Remote control toy

Abstract

A toy vehicle which is self-propelled, is provided with a string which can be pulled from a remote location to automatically steer the vehicle. The toy vehicle may also be equipped with a depending arm which is automatically moved to hook an object in its path to raise it and carry it along as the vehicle moves in the direction in which it is oriented by remote control.

Description

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The play value of remotely controlled toys is established and well known. Such toys which are controlled by electrical conductors, radio, magnetic or sonic devices are quite popular, but because of the electrical and/or electronic components and circuitry involved, tend to become very expensive. It would therefore be highly desirable to provide an inexpensive remotely controlled toy by purely mechanical means without dependence on costly electronic components.

THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a self-propelled toy vehicle which can be steered or otherwise controlled from a remote location by purely mechanical means.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a self-propelled toy vehicle which is steered from a remote location by movement of a thin flexible thread or string.

It is a further object of the invention to cause the motive mechanism which propels a toy vehicle to steer it under control of a movable thread or string operated from a remote location.

It is another object of the invention to cause the self-propelled vehicle to stop while the operating means therefore moves the steering mechanism in the desired direction.

It is still a further object of the invention to equip a self-propelled toy vehicle with a depending arm which will automatically raise and carry an object which it encounters during forward movement of the vehicle.

With these and other ojbects in mind, the invention will now be described in detail with specific reference to the drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the chassis of the toy vehicle showing one form of the driving and steering mechanism and control therefor in which two motors are utilized;

FIG. 1a is an enlarged view of the control switch for the motors and FIG. 1b shows the circuit controlled thereby;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the body and chassis of the vehicle comprising a second form of the invention utilizing a single motor for both driving and steering the vehicle;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a chassis showing a third form of driving mechanism comprising a planetary system for propelling the vehicle and controlling its steering;

FIG. 3a is an enlarged detail view of the planetary gearing system of FIG. 3;

FIG. 3b is an end view of the planetary locking system;

FIG. 4 shows the toy vehicle shaped to appear as a robot with a part of the body removed to show a further driving and steering control for the vehicle and also carrying movable arms;

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the chassis of the vehicle of FIG. 4 with a detailed showing of the mechanism for steering and driving;

FIG. 5a is a detail showing the control for steering the device of FIG. 5 and operated by the string or cable from a remote location;

FIG. 5b is a cross-section of the differential along line 5b--5b of FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the device of FIG. 5 as it approaches an object in the path of a movable arm dependent therefrom;

FIG. 7 shows the device of FIG. 6 after it has been automatically operated to engage and lift the object;

FIG. 8 is a cross-section along line 8--8 of FIG. 4 showing the interior of the depending arm-like device of the vehicle;

FIG. 9 is an end view of the arm-like device from the side of the vehicle with the outer cover thereof removed;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a chassis on which a further form of wheel drive is mounted; and

FIG. 10a is a sectional view of a detail of the drive system of FIG. 10.

With reference to FIG. 1, the chassis of the vehicle is a flat plate 1 supporting a rotatable shaft 3 extending laterally thereacross and provided with wheels 5 at its ends. An electric motor 7 is secured to the plate 1 and is driven by a battery (not shown) mounted on the plate. The motor drives the shaft 3 through pinion 9 and gear 11 to turn the wheels 5. Forwardly of the plate 1 is a pair of laterally spaced wheels 13, each of which is mounted on a stub shaft 15 extending from a lever arm 17 mounted at its forward end for swinging movement about a vertical axis 19 at the front end of the chassis. The rear ends of the lever arms 17 are each provided with an upstanding pin 21 rotatable in an opening in a tie bar 23 which is provided with a rearwardly extending arm 25 provided with a roller or smoothly rounded protuberance 27. A heart-shaped cam 31 mounted to rotate on the plate 1 about a vertical axis, is provided with a horizontal cup gear 33 on its exposed surface for driving engagement with a pinion 35 mounted on the shaft of a second electric motor 37. A tension spring 39 connected between the plate 1 and the arm 25 of the tie-bar, biases the roller or protuberance 27 against the cam.

A single pole double-throw switch 41 mounted on the plate is provided with a switch arm 43 normally biased, as in FIG. 1a and 1b, to cause energization of motor 37 by the battery carried on the vehicle. A weighted lever 45, mounted on the plate 1 to swing about a horizontal axis is provided with a string or cable 47 attached thereto adjacent its free end which cable passes through an opening in an upright 49. When the string is pulled upwardly, it raises the lever 45 from the switch arm 43 to cause the switch to deenergize motor 7 and energize motor 37. When tension on the string is released, motor 7 is again energized. In operation, as is obvious from the description so far, the vehicle will move away from the operator as he continuously feeds out the control string or cable to avoid placing tension thereon so as to maintain the motor 7 energized for driving the rear wheels 5. Slight tension in the cable will lift the weighted lever 45 thus stopping the vehicle and energizing the motor 37 to turn the cam 31 to control turning of the front wheels 13. When the wheels are oriented in the desired direction, the cable is relaxed and the vehicle will proceed in that direction. A manual switch is mounted on the vehicle for manually controlling the connection of the switch 41 to the battery.

While the preceeding embodiment is simple and far less expensive than sonic or radio control, it still suffers the expense of two motors. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, only a single motor is utilized for alternately driving the wheels and controlling the steering. Like parts in this and the preceeding embodiments have like numberals. As can be seen, an electrical driving motor 2 is suspended by arm 4 from a shaft 6 for swinging movement thereabout the shaft being secured to the plate 1 by uprights and extending transversely thereof. The shaft of motor 2 is provided with a pinion 9 which is normally in driving engagement with gear 11 keyed to shaft 3, due to a weight W extending from the motor by an arm 2'. A gear 8 rotatable about the axis of a shaft 10 is in the path of movement of and is engaged by pinion 9 when the motor 2 moves clockwise about the axis of shaft 6. A pinion 10' on gear 8 engages cup gear 12 on a longitudinally extending shaft 14 having a pinion 35 at its other end for driving the cam 31 through the cup gear 33 thereon to move the front wheels which are mounted in the same manner as in the previous embodiment.

A string 47 is secured to the arm 2' and extends through a guide tube 16 on the body 18 of the vehicle which is mounted on the plate 1 to enclosure the mechanism mounted thereon. When tension is placed on the string by pulling the weight upwardly, the motor 2 moves clockwise to disconnect the drive to the wheels 5 and engage pinion 9 with gear 8 to effect steering movements of the wheels 13.

In a third embodiment shown in FIG. 3, a single motor 20 is employed to activate the driving and steering operations of the vehicle through a planetary gear system that eliminates the clashing of gears during the alternate shifting from drive-to-steer-to-drive, as in the preceeding embodiment. The motor 20 is fixed between the uprights of the U-shaped bracket 22 and has a pinion 24 secured to its shaft for driving the intermediate gear and pinion 26 rotatable on shaft 28. The planetary system comprises the pinion-cup gear combination 30 rotatably mounted on a shaft 32, a planetary arm 34 keyed to the shaft 32 and also the cup gear-pinion combination 36 rotatably mounted on the shaft 32. The planetary pinions are rotatably mounted on the planetary arm 34. A pinion 40 is keyed on shaft 32 for driving engagement with a gear 44 provided with a pinion 42 drivingly engaging cup gear 46 keyed on shaft 48.

If the cup gear-pinion combination 30 is prevented from rotating, then the planetary pinions 38 will rotate and the planetary arm 34 will revolve, thereby rotating shaft 32, pinion 40 and gear 44. Thus, power is directed to the steering mechanism through the right-angled drive as previously described. If the pinion 40 is locked, and hence shaft 32 and planetary arm 34 cannot turn, then power from the cup gear 36 is transmitted through the rotating pinion 38 to the cup gear 30. Thus, the rear wheels 5 are driven by the drive gear 48 keyed to the wheel shaft 3.

In order to alternatively lock and release the gear-pinion combination 30 and the pinion 40, lever arm 50 is affixed to the pinion-gear combination 30 and lever arm 52 affixed to the pinion 40. Stops 54 and 56 extend from shaft 58 which is journaled in uprights on bracket 22. These stops are so angularly related, that as the shaft 58 is rocked back and forth, the stops 54 and 56 will alternately engage and release the lever arms 50 and 52, respectively. A weighted control lever 60 is secured to shaft 58 and extends radially therefrom. As the control cable 47 secured to the lever 60 is alternately tensioned and relaxed, the front wheels are alternately steered and the rear wheels driven.

In a fourth embodiment as shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle takes the form of a robot that can be controlled over relatively large distances by means of thin, light thread or cable without the great cost of electronic remote control. The hereinafter described robot can be made to stop, seek a new direction and proceed in that direction at the will of the distant operator. As further described, the vehicle is provided with "arms" that react, upon contact with an object, in such a manner as to pick up and carry the object. Thus, the operator is able to direct the robot to an object, pick up said object and bring the object to the operator.

With reference to FIGS. 4 to 9 a housing 51 in the form of a robot is provided with a base plate 53 on which the drive mechanism for turning the drive wheels 55 is mounted. The drive mechanism comprises a battery operated motor, a gear train represented by the gears 57, 59 and 61, the latter being keyed to the shaft 63. At the opposite end of the shaft 63 is a differential gear system, shown in enlarged form in FIG. 5b. The differential gear system consists of a pinion carrier 65 keyed to the shaft 63, the headed shaft 67 being pressed into the carrier and the planet pinion 69 rotatably mounted on the shaft 67. The cup gear-pinion combinations 71 and 73 are rotatably mounted on shaft 63 and drive the output gears 75 and 77 respectively, said gears being secured to the respective shafts 79 and 81 to which the drive wheels 55 are secured.

Assuming that the output gears 75 and 77 are equally free to turn, then the planet-pinion 69 will not rotate on shaft 67, but will revolve about shaft 63, driving the cup gear-pinion combinations 71 and 73. Thus, the driving torque is delivered equally to both drive wheels 55 and the robot is driven forward. If however, shaft 79 is locked and cup gear-pinion combination 71 cannot rotate, then planet pinion 69 begins to rotate as it revolves and all of the available torque is delivered to the right hand drive wheel as shown in FIG. 5 so that the robot is steered, the front end being supported by a caster wheel 72.

The means for stopping output shaft 79 is shown in FIG. 5a and includes a star wheel 82 keyed to the shaft 79 and a lever 83 pivotally mounted to the base plate 53. A spring 85 holds the lever 83 out of contact with the star wheel until sufficient tensile force is applied to the control cable 47 attached to the lever. A cable guide 87 is fixed to the housing 51 and serves to direct the cable into a horizontal plane for control from any direction. As more clearly shown in FIG. 5b, a compression spring 89 about the shaft 67 between the head thereof and a washer 91 seated on the end of pinion 69, serves to apply a slight frictional drag to the planet pinion 69, inhibiting its ability to rotate, thus permitting equal torque to be applied to both drive wheels and maintain the robot on a straight course when operating over rough terrain.

As mentioned previously, the robot is provided with a member depending from adjacent the upper end of each side of the housing and which are the arms thereof. These arms 93 and the mechanisms for operating them are identical so that a description of one of them will suffice. The arm 93 as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, is of pan-like form having an egg-shaped perimeter with the wider end uppermost and its bottom toward the housing 51. The arm is mounted adjacent its upper end to rotate freely about a horizontal shaft 95 Intermediate its ends and which is fixed at one end in a tubular sleeve 97 inwardly of the housing. A latch member 99, extending about the shaft 95, is fixed thereto at its other end and is provided with a radially projecting shoulder member 101 and an axially extending pin 103. A spring 105 is connected between the pin 103 and a fixed member on the arm 93 to normally bias the latter to swing in a forward direction, or clockwise as shown in FIG. 9. Such swinging movement is normally prevented by a lever 107 mounted intermediate its ends on a horizontal pivot 109 fixed to the arm 93, the lever having a nose portion 111 engaged behind the shoulder on member 99. A spring 113, fixed at one end to the arm, biases the lever to maintain the nose portion behind the shoulder. The lever 107 protrudes from the lower end of the arm 93 which has the lower portion of its surrounding wall cut away. The protruding end of the lever is provided with a hook member 115 which simulates a hand.

As is obvious from the above description, with the nose 111 of the lever locked behind the shoulder 101, the arm and lever are in vertical position relative to the housing and the hand-like hook 115 is at the lowest position of its swinging movement. As seen in FIG. 6, the robot has been directed to approach the object 117 which is provided with a handle or bail and which is in the path of the approaching hook member. After the hook has entered the bail, with the robot continuing to move forward the bail acts against the lever 107 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 9, to move its nose portion away from the shoulder 101 to permit the spring 105 to swing the arm clockwise, taking the lever along with it. As shown in FIG. 7 the hook member raises the object as it swings forward and will carry it in the direction to which the wheels are turned or to the operator where he can reset the arm to be actuated again by an object. A cover plate 119 is secured to the surrounding wall of the pan-like arm 93. Although the arms 93 are disclosed as being mounted on a toy vehicle in which the specific type of steering and differential drive systems are disclosed it should be understood that the arm mechanism disclosed may be utilized in conjunction with any of the drives and steering controls herein disclosed.

An alternative friction drive system which may replace the differential gear system described and shown in FIG. 5, is shown in FIG. 10 and 10a. In this modification, the gear 61 of FIG. 5 is replaced by the gear and pinion combination 120 keyed to the shaft 122 which has an integral shoulder 124. The pinion 126 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 122 and is pressed against the shoulder 124 by a spring washer 128 and a push nut 130. Thus the pinion 126 will slip on the shaft 122 if the shaft 132, which is the same as shaft 79 of FIG. 5, is prevented from turning, previously explained, when the lever 133 is caused to engage the star wheel 134. In this manner, only the right-hand wheel is driven and the vehicle will turn about the stationary wheel as a pivot.

It can therefore be seen from the above that I have provided an inexpensive mobile toy which has a very great play value and which is easy to operate and control from a distance and from any direction.

Having thus described my invention with the particularities required by the statutes it should be understood that obvious changes which may be made by persons skilled in the art should not be sufficient to depart from the spirit and scope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A toy vehicle having means for propelling it along a support and means for steering the vehicle,

motive means mounted on the vehicle for normally operating the means for propelling,

a string secured to the vehicle and extending to a location remote from the vehicle,

and means controlled by vertical pulling movement of the string rendering the means for steering operative by the motive means.

2. A toy vehicle according to claim 1 wherein the means for steering comprises,

at least one wheel mounted on the vehicle for bodily swinging movements about a vertical axis,

a lever pivotally supported on the vehicle and operatively connected to said at least one wheel for swinging it about said vertical axis upon pivotal movements of the lever,

and cam means operated by the motive means for imparting pivotal movements to the lever.

3. A toy vehicle according to claim 2 wherein said means controlled by the string when placed under tension discontinues operation of the means for propelling by said motive means.

4. A toy vehicle according to claim 3 wherein said motive means includes a first motor for operating the means for propelling and a second motor for operating the means for steering,

and said means controlled by the string when under tension comprises switch means for deenergizing the first motor and energizing the second motor.

5. A toy vehicle according to claim 3 wherein said motive means comprises a motor,

said means controlled by the string comprising a movable mounting for the motor which normally maintains said motor in operative relation with the means for propelling when the string is not under tension and is moved to render the means for steering operative when the string is placed under tension.

6. A toy vehicle according to claim 3 including a planetary gear system operated by the motive means,

said panetary gear system being normally connected to operate the means for propelling,

said means controlled by the string when placed under tension including means to disconnect said planetary system from the means for propelling to discontinue its operation and to connect it to the means for steering.

7. A toy vehicle according to claim 2 wherein said motive means includes a first motor for operating the means for propelling and a second motor for operating the means for steering,

and said means controlled by the string when under tension comprises switch means for deenergizing the first motor and energizing the second motor.

8. A toy vehicle according to claim 2 wherein said motive means comprises a motor,

said means controlled by the string comprising a movable mounting for the motor which normally maintains said motor in operative relation with the means for propelling when the string is not under tension and is moved to render the means for steering operative when the string is placed under tension.

9. A toy vehicle according to claim 2 including a planetary gear system operated by the motive means,

said planetary gear system being normally connected to operate the means for propelling,

said means controlled by the string when placed under tension including means to disconnect said planetary system from the means for propelling to discontinue its operation and to connect it to the means for steering.

10. A toy vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said means controlled by the string when placed under tension discontinues operation of the means for propelling by said motive means.

11. A toy vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said motive means includes a first motor for operating the means for propelling and a second motor for operating the means for steering,

and said means controlled by the string when under tension comprises switch means for deenergizing the first motor and energizing the second motor.

12. A toy vehicle according to claim 1 wherein said motive means comprises a motor,

said means controlled by the string comprising a movable mounting for the motor which normally maintains said motor in operative relation with the means for propelling when the string is not under tension and is moved to render the means for steering operative when the string is placed under tension.

13. A toy vehicle according to claim 1 including a planetary gear system operated by the motive means,

said planetary gear system being normally connected to operate the means for propelling,

said means controlled by the string when placed under tension including means to disconnect said planetary system from the means for propelling to discontinue its operation and to connect it to the means for steering.

14. A toy vehicle according to claim 1 wherein the means for propelling comprises,

a pair of wheels,

differential gear means for driving both wheels from the motive means,

the means controlled by the string when under tension including brake means operated by the string for decreasing rotation of one of the wheels of the pair.

15. A toy vehicle according to claim 14 wherein said brake means comprises a stop member movably mounted on said vehicle,

at least one abutment member rotatable with the wheel,

said stop member being movable into engagement with abutment member upon placing said string under tension.

16. A toy vehicle according to claim 1 including

a depending member mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal shaft fixed on said vehicle,

a depending arm pivotally mounted on said member for pivotal movements about a horizontal axis,

means normally biasing said member for pivotal movement forwardly in the direction of travel of the vehicle,

cooperative stop means on said arm and vehicle for latching said member against pivotal movement forwardly,

movement of said arm rearwardly about its pivot by an obstruction in the path of said vehicle to thereby release the stop means to effect movement of the member by its biasing means to move forwardly, carrying said arm therewith.

17. A toy vehicle according to claim 16 including biasing means for normally moving the stop means on said arm into engagement with the cooperating stop means on the vehicle.

18. A toy vehicle according to claim 17, said arm having a forwardly directed hook-shaped claw member at its lower end.

19. A toy vehicle according to claim 16, said arm having a forwardly directed hook-shaped claw member at its lower end.

20. A toy vehicle which comprises,

a depending member mounted for pivotal movement about a horizontal shaft fixed on said vehicle,

a depending arm pivotally mounted on said member for pivotal movements about a horizontal axis,

means normally biasing said member for pivotal movement forwardly in the direction of travel of the vehicle,

cooperative stop means on said arm and vehicle for latching said member against pivotal movement forwardly,

movement of said arm rearwardly about its pivot by an obstruction in the path of said vehicle to thereby release the stop means to effect movement of the member by its biasing means to move forwardly, carrying said arm therewith.

21. A toy vehicle according to claim 20 including biasing means for normally moving the stop means on said arm into engagement with the cooperating stop means on the vehicle.

22. A toy vehicle according to claim 21, said arm having a forwardly directed hook-shaped claw member at its lower end.

23. A toy vehicle according to claim 20, said arm having a forwardly directed hook-shaped claw member at its lower end.