US3487999A

US3487999A - Roadway toy

Info

Publication number: US3487999A
Application number: US779874A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alan W B Nash; Harvey W La Branche; Howard F Newman; Marjorie Ann M Smith
Original assignee: Mattel Inc
Current assignee: Mattel Inc
Priority date: 1968-11-29
Filing date: 1968-11-29
Publication date: 1970-01-06
Anticipated expiration: 1987-01-06
Also published as: ES372788A1; GB1291592A

Description

Jan. A, w. B. NASH ErAL 3,487,999

ROADWAY TOY Filed Nov. 29. 1968 I 7 Mus-NW1?! 410 we. Maw

Ame/{r 4 xvii/axle #04 4190 If #1700114 AmPJM/r Aw Ilia/r4 United States Patent ROADWAY TOY Alan W. B. Nash, Torrance, Harvey W. La Branche,

Palos Verdes Peninsula, Howard F. Newman, Los

Angeles, and Marjorie Ann M. Smith, Gardena, Califi,

assignors to Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Califi, a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 29, 1968, Ser. No. 779,874 Int. Cl. A63h 19/30; E01b 23/00 US. Cl. 238- 12 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Track sections for connection in series to form a roadway for toy vehicles comprising a track member with a flat upper surface for supporting rolling vehicles, the track member having walls on either side to confine the vehicles. The track member also has a connector surface opposite the upper surface, and L-shaped walls on either side that form grooves for receiving a connector. A long flat connector with alternating protuberance on either side is held in the grooves of adjacent track members to hold them together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to roadways for mobile toys.

Description of the prior art The entertainment provided by scale model automobiles can be enhanced by providing a toy roadway for guiding the vehicles along a smooth, swift path. The roadway is generally sold in the form of separate track sections which must be joined, but is manufactured by extrusion or other continuous process. A track of constant cross-section, to permit economical manufacture, which could be easily joined to other track sections, would enable economical production and easy use.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a toy track for a mobile toy, which is economical to produce and easy to use.

Another object is to provide connector apparatus for joining toy track sections.

In accordance with the present invention, a track section of constant cross-section is provided for guiding mobile toys such as miniature autos that move on wheels. The track section has an upper portion for guiding the vehicles and constraining walls on either side to prevent. vehicles from leaving the track. The bottom portion of the track section has a pair of members that form an undercut slot for receiving a connector that can join the track section to another track section. The track section is constructed of a flexible material, to permit tight engagement with a connector in the undercut slot, and to facilitate bending of the track.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a roadway constructed in accordance with the invention, with a toy vehicle thereon;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3--3 of 3,487,999 Patented Jan. 6, 1970 ice FIGURE 2, and showing the position of vehicle wheels on the roadway;

FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of the roadway of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 5 is an end elevation view of the connector of FIGURE 4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIGURE 1 illustrates a roadway 10 for guiding mobile toys, such as a scale model automobile 12. The roadway is of modular construction, that is, it has components of similar construction which are designed for joining together to form a complete structure. Thus, the roadway has several track sections such as

sections

14 and 16, which are connected in series. The track sections are generally packaged side-by-side in boxes which are only as long as a single track section. A child removes the sections and assembles them into a long roadway. The sections are flexible, to facilitate bending into inclines or complete loops. The sections are designed for quick assembly and disassembly, and to enable change of the track layout as by adding switches, intersections, and the like. Either self propelled cars, or coasting cars designed for roadways that extend primarily downhill, can be used.

The track sections are designed for economical manufacture, by such processes as extrusion, and to this end they have a substantially constant cross-section. The sections are generally manufactured as a continuous product, which is cut at predetermined distances to form individual track sections. Thus, a cross-section is required that provides an economical track that is eflicient for vehicle carrying yet which permits easy joining to other track sections of the same shape at its ends. As shown in FIGURE 3, the track has an upper surface portion 18 (which is usually, but not always, uppermost) forming a. vehicle guiding surface 20. The guiding surface is substantially flat, although downwardly-

beveled portions

22 and 24 may be introduced at either side. A pair of vehicle-confining

walls

26 and 28 extend on either side of the vehicle guiding surface to confine the vehicles to the roadway. The

walls

26 and 28 may be sloped or angled away from each other to reduce the contact area between the walls and the wheels of vehicles.

The track also has a lower or connecting surface portion 30, with a connector surface 32 opposite the vehicle guiding surface for receiving a connector 34. Two lips or connector-engaging walls 36 and 38 depending from either side of the lower surface form an undercut slot 40, with each Wall forming a groove 42, 44 of the slot. The connector-engaging walls 36 and 38 are of L-shape cross-section, and are positioned so the grooves 42 and 44 face each other. The L-shape facilitates bending of the walls to receive a connector. The walls and connectors are designed for facile but secure joining of the track sections, as will be described beow. Although the lips have outer ends that extend directly toward each other, they can be made to extend with directional components that are less than completely directed toward each other, to provide V-shaped grooves or the like.

The roadway is especially designed for use with any of a series of toy automobiles that are constructed to a predetermined scale from the full-sized autos, such as 30 to 1. Thus, the width of the vehicle guiding surface 20 may be substantially greater than the wheel spacing of the toy autos. However, it is found that the vehicles move freely along the roadway even though their wheels, such as wheels 46 and 48 of FIGURE 3, are laterally spaced substantially closer together than the vehicle guiding walls of the roadway. The angling of the vehicle-confining

walls

26 and 28 away from each other tends to reduce vehicle contact with these walls to only the outer edges 50 of the wheels. These edges are moving at nearly zero speed with respect to the bottom of the

walls

26 and 28 which they may contact, so there is little sliding friction losses to slow the vehicle.

The track sections are joined together in the manner indicated in FIGURE 4, by inserting the connector 34 half-way into the undercut slot 40 of one track section 14, and then pushing the other track section 16 over the protruding half of the connector. The connector has a width W which is slightly less than the distance between the innermost parts of the grooves 42 and 44, where they are furthest apart. This width W is several times greater than the width G of the grooves 42 and 44, or the thickness of any portion of the connector 34 that fits into the grooves, so the connector has a flat shape.

The connector 34 has a plurality of protuberances or bosses 52 spaced along each of its

sides

54 and 56, the bosses extending from opposite faces 58 and 60 of the conductor. At each side, the bosses alternate from one face to another along the length of the connector. When the connector is inserted into the undercut slot of a track section, the bosses bear against the opposite walls of each groove to hold the connector in place. The staggered or alternating arrangement of the bosses results in each side of the connector being bent in a sinuous or wavy manner. For example, in FIGURE 2, the three

boxes

62, 64 and 66 causes the connector portion above the bOss 64 to be bowed up. Both the connector and track sections are of flexible material, so both assume a wavy shape. The thickness T of the connector at each protuberance or boss, as shown in FIG- URES 3 and 5, must be more than one-half the width G of the groove, but less than the full width of the groove. The thickness T at a boss, plus the height H of an adjacent boss on the opposite face, should be greater than the width G of the groove, in order to achieve a secure connection.

The use of a flat connector whose height (at the bosses) is designed for an interference-type fit, allows moderate dimensional tolerance to be used in manufacturing. If, instead, the interference was between the side edges 54 and 56 of the connector and the innermost portions of the grooves, proportionately closer tolerances would have to be employed. This is because a given interference, such as one-hundreths inch, is a smaller proportion of the large width W of the connector than of its thickness T. In addition, the L-shaped connector-engaging walls 36 and 38 can be readily bent to enlarge the width G of the grooves 42 and 44, so that moderate dimensional tolerances can be used in construction the connection without a likelihood of it not being received in the track grooves.

In order to facilitate entrance of the connector into the undercut slot 40, the ends 68 and 70 of the connector are tapered in width and thickness. Both the track sections and connector can be made of inexpensive plastics, to provide an economical, easily assembled roadway for smooth toy vehicle travel.

Although a particular embodiment of the invention has been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. A track system for a miniature vehicle having freely rolling wheels;

at least one elongated track section of substantially uniform cross-section throughout its length for guiding said vehicle including an upper face portion for supporting the wheeled vehicle, guide flanges projecting generally upwardly from each side of said face portion and extending substantially the entire length of said track section for guiding said vehicle and maintaining it on said track section, and spaced sutficiently far apart to permit lateral movement of the vehicle on said upper face portion, and a lower portion generally underlying said upper face portion and defining downwardly open channel means extending substantially the entire length of said track section thereby imparting strength and rigidity to said track section, said channel means comprising flange meansdefining inwardly facing opposed grooves providing a receptacle for a track connector whereby said track section may be connected to an additional track section of similar cross-section configuration; and

a connector having a cross-sectional configuration substantially'conforming to the interior of said channel means and adapted to be partially inserted therein with its opposed edges engaging in said grooves so that the remainder thereof can be inserted into the corresponding channel means ofna second track section having a substantially similar cross-section, at last one face of said connector having a plurality of spaced protuberancesthereon for frictionally engaging the interiorof said channel means.

2. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said channel means comprises a web portion underlying said upper face portion said flange portions depending from each side thereof.

3. The apparatus asset forth in claim 2 wherein each said flange portion has a substantially L-shape to form a closely confining groove.

4. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein each face of said connector is provided with said protuberances disposed proximate to each groove engaging edge thereof and staggered on opposite faces with respect to each groove engaging edge.

5. The apparatus as set forth in claim 4 wherein each said groove engaging edge of said connector is provided with spaced protuberances.

6. The apparatus as set forth in claim 5 wherein said protuberances on each said edge are continuous with the protuberances on each said face of said connector.

7. The apparatus as set forth in claim 1 further including a miniature vehicle having freely rolling wheels, the outer circumference of each said wheel includes two portions, a first portion of relatively narrow width adapted to engage said upper face portion of said track section and a second portion of relatively wider width and smaller diameter than said firm portion extending outwardly from said first portion and adapted to engage 'said guide flanges.

8. The apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said guide flanges are directed upwardly and outwardly to minimize the frictional resistance resulting from the contact between said second portion of each said wheel and said guide flanges.

9. The apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said first portion of each said wheel is beveled whereby the portion thereof engaging said upper face portion is substantially an edge.

10. The combination of a track system and a miniature vehicle having freely rolling wheels;

at least one elongated track section of substantially uniform cross-section throughout its length for guiding said vehicle including an upper face portion for supporting the wheeled vehicle, guide flanges projecting generally upwardly from each side of said face portion and extending substantially the entire length of said track section for guiding said vehicle and maintaining it on said track section, and spaced sufficiently far apart to permit lateral movement of the vehicle on said upper face portion, and a lower portion generally underlying said upper face portion and defining downwardly open channel means extending substantially the entire length of said track section thereby imparting strength and rigidity to said track section, said channel means comprising flange means defining inwardly facing opposed grooves providing a receptacle for a track connector whereby said track section may be connected to an additional track section of similar cross-section configuration;

a connector having a cross-sectional configuration substantially conforming to the interior of said channel means and adapted to be partially inserted therein with its opposed edges engaging in said grooves so that the remainder thereof can be inserted into the corresponding channel means of a second track section having a substantially similar cross-section; and

a minimature vehicle having freely rolling wheels, the outer circumference of each said wheel including two portions, a first portion of relatively narrow width adapted to engage said upper face portion of said track section and a second portion of relatively wider Width and smaller diameter than said first portion extending outwardly from said first portion and a apapted to engage said guide flanges.

11. The apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein said guide flanges are directed upwardly and outwardly to minimize the frictional resistance resulting from the contact between said second portion of each said wheel and said guide flanges.

12. The apparatus as set forth in claim 10 wherein said first portion of each said wheel is beveled whereby the portion thereof engaging said upper face portion is substantially an edge.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,142,150 6/1915 Dorrill 238-10 1,482,636 2/1924 Fergusson 238-10 10 2,021,045 11/1935 Boisselier 238-40 2,050,147 8/1936 Anderson 238-40 2,862,333 12/1958 GardiOl 238-10 3,343,793 9/1967 Waser 238-10 15 FOREIGN PATENTS 800,545 12/1950 Germany.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner 20 RICHARD A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner Disclaimer 3,487,999.-AZa/n W. B. Nash, Torrence, H ar'vey W. La Branches, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Howard F. Newman, Los Angeles, and Marjorie Ann M. Smith, Gardena, Calif. ROADWAY TOY. Patent dated J an. 6, 1970. Disclaimer filed June 18, 1970, by the assignee, Mattel, I no. Hereby disclaims the terminal portion of the term of the patent subsequent to December 16, 1986.

[Ojfioial Gazette August 4, 1.970.]