GB2185694A - Moving toys - Google Patents

Abstract

A moving toy 1 having a floatable body 2 is propelled in water or on land by a screw propellor 41 or wheels 42, 43 driven by an internal electric motor. The motor also rotates a ring-shaped member 5 around the periphery of the toy. If the moving toy encounters an obstacle the relative rotation of the member 5 and body 2 turns the body 2 away from the obstacle, and the toy moves off in a new direction. This action is assisted on land by fitting wheel 42 with an anti-slip rubber band 42a, while wheel 43 has just a milled edge. During rotation of the member 5, an eccentrically positioned ring 5b bears against lever tip 24a causing a pivoting movement of head member 22a. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Moving toys This invention relates to moving toys, which can move on either or both of water or land, especially amphibious toys, and in particular to such toys which areself-turning so astoescapefromcontact with obstacles.

Amphibious moving toys are known which are provided with both propulsion screws and wheels and which can thus be played with on a water surface, such as in a bath or pool, and on a land surface.

There is, however, a problem in the above-described conventional amphibious moving toys that if such a toy runs into an edge of the bath or pool or an obstacle on the land, the toy cannot change its forward movement direction. Therefore it stops in that place, and unless a human's handtouch causes a change in the movement direction of the toy, the toy cannot move so as to escape such obstacles.

The present invention solves the above-described problem by providing a moving toy which can escape from obstacles without human intervention.

The present invention provides a moving toy, especially an amphibious moving toy, comprising a body, preferabiy capable of floating on water, propulsion means for moving the body on water and/or on land, a power source for the propulsion means within the body, and a rotatable member mounted on the outer periphery of the body so as to be substantially horizontal during use of the toy and rotatable around the body by the power source.

The rotatable member is rotated during forward movement in water or on land of the moving toy, and when the moving toy approaches an obstacle, the rotatable member is brought into contactwiththe obstacle. Such a rotational contact causes thewhole toy to change its direction of movement so asto escape from the obstacle and then continue to move in a new forward direction.

The rotatable member is typically a ring shaped memberwhich is retained on the toy by being positioned in a channel formed around the outer periphery of the body. The rotatable member preferably supports toy figures associated with an animal or other shape impressed ontheform ofthe body. In a preferred embodimentthe rotatable member has a projecting portion which, during rotation of the rotatable member, engages a lever projecting from the body, and the lever is arranged to impart a pivoting movement to a member, such as an animal head, mounted on the body.

The present invention will now be described in more detail by reference to a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view; Figure2 is an overall perspective viewfrom above; Figure 3 is an overall perspective viewfrom below; Figure 4 is an explanatory plan view.

As shown in Figure 1, an amphibious moving toy 1 in accordancewiththe present invention comprises a main body 2 which is hollow and capable of floating on the surface of a body of water. A power source 3 is installed in the interior of the main body 2, so as to operate propulsion means 4(41,42,43) which are capable of moving the main body 2 both on land and water. Asubstantially ring-shaped member 5 is installed substantially horizontally on the outer periphery of the main body 2so as to be rotatable around the main body 2, and is also rotated by means of the power source 3.

The main body 2 is constructed from a dish-shaped floating body 21 attached to a cover 22 by means of screws 6 or otherfixing means, inserted through the bottom of the floating body 21, to form a hollow body having, in this embodiment, an aquatic bird shape. A head member 22a in the form ofthe head of the aquatic bird is attached to the front upper surface of the cover 22 so asto be pivotable in left and right directions. The head 22a is fixed to a rotatable axle 23 which extends downwardly through the cover 22. A lever 24 is fixed to the lower end of the rotatable axle 23. Atip 24a ofthe lever 24 extends through a gap provided between the cover 22 and the floating body 21. Acut-out part 21 a at the front side of the floating body 21 provides the gap when the cover 22 is attached to the floating body 21.

The lever24is rotatable together with the above-described head member 22a and receives a rotary returning force by means of a spring 25 which biasses the lever 24 in the direction in which the tip 24a is most projecting from the main body 22.

As the power source 3, an electric motor is used which operates from an electric cell (omitted in the drawing) housed in an electric cell box 21 bformed in the floating body 21. A lid 26 for the electric cell box 21 band a switch 27 which activates and stopsthe above-described power source 3 are installed on the bottom part of the floating body 21. One power axle 32 driven from a power transmitting gear mechanism 31 (not shown in detail) projects outwardly from the rear part of the floating body 21 and a propulsion screw 41 is fixed to the rear end thereof. In addition, a pinion 34 is fixed to another power axle 33 driven from the above-described powertransmitting gear mechanism 31 (the power axle thereof rotates relatively slowly).This pinion 34 is engaged with a crown gear 36 fixed to a vertical rotatable axle 35 extended vertically in the floating body 21. Fixed to the upper end of the rotatable axle 35 is atoothed gear37which partially projects from the body 2 and rotates the rotatable member 5.

The propulsion means4 includes means for moving the toy on water and on land. The moving means used inwateristhe propulsion screw41, already described. The moving means used on land includes a pair of coaxial drive wheels 42,43 (Figure 3) and a support wheel 44. The drive wheels 42,43 are rotated with the power supplied thereto via the powertransmitting gear mechanism 31. The wheel 44 is free to rotate. An anti-slip rubber band 42a is fitted into the drive wheel 42. The other drive wheel 43 is provided only with a milled edge.

The rotatable member 5 rests on a circular support surface 21 c, formed as part of the floating body 21.

The supportsurface 21 c isthe lower part of a channel that is formed between the body 21 and cover 22 when the two parts are secured to each other. The channel acts as a retaining means to maintain the rotatable member5 in position but allows it to rotate.

The rotatable member 5 is moveable within this channel by gearteeth 5a formed on its inner edge which engage the toothed gear 37 which slightly projects overthe support surface 21through a gap formed by a cut-out portion in body 21 when parts 21 and 22 are secured together. A long, narrow raised strip 5b extends around the lower surface ofthe rotary member5 in an eccentric manner relative to the axis of rotation ofthe member 5. The raised strip 5b is of a circular or elliptical shape and arranged so thatthe tip 24a of the lever 24 is in slidable contact with the inner periphery thereof.

When the gear 37 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction (as viewed fromthetopz through the powertransmitting gear mechanism 31, pinion 34, crown gear36, and vertical rotatable axle 35, the rotatable member 5 engaged therewith via teeth 5a is also rotated in the same direction. During such rotation, the part ofthe strip 5b in sliding contact with tip 24a ofthe rotary lever 24 changes.

When a part 5ba (Figure 4) of the strip 5b, whose distance from the centre ofthe rotatable member 5 is the furthest, is in contact with the tip 24a, the tip is in its most projected state, i.e., in a state where the tip is maximally rotated and biassed by means of the spring 25 (position denoted in a solid line in Figure 4).On the other hand, when a part 5bb (Figure 4) of the strip 5b, whose distance from the centre ofthe rotary member5 is shorter, is in contact with the tip 24a of the rotary lever 24, the tip 24a is projected from the main body 2 in a shorter length, i.e., in a state where the tip is rotated in the counterclockwise direction (as viewed from the top) against the force of spring 25 (position denoted buy a broken line in Figure 4). Consequently, the rotary lever 24 is rotated in the left and right directions by the eccentric movement of strip 5b, and the head member 22a is accordingly also rotated to left and to right.

Next, the handling and operation of an amphibious moving toy 1 having the structure described above will be described.

The switch 27 is operated to render the power source 3 operative, with the resultthatthe screw 41 and drive wheels 42,43 are rotated and the rotatable member5 is slowly rotated in the counterclockwise direction (asviewedfromthetop).Consequently,the head member22a is pivoted in the left and right directions. Also the upper surface of the rotatable member is provided with juniorversions ofthe animal ofthe main body, or other related objects, which then circulate around the main body.

When the amphibious moving toy 1 is floating on the surface of water in a vessel (not shown in the drawing) such as a tub, the toy is driven forward by means of the screw 41 with head member22a turning from right to left and back again. When the outer edge of the rotatable mem ber 5 contacts with the innerwall surface ofthetub (or another obstacle),the main body 2 pivots to the right (as viewed from the top) so that the toy moves forward while turning so as to escape further contact with the obstacle.

On the other hand, when the amphibious moving toy 1 is placed on land, the toy moves forward by means ofthe drive wheels 42,43 with the driven wheel 44 grounded, and the head member 22a again being pivoted in the left and right directions. When the outer edge of the rotatable member 5 contacts with an obstacle such as a wall (not shown in the drawings) of a room, the main body 2 turns to the right (as viewed from thetop) in the same way as when the toy moves on water, exceptthatthis time the drive wheel 43 slips and the other drive wheel 42 does not slip. Consequently,thetoymovesforward while turning so asto escape the further touch ofthe obstacle.The outer edge of the rotatable member 5 may be given a convoluted, here scalloped, edge for decorative effect and to assist in gripping against an obstacle.

It should be noted that the degree to which the main body 2 is afloat on the surface of water is not restricted to that of the above preferred embodiment where the upper part ofthe main body 2 is exposed above the water level. It includes the situation where the upper partfloats without being exposed. In addition, although an electric motor has been exemplified as the power source 3, the present invention is not restricted to use of an electric motor butwind-up clockwork mechanisms or other types of powersources may be used. Furthermore,although the screw 41 and drive wheels 42,43 are exemplified as the propulsion means 4, the present invention is not restricted to such elements as described above but other propulsion and traction means such as gas injection orwalking movement may be used.

Claims (14)

1. A moving toy comprising a body, propulsion means for moving the body on land and/or water, a power source for the propulsion means within the body, and a rotatable member mounted on the outer periphery of the body so as to be substantially horizontal when the toy is moving and rotatable around the bodybythe power source.

2. An amphibious moving toy comprising a body capableoffloating in water, propulsion meansfor moving the body on land and water, a power source for the propulsion means within the body, and a rotatable member mounted on the outer periphery of the body so as to be substantially horizontal when the toy is moving and rotatable around the body by the power source.

3. Atoy asclaimed in claim 1 or2,inwhichthe rotatable member is a substantially ring-shaped member retained in a channel formed around the outer periphery ofthe body.

4. Atoyas claimed in claim 1,2 or3, inwhich subsidiarytoyfigures are mounted on the rotatable member.

5. Atoyas claimed in any preceding claim, in which the rotatable member has an innertoothed edge which is engaged with gearing mounted in the body and driven by the power source.

6. Atoy as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the rotatable member has a convoluted outer edge.

7. Atoy as claimed in any preceding claim, in which during rotation ofthe rotatable member a projection on the rotatable member engages a lever projecting from the body and movement of the lever causes movement of a pivotable member mounted on the body.

8. Atoy as claimed in claim 7, in which the projection is a continuous raised strip which is non-circularoreccentric relative to the axis of rotation of the rotatable member, and the lever is biassed towards engagementwith the strip.

9. Atoy as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the water propulsion means is a screw propellor.

10. Atoy as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the land propulsion means is one or more drive wheels.

11. Atoy as claimed in claim 9, comprising a pair of spaced co-axial drive wheels, one wheel having an anti-slip rim.

12. Atoy as claimed in claim 7, in which the body simulates an aquatic animal, the pivotable member is a simulated head of the animal, and the rotatable member carriesfigures of juvenile animals.

13. Atoy as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the power source is an electric motor and the body incorporates mounting means for one or more electric cells and circuitry for connecting the cell(s) to the motor.

14. Atoyasclaimedinclaiml orclaim2, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.