BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
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Embodiments of the invention relates generally to toys. More particularly, the invention relates to a toy vehicle, such as a race car, that includes a character in the car that can be ejected therefrom upon an impact.
2. Description of Prior Art and Related Information
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The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
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Race cars are well known, popular toys for children. There are currently no known toy cars that can be either internally propelled or self-propelled and include an action that ejects the character in the car, or a portion thereof, upon impact.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements.
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FIGS. 1 through 6 illustrates a various embodiments of a toy car according to n exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
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FIG. 7 illustrates the toy car from FIGS. 1 through 6 with the actuator activated to release the character from the car, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
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FIG. 8 shows a side view of a toy car, with the body removed for clarity, with the character head engaged therein according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;
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FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of the toy car of FIG. 8;
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FIG. 10 shows a top view of the toy car of FIG. 8;
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FIG. 11 shows a top view, including the body of the top car, of the toy car of FIG. 8;
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FIG. 12 shows a bottom view of an exemplary embodiment of the character usable in the car of FIG. 8;
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FIG. 13 shows an exemplary method of using the toy car according to embodiments of the present invention; and
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FIG. 14 shows the use of a remote control by a user, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
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Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.
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The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understood by turning to the following detailed description wherein illustrated embodiments are described. It is to be expressly understood that the illustrated embodiments are set forth as examples and not by way of limitations on the invention as ultimately defined in the claims.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS AND BEST MODE OF INVENTION
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The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
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Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
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In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
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In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
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The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.
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As is well known to those skilled in the art, many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal configuration of a commercial implementation of any device, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention. A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may be configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(es), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.
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Broadly, embodiments of the present invention provide a toy racing car that can be propelled via various manners, including, for example, a pull-back recoil mechanism, a remote-control driven battery powered mechanism, or the like. The toy car can include one or more activators that, when activated by an impact against another object, eject the “driver” in the car or a portion thereof, such as a head that extends from the toy car.
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FIGS. 1 through 6 illustrate various embodiments of the toy car. The car 10 can include a car base 12, a plurality of wheels 14 and a character 16 extending from inside the car, where the character may appear to be a driver of the car. The character may be an entire character, with its body inside the car base 12, or may be a character head that is visibly extending above the car base 12.
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While various animals are shown as the character 16, other elements may be used in place of the character, including sport team items (logos, mascots, helmets, or the like), geometric or non-geometric shapes, flowers, plants, fruits, vegetables, or the like. In other words, any item may be placed in the car base 12 so that it extends thereabove.
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While a car is shown and described herein, the toy may be any movable item. In some embodiments, the toy may include various wheeled items, including trucks, buses, tricycles, motorcycles, trains, airplanes or the like. While only one character is shown in the toy, in some embodiments, multiple characters may be deployed in the vehicle.
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An ejector 20 can be positioned, as shown in the figures, at the front of the vehicle. The ejector 20, when depressed, can release a spring-loaded mechanism (or other resiliently potential energy storage device) that causes the character 16 to be expelled from the toy as shown in FIG. 7. While the figures show the ejector 20 at the front of the vehicle, one or more ejectors may be used and may be positioned at various places, including the front, sides, rear, top or the like. In some embodiments, the ejector 20 may be an internal mechanism designed to detect a predetermined level of shock to the toy, where once this predetermined level of shock is exceeded, the character 16 may be ejected from the toy.
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As discussed above, the toy can include multiple characters, such as in a bus or train configuration. In some embodiments, the ejector 20 may be designed to detect the amount of force applied (or the amount of shock) and release a certain number of characters, dependent on this detected amount.
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The toy cars, or other vehicles, may be moved by various mechanisms. In one embodiments, a pull-back recoil type device may be incorporated in the car base such that, when the wheels are turned backwards (such as by pulling back the car on a surface), the car may propel itself forward based on energy stored during the pulling back of the car. In other embodiments, the cars may be free-wheeling, where the user can simply push the cars on a surface. In other embodiments, the cars may be powered by, for example, a battery, and may be driven by remote control by various methods as are known in the art, as illustrated in FIG. 14. In some embodiments, each toy may be driven by its own remote control so that multiple toys may be independently operated by the user's remote control.
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The cars may be designed for use on race tracks, including both powered and unpowered race tracks. For example, in a powered race track, the cars may be designed to only advance when the character is present therein. If an impact ejects the character from the car, the car will stop moving on the track until the user can replace the character. Of course, other uses for the toy cars are contemplated within the scope of the present invention.
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In some embodiments, when the character 16 is ejected from the toy, another action may be triggered. This action may include a sound effect, a lighting effect or the like. In some embodiments, multiple ejectors 20 may be employed where one of the ejectors 20 ejects the character 16 from the toy, while other ejectors 20 create a different effect.
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While FIG. 7 illustrates complete removal of the character 16 from the car, in some embodiments, the character 16 may be tethered to the car, where, upon actuation of the ejector 20, the character 16 may be ejected from the car, but a cord, spring, bungee, or the like, may keep the character 16 from being fully detached from the car base 12.
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In some embodiments, the characters 16, such as the character heads shown in the Figures, may be configured in a single unit. In other embodiments, the character may separate in a plurality of pieces if ejected from the toy and allowed to strike a surface. In this embodiment, the user is motivated to catch the ejected character from the car prior to letting it land on a surface and separate into its components. Of course, other methods of play with the toy as may be envisioned by one skil led in the art are contemplated within the scope of the present invention.
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FIGS. 8 through 12 illustrate one possible configuration for permitting the actuator 20 to disengage the character 16 from the car base 12. In FIGS. 8, 9 and 10, the body of the car base 12 is removed for clarity. As discussed above, the actuator 20 may extend outside the car base 12 at various locations, such as the front of the toy car 10, as shown in FIGS. 8-10. The actuator may be movable via a slot 24 cut therein, where a pin 26 on the car bas extends in the slot 24. The length of the slot 24 defines the maximum movement of the actuator 20.
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An arm 22 can extend from the actuator to the interior of the toy car 10. The arm 22 can terminate at an upstanding member 32. The upstanding member 32 can have a central member 28 that may be resiliently moved by the arm 22 when the actuator 20 is depressed. A step 30 on the central member 28 may extend outward, generally orthogonal to the direction of extension of the upstanding member 32. (which is upward, away from a surface supporting the wheels of the toy car),
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As shown in FIG. 12, the character can include a head portion 40 and an extension tube 42 extending from the head portion. An opening 44 may be formed at the bottom of the extension tube 42 to provide access therein. The opening 44 may be shaped to receive the upstanding member 32 therein. A spring 48 may be enclosed in the opening and may have a diameter larger than the opening 44, to prevent the spring 48 from being removed therefrom.
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A shaped step 46 may be formed to receive the step 30 of the central member 28. In some embodiments, as the character is slid onto the upstanding member 32, the spring 48 is depressed and the central member 28 is resilient bent inward. Once the character is fully inserted onto the upstanding member, the step 30 may be positioned inside the extension tube 42, causing the central member 28 to resiliently revert to its unbent position, where the step 30 engages with the shaped step 46 of the extension tube 42. In this configuration, the character is “locked” into the car. When the actuator 20 is depressed, the art 22 depressed the central member 28 inward (toward the back of the vehicle), causing the step 30 of the central member 28 to disengage from the shaped step 46 of the bottom of the extension tube 42. The spring 48 may then recoil, causing the character to be ejected from the car, as shown in FIG. 13, for example.
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Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding. Any such numbering and lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken to indicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims.
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Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiments have been set forth only for the purposes of examples and that they should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different ones of the disclosed elements.
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The words used in this specification to describe the invention and its various embodiments are to be understood not only in the sense of their commonly defined meanings, but to include by special definition in this specification the generic structure, material or acts of which they represent a single species.
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The definitions of the words or elements of the following claims are, therefore, defined in this specification to not only include the combination of elements which are literally set forth. In this sense it is therefore contemplated that an equivalent substitution of two or more elements may be made for any one of the elements in the claims below or that a single element may be substituted for two or more elements in a claim. Although elements may be described above as acting in certain combinations and even initially claimed as such, it is to be expressly understood that one or more elements from a claimed combination can in some cases be excised from the combination and that the claimed combination may be directed to a subcombination or variation of a subcombination.
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Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements. The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what incorporates the essential idea of the invention.
