US20040185747A1 - Slot car racing toy with manual speed control - Google Patents

Slot car racing toy with manual speed control Download PDF

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Publication number
US20040185747A1
US20040185747A1 US10/769,797 US76979704A US2004185747A1 US 20040185747 A1 US20040185747 A1 US 20040185747A1 US 76979704 A US76979704 A US 76979704A US 2004185747 A1 US2004185747 A1 US 2004185747A1
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
slot
car
track
toy
electrical power
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Abandoned
Application number
US10/769,797
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English (en)
Inventor
Andrew Chiu
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
NGAI KEUNG METAL & PLASTIC MFY Ltd
Original Assignee
NGAI KEUNG METAL & PLASTIC MFY Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by NGAI KEUNG METAL & PLASTIC MFY Ltd filed Critical NGAI KEUNG METAL & PLASTIC MFY Ltd
Assigned to NGAI KEUNG METAL & PLASTIC MFY., LTD. reassignment NGAI KEUNG METAL & PLASTIC MFY., LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: CHIU, ANDREW SHUN PUI
Publication of US20040185747A1 publication Critical patent/US20040185747A1/en
Abandoned legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
    • A63H18/00—Highways or trackways for toys; Propulsion by special interaction between vehicle and track
    • A63H18/12—Electric current supply to toy vehicles through the track
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
    • A63H18/00—Highways or trackways for toys; Propulsion by special interaction between vehicle and track
    • A63H18/08—Highways or trackways for toys; Propulsion by special interaction between vehicle and track with mechanical means for guiding or steering
    • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
    • A63—SPORTS; GAMES; AMUSEMENTS
    • A63H—TOYS, e.g. TOPS, DOLLS, HOOPS OR BUILDING BLOCKS
    • A63H29/00—Drive mechanisms for toys in general

Definitions

  • This invention relates to toy racing cars, and in particular relates to a manually-driven speed controller of a slot car.
  • Toy slot cars as shown in FIG. 1, are popular toys which usually consist of a track 01 and one or more cars 02 .
  • the track 01 is a closed route that is formed by a number of connected track elements. Slots 011 are formed in each track element so that when the elements are connected the track 01 is provided with at least one continuous slot along which a car 02 may run. As is well known on both inner and outer sides of each slot there are provided electrically conducting strips 012 for supplying electrical power to the car. As shown in FIG.
  • a guiding axle 021 is provided at the bottom of a car 02 for guiding the car along the track and conducting friction elements 022 (such as a conducting brush) are installed on both sides of the guiding axle 021 so as to be able to pick up electrical power from the slot.
  • conducting friction elements 022 such as a conducting brush
  • a power unit 03 is usually installed somewhere at the outer side of track 01 , of which the positive and negative electrodes are connected to the conducting strips 012 that are on both sides of the slot 011 respectively.
  • the conducting brushes 022 of the cars 02 (A, B) contact the conducting strips 012 on both sides of slots 011 .
  • the switch of power unit 03 is turned on, cars 02 A and 02 B will be powered up and start to run along the slots 011 of the track 01 .
  • the power unit will be battery-powered or connected to an electrical mains supply.
  • the conventional slot cars are also equipped with a control unit for adjusting car speeds, which may function may be implemented through the following two methods:
  • One of the methods is to connect a slide resistance to the circuit formed by the slot car, in which case the speed of the car can be altered by changing the resistance value of the slide resistance and the strength of current in the circuit which thus changes the strength of current provided to the car (see FIG. 3).
  • Another method is to change the voltage of the input circuit, which can be realized using option switch 03 , as shown in FIG. 4. When the switch 03 contacts with A, B, C respectively, the voltage of the input circuit will change simultaneously and thus the speed of car 02 will be changed accordingly.
  • a slot car toy comprising a track having at least one slot and at least one toy car adapted to engage said slot and run on said track, wherein said toy car is adapted to receive electrical power from said slot and wherein manually driven electrical power generating means is provided for supplying electrical power to said slot.
  • the electrical power generating means may comprise, for example, a hand-operated generator, a foot-operated generator or a treadmill-operated generator.
  • a plurality of tracks may be provided with respective manually driven electrical power generating means associated with each track.
  • the slot car toy may also comprise a sound generating means powered by the manually driven electrical power generating means.
  • FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional product
  • FIG. 2 shows a conventional slot car on a track
  • FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing a first known method of speed control
  • FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a second known method of speed control
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a method of power transmission according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a method of power transmission according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a method of power transmission according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 9 is an illustration of one possible hand-operated electric generator for use in an embodiment of the present invention.
  • FIG. 10 is an illustration of another possible hand-operated electric generator for use in an embodiment of the present invention.
  • a toy slot car system includes track 1 , at least one car 2 , a manually-driven electric generator 3 , and an electrical sound-effect unit 4 .
  • Track 1 is a closed path loop that is formed by a number of connected track elements.
  • Each track element includes at least one slot 11 , preferably two parallel slots, so that when the track elements are connected together to form the complete track 1 two slots 11 are formed on each of which a car may be run so that two cars can use the track at the same time and can race each other as is known in the prior art.
  • conducting strips 12 are installed on both sides of each slot 11 and each car 2 is equipped with a guiding axle 21 at the bottom for guiding the car along a slot and on both sides of which there are conducting friction elements or brushes 22 that serve as the power electrodes of car 2 and pick up electrical power from the slots 11 .
  • the anode and cathode of power outputs from a manually-driven electric generator are connected to conducting strips 12 that are on both sides of slots 11 and this manually-driven generator is used to power a car.
  • a hand-operated electric generator can be used for the manually-driven electric generator 3 which can also be designed as a foot-operated or treadmill-style electric generator.
  • FIG. 6 shows one possible example of a hand-operated electric generator.
  • a hand wheel 301 is turned by a user and this rotation will be transmitted to the rotating shaft of a micro-generator 305 through the gear case 302 , drive gears 303 and 304 . Consequently the micro-generator 305 outputs power to the electrical sound effect unit 4 and track 1 respectively via the power cord 306 through a series of intermediate circuits.
  • FIG. 9 illustrates a hand-operated generator that is adapted to be held by a user.
  • the hand wheel 301 is provided on one side and a number of control buttons 40 for various functions (eg sound effects) can be provided.
  • the hand-operated generator may be a table-top model as shown in FIG. 10.
  • “manually-driven” electrical generator is any form of generator that outputs electrical energy in response to human effort and exertion.
  • hand-operated generators other types such as foot-operated and treadmill-style generators could also be used.
  • the structure and operating principle of treadmill-style generator are basically the same as that of the foot-operated generator as shown by the example of FIG. 8.
  • the treadmill-style generator utilizes the mechanical energy that is generated by a user running on the plate of the treadmill-style generator to drive the rotating shaft 325 of the motor 324 with the belt roller 321 , 322 and the belt 323 , which thus makes the motor 324 output power and transmit the power to the electric sound effect unit 4 and track 1 via the power cord 326 .
  • the user should place the car 2 on the track 1 with the guiding axle 21 of the car 2 fitting into the slot 11 , so that the conducting friction elements 22 on the car 2 contact the conducting strips 12 that are on both sides of the slot 11 .
  • the manually-driven electric generator Once the manually-driven electric generator is activated, it will generate the electric current and the car will be powered on by the conducting strips 12 and the conducting friction wafers 22 , after which the car starts to run along the slot 11 of the track 1 .
  • the guiding axle 21 serves as the navigator of the car 2 to prevent it from derailing from the slot 11 , whilst the conducting friction wafers 22 always keep in contact with the conducting strips 12 so that the power supply to the car 2 will not be interrupted.
  • the speed of car 2 can be changed during the course of running by altering the rotation speed of the hand-operated electric generator, treadmill-style generator or foot-operated generator in order to change their output current, in which case the user will be able to manually control the car speed at any time as the circumstances may require. This would involve users' participation which helps to increase the fun of the toy as well as helping users to perform body exercise during the game.
  • the electric sound effect unit 4 is also powered by the manually-driven electrical generator so that, the electric sound effect unit 4 will start to play music (or other sounds) when the manually-driven electric generator 3 starts to generate electricity.
  • the loudness, volume, and frequency of the music can be altered by changing the current generated from the manually-driven electric generator 3 , so that the music sounds rich and varied which adds more fun.
  • the toy slot car system can also retain the structure of battery power used in existing products and a battery compartment is provided for this purpose. The player can then alternatively choose batteries or manually-driven electric generator 3 for supplying power to the slot car.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Toys (AREA)
US10/769,797 2003-02-14 2004-02-03 Slot car racing toy with manual speed control Abandoned US20040185747A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
CNCN03223590.9 2003-02-14
CNU032235909U CN2614751Y (zh) 2003-02-14 2003-02-14 路轨车之车速控制器

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20040185747A1 true US20040185747A1 (en) 2004-09-23

Family

ID=32968476

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/769,797 Abandoned US20040185747A1 (en) 2003-02-14 2004-02-03 Slot car racing toy with manual speed control

Country Status (2)

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US (1) US20040185747A1 (zh)
CN (1) CN2614751Y (zh)

Cited By (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20070173172A1 (en) * 2002-03-19 2007-07-26 Sun Yu Dynamo powered toy
US20080125006A1 (en) * 2006-08-04 2008-05-29 Sun Yu Dynamo powered amusement device
US20120198752A1 (en) * 2011-02-04 2012-08-09 James Lee Steinhausen Decoy Locomotion and Movement Device
US20160129357A1 (en) * 2013-06-17 2016-05-12 Artin International Limited Toy Slot Car with Protective Cover for Conductive Elements

Families Citing this family (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
CN108404430B (zh) * 2018-02-27 2019-01-15 肖立轩 一种带导向轮的有轨赛车装置

Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1315098A (en) * 1919-09-02 Big yoke-race apparatus
US1513251A (en) * 1922-03-18 1924-10-28 Edward E Kennedy Amusement apparatus
US3834702A (en) * 1973-06-11 1974-09-10 W Bliss Jogging game apparatus
US4373293A (en) * 1979-10-23 1983-02-15 Tomy Kogyo Co., Inc. Toy racing game
US4616829A (en) * 1984-04-02 1986-10-14 World Inventions Apparatus for simulating running games
US5075515A (en) * 1989-10-25 1991-12-24 Tomy Company, Ltd. Track for a vehicle racing game
US5297484A (en) * 1991-07-03 1994-03-29 Train Products, Inc. Vehicle guidance track system
US5342048A (en) * 1993-02-05 1994-08-30 California R & D Center Wall mounted slot car track with moving accessories
US5664998A (en) * 1995-06-07 1997-09-09 Atlantic City Coin & Slot Service Co., Inc. Combined slot machine and racing game
US6585553B1 (en) * 1999-01-11 2003-07-01 Interlego Ag Toy building set
US20040090070A1 (en) * 2002-11-13 2004-05-13 United Global Sourcing Incorporated Manually-operated device for supplying electrical power to mobile telephones, flashlights, toys, or other battery-operated electrical devices

Patent Citations (11)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US1315098A (en) * 1919-09-02 Big yoke-race apparatus
US1513251A (en) * 1922-03-18 1924-10-28 Edward E Kennedy Amusement apparatus
US3834702A (en) * 1973-06-11 1974-09-10 W Bliss Jogging game apparatus
US4373293A (en) * 1979-10-23 1983-02-15 Tomy Kogyo Co., Inc. Toy racing game
US4616829A (en) * 1984-04-02 1986-10-14 World Inventions Apparatus for simulating running games
US5075515A (en) * 1989-10-25 1991-12-24 Tomy Company, Ltd. Track for a vehicle racing game
US5297484A (en) * 1991-07-03 1994-03-29 Train Products, Inc. Vehicle guidance track system
US5342048A (en) * 1993-02-05 1994-08-30 California R & D Center Wall mounted slot car track with moving accessories
US5664998A (en) * 1995-06-07 1997-09-09 Atlantic City Coin & Slot Service Co., Inc. Combined slot machine and racing game
US6585553B1 (en) * 1999-01-11 2003-07-01 Interlego Ag Toy building set
US20040090070A1 (en) * 2002-11-13 2004-05-13 United Global Sourcing Incorporated Manually-operated device for supplying electrical power to mobile telephones, flashlights, toys, or other battery-operated electrical devices

Cited By (9)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US20070173172A1 (en) * 2002-03-19 2007-07-26 Sun Yu Dynamo powered toy
US8257136B2 (en) * 2002-03-19 2012-09-04 Sun Yu Dynamo powered toy
US20120302126A1 (en) * 2002-03-19 2012-11-29 Sun Yu Dynamo powered toy
US8616933B2 (en) * 2002-03-19 2013-12-31 Sun Yu Dynamo powered toy
US20080125006A1 (en) * 2006-08-04 2008-05-29 Sun Yu Dynamo powered amusement device
US8298036B2 (en) * 2006-08-04 2012-10-30 Zen Design Group, Ltd. Dynamo powered amusement device
US20120198752A1 (en) * 2011-02-04 2012-08-09 James Lee Steinhausen Decoy Locomotion and Movement Device
US20160129357A1 (en) * 2013-06-17 2016-05-12 Artin International Limited Toy Slot Car with Protective Cover for Conductive Elements
US9522339B2 (en) * 2013-06-17 2016-12-20 Artin International Limited Toy slot car with protective cover for conductive elements

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
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AS Assignment

Owner name: NGAI KEUNG METAL & PLASTIC MFY., LTD., HONG KONG

Free format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:CHIU, ANDREW SHUN PUI;REEL/FRAME:015432/0104

Effective date: 20040216

STCB Information on status: application discontinuation

Free format text: ABANDONED -- FAILURE TO RESPOND TO AN OFFICE ACTION