GB2287416A - Hopping toy - Google Patents

Abstract

A hopping toy including a battery, a motor (M) driven by said battery, a rotational body (46) for causing said toy to perform a hopping action, a power transmission mechanism (34a - 34j) for transmitting the rotating power of said motor to the rotational body (46) to thereby rotate the rotational body and a plurality of cams-drivers (35, 36) that have different curved contours (35a, 36a) around cam faces thereof, which are rotated by the motor (M) and which have different angular velocities, wherein mechanical elements constituting said power transmission mechanism are connected to and disconnected from each other based upon the operation of a follower (37) which is simultaneously brought into contact with said plurality of cams (35a, 36a) (drivers). Thus when the contact portion (37a) of the follower is brought into contact with the cams for a short time, the front portion of the toy is raised and lowered at once (Fig. 9), but when the contact time is longer, body (45) rotates to a greater extent and the toy hops once (Fig. 10). Further, gearing (47) rotates and moves pin (50) up and down to open and close an opening, such as the mouth of a frog, and-also fillips plastic piece (52) thereby generating a sound similar to the croak of a frog. <IMAGE>

Description

DESCRIPTION HOPPING TOY The present device relates to a hopping toy.

A toy frog is known as a hopping toy. The conventional toy frog comprises a toy frog main body and a pump for supplying air to the toy frog main body and is configured such that the toy frog main body performs a hopping action when extendable legs affixed to the toy frog main body are temporarily extended by virtue of air pressure generated by air supplied into the toy frog main body by the pump.

However, in the conventional toy frog, since the toy frog main body and the pump are connected to each other via a pipe, in order to allow the toy frog main body to advance, the operator is required to advance together with the toy, and moreover, air has to be continuously supplied by the pump, and this is found troublesome. In addition, since the toy frog main body is constructed to hop when the operator operates the pump, the timing when the toy frog main body hops is obvious to the operator, and thus the element of surprise is missing.

Furthermore1 in a case where there are several people competing against each other by using a plurality of toy frogs of that type, the number of times of pump operation determiners a winner, and hence such a contest is predictable.

The present device was made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a hopping toy which performs a hopping action by itself and provides unexpectedness in its hopping actions.

Preferably, the hopping toy includes a battery, a motor driven by the battery, a rotational body for causing the toy to perform a hopping action, a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotating power of the motor to the rotational body to thereby rotate the rotational body and a plurality of cams/drivers that have different curved contours around cam faces thereof, which are rotated by the motor and which have different angular velocities, wherein mechanical elements constituting the power transmission mechanism are connected to and disconnected from each other based upon the operation of a follower which is simultaneously brought into contact with the plurality of cams/drivers.

A second embodiment of the hopping toy includes the rotational body being shaped such that it can raise the front portion of the toy by virtue of reaction force which it receives from a ground surface with which it is in contact with and that it can kick the ground surface to thereby cause the toy to perform a hopping action.

A third embodiment is similar to the first embodiment; however the rotational body comprises a semicircular plate that can rotate about an eccentric position, the semicircular plate being oriented such that an arc portion thereof comes into contact with the ground in succession to a boundary area between a chord portion thereof and the arc portion.

A fourth embodiment comprises a battery, a motor driven by the battery, a rotational body for causing the toy to perform a hopping action, a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotating power of the motor to the rotational body to thereby rotate the rotational body and a plurality of cams/drivers that have different curved contours around cam faces thereof, which are operated by the motor and which have different operation speeds, wherein mechanical elements constituting the power transmission mechanism are connected to and disconnected from each other based upon the operation of a follower which is simultaneously brought into contact with the plurality of cams/drivers.

According to the embodiments described above, the hopping toy hops by virtue of rotation of the rotational body by virtue, in turn, of the rotating power of the motor. In this case, although the transmission of the rotating power of the motor to the leg portions is allowed or restrained by the mixed operation of a plurality of cams, since the operation speeds (angular velocities) of the plurality of cams/drivers are different from each other, the timing of allowing and restraining the transmission of the rotating power are changed in succession.

Therefore, it is not possible to anticipate the occurrence of a hopping action, thus providing amusement. In a contest using the toy frogs, it is not possible to anticipate a winner, thus providing added enjoyment.

The hopping toy will now be further described and explained with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is perspective view showing a toy frog of one embodiment.

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the contour of the toy frog.

Fig. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the mechanical box.

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing the power transmission mechanism.

Fig. 5 is a drawing showing the phase changes in the cams.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view explaining the operation of the cams.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation view explaining the functioning of the cams.

Fig. 8 is a side elevational view showing the operation of its semicircular plate (rotational body).

Fig. 9 is a side elevational view showing another operation of the semicircular plate (rotational body).

Fig. 10 is a side elevational view showing still another operation of the semicircular plate (rotational body).

Referring to the accompanied drawings, an embodiment of the present device will be described below.

In Fig. 1, a toy frog is shown as an example of a hopping toy. Reference numeral 1 denotes the entire toy frog. This toy frog is constructed so as to start hopping in an irregular fashion when a controller 2, located in the waist (refer to Fig.

2), is moved to connect a motor to a power source. The toy frog raises its front portion, hops several times in succession then stays still for a moment, or hops once and stays still for a while, and repeats these actions in an irregular fashion. In addition, the toy frog croaks while it sits still.

The toy frog comprises a trunk portion 10 and a head portion 11. Of the two portions the contour of the trunk portion 10 (as shown in Fig. 2) is constituted by a front frame lOa and a rear frame lOb. The front and rear frames nova, lOb are fastened to each other by screws. When fastened together, the mechanical box 3 (FIG. 3) is installed in a space surrounded by the front and rear frames lOa, lOb, and a constricted portion, formed at the shoulder joint. Each of arms 13 are fitted in notches 12 formed at portions where the front and rear frames lOa, lob meet. In addition, the head portion 11 having a bottom plate 14, secured to the bottom of the head by means of screws, is mounted on the trunk portion 10 by means of a pin 15 such that it may be opened and closed.The upper portion of a coil spring 16 is inserted into a tubular portion 14a formed in the bottom plate 14, while the lower portion of the coil spring 16 is brought into engagement with a boss 17 provided on a top plate of the rear frame lob. The coil spring 16 functions as a cushion when the mouth of the toy frog 1 is shut.

As shown in Fig. 3, the mechanical box 3 consists of a lower frame 30, an intermediate frame 31, and an upper frame 32. These frames are fastened to each other by screws. Of these three frames, a battery box 33 is provided in the intermediate frame 31, and a battery, not shown, is placed in this battery box 33 from the front side thereof. In addition, the motor M which is the driving source for the toy frog 1 is placed directly above the battery box 33 in a space surrounded by the intermediate frame 31 and the upper frame 32.

As shown in Fig. 4, the rotating power of this motor M is designed to be transmitted to a gear 34i via gears 34a, 34b, 34c, 34d, a worm 34e, a gear 34f, a worm 34g and a gear 34h. Of these gears and worms, cams/drivers 35 and 36 each having a cam face on their end faces are affixed, respectively, to the gears 34i and 34j. Curved contours of the cam faces of the cams 35 and 36 are different from each other. In other words, a raised portion 35a having a wide width is formed on the cam 35, while four raised portions 36a each having a narrow width are formed in a limited area of the cam 36. In addition, the numbers of gear teeth of the gears 34i and 34i are slightly different, resulting in different angular velocities for the cams 35 and 36.One end (a contact portion 37a) of a lever (follower) 37 is adapted to be simultaneously brought into contact with the cam faces of the cams 35 and 36. This lever 37 is securely provided on a shaft 39 where the gear 34d and the worm 34e are also provided and is brought into abutment with the cam faces of the cams 35 and 36 at the contact portion 37a by means of a helical torsion coil spring 38 laid between the intermediate frame 31 and the contact portion 37.

In addition, a gear (sun gear) 40 is provided on the shaft 39 which is formed integrally with the gear 34d. A gear (planetary gear) 41 mounted on the end opposite to the contact portion 37a of the lever 37 is brought into meshing engagement with the gear 40. Therefore, when the lever 37 is rotated about the shaft 39 by the cams 35 and 36, this causes the gear 41 to move around the gear 40. Moreover, mounted on the other end of the lever 37 are gears 42, 43 which rotates integrally with the gear 41.

When the contact portion 37a of the lever 37 is brought into abutment with a root portion on the cam faces of the cams 35 and 36, the gear 42 is brought into mesh engagement with a gear 44, and the rotating power of the motor M is transmitted to the gear 44 via the gears 40, 41, 42, which rotates a semicircular plate (rotational body) 46.which is provided on a shaft 45 on which the gear 44 is provided. This semicircular plate 46 is mounted on the shaft 45 in such an orientation that a chord portion rotates prior to an arc portion thereof. When this semicircular plate 46 rotates, the front portion of the toy frog 1 is raised, and the toy frog itself is caused to hop. In addition, a face clutch CTh is provided between the gear 44 and the semicircular plate 46.

In contrast, when the one end of the lever 37 is brought into abutment with the raised portions 35a and 36a on the cam faces of the end face cams 35 and 36, the gear 43 is brought into meshing engagement with a gear 47, and the rotating power of the motor M is transmitted to the gear 47 via the gears 40, 41, 43, whereby a cam 49 is rotated which is provided on a shaft 48 on which the gear 47 is provided. This cam 49 moves a pin 50 up and down. This pin 50 penetrates a hole 32a formed in the upper frame 32 as shown in Fig. 3 and a hole lOc formed in the trunk portion 10 as shown in Fig. 2, and an upper end thereof is brought into contact with the bottom plate 14 of the head portion 11, whereby the head portion 11 is opened and closed when the pin 50 moves up and down.This opening and closing action of the head portion 11 results in an opening and closing action of the mouth of the toy frog 1. Additionally, in synchronism with this head motion, the rotating power of the motor M is also transmitted to a rotational body 51 which is provided on the shaft 48 and has teeth partially formed on a circumferential surface thereof. A plastic piece 52 is filliped by the teeth of this rotational body 51, thereby generating sound similar to a croak of a real frog. In Fig. 3, SW denotes a power source switch controlled by the controller 2.

Next, the function and operation of this toy frog 1 will be described. First, when the controller 2 is moved in a direction for contacting a power source, the power source switch SW is switched on, whereby the motor M rotates. Then, the rotating power of the motor M is transmitted to the gears 34i and 34j via the gears 34a, 34b, 34c, 34d, the worm 34e, the gear 34f, the worm 34g and the gear 34h, whereby the cams 35 and 36 are rotated in opposite directions. In this case, since the numbers of gear teeth of the gears 34i and 34j are slightly different from each other, as shown in Fig. 5, as the cams 35 and 36 rotate the phases of the raised portions 35a and 36a are caused to slightly deviate from each other.

In a case where the contact portion 37a of the lever 37 is brought into contact with the roots of both cams 35 and 36 (a position indicated by ((1) in Fig. 6), the gear 42 is brought into mesh engagement with the gear 44 (refer to Fig. 7), and the rotating power of the motor M is transmitted to the gear 44 via the gears 40, 41, and 42, thereby rotating the semicircular plate 46. In this case, if the contact portion 37a is brought into contact with the roots of the both cams 35 and 36 for a short time, as shown in Fig. 9, the front portion of the toy frog 1 is temporarily raised and restored to its original position at once.

This rising action is generated when the contact portion 37a is brought into contact with one of the roots existing where the raised portions 36a of the cam 36 are densely formed. This is because where roots are densely formed, the period of time is short when the gears 42 and 44 are brought into meshing engagement with each other, and therefore the semicircular plate 46 is allowed to rotate only slightly (as shown in Fig. 9), and the toy frog is restored to the state shown in Fig. 8 when the meshing engagement between the gears 42 and 44 is released. In contrast, if the period of time when the contact portion 37a is kept in contact with the roots of the both cams 35 and 36 is long, i.e., passing the state shown in fig. 9, the semicircular plate 46 rotates greatly, and it further rotates over the arc portion thereof (a state as shown in Fig. 10).At this moment, the toy frog 1 hops once. This hopping action is generated when the raised portion 35a of the cam 35 exists somewhere in the root formed where the raised portions 36 of the cam 36 are not crowded. In this case, the number of times the toy frog 1 repeats the hopping action depends on the position of the raised portion 35a of the cam 35 in the root formed where the raised portions 36a of the cam 36 are not crowded.

In addition, in the case where the contact portion 37a of the lever 37 is brought into contact with the raised portion (35a, 36a) of either of the cams 35 and 36 (or both) as the cams 35 and 36 rotate (a position indicated by ((2) in Fig. 6), the gear 43 is brought into mesh engagement with the gear 47, and the rotating power of the motor M is transmitted to the gear 47 via the gears 40, 41 and 43, whereby the cam 49 is rotated, cam 49 is provided on the shaft 48 on which the gear 47 is provided, the pin 50 being thereby moved up and down. This causes the toy frog 1 to open and close its mouth. Moreover, in synchronism with this, the rotating power of the motor M is transmitted to the rotational body 51, whereby the teeth of this rotational body 51 fillip the plastic piece 52, thereby generating a sound similar to a croak of a real frog.

With the toy frog 1 configured as described above, it hops by virtue of the rotation of the semicircular plate 46 by the rotating power of the motor M. In this case, the transmission of the rotating power of the motor M to the semicircular plate 46 is allowed or restrained by the mixed operations of the cams 35 and 36. However, since the angular velocities of the cams 35, 36 are different from each other, the timing of allowing and restraining the transmission of the rotating power is changed.

Therefore, it is not possible to anticipate the occurrence of the hopping action, thus providing surprise. In a contest using the toy frogs 1, with this aspect of the present device, it is not possible to anticipate a winner. This also provides enjoyment to the user. In a case where a contest is held using the toy frogs, they may be allowed to race against each other as they are, but a rail may be laid while a slot is formed in the bottom surface of the toy frog 1 which can be brought into engagement with the rail, so that it can hop along the rail.

As is described above, the hopping toy of the present invention hops by virtue of rotation of the rotational body by the rotating power of the motor. In this case, although the transmission of the rotating power of the motor to the leg portions is allowed or restrained by the mixed operation of a plurality of cams, since the operation speeds (angular velocities) of the plurality of cams (drivers) are different from each other, the timings of allowing and restraining the transmission of the rotating power are changed in succession.

Therefore, it is not possible to anticipate the occurrence of a hopping action, this providing much pleasure. In a contest using the toy frogs 1, with this aspect of the present device, it is not possible to anticipate a winner, this also providing enjoyment to the race participants.

Embodiments of the present device have been described.

However, the present invention is not so limited but may be modified in various ways within a range which does not depart from the spirit thereof.

For instance, although a toy frog is used as an example, it is possible to apply the present invention to a hopping toy such as a rabbit or a horse.

In addition, a direct acting cam may be used instead of the cams 35 and 36 which are used in the embodiment of the invention described above. The direct acting cam may be operated by a rack and pinion or a link mechanism.

Claims (6)

1. A hopping toy comprising a motor adapted to be driven by a. battery, a rotational body for causing said toy to perform a hopping action, a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotating power of said motor to said rotational body to thereby rotate said rotational body and a plurality of cams that have different curved contours around their faces thereof, which are rotated by said motor and which have different angular velocities, wherein mechanical elements constituting said power transmission mechanism are connected to and disconnected from each other based upon the operation of a follower which is simultaneously brought into contact with said plurality of cams.

2. A hopping toy as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotational body is shaped such that it raises the front portion of said toy by a force which is received from a ground surface, such that said hopping toy kicks said ground surface to thereby cause said toy to perform a hopping action.

3. A hopping toy as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said rotational body comprises a semicircular plate that rotates about an eccentric position, said semicircular plate being oriented such that an arc portion thereof comes into contact with the ground in succession to a boundary area between a chord portion thereof and said arc portion.

4. A hopping toy comprising a battery, a motor driven by said battery, a rotational body for causing said toy to perform a hopping action, a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotating power of said motor to said rotational body to thereby rotate said rotational body and a plurality of cams that have different curved contours around the faces thereof, said cams being operated by said motor at different operation speeds, wherein mechanical elements constituting said power transmission mechanism are connected to and disconnected from each other based, upon the operation of a follower which is brought into contact with said plurality of cams simultaneously.

5. A hopping toy comprising a motor adapted to be driven by a battery, member mounted for rotation and arranged to cause said toy to perform a hopping action, a power transmission mechanism for transmitting the rotating power of said motor to said member to thereby rotate said member and a plurality of cams that have different curved contours around their faces thereof, which are rotated by said motor and which have different angular velocities, wherein elements of said power transmission mechanism are connected to and disconnected from each other based upon the operation of a follower which is simultaneously brought into contact with said plurality of cams.

6. A rotational toy substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.