EP0254679B1 - Rack railway toy - Google Patents

Description

A toy rack railway according to the preamble of claim 1 is known from US-A 2 782 730. This rack and pinion railway has two spaced apart, U-shaped rails. The two upper legs of the rails facing each other form a smooth running surface. Rectangular holes are cut out in the U-bars that run perpendicular to this driving surface. The remaining vertical rungs between the holes form a toothing. A locomotive with four running axles is placed on the rails. The running axles carry wheels with wheel flanges. The wheel flanges lie laterally on the upper U-legs of the rails. Each pair of axles also has a bracket under the upper U-legs of the rails. This keeps the locomotive safely on the rails. A motor drives a vertical drive shaft via a worm gear, which carries a drive wheel at the bottom. The drive wheel engages in one of the two toothings. To ensure this engagement, a sliding and rolling guide means is rotatably mounted on the drive shaft, which is supported on the inside of the two upper U-legs of the rails, which form the running surface. With this cog railway, the road can be steep as desired, even overhead. However, the traction vehicle cannot be placed on the carriageway from above and removed again, but it must be inserted horizontally in the direction of travel at one end of the carriageway. This means that the track cannot be laid as a closed track. Due to the additional lateral guidance in the area of the drive wheel, it is impossible to negotiate tight curves. The play value of this well-known toy rack railway is therefore rather modest.

The present invention has for its object to design a toy rack railway, a roadway and a traction vehicle in such a way that the vehicle can be easily placed on the roadway, that it is also possible to negotiate tight curves, and still have relatively large gradients and inclines high tensile and impact loads can be driven on. This object is achieved by the characterizing features of claims 1, 26 and 27.

With the design according to the invention, the vehicle can easily be placed on the road from above. This means that the road can also be laid in a closed circle. Because the wheels have no wheel flanges, even tight corners can be negotiated without any problems. The external forces acting on the locomotive, namely the driving force on the drive wheel, the cornering force and the clutch force all act on the same point, so that these forces together cannot form any significant tipping moments. This results in a very high stability of the vehicles on the road, which practically excludes "derailments" in tight bends and changeable, winding gradients even at high driving speeds. The lateral toothing of the toothed member, which is arranged perpendicular to the driving surface of the roadway, enables steep gradients to be overcome without the risk of the drive gear of the traction vehicle jumping out of this toothing.

• Fig. 1 eine Seitenansicht eines aus zusammengesetzten Bausteinen bestehenden, mit einem Zahnradantrieb versehenen Zuges;
• Fig. 2 eine Oberansicht des Zuges der Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 eine Unteransicht des Zuges der Fig. 1;
• Fig. 4 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines mit einer Zahnstange versehenen geraden Fahrbahnstückes;
• Fig. 5 eine Unteransicht des Fahrbahnstückes der Fig. 4;
• Fig. 6 eine Oberansicht eines mit einer Zahnstange versehenen, um 90_° gebogenen Fahrbahnstückes;
• Fig. 7 eine Unteransicht eines der beiden Enden des Fahrbahnstückes der Fig. 6;
• Fig. 8 eine Unteransicht einer Verbindungslasche für Fahrbahnstücke gemäss Fig. 4 und 6;
• Fig. 9 eine Unteransicht des gekuppelten Antriebfahrgestells der Fig. 3 mit eingezeichneter Zahnstange;
• Fig. 10 eine Unteransicht des gekuppelten Zwischenfahrgestells der Fig. 3 mit eingezeichneter Zahnstange;
• Fig. 11 eine Unteransicht des gekuppelten Endfahrgestells der Fig. 3 mit eingezeichneter Zahnstange;
• Fig. 12 eine perspektivische Ansicht des ungekuppelten Zwischenfahrgestells der Fig. 1 bis 3;
• Fig. 13 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Kupplungsbügels für das Fahrgestell der Fig. 12;
• Fig. 14 eine Draufsicht auf den Kupplungsbügel der Fig. 13;
• Fig. 15 einen Schnitt durch den Kupplungsbügel der Fig. 13;
• Fig. 16 eine perspektivische Ansicht des unverbundenen Endfahrgestells der Fig. 1 bis 3;
• Fig. 17 eine perspektivische Ansicht eines Verbindungsbügels für das Fahrgestell der Fig. 16;
• Fig. 18 eine Oberansicht einer Fahrzeugplattform der Fig. 1 bis 3;
• Fig. 19 eine Seitenansicht der Fahrzeugplattform der Fig.18;
• Fig. 20 eine Stirnansicht des einen Endes der Fahrzeugplattform der Fig. 18 und 19;
• Fig. 21 eine Stirnansicht des anderen Endes der Fahrzeugplattform der Fig. 18 und 19;
• Fig. 22 eine Unteransicht eines Antriebfahrgestells gemäss einer weiteren Ausführungsform;
• Fig. 23 eine Seitenansicht eines als Lokomotive ausgebildeten Triebfahrzeugs mit zwei Fahrgestellen;
• Fig. 24 eine Seitenansicht des Antriebfahrgestells des Triebfahrzeugs der Fig. 23 in grösserem Massstab;
• Fig. 25 eine Seitenansicht des Lauffahrgestells des Triebfahrzeugs der Fig. 23 in grösserem Massstab;
• Fig. 26 eine perspektivische Ansicht des Antriebfahrgestells der Fig. 24;
• Fig. 27 eine auseinandergezogene perspektivische Ansicht des Antriebfahrgestells der Fig. 26;
• Fig. 28 eine perspektivische Ansicht des Lauffahrgestells der Fig. 25;
• Fig. 29 eine auseinandergezogene perspektivische Ansicht des Lauffahrgestells der Fig. 28;
• Fig. 30 eine Unteransicht eines Führungsbauelementes des Antriebfahrgestells der Fig. 27;
• Fig. 31 eine Unteransicht einer Lagerplatte für Drehachsen des Antriebfahrgestells der Fig. 27;
• Fig. 32 eine Unteransicht eines als Antriebsblock ausgebildeten Bauelementes des Antriebfahrgestells der Fig. 27;
• Fig. 33 eine Unteransicht eines Führungsbauelementes des Lauffahrgestells der Fig. 29;
• Fig. 34 eine Oberansicht einer Plattform des Triebfahrzeuges der Fig. 23;
• Fig. 35 eine Queransicht, teilweise im Schnitt, einer als Hängebahn ausgebildeten Ausführungsform der Spielzeug-Zahnradbahn;
• Fig. 36a bis h Schnitte durch verschiedene Ausführungsformen der mit einem verzahnten Organ versehenen Fahrbahn;
• Fig. 37 eine Oberansicht eines Abschnittes eines gemäss Fig. 4 mit einer Zahnstange versehenen Fahrbahnstücks mit elektrischen Stromzuführungskontakten;
• Fig. 38 eine Ansicht eines metallischen Kontaktstücks für das Fahrbahnstück der Fig. 37; und
• Fig. 39 eine stirnseitige Ansicht des einen Endes des Fahrbahnstücks der Fig. 37 mit elektrischen Verbindungskontakten.

Exemplary embodiments of the subject matter of the invention are explained below with reference to the drawings. Show it:

• Figure 1 is a side view of a train consisting of assembled blocks, provided with a gear drive.
• Fig. 2 is a top view of the train of Fig. 1;
• Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the train of Fig. 1;
• 4 is a perspective view of a straight track section provided with a toothed rack;
• Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the lane section of Fig. 4;
• 6 is a top view of a section of roadway provided with a rack and bent by 90 _° ;
• Fig. 7 is a bottom view of one of the two ends of the lane section of Fig. 6;
• FIG. 8 is a bottom view of a connecting link for road sections according to FIGS. 4 and 6;
• FIG. 9 is a bottom view of the coupled drive chassis of FIG. 3 with the rack shown;
• FIG. 10 is a bottom view of the coupled intermediate chassis of FIG. 3 with the rack drawn in;
• 11 is a bottom view of the coupled end chassis of FIG. 3 with the rack drawn in;
• 12 is a perspective view of the uncoupled intermediate chassis of FIGS. 1 to 3;
• Fig. 13 is a perspective view of a coupling bracket for the chassis of Fig. 12;
• FIG. 14 is a top view of the coupling bracket of FIG. 13;
• 15 shows a section through the coupling bracket of FIG. 13;
• 16 is a perspective view of the unconnected end chassis of FIGS. 1 to 3;
• FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a connecting bracket for the chassis of FIG. 16;
• 18 is a top view of a vehicle platform of FIGS. 1 to 3;
• 19 is a side view of the vehicle platform of FIG. 18;
• 20 is an end view of one end of the vehicle platform of FIGS. 18 and 19;
• Figure 21 is an end view of the other end of the vehicle platform of Figures 18 and 19;
• 22 is a bottom view of a drive chassis according to a further embodiment;
• 23 shows a side view of a locomotive designed as a locomotive with two chassis;
• 24 is a side view of the drive chassis of the locomotive of FIG. 23 on a larger scale;
• 25 is a side view of the carriage of the traction vehicle of FIG. 23 on a larger scale;
• Fig. 26 is a perspective view of the drive chassis of Fig. 24;
• Fig. 27 is an exploded perspective view of the drive chassis of Fig. 26;
• Fig. 28 is a perspective view of the bogie of Fig. 25;
• Fig. 29 is an exploded perspective view of the bogie of Fig. 28;
• FIG. 30 is a bottom view of a guide component of the drive chassis of FIG. 27;
• Fig. 31 is a bottom view of a bearing plate for axes of rotation of the drive chassis of Fig. 27;
• FIG. 32 is a bottom view of a component of the drive chassis of FIG. 27 designed as a drive block;
• 33 is a bottom view of a guide component of the bogie of FIG. 29;
• 34 is a top view of a platform of the locomotive of FIG. 23;
• 35 is a transverse view, partly in section, of an embodiment of the toy cogwheel train designed as a monorail;
• 36a to h sections through different embodiments of the roadway provided with a toothed member;
• 37 is a top view of a portion of a track section provided with a rack according to FIG. 4 and having electrical power supply contacts;
• FIG. 38 is a view of a metallic contact piece for the track piece of FIG. 37; and
• Fig. 39 is an end view of one end of the track section of Fig. 37 with electrical connection contacts.

1 to 8 an exemplary embodiment of the toy rack railway according to the invention is shown, with FIGS. 1 to 3 in side view, top view and bottom view of a train built from building blocks in the manner of a railcar train and FIGS. 4 to 8 various associated ones Show road sections.

1 to 3, the train shown has three cars, namely a head or control car 1, an intermediate car 2 and a trailer 3. The head car 1 is connected to the intermediate car 2 via a chassis 4 coupled on both sides, and the intermediate car 2 connected to the end car 3 via a chassis 5 coupled on both sides. The head coach 1 and the end coach 3 are also provided in their outer end regions with a bogie 6 and 7, respectively. 1 to 3, the outer linings of the carriages 1 to 3 and the chassis 4 and 5 are not shown, with the exception of the head carriage 1, in which a suitable carriage lining 8 composed of individual components is arranged. Such car trims, such as car bodies, doors, windows etc., are preferably assembled from individual components of a toy building system in the present exemplary embodiment and can of course be designed in any way without influencing the functioning of the present toy rack railway, which is still operated below. For the construction of such car panels, each car 1 to 3 has a platform serving as a car chassis 9, 10 and 11, via which platform the cars 1, 2 and 3 are also coupled to the chassis 4 and 5, as will be explained later. To accommodate additional components, the platforms 9, 10 and 11 are provided with coupling pins 12 in a manner known per se (FIG. 2). On their underside, the platforms 9, 10 and 11 are designed as hollow bodies which are reinforced by struts 13 (FIG. 3).

The chassis 4 and 5 and the bogies 6 and 7 are made in one piece from a plastic in the present embodiment, apart from wheel axles and coupling or fastening elements. According to FIG. 3, the two bogies 6 and 7 have an essentially hollow underside, which has molded-on bearing parts 14 for receiving rotatable wheel axles 15, each of which is provided with two loosely pressed-on rotatable wheels 16 with a smooth running surface. Furthermore, the bogies 6 and 7 have walls 17 and 18 which face each other in pairs and extend essentially in the longitudinal direction. As will be explained below, these walls 17 and 18 serve as guide walls of the bogies 6, 7 on a track provided with a toothed rack, the toothed rack coming to rest in the space between two opposing walls 17 and 18 when the train shown is on the roadway is put. On its upper side, each bogie 6, 7 is provided with a pivot pin 19 (FIG. 1) which is captively inserted into a hole 20 (FIG. 2) in the corresponding platform 9 or 11. Further details will be explained later with reference to FIGS. 16 and 17.

The biaxial undercarriage 5, which is a drive-free undercarriage, is designed on its underside according to FIG. 3 similarly to the bogies 6 and 7. It accordingly also has the integrally formed bearing parts 14, in which the wheel axles 15 provided with the wheels 16 are accommodated. In addition, opposite guide walls 21 and 22 are provided in pairs on the underside. On the upper side, the chassis 5 is provided on both sides with an attached, pivotable coupling bracket 23 or 24, which is pivotable about lateral pin 25. The coupling brackets 23 and 24 are provided to releasably receive corresponding coupling elements at the adjacent ends of the platforms 10 and 11, respectively. This coupling device will be explained later with reference to FIGS. 12 to 15 and 19 to 21. On its upper side, the chassis 5 is also provided with a few coupling pins 12 which, like the platforms 9, 10 and 11, permit the attachment of structures such as cladding.

The chassis 4, as far as its underside is concerned (FIG. 3), is basically of the same design as the chassis 5 and accordingly has the same Clamping tabs 14, wheel axles 15, wheels 16 and guide walls 21 and 22 respectively. However, since the chassis 4 is a driven chassis, an essentially cylindrical electric motor 26 is fastened in a vertical position on its upper side (FIGS. 1, 2). The electric motor 26 has a likewise vertical drive axis 27 (FIG. 3) which carries a gear wheel 28. The gear wheel 28 is accordingly located on the underside of the chassis 4 in the region of the one guide wall 22, its axis 27 being located to the side of the longitudinal center line of the chassis 4. As will subsequently be explained, the gearwheel 28, which is driven by the electric motor 26, preferably via a gear built into the electric motor, is intended to come into engagement with a side toothing of a toothed rack which is toothed on both sides and which is arranged centrally on a carriageway, in order to engage the chassis 4 and thus to move the entire train of FIGS. 1 to 3 along the roadway when the electric motor 26 is excited.

The electric motor 26 is fed via a plug 29 (FIG. 1) designed as a module and a feed cable 30 through a battery box 31 arranged on the head carriage 1. To control the electric motor 26, a slide 32 is located in the chassis 4 near the underside of the electric motor 26 arranged. The slide 32 is provided with switching contacts and can be brought from the illustrated "off" position (motor separated from the battery) by pressing in one or the other transverse direction into a circuit for forward or backward travel of the chassis 4 or the train . The slide 32 protrudes laterally beyond the chassis 4 and has bevelled surfaces at the ends. This makes it possible to arrange actuating elements such as pins and the like on the carriageway, which act on the slider 32 when the train passes through and thus cause the train to stop or change direction. It will be appreciated that it is also possible to provide a remote control, for example an infrared remote control, in order to control the electric motor 26 continuously and with respect to the direction of rotation. The carriages of the present train, in particular the head carriage 1, have sufficient space to accommodate the necessary receiving and switching elements.

Like the chassis 5, the chassis 4 is provided with two coupling brackets 23 and 24 mounted in lateral pins 25 in order to releasably connect the chassis 4 to the platform 9 of the head carriage 1 and to the platform 10 of the intermediate carriage 2. Furthermore, the electric motor 26 is also provided with a few coupling pins 12 for attaching covers or the like.

The toy rack railway according to the invention also comprises a track with a toothed member with which the gear of the electric motor of the locomotive engages. 4 to 8, preferred embodiments of straight and curved road sections are shown.

The straight lane section shown in perspective in FIG. 4 and in a bottom view in FIG. 5 can of course have any, but preferably standardized, length. The track section has two smooth driving surfaces 41 and 42, which are separated in the longitudinal direction of the track section by a centrally located raised rack 43. The toothed rack 43 has a toothing 44 and 45, which is perpendicular to the driving surfaces 41 and 42 on both sides. To connect this track section with further, adjacent track sections, the track section in its end regions is provided on both sides with two coupling pins 46 formed in lateral recesses. A connecting plate 47, the rear side of which can be plugged onto the coupling pin 46 in FIG. 8, is provided with clamping pin 48, so that, as indicated in FIG. 8, the four coupling pins 46 of two pieces of road surface lying against each other through the connecting plate 47 are connected to one another be clamped connected.

It can be seen from FIG. 5 that the underside of the track section of FIG. 4 forms a cavity reinforced by struts 49. A box-shaped cavity 50 is also formed at each end of the road section. The purpose of this is to be able to plug the roadway piece onto a base or building plate, which is provided with coupling pins arranged according to a certain grid.

From FIG. 4 it can also be seen that the two end faces of the straight track section are each provided with a projection 51 and a corresponding depression 52. This design of the end faces causes a fixation of two lane pieces lined up in the transverse direction, so that the tabs 47 (FIG. 8) are only subjected to tension. In addition, the projections 51 and depressions 52 are also provided as coding elements in order to prevent the stringing together and connecting of certain pieces of roadway that do not match, which will be explained below.

In Fig. 6 is a plan view of a curved, extending over an angular range of 90 _° piece of roadway, which in turn has two smooth road surfaces 53 and 54, which are separated by a central, curved toothed rail 55, which has side teeth 56 and 57. In addition, this curved track section is provided in its end regions with lateral coupling pins 46 and on the end faces with the projections 51 and depressions 52. As can be seen from FIG. 7, the underside of the curved lane section of FIG. 6 is likewise designed analogously to that of the straight lane section of FIGS. 4 and 5 and, in particular in the end regions, has the box-shaped cavity 50 for plugging the lane section onto coupling pins of a base plate.

In this connection it should be noted that it is of course impossible to arrange a circular arc piece in a rectangular, in particular square, grid in such a way that end points of the circular arc piece match exactly with grid points, unless the circular arc piece extends over 90 _° . To still ge Bringing curved lane pieces at their ends exactly with grid points of a base plate or with coupling pins arranged in these grid points so that the curved lane pieces can be plugged onto the base plate without constraint, it has already been proposed that each curved lane piece consist of a shorter straight section and to assemble a longer arcuate section.

6 is made use of this teaching. The 90 _° lane section shown in FIG. 6 is to be regarded as the composition of two 45 _° lane sections which are separated along the radial 45 _° line 58. Each of these 45 _° lane sections is therefore composed of an arcuate section 59 or 60 and a much shorter straight section 61 or 62. 6 also shows the inner radius and the outer radius of the carriageway as well as the center radius of the toothed rail 55 of the arcuate sections 59 and 60 of the carriageway section, all of which emanate from a displaced center 63.

Instead of just a one-piece 90 _° lane section according to FIG. 6, it is of course also possible to provide and use 45 _° lane sections which, as mentioned, result from the 90 _° lane section of FIG. 6 by separation along the radial line 58. Such 45 _° track sections are of course provided at both ends with coupling pins 46 for connection to an adjacent, straight or curved track section. Since the 45 ° lane sections created by such a division, i.e. a lane section with sections 59 and 61 and a lane section with sections 60 and 62 are not identical, they are coded at the 45 _° ends with a different coding by protrusions and depressions provided, as indicated in Fig. 6 at the radial line 58.

Not shown are straight and curved lane sections provided with a toothed rail, which are suitable for forming a lane with gradients.

9 to 11, the bottom views of the chassis 4 and 5 and the bogie 7 of FIG. 3 are shown again, but on a larger scale and with the rack 43 of the straight track section of FIG. 4. It can be seen that the Chassis 4 and 5 with their guide walls 21 and 22 and the bogie 7 with its guide walls 17 and 18 are guided along the rack 43. It can also be seen from FIG. 9 how the gear 28 of the electric motor engages on one side in the rack 43. The transverse force generated thereby is absorbed by the guide walls 21.

The bogie 5 already described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 is shown in perspective in FIG. 12. One associated coupling bracket 23 is shown in perspective in FIG. 13, in plan view in FIG. 14 and in a section in FIG. 15. The coupling bracket 23 has two angled arms 65 which are provided with a clamping slot 66 at their ends. With this clamping slot 66, each arm 65 of the coupling bracket 23 can be applied to one of the pins 25 formed laterally on the chassis 5, as shown in FIG. 1. In the central yoke part 67, the coupling bracket 23 has a slot 68, the upper and lower slot walls being provided with a small, groove-like recess 69 in the inner part of the slot 68.

The slot 68 of the coupling bracket 23 serves to receive a corresponding coupling tongue, which are attached to the ends of the platforms 9, 10 and 11. 18 to 21, the platform 10 of the intermediate car 1 (FIG. 1) is shown in detail, but on a larger scale. The platform 10 is provided with an integrally formed tongue 70 and 71 on each end face. At their outer ends, the two tongues 70, 71 each have an upper and lower locking button 72. When a tongue 70 or 71 is inserted into the slot 68 of the coupling bracket 23 (FIGS. 13 to 15), the locking buttons 72 push the upper and lower slot walls slightly apart and into the groove-like recesses 69 (FIGS. 14, 15), so that the tongue 70 or 71 is held in the slot 68, ie the platform 10 is coupled to the coupling bracket 23 and thus to the chassis 5. To decouple the platform 10 is simply pulled off the coupling bracket 23. The same coupling design is also present in the further coupling brackets 23, 24 and the ends of the platforms 9, 10, 11 of FIG. 1 to be coupled.

18 to 21 show that the tongue 70 at one end of the platform 10 of the intermediate carriage 2 has a different cross-sectional shape than the tongue 71 at the other end of the platform 10. The tongue 70 (FIG. 20) has a rectangular cross-section, while the cross-sectional shape of the tongue 71 (FIG. 21) is similar to that of a rhombus. The tongue 70 (rectangle) brings about a connection which is rigid with respect to the direction of rotation about the longitudinal axis of the platform 10 in the slot 68 of the coupling bracket 23, 24, since the tongue 70 lies against the upper and lower wall of the slot 68. The tongue 71 (rhombus), on the other hand, allows a slight swiveling back and forth in the slot 68. If all of the carriages 1 to 3 of FIG. 1 are rigidly coupled via the chassis 4 and 5 in the direction of rotation mentioned, by designing all the tongues like the tongue 70 (FIG. 20), then there is the disadvantage that the carriages are very Take tight bends, especially those on slopes, off the road. If, on the other hand, only tongues according to tongue 71 (FIG. 21) are provided, the car may run roughly at any speed. It is therefore favorable to use both forms of tongues 70 and 71 in a mixed manner, which is readily possible because the slot 68 of the coupling bracket 23 can accommodate both tongues 70 and 71.

In Fig. 12, the non-powered chassis 5 is shown. However, the driven undercarriage 4 coincides with this, except for the applied electric motor 26 (FIG. 1), so that the design and arrangement of the coupling bracket 23, 24 in the driven undercarriage 4 in FIG. 1 is the same as in the traveling undercarriage 5.

• 1) Die genannten Angriffspunkte sollen in der Höhenrichtung (senkrechten Richtung) bezüglich der Fahrbahn möglichst nahe denjenigen Stellen liegen, die an der Fahrbahn und am Fahrgestell an einer Krafteinwirkung für den Vorschub des Fahrgestells und der mit diesem gekuppelten Wagen beteiligt sind. Diese Stellen sind demnach einerseits beim angetriebenen Fahrgestell die Eingriffstelle des Zahnrades des Antriebsmotors in die Verzahnung des verzahnten Organs, und andererseits bei allen Fahrgestellen die Auflagepunkte ihrer Räder auf den glatten Fahrflächen der Fahrbahn. Daraus ergibt sich die erste Vorschrift, dass die Kupplungsbügel 23, 24 an die Fahrgestelle 4, 5 so tief als möglich, d.h. auf dem Niveau der Zahnstange 43 (Fig. 4) und möglichst nahe den Fahrflächen 41, 42 (Fig. 4) angelenkt sein sollen. Aus den Fig. 1 und 12 ergibt sich, dass die bezüglich der Fahrbahn tiefe Lage der seitlichen Zapfen 25 der Fahrgestelle 4, 5 dieser Vorschrift nachkommt.
• 2) Die genannten Angriffspunkte sollen darüberhinaus benachbart, das heisst, so nahe wie konstruktiv möglich, zu einer Ebene liegen, welche zur Längsrichtung des Fahrgestells senkrecht ist und den Schwerpunkt des Fahrgestells enthält. Bei den in der Fig. 1 dargestellten Fahrgestellen 4 und 5 liegt diese Ebene in der Mitte der Fahrgestelle quer zur Längsrichtung des dargestellten Zuges. Somit sind die seitlichen Zapfen 25 der Fahrgestelle 4, 5 für die Kupplungsbügel 23 und 24 sehr nahe diesen Fahrgestellmitten ausgebildet. Die Kupplungsbügel 23, 24 weisen, in eher unüblicher Art, entsprechend lange und geneigte Arme 65 (Fig. 15) auf, damit gemäss Fig. 1 die Kupplung der Fahrgestelle 4 und 5 mit den Plattformen 9, 10 bzw. 10, 11 der benachbarten Fahrzeuge 1, 2 bzw. 2, 3 an den Enden der Fahrgestelle möglich ist.

The arrangement of the coupling brackets 23, 24 on the chassis 4, 5, which can be seen in particular from FIG. 1 and from FIGS. 12 to 15, represents an embodiment of the present toy cogwheel train according to the invention, which is particularly advantageous and enables the track to be used to lay unusually steep inclines, also in connection with very tight bends, without there being a risk that the locomotive and other vehicles coupled to it would lift off the road and thus "derail" or "crash". The measure according to the invention consists in the fact that the points of application of the power transmission from a chassis to a vehicle coupled to this chassis or to its platform serving as the vehicle chassis are provided at locations on the chassis itself which have specific requirements with regard to the roadway or the chassis in accordance with the design Fully meet the possibilities at least approximately. These requirements are the following:

• 1) The specified points of attack should be as close as possible to those points in the vertical direction (vertical direction) with respect to the carriageway that are involved in the force on the carriageway and on the chassis for the advancement of the chassis and the cars coupled to it. These points are therefore on the one hand the point of engagement of the gear of the drive motor in the toothing of the toothed member in the driven chassis, and on the other hand the support points of their wheels on the smooth surfaces of the carriageway on all chassis. This results in the first regulation that the coupling brackets 23, 24 are articulated to the chassis 4, 5 as deep as possible, ie at the level of the rack 43 (FIG. 4) and as close as possible to the driving surfaces 41, 42 (FIG. 4) should be. 1 and 12 show that the position of the lateral pins 25 of the chassis 4, 5, which is deep with respect to the roadway, complies with this regulation.
• 2) The points of attack mentioned should also be adjacent, that is, as close as possible in terms of construction, to a plane that is perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the chassis and contains the center of gravity of the chassis. In the chassis 4 and 5 shown in FIG. 1, this plane lies in the middle of the chassis transverse to the longitudinal direction of the train shown. Thus, the side pins 25 of the chassis 4, 5 for the coupling bracket 23 and 24 are formed very close to these chassis centers. The coupling brackets 23, 24 have, in a rather unusual way, correspondingly long and inclined arms 65 (FIG. 15), so that, according to FIG. 1, the coupling of the chassis 4 and 5 with the platforms 9, 10 and 10, 11 of the neighboring ones Vehicles 1, 2 or 2, 3 at the ends of the chassis is possible.

The fulfillment of the two requirements mentioned above by the articulation of the coupling bracket 23, 24 to the chassis 4, 5 shown in FIG. 1 has the effect that all forces which are transmitted from the chassis 4, 5 to the coupled platforms 9, 10, 11 are transmitted , have a major, predominant component that is parallel to the road. The vertical force component, that is, the upward force component, is considerably smaller. This means that only a negligibly small moment is generated, which strives to lift the chassis and the carriages coupled to them in operation perpendicular to the carriageway upwards from it. In addition, since the lateral toothing 44 or 45 (FIG. 4) or 56, 57 (FIG. 6) prevents the drive gear 28 (FIG. 9), which is engaged with the toothing, from climbing out of the toothing, the present toothed wheel path has one very high stability, even if the road is laid on steep inclines and tight bends without suitable pillars (ie "free hanging"). A slope limit is essentially only reached when the vertical plane passing through the center of gravity of a chassis intersects the contact points of the wheels on the affected wheel axle on the road. This corresponds to an incline of the road of significantly more than 100% in the present cog railway. In addition, with the cogwheel train at hand, the advantages mentioned exist regardless of whether the traction vehicle pulls or pushes other, coupled vehicles.

In Fig. 16 the bogie 6 or 7 (Fig. 1, 3) is shown in perspective; 17 is a perspective view of a rotating element 19 for mounting the bogie 6, 7 in the platforms 9 and 11 (FIGS. 1, 3). The rotating element 19 has a cylindrical pin element 75 which is attached to a support bracket 76. The support bracket 76 has two arms 77 which are provided with clamping slots 78. The arms 77 are inserted through slot openings 79 of the bogie 6, 7 and then, as can be seen in FIG. 3, clamped onto retaining webs 80 of the bogie 6, 7. The pin element 75 has an edge bead 81 which is elastic in that the pin element 75 is provided with two longitudinal slots 82. The rotary element 19 with the attached bogie 6, 7 can therefore be inserted in a simple manner into the hole 20 (FIG. 2) provided in the platform 9 or 11, but it cannot be lost.

FIG. 22 shows an alternative guidance of the driven chassis 4 to the embodiment according to FIG. 9. The guidance of the chassis and the absorption of the pressure exerted by the drive gear 28 via the rack 43 is taken over by two loosely rotatable toothed rollers 83. Here, the friction of the rack 43 on the chassis 4 is somewhat less than when it bears against the guide walls 21 (FIG. 9). However, there is the disadvantage that the chassis 4 can no longer be easily placed on the roadway because of the gear wheels 28 and 83 on both sides.

1 to 3, a train consisting of several carriages 1, 2, 3 is shown for example. It is understandable that other, practically arbitrary combinations of chassis 4, 5 with coupled carriages or platforms using end bogies 6, 7 are possible. In particular, the locomotive can be a single locomotive which would consist of a driven chassis 4 and the coupled car 1 with bogie 6, with reference to FIG. 1, further car linings (not shown) being arranged and the coupling bracket 24 at the outer end of the chassis 4 could be omitted.

Another embodiment of the locomotive according to the invention is explained with reference to FIGS. 23 to 34. 23, this exemplary embodiment relates to an electric locomotive which, as essential components, has a platform 85, a car body 86 built thereon with components, two chassis 87 and 88 and a coupling device 89 each connected to the chassis 87, 88, wherein one chassis 87 is driven and the other chassis 88 is a moving chassis. According to the invention, this locomotive is intended for a carriageway which has a smooth driving surface 90 and a toothed rack 91 which is arranged in the center of the carriageway and has toothing on both sides, as is shown, for example, in FIG. The embodiment of FIG. 23 is characterized in that not only the structure 86 of the platform 85 is composed of individual components, but also that the chassis 87 and 88 are formed by stacking several components on one another, as will be explained below.

24 and 25 show the two chassis 87 and 88 of FIG. 23 in a side view and on a larger scale, the side wheel cover plates 92 and the wheels 96 (FIG. 23) being shown on the view side in FIGS. 24 and 25 are omitted.

• - einem Führungs- und Grundbauelement 93, das sich über die ganze Länge des Fahrgestells 87 erstreckt, und welches einerseits als Basis für den Aufbau weiterer Bauelemente und andererseits als Gleitführungselement des Fahrgestells 87 längs der Zahnstange 91 ausgebildet ist;
• - zwei auf dem Führungsbauelement 93 aufgesteckten Lagerplatten 94, welche Oeffnungen zur Aufnahme je einer Radachse 95 aufweisen, auf welcher zwei Laufräder 96 mit glatten Laufflächen für die beidseitig der Zahnstange 91 befindlichen glatten Fahrflächen 90 der Fahrbahn angeordnet sind;
• - einer auf die Lagerplatten 94 aufgesteckte Antriebseinheit 97, welche zwei Längsplattenteile 98, zwei vorstehende Seitenplattenteile 99 (nur einer von diesen in Fig. 24 sichtbar) und einen Elektromotor 100, dessen Antriebsachse mit dem bereits vorgängig erwähnten Antriebszahnrad 28 versehen ist, das mit der einen Verzahnung der Zahnstange 91 in Eingriff steht;
• - zwei Haltebügeln 101, welche auf die Antriebseinheit 97 und das Führungsbauelement 93 aufgesteckt sind und somit das Führungsbauelement 93, die Lagerplatten 94 und die Antriebseinheit 97 als Baueinheit zusammenhalten;
• - einem Verbindungsbügel 102, der an das Führungsbauelement 93 angelenkt ist und dazu vorgesehen ist, das Fahrgestell 87 drehbar mit der Plattform 85 der in Fig. 23 dargestellten Lokomotive zu verbinden; und
• - der bereits anhand der Fig. 23 erwähnten Kupplungsvorrichtung 89, die einen ebenfalls an das Führungsbauelement 93 angelenkten Kupplungsbügel 103 enthält und die dazu ausgebildet ist, das Fahrgestell 87 und damit die in Fig. 23 dargestellte Lokomotive mit einem weiteren Fahrzeug zu kuppeln.

24, the driven chassis 87 is composed of the following components:

• - A guide and basic component 93, which extends over the entire length of the chassis 87, and which is designed on the one hand as a base for the construction of further components and on the other hand as a sliding guide element of the chassis 87 along the rack 91;
• - Two bearing plates 94 mounted on the guide component 93, each of which has openings for receiving a wheel axle 95, on which two wheels 96 with smooth running surfaces for the smooth driving surfaces 90 of the carriageway 90 on both sides of the rack 91 are arranged;
• - A drive unit 97 plugged onto the bearing plates 94, which has two longitudinal plate parts 98, two projecting side plate parts 99 (only one of these visible in FIG. 24) and an electric motor 100, the drive axis of which is provided with the drive gear 28 already mentioned above, which is provided with the a toothing of the rack 91 is engaged;
• - Two holding brackets 101, which are attached to the drive unit 97 and the guide component 93 and thus hold the guide component 93, the bearing plates 94 and the drive unit 97 together as a structural unit;
• a connecting bracket 102, which is articulated to the guide component 93 and is provided for rotatably connecting the chassis 87 to the platform 85 of the locomotive shown in FIG. 23; and
• 23, the coupling device 89 already mentioned with reference to FIG. 23, which contains a coupling bracket 103 which is likewise articulated to the guide component 93 and which is designed to couple the chassis 87 and thus the locomotive shown in FIG. 23 to another vehicle.

• - einem Führungs- und Grundbauelement 104, das die gleichen Aufbau- und Gleitführungsfunktionen ausübt wie das entsprechende Element 93 der Fig. 24;
• - zwei auf dem Führungsbauelement 104 aufgesteckten Lagerplatten 94, welche in Uebereinstimmung mit den identischen Lagerplatten 94 der Fig. 24 zur Aufnahme der mit Rädern 96 versehen Radachsen 95 vorgesehen sind;
• - zwei Haltebügeln 105, welche das Führungsbauelement 104 und die Lagerplatten 94 zusammenhalten;
• - einem zentralen Drehzapfenelement 106, welches auf das Führungsbauelement 104 aufgesteckt ist und in der Plattform 85 (Fig. 23) der Lokomotive drehbar angeordnet werden kann; und
• - die gleiche Kupplungsvorrichtung 89 der Fig. 24, die an das Führungsbauelement 104 angelenkt ist und den Kupplungsbügel 103 umfasst.

25, the non-driven undercarriage 88 is composed in a similar manner to the driven undercarriage 87 in FIG. 24, specifically from the following components:

• a guide and basic component 104, which performs the same assembly and sliding guide functions as the corresponding element 93 of FIG. 24;
• two bearing plates 94 which are plugged onto the guide component 104 and which are provided in accordance with the identical bearing plates 94 of FIG. 24 for receiving the wheel axles 95 provided with wheels 96;
• two holding brackets 105 which hold the guide component 104 and the bearing plates 94 together;
• a central pivot element 106 which is plugged onto the guide component 104 and can be rotatably arranged in the platform 85 (FIG. 23) of the locomotive; and
• the same coupling device 89 of FIG. 24, which is articulated on the guide component 104 and comprises the coupling bracket 103.

The individual components of the chassis 87 and 88 can be seen more clearly from FIGS. 26, 27 and 28, 29 and also from FIGS. 30 to 34.

FIG. 26 shows the driven chassis 87 including the wheel cover plate 92 (FIG. 23) in a perspective view. The individual components are shown in an exploded perspective view in FIG. 27, but the wheels 96 (FIG. 26) and their wheel axles have been omitted.

As already mentioned with reference to FIG. 24, the chassis 87 has the elongated guide and basic component 93, which is provided on its upper side with a number of the coupling pins 12 belonging to the system of the present components. On its underside, the guide component 93 according to FIG. 30 has molded, opposing sliding guide walls 107 and 108, the space 109 of which is intended to accommodate the rack 91 (FIGS. 23, 24), as has already been done with the embodiment of FIG. 1 to 3 has been described. The guide component 93 is provided on its one long side with a recess 110 which serves to receive the drive gear 28 (FIG. 24). Both longitudinal sides are also provided with four molded bearing journals 111 a, 111 b, 111 c and 111 d and two stops 112 designed as molded projections.

As already shown in FIG. 24, the connecting bracket 102 and the coupling bracket 103 of the coupling device 89 are articulated to the guide component 93. For this purpose, the connecting bracket 102 has two arms 113, which are provided at their ends with a clamping slot 114, such that the arms 113 can be plugged onto the inner bearing journal 111 c. The yoke part of the connecting bracket 102 has a slot-like opening 115, in which a pin 116 is formed. As will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 34, the connecting bracket 102 serves to pivotally connect the chassis 87 to the platform 85 of the locomotive according to FIG. 23. A pivoting movement of the connecting bracket 102 which is possible in the vertical direction is limited downwards by the fact that its arms 113 abut the adjacent projections 112 of the guide element 93 (FIG. 24).

The coupling bracket 103 of the coupling device 89 is similar to the connecting bracket 102 and also has two arms 117 and 118, each of which is provided with a hole 119 in its end regions. Thus, as can also be seen from FIG. 24, the coupling bracket 103 can be plugged onto the outer bearing journal 111 a, a downward pivoting movement of the coupling bracket 103 being limited by the fact that extensions 120 of the arms 117, 118 on the adjacent projections 112 of the guide component 93 (Fig. 24).

The yoke part of the coupling bracket 103 also has a slot-like opening 121, in which a pin 122 is formed. The opening 121 and the pin 122 serve to receive a clamping tab 123 of a further two-armed bracket 124, the two arms 125 of which each have a hole 126. A magnet holder 127, which comprises a permanent magnet 128, is provided with two bearing pins 129 which fit into the holes 126.

In the assembled state (FIG. 24), the magnet holder 127 can therefore rotate between the arms 125 of the bracket 124. In a manner known per se, therefore, the permanent magnets 128 of similar coupling devices 89 of two abutting vehicles can rotate in such a way that the north pole of one magnet faces the south pole of the other magnet and then a magnetic coupling of the two vehicles takes place.

According to FIG. 27, two bearing plates 94 are attached to the coupling pins 12 of the guide component 93, each of which has two clamping openings 131 for receiving one wheel axle each (not shown). The underside of one of these bearing plates 94 is shown in FIG. 31. In addition to a groove-shaped recess 132 for said wheel axle, the otherwise hollow underside of the bearing plate 94 has, in a manner known per se, a central, short and integrally formed tube piece 133 which, together with the lateral inner surfaces of the hollow underside, serves as the coupling pin 12 of the guide component 93 to clamp. The bearing plates 94 are also provided on their upper side with coupling pins 12. It can also be seen from FIG. 26 that the wheels 96 placed on the wheel axles 95 lie laterally outside the connecting bracket 102 and the coupling bracket 103.

The drive unit 97 is placed on the bearing plates 94 as a further component. As already mentioned with reference to FIG. 24, this has two longitudinal plate parts 98, two side plate parts 99 and the upright electric motor 100. The top of the longitudinal plate parts 98 and the side plate parts 99 are in turn provided with coupling pins 12. 32, the undersides of the longitudinal plate parts 98 are of the same design as those of the bearing plates 94 (FIG. 31), apart from the means for mounting the wheel axle. The drive gear 28 of the electric motor 100 protrudes between the side plate parts 99 and comes to rest in the recess 110 of the guide component 93 (FIG. 30). Furthermore, a pin 134 which is movable in its longitudinal direction is arranged in each side plate part 99 (cf. also FIGS. 23, 24 and 26) and can act on an inner switching device (not shown) for the feed circuit of the electric motor 100. It is thus possible to arrange protrusions on the carriageway which actuate the pins 134 when the locomotive passes through, as a result of which a stop or a reversal of the direction of travel of the locomotive is effected via the feed circuit of the electric motor 100.

In order to hold the listed components, namely the guide component 93, the bearing plates 94 and the drive unit 97 together, the two retaining brackets 101 (FIG. 24) are present, which are plugged onto corresponding coupling pins 12 of the longitudinal plate parts 98 of the drive unit 97, and which with the their arms 135 provided clamping slots 136 are snapped into the remaining journals 111 b and 111 d of the guide component 93.

Finally, an outer wheel cover plate 92 is also provided on both sides, which is plugged onto the coupling pin 12 of the side plate parts 99 of the drive unit 97 and has only a purely decorative function.

The structure of the non-driven bogie of FIGS. 23 and 25 will now be explained in more detail with reference to FIGS. 28 and 29, FIG. 28 showing a perspective view of the bogie complete including the wheel cover plates 92. The individual components are shown in an exploded perspective view in FIG. 29, but the wheels 96 (FIG. 28) and their wheel axles 95 (FIG. 25) have been omitted. Since individual components are the same as in the driven undercarriage 87 according to FIGS. 26 and 27, their details are given the same names and are no longer described in detail.

The bogie 88 has the elongated guide and basic component 104 already shown in FIG. 25, which essentially, also with regard to the underside shown in FIG. 33, corresponds to the guide element 93 of the driven chassis 87 of FIGS. 26, 27. The difference is that a recess 110 (FIG. 27) for receiving a drive gear wheel is not present, and that both longitudinal side walls instead are provided with a further journal 111 e.

25, 28 and 29 can be seen, a coupling device 89, comprising the coupling bracket 103, the further bracket 124 and the rotatably mounted magnet holder 127 with the permanent magnet 128, on the guide component 104 via the holes 119 of the coupling bracket 103 and Bearing pin 111d anchored, as has already been explained for the driven chassis 87 with reference to FIGS. 26 and 27.

Two bearing plates 94 for the rotation axes 95 (FIG. 25) provided with the wheels 96 are in turn attached to the guide component 104, the bearing plates 94 being identical to those of FIGS. 27 and 31.

To hold the bearing plates 94 on the guide component 104 there are again two retaining brackets, namely the retaining bracket 105, which are engaged with the ends of arms 135 provided with clamping slots 136 in the bearing journals 111 a and 111 c.

Instead of the drive unit 97 of FIGS. 26, 27, the bogie 88 according to FIGS. 28 and 29 is provided with a pivot arrangement 138. An unspecified base carries a pivot pin 139, which is provided with an upper edge bead 140 and has longitudinal slots 141 in the region of this edge bead. Furthermore, two downwardly directed tabs 142 are formed on the base (only one tab is visible in FIG. 29), the ends of which have a clamping slot 143. In addition, the base has lateral projections, each of which is provided with an upper coupling pin 12. The pivot pin arrangement 138 is pivotably mounted on the guide component 104 in that its tabs are latched into the additional, central bearing pin 111.

Finally, the decorative wheel cover plates 92 (FIG. 29) are plugged onto the side coupling pins 12 of the pivot pin arrangement 138.

The connection of the chassis 87 and 88 to the platform 85 of the locomotive (FIG. 23) is realized as follows.

According to FIG. 34, the platform 85 has, in addition to a number of coupling pins 12 for plugging on any cladding and also a battery box (not shown) for feeding the electric motor 100 (FIG. 23), an opening 145 through which the electric motor 100 located on the chassis 87 can be passed through. A tab 146 protruding into the opening 145 is formed on the platform 85 and is provided with a clamping slot 147 at its free end. To attach the chassis 87 to the platform 85, the motor 100 (FIG. 26) is guided through the opening 145. At the same time, the slot 115 of the connecting bracket 102 is brought onto the tab 146 until its clamping slot 147 engages in the pin 116 (FIG. 27) of the connecting bracket 102. The chassis 87 is thus pivotably arranged on the platform 85.

The platform 85 is provided with a central bore 148 for the rotary fastening of the bogie 88. The radially elastic pivot pin 139 (FIG. 29) of the chassis 88 is inserted into this bore. The pivot 139 and thus the entire chassis 88 are rotatably held on the platform 85 by the edge bead 140.

It can be seen in particular from FIGS. 24 and 25 that also in this embodiment of the rack and pinion track according to the invention the force-transmitting elements, namely the connecting bracket 102 and the coupling devices 89 in the bearing journals 111, 111 a to 111 d, very close to the running surfaces 90 and close to the Center of gravity transverse plane are articulated on the chassis 87 and 88, so that the stability of the rack railway on the road is guaranteed in this embodiment up to the natural tilt limit.

The toy rack and pinion railway according to the invention can not only be designed, as previously described, in the sense of a railway with a roadway arranged flat or in ramps, but can also have the form of a monorail. 35 shows an example of such a monorail in a view transverse to the longitudinal direction of the carriageway, partly in section.

In this embodiment, the carriageway consists of sections of carriageway 150 which can be lined up with a box-shaped profile which is open on its lower side. Since this roadway should be located above the floor 151 (suspension track), the roadway sections are supported at certain longitudinal intervals by pillars 152, which in the sense of the present component system can advantageously be plugged onto the roadway sections 150 in a manner not shown, in order to determine the roadway sections 150 in a certain manner Support height from the floor 151.

The profile of the roadway sections 150 accordingly has two legs 154 delimiting a lower opening 153, a yoke 155 opposite the opening 153 and two webs 156 connecting the yoke 155 to the legs 154. The inner surfaces of the legs 154 form driving surfaces for the wheels 96 of a vehicle 157. The inner side of the yoke 155 is provided with a toothed rack 158.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the vehicle 157 designed as a traction vehicle has a driven chassis 159, which is constructed essentially the same as the driven chassis 87 of FIGS. 26 and 17, but is adapted to the suspension construction in deviation from this and has a different coupling device. The chassis 159 thus has the guide and basic component 93 of FIG. 27, furthermore the two bearing plates 94, in which the wheel axles with the wheels 96 are mounted, the drive unit 97 with the electric motor 100 and the two side plate parts 99, in which switching pins 134 for the electric motor 100 are arranged, and the two retaining brackets 101. Furthermore, a coupling device with arms 65 of the coupling bracket 67 (FIG. 13) is articulated to the guide component 93 and has the slot 68 for receiving the tongue 71 of the coupled platform of a carriage (Figs. 18 to 21). The electric motor 100 also has a drive axis perpendicular to the inner surface of the yoke 155, which has a drive gear (not shown) carries, which is in engagement with one of the two toothings of the rack 158.

It can thus be seen that the monorail of FIG. 35 has the same function as that of the train of FIG. 1 or the locomotive of FIG. 23. Since the wheels 96 of the vehicle 157 are caught in the inside of the box-shaped profile of the road section 150, that is to say the distance between the inner surfaces of the legs 154 and the inner surface of the yoke 155 is only slightly larger than the diameter of the wheels 96, the road section 150 can also be vertical or be arranged at an angle to form an elevator or inclined elevator with the car body 159 corresponding to the chassis. In order to be able to insert the vehicle 157 into the box-shaped profile of the roadway 150, the roadway must contain a specially designed roadway section at one or more points, in which the legs 154 can be removed or folded out.

• Fig. 36a zeigt die Querschnittsform der bereits anhand der Fig. 4 und 6 beschriebenen Ausführungsform mit zwei Fahrflächen und einer mittig angeordneten Zahnstange.
• Fig. 36b zeigt eine entsprechende Ausführungsform, bei welcher das verzahnte Orga nicht als Zahnstange erhaben über die Fahrflächen, sondern als beidseitig verzahnte Nut ausgebildet ist.
• Fig. 36c zeigt eine Ausführungsform mit einer Zahnstange entsprechend Fig. 36a, wobei jedoch die Fahrflächen ebenfalls erhaben sind.
• Fig. 36d zeigt entsprechend den Fall der Fig. 36b mit vertieften Fahrflächen.
• Fig. 36e zeigt eine Ausführungsform gemäss Fig. 36a, bei welcher jedoch die Fahrflächen im Vergleich zur Höhe der Zahnstange sehr schmal sind, so dass gegenüber Fig. 36a eine wesentlich schmalere Fahrbahn erzielt wird.
• Fig. 36f zeigt eine Ausführungsform mit einer tiefen, verzahnten Nut und vergleichsweise schmalen Fahrflächen.

With regard to the roadway, the invention is not restricted to the embodiments described so far and in particular shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. Rather, other arrangements of the driving surfaces and the toothed member are also included in the scope of the invention, as will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 36a to 36h. In each of these figures, a section of a roadway is shown in profile, the running surface or running surfaces being designated by arrows pointing vertically downward and the two side toothings of the toothed member being shown in the usual manner with double dashes.

• 36a shows the cross-sectional shape of the embodiment already described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6 with two driving surfaces and a rack arranged in the center.
• 36b shows a corresponding embodiment in which the toothed structure is not designed as a toothed rack raised above the driving surfaces, but rather as a groove toothed on both sides.
• 36c shows an embodiment with a toothed rack corresponding to FIG. 36a, but the driving surfaces are also raised.
• 36d accordingly shows the case of FIG. 36b with recessed driving surfaces.
• 36e shows an embodiment according to FIG. 36a, in which, however, the driving surfaces are very narrow in comparison to the height of the toothed rack, so that a substantially narrower roadway is achieved compared to FIG. 36a.
• 36f shows an embodiment with a deep, toothed groove and comparatively narrow driving surfaces.

36g and 36h show lanes with a toothed rack toothed on both sides and a toothed groove toothed on both sides, which allow the vehicles to be designed in the so-called "monorail" form (wheel axles with only a single wheel). In the embodiment according to FIG. 36g, the upper, smooth surface of the rack forms the only driving surface, while in the embodiment of FIG. 36h this is formed by the smooth bottom of the toothed groove.

In all of the illustrated embodiments, in particular those which result in a small wheel distance of the wheels arranged on the same axis (FIGS. 36e, 36f), or that only require one wheel per wheel axis (FIGS. 36g, 36h), safe guidance is provided of the vehicle or its chassis thereby ensures that, according to the invention, each vehicle is equipped with sliding or rolling guide means which bear against the two toothings of the toothed member.

In the previously described exemplary embodiments of the toy rack railway according to the invention, a battery accommodated on one of the vehicles is provided as the source of supply for an electric motor, which battery can of course also consist of rechargeable battery elements. Furthermore, it has been described that a 3-way control (stop, forward drive, reverse drive) of the electric motor can be achieved by means of action elements arranged by hand or on the roadway, or practically any control of the electric motor by means of a remote control device known per se. The use of batteries as a power source is by no means uneconomical and therefore not unreasonable, since it has been shown that the rack and pinion railway according to the invention operates perfectly with commercially available batteries on a road with numerous inclines over a period of 6 to 25 hours of pure travel time until the batteries are exhausted can be.

However, there may also be a desire to create a battery-independent, continuously controllable supply of the electric motor of the present cogwheel train over its lane. An expedient embodiment of such a roadway is shown schematically in FIGS. 37 to 39.

FIG. 37 shows a track section according to FIG. 4, which is provided with three rows 161, 162 and 163 of point contacts 164 known per se. The point contacts protrude slightly above the two driving surfaces 165 and the upper surface 166 of the rack 167. In a likewise known manner, the two outer rows 161 and 162 of the point contacts 164 arranged in the driving surfaces 165 are electrically connected to one another, but are electrically isolated from the middle row 163 arranged in the rack 167.

Such point contacts 164 can be achieved in a simple manner by inserting and anchoring a corresponding metal strip 168 (FIG. 38) in a section of roadway formed with the required openings (slots).

The electrical connections between two mechanically interconnected track sections (see FIGS. 4 to 8) can also be achieved in a simple manner by arranging two resilient, electrically separate contact pieces 169 and 170 on the front side of each track section according to FIG which is the one with the outer rows 161 and 162 of the contacts 164 and the other is in electrical communication with the middle row 163 of contacts 164. Since a mechanically fixed connection of adjacent road sections is achieved by the connecting lugs 47 (FIG. 8), there is also a perfect electrical connection of resilient contact pieces 169 and 170.

So far, the drive motor has been described as an electric motor. It goes without saying that the drive motor can also be a spring mechanism motor, a flywheel motor, a gas motor or even a steam engine without deviating from the subject matter of the invention.

Claims (28)

1. Rack railway toy, comprising:

- a track having at least one smooth travel face (41, 42; 53, 54) and a toothed member (43, 55) which is arranged along the travel face and has two symmetric tooth systems (44, 45; 56, 57) which are at a distance from one another in the transverse direction of the track and are perpendicular to the travel face (41, 42; 53, 54);

- a tractive vehicle (4) which is movable on the travel face (41, 42; 53, 54) and has at least two running axles (15), of which each carry two running wheels (16), a drive motor (26) which is connected to a drive pinion (28) meshing with one tooth system (41, 42; 53, 54), the spindle (27) of the drive pinion (28) being arranged perpendicularly to the running axles (15), sliding or rolling guide means (17, 18; 21, 22; 83) located opposite one another in pairs and adjacent to the drive pinion (28), the drive pinion (28) being offset laterally relative to the centre of the distance between the sliding or rolling guide means located opposite one another in pairs, and a coupling device (23, 24) for coupling further vehicles (1, 2, 3, 5), characterized in that the running wheels (16) are flangeless, in that the tooth systems (44, 45; 56, 57) are open at the top, in that the sliding or rolling guide means (17, 18; 21, 22; 22, 83) each bear against one of the two side faces of the toothed member (43; 55), and in that the coupling device comprises a coupling stirrup (23, 24) which is fixed to the tractive vehicle (4) and to further vehicles (1, 2, 3, 5), each likewise provided with corresponding sliding or rolling guide means (17, 18; 21, 22; 22, 83), at the level of the toothed member (43; 55) adjacent to the sliding or rolling guide means (17, 18; 21, 22; 22, 83).

2. Rack railway toy according to Claim 1, characterized in that track consists of two travel faces (41, 42; 53, 54) between which a rack (43; 55) having tooth systems (44, 45; 56, 57) on either side is centrally arranged.

3. Rack railway toy according to Claim 1, characterized in that the track consists of two travel faces between which a central groove is formed whose side faces are each provided with a tooth system (Fig. 36b).

4. Rack railway toy according to Claim 1, characterized in that a track support with an elevated rack having tooth systems on either side is provided, the top face of which rack forms a travel face (Fig. 36g).

5. Rack railway toy according to Claim 1, characterized in that the track, in cross-section, has the shape of a right-angled U, the inner bottom face forming a travel face and the two inner sides each being provided with a tooth system (Fig. 36h).

6. Rack railway toy according to Claim 1, characterized in that the track has a box-shaped cross- sectional form which has an opening (153) on one of its sides, two legs (154) defining the opening (153), a yoke (155) opposite the opening (153) and two webs (156) connecting the yoke (155) to the legs (154), the inner faces of the legs (154) and/or the inner face of the yoke (155) forming travel faces, and the yoke (155), on its inside, being provided centrally with a rack (158).

7. Rack railway toy according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the toothed member (43; 55) is made of plastic in one piece with the track.

8. Rack railway toy according to one of Claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the track can be assembled from individual straight and curved track pieces, in which arrangement, in order to connect abutting track pieces, lateral straps (47) can be slipped onto the track pieces.

9. Rack railway toy according to Claim 8, characterized in that the angular area of each curved track piece is 45_°, and in that each curved track piece is composed of a longer circular-arc-shaped section (59, 60) and a shorter straight section (61, 62).

10. Rack railway toy according to Claim 9, characterized in that two curved track pieces having an angular area of 45_° are assembled in one piece to form a curved track piece of 90_°, the end areas of the assembled track piece containing the straight sections (61, 62).

11. Rack railway toy according to one of Claims 8 to 10, characterized in that each track piece, at its end faces, is provided with coding elements (51, 52) which are designed as projections (51) and recesses (52) which are provided for mutual engagement with corresponding coding elements of an adjacent, matching track piece.

12. Rack railway toy according to one of Claims 8 to 11, characterized in that each track piece is provided with at least two rows (165, 166) extending in the longitudinal direction of the track, of point-like contacts (164) for the purpose of externally supplying current to the tractive vehicle.

13. Rack railway toy according to Claim 1, characterized in that the drive motor (26), for example an electric motor provided with gearing, is arranged on the bogie (4) in perpendicular position.

14. Rack railway toy according to Claim 13, characterized in that at least one coupling stirrup (23, 24) having two angled arms (65) is attached to the bogie (4), provided with the drive motor (26), in such a way as to be pivotable in the vertical direction, the pivoting locations (25, 66), on either side, of the arms (65) of the coupling stirrup (23, 24) on the bogie (4) being provided at least approximately at the level of the drive pinion (28) of the drive motor (26) and in the longitudinal direction of the bogie (4) adjacent to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the bogie (4) and containing the centre of gravity of the bogie (4).

15. Rack railway toy according to Claim 1, characterized in that the tractive vehicle or a further vehicle which can be coupled to the tractive vehicle is provided with at least one non-driven running bogie (5) to which at least one coupling stirrup (23, 24), having two angled arms (65), is attached in such a way as to be pivotable in the vertical direction, the pivoting locations (25, 66), on either side, of the arms (65) of the coupling stirrup (23, 24) being provided at least approximately at the level of the sliding or rolling guide means (21, 22) of the bogie (5) and in the longitudinal direction of the bogie (5) adjacent to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the bogie (5) and containing the centre of gravity of the bogie (5).

16. Rack railway toy according to Claim 15, characterized in that the non-driven running bogie (88) is mounted in a platform (85) of the vehicle by means of a pivot pin (106).

17. Rack railway toy according to one of Claims 13 to 16, characterized in that each bogie (4, 5, 87, 88) has two axles.

18. Rack railway toy according to one of Claims 13 to 17, characterized in that a train contains a driven bogie (4), carrying the drive motor (26), and a platform (9) which is coupled at one of its ends to the bogie (4) and whose other end is provided with a non- couplable pivoted bogie (6).

19. Rack railway toy according to Claim 18, characterized in that the train has a plurality of vehicles (1, 2, 3) having one platform (9, 10, 11) each, in which arrangement a second platform (10) is coupled to the driven bogie (4), and, furthermore, each further platform (11) is coupled to the preceding platform (10) via a non-driven running bogie (5), and the last platform (11), at its uncoupled end, is provided with a noncoupling pivoted bogie (7).

20. Rack railway toy according to Claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the coupling stirrup (23, 24) of the bogie (4, 5) has a slot (68) in its yoke part (67) connecting the two pivotably mounted arms (65), and in that a platform (10) of a vehicle to be connected to the coupling stirrup (23, 24) is provided at least at one of its ends with a coupling tongue (70, 71) which can be inserted into the slot (68) and locked in the slot (68).

21. Rack railway toy according to Claim 20, characterized in that the coupling tongue (70, 71) is provided with at least one lug (72), and the slot (68) is provided with a corresponding recess (69).

22. Rack railway toy according to Claim 20 or 21, characterized in that the coupling tongue (70) has a rectangular cross-section fitting into the slot (68).

23. Rack railway toy according to Claim 20 or 21, characterized in that the coupling tongue (71) has a rounded-off or bevelled cross-section, for example in the shape of a flat rhombus.

24. Rack railway toy according to Claim 14 or 15, characterized in that the coupling stirrup (103) of the bogie (87, 88) carries a holder (127) of a rotatable magnet (128), which holder (127) is articulated on its yoke part (103) connecting the two pivotably mounted arms (117, 118).

25. Rack railway toy according to one of Claims 13 to 24, characterized in that each bogie is built up modularlike from individual construction units.

26. Track for a rack railway toy according to Claim 1, having at least one smooth travel face (41, 42; 53, 54) and a toothed member (43; 55) which is arranged along the travel face and has two symmetric tooth systems (44, 45; 56, 57) which are at a distance from one another in the transverse direction of the track and are perpendicular to the travel face (41, 42; 53, 54), characterized in that the tooth systems (44, 45; 56, 57) are open at the top.

27. Tractive vehicle for a rack railway toy according to Claim 1, having at least two running axles (15) which each carry two running wheels (16), a drive motor (26) which is connected to a drive pinion (28), the spindle (27) of the drive pinion (28) being arranged perpendicularly to the running axles (15), sliding or rolling guide means (17, 18; 21, 22; 22, 83) located opposite one another in pairs and adjacent to the drive pinion (28), the drive pinion (28) being offset relative to the centre of the distance between the sliding or rolling guide means located opposite one another in pairs, and a coupling device (23, 24) for coupling further vehicles (1, 2, 3, 5), characterized in that the running wheels (16) are flangeless, in that the sliding or rolling guide means (17, 18; 21, 22; 22, 83) are designed to bear against one each of the two side faces of a toothed member (43; 55) and in that the coupling device comprises a coupling stirrup (23, 24) which is fixed to the tractive vehicle (4) at the level of the drive pinion (28) adjacent to the sliding or rolling guide means (17, 18; 21, 22; 22, 83).

28. Tractive vehicle according to Claim 27, characterized in that the coupling stirrup (23, 24) comprises two angled arms (65) which are attached to a bogie (4), containing the drive motor (26), of the tractive vehicle in such a way as to be pivotable in the vertical direction, the pivoting locations (65 [sic], 66), on either side, of the arms (65) of the coupling stirrup (23, 24) on the bogie (4) being provided approximately at the level of the drive pinion (28) of the drive motor (26) and in the longitudinal direction of the bogie (4) adjacent to a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the bogie (4) and containing the centre of gravity of the bogie (4).

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