US2551109A

US2551109A - Toy military tank

Info

Publication number: US2551109A
Application number: US782274A
Authority: US
Inventors: Fornary Harry
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1947-10-27
Filing date: 1947-10-27
Publication date: 1951-05-01
Anticipated expiration: 1968-05-01

Description

y 1951 H. FORNARY 2,551,109

TOY MILITARY TANK Filed 2 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventor Harry F ornary a y x7 WWW 1, 1951 H. FORNARY 2,551,109

' TOY MILITARY TANK Filed Oct. 27, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor l8 Harry Fomary WWW 8m Patented May 1, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,551,109 TpY MILITARY TANK Harry Fornary, Racine, Wis. Application October 27, 1947,. Serial No. 782,274 3 Claims. (01. 43-204) My invention relates to improvements in toy military tanks of the type adapted to be pulled along a floor, or the like.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a simply constructed inexpensive device of the character indicated equipped with guns and constructed and arranged to render the toy intensely interesting and appealing to children, and which is easy to propel and otherwise handle and will not quickly get out of order.

Other and subordinate objects, also within the purview of my invention, together with the precise nature of my improvements will be readily understood when the succeeding description and claims are read with reference to the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification.

In said drawings:

Figure l is a view in side elevation of my improved toy military tank in a preferred embodiment thereof;

Figure 2 is a view in vertical longitudinal section drawn to a larger scale;

Figure 3 is a view in horizontal section taken on the line 33 of Figure2;

Figure 4 is a view in vertical transvers section taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a detail view in longitudinal vertical section taken on the line 55 of Figure 3;

Figure 6 is a detail view in transverse section taken on the line 5-6 of Figure 2; and

Figure 7 is a view of a modification of the invention in plan.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, ac- OOI'dil'lg to my invention, as illustrated, a gun carriage is provided comprising a hollow, elongated carriage body! with vertical, parallel sides 2, a rear end 3 outwardly rounded in vertical section, and a front end 4 similarly rounded and slanting upwardly and rearwardly to a downwardly and rearwardly inclined platform top 5 removably fitted between the sides 2 and resting upon longitudinal side bars 6 secured to said sides, as at l. A handle-forming cleat 5' is provided on the top 5 for use in removing the same. The bottom 8 of the carriage body I is preferably formed of a separate panel suitably secured in place as by glue, or cement, not shown. A cross cleat 9 in the carriage body I with studs extending upwardly therefrom through the top and having nuts I I thereon secures said top 5 in place.

The carriage body I is supported by pairs .of front and rear wheels I2, l3 on front and rear live axles l4, l5 journaled in the sides 2 with at least one wheel of the pair thereon suitably fixed theretofor driving the same. Traction belts ll, l8 connect the front and rear wheels [2, E3 in pairs upon opposite sides of the carriage body I for rotation in unison when said belts are engaged with the floor, or the like, and the carriage caused to travel thereover.

An eye screw l9 in the front end 4 of the carriage body I provides for attaching a pull cord, not shown, to said body.

A forwardly and upwardly inclined missile ejecting gun 20 surmounts the carriage body I in the vertical longitudinal center thereof for ejecting ball missiles shown by dotted lines at 2|. The gun 20 comprises a barrel 22 with a breech block 23 having a tube 24 extending rearwardly into the same on top of said barrel parallel with said barrel and forming with said breech block a rearwardly and downwardly inclined, gravity feed magazine 25 for missiles 2| inserted in the front end of said tube and tending to roll rearwardly in the magazine 25 because of the inclination thereof. A drop opening 26 in the top of the barrel 22 at the rear of the magazine 25 provides for the missiles 2! in the magazine 25' dropping, one by one, into the barrel 22 adjacent the rear end of said barrel. Lateral studs 21 on the breech block 23 journaled in upright bearings 28 secured on the top 5, as at 29, provide forvertical swinging'of the gun 2|] to vary the angle of inclination thereof.

A transverse crank rod 30 on the top 5, beneath the barrel 22 and forwardly of the pivotal axis of the gun 20, is journaled in bearings 3i on said top 5 for rotation by an upstanding hand lever 32 thereon to wipingly engage the same with the bottom of the barrel 22 and thereby elevate the muzzle end of said barrel and vary the angle of inclination of said gun. By rotating said crank rod 30 away from said barrel 22, the gun 20 will swing, under the influence of gravity, to lower the muzzle end of the barrel 22 and also vary the angle of inclination of the gun, it being understood that the pivotal axis of the gun 2B is arranged so that said gun is overbalanced forwardly of said axis. A bottom notch 33 in the barrel 22 seats the crank rod 30 to provide for latching the gun 20 against swinging downwardly under the influence of gravity.

A disk-like missile ejecting plunger 34 is slidably fitted in the rear end of the barrel 22 and is fixed on the front end of an ejector rod 35 slidably extended through the rear end of the breech block 23 into said barrel 22'. A coil spring 36' surrounds said rod 35 in thebarrel 22 between said plunger 34 and the rear end of said breech block 23 and is adapted to move said rod and plunger forwardly in a manner presently clear.

Means now to be described are provided for intermittently sliding the ejector rod 35 and plunger 34 rearwardly in the barrel 22 to compress the coil spring 36 and move the plunger 34 to the rear of the opening 26, said means bein operated by forward travel of the described carriage and releasing said rod 35 and plunger 34 so that the coil spring 36 will act to impel the plunger 34 forwardly and eject from the barrel 22 a missile 2| which has dropped from the magazine 25 into said barrel.

A gear wheel 31 is rotatably mounted in the carriage body I on one side 2 and on a stud 38 and meshes with a relatively smaller gear wheel 39 fast on the rear axle I5. A laterally extending tappet stud 40 on the gear wheel 31, eccentric to the axis of said wheel, is revolved by said wheel into wiping engagement with an angular rear end tappet arm 4| on the ejector rod 35 working in a longitudinal slot 42 in the top and depending into said body I, said tappet stud 43 moving said tappet arm rearwardly and then releasing the same during each revolution of said wheel 31.

A pair of forwardly pointing, upwardly inclined twin mount dummy guns 44 surmount the top 5 upon opposite sides of the gun 20 and at the front portion of the carriage body I. The guns 44 are fixed in the upper ends of a pair of vertical posts 45 rotatably extended through the top 5 at opposite sides thereof with reduced lower ends 45 resting upon a cross bar 41 in said body I suitably secured to the sides 2. As will be seen, the posts 45 are adapted to be oscillated oppositely, relatively, to swing the guns 44 laterally and oppositely relatively.

A second pair of forwardly pointing, twin mount, dummy guns 48 are provided in the carriage body I in the front end portion of said body to extend out of horizontal slots 49 in the front 4 upon opposite sides of the longitudinal center of said body. The guns 48 are swingable laterally on vertical posts 50 upstanding from a cross bar 5| in said body I. The guns 48 are adapted to be swung laterally and oppositely, relatively also.

Means are provided for oscillating the posts 46 to correspondingly swing the guns 44, and for swinging the guns 48, all in unison, and under travel of the described carriage, said means comprising the following.

An endwise reciprocating slide bar 52 is mounted in the front portion of the carriage body I, between the posts of the

pairs

46, 50, by means of guides 53 supported by the

bars

41, 5|, said bar 52 reciprocating forwardly and rearwardly in said body. A pitman rod 54 connects the tappet stud 40 to the rear end of said bar 52. A rear end cross bar 55 mortised into said slide bar 52 is operatively connected to the posts 56 by a pair of rearwardly extending radial crank rods 56 on said posts suitably fixed at one end in said posts and slidable in swivel eye screws 51 upstanding from opposite ends of said cross bar 55. A pair of crank rods 58, similar to crank rods 56, with one end suitably fixed in the guns 48 with the remainder of said rods slidably extended, in crossed relation, through a double eye screw 59 upstanding from the front end of the slide bar 52 operatively connect said bar 52 to said guns 48. The eyes in the eye screw 59 are sufficiently larger than the crank rods 58 to provide a clearance between said rods and eyes so that said rods may swivel in said eyes.

A rattling device is provided comprising a toothed wheel 60 fast on the front axle I4 within the carriage body I and wipingly engaging the free end of a resilient clapper bar 6| fixed in one end of a sound amplifying box 62 in the carriage body I, said wheel and bar making a rattling noise in a manner which will be understood.

The operation of the described invention will be readily understood. With the magazine 25 filled with missiles 2|, the carriage is propelled forwardly, the traction belts I8 rotating the wheels |2, I3 so that the front and rear axles I4, I5 are revolved counter-clockwise as viewed in Figure 2. Suchrevolution of the rear axle I5 causes the gear wheel 31 to be revolved clockwise to correspondingly revolve the tappet stud 40. As said tappet stud 40 is thus revolved, it wipingly engages and then releases the tappet arm 4| intermittently. This causes the ejector rod 35 and plunger 34 to be slid rearwardly and released intermittently. Rearward sliding of said rod 35 and plunger 34 compresses the coil spring 36 and positions said plunger to the rear of the opening 26 so that a missile 2| may drop out of the magazine 25 into the barrel 22 in front of said plunger. As soon as said rod 35 and the plunger 34 are released, the coil spring 36 reacts to move the same forwardly to eject the missile 2|. During operation of the gun 20, it may be aimed in the manner already described. Durin the described operation of the gun 20, the pitman rod 54 reciprocates the slide bar 52. This causes the crank rods 56, in a manner which will be clear, to be oscillated in opposite directions, relatively, and the posts 46 to be correspondingly oscillated to swing the guns 44 laterally in opposite directions relatively. At the same time,

the crank rods 58 are operated like the crank rods 56 to swing the guns 48 in opposite directions relatively. While the

guns

22, 44, 48 are being operated, as described, the rattling device is being operated by the front axle I4 to simulate the noise of such guns being fired.

In the modified embodiment of the invention shown in Figure 7, the rear axle |5a is provided with a crank I6a to which the pitman 54a is connected. This obviates the use of the

gear wheels

31, 39 of the preferred embodiment for operating the slide bar 52.

The foregoing will, it is believed, suifice to impart a clear understanding of my invention, without further explanation.

Manifestly, the invention, as described, is susceptible of modification without departing from the inventive concept, and right is herein reserved to such modifications as fall Within the scope of the appended claims. Y

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a toy military tank, a gun carriage including a body having front and rear pairs of wheels, a live axle for one pair of wheels traversing said body, a gun surmounting said body in the longitudinal center thereof, a pair of laterally spaced guns surmounting said body on opposite sides of the first-named gun and pivotally mounted to said body for horizontal swinging in opposite directions, respectively, a second pair of laterally spaced guns below the first pair pivotally mounted in said body upon opposite sides of the longitudinal center thereof for horizontal swinging in opposite directions respectively and extending outwardly of said body, a bar slidably mounted in said body between the guns of said pairs for reciprocation longitudinally of the body, operating connections extending between each end of the bar to one of the pairs of guns for swinging of the guns of the pairs in unison in opposite directions respectively upon reciprocation of said bar, a drive between said axle and bar for reciprocating said bar, and ejecting means for said first-named gun operative under control of said drive in timed relation to reciprocation of the bar to time ejection from the first-named gun with relation to swinging of the guns of the pairs.

2. In a toy military tank, a gun carriage including a body having front and rear pairs of wheels, a live axle for one pair of wheels traversing the body, a pair of laterally spaced guns surmounting said body upon opposite sides of the longitudinal center of the body and pivotally mounted to said body for horizontal swinging in opposite directions respectively, a second pair of laterally spaced guns below the first pair pivotally mounted in said body upon opposite sides of said center for horizontal swinging in opposite directions, respectively, and extending outwardly of the body, a bar slidably mounted in the body between the guns of said pairs for reciprocation longitudinally of the body, 'operating connections extending laterally from each end of the bar to one pair of the guns for swinging the guns of the pairs in unison in opposite directions respectively upon reciprocation of said bar, and a drive between said axle and bar for reciprocating said bar.

3. A toy military tank according to claim REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,083,361 Gilson Jan. 6, 1914 1,151,663 Carter Aug. 31, 1915 1,265,718 Ahearn May 14, 1918 1,282,549 Dittrick Oct. 22, 1918 1,289,621 Blackshear Dec. 31, 1918 1,343,834 Lewis et al June 15, 1920 1,707,826 'Isobanacos Apr. 2, 1929 1,759,128 Marx May 20,- 1930 1,813,985 Blackmore July 14, 1931 1,834,395 Gavlak Dec. 1, 1931 2,279,386 Carver Apr. 14, 1942 2,388,638 Lawrence Nov. 6, 1945 2,409,839 Criner Oct. 22, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 552,609 Great Britain Apr. 15, 1943 568,925 Great Britain Apr. 26, 1945