JPH03111077A - Direction converter for traveling toy - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the miniaturization of a traveling toy operated by radio control by providing a controller part in which a magnet is arranged in the center part of a steering rod, and providing an electromagnet in which a pair of yoke terminal parts excited with different polarity are arranged protrusively confronting with the controller part. CONSTITUTION:The electromagnet 38 is arranged confronting with the controller part 28 of the steering rod 22 positioned at a body base 10. The electromagnet 38 is housed in a case 40 made of nonmagnetic material, and is comprised so as to be fixed at the prescribed position of the body base 10. A current is supplied reversibly confronting with a coil 48 with a radio receiver 56, and the polarity of right and left yokes 44, 46 are inverted. When the electromagnet 38 is energized and the yokes 44, 46 are excited with prescribed polarity, they are moved attractively in the direction of another yoke with the same polarity as that of the magnet 20, which makes wheels 12, 12 turn in right and left directions via the steering rod 22. When the electromagnet 38 is de-energized, the controller part 28 is held at a position setting the steering rod 22 at a neutral state, and the wheels 12, 12 are controlled at a straight advance state.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a device for changing the direction of a traveling toy using radio control.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a direction changing device for this type of traveling toy,
The steering plate attached to the front wheels is displaced left and right by forward and reverse operation of a servo motor via a worm gear mechanism, etc., to change the direction of the front wheels, that is, to drive straight, turn to the right, or turn to the left. Are known.

However, in the conventional direction changing device, if the running toy is frequently changed in direction from side to side, the servo motor must be switched between forward and reverse directions more frequently, and therefore the various contacts constituting the electrical system of the servo motor generates a spark.

The generation of sparks in the servo motor causes damage to the electrical system of the servo motor and malfunction of the wireless controller. In particular, servo motors are expensive due to their excellent control performance, so if the control circuit is devised so as not to generate sparks, the manufacturing cost will further increase.

From this point of view, the applicant first placed electromagnets that can be energized with different polarities and at least a pair of magnets held with different polarities facing each other on a vehicle body, and placed the electromagnets or the pair of magnets in a horizontal plane. The control element is fixed to one end of a rotatably pivoted control element, and is engaged with a steering plate that connects the control element to a wheel, and depending on the energized state of the electromagnet, one of the magnets provided on the control element is attracted to the electromagnet. He developed a direction changing device configured to displace the controller in either direction, applied for a patent, and obtained a patent (
Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-52827, Patent No. 1330571
issue).

Since the above-mentioned direction changing device is composed of a combination of an electromagnet and a magnet, it is not only simple in construction, but also can significantly reduce manufacturing costs, and is always stable and reliable without malfunctioning of the radio control device. It has the advantage of achieving direction change control. However, in this type of direction changing device, it is preferable for the operation to hold the wheels so that they can move straight when the electromagnet is de-energized.For this reason, in the previously proposed device, A pair of support rods are arranged symmetrically, one end of the support rod is pivotally connected to the main body base of the traveling toy, the middle portion is elastically connected with a spring, and the swinging end is connected to the control rod. A locking portion formed on the back surface of the controller is configured to be elastically held at a predetermined neutral position, which has the disadvantage that the configuration of the controller is somewhat complicated.

Therefore, the present applicant has made repeated improvements in order to obtain a direction changing device that can simplify manufacturing and reduce costs by simplifying the mechanism that holds the controller in the neutral position when not controlled. It has been discovered that the desired purpose can be achieved by forming a control element in the middle part of the steering member and fixing either one of mutually opposing electromagnets or magnets to a part of the control element. They each filed a patent application (Japanese Patent Publication No. 1-42703-4).

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, in the improved direction changing device proposed earlier, the controller is fixed directly to the middle part of the steering member and is configured to turn and displace the steering member, so it is structurally simple. However, the amount of displacement of the controller directly corresponds to the magnitude of the steering action of the wheels. Therefore, the magnitude of the steering action of the wheels depends on the size of the electromagnet.
The problem was that the electromagnet could not be made smaller to produce the necessary steering action. For this reason, conventionally, there has been a limit to the miniaturization of radio-controlled running toys that can perform highly accurate steering control, and this has resulted in the disadvantage that they are limited to expensive products.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to construct a simple and compact steering mechanism that can generate sufficient steering action even with a relatively small displacement of the controller, thereby realizing miniaturization of the electromagnet, which has been difficult in the past. An object of the present invention is to provide a direction changing device for a traveling toy that can achieve miniaturization of the traveling toy by radio control and can perform highly accurate steering control.

[Means to solve the problem]

The direction changing device for a traveling toy according to the present invention is capable of swinging freely on a pair of swinging rods which are connected at both ends to the axle arms of the wheels and which are pivoted and fixed on the vehicle body base so as to be linearly displaced from side to side. A steering rod is provided in which the steering rod is held, and a controller portion with a magnet mounted thereon is provided in the center of the steering rod, and a pair of yokes that are closely opposed to the controller portion and are each excited with different polarities are provided on the opposing surfaces thereof. It is characterized by providing electromagnets whose ends are protruded and spaced apart by a predetermined distance.

In the above-described direction changing device, it is preferable that the controller section has one polarity on the opposing surface of the magnet that faces the electromagnet, and surrounds the surface with a non-magnetic member. In this case, the electromagnet is equipped with a storage case made of a non-magnetic material, and a slit is provided at a predetermined distance on the surface of the case facing the controller part.
The center of a single coil is inserted through these slits, and each end of a yoke extending from both ends of the coil is fitted into the slit.

In addition, the magnet storage case has a fitting groove in the center of the surface that contacts the vehicle body base, an eccentric cam is fitted into this fitting groove, and the case is moved left and right by rotating the cam. By providing the adjusting means for displacement, the neutral position of the steering rod can be easily adjusted.

Further, by configuring the electromagnet so that the coil is energized or deenergized by a radio control system, the direction changing device of the present invention can be suitably applied to a radio-controlled traveling toy.

[Effect]

According to the direction changing device for a traveling toy according to the present invention, the steering rod, which has both ends connected to the shaft arms of the wheels, is held by a pair of swinging rods that are pivotally fixed on the vehicle body base. As it has a swingable structure, it can be linearly displaced from side to side. Therefore, when a controller is provided in the center of the steering rod and placed opposite an electromagnet, it is possible to place the two so close that they almost touch each other, and as a result, the electromagnet works efficiently. It is possible to easily achieve miniaturization. At the same time, the steering action can be set sufficiently large, power consumption is low, and highly accurate steering control is achieved, which can be especially applied to small radio-controlled traveling toys and manufactured at low cost. .

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the direction changing device for a traveling toy according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 to 3 show an embodiment of the body structure of a traveling toy using a radio control system implementing the device of the present invention. 1 and 2, reference numeral 10 indicates the front part of the vehicle body base, 12 indicates a front wheel, and a pair of wheels 12 and 12 each have an axle arm 14 connected to the shaft thereof.
A support shaft 16 provided at the base of the shaft arm 14 is inserted into a wheel mounting hole 18 provided at a predetermined position of the vehicle body base 10 and locked in a rotatable manner, and a connecting shaft 2° protruding from the outer end of the shaft arm 14 are loosely fitted into the coupling holes 24 and 24 provided at both ends of the steering rod 22, respectively. However, at the center of the steering rod 22, a magnet 26 whose polarity is set, for example, as shown in the figure so that the negative side has one polarity, is attached to form a control element part 28. In this controller section 28,
Shaft insertion holes 30° 30 are provided symmetrically, and a pair of swinging rods 32.3 are provided for these shaft insertion holes 30, 30, respectively.
A connecting shaft 34.34 provided at one end of 2 is inserted therethrough.

The other ends of the swinging rods 32, 32 are symmetrically connected to the vehicle body base 10 by a required pivoting means 36.
The steering rod 22 is pivoted and fixed, thereby positioning the steering rod 22.
2 is held so that it can swing freely left and right.

On the other hand, as described above, the electromagnet 38 is disposed opposite to the controller portion 28 of the steering rod 22 positioned on the vehicle body base 10.

This electromagnet 38 is housed in a case 40 made of a non-magnetic material, and configured to be fixed at a predetermined position on the vehicle body base 10. In this case, the case 40 has slits 42.42 spaced apart from each other by a predetermined distance on the left and right sides on the surface facing the controller section 28, and yokes 44.46 are biased to different polarities by the slits 42.42. Position one end of the Therefore, each yoke 44.46 of the electromagnet 38
are inserted through the center of a single coil 48, extend from both ends thereof, are bent along the outer surface of the coil 48, and are located at positions corresponding to the slits 42 and 42 provided in the case 40. It is bent slightly outwardly at this point so that the bent portion fits into the slit 42.42.

The assembled state of the direction changing device of the present invention constructed as described above is shown in FIG. 3. In this case, if the surface of the electromagnet 38 facing the storage case 40 is not directly surrounded by the magnet 26 but is surrounded by a non-magnetic member as shown in the figure, the controller part 28 of the steering rod 22 can be connected to the case 4.
0 and can be placed close enough to touch each other. Also, at this time, the slits 42 and 42 of the case 40
One end of the yoke 44.46 located at the left and right ends of the magnet 26 is located opposite to each other, respectively, and when the electromagnet 38 is not energized, the action of the magnet 26 causes the yoke 44.
The controller portion 28 is attracted to one end of the steering rod 46 to hold the steering rod 22 in a neutral position.

Furthermore, in this case, the steering rod 22
In order to accurately maintain the neutral position of the steering rod 22, it is desirable to be able to adjust the neutral position of the steering rod 22 from side to side, for example. Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. An eccentric cam 52 is provided which corresponds to the position of the eccentric cam 50 and is fitted thereto.
The position of the electromagnet 38 can be adjusted from side to side by turning it with an adjustment lever 54 on the outside, ie, the back surface, of the vehicle body base 10. Thereby, the controller section 28 including the magnet 26 facing the electromagnet 38 is moved to follow, and the neutral position of the steering rod 22 can be easily adjusted.

The direction changing device configured in this manner can be suitably applied to a traveling toy using a radio control system. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the electromagnet 38 reversibly supplies the current to the coil 48 by receiving a predetermined command signal from the radio receiver 56, and the electromagnet 38 reversibly supplies the current to the left and right yokes. The polarity of 44 and 46 can be reversed. As a result, the electromagnet 38 is energized, and the yoke 4
When 4.46 is excited with a predetermined polarity, the opposing magnet 2
One yoke 44 is excited with a polarity opposite to that of yoke 44.6.
t or 46 and the magnet 26 produce a reciprocating action, and the controller portion 28 is attracted and moved in the direction of the other yoke 46 or 44 having the same polarity as the opposing magnet 26. As a result, the wheels 12.12 can be controlled to make a left turn or a good turn via the steering rod 22. Further, when the electromagnet 38 is deenergized, the controller portion 28 is held in a position where the steering rod 22 is in the neutral state, as described above, and the wheels 12, 12 are controlled to be in the straight-ahead state.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the embodiments described above, according to the present invention,
When this is applied to a running toy with a radio control system, 2
Different types of command signals can be used to change the energization state of the electromagnet, thereby easily controlling the wheels to turn to the right or to the left.

In particular, according to the direction changing device of the present invention, the steering rod equipped with the controller portion is configured to be displaced left and right in a substantially straight line, so that the electromagnet and the magnet that mutually attract and repel each other can be used. The electromagnets can be placed extremely close to each other to the extent that they almost touch each other, which improves the efficiency of the magnetic action and allows the electromagnet to be further miniaturized compared to conventional devices. In addition, along with the miniaturization of this electromagnet, the control element is also simple and compact, and its displacement can be set to a large value.This makes it possible to use this type of direction changing device for small running toys, which was previously difficult to do. It is possible to easily realize a traveling toy that is compact and can perform highly accurate steering control.

Further, according to the direction changing device of the present invention, the neutral position of the control element can be adjusted by a simple configuration of 4 degrees, so that the accuracy of the steering control can be further improved.

Furthermore, the device of the present invention has a simple configuration and each component is easy to assemble, so it can be manufactured at low cost, and the electromagnet is miniaturized to reduce power consumption, making it efficient and economical. You can get an excellent running toy.

In addition, in the above-mentioned embodiment, a case was shown in which a magnet was provided in the control element part, but even if an electromagnet is placed in the control element part and a corresponding magnet is fixed to the vehicle body base, the same effect as in the above embodiment is achieved. A similar effect can be obtained. Moreover, it goes without saying that the direction changing device of the present invention is effective when applied not only to small-sized traveling toys but also to large-sized traveling toys that employ a radio control system.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various design changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the principal car body structure showing one embodiment of the direction changing device for a running toy according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the direction changing device shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a second FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing the operation of the controller portion of the direction changing device shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 and the control nmi of the electromagnet. 0...Vehicle base 1 4...Axle arm 1 8...Wheel mounting hole 2 2...Steering control 4...Joining hole part 2 8...Control element part 3 2...Rocking Rod 3 6... Pivoting means 3 0... Case 4 4... Yoke 4 8... Coil 5 2... Wheel 6... Support shaft 0... Connecting shaft drawer... Magnet 0... Shaft insertion hole 4... Connection shaft 8... Electromagnet 2... Slit 6... Yoke 0... Fitting groove 52... Eccentric cam 54... Adjustment lever 56...・Engraving of the radio receiver drawing (no changes to the content) FIG. 0 Procedural amendment (method) % formula % 1. Indication of the case 1999 Patent Application No. 248196 2. Name of the invention Direction changing device for running toys 3. Person making the amendment Relationship with the case

Claims (5)

[Claims] (1) A steering rod is provided with both ends connected to the axle arms of the wheels and swingably held by a pair of swinging rods that are pivoted and fixed on the vehicle body base so as to be linearly displaced from side to side; A controller section with a magnet mounted thereon is provided in the center of the steering rod, and a pair of yoke ends protruding from the opposite surface of the steering rod with a predetermined distance between them, which are each excited with different polarities, are closely opposed to the controller section. A direction changing device for a running toy, characterized in that it is provided with arranged electromagnets. (2) The direction changing device for a traveling toy according to claim 1, wherein the controller section has a facing surface of the magnet facing the electromagnet having one polarity and surrounding the surface with a non-magnetic member. (3) The electromagnet is equipped with a storage case made of non-magnetic material, and slits are provided at a predetermined distance on the surface facing the controller part of the case, and the center of a single coil is inserted through these slits. 2. A direction changing device for a running toy according to claim 1, wherein each end of a yoke extending from both ends is fitted into each other. (4) The electromagnet storage case has a fitting groove in the center of the surface that contacts the vehicle body base, an eccentric cam is fitted into this fitting groove, and the eccentric cam is rotated to move the case left and right. 4. The direction changing device for a traveling toy according to claim 3, further comprising an adjusting means for displacing the traveling toy. (5) The direction changing device for a running toy according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the electromagnet is configured to energize or deenergize the coil by a radio control system.