US2358379A - Aerial toy - Google Patents

Description

P 1944- c. RQBUTCHER 2,358,379

AERIAL TOY Filed Oct. 29, 1943 inventor C/ajude 250/3150 attorney Patented Sept. 19, 1944 V V AERIAL TOY .ClaudeR. Butcher, swego, 0r'g. j Application Qct0ber29, 1943, Serial No. 503,155 I (01. 46-75) s Claims.

Thisinvention relates. totan aerial toy of the contractible type to be shot into: the. air where- .upon the parts assume their normal position and 1 the toy descends in flight. 3 More particularly the invention is Ia helicopter, toy,.is initially propelled upward in' collapsedcondition and descendsin its normal relation of parts.

. It is an'important objectof this invention to I erating position with'rapidity upon loss of forward movement following its air projection.

Still another .objectiof this invention is the provision, in a toy of the type mentioned, of novel collapsible support means for a helicopter rotor which means can be easily formed of minimum parts and yet in a manner to afford the maximum of strength and operability.

thereto I, prefer to accomplish as follows:

According to a preferred embodiment of my invention, I support above a .simulatedairplane fuselage a helicopter rotor.v The fuselagehas landing wheels, .body portion and torquerestricting tail surface.i"Above the fuselage upon a swingable column I mount the rotor. The column swings from the upright or erect position down to alignment with the fuselage. Elastic means is employed to erect the column and tend to keep it in the upright position. Counterweight means are employed to vary the center of gravity to affect as desired the flight characteristics of the toy. Upon the upper end of the column is pivotally mounted a rotor spool from which extend in radial manner the blades of the rotor which are hinged to the spool for nesting purposes; Elastic means is also employed to tend to keep the blades in normal radial or extended position above the fuselage. A hook is provided upon the column for engagement with an elastic propulsion means used in shooting the toy in its collapsed condition into the air. All of the parts are formed of light weight materials having high strength characteristics to insure long and durable life in the toy.

The novel features that I consider character- 3 The foregoing objects and others ancillary V which A istic of my inventionare set fortl'i, withjp articiularity in the appended claims;- .Theuinvention' itself, however, bothas vto. its organizationof parts and its .mode: of operation, together with additional objects and/advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description ofa specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in .Figure 1 is a sideiview. of ,lny sent-1.605;;

Figure 2 is a plan viewof the toy,

Figure 3 is a side viewof thetoyas itappears collapsed and about to be placed in flight in theair, p Figure 4 is an enlarged detail of the manner in which'the rotor blades are hinged to their ppor in p 1 5 Figure 5 is fragmentary enlarged detail of the manner of supporting the rotor bladesfrom the spool,

the rotor support column, and p r Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on-lines 1-1 of Figure 6. p I p An aerial toy .to serve thepurposes of utility must have at least two totally distinct characte'risticsyit must be capable of absorbing. a terrific amount of punishment .at the hands? of youthful aeronauts; and iii must also beca- Figure 6 is an enlarged fragrnentaryfdetail' of pable of accurate and sustainedfiight including projection to greatheights. Accordingly, a preferred embodiment of my invention, referring to the drawing is constituted bya Lfusela geQbOdy lll'having a torque resisting tail surface '12 secured to one end. As here shown the tail [2 is circular and in effect constitutes a landing runner as well as providing a maximum of surface to the air to resist twisting of the toy as it descends in flight. The thinned forward portion I4 of the body is roughly a quadrant segment and has a pivot pin l6 therethrough on which is to swing therewith and when in the erect posi- I tion constitute supports for the wheels 28, 28. A pin 30 rises from the upper end of post I8 and in its upper extremity isformed to provide erected by the action of elastic member 20. When the device is air borne the rotor which the'foregoing arrangement I hover' over one spotand only descend in a vera tow hook 32 which receives an elastic loop 34 upon the launching stick 36 provided for pro- Fpelling the device under certain conditions.

The spool at hub 38 is rotatable on pin 30 has extending from its under edges the hinged leaves 5 40 to each of which a rotor blade 42 is attached. :The pivots of the hinges are normal to the mast. Betweena ring 44 and hooks 46, one of which is provided on each blade, I stretch elastic bands 48 which serve to suspend the blades in the manner shown in Figures: 1 and5.

In that end of the body opposite the tail surface [2 I mount a weight beam 50 on which is; mounted the weight 52 for movement along the beam. In this instance the weight is threaded upon the beam to provide gradual adjusting means between the two elements and torretain to a degree the parts in adjusted position.

To collapse the toy preparatory for projection into the air, the post or mast I8 is swung forward into alignment with the body In. The rotor which iscarr'ed thereby is then collapsed against the urgence of the elastic bands '48 into the form shown in Figure 3 where it is retained to-the tail surface by a person grasping the parts between g5 his thumb and forefinger. The band 34 is-looped around hook 32 and then stretched byv pull exerted upon stick 36 in the other hand. When the tail is released the toy will shoot forward into the air in this streamlined condition for many {so feet. As its forward speed decreases and the slipstream effect uponthe blades recedes the toy tends to come to rest in the air at which time the rotors expand as normal and the post I8 is is pitched in the manner of an air screw, begins to turn in simulationof-a helicopter and sup-- ports the plane to a'certain extent against the effect of gravity. Placement of the weight 52(g0 relative the center of gravity will effectthebalance of the body I0 upon the rotor so that, when theweight' is placed forwardly of the center of gravity the body nose 14 will be tipped forward and the toy will descend gradually and glide for-i ward at :the same time. 7 I Ic'enter of gravity is shifted more to the rear of At such times as the the toy will'tend to ticalline. Skill may be exercised inthe use of of the rotor is restrained by the rather large torque resisting tail surface [2 which, in forward flight also serves as a rudder to guide the toy in a fairly straight course.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

. 1. In an aerial toy, a fuselage, a saddle having its legs pivoted to said fuselage, a tow hook fastened to said saddle away from the pivot thereof, and folding wings carried by said saddle whereby the same may be swung so that said wings may be folded along said fuselage during towing of said toy, whereby pressure on said hook will rej tain the saddle in the swung position.

2. In an aerial toy, a fuselage having a mast pivoted thereto to swing to the forward end in a substantially horizontal manner, a tow hook semotion'of said blades, stops limiting movement .of saidmast'from an upright position to a forward horizontal position, resilient means for urging said mast to the upright position, whereby the mast may swing forward and one blade folded under the fuselage and the other two wings will lie one on each side of said fuselage in a streamlined manner and a torque restraining member on said fuselage. i

3. An aerial toy, comprising: a fuselage having a'tail rudder and a forward quadrant segmental portion, stops at either end of said segmental portion, asplit mast pivoted astride said fuselage adjacent'the center of said segmental portion and limited in its-swinging'movementby said stops,

resilient means between an upper portion of said mast and a rear portion ofthe fuselage, a, hub rotatably mounted on said mast at its upper end and having blades forming a rotor hingedly secured to the underside thereof, resilient means between an upper intermediate portion of each blade and an upper portion of said 'hub to tend to urge the blades into radial extended position with relation to thehub; and a tow hook on said mast for engagement with towing means when 'the mast is swung toits forward position and the blades are' caused'to lie in streamlined position alongside the fuselage whereby the toy may be forcefully projected into the air;

CLAUDE R. BUTCHER.

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