GB1568774A

GB1568774A - Steering apparatus

Info

Publication number: GB1568774A
Application number: GB4656277A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Shinsei Industries Co Ltd; Shinsei Kogyo KK
Current assignee: Shinsei Industries Co Ltd; Shinsei Kogyo KK
Priority date: 1977-08-03
Filing date: 1977-11-09
Publication date: 1980-06-04
Also published as: JPS5427843A; DE2754036A1; JPS5932150B2; FR2399263A1

Description

(54) STEERING APPARATUS (71) We, SHINSEI KOGYO CO.

LTD., a Japanese body corporate, of No.

27-23, Sumida 2-chome, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, Japan, do hereby declare this invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to steering apparatus and in particular, to steering apparatus for items such as a radio- or wire-controlled travelling toy.

Heretofore, radio- or wire-controlled travelling toys are complicated in construction and therefore in failure rate. It is the principal object of the invention to eliminate such disadvantages.

According to the invention steering apparatus comprises a pair of clutch sections supported by a pair of frames attachable to a chassis and each section selectively arranged to adopt a driving or non-driving position according to the operation of pawl plate means to an engaging or disengaging position with respect to each clutch section; the clutch sections including a drive gear at the drive ends of the clutch sections; a driving gear arranged to be in driving engagement with the drive gear; a rack associated with each of the clutch sections and engaging with said driven gears; and a steering bar each end of which is pivotably connected to one end of one of said racks.

An embodiment of the invention is now described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the view and in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the whole of a toy car on which steering apparatus is mounted Figure 2 is a plan view of the car shown in Figure 1, the body thereof being removed for clarity; Figure 3 is a side view of the car shown in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of part of the steering apparatus.

Referring to the drawings, A designates a driving section, which is constructed as follows: An electric motor 2 and its on-off switch 3 are mounted on a chassis 1. A pinion 4 is fixed on a rotary shaft 2' of the motor 2. A driving axle 6 is rotatably supported by a pair of frames 5 and 5' fixed to the chassis 1.

A spur gear 9 is fixed to the driving axle 6 near one end thereof, engaging the pinion 4 through large and small intermediate gears 7 and 8 formed in one piece. A slip gear 12 is held on the driving axle 6 between the frames 5 and 5' in a half-fixed state by provision of a tubular positioning member 10, a boss 10', and a coil spring 11. In addition, the driving axle 6 is provided at its both ends with rear wheels 13 and 13', one loosely and the other tightly.

References B and B' designate a pair of clutch sections constructed as follows: A pair of double gears 16 and 16' each equipped with a collar 15 are loosely and rotatably supported by the frames 5 and 5' at portions opposite to each other. Both ends of an auxiliary shaft 18 are loosely and rotatably inserted in central holes 17 and 17' of the double gears 16 and 16', respectively.

The auxiliary shaft 18 is provided parallel with the driving axle 6 between the frames 5 and 5'. A spur gear 21, which is provided at both sides thereof with pinions 20 and 20' integrally formed therewith, is loosely and rotatably mounted on the middle portion of the auxiliary shaft 18. In the same manner, a pair of ratchet wheels 22 and 22' are loosely and rotatably mounted on the auxiliary shaft 18 at both sides of the spur gear 21. The ratchet wheels 22 and 22' are provided with eccentric holes 23 and 23'. respectively. The above mentioned spur gear 21 is in mesh with the slip gear 12. Short shafts 24 and 24' parallel with the auxiliary shaft 18 are loosely and rotatably inserted in the holes 23 and 23', respectively, so that both sides of the shaft 24 and 24', may extend through the ratchet wheels 22 and 22' to appear at the both sides thereof, respectively.Onto these extended portions of the short shafts 24 and 24' are fixed pinions 26 and 26', which engage smaller gears 25 and 25' of the double gears 16 and 16' respectively, and pinions 27 and 27', which engage the pinions 20 and 20' of the spur gear 21 respectively.

Reference C and C' designate pawl plate devices, which engage and disengage from the ratchet wheels 22 and 22' included in the above mentioned clutch sections B and B' respectively. The pawl plate devices are constructed as follows: A pair of electromagnets 28 and 28', which operate under the control of a radio control device F to be described later, are mounted on the chassis 1. A pair of pawl plates 31 and 31', having a pawl at each one end thereof, are provided above the electromagnets 28 and 28', respectively. There are further provided at the other ends of the respective pawl plates 31 and 31' a pair of springs 30 and 30' normally urging said pawl plates to disengage from said ratchet wheels 22 and 22'.The pawl plates 31 and 31' engage with the teeth 29 and 29' of the ratchet wheel 22 and 22' against the biasing force of the springs 30 and 30' when the electromagnets 28 and 28' are actuated, and disengage therefrom by the action of the springs 30 and 30' when the electromagnets 28 and 28' are not actuated.

References D and D' designate rack devices which are constructed as follows: A pair of racks 32 and 32' are longitudinally movably provided externally of both sides of the frames 5 and 5', respectively.

Each of the racks 32 and 32' has teeth 33 on the bottom surface of its main end. The toothed sections 33 of the racks 32 and 32' are in mesh with the larger gears 34 and 34' of the double gears 16 and 16', respectively.

Reference E designates a steering device constructed as follows: A T-shaped steering bar 36 is provided at the upper side of the front end of the chassis 1. The steering bar 36 is supported on the chassis 1 rockably about its centre through a shaft 37. Both ends of the horizontal portion of the steering bar 36 are pivotally connected to the ends of the racks 32 and 32' by means of pins 38 and 38', respectively. A pair of axles 39 and 39' are held, at the inner ends thereof, between the steering bar 36 and the chassis 1. At the inner ends thereof, the axles 39 and 39' are horizontally rockably supported on the chassis 1 through shafts 40 and 40', respectively. Front wheels 42 and 42' are loosely and rotatably fitted to the outer ends of the axles 39 and 39', respectively.The axles 39 and 39' are provided, at the inner ends thereof, with arms 43 and 43' integrally formed therewith, respectively, so that they are L-shaped. The ends of the arms 43 and 43' and the end of the vertical portion of the steering bar 36 are connected to a link 44 through pins 45, 45' and 46, respectively. A downward-facing pin 47 projects from the bottom surface of the central portion of the link 44. A torsion spring 48 is provided to return the pin 47 to the original central point.

Reference F designates a radio control device composed of a transmitting box 50 and a receiving box 51. The transmitting box 50 is equipped with a "start-stop" button 52, a "turn to left" button 53, a "turn to right" button 53' and a transmitting antenna 54.

The receiving box 51 is provided with a receiving circuit (not shown), an amplifying circuit (not shown), a starting and stopping circuit 55, and a receiving antenna 56.

The above-mentioned preferred embodiment of the present invention may be operated as follows: If the "start-stop" button 52 or the on-off switch 3 is operated, the motor 2 will start rotation. The turning force thus created will be transmitted to the driving axle 6 through the pinion 4, intermediate gears 7 and 8, and spur gear 9 to rotate the rear wheels 13 and 13'. Thus the vehicle begins to travel.

If the "turn to left" button 53 is operated, the pawl plate 31', which is shown at the upper side in Figure 2. is attracted by the electromagnet 28' to stop the ratchet wheel 22', which is shown at the upper side in Figure 2. Therefore, the turning force of the slip gear 12 half-fixed to the driving axle 6 is transmitted to the rack 32' through the spur gear 21. pinion 20'. pinions 27' and 26', and smaller and larger gears 25' and 34', the rack 32' being shown at the upper side in Figure 2. As a result, the rack 32' is moved to the left in Figure 2 and thereby rotates the steering bar 36 counterclockwise in Figure 2 through a predetermined angle.

Thus the vehicle is turned to the left.

If the "turn to right" button 53' is operated, the pawl plate 31, which is shown at the lower side in Figure 2, is attracted by the electromagnet 28 to stop the ratchet wheel 22, which is shown at the lower side in Figure 2. Therefore, the turning force of the slip gear 12 half-fixed to the driving axle 6 is transmitted to the rack 32 through the spur gear 21, pinion 20, pinions 27 and 26, and smaller and larger gears 25 and 34, the rack 32 being shown at the lower side in Figure 2.

As a result, the rack 32 is moved to the left in Figure 2 and thereby rotates the steering bar 36 clockwise in Figure 2 through a predetermined angle. Thus the vehicle is turned to the right.

When the maximum rotatable angle of the steering bar 36 is reached, the gear trains of the clutch sections B or B' stop rotating and as a result the driving axle 6 rotates in the central hole of the slip gear 12.

If the turn button is released, the torsion spring 48 relieves the "turn to left" button 53 or "turn to right" button 53' of its operating condition. Thus all the conditions return to those kept before operating the buttons 53 and 53'; in other words, the vehicle moves straight ahead.

As mentioned above, the steering apparatus comprises a pair of clutch sections each adapted to assume the driving or nondriving position according to the operation of a pawl plate thereof, said pawl plate assuming the engaging or disengaging position according to the attraction of an electromagnet thereof, a drive gear provided at the drive ends of the clutch sections, driven gears provided at the driven ends of the clutch sections, a driving gear adapted to be in mesh with the drive gear, racks provided for a pair of said clutch sections respectively and adapted to engage with said driven gears, and a steering bar each end of which is connected rotatably to one end of one of said racks. Therefore, the steering apparatus has advantages in that it can perform steering operations very correctly and is very simple in construction and very low in failure rate.

It should be understood that the present invention is applicable not only to a toy car as described, but also to a toy ship which is radio- or wire-controlled.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Steering apparatus comprising a pair of clutch sections supported by a pair of frames attachable to a chassis and each section selectively arranged to adopt a driving or non-driving position according to the operation of pawl plate means to an engaging or a disengaging position with respect to each clutch section; the clutch sections including a drive gear at the drive ends of the clutch sections and driven gears at the driven ends of the clutch sections; a driving gear arranged to be in driving engagement with the drive gear; racks associated with each of the clutch sections and engaging with said driven gears; and a steering bar each end of which is pivotally connected to. one end of one of said racks.

2. Steering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said clutch sections comprise of pair of double gears rotatably supported by the frames opposite to one another; an auxiliary shaft whose ends are loosely and rotatably supported in holes axially of the double gears; a spur gear associated with both clutch sections and rotatably mounted on a middle portion of the auxiliary shaft and in mesh with the driving gear and provided at opposite sides thereof with integral pinions; a pair of ratchet wheels rotatably mounted on the auxiliary shaft to opposite sides of said spur gear and each wheel being provided with eccentric holes; short shafts loosely and rotatably inserted in respective eccentric holes of the ratchet wheels in parallel with the auxiliary shaft, so that the ends of each shaft extend through the ratchet wheels respectively to appear at opposite sides thereof; and two pairs of pinions fixed to free ends of the short shafts, one of which pairs engages with smaller gears of the respective double gears and the other of which pairs engages with the respective pinions of the spur gear.

3. Steering apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 wherein said pawl plate means includes a pair of pawl plates, each plate having a pawl at one end thereof, provided adjacent to the ratchet wheels of the clutch sections and movable between an engaging and a disengaging position with respect to the teeth of the ratchet wheels; a pair of springs provided at the opposite ends of the pawl plates and normally urging said pawl plates to disengage from said ratchet wheels; and a pair of electromagnets provided beneath said pawl plates operable under the control of a radio- or wirecontrolled device to move the pawl plates to an engaging position.

4. Steering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said racks are provided externally and longitudinally of both sides of the frames, and each having teeth on the under surface of the rack at one end, and teeth being in mesh with the larger gears of the double gears.

5. Steering apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said driving gear is a slip gear held on a driving axle which is rotatably supported by the frames.

6. Steering apparatus substantially as described with reference to the drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. When the maximum rotatable angle of the steering bar 36 is reached, the gear trains of the clutch sections B or B' stop rotating and as a result the driving axle 6 rotates in the central hole of the slip gear 12. If the turn button is released, the torsion spring 48 relieves the "turn to left" button 53 or "turn to right" button 53' of its operating condition. Thus all the conditions return to those kept before operating the buttons 53 and 53'; in other words, the vehicle moves straight ahead. As mentioned above, the steering apparatus comprises a pair of clutch sections each adapted to assume the driving or nondriving position according to the operation of a pawl plate thereof, said pawl plate assuming the engaging or disengaging position according to the attraction of an electromagnet thereof, a drive gear provided at the drive ends of the clutch sections, driven gears provided at the driven ends of the clutch sections, a driving gear adapted to be in mesh with the drive gear, racks provided for a pair of said clutch sections respectively and adapted to engage with said driven gears, and a steering bar each end of which is connected rotatably to one end of one of said racks. Therefore, the steering apparatus has advantages in that it can perform steering operations very correctly and is very simple in construction and very low in failure rate. It should be understood that the present invention is applicable not only to a toy car as described, but also to a toy ship which is radio- or wire-controlled. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Steering apparatus comprising a pair of clutch sections supported by a pair of frames attachable to a chassis and each section selectively arranged to adopt a driving or non-driving position according to the operation of pawl plate means to an engaging or a disengaging position with respect to each clutch section; the clutch sections including a drive gear at the drive ends of the clutch sections and driven gears at the driven ends of the clutch sections; a driving gear arranged to be in driving engagement with the drive gear; racks associated with each of the clutch sections and engaging with said driven gears; and a steering bar each end of which is pivotally connected to. one end of one of said racks.