GB2057898A - Toy rails - Google Patents

Abstract

A toy rail (1) is made of resilient plastics and has at least one band (3a) provided along its length, the or each band being non-resiliently bendable so that when the rail is bent, the band maintains the rail in its bent configuration. The or each band may be separate from, or constitute part of, an electrical conduction system for driving a toy vehicle. A groove 7 is provided for attachment to other parts of a toy construction kit. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Toy rail section This invention relates to a driving and/or guiding rail for toy vehicle models, which consists of a shaped plastics part that can be bent in one plane.

Construction kits are known which contain driving and/or guiding rails consisting of a shaped plastics part, which rails, on account of their cross-section, can be bent in one plane. The plastics material possesses a material elasticity or resilience, however, which makes it necessary, if one wishes to produce and maintain a curve in the rail, to use an additional rail support structure. In order to make the construction of rail systems easier it is therefore customary to provide inherently stable or rigid curved elements which can be joined together to form a circle or other endless shape. However, these prefabricated curved elements provide only a limited range of possibilities for connecting together the rails.

The problem underlying the invention is to provide a driving and/or guiding rail which in a simple manner and without additional auxiliary constructions permits a wide range of possible arrangements of the rails.

According to the invention, this is achieved in that the rail has at least one channel in the longitudinal direction, into which a wire band is inserted that can be bent into any desired shape supporting the shaped plastics part.

The material used for the wire band can be a very soft metal having low tensile strength and virtually no material elasticity. The wire band can therefore be bent very easily and remains in any bent shape. Soft iron or very soft non-ferrous metal, for example, has this property. The ability of the shaped plastics part to bend in one plane can be obtained if the shaped plastics part has a generally rectangular cross-sectional shape, so that it possesses a low bending moment in one plane.

The inserted wire band is therefore able to counteract the recovery force resulting from the resilience or elasticity of the plastics material and maintain the curved arrangement of the rails. The driving and/or guiding rail according to the invention therefore permits any desired arrangement of the rails which is, at the same time, easy to produce, which considerably increases its value and attractiveness.

With advantage, the shaped plastics part can be provided with several channels which are arranged one above the other in the centre and are open towards an outer face of the shaped plastics part, the wire bands inserted into the channels being constructed, at the same time, as electrically conductive paths. As a result of the channels which are open to one side, it is possible to guide a sliding contact over the inserted wire bands, which sliding contact makes an electrical connection to the toy vehicle which is guided by the rail. It is therefore possible to conduct to the toy vehicle by way of the inserted wire bands the driving current supplied from a stationary current source or electrical pulses for triggering functions. The use of the wire bands for supplying current obviates the need to equip the rails with additional conduction paths.

With advantage, the wire band may be rectangular in cross-section and inserted on edge in the channels of the shaped plastics part. As a result of this arrangement, the contact surface of the wire bands which are used as conducting paths is increased, thereby making it easier to collect the current.

At the same time, the shaped plastics part can be kept very thin to reduce the aforesaid bending moment.

With advantage, one end of the wire band can project by way of an extension beyond the end face of the shaped plastics part, which extension together with a correspondingly shaped countermember at the other end of the wire band disposed in the shaped part makes up the complete cross-section of the wire band. This arrangement serves to connect the rails both mechanically and electrically for the purpose of producing a longer and, if desired, closed, arrangement of the rails.

With advantage, one longitudinal edge of the shaped plastics part can be provided with an undercut groove and the opposite longitudinal edge can be shaped like a rail. By means of the longitudinal groove it is possible to attach parts of a construction kit to the rail, for example when the rail is to be placed on supports or is to be hung on a supporting construction as a side rail for a suspended railway. The construction of the opposite longitudinal edge as a rail makes it easier for the flanged wheels of the railway vehicle to roll along.

The present invention also provides a toy vehicle rail made of resilient plastics material, the rail being bendable to alter its shape as seen in plan view, wherein at least one wire or metal strip or band (hereinafter referred to generally as a strip) is provided in the rail along the length of the rail, the or each strip being non-resiliently bendable so that when the rail is bent as aforesaid the strip maintains the rail in its bent configuration.

Two toy rail sections, each constructed in accordance with the invention, will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which: Figure 1 shows a first rail section, and Figure 2 shows a second rail section.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, and first of all to Fig. 1, the rail section comprises a shaped plastics part 1 of rectangular cross-section, a wire 3 of circular crosssection being provided in, and extending along the length of the part 1. The wire can be implanted in the part 1 during injection moulding of that part or it can be inserted into a bore 2 of the part 1 after moulding. The wire 3 consists of a soft and, hence, easily bent metal. Since the wire has no material elasticity or resilience, when the part 1 is bent into a curved shape as shown in Fig. 1, the wire maintains the part in that shape. Virtually any shape can be formed and it is possible, for example, to form an endless track using only one such rail section although, of course, two or more such sections could be joined end-to-end if a larger track is desired.

As shown in Fig. 1 the rail section is formed in its side walls with two parallel channels each of which receives a respective electrical conductor strip 4.

In the rail section 1 shown in Fig. 2, the electrical conducting strips can be omitted since, in this case, wire strips or bands 3a serve not only to maintain the curved shape of the section but also, at the same time, as electrical conductors for transmitting driving current and/or electrical pulses to a toy vehicle guided by the rail. For this purpose, the wire bands 3a are arranged one beneath the other and in the neutral zone of the shaped plastics part 1. The bands 3a are accommodated in channels 2a formed in opposite side walls of the section 1. it is therefore possible to guide a sliding contact over the wire bands, which sliding contact makes an electrical connection from for example a stationary current source, via the wire bands to the toy vehicle.

To provide both an electrical and mechanical connection between two interconnected rail sections, one end portion 5 of each of the wire bands 3a extends axially beyond the end of the section 1 and the other end portion 6 lies within the section and forms with the channel 2a a socket which is complementary in shape to the end portion 5. To connect two sections 1 together the end portions 5 of one section are simply inserted into the sockets of the other section.

Complementary shaping can be achieved by removing parts of each end portion so that they key together-with no change in the cross-section of the band in the socket.

To increase the number of possible applications of the rail section especially if it is part of a toy construction kit, one longitudinal edge thereof has an undercut slot or groove 7 which can be used to attach other parts of the kit. The other longitudinal edge 8 of the section 1 is shaped to improve rolling movement of the flanged wheels of, for example, a railway vehicle.

Claims (9)

1. A toy vehicle rail made of resilient plastics material, the rail being bendable to alter its shape as seen in plan view, wherein at least one wire or metal strip or band (hereinafter referred to generally as a strip) is provided in the rail along the length of the rail, the or each strip being non-resiliently bendable so that when the rail is bent as aforesaid the strip maintains the rail in its bent configuration.

2. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, in which the rail is provided with a plurality of channels extending along its length, each channel being provided in a side wall of the rail and a respective strip being provided in each channel.

3. A toy vehicle rail as claimed in claim 2, in which the channels are provided at different depths in the sidewalls.

4. A toy vehicle rail as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the or each strip is rectangular in cross-section the strip being arranged in the rail so that it is vertical when the rail is laid.

5. A toy vehicle rail as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, in which one end portion of the or each strip projects axially from the end of the rail and the other end portion of the or each strip lies within the rail and forms with it a socket complementary in shape to the said one end portion.

6. A toy vehicle rail as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, in which one longitudinal edge portion of the rail is shaped to receive a wheel or shoe and the other longitudinal edge portion is provided with an undercut slot or groove extending along its length.

7. Driving and/or guiding rail for toy vehicle models which consists of a shaped plastics part that can be bent in one plane, wherein the rail has at least one channel in the longitudinal direction, into which a wire band is inserted that can be bent into any desired shape supporting the shaped plastics part.

8. A toy vehicle rail substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as illustrated by Fig. 1 or Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawing.

9. A model rail kit comprising a plurality of rails as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8.