US2050892A

US2050892A - Toy fire house

Info

Publication number: US2050892A
Application number: US13231A
Authority: US
Inventors: Marx Louis
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1935-03-27
Filing date: 1935-03-27
Publication date: 1936-08-11
Anticipated expiration: 1953-08-11

Description

L. MARX TOY FIR'E HOUSE Aug. 11, 1936.

Filed March 27, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR 44 46 Lows Marx ATTORNEYS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. MARX TOY FIRE HOUSE Filed March 27, 1935 R x m w W M N R 2 & E Q WM 0 IL 1% I- 2-- -I-- illvrllglll m s 7 m n m J I A w u n 8 h n :u n 2 8 u L Y 4 2 B u u n 5 o "J M 5/ w ul w wrununf A r n Hu lull".

Patented Aug. 11, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOY FIRE HOUSE Louis Marx, New York, N. Y. Application March 27, 1935, Serial No. 13,231 26 Claims. (Cl. 46-175) This invention relates to toys, more particularly toys simulating a building and vehicle housed therein and adapted to run therefrom, and as here illustrated especially simulates a toy fire house with toy fire fighting vehicles.

Toy fire houses have been made containing a toy fire fighting vehicle and means adapted to release or cause movement of the vehicle from the fire house. The primary object of my invention is to generally improve this class of toy.

A more particular object of my invention resides in the combination with the fire house of a siren and appropriate mechanism to cause actuation of the siren upon release or movement of the vehicle from the fire house. Another object of my invention is to make possible the use of motorless vehicle toys, thereby minimizing the cost of the complete toy. Still anotherobject of my invention is to make the actuator means inconspicuous, which I do by causing the same to simulate a natural part of the fire house, in the present case the chimney thereof.

Further objects of my invention center about the combination with the fire house of a plurality of toy vehicles, and are to provide means for causing successive rather than simultaneous movement of the vehicles from the fire house; to obtain this result while using only a single actuator means; to obtain this result by repeated movement of said actuator means, each movement serving to cause only one of the vehicles to leave the fire house; and, finally, to combine said actuator with appropriate signal means, specifically a siren, so that each movement of the actuator drives the siren.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and other objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention consists in the toy elements and their relation one to the other as are hereinafter more particularly described in the specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view showing a toy embodying features of my invention;

Fig. 2 is a section taken in elevation through the fire house in the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section taken in the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a similar view after discharge of one of the vehicles; and

Fig. 5 is a section taken in the plane of the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to Fig. 1, the toy comprises a simulated building B, one or more toy vehicles V, a signal device S, and an actuator A. The vehicle is normally housed within the building, and upon movement of the actuator A the signal S is operated and the vehicle is caused to leave the build- 5 ing. In the specific form here illustrated the building simulates a fire house, and the vehicle simulates fire fighting apparatus. The signal is a siren, and the actuator is a representation of the chimney of the building. When the toy is constructed to house several vehicles as in the present case, the actuator is arranged to operate the vehicles successively rather than simultaneously while employing only a single actuator and preferably while using the full stroke of the acl6 tuator for the operation of one vehicle, this being desirable in order to obtain a prolonged wail of the siren and in order to place the delay between the emergence of the first and second vehicle under the control of the child using the toy.

Considering the arrangement in greater detail, the building B is formed of sheet metal and comprises a bottom wall l2, side walls l4, back and front walls It and I8, and a roof 20. The bottom wall I2 is preferably flanged at 22 in order to elevate the same somewhat above floor level and to provide room beneath wall I2 for operating mechanism subsequently described. At the front of the building the flange is, of course, sloped to form an approach 24.

I prefer to employ motorless toy vehicles .which are ejected forcibly from the building by appropriate ejector means located within the building. It is therefore not essential to use doors on the building, but their use is preferable to improve the appearance of the toy and when used the doors are simply freely pivoted and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicle during its movement from the building. In the present case the front wall l8 extends over only the upper part of the building, the lower part being closed by two sets of doors 26, one set being located in front of each of the vehicles. The doors are made 'of thin sheet metal, are relatively light, are freely pivoted on the building at the vertical edges 28, and may, if desired, be so balanced as to normally swing to closed position although this refinement is not essential.

The motorless vehicle is set into motion by an ejector 30 which is reciprocable between the front and back of the fire house and is normally urged toward the front of the fire house by a relatively powerful pull spring 32 preferably located beneath bottom wall l2. To interconnect 55 spring 32 with ejector and to guide the movement of the ejector, the wall i2 is longitudinally slotted at 34. Ejector 30 is formed of a piece of stiff sheet metal and includes a bottom plate 39 which is bent downwardly to form a vertical web 88 passing through slot 34. A depending lug 40, best shown in Fig. 5, receives one end of spring 32. The lower part of the ejector is recessed upwardly at 42 (Fig. 5) to mate with an appropriate detent 44 having upwardly bent cars 46 pivoted on a rod 48 which extends transversely beneath the building and is anchored at its ends in the flanges 22 (Fig. 2). Detent 44 is normally moved upwardly by a spring 58 coiled about rod 48 and having one end 52 bearing against bottom wall l2 while the other end 54 bears against the detent 44.

It will be manifest that it is merely necessary to push ejector 240 rearwardly until detent 44 is reach-ed, in order to tension pull spring 32 and to prepare the toy for operation. The vehicle is backed into the building and is located directly in front of the upstanding ejector 30. To trip the mechanism it is merely necessary to depress detent 44 whereupon the ejector forcibly propels the vehicle through the doorway and out of the building, the doors meanwhile flying open, as indicated in Fig. l.

The signal S is a siren comprising an apertured casing 56 (Fig. 5) closed by a cap 58 and secured to the rear wall l6 of the building. The siren is conventional and includes avaned rotor 60 mounted on a spindle 82 carrying a pinion 64. The siren is rotated by depression of actuator A which acts as a handle for a rack 68 which is connected through an appropriate stepup gear train to siren pinion 64. In the present case the teeth of the rack mesh with a pinion 68 the shaft 10 of which carries a gear 12 adapted to mesh with siren pinion 64. In order to provide free overrunning of the siren when the rack has completed its downward movement, the spindle 19 is carried in slots 14 which permit upward movement and disengagement of gear 12 from pinion 84,, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2. The gear is normally moved upwardly by a spring wire 18 the fixed end of which is held by tongues 18 struck outwardly on one side of a gear housing which in turn is secured to the rear wall [6 of the building. It will be understood that upon depression of the rack, the gear 12 is moved downwardly into engagement with pinion 64, thereby imparting a driving impulse to the siren, and, further, that upon completion of depression of the rack, the gear 12 is disengaged from pinion 64 and the siren overruns or continues to rotate, and decelerates at its own natural speed. The actuator and rack 66 are preferably normally moved to upward position by a pull spring 82 ten sioned between a lug 84 formed on the gear frame 80 and an arm 86 formed on rack bar Actuator A not only drives the siren but also trips detent 44, thereby ejecting the vehicle. For this purpose, the floor or bottom l2 of the building is cut away at 88 (Figs. 3 and 4) beneath the rack 68, and the latter is so dimensioned that its lower end 90 moves through opening 88 when depressed to lowermost position, this being clearly indicated by the broken line position 90' in-Fig. 2. In order to transfer the movement of the end 90 to detent 48, I employ an intermediate plate 92 which is pivoted on rod 88 by upstanding cars 92. This plate is hardly necessary with a toy having a single ejector and vehicle, but is used in the present toy having two ejectors and vehicles because it serves an additional function in insuring successive rather than simultaneous ejec- 5 tion of the vehicles. Referring to Figs. 3, 4, and

5, plate 82 is provided with an arm 94 which overlies detent 44. Inasmuch as plate 92 extends beneath opening 88 and rack 66, it will be seen that upon the end of the downward movement 10 of the rack the plate 92 is depressed, thereby releasing detent 44 and ejector 38.

When providing for two vehicles, as in the present toy, the building is divided longitudinally preferably by the use of a partition or guide 15 96 which not only separates the vehicles but helps guide the same accurately through the doorways. Each half of the building is provided with ejector mechanism substantially as heretofore described for one side of the build- 20 ing. Specifically, there is an ejector 30' movable in and guided by a slot 34 and normally urged forwardly by a tension spring 32 but restrainable in rear position by a detent 44' pivoted on rod 48 and urged upwardly by spring 25 50'.

The second vehicle V may, of course, differ from vehicle V although both are preferably fire fighting apparatus. In the present case vehicle V is colored red and simulates a patrol 30 car or fire chiefs car, while vehicle V is an emergency truck equipped with ladders and the like.

Detent 44' is also arranged to be tripped by an arm 94' extending sidewardly from plate 92.

However, the arm 94' is shorter than the arm 94, and the parts are so dimensioned that when plate 92 overlies detent 44, as is clearly shown in Fig. 3, the arm 94' does not overlie detent 44'. Hence depression of plate 92 trips detent 44 but not detent 44. Plate 92 is held in the positionshown in Fig. 3 by a depending flange or cam surface I08 formed at the inner edge of a part I82 of ejector 30 underlying the bottom wall I2 of the building, as is best shown in Fig. 2. Plate 92 is normally urged to the left, as viewed in Fig. 3, by a small compression spring I04 coiled about rod 48 and located between the detent 44 and plate 92. This results in the plate 92 tending to assume the position shown in Fig. 4 in which the arm 94' overlies detent 44'. However, when ejector 30 is pushed rearwardly to set the same, the cam surface I00 bears against the adjacent lug 93 of plate 92 and, because of the curvature of cam surface I80, shifts plate 92 to the right or to the position shown in Fig. 3, and holds the plate in that position.

The operation will, it is believed, be understood from the foregoing description, because 60 upon first depression of the actuator, the siren is driven and ejector 30 released, thus dischargirig one of the vehicles and at the same time releasing plate 92 for movement over detent 44'.

A second movement of the actuator again drives 65 the siren and this time releases ejector 30' which discharges the second vehicle.

It is believed that the construction and operation as well as the many advantages of my improved toy fire house, will be apparent from 7 the foregoing detailed description thereof. It will also be understood that the toy may be simplified to use a single vehicle or may be made more complex by the use of more than two vehicles. Furthermore, the actuator need not 75 be made in the form of a chimney, and the signal or noise-making device may be a hell or other instrument differing from thesiren here shown, although the siren is believed preferable because of its effectiveness and realism.

It will therefore be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed, without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a simulated building, a toy vehicle therein, reciprocable ejection means urged from the back toward the front of the building and adapted to eject the vehicle from the building, and releasable detent means for normally holding the ejection means at the back of the building.

2. A toy comprising a simulated building, a motorless toy vehicle therein, means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the building and adapted to eject the vehicle from the building, doors freely pivoted on said building and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicle when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the building, and an actuator for releasing the detent means.

3. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a motorless toy fire fighting vehicle therein, means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and adapted to eject the vehicle from the fire house, doors freely pivoted on said fire house and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicle when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, and an actuator for releasing the detent means.

4. A toy fire house comprising a simulated building, a toy vehicle therein, means urged from the back toward the front of the building and adapted to eject the vehicle from the building, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the building, a signal device, and a single actuator for operating said signal device and for releasing the detent means.

5. A toy comprising a simulated building, a motorless toy vehicle therein, means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the building and adapted to eject the vehicle from the building, doors freely pivoted on said building and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicle when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the building, a noise making device, and a single actuator for operating said device and for releasing the detent means.

6. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a motorless toy fire fighting vehicle therein, means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and adapted to eject the vehicle from the fire house, doors freely pivoted on said fire house and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicle when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, a signal device simulating the noise made by a fire fighting vehicle, and a single actuator for operating said signal device and for releasing the detent means.

7. A toy comprising a simulated building, a toy vehicle therein, a tensioned ejector spring mounted on said building and arranged to propel the toy vehicle out of the building, detent means to prevent release of the spring, and an to eject the vehicle actuator connected to said building and arranged to trip the detent and thereby release the spring for propulsion of the vehicle from the building.

8. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a toy fire fighting vehicle therein, a siren mounted on said fire house, rack and gear mechanism for imparting high speed rotation to said siren, and a depressible chimney-simulating, actuator for operating said mechanism and for causing the vehicle to leave the fire house.

9. A toy comprising a simulated building, a siren mounted on said building, a reciprocable rack and step-up gear mechanism for driving said siren, and a depressible chimney-simulating actuator at the top of said building connected to said rack.

10. A toy comprising a simulated building, a toy vehicle therein, means urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and adapted from the building, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the building, a depressible chimneysimulating actuator at the top of said building and means whereby depression of said actuator releases said detent.

11. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating afire house, a toy fire fighting vehicle therein, means urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and adapted to eject the vehicle from the fire house, doors pivoted on said fire house and adapted to be opened by the vehicle when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, a signal mounted on said fire house, a depressible chimney-simulating actuator at the top of said house connected to said signal, and additional means whereby depression of said actuator releases said detent.

12. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a. fire house, a motorless toy fire fighting vehicle therein, means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and adapted to eject the vehicle from the fire house, doors freely pivoted on said fire house and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicle when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, a siren mounted on said fire house, a reciprocal rack and step-up gear mechanism for driving said siren, and additional means whereby movement of said rack releases said detent.

13. A toy comprising a simulated building, a plurality of motorless toy vehicles therein, a plurality of means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and each adapted to eject one of the vehicles from the building, a plurality of doors freely pivoted on said building and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicles when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the building, and actuator means for releasing said detent means.

14. A toy comprising a simulated building, a plurality of toy vehicles therein, a plurality of means each adapted to cause one of the vehicles to leave the building, and a single actuator means for successively actuating said means.

15. A toy comprising a simulated building, a I

plurality of motorless toy vehicles therein, a plurality of means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and each adapted to eject one of the vehicles from the building, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the building, and a single actuator means for successively releasing said detent means.

16. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a plurality of motorless toy fire fighting vehicles therein, a plurality of means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire houseand each adapted to eject one of the vehicles from the fire house, a plurality of doors freely pivoted on said fire house and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicles when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, signal means, and a single actuator means for operating said signal means and for successively releasing said detent means.

1'7. A toy comprising a simulated building, a plurality of toy vehicles therein, a plurality of means for causing the vehicles to leave the building, a single actuator, and means whereby repeated movement of said actuator successively operates said means. one vehicle leaving the building for each complete movement of the actuator.

18. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a plurality of toy fire fighting vehicles therein, a plurality of means urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and each adapted to eject one of the vehicles from the fire house, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, a single actuator, and means whereby repeated movement of said actuator successively releases the detent means, one vehicle being ejected for each complete movement of the actuator.

19. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a plurality of motorless toy fire fighting vehicles therein, a plurality of means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and each adapted to eject one. ofthe vehicles from the fire house, a plurality of doors freely pivoted on said fire house and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicles when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, a single actuator, and means whereby repeated movement of said actuator successively releases the detent means, one vehicle being ejected for each complete movement of the actuator.

20, A toy comprising a simulated building, a plurality of toy vehicles therein, a plurality of means for causing the vehicles to leave the building, a signal on said building, an actuator connected to said signal, and means whereby repeated depression of the actuator successively operates said means, one vehicle being released for each depression of the actuator.

21'. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a plurality of toy fire fighting vehicles therein, a plurality of means for causing the vehicles to leave the fire house, a siren on said house, a reciprocable rack and step-up gearing for rotating said siren, a depressible chimney-simulating actuator at the top of said house connected to said rack, and means whereby repeated depression of the actuator successively operates said means, one vehicle being released for each depression of the actuator.

22. A toy comprising a simulated building, a

plurality of toy vehicles therein, a plurality of means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the building and each adapted to eject one of the vehicles from the building, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the building, a signal on said building, an actuator connected to said signal, and means whereby repeated depression of the actuator successively releases the detent means, one vehicle being ejected for each depression of the actuator.

23. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a plurality of motorless toy fire fighting vehicles therein, a plurality of means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and each adapted to elect one of the vehicles from the fire house, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, a siren on said house,

a reciprocable rack and step-up gearing for 20 rotating said siren, and means whereby repeated depression of the rack successively releases the detent means, one vehicle being ejected for each depression of the rack.

24. A toy fire house comprising a building 25 simulating a fire house, a plurality of motorless toy fire fighting vehicles therein, a plurality of means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and each adapted to eject one of the vehicles from the fire house, a

plurality of doors freely pivoted on said fire house and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicles when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, a siren on said house, a reciprocable rack and step-up gearing for rotating said siren, a depressible chimney-simulating actuator at the top of said house connected to said rack, and means whereby repeated depression of the actuator successively releases the detent means, one vehicle being ejected for each depression of the actuator.

25. A toy comprising a building, a motorless toy vehicle therein, means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the building and adapted to eject the. vehicle therefrom, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the building, a signal on said building, a depressible actuator for operating said signal, and means whereby only repeated depression of the actuator releases the detent means and ejects the vehicle.

26. A toy fire house comprising a building simulating a fire house, a motorless toy fire fighting vehicle therein, means resiliently urged from the back toward the front of the fire house and adapted to eject the vehicle from the fire house, a plurality of doors freely pivoted on said fire house and adapted to be readily opened by the vehicle when ejected, detent means for holding the ejection means at the back of the fire house, a siren on said house, a reciprocable rack and step-up gearing for rotating said siren, a depressible actuator connected to said rack, whereby depression of the actuator operates the siren, and means whereby only repeated depression of the actuator releases the detent means in order to eject the vehicle.

LOUIS MARX.