FR2863905A1 - Radio controlled vehicle guiding kit for toy industry, has guide housed in cylinder integrated on plastic support and having lower end inserted in groove of path, where guide can revolve freely in cylinder without clearance - Google Patents

Abstract

The kit has a plastic support (1) screwed in front of a chassis of a vehicle, and an aluminum cylinder (3) integrated on the support. A guide (4) housed in the cylinder is retained in the cylinder by spigots (5). The guide sliding vertically on the cylinder can revolve freely in the cylinder without clearance and has lower end inserted in a groove of a path, where the groove has a sufficient width for limiting friction.

Description

The present invention relates to a device for rolling

  radio-controlled vehicles, battery-powered or thermal engine-driven, on existing or existing two-channel grooved tracks on the market.

  These radio control vehicles have the advantage of being provided with steering wheels, of carrying their own power supply, of being usable on any surface, indoors or outdoors.

  However, the reactivity, the lack of precision of the trajectories, require an important surface to optimize the performances of the vehicle and only a certain level of control, allows to control the vehicle without damaging it.

  Only an expert level allows you to consider races in packs on defined courses where overtaking and trajectories can be done when cornering.

  The device described below, for vocation, to allow the vehicles mentioned above: - To operate on rigid non-electrified grooved tracks, - To operate on soft grooved tracks and mixed grooved tracks.

  - To operate independently on the same channel, - To operate more than two on only two channels, - To operate either indoors or outdoors away from a current source, - To overtake and change lanes in order to take the trajectory desired by the pilot.

  Meanwhile, there are currently on the market, electric motor circuits, which allow vehicles, necessarily equipped with a guide conductor in electricity, to circulate on grooved tracks, necessarily rigid and electrified, to supply power, vehicles only for this purpose.

  This type of circuit, allows an immediate control of the vehicle, but remains limited at the level of realism and does not allow: - the use of these same vehicles for other types of applications, - To circulate, independently on the same track, several vehicles, - Operation outside and far from a current source, - Track changes without considering a complex system with switches, - Use of tracks, flexible or mixed.

  The device according to the invention makes it possible to extend the use of radio-controlled vehicles to grooved runway operation, to overcome the drawbacks associated with traditional electrified grooved tracks.

  This device is based on two principles; - The adaptation of the radio-controlled vehicles to the operation on grooved tracks, To authorize, to these autonomous vehicles, the changes of lanes and the overtaking, commanded by the pilots.

  The use of radio-controlled vehicles on a grooved track, requires the adaptation under the chassis of the vehicle, a guidance system placed at the front, consisting of a support, on which is a cylindrical housing, in which a guide slides vertically, pivots on itself, freely and without play.

  This guide system or guide kit, must be adaptable to all types of radio-controlled vehicles.

  Depending on the specificities of each type of vehicle, this kit can be screwed, clipped, provided from the outset on the chassis of the vehicle, and made of machined or molded plastic.

  The cylindrical housing of the guide, can be crimped, made in one piece with its support, made of machined aluminum or molded plastic. The guide must be made of plastic, aluminum, Teflon, machined or molded.

  The adaptation to the vehicle of the guidance system once completed, it will be possible for the said vehicles - To be used on the traditional grooved tracks, not supplied with current, - To be used on different types of grooved, rigid tracks , flexible, mixed, designed from the outset for this type of applications, ie only with a grooving allowing the passage of the guidance system and thus the movement of vehicles on these tracks.

  - To operate independently on the same track, - To operate more than two on only two tracks, - To operate either indoors or outdoors away from a power source, - To overtake and change lanes in order to take the trajectory desired by the pilot.

  The lane change takes place via a specific section of grooved track, composed of two parallel tracks, each joining by cross-section segments in the middle of the section.

  According to the characteristics of each existing or future circuit, this specific segment of grooved track, to an assembly system to the other track elements and dimensions, different, namely, length, width, spacing of parallel tracks, radius of cross curves .

  This section can be made of rigid material (plastic, PVC), or flexible (rubber, silicone, flexible PVC, polyurethane) machined or molded.

  Once this lane change section associated with the grooved tracks, the radio controlled vehicles circulating on the circuit, will be able, thanks to their front wheels steering and radio-controlled order of the pilot, via a dimmer or a simple switch on or off right-left, take the guide in one or the other of the grooves present on the section.

  The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view of the guide system adapted here to an existing vehicle.

  - Figure 2 shows, the guide kit, the guide inserted in the grooving of the track seen from the front.

  - Figure 3 shows the section of lane change and exceedance - Figure 4 shows a circuit projection as a whole rigid, flexible or mixed.

  With reference to these drawings, and in their embodiment: According to Figure 1, the guide kit is composed of a plastic support (1) screwed to the front of the vehicle frame (2).

  On this support is crimped, an aluminum cylinder (3) in which is housed a guide (4) Teflon, retained in its housing (3) by lugs (5).

  According to Figure 2, the guide (4) sliding vertically is held laterally in its housing (3), in which it can rotate freely on itself and without play.

  Its lower end, fits into the groove of the track (5) whose width is sufficient to limit friction.

  According to Figure 3, when the vehicle is at the entrance of the lane section (7), here manufactured of machined PVC, if no direction change information is transmitted via the radio control to the steering wheels of the vehicle, this one will not be engaged in the procedure of change of track and will continue its trajectory in the groove (8).

  Conversely, if a change of direction information is transmitted to the front wheels, the natural change of trajectory of the vehicle de facto engages the guide in the central groove (9) of change of track.

  According to FIG. 4, the multiplication of the lane change sections makes it possible to increase the realism of the overall projection of the circuit, where an optimal trajectory (10) can be seen drawn by the sketches of vehicles. (11). This circuit is representative of the possibilities offered by the device described above.

  It is composed of rigid PVC track members (12), stiff PVC track liner sections (13), and longer, rubber molded track elements (14). interconnected by an interlocking system common to all elements.

  The device according to the invention is_destined to: - Improve the realism of model vehicle races, by providing them, through the use of the lane change sections, a multiplicity of trajectories and the possibility of carrying out Exceedances, Exploit for other purposes, the traditional grooved tracks, in fact not powered, they are now suitable for the use of radio-control vehicles and changes of track, - Operate rigid and flexible grooved tracks, designed not to be 25 electrified, where tracks and lane change sections would represent a homogeneous whole. The interest of flexible tracks, being to minimize the clutter during storage thanks to their winding ability, to provide users with the ability to print a slight relief on the track, to increase quickly and with less manipulation distances in a straight line because of greater length than the sections 30 of rigid track.

  - Open the use of radio-controlled vehicles to other applications, pure speed racing, chases, pack races, sprint races, on grooved tracks, without asking the driver, when taking control, a high level of expertise at piloting.

Claims (1)

-5 CLAIM   1) Device for guiding a radio-controlled vehicle in grooved tracks (5), fitting on the front of the chassis of the radio-controlled vehicle (2) characterized in that it comprises a support (1) integral with a housing cylindrical (3), in which, freely and without play, slides from high to low and can rotate on itself a guide (4), the lower end of which fits into the groove of the track to guide the vehicle .