CA1086946A - Vehicle controlling means - Google Patents

Abstract

TOY VEHICLE

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
A toy vehicle has a chassis, a plurality of support wheels and a motor mounted on the chassis for driving at least some of the support wheels along an axial path in a predetermined direction. A switch responsive to impact is mounted on the chassis and serves to reverse the predetermined direction. Further operation drives the wheels in the pre-determined direction. The result is a low cost toy vehicle with improved control and turning functions.

Description

~0~6946 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This application relates to a remote control toy vehicle, and is a division of application Serial No. 289,508 filed October 26, 1977.
More specifically, the invention consists of a toy having wheel. means which comprises in combination, (a) a chassis, ~b) a motor mounted on said chassis for driving said wheel means along an axial path in a firs~ predetermined direction, (c) impact responsive switch means, mounted on said chassis and responsive to impact thereon for switching from a first condition to.a second condition for reversing said direction of said.wheel means, and ~d) means in said toy responsive to a.predetermined radiant energy signal for switching said switch means to said first condition for driving said wheel means along said first predetermined direction.
Embodiments of the invention are lllustrated by way of example and.not.by way of limitation in the accompany-ing drawings. .The drawings also illustrate features claimed in the parent application and in a further divisional application Serial No. 340,326 filed concurrently herewith.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
, FIGURE 1 is a top view of a sound controlled toy vehicle; . ..
FIGURE 2 is a view taken along the line 2-2 of Figure 3;
FIGURE 3 is a bottom view of a sound controlled toy vehicle;
FIGURE 4 is an electronic circuit for controlling the motors 3 and 11 of FIGURES 1-3; .
FIGURE 5 is a second example of an electronic circuit;
FIGURE 6 is a device capable of providing a sound

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frequency from a remote location capable of commencingoperation of the turning electronic circuit of FIGURES 4 and 5;
FIGURE 7 is an embodiment of a switch structure with associated contact elements;
FIGURE 8a is an embodiment of an electronic circuit for providing forward and reverse operation to a sound controlled toy vehicle utilizing the structure of FIGURE 7;
FIGURE 8a is a further embodiment of the electric circuit to be ~sed in combination with the circuit of FIGURE
8b to provide turning as well as independent forward and reverse operation;
FIGURE 9 is an embodiment of the switch structure shown in FIGURE 7 for use in the circuit of FIGURE 8a to provide sequential right, left, forward and reverse operation without addition of the circuit of FIGURE 8b;
FIGURE 10 is a top view with the worm gear 15 removed of the forward end of the vehicle in accordance with a still further example to provide reversal upon collision;
FIGURE 11 is a partial side view as in FIGURE 10 with the wGrm gear 15 in place;
FIGURE 12a is a top view of the worm gear and rotary steering switch of FIGURES 10 and 11;
FIGURE 12b is a bottom view as in FIGURE 12a;
FIGURE 13 is a partial electrical schematic diagram in accordance with the embodiment of FIGURES 10 to 12;
FIGURE 14 is a top view of the forward end of the vehicle in accordance with a sixth example to provide reversal upon collision; and .
. ' . ' ' ' : , , ~6~869~6 FIGURE 15 is a partial electric circuit diagram of the e~bodiment of FIGU~E 14.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFER~D EMBODIMENTS-Referring ncw to Figures 1 to 3, there is shown a vehicle chassis 1 having a battery 2 in the center portion thereo~ At the rear of the vehicle is the vehicle axial drive mechanism which comprises the drive motor 3 having a pulley 4 mounted on the shaft of the motor 3 and driving pulley 5 by means of a belt 6. The pulley 5 drives the worm gear 7 (Fiy. 1) which is meshed - :
with the output gear 8 (Fig. 3) to provide rotation to the wheels 10 via the rear wheel shaft 9. The output gear 8 is keyed to the rear wheel shaft 9 to provide such rotation. Worm gear 7, output gear 8 and pulleys 4 and 5 can be eliminated and replaced by a direct friction drive between the motor shaft and the rear wheel 10.

The forward end of the vehicle of Figures 1 to 3 includes the stèering mechanism which includes the steering motor 11 which is also operated from the battery 2 and which has a pinion gear 12 positioned on the shaft of the motor 11, the pinion gear driving ~O a ~pur gear 13 which in turn drives a worm gear 14. The worm gear 14 drives the output gear 15 which has a central shaft 16 integral therewith and rotatably journaled in the chassis 1 (not shown).
q~he shaft 16 has affixed to one side thereof the crank 17 as shown in Figure 2, the crank also being clearly shown in Figure 3.
A crank pin 18 is secured to the crank 17 and engages the slot ~O

. - 4 -694~i in a link 19 best shown in Figure 3. The opposite ends of the link 19 are pivotally affixed to the steering arms 20 and 21 by pin~ 22 and 23. The steering arms 20 and 21 are pivotally mounted on the chassis 1 by the pins 24 and 25 and the front wheels 26 and 27 are rotatably mounted to the shafts 28 and 29 which are affixed to the steering arms.

It can thus be seen that a 360 rotation of the crank pin in the slot 30 will steer the vehicle through the sequence of axial, right, axial and left and then again axial, the axial di-rection being forward or reverse along the axis of the vehicle.

The motor and gearing mechanism for changing the direction of the wheels 26 and 27 is controlled by means of the cam 31 which is affixed to the gear 15 and acts upon the switch blades 32, 33 and 34 (Figs. 1 and 4) which are insulated from each other by the insulators 35 ard 36, said assembly constituting a three bladed switch affixed to the chassis 1 as shown in Figures 1 and 4. The cam 31 is shown in a rest position and the blades 32 and 33 are in contact, completing the circuit to the drive motor 3 as shown in FigureS 1 and 4 so that the vehicle is proceeding in either a straight, full left or full right direction.

A signal transmitted from a remote location of a frequency that can be picked up by the microphone of Figure 4 will, for reasons to be explained hereinbelow, cause current to flow to and rotate the shaft of the steering ~otor 11 and thereby rotate the cam 31 by rotation of gears 12, 13, 1~ and 15, thereby causing the blades 32 and 33 to separate due to the leftward movement of , . ~ , ' :

16)86946 the blade 33 as shown in Figure 4 and will also cause blades 33 and 34 to contact each other. Thus, the drive motor 3 is stopped while the contacting blades 33 and 34 keep the steering motor 11 running while simultaneously short circuiting the anode and cathode of the SCR Ql. When cam 31 has rotated ~Oo, the blade 33 falls into a subsequent notch in the cam 31 and blades 33 and 34 are separated as the blades 32 and 33 make contact. Now the steering motor 11 has stopped and, as drive motor 3 resumes operation, the circuit is ready for the next remote command signal.

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In this manner, a vehicle proceeding on a stright course will respond to a signal of proper frequency by stopping and turning its front wheels to a new direction,~then resuming move-ment in that new direction until another sharp audible sound will cause the vehicle to stop, steer to a straight ahead direction and resume movement in that direction.

If desired, the drive motor 3 can continue to run while the steering motor 11 operates. Thus, the toy will be driven con-tinuously while it steers. ~his is accomplished by the embodi-ment of the circuit as shown in Figure 5. In the Figure 5 embodi-ment, blade 32 has been removed and the wire from drive motor 3is connected directly to the negative batteryterminal and will .
~, run continuously when the main switch 37 is closed.

As stated previously, a proper frequency signal may be generated in the audible sonic range by clapping hands or a single hand held device as shown in Figure 6 may be used. In the device of Figure 6 a sound is generated by pulling back on ., 10869AE;
the flat spring 38 and releasing it to strike the diaphragm 39.
The cup or cone 40 will serve to direct the ~ound to~ard the vehic]e. Of course, the device of Figure 6 is designed to pro-vide an audible signa~ in the frequency range to which the micrO-phone of Figure 4 is responsive so that the circuit will operate properly. It should be understood that other devices can be used ~Jhich produce sonic signals, supersonic or non-audible sound waves, such as appropriate well known dog calling whistles or radio frequencies, the only additional requirement being that the microphone or other appropriate receiving device be capable of receiving and operating with the remote transmitted sound frequency signal.

Referring now to Figure 4 and its operation, power is ap-plied by closing switch 37. The switch actuated by cam 31 is nor-mally positioned as shown in Figures 1, 4 and 5, therefore drive motor 3 is running. This causes the vehicle to move in an axial direction, assuming that the wheels are initially positioned for forward movement. A signal of appropriate frequency and intensity is now provided. This is picked up by the microphone as shown in Figure 4, the microphone preferably being a crystal microphone (as stated above, other receiving devices can be used, which con-verts a sonic signal to an electrical signal~ which is amplified by transistor Ql and applied to the gate of the SCR or silicon controlled rectifier Q2. This turns on the SCR and causes current to pass through and operate the steering motor 11 from the battery 2. This also causes discharge of the previously charged capacitor C3. The motor 11 drives the steering mechanism and rotates cam 31 . .
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as described hereinabove to cause blades 33 and 34 to contact each other. This causes a short circuit to be provided between the anode and cathode of the SCR, thereby rendering it non-con-ductive while continuing to apply battery voltage to motor 11 via blades 33 and 34 until cam 31 allows blades 33 and 34 to separate by having blades 33 fall into the next notch therein, thereby ro-tating wheels 26 and 27. Motor 11 now comes to a stop and re-mains stopped until the SCR is triggered by the next sound fre-quency signal. Capacitor C3 is in a discharged state before blades 33 and 34 are separated and recharges to the full battery voltage as motor 11 coasts to a stop. By virture of this dis-charged state and the subsequent charging, capacitor C3 acts to suppress the arc that would be created by the separation of blades 33 and 34. Thus, capacitor C3 eliminates induced voltage tran-sients in the circuit and prevents spurious triggering o the SCR.
- Capacitor C3 also acts as a filter across the SCR to limit the rate of voltage application to the SCR, said rate, if excessive, causing self-triggerlng of the SCR.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8a, there is shown another embodiment of the invention. In this embodiment, the two motor system can be used to cause a reversal of direction~ In accordanc~
with this embodiment, a printed circuit disc 41 is provided having etched thereon the three conductive patterns noted as 42, 43 and 44. It should be understood that though a printed circuit is shown, any other type of device such as conductive metal stampings affixed to a non-conductive disc, etc., can be used so long as .
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1~86946 they provide the same function. As described above, a soundfrequency command will actuate motor 52 and rotate disc 41 through the reduction gears composed of worm gear 53 and output gear 54. The disc 41 is secured to the output gear 54 which may be rotatahly journalled anywhere on the vehicle chassis, since it is not coupled to the steering mechanism. Blades 45 and 45 lie in the turning path of the conductive pattern 42. It is apparent that in each 1800 of the rotation of disc 41, the SCR will be short circuited by the pattern 42 and then reset.
The blades 47, ~8 and 49 and 50 lie in the turning path of the conductive patterns 43 and 44 with each 1800 rotation of disc 41.
Such 1800 rotation will alternately connect and reverse the con-nection of drive motor 3' to the positive and negative terminals of the battery. Thus, with each sound frequenc~ command, the vehicle can be reversed in direction.
, It is apparent that a toy may combine the systems for re-versal shown in Figure 8a with a system for steering as shown in Figure 5. This embodiment is shown~ in the combination of Figures 8a and 8b. In Figure 8b the cam 31 of Figure 5 is replaced by a printed circuit disc 31', which is affixed to the output gear 15 and has etched thereon the conductive pattern shown. The blades 33' and 34' lie in the turning path of the conductive pattern 31' and hence will function in the same manner as cam 31 with blades 33 and 34 in Figure 5. Since the electronic circuits of ~igures 8a and 8b are sensitive to differenk sonic frequencies, a child may both steer and reverse the vehicle at will by generating the appropriate frequency. This can be accomplished by use of two .
~ ~ '. ~ ' ' ' ' '', ~0~6~46 signals or sonic generators that generate different frequencies and two circuits, each sensitive to different frequencies by virtue of frequency filters 51 and 51' shown in Figures 8a and 8h.

It should be understood that in Figure 7, the connecting conductors 57 and 58 of the patterns 43 and 44 are shown dotted.
This is to indicate that they may be on the underside of disc 41 with connection through aperture in the disc to prevent the momen-tary short circuiting of the batteries as the contacts 47, 48 pass over these connectors.

Sequential steering as well as reversal may be accomplished by replacing the printed circuit disc 41 in Figure 8a with the printed circuit disc 59 shown in Flgure 9. Disc 5g is affixed to the output gear 15 and is therefore caupled to the steering mechanism in the same manner as cam 31 in Figures 1, 2 and 3. It is apparent that printèd circuit disc 59 is a modification of printed circuit disc 41 in combination w.th printed circuit disc 31'. The conductive patterns 61 and 62 perform the same electrical reversing functions as conductive patterns 43 and 44 or disc 41, but conductive pattern 61, which determines the forward movement of the vehicle ha~ been extended to cover a sector of approximately 2400. eonductive pattern 60 is the same as conductive pattern 31' in Figure 8b and serves the same function. Therefore, with each sound frequency signal, the disc 61 will rotate 90o and move the vehicle through a sequence of axial forward, left forward, axial reverse, right for~ard, and then axial forward again.

The afore described reversing systems have some disadvantage -~al8694~

In the embodiment of Figure g it i5 apparent that when the vehicle is turning to the right, the operator must cycle the steering mechanism through forward and left before the vehicle can be reversed.

In the combination embodiment using two different ~re-quencies, the vehicle can be reversed at will, but this requires nearly doubling the control system, and the cost is objectionable.

Accordingly, by means of the embodiment of Figures 10 to 13, a system for reversing the vehicle when it strikes a wall or other obstacle, and then causing it to 5O forward again, at will, by a sonic signal operating the steering mechanism is prGvided.
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- Refe~rring now to Fi~ures 10 to 12,there is shown a vehicle as in the prior embodiments with the addition of the bumper 63, affixed to a slide 64, said slide being constrained to move axially between guides 65 and 66.Guides 65 and 66 form "T" slots that pre-vent upward as well as non-axial movement of the slide. Affixed to the slide 64 are two contacts 67 and 68, said contacts pressing upon the small printed circuit board 69. These contacts and printed circuit boards are also shown in the circuit diagram in Figure 13.

The printed circuit board 69 is connected to the battery.
via leads 80 and 81 while the slide contacts 67 and 68 are con-nected to the rear driving motor 3. In the normal or forward posi-tion,the slide contacts 67 and 68 are in contact with the printed circuit portions 84 and 85. It is apparent that when the bumper 63 strikes an obstruction, the slide contacts 67 and 68 are moved , :

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inwardly across the print~d circuit board 69, and the contacts 67 and 68 will be positioned on portions 82 and 83 of the printed circuit 69 so that the polarity to the motor leads is reversed, thus reversing the veh~icle. The slide contacts 67 and 68 are returned to the normal or forward position by the action oE cam 70 against the cam follower 71 as described hereinbelow.

Affixed to the underside of the worm gear 15 is a cam 70 having four lobes (see Figure 12b), said lobes heing so oriented with the rotary switch 31' that when the steering mechanism is at O rest, the cam follower 71 is opposite a valley in the cam. Thus, when the vehicle strikes an obstacle, the cam follower 71 moves into a depression in the cam and the vehicle reverses. Operation of the steering mechanism by a sound signal will rotate the cam 70 by gOo, thus turning the front wheels while simuitaneously return-ing the slide 64 to its outward position with contacts 67 and 68 on portions 84 and 85 of printed circuit 69, thereby again rever-sing the direction of the ~ehicle In this manner the vehicle striking of an obstacle will ca~se reversal of its direction and cause it to continue in the 0 rearward direction until a sonic signal actuates the steering mechanism to turn cam 70 and push out cam follower 71, again re-.
versing the vehicle. Thus the vehicle will simultaneously move forward and turn away from the obstruction in a seemingly magical manner.

Figure 14 is another em~odiment of the invention that eliminates the need for moving wires. In this embodiment, two ~ . .

699~6 , ., U-shaped contacts 72 and 73 traverse the printed circuit board 74 which replaces the circuit board 69 of ~he prior embodiment 74.
. The printed circuit board and contacts are also shown in the par-tial electrical schematic diagram of Figure 15. ~ere, too, it is apparent that,as .the sliding contacts move inward from portions 86, 87, 88 and 89 to portions 86, 90, 91 and 89, the polarity of -the motor leads 92 and 93 is reversed. Leads 94 and 95 go to .the battery. Thus, again the vehicle will reverse when striking an obstruction and then,in reacting to a sonic signal, move for-~10 ward as it turns away from the obstruction.

While the preferred embodiments utilize sound frequencies, it should be understood that any receivable radiation can be used, such as radio frequency, light freguency, etc. Accordingly, such control signals are included herein and can be substituted for one or more sound control devices in any combination.

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:- ~hough the invention has been described with respect to specific preferred embodiments thereof, many variations and modi-fications will Immediately become apparent to those skilled in ~he art. It is therefore the intention that the appended claims '0 be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of the prior art to include all such variat.ions and modi~ications.

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Claims (7)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A toy having wheel means which comprises in combination, (a) a chassis, (b) a motor mounted on said chassis for driving said wheel means along an axial path in a first predetermined direction, (c) impact responsive switch means, mounted on said chassis and responsive to impact thereon for switching from a first condition to a second condition for reversing said direction of said wheel means, and (d) means in said toy responsive to a predetermined radiant energy signal for switching said switch means to said first condition for driving said wheel means along said first predetermined direction.

2. A toy as set forth in claim 1 further including a source of power for said motor, said impact responsive switch means including means to reverse the direction of power flow to said motor in response to impact thereon.

3. A toy as set forth in claim 1 wherein said impact responsive means includes bumper means slidable axially along said chassis, a pair of contact secured to said bumper means and movable therewith, a surface including an electri-cally conductive circuit pattern thereon, said contacts each contacting said pattern, whereby, in a first predetermined position of said contacts on said surface, said circuit pattern causes said motor to run in a first direction and, in a second predetermined position of said contacts on said surface, said circuit pattern causes said motor to turn in the opposite direction.

4. A toy as set forth in claim 3 wherein said means responsive in (d) includes a cam rotatable responsive to said further predetermined operation and a cam follower responsive to rotation of said cam to move said bumper means outwardly from said chassis whereby said contacts are placed in said first predetermined position.

5. A toy as set forth in claim 4 wherein said cam includes a plurality of lobes defining plural peaks and valleys, said cam follower being positioned in a said valley when said bumper slides inwardly into said chassis, said cam follower being at a peak after a said predetermined operation.

6. A toy as set forth in claim 4 wherein said means responsive in (d) further includes a disc carrying said cam and remote controlled means for rotating said disc.

7. A toy as set forth in claim 5 wherein said means responsive in (d) further includes a disc carrying said cam and remote controlled means for rotating said disc.