Interlocking units having meshed gears and drive means for a movable toy thereon

Abstract

A toy assembly in which square, flat base boxes of respective units may be coupled to each other by interengaging recesses and projections at the four corners. A gear projecting from the four narrow sides of each box meshes with a corresponding gear on another, coupled box. One base box carries a drive mechanism and the other base boxes carry movable toys connected to the respective gears so that the several units may be coupled in various combinations and the toys of the coupled units operated simultaneously by the single driving mechanism.

Description

This invention relates to assemblies of toy units, and particularly to a toy assembly in which driving force can be transmitted from one unit for simultaneously driving various movable accessories on the other units.

A toy assembly of this invention includes two or more units which can be coupled releasably to each other. One unit has a driving gear connected to a driving mechanism while other units have respective follower gears. Each unit has a square, flat base box, and the teeth of the associated gears project from openings in the four side faces of the box. When the units are interlocked, the gears of two units mesh to transmit driving force not only between the driving gear and a follower gear, but also between two follower gears.

The driving mechanism may be operated manually by electric force, or by remote control. When movable toys are mounted on the top surface of base boxes enclosing follower gears, the toys may be moved when the associated follower gears are rotated.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows a first toy assembly of the invention in a perspective view;

FIG. 2 shows the driving unit of the assembly of FIG. 1 in section on the line II -- II;

FIG. 3 illustrates another unit of the assembly of FIG. 1 in plan view;

FIG. 4 shows the unit of FIG. 3 in section on the line IV -- IV; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second toy assembly in perspective, fragmentary view.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 to 4, there are shown five units of a toy assembly having respective, identical, square, flat, plastic base boxes 11 to 15. A driving gear 16 is rotatably mounted in the box 11, and respective follower gears 17 are mounted in the boxes 12 to 15. The four corners 18 of each base box may be locked to a corner of each other box by means of mating recesses 18a and projections 18b. When two units are coupled to each other in such a manner that respective side faces are contiguously adjacent and the bottom faces are in a common plane, teeth of respective gears in the base boxes project outward of the associated base box through apertures 19 in the four side faces and meshingly engage each other.

The drive unit, shown in detail in FIG. 2, has a chamber 11' in the base box 11 in which the gear 16 is received. A boss 11a on the bottom wall of the base box 11 is received in a hub portion 11c of the gear 16 which upwardly projects from the base box 11. An elongated pin 11b coaxial with the gear 16 is mounted in the boss 11a and carries coaxially juxtaposed, freely rotatable gears 20a, 20d meshing with respective, fixedly connected gears 20b, 20c on a countershaft 20' mounted between the box 11 and a cover 23 which envelopes the gearing. The gear 20a is fixedly fastened to the hub portion 11c, and a shaft 21a attached to the gear 20d by a set screw 21b is coaxially rotatable on the pin 11b and passes through the cover 23.

The free end of the shaft 21a outside the cover 23 carries a crank 22 attached by a screw 22a, and a knob 22' is rotatably fastened to the radially outer end of the crank 22 by a pin 22b.

The gears 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d are dimensioned to constitute reduction gearing which turns the gear 16 more slowly than the crank 22 when the latter is turned by the knob 22'.

Reverting to FIG. 1, the base boxes 12, 13, 14, 15 are seen to carry respectively a toy sea lion 24 balancing a ball 24a, a toy helicopter 25 moored to a mast 25a, a ferris wheel 26 on a column 26a, and a round table 27 mounted on a central shaft 27a and carrying cups 27b. As is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the base box 12 encloses a chamber 12' in which a gear 17 is mounted on a shaft 28. The shaft passes through the body of the toy sea lion 24 into the ball 24a. Similarly, the blades of the helicopter 25, the ferris wheel 26, and the table 27 are drivingly connected to the associated follower gears 17 in a manner not explicitly shown but conventional in itself. Gearing, not shown, causes the cups 27b to revolve when the table 27 turns on the shaft 27a.

In the modified embodiment of the invention shown in FIG. 5, two units of the toy assembly have respective, spaced base boxes 29, 30 identical with the boxes 11 to 15. They carry respective hollow columns 29a, 30a on which pulleys 29b, 30b rotate on upright shafts 31 secured to the associated follower gears. An endless belt 32 trained horizontally over the pulleys 29b, 30b carries toy cable cars 32a which travel forth and back between the columns when one of the shafts is driven by the gear 16 of a juxtaposed box 11. As is shown in phantom view, one base box may be inserted between the boxes 29, 30 to rotate the gears in the latter in the same direction, or any odd number of base boxes may be interposed for the same purpose to make the pulleys 29b, 30b rotate in the same direction.

Each unit of the toy assembly may be used separately, and several units may be coupled by means other than their gears, as illustrated by the belt 32 in FIG. 5.

The pleasure of playing with the toy arrangement described is enhanced by the possibility of combining the several units in different ways.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A toy assembly comprising:

a. a plurality of units, each unit including a base member and a gear mounted on said base member for rotation about an axis;

b. coupling means on each said base member for releasably coupling the base member to the base member of each of the other said units in a position in which the gears on the coupled base members meshingly engage each other;

c. drive means on a first one of said base members for driving the gear rotatably mounted thereon;

d. a movable toy mounted on a second one of said base members in driving engagement with the gear on said second base member.

2. A toy assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said base members are plate-shaped and have respective bottom faces extending in a common plane when coupled to each other.

3. A toy assembly as set forth in claim 2, wherein the axes of said gears are transverse to the respective associated bottom faces, respective parts of each gear project beyond the associated base member in two directions, and said coupling means on one of said base members includes means for simultaneously coupling said one base member to two other base members in a position in which said parts of the gear on said one base member simultaneously meshingly engage the gears on said two other base members respectively.

4. A toy assembly as set forth in claim 1, wherein said base members are identical, square, flat boxes, and said coupling means include recesses and projections on each of the four corners of the base member dimensioned for mating engagement with corresponding coupling means on each other unit of said assembly.