US20080194170A1

US20080194170A1 - Toy airplane having elastic landing gear

Info

Publication number: US20080194170A1
Application number: US11/304,948
Authority: US
Inventors: Jung Chung Feng
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2005-12-14
Filing date: 2005-12-14
Publication date: 2008-08-14

Abstract

A toy airplane includes a fuselage, a main wing and a stabilizing fin and a rudder fin extended from the fuselage, and a landing gear having an arm extended from the fuselage and one or more wheels attached to the arm. The arm includes one or more depressions formed in the arm, and preferably facing upwardly for increasing a resilience of the arm and for allowing the wheel to be resiliently engaged onto ground and to be prevented from forcefully striking onto the ground while landing. The landing gear may be attached to the front or the middle portion of the fuselage. One or more bent portions may further be formed in the arm for further increasing the resilience of the arm.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy airplane, and more particularly to a toy airplane having a landing gear that includes a cushioning or flexible or elastic or resilient support for allowing the landing gear to be resiliently or elastically engaged onto the ground and for preventing the toy airplane from directly striking onto the ground while landing.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Typical toy airplanes comprise a fuselage including one or more horizontal wings laterally extended from the middle portion thereof, and including one or more vertical rudder fins extended from the rear portion thereof, and including one or more horizontal stabilizing fins laterally extended from the rear portion thereof, and may comprise a number of plates or sheets foldable and attachable together to form the fuselage and the horizontal wings and the vertical rudder fins and the horizontal stabilizing fins.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,257,946 to Yang discloses one of the typical toy airplanes comprising a fuselage, a main wing, two auxiliary wings, a retainer strip, a tail fin, and a nose that may be attached or secured together by force-fitted engagements or by locking tongues and locking notches. Most of the typical toy airplanes have no landing gears attached to the bottom of the fuselage such that the fuselage may be directly striking onto the ground while landing, and such that the fuselage may have a good chance to be damaged after landing.
Some of the typical toy airplanes may comprise a wheel device or one or more wheels attached to the bottom of the fuselage for landing purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,168,653 to Meagher, Jr. discloses one of the typical toy airplanes comprising a substantially triangular light metal bracket or landing frame attached to the bottom of the fuselage and having a light axle for attaching one or more wheels to the landing frame for landing purposes.
However, the triangular light metal bracket or landing frame includes a solid triangular structure having no cushioning or flexible or elastic or resilient structure formed therein such that a great force may also be applied onto the landing gear and then onto the fuselage while landing, and such that the fuselage may also have a good chance to be damaged after landing.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the afore-described disadvantages of the conventional toy airplanes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a toy airplane including a landing gear that has a cushioning or flexible or elastic or resilient support for allowing the landing gear to be resiliently or elastically engaged onto the ground and for preventing the toy airplane from striking onto the ground while landing.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a toy airplane comprising a fuselage, a main wing and a stabilizing fin and at least one rudder fin extended from the fuselage, and a landing gear including an arm extended from the fuselage, and including at least one wheel attached to the arm, and the arm including at least one depression formed in the arm for increasing a resilience of the arm and for allowing the wheel to be resiliently engaged onto ground and to be prevented from forcefully striking onto the ground while landing.
The wheel is rotatably attached to the arm with an axle. The arm preferably includes a curved structure, and/or includes at least one bent portion formed therein for further increasing the resilience of the arm.
The landing gear includes a rod attached to a bottom portion of the fuselage, and having the arm extended downwardly and rearwardly from the rod. The landing gear may either be attached to the front portion or the middle portion of the fuselage.
Further objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a careful reading of the detailed description provided hereinbelow, with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a bottom perspective view of a toy airplane in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan schematic view of the toy airplane;

FIG. 3 is a side plan schematic view of the toy airplane;

FIG. 4 is a partial exploded view of the toy airplane;

FIG. 5 is an upper perspective view of the toy airplane which has no landing gears attached thereto;

FIG. 6 is a side plan schematic view of the toy airplane as shown in FIG. 5, which has no landing gears attached thereto;

FIG. 7 is a plan schematic view illustrating the flying operation of the toy airplane; and

FIG. 8 is a plan schematic view similar to FIG. 7, illustrating the landing operation of the toy airplane.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1-4, a toy airplane 10 in accordance with the present invention comprises a fuselage 11, a main wing 12 laterally extended from the middle portion of the fuselage 11, an auxiliary and horizontal stabilizing fin 13 laterally extended from the rear portion 15 of the fuselage 11, and one or more vertical rudder fins 14 extended upwardly from the rear portion 15 of the fuselage 11 for forming the basic structure of the toy airplane 10.
The toy airplane 10 may comprise a number of plates or sheets foldable and attachable together to form the fuselage 11 and the main wing 12 and the auxiliary and horizontal stabilizing fin 13 and the vertical rudder fins 14, and the fuselage 11 and the main wing 12 and the auxiliary and horizontal stabilizing fin 13 and the vertical rudder fins 14 may be attached or secured or assembled together by such as force-fitted engagements, or by locking tongues and locking notches (not shown), or by welding or hot-pressing or compressing processes.
Alternatively, the fuselage 11 and the main wing 12 and the auxiliary and horizontal stabilizing fin 13 and the vertical rudder fins 14 may be formed integral with each other by such as molding or mold injection processes, and may be formed into various kinds of shapes or contours or configurations. The toy airplane 10 may be made of paper materials, light metal materials, rubber or plastic materials, foamable materials, or other synthetic materials that includes a light weight and a substantial or required bending strength.
The toy airplane 10 further includes a primary landing gear 20 having a rod 21 laterally attached or secured to the lower or bottom portion 16 of the fuselage 11, and having one or more, such as two arms 22 extended downwardly and rearwardly from the rod 21, and such as extended from two ends of the rod 21, and having one or more wheels 23 attached or secured to the lower or bottom or free end portion or a lower hub 24 of each of the arms 22 with an axle 25 for allowing the wheels 23 to be rotated relative to the arms 22 and for landing purposes.
The toy airplane 10 further includes an auxiliary or nose landing gear 30 having an arm 31 extended downwardly and rearwardly from the nose or front portion 18 of the fuselage 11, and also having one or more wheels 32 attached or secured to the lower or bottom or free end portion or a lower hub 33 of the arm 31 with an axle 34 for allowing the wheels 32 to be rotated relative to the arm 31 and for landing purposes.
As best shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the arms 22, 31 each preferably includes a curved structure or includes one or more bent portions 26, 36 formed therein for increasing the resilience of the arms 22, 31 and thus for allowing the wheels 32 to be resiliently or elastically engaged onto the ground and thus for preventing the toy airplane 10 from directly or forcefully striking onto the ground while landing.
It is further preferable that the arms 22, 31 each further includes one or more recesses or depressions 28, 38 formed therein, such as formed in the upper portion of each of the arms 22, 31, or preferably opened or faced upwardly and/or faced rearwardly relative to arms 22, 31 for further increasing the resilience of the arms 22, 31 and thus for allowing the wheels 32 to be resiliently or elastically engaged onto the ground and thus for preventing the toy airplane 10 from directly or forcefully striking onto the ground while landing.
The prior or conventional toy airplanes 10 have no curved arms 22, 31 extended downwardly and rearwardly from the fuselage 11, and have no bent portions 26, 36 and/or recesses or depressions 28, 38 formed or provided in the arms 22, 31 for increasing the resilience of the arms 22, 31 and for providing or applying a resilient or elastic or cushioning force between the fuselage 11 and the arms 22, 31 of the landing gears 20, 30, and for resiliently or elastically engaging the wheels 32 onto the ground and thus for preventing the toy airplane 10 from directly or forcefully striking onto the ground while landing.
It is to be noted that the landing gears 20, 30 may also be attached or secured or assembled to the fuselage 11 with such as force-fitted engagements, or by locking tongues and locking notches (not shown), or by welding or hot-pressing or compressing processes, or may be detachably attached to the fuselage 11 with such as latches (not shown) or the like, for allowing the landing gears 20, 30 to be selectively detached or disengaged from the fuselage 11 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. The arms 22, 31 of the landing gears 20, 30 are preferably made of light weight metal materials, plastic materials, synthetic materials, or other resilient materials for cushioning the fuselage 11.
In operation, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the curved structures of the arms 22, 31 and/or the bent portions 26, 36 of the arms 22, 31 and/or the recesses or depressions 28, 38 of the arms 22, 31 may be provided for increasing the resilience of the arms 22, 31 and thus for increasing the cushioning effect of the arms 22, 31 and thus for allowing a resilient or elastic or cushioning force to be applied between the fuselage 11 and the arms 22, 31 of the landing gears 20, 30, and thus for allowing the wheels 32 to be resiliently or elastically engaged onto the ground and thus for preventing the toy airplane 10 from directly or forcefully striking onto the ground while landing.
Accordingly, the toy airplane in accordance with the present invention includes a landing gear that has a cushioning or flexible or elastic or resilient support for providing a resilient or elastic or cushioning force between the fuselage and the arms of the landing gears and for allowing the landing gear to be resiliently or elastically engaged onto the ground and for preventing the toy airplane from striking onto the ground while landing.
Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made by way of example only and that numerous changes in the detailed construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

1. A toy airplane comprising:

a fuselage, a main wing and a stabilizing fin and at least one rudder fin extended from said fuselage, and

a landing gear including an arm extended from said fuselage, and including at least one wheel attached to said arm, and said arm including at least one depression formed in said arm for increasing a resilience of said arm and for allowing said at least one wheel to be resiliently engaged onto ground and to be prevented from forcefully striking onto said ground while landing.

2. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one wheel is rotatably attached to said arm with an axle.

3. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 1, wherein said arm includes a curved structure for further increasing the resilience of said arm.

4. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 1, wherein said arm includes at least one bent portion formed therein for further increasing the resilience of said arm.

5. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 1, wherein said landing gear includes a rod attached to a bottom portion of said fuselage, and having said arm extended downwardly and rearwardly from said rod.

6. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 1, wherein said landing gear is attached to a front portion of said fuselage.

7. A toy airplane comprising:

a landing gear including an arm extended from said fuselage, and including at least one wheel attached to said arm, and said arm including at least one bent portion formed in said arm for increasing a resilience of said arm and for allowing said at least one wheel to be resiliently engaged onto ground and to be prevented from forcefully striking onto said ground while landing.

8. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 7, wherein said arm includes at least one depression formed in said arm for further increasing the resilience of said arm.

9. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 7, wherein said arm includes a curved structure.

10. A toy airplane comprising:

a landing gear including an arm extended from said fuselage, and including at least one wheel attached to said arm, and said arm including a curved structure for increasing a resilience of said arm and for allowing said at least one wheel to be resiliently engaged onto ground and to be prevented from forcefully striking onto said ground while landing.

11. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 10, wherein said arm includes at least one depression formed in said arm for further increasing a resilience of said arm.

12. The toy airplane as claimed in claim 10, wherein said arm includes at least one bent portion formed in said arm for increasing the resilience of said arm.