CA1296902C - Toy vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:

A toy vehicle having a wheeled chassis adapted to travel upon roadways and a body adapted to be secured to the chassis. The chassis is provided, on the body side, for the purpose of fitting any suitable body replaceably to a given chassis, with a series of pins spaced from each other, while the body is provided, on the chassis side, with a series of sleeves matching the arrangement of the pins and adapted to be pushed frictionally thereonto.

Description

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The present invention relates to a toy vehicle having a wheelecl chassis adapted to travel on roadways and a body adapted to be secured to the said chassis.
In the case of known toy vehicles, the body is mde to a predetermined design and is connected to the chassis inconveniently with bent tabs or clamping means.
Apart from the fact that such toys need access to their interiors, either to replace the power source or to make repairs, it is also essential to retain the body. Changing the body is either impossible, involves complex adaptation to the chassis, or requires a chassis adapted to the body.
It is the purpose of the invention to provide means for fitting bodies of any kind to the chassis, while retaining the same chassis.
According to the present invention, there is there fore provided a toy vehicle having a wheeled chassis adapted to travel on roadways and a body adapted to be secured to the chassis, wherein the chassis comprises, on the body side, a series of pins spaced from each other, while the body comprises, on the chassis side, a series of arrangement of the sleeves, matching the pins and adapted to engage frictionally therewith.
The pins and sleeves are preferably arranged in rows on the chassis and on the body, a multi-row arrangement of both the pins and the sleeves having been found advantageous and producing stable connections. This makes it possible to fit various bodies to a given chassis by a simple plug-in procedure. Moreover, the body selected may be fitted to, or removed from the chassis without the use of tools. For the purpose of equalizing tolerances, the pins are preferably provided with locating webs projecting from the peripheral surfaces thereof, so that when the sleeves are pushed over the pins, a clamping fit is obtained by deformation. It is to be understood that the locating webs A~ 1 12969C~2 may also be provided on the inner peripheral surfaces of the sleeves, whereas the outsides of the pins are smooth.
According to a preferred embodiment, the chassis is in the form of a box consisting of two parts arranged one above the other and adapted to be united in a plane parallel with the plane of the roadway, the union being effected by means of pins arranged upon one part of the chassis and sleeves adapted to be pushed onto the pins and arranged on the other part of the chassis. The chassis thus formed serves not only to mount the wheels, but also to accommodate the source of power, the transmission and the drive-motor.
It is preferable for one of the chassis-parts to be provided with a compartment for the accommodation of the drive-motor, whereas the other part of the chassis accommodates the transmission, at least a part of the electrical conductors, and a switching means. Areas moulded onto, or pinched into, the chassis-parts may serve to hold down the source of power and electrical conductors in the form of loosely inserted strip-conductors, for example.
The drive-motor may be mounted in the compartment in one part of the chassis by clamps. The electrical connection between the drive-motor and the electrical conductors is effected merely by pressing one against the other (bearing contact).
According to another preferred embodiments, the two chassis-parts are provided with half-shells constituting bearings for the wheels and wheel-shafts of the vehicle.
The front wheels in particular may be mounted in two similar half-shells arranged one above the other, the one being arranged on an extension of the upper chassis-part and the other on the lower chassis-part. The rear wheels, however, are preferably secured to a shaft running in recesses in the two chassis-parts.
Provision may also made for each of the front 12g6902 wheels of the vehicle ~o engage with a cylindrical stub-axle freely rotatable in the half-s}le~ls and for the stub-axles to be provided, in order to locate the wheels axially in the half-shells, with an annular element, or annular-element sections, projecting beyond the peripheral surfaces of the stub-axles and engaging in annular grooves in the half-shells. The stub-axles are preferably made of sections of tubes or sleeves. This arrangement makes it possible to mount the wheels merely by plugging them in. The relatively large diameter of the stub-axles ensures little play in the wheel-mountings, while the annular element, or annular-element sections, keep axial bearing play within narrow limits. The wheels may be fitted to the chassis without tools and the usual shaping of metal parts as axles and shafts is eliminated.
According to a preferred embodiment, the half-shelles may be fitted to each other immovably by means of tongues and grooves formed in the common parting surfaces and running axially and transversely of the longitudinal axes of the half-shells. To this end, one half-shell preferably carries. It is also possible to provide each half shell with a tongue and a diametrically opposite groove.
It is to be understood that the annular elements and annular grooves may be of any desirable cross-sectional shape and cross-sectional size. According to a preferred example of embodiment, the annular elements and annular grooves are of trapezoidal cross-section. By supporting each other mutually, the wedge-surfaces of the trapezium allow the wheels to be mounted on the chassis with particularly little play. It is possible for the annular elements and annular grooves to be semi-circular in cross-section.

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The inventi.on also prov:ides a 1-oy vehicle comprising: a chassis whicll is adapted to travel by means of wheels on a d.riving surface; a body is adapted to be fastened on the chassis the vehicle chassis comprising a plurali.ty of first pins fixed on -the side towards the body at a distance adjacen-t to each o-ther; the vehicle body comprising a plurality of first sleeves fixed on the side towards the chassis at the same distance and in relation to -the plurality of first pins which can be pushed onto the plurality of first pins of the vehicle chassis so they are frictionally engages; the vehicle chassis being formed boxlike by two vehicle chassis parts disposed on top of each other and connectable in a plane parallel to the plane of a driving surface, both of which are connected by means of second pins disposed on one chassis part and second sleeves provided on the other chassis part which can be pushed on the second pins wherein the one chassis part comprises a reception chamber containing a low voltage power source and a reception space containing a drive motor and the other chassis part comprises electric conductors extending into the reception chamber and a switching device providing or interrupting electrical contact between the drive motor and one of the electric conductors.
Preferred embodiments are described hereinafter as - 3a -1'~96902 examples without limitative manner having reference the attached drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a travelling toy;
Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a lower chassis-part;
Fig. 3 is a plan view of a chassis-part according to Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 is a side elevation of an upper chassis-part;
Fig. 5 is a side elevation of a body;
Fig. 6 is a cross-section along the line VI-VI in Fig. l;
Fig. 7 is a side elevation of a lower chassis-part of another design;
Fig. 8 is a plan view of a lower chassis-part of another design;
Fig. 9 is a side elevation of an upper chassis-part of another design;
Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a wheel, to an enlarged scale and partly sectioned;
Fig. 11 is a part-section of a chassis to an enlarged scale; and Fig. 12 is a cross-section along the line XII-XII
in Fig. 10, to an enlarged scale.
In Fig. 1, 1 is the chassis which can travel in known fashion on roadways (not shown) by means of front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3, 4 is a body of any suitable design which is connected to chassis 1. In this embodiment, chassis 1 consists of a lower part 1' and an upper part ~"
which jointly produce a box-like chassis. Chassis-part 1' and 1" may be connected together by a sliding process whereby pins 5 arranged on chassis part 1" slide frictionally into sleeves 6 on chassis-par~ 1'. In the vicinity of the front end, on both sides, chassis-part 1' is 1~9~9(~Z

provided with half-shells 7 which, when chassis-part 1", carrying half-shells 7' arranged on extensions 8, is fitted, make up the wheel-bearings. Furthermore, in the vicinity of further recesses 10 chassis-part 1' comprises a half-5 bearing-aperture 11 for drive-shaft 12 of rear wheels 3.
When the two chassis-parts are connected together, further extensions 13, with half-bearing-apertures 14, enter recesses 10. Mounted within chassis-part 1 are connecting springs 15,15' which may be connected, through electrical 10 conductors 16,16', to a drive-motor 17. Chassis-part 1"
accommodates, in a compartment 32, a battery (not shown) and is provided with a compartment 33 for the said drive-motor.
Electrical conductor 16 is connected to drive-motor 17 by pressing the former against an insulated contact 18 on the 15 said drive-motor, while electrical conductor 16' is connected by means of a sliding switch 19 adapted to move longitudinally in a recess 20 in chassis-part 1. The switch has a wedge-shaped extension 21 which lifts electrical conductor 16' out of a bend 22 during the sliding 20 movement and presses the free end of the conductor against another motor-contact, e.g. the motor housing, 23 are webs for locating electrical conductors 16,16' while 24 are moulded-on parts for located the said conductors in chassis part 1'.
Drive-motor 17 acts, through a pinion 25, upon a gearwheel 26 and a pinion 27 which meshes with a further gearwheel 28 secured to drive-shaft 12 of rear wheels 3.
The top of chassis-part 1" carries pins 29 which, in this particular example are arranged in two rows side by 30 side. Body 4 is adapted to be connected to chassis 1 by means of sleeves 30 which are pushed over pins 29 (Fig. 1).
For the purpose of equalizing tolerances, pins 29 may comprise locating webs 31 in their outer peripheral surfaces, the webs ensuring, by deformation, reliable :12969~2 attachment o~ the body t-o the chassis.
In this travelling toy, front wheels 2 rotate upon chassis l freely and independently. To this end, and as shown in particular in Fig. 10, front wheels 2 are mounted upon stub-axles 37 in -the form of sections of tubes or sleeves which rotate freely in bearings in the form of half-shells 7,7' on chassis 1. For the purpose of locating front wheels 2 axially, stub-axles 37 are provided with an annular element, or annular-element sections, 38 which project beyond the peripheral surfaces of the stub-axles and engage in annular grooves 39 in half-shells 7,7'.
for mutual alignment of half-shells 7,7', one half-shell carries tongues 40 and the other grooves 41. By fitting tongues 40 into grooves 41, alignment is effected by a simple sliding operation.
For the purpose of attaching front wheels 2, it is assumed, first of all, that chassis-parts l' and l" are held one above the other with a space between them. This makes it possible for the front wheels, with their stub-axles 37, to be placed in lower half-shells 7'. The upper chassis-part is then pushed down so that the upper half-shells form closed bearings with the lower half-shells in which the stub-axles are held by annular elements 38 and are thus free, or almost free, of axial play.
In the embodiment according to Fig. 12, annular-element sections 38' are arranged on stub-axles 37 for the purpose of locating front wheels 2.

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Claims (8)

1. A toy vehicle comprising:
a chassis which is adapted to travel by means of wheels on a driving surface;
a body is adapted to be fastened on the chassis the vehicle chassis comprising a plurality of first pins fixed on the side towards the body at a distance adjacent to each other;
the vehicle body comprising a plurality of first sleeves fixed on the side towards the chassis at the same distance and in relation to the plurality of first pins which can be pushed onto the plurality of first pins of the vehicle chassis so they are frictionally engaged:
the vehicle chassis being formed boxlike by two vehicle chassis parts disposed on top of each other and connectable in plane parallel to the plane of a driving surface, both of which are connected by means of second pins disposed on one chassis part which can be pushed on the second pins, wherein the one chassis part comprises a reception chamber containing a low voltage power source and a reception space containing a drive motor and the other chassis part comprises electric conductors extending into said reception chamber and a switching device providing or interrupting electrical contact between the drive motor and one of said electric conductors.

2. The toy vehicle in accordance with claim 1, wherein the drive motor is fastened in said reception space of the one chassis part by means of frictional clamping and can be connected with the electrical conductors by touch contact.

3. The toy vehicle in accordance with claim 1, wherein the two chassis parts comprise half shells which complement each other to form bearings supporting axle journals having a tube or a sleeve section on which one free end a vehicle wheel is provided.

4. The toy vehicle in accordance with claim 3, wherein said axle journals of the vehicle wheels are supported in said half shells extending one above the other, one of which is disposed on an extension of the one chassis part and the other on the other chassis part.

5. The toy vehicle in accordance with claim 4 , wherein a cylindrical axle journal of each front vehicle wheel engages the bearing formed by said half shells in a freely rotatable manner and the axle journals rotatably engage an annular groove provided in the half shells by means of annular bodies or sections of annular bodies fixed to the axle journals and extending beyond the circumferential surfaces of the axle journals for the purpose of axial fixation of the vehicle wheels in the half shells with substantially no axial play.

6. The toy vehicle in accordance with claim 3 , wherein the one half shell has springs and the other half shell has grooves, so that an alignment automatically takes place by means of the descent of the springs into the grooves through a sliding motion.

7. The toy vehicle in accordance with claim 5, wherein the annular bodies and the annular grooves are formed with trapezoid cross-sections.

8. The toy vehicle in accordance with claim 5, wherein the annular bodies and the annular grooves are formed with semicircular cross-sections.