auto-mobiles in a very simply constructed yet ruggedly built toy.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toy vehicle and, more particularly, to a toy vehicle having a body which is adjustable relative the vehicle's chassis so as to simulate real hot rod type automobiles.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Small toy vehicles have become exceedingly popular among small children as well as adults. In one particular form, the vehicles are small automobiles of various designs all of which have freely rotatable wheels. These small automobiles are usually intended to function with a track layout comprising a number of track sections and track section connectors. The vehicle and track sections may best be understood by referring to U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,487,999 and 3,510,981 to A. W. B. Nash et al. and H. W. La Branche et al., respectively. Newer model vehicles have recently been introduced which are powered by small electric motors energized by small rechargeable batteries. These cars are also designed to cooperate with a track layout to provide hours of exciting play simulating automobile racing and stunt shows.

There is a continuing effort to not only simulate real vehicles in appearance but also to simulate real vehicles in function and operation. In addition, continuing efforts are being made to reduce the manufacturing costs of such vehicles and systems so as to allow broadest possible marketing of these toys.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In furthering the efforts mentioned hereinabove, the present invention provides a toy vehicle having an adjustable body relative to a chassis and comprising a chassis including a mounting element, an axle connected to the mounting element, a wheel connected to the axle, and means connected to the mounting element for adjustably mounting the toy vehicle body thereon; and a toy vehicle body having means for cooperating with the mounting means whereby the body can be disposed in any one of a variety of positions relative the wheels.

It is a general aim of the present invention to provide a toy vehicle which can simulate real automobiles having hydraulic lifters for altering the position of the vehicle's body relative to the vehicle's chassis.

Another aim of the present invention is to provide an exciting toy vehicle which simulates real cars and which is simply constructed, reliable and inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a miniature toy vehicle with the vehicle's body in a normal or usual position relative to the wheels.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of the toy vehicle's chassis.

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevational view where the front portion of the vehicle's body is in a raised position.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional elevational view of the toy vehicle where the rear portion of the vehicle's body is in a raised position.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional elevational view of the toy vehicle with the entire vehicle's body in a raised position.

FIG. 6 is a front sectional elevational view taken along line 6--6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side sectional elevational view of the toy vehicle with the entire vehicle's body in a partially lowered position.

FIG. 8 is a side elevational view, partially broken away, of the toy vehicle with the vehicle's body in a fully lowered position.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

While the present invention is susceptible of various modifications and alternative constructions, an illustrative embodiment is shown in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not the intention to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed; but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternative constructions falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a toy vehicle 10 comprising a vehicle body 12 and a vehicle chassis 14. The body 12 includes a front portion 16, a simulated passenger compartment 18, a roof 20 and a rear portion 22. Attached to the rear portion of the body is a "spoiler" 24. The body characteristics are analogous to a real automobile. Referring to FIG. 6, it is noted that the body is comprised of an outer metal shell 25 and an inner synthetic resin material shell 26 so as to provide a close simulation to a real automobile at a minimum manufacturing cost and provide a rugged, reliable toy.

Again referring to FIG. 1, the chassis 14 includes a support element 28 of a relatively strong material, such as metal, to which are attached four wheels, two wheels 30 and 32 being illustrated in FIG. 1. Each wheel has an outer rim comprising a narrow larger diameter running portion and a wider smaller diameter portion, such as the narrow portion 34, FIG. 6, and the wider portion 36 of the wheel 32.

In accordance with one of the major aspects of the present invention, a toy vehicle with a simple but ruggedly constructed chassis is provided having the ability to adjustably receive the toy vehicle's body to allow the body to be positioned in any one of a variety of ways relative the wheels which rest on a reference plane, such as a running surface 40, FIG. 1. Referring now to FIG. 2, the chassis 14 includes the support element 28 which is shaped as a rectangular box to house a synthetic resin mounting element 42. The mounting element 42 includes two openings 44 and 46 for allowing end portions 48 and 50 of a spring metal strip 52 to project and provide a mounting engagement with the body. Projecting laterally from the support element are two flanges 54 and 56 which, as will be explained hereinbelow, provide an abutment to limit movement of the vehicle body.

Embedded at either of the longitudinal ends of the mounting element 42 are two axles 58 and 60 which are small diameter wires. Attached to the four end portions of the axles 58 and 60 are four wheels (not shown in FIG. 2). Connection between the mounting element 42, the support element 28 and the spring strip 52 is made in any suitable fashion or with any suitable fastener such as the screw 62 which is located through the center of the chassis. Because the mounting element is of a flexible material, any force placed upon a wheel will be transmitted through the axle to the mounting element which will deflect in response so as to relieve excessive stress upon the axle. This allows the use of small diameter wire for axles thereby reducing running friction generated between an axle and a wheel upon movement of a vehicle. To allow placement of the axles, the side walls of the support element 28 are notched in four locations designated 64, 66, 68 and 70.

As mentioned, the spring strip 52 has two end portions 48 and 50 which are upstanding and which have U-shaped cross-sectional configurations. For example, the end portion 48 has a U-shaped cross section including two legs 72 and 74 and an integral base 76 connecting the two legs. Because the strip is of a spring metal, movement of the leg 74 from its usual parallel position relative the leg 72 provides a biasing force which may act in conjunction with another object to provide frictional resistance to relative movement. The end portion 50 functions in an identical manner. Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 6, it is noted that the inner synthetic resin shell 26 includes two rectangularly shaped sleeves 80 and 82 conforming closely in dimension to the strip end portions 48 and 50, respectively. As shown in FIG. 3, the sleeves cooperate with the strip end portions to provide a sufficient frictional resistance to movement so that when the vehicle's body is mounted to its chassis by having the sleeves receive the strip end portions, there is a sufficient resistance to movement to retain the body in whatever relative position it is initially placed.

Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, for example, the vehicle body is shown in three different positions relative the chassis: in FIG. 3, the front end 16 is raised relative the chassis while the rear portion 24 is lowered. FIG. 4 illustrates the front portion 16 in a lowered position and the rear portion 24 in a raised position; this is frequently referred to as being "raked." In FIG. 5, both the front portion 16 and the rear portion 24 of the body are raised relatively the chassis 14; the vehicle is referred to as being raised. It is noted that in all three positions just mentioned, the engagement of a forward wall 84, FIG. 3, and a rearward wall 86 of the sleeve 80 with the legs 72 and 74, respectively, of the spring strip provides a sufficient means to retain the body in the position in which it is initially placed by an operator. In an analogous fashion, the sleeve 82 is in contact with the spring end portion 50.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 6, it is noted that the outer shell of the vehicle body includes two side panels 90 and 92 which have bottom flange portions 94 and 96, respectively, that engage the lateral flanges 54 and 56 when the vehicle body is in a raised position so as to prevent the body from separating from the chassis.

Referring now to FIGS. 7 and 8, the vehicle body is shown in two additional positions: in FIG. 7, the front and rear portions of the body are in a partially lowered position relative the chassis in that the spring end portions 48 and 50 are received within the sleeves 80 and 82 along only a portion of the sleeves. In FIG. 8, the body is in a fully lowered position with the sleeves and the spring end portions in full engagement. In this configuration, an automobile is commonly referred to as being "drapped." Generally, when in a drapped position, the car will include skids along the flange portions 94 and 96 of the side panels 90 and 92 which ride or are very close to the running surface along which the vehicle moves.

Thus, in a single vehicle, an imaginative child may, by simply adjusting the vehicle body relative the chassis, create six different silhouette configurations as has been illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 8. All of this may be accomplished in a very expeditious fashion with little manipulation so as to be done by even a small child. A corollary to the easy manipulation is the fact that the construction of the vehicle is relatively simple so as to be rugged and reliable and breakage resistant while at the same time being relatively inexpensive to manufacture so as to allow mass marketing at a reasonable price.

It is to be understood that other types of adjusting mechanisms may be used instead of the spring sleeve arrangement shown; for example, two coiled springs positioned between the body and the chassis with a concentric screw engaging both the body and the chassis may be used to cause the relative adjustment of the rear and front portions of the body. Or a spring and serrated rack may be used to achieve the same result. Once again, it is emphasized that the invention is to be established by the append claims and not be the particular embodiment which has been illustrated.

Claims

I claim:

1. A toy vehicle comprising:

a substantially rigid chassis having wheels rotatably mounted thereon;

a pair of longitudinally spaced body support members fixed to said chassis, said body support members extending upwardly from said chassis and being resiliently bendable relative to said chassis; and

a body having a pair of downwardly facing open sockets formed therein, said sockets being aligned with and frictionally slidably embracing said body support members whereby said body support members may be selectively slid to any desired depth in their respective sockets and frictionally retained at said depth to selectively adjust the tilt or height of said body relative to said chassis, said body support members being bendable to accommodate to different angles between said body and chassis.

2. A toy vehicle as defined in claim 1 wherein said spaced body support members comprise upwardly bent end portions of a strip of spring material, the portion of said strip between said end portions being fixed to said chassis by a single fastening element.

3. A toy vehicle as defined in claim 2 wherein said end portions of said strip are bent laterally at their upper ends then downwardly to define resiliently compressible body support members.

4. A toy vehicle comprising:

a substantially rigid chassis having wheels rotatably mounted thereon;

a pair of longitudinally spaced body support members fixed to said chassis, said body support members extending upwardly from said chassis and being resiliently bendable relative to said chassis;

a body having a pair of downwardly facing open sockets formed therein, said sockets being aligned with and frictionally slidably embracing said body support members whereby said body support members may be selectively slid to any desired depth in their respective sockets and frictionally retained at said depth to selectively adjust the tilt or height of said body relative to said chassis, said body support members being bendable to accommodate to different angles between said body and chassis; and

cooperating stop means on said chassis and body, positioned to limit upward movement of said body relative to said chassis.

5. A toy vehicle as defined in claim 4 wherein said body comprises an outer shell of metal having said stop means thereon and an interior portion of synthetic resin fixed to said metal shell and having said sockets formed therein.