JP3677031B2 - Steering device for toys - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a toy steering device, and relates to a toy steering device that performs steering using electromagnetic force.

  Conventionally, an automobile toy that employs a mechanism that swings a front wheel axle by electromagnetic force is known (for example, Patent Document 1). This steering device for an automobile toy is steered by a swing motor, and the swing motor is provided on a front wheel axle that is swingably provided integrally with the rotor, and the rotor And a coil that swings. The toy steering device changes the direction of the front wheel axle by swinging the swing motor in a desired direction by controlling energization of the coil in three patterns of off, forward and reverse directions. It is configured.

Specifically, a cylindrical rotor is attached to the front wheel axle, and this rotor is supported at the upper end by the upper chassis, and freely rotates around the rotor core provided vertically along the inner periphery of the lower chassis. It is fitted. The rotor has an N pole at one position perpendicular to the front wheel axle at the circumferential portion and an S pole at a position facing the rotor. On the other hand, the coil which comprises a rocking | fluctuation motor is wound by the outer peripheral part of the part currently cylindrical by the lower chassis and the upper chassis. And it is comprised so that direction of a front-wheel axle may be changed by controlling electricity supply to a coil. Further, a yoke is provided in a range extending from the upper surface and both side surfaces of the central portion of the coil. When the coil is not energized, the front wheel axle is held in a neutral position (a position where the front wheel is directed straightly) by a suction force acting on the rotor and the yoke.
JP-A-11-57235

  However, in the steering device, front wheels are provided on both sides of one front wheel axle, and the one front wheel axle is swung, so that, for example, the right (left) curve suddenly shifts to the left (right) curve. On a winding road or the like, the entire front axle and thus the front wheel swings greatly, so that the curved traveling becomes unstable. In order to solve this problem, independent front wheel axles may be provided on the left and right sides, and the front wheel axles may be swung left and right about an axis near the left and right front wheels. The steering device is applied to this. In this case, two sets of rotor, coil, and yoke must be provided on the left and right, and the coil must be wound around the rotor, and the electromagnetic force on the rotor can be sufficiently exerted. As a result, the coil must be wound over a range that is slightly wider than the projected width of the rotor, which complicates the structure.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a toy steering device that has a simple structure and that can stably run on a curve.

The toy steering apparatus according to claim 1 is configured such that the left and right rotating bodies that rotate the left and right steering wheels to the left and right about a predetermined axis and the left and right rotating bodies are connected to each other to rotate around the left and right rotating bodies. A toy steering apparatus comprising: a connecting body that forms a pair; and rotating the left and right rotating bodies around the predetermined axis by swinging the connecting body to the left and right, and changing the direction of the steering wheel; A permanent magnet is attached to the connecting body so that a pole is directed left and right at a central portion in the left-right direction of the connecting body, and a core is disposed so that one end thereof faces each of the poles directed to the left and right. A round air core coil without a fixed position is provided at a position separated from the permanent magnet, and the round air core coil is configured to be energized and controlled by coil energization means, it the hole of the upper chassis and the lower chassis lower portion A hole portion into which the upper end portion of the predetermined shaft enters penetrates the upper chassis vertically, and the rotating body has an upper end portion and a lower end portion of the predetermined shaft at holes of the upper chassis and the lower chassis. It is configured to move up and down between the upper chassis and the lower chassis by moving up and down within the section, and the connecting body is held at the neutral position in the left and right direction by the protrusion at the center in the left and right direction of the connecting body A winding portion of the torsion spring is hung, the middle of the rod-shaped portion on both sides of the torsion spring straddles a protrusion provided at the center in the left-right direction of the coupling body, and the tip of the rod-shaped portion is the coupling body The neutral position of the coupling body is hung on a trim that can be finely adjusted, and the coupling body can take two left and right steering positions by energizing the round air core coil. Air core Wherein the coupling element by turning off the power supply to yl is characterized by being configured to obtain take a neutral position.

  Here, “energization control” includes control such as turning off energization or changing the direction of current. Further, in order to “direct the permanent magnet poles to the left and right”, the poles (N pole and S pole) of one permanent magnet are arranged so as to be located on the left and right, respectively. In the case of using two permanent magnets, one pole (N pole or S pole) of one permanent magnet is placed on the left, and the other pole (S pole or N pole) of the other permanent magnet is placed on the right. Or the same pole (N pole or S pole) of two permanent magnets is arranged on the left and right. In this case, the energization control for the coils may be performed by operating both the left and right coils at the same time and operating the coupling body by both the attractive force and the repulsive force acting between the left and right coils and the permanent magnet. Alternatively, the coupling body may be operated by an attractive force or a repulsive force acting between the left and right coils and the permanent magnet.

  According to the toy steering device of the present invention, the coil energization control means controls the energization of the coil so that the tie rod can take the two left and right steering positions, so that the structure is simple and the curve traveling is stable. It can be done. Further, since the steering is performed simply by controlling the energization of the coil (turning off the energization, changing the direction of the current, etc.), the structure becomes simple. Furthermore, since the toy can take the neutral position and the other two positions, the variation of the traveling mode of the toy increases.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a racing car toy to which a toy steering device according to an embodiment is applied. The outline of the car toy 1 includes a chassis (base body) 2 and a body 3 shown in FIG. The chassis 2 and the body 3 are made of plastic, and the front part and the side part of the body 3 have a certain degree of elasticity and are not particularly limited. The body 3 is attached to the chassis 2 by elastically engaging the recess or hole with the protrusion 2 a of the chassis 2. The car toy 1 has an antenna (not shown) that receives a control signal from a controller (not shown).

  FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the chassis 2. Although not particularly limited, a rechargeable battery (nickel battery) 4 is installed in a vertically placed state at the center of the chassis 2. The battery 4 is attached to a battery housing portion (not indicated) by an attachment member 5. The mounting member 5 is made of plastic and is formed in an inverted U shape so that the body of the battery 4 can be pressed from above. The attachment member 5 has at least elastic properties at both free ends, and both free ends can be deformed in directions toward and away from each other. A locking claw (engagement portion) 5a is provided outside each free end, and the battery 4 is obtained by hooking the locking claw 5a on an edge (engagement portion) of a hole (not shown) of the chassis 2. Can be fixed. In addition, conductor pieces 6a and 6b that can be electrically connected to the negative electrode and the positive electrode of the battery 4 are provided before and after the battery housing portion. Although not shown, the conductor pieces 6a and 6b are partially exposed on the lower side of the chassis 2, and the battery 4 can be charged by using the exposed conductor pieces 6a and 6b.

  Further, a motor housing portion 7 is provided at the rear portion of the chassis 2 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the motor 8 is installed in the motor housing portion 7 in a horizontally placed state. The motor 8 is a DC motor, and a conductor piece 8a is exposed from the tail of the motor 8 as shown in FIG. The conductor piece 8a constitutes a negative terminal and is electrically connected to the negative electrode side of the battery 4. On the other hand, the body portion 8 b of the motor 8 constitutes a positive terminal and is electrically connected to the positive electrode side of the battery 4.

  Here, the motor housing portion 7 will be described. Although not particularly limited, one end of a conductor piece 6a electrically connected to the negative electrode of the battery 4 extends on the right side wall of the motor housing portion 7 as shown in FIG. doing. On the other hand, one end of a conductor piece 6 b electrically connected to the positive electrode of the battery 4 extends on the floor of the motor housing portion 7. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, when the motor 8 is installed in the motor housing 7, the bottom terminal of the motor 8 is automatically electrically connected to the conductor piece 6a and the positive terminal of the body is automatically connected to the conductor piece 6b. It has come to be. A gear 8c is fixedly provided on the motor shaft of the motor 8.

  Further, gears 7a and 7b are installed in the vicinity of the left side wall of the motor housing portion 7 as shown in FIGS. The gears 7a and 7b are integrally formed of plastic and are configured to idle around a horizontal axis (rotating axis) 9. Here, the gear 7b meshes with a gear 7c fixedly provided on the rear wheel axle 2b of the rear wheels 2a, 2a. As a result, the motor power is sequentially transmitted from the gear 7a to the gears 7b and 7c, so that the rear wheels 2a and 2a are rotationally driven.

  Further, a motor pressing plate 10 is provided at the rear portion of the chassis 2 as shown in FIGS. The motor pressing plate 10 is made of copper, although not particularly limited. The motor pressing plate 10 is appropriately provided with slits and holes so as to satisfy both the heat dissipation improvement and the pressing effect of the motor 8. The motor pressing plate 10 is configured to be rotatable around a horizontal shaft 9 that extends in the horizontal direction on the front side of the motor housing portion 7. The motor holding plate 10 has an open position (A in FIG. 6) for opening the motor storage portion 7 and a closed position (B in FIG. 6) for closing the motor storage portion 7 by rotation about the horizontal axis 9. It is configured to be able to take. The motor pressing plate 10 is configured to be able to press the body portion of the motor 8 installed in the motor storage portion 7 when in the closed position.

  The motor pressing plate 10 is formed with a curved central portion in the width direction, and the tip of the curved portion constitutes a locking portion 10a. The curved portion has elasticity, and when the motor pressing plate 10 is rotated about the horizontal axis 9, the chassis is moved from the open position (A in FIG. 6) to the closed position (B in FIG. 6). 2 is inserted into a hole 11 provided on the rear side of the motor housing portion 7 and is locked to an edge (engagement portion) 11a of the hole 11 by its own elasticity.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an internal circuit of the car toy 1. The car toy 1 receives a control signal from a remote control controller (not shown) through an antenna (not shown), and a receiver 12 A control device 13 that performs energization control of the motor 8 and the coil 14 of the toy car 1 according to the control signal received by the receiver 12 is provided. The control device 13 is configured on a printed wiring board (not shown), and the printed wiring board is disposed on the battery 4.

  Next, details of the steering device for the toy car 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 8, the steering device 20 of the toy car 1 includes a left and right tie rod (rotating body) 21 to which left and right front wheel axles 2c are attached and a tie rod (connecting body) that connects the left and right knuckle arms 21 to each other. ) 22.

Here, each knuckle arm 21 is attached the front wheel axle 21a, a front wheel 2c is attached so as to be idle for this front wheel axle 21a. As shown in FIG. 9, the left and right knuckle arms 21 are supported by the chassis 2 so as to be rotatable about left and right shafts 21b. The upper and lower ends of the left and right shafts 21b are respectively inserted into holes (not shown) in the lower chassis 2e and the upper chassis 2f as shown in FIG. The hole into which the upper end of the shaft 21b enters penetrates the upper chassis 2f up and down, and the left and right knuckle arms 21 can move slightly up and down between the lower chassis 2e and the upper chassis 2f. On the other hand, the tie rod 22 rotates around the free end portion of the knuckle arm 21 at the positions of the shafts 21b at both ends thereof and forms a pair. As a result, when the tie rod 22 swings left and right, the left and right knuckle arms 21 rotate about the shaft 21b, and the directions of the left and right front wheels 2 are changed.

  The tie rod 22 is provided with a torsion spring 23. The winding portion of the head portion of the torsion spring 23 is fitted on the protrusion 22 a provided on the tie rod 22, and the middle of the rod-like portions on both sides of the torsion spring 23 straddles the protrusion 22 b provided on the tie rod 22. The tip of the torsion spring 23 is hung on a trim 25 provided behind the tie rod 22. Specifically, the tip of the torsion spring 23 is hooked on the eccentric cam 25a of the trim 25, and the eccentric cam 25a rotates the lever 25b exposed on the lower side of the chassis 2 to the left and right about the axis 25c. It rotates around 25c. By this rotation, the neutral position of the tie rod 22 can be finely adjusted. The torsion spring 23 functions to hold the tie rod 22 at a position (neutral position) that is not biased to the left or right.

  A permanent magnet 24 is installed on the front side of the tie rod 22. The permanent magnet 24 is formed in a disc shape, and is installed so that both end surfaces face the left and right directions. One end face of the permanent magnet 24 is configured as an S pole, and the other end face is configured as an N pole. On the other hand, coils 14 are provided on the left and right in front of the tie rod 22. The coil 14 is a round air-core coil having no core, and one end of each coil 14 is opposed to an end face of a permanent magnet 24 provided on the tie rod 22. The reason why the disk-shaped permanent magnet and the round air-core coil are used is to reduce the size and weight of the entire toy by not inserting the core into the coil. In the case of a round air-core coil, the magnetic force generation of the coil is weak, but there is no problem if a torsion spring 3 having a very weak urging force is used.

FIG. 10 shows a part of the coil energization circuit. This coil energization circuit is configured such that energization is controlled by a coil energization control unit. In this coil energization circuit, the left and right coils 14 are energized at the same time, and when the left and right coils 14 are energized simultaneously. Is configured such that the polarity on the side facing the end face of the permanent magnet 24 is the same polarity (N pole or S pole) on the left and right. Therefore, when the left and right coils 14 are energized, an attractive force acts between one coil 14 and the permanent magnet 24, and a repulsive force acts between the other coil 14 and the permanent magnet 24. As a result, the tie rod 22 swings against the urging force of the torsion spring 23. In this case, in order to change the swinging direction of the tie rod 22, the direction of the current flowing through the coil 14 may be changed by the coil energization control unit.
The left and right coils 14 may be alternatively energized, and the tie rods 22 may be swung by an attractive force or a repulsive force acting between the energized coil 14 and the permanent magnet 24.

  FIG. 11 shows a suspension of an automobile toy. The suspension 40 includes the leaf spring 30. The leaf spring 30 is installed in the upper chassis 2f. The leaf spring 30 has a structure in which the middle is curved in a U shape, and the curved portion is lightly pressed by a shaft 41 provided in the upper chassis 2f. On the other hand, the left and right end portions of the leaf spring 30 are positioned on the hole portion into which the upper end portion of the shaft 21b is inserted, and are in contact with the upper end of the shaft 21b. As a result, the leaf spring 30 functions to absorb the impact from the road surface that the front wheel 2c of the automobile toy 1 receives according to the undulation of the traveling surface.

  FIG. 12 shows the operating state of the suspension of FIG. When the front wheel 2c on one side is lifted as shown in FIG. 12A, the one side portion of the leaf spring 30 (the portion closer to the wheel 2c than the shaft 41) bends. Further, as shown in FIG. 12B, when the front wheels 2c on both sides are lifted, both side portions of the shaft 41 of the leaf spring 30 are bent. As a result, the leaf spring 30 absorbs the impact from the road surface that the front wheel 2c of the automobile toy 1 receives according to the undulation of the traveling surface, and properly grounds the wheel.

  Needless to say, the structure of the suspension is effective even when not combined with the steering device.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, it cannot be overemphasized that a various deformation | transformation is possible for this invention in the range which is not limited to this embodiment and does not change the summary.

It is a perspective view of the car toy incorporating the steering device for toys of an embodiment. It is a top view of the chassis of the motor vehicle toy of FIG. It is a perspective view of the motor storage part of the motor vehicle toy of FIG. It is a perspective view of the motor storage part of the motor vehicle toy of FIG. It is a perspective view of the motor currently used for the motor vehicle toy of FIG. It is a side view which shows the open / close state of the motor holding plate of the motor vehicle toy of FIG. It is a figure which shows the internal circuit of the motor vehicle toy of FIG. It is a perspective view of the steering device of the toy car of FIG. It is a top view of the steering device of the toy car of FIG. It is a figure which shows a part of coil energization circuit of the toy car of FIG. It is sectional drawing seen from the front side which shows the suspension of the motor vehicle toy of FIG. It is a figure which shows the operation state of the suspension of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Car Toy 2 Chassis 2a Rear Wheel 2c Front Wheel (Steering Wheel)
14 Coil 21 Knuckle arm (Rotating body)
21a Axle 21b Shaft 22 Tie rod (connector)
24 electromagnet

Claims (1)

The left and right rotating bodies that rotate the left and right steering wheels to the left and right around a predetermined axis, and the connecting body that connects the left and right rotating bodies to each other and forms a pair of turns. In a toy steering device in which the left and right rotating bodies are rotated about the predetermined axis by swinging the body to the left and right to change the direction of the steering wheel, the connecting body includes a left-right direction of the connecting body A permanent magnet is attached to the central part of the magnet so that the poles are directed to the left and right, and a round air core coil without a core is disposed on the left and right of the poles so that one end of the pole faces the permanent magnet. The round air-core coil is configured to be energized and controlled by coil energization means, and the upper end and lower end of the predetermined shaft are holes in the upper chassis and the lower chassis. Each of the predetermined axes Hole the upper end enters penetrates the on the chassis up and down, said rotary body, said on the chassis by upper and lower ends of the predetermined axis is vertically moved within the bore of the upper chassis and the lower chassis And the lower chassis are configured to be movable up and down, and a winding portion of a torsion spring for holding the connecting body in a neutral position in the left-right direction is hung on the protrusion in the center in the left-right direction of the connecting body. The middle of the rod-shaped portion on both sides of the torsion spring straddles a protrusion provided at the central portion in the left-right direction of the coupling body, and the tip of the rod-shaped portion is disposed on a fixed portion outside the coupling body. The neutral position of the coupling body is hung on a trim that can be finely adjusted, and the coupling body can take two left and right steering positions by energizing the round air core coil, and the energization to the round air core coil is turned off. By Wherein the coupling element is a toy steering apparatus characterized by having the structure described may take a neutral position Te.

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