U.S. patent number 3,877,169 [Application Number 05/005,329] was granted by the patent office on 1975-04-15 for vehicle-triggered toy vehicle accelerator.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Mattel, Inc.. Invention is credited to William R. Baynes, James F. Munday, John W. Ryan, Conrad B. Sloop.
United States Patent |
3,877,169 |
Munday , et al. |
April 15, 1975 |
Vehicle-triggered toy vehicle accelerator
Abstract
A toy for motivating unpowered miniature toy vehicles along a
roadway wherein a pivoted cocking arm mounted in a housing is
manually moved to pull a vehicle accelerating assembly, against a
predetermined biasing force, along a rising track until an assembly
carried latch pin rests in a shallow notch of a housing mounted cam
surface to hold the assembly in a cocked position with its front
portion extending downwardly toward the roadway. A vehicle moving
along the roadway will contact this portion causing it to rise and
free the latch pin from the hollow notch thereby releasing the
accelerating assembly and allowing it to be rapidly moved along the
track by the biasing force. The assembly includes a lower extending
cushioned portion which contacts and pushes the rear end of the
triggering vehicle and accelerates it along the roadway in a stable
condition. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The background of the
invention will be set forth in two parts. 1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains generally to the field of toy
vehicles which travel along tracks or roadways and more
particularly to a novel technique for accelerating these vehicles
which have no internal motivating mechanisms. 2. Description of the
Prior Art Over the years toy vehicles have become more
sophisticated and elaborate in their construction. From the simple
push-type toys, the art advanced to include internal mechanical
motors, and later, battery operated electric motors. Then came the
popular electrified track vehicles which included an electric motor
that derived its electric power from an external source connected
to the track or conductors on the surface of or in a notch below
the roadway. The speed of these miniature machines could be
controlled by varying the source potential supplied to the roadway
conductors, much in the same manner as toy electric trains have
long been controlled. Being much lighter and having a lower center
of gravity, these newer toys could accelerate very quickly and
attain greater stable speeds than was theretofore possible. The
main disadvantage of this newly developed art was the relatively
high cost of manufacture of both the vehicles and the electrified
roadway. More recently, a new vehicle toy was developed which did
not utilize electrified roadways and had no self-contained
arrangement for motivation power. These devices utilized the force
of gravity to accelerate relatively heavy vehicles having newly
developed very low friction wheel bearings. The tracks or roadways
upon which these unpowered toys travel are fabricated from
relatively inexpensive plastic material that is easily bent into
many configurations. The basic disadvantage of this type toy has
been the dependency on gravity for vehicle acceleration. This
requires that the roadway be elevated where the toy is to start its
run. In order to eliminate this need of elevation, several
techniques have been developed which engage and accelerate these
toys anywhere along the track. These devices generally require
battery or other forms of electric power and utilize rather
expensive gearing arrangements to transfer their rotational power
to linear acceleration of the vehicle. If the acceleration force is
not properly applied to these small toys, it will cause an
undesirable unstable condition and the vehicles will leave the
track. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing factors
and conditions characteristic of this art, it is a primary object
of the present invention to provide a new and improved unpowered
toy vehicle accelerator not subject to the disadvantages enumerated
above and which can be inserted in series with or simply disposed
over an existing miniature toy vehicle roadway. It is another
object of the present invention to provide a simple and relatively
inexpensive mechanical toy vehicle accelerator which simply pushes
the vehicles along a roadway. A further aim of the invention is to
provide a mechanical toy vehicle accelerator that is triggered by
the vehicle to be accelerated. Still another object of this
invention is to provide a mechanical toy vehicle accelerator in
which the amount of acceleration can easily be adjusted by an
operator. An additional aim of this invention is to provide a
vehicle accelerator which is self-adjusting to any toy vehicle
height. According to the present invention, a toy vehicle
accelerating assembly is movably disposed in a housing positionable
over a roadway, the assembly including a triggering mechanism in
the path of vehicle travel. The housing also includes motivation
means coupled to the assembly for rapidly moving the assembly over
a predetermined route to engage and push an unpowered toy vehicle
along the roadway when the vehicle contacts the triggering
mechanism. The features of the present invention which are believed
to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended
claims. The invention and specific embodiments thereof will be
described hereinafter by way of example and with reference to the
accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals refer to like
elements or parts.
Inventors: |
Munday; James F. (Southgate,
CA), Ryan; John W. (Los Angeles, CA), Sloop; Conrad
B. (Huntington Beach, CA), Baynes; William R. (Palos
Verdes Peninsula, CA) |
Assignee: |
Mattel, Inc. (Hawthorne,
CA)
|
Family
ID: |
21715322 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/005,329 |
Filed: |
January 23, 1970 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
446/430;
463/64 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63H
18/14 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A63H
18/00 (20060101); A63H 18/14 (20060101); A63h
018/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;46/1,243,221,223,202,1K,206 ;273/86D |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Shay; F. Barry
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Shirk; Max E. Mesaros; John G.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. Apparatus for motivating unpowered toy vehicles along a roadway,
comprising:
a housing positioned over and attached to a roadway section of said
roadway, said housing including a cam track defining a
predetermined path and an adjustable tension control
arrangement;
a vehicle accelerating assembly movably disposed in said housing,
said assembly including a guide pin located in said cam track and a
triggering mechanism in the path of vehicle travel along said
roadway;
motivation means including a cocking arm and an attached
biasing-force-producing resilient member both coupled to said
vehicle accelerating assembly, the manual operation of said cocking
arm moving said assembly along said predetermined path against said
biasing force for rapidly moving said assembly over a predetermined
path to engage and push the toy vehicles when the vehicles actuate
said triggering mechanism, said biasing-force-producing resilient
member being connected to said adjustable tension control
arrangement for varying said biasing force; and
starting means including a resilient member attached to said
housing adjacent the vehicle entrance to said apparatus and a push
bar attached to the resilient member for pushing the toy vehicles
along said roadway section and into contact with said triggering
mechanism.
2. Toy vehicle propulsion apparatus for accelerating toy vehicles
along a predetermined vehicle path of travel comprising:
vehicle pushing means for engaging a rearward surface of a toy
vehicle and pushing it;
guiding means for guiding said vehicle pushing means from a first
position out of the way of vehicles moving along said vehicle path
and thence along said vehicle path;
means for urging said vehicle pushing means to move along said
guiding means;
holding means for restraining said vehicle pushing means at said
first position along said guiding means; and
trigger means responsive to the arrival of a toy vehicle at a
predetermined location along said vehicle path for releasing said
vehicle pushing means from said holding means, said trigger means
including a lever attached to said vehicle pushing means to move
with it along said guiding means, said lever coupled to said
holding means to release said vehicle pushing means when said lever
is deflected, and said lever having an elongated part positionable
in the way of toy vehicles moving along said vehicle path for
upward deflection by a toy vehicle to a position approximately
parallel to said vehicle path, whereby to hold down toy
vehicles.
3. The toy apparatus described in claim 2 wherein:
said vehicle pushing means includes a cushioning member constructed
of a resilient and easily deformable material for contacting a
rearward surface of a toy vehicle to apply pushing forces to
it.
4. Toy vehicle propulsion apparatus for accelerating toy vehicles
along a predetermined vehicle path of travel comprising:
a vehicle engaging member;
a housing for placement astride a vehicle track, said housing
having wall portions defining a guide track for guiding said
vehicle engaging member from an uptrack position high enough above
said vehicle path to clear toy vehicles and thence along a route
extending substantially parallel to said vehicle track to push
vehicles therealong, said guide track having a smoothly curved
portion at its uptrack end for leading said vehicle engaging member
above the path of vehicles as it is readied for a vehicle
propulsion;
means for urging said vehicle engaging member along said guide
track away from said uptrack position therealong;
means for retaining said vehicle engaging member at said uptrack
position, said means for retaining said vehicle engaging member
including a catch portion on said housing and means including a
trigger member extending into the path of vehicles moving along
said vehicle path, said trigger member including a portion
engageable with said catch portion and which disengages from it
when said trigger member is upwardly deflected for releasing said
vehicle engaging member.
5. An action toy for propelling toy vehicles along a roadway
comprising:
a housing positionable along said roadway, said housing being
constructed to be placed astride a toy vehicle track, so that the
vehicle supporting surface of the track lies at approximately a
predetermined level, said housing having guide tracks with a curved
uptrack portion extending towards said roadway and a substantially
straight downtrack portion extending substantially parallel to said
roadway, said curved uptrack portion of said guide tracks extending
in a smooth curve between a first level above said roadway and a
second level at least twice as high as said first level above said
roadway;
a vehicle pushing assembly engaged with said guide tracks to move
from a position out of the way of vehicles, and then into the way
and parallel to the path of vehicles moving along said roadway, as
said pushing assembly moves along said curved uptrack portion and
then along said substantially straight downtrack portion of said
guide tracks;
means for urging said vehicle pushing assembly downtrack along said
guide tracks; and
latch means for holding said vehicle pushing assembly at said
curved uptrack portion of said guide tracks, said latch means
including a member positioned in the path of vehicles moving along
said roadway for deflection by a vehicle to release said vehicle
pushing assembly.
6. The action toy described in claim 5 including:
a cocking arm having a center portion pivotally mounted on said
housing at a position downpath from the extreme uptrack end of said
guide tracks, a rearward end coupled to said vehicle pushing
assembly, and a manually operable forward end which extends in a
primarily downtrack direction when said vehicle pushing assembly is
at said curved uptrack portion of said guide tracks, whereby a
child can reset the mechanism by pressing down on the forward end
of the cocking arm.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention in a dual track
arrangement;
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the device shown in FIG. 1,
taken along line 2 -- 2 and showing the accelerator in its cocked
position;
FIG. 3 is a view similar to that of FIG. 2 except that the device
is shown just having accelerated a toy vehicle;
FIG. 4 is a cross sectional representation of the device seen in
FIG. 3 taken along line 4 -- 4; and
FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the internal moving mechanism
including the resilient member and its tension adjustment
arrangement.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring again to the drawings, and more particularly to FIG. 1,
there is shown a dual track mechanical toy vehicle accelerator 11
for accelerating either or both toy vehicles 13 and 15 along
parallel roadways 17 and 19 in the downpath direction, indicated by
arrows 21. Where the accelerator 11 is to be used to provide an
initial vehicle acceleration, a catapult arrangement, comprising,
for example, an elastic member 23 held at its center to the
accelerator 11 by a hook 25. The elastic member 23 is forced apart
by a spreader 27, and a transverse push bar 29 is connected to the
ends of the member 23 so as to be pulled in the direction 21 by the
force exerted by the stretched elastic member, after first being
manually pulled in the opposite direction by an operator. This
action pushes the vehicles 13 and 15 into the accelerator 11 where
they individually trigger the mechanisms and are thereby provided
with an adjustable accelerating force, as will be henceforth
described.
The accelerator 11 generally comprises a housing 31 having, in the
dual track arrangement, a pair of side walls 33 and a center wall
35. The walls are held in a fixed parallel spaced relationship by
tubular spacers 41, the walls including raised pivot support
portions 43. Between the raised portions 43, and held thereby, is a
pivot post 45 on which a pair of manually operated cocking arms 47
are pivotally mounted at their center. These arms include a handle
end 49 and a slotted end 51. Also seen in this figure is a tension
control knob 53 connected through an appropriate hole in the wall
33 to a spindle 55. The use of this control allows the operator to
obtain a desired acceleration and will be described in more detail
later.
The inner workings of the invention can best be understood by
referring also to FIGS. 2 and 3. However, it will be noted that
only a single accelerator section of the dual unit of FIG. 1 is
illustrated in these last mentioned figures. Since these sections
are identical, the description of a single section will adequately
describe all the features of the invention. Accordingly, it should
be understood that the invention can be embodied in a single
section as well as in multiple sections.
The cocking arm 47 is coupled to a movable vehicle pushing and
latch assembly 71 at its slotted end 51 by means of a bent coupling
arm 73. The coupling arm is loosely wrapped about the center of a
transverse cam follower or guide pin 75 that rides in a
double-walled guide or cam track 77 protruding from the walls on
either side of the latch assembly 71. The cam track 77 is
essentially parallel to the roadway surface 17 for a portion of its
length but includes a gradually rising and smoothly curved uptrack
portion 79 near the end of the housing 31 where the vehicles enter.
The portion 79 extends in a smooth curve between a first level
above the vehicle-supporting surface of the roadways or vehicle
tracks 17, 19, and a second level more than twice as high as the
first level above the vehicle-supporting surface.
Also protruding from the walls 33 and 35 of the housing adjacent
the latch assembly 71 is a generally diagonally disposed cam
surface 81, the upper extremity of which includes a sear or catch
portion in the form of a hollow notch 83. Upon this cam surface
rides a latch pin 85 extending from the sides 87 of the assembly
71, parallel to the guide pin 75. These features of the latch
assembly are shown in more detail in FIGS. 4 and 5 where a forward
extending elongated trigger portion 89, a depending vehicle
engaging cushioned portion 91 and a rearward extending block 93
holding a resilient or elastic member 95 can be clearly seen.
Trigger portion 89 is the forward end of a lever, guide pin 75
being the pivot for the lever.
In operation, the accelerator 11 must first be cocked by pulling or
pushing the handle end 49 of the cocking arm 47 from its upwardly
extending position shown in FIG. 3 to its cocked position as seen
in FIGS. 1 and 2. This action moves the latch assembly 71 against
the biasing force provided by the resilient member 95 which is
attached at its other end to the spindle 55. The assembly 71 is
thus pulled back and above the roadway 17 as guided by the guide
pin 75 riding in the cam track 77 and by the latch pin 85 riding on
the cam surface 81. At this point, the latch pin 85 falls into the
notch 83 in the cam surface 81 to conclude the cocking operation.
Because of the particular positions of the latch pin 85 and the
guide pin 75 in this cocked condition, the trigger portion 89 of
the assembly 71 extends downwardly adjacent the roadway surface 17
and in the path of the vehicle 13.
When a toy 13 moves along the roadway 17 in the direction 21 and
strikes the trigger portion 89 of the latch assembly 71 as shown in
FIG. 2 by a dashed outline, the trigger 89 is forced to move in the
direction indicated by arrow 97. This movement causes the latch pin
85 to leave the notch 83 and thereby release the assembly 71 to
quickly travel in a generally forward direction as guided by the
cam track 77 and the cam surface 81. The physical relationship of
these last mentioned projections and the relationship of the latch
pin to the guide pin on the assembly 71 cause the main body of the
latch assembly 71 to move just above the vehicle with its vehicle
engaging cushioned portion 91 moving in behind and pushing the
triggering vehicle in the direction 21 as seen in FIG. 3.
The acceleration given the vehicle 13 is dependent on the biasing
force provided by the resilient member 95. This force is made
adjustable by means of the tension control knob 53 which may be
increased by rotating it in the direction indicated by arrow 99 in
FIG. 5. Rotating the knob in the opposite direction unwinds the
resilient member 95 and thereby lessens the biasing force and, in
turn, the accelerating force on the vehicle 13. At the end of its
useful travel, the latch assembly 71 is stopped by the cushion
portion 91 meeting a stop member 101 extending from either one or
both housing walls 33 and 35. The stop member 101 may preferably
include a serrated or otherwise roughened surface 103 so that the
trigger portion 89 of the latch assembly 71 will remain in the
attitude it held during the acceleration phase of its travel and
will not swing downwardly and strike the toy as it leaves the
accelerator since striking the car as it leaves the accelerator
causes it to fly off the track. A padded post 105 could be provided
on the assembly just ahead of the cushioned portion 91, similarly
to the mounting the latch pin 85. This post 105 would then strike
the stop member 101, and being ahead of the portion 91, would be
better suited to prevent rotation of the trigger portion 89.
At this point it should be pointed out that a downward force is
applied to the upper extremity of the vehicle being accelerated. It
will be noted that the latch assembly 71 is pivoted about the guide
pin 75 located adjacent the bottom thereof, and that the elastic
member 95 is attached in a manner to exert a force at some distance
above the pin 75. It can also be presumed that the inertia force
and the elastic member provided force are substantially equal. Now,
since the moment arm, defined as the distance between the pin 75
and the end of the elastic member 95 anchors at the block 93, is
greater than the moment arm, defined as the distance between the
post 75 and a point about midway up the cushion portion 91 where
the resisting force of the vehicle will act, a rotational moment
exists to cause the forward extending trigger portion 89 to bear
down on the toy. The amount of downwardly acting force is
relatively insensitive to the height of the vehicle since the
moment arms are not greatly affected by changes thereof. It has
been found that the rotational force of the latch assembly 71 in
conjunction with the accelerating force applied through the
cushioned portion 91 and the confining walls 33 and 35 of the
housing 31 aid in stabilizing the vehicle during and just after
leaving the accelerator.
The invention may also be embodied with a quiet stopping feature
illustrated in FIG. 3. Here, a restraining post 107 may be provided
at a position where it is not contacted by the member 95 when the
mechanism is cocked, but does so when the assembly 71 is released.
In this embodiment, the elastic member is forced to double back
upon itself as indicated by the dashed line 109 and thereby to slow
down the assembly 71 as it approaches the end of its travel. Since
the accelerating force is transmitted to the vehicle prior to the
assembly decelerating force comes into play, the accelerator's
efficiency is not affected.
As noted previously, a catapult assembly may be used with the
accelerator 11 in the starter configuration of FIG. 1. However, the
accelerator described herein may also be placed wherever an
acceleration boost is desired. In this regard, the accelerator 11
may include a permanently attached roadway section which is
inserted in series with an existing track layout. Alternately, the
invention may simply be placed astride a straight section of
track.
The material used in the fabrication of this toy is not considered
critical and accordingly any material generally considered suitable
for a particular use may be utilized.
From the foregoing, it will be evident that the invention provides
a simple yet effective mechanical toy that propells unpowered toy
vehicles along a roadway.
Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been described
in detail, other organizations of the embodiment shown may be made
within the spirit and scope of the invention.
Accordingly, it is intended that the foregoing disclosure and
drawings shall be considered only as illustrations of the
principles of this invention and are not to be construed in a
limiting sense.
* * * * *