US2587142A

US2587142A - Model automobile assembly kit

Info

Publication number: US2587142A
Application number: US737840A
Authority: US
Inventors: Benjamin A Gray; Joseph D Sabo
Original assignee: TOY FOUNDERS Inc
Current assignee: TOY FOUNDERS Inc
Priority date: 1947-03-28
Filing date: 1947-03-28
Publication date: 1952-02-26
Anticipated expiration: 1969-02-26

Description

Feb. 26, 1952 B. A. GRAY ETAL 2,587,142

MODEL AUTOMOBILE ASSEMBLY KIT Filed March 28, 1947 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 l4 BENJAMIN A. GRAY Q g m 54, g f I8 INVENTOR.

W20 Josewu D. 5Aeo 4 T TORN'V Feb 1952 B. A. GRAY ETAL MODEL AUTOMQBILE ASSEMBLY KIT 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed March 28, 1947 INVENTORS BENJAMIN A. GRAY JOSEPH D. S 5

Patented Feb. 26, 1952 UN-IT E.D S TATE S PATENT O F F! CE MODELAU-TJOMOBILE ASSEMBLY 'KI'I.

-Benjamin A. Gray and Joseph'D."Sabo, Detroit, Mich., assignors to Toy Founders, 1110., Detroit, Mich-,1 incorporation of Michigan Application March 28, 19457",v Serial No; 7 37,840

"5 Claims. 1 Therpresent invention relates to-a toy automobileassembly kit and has for its primary obj'ects:

(1')"T0 provide a toy'automobile" assembly kit having a variety of; interlocking parts which may 1 be selectively assembled. in. various combinations to provide toy automobiles of various modern'and attractive designs ;v

(2) To-"provide improved interlocking engagements forfdetachably securing the various parts "in the kit to each other with the minimum of screw threaded fastenings so as to facilitate the assembly and. rearrangement of the; parts, and to form various sturdy toy' automobiles" adapted to withstand the normallyexpected abuse received by'a childs toy; and

(3) To provide. a novel interlocking means 2. practiced or carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood" that the phraseology orterminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

. A-particular toy automobile assembly kit embodying thepresent invention is shown by Way of example in Fig. 1, wherein a basic chassis, indicated 'genera'llyby the numeral Ill, provides a frame uponwhich the other toyautomobile parts in the kit may be'selectively mounted in a number of combinations to make various toy automobile models.v Theparts in the kit may be suitably at their rearward portions by detachable rearj fenders, which in turn are held in place between lateral wings of a detachable rear bumper; and

whereby the bumpers are held in positive alignment in the assembled position with their adjacent fenders.

Other objects of this invention. will appear in the following descriptionandappended claims,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification-wherein like reference characters designate. corresponding parts in the several views.

Fig. 1. is a view showing a layout of the various parts in perspective of a toy automobile. assembly from the parts of the assemblykit shown inFig. 1.

Fig. 4 is essentially a perspective side view of a .a convertible coupe modeI that may be constructed from the parts of the assembly kit shown 2' in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 isv essentially a perspective sideview of a sedan model that may be. constructed from the parts of the assembly kit shown in Fig. 1.

Before explaining the present-inventionin detail it is to benunderstood that. theinven'tion is .not limited in its applicationto the detailsofconstruction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is. capablepf other embodiments .andof being-.

formed from metal, plastic, hard rubber, or preferably a combination of thesematerials.

The open frame structure of-the chassis Ill-has the central raised portion the front axle support l2, and the; rear, axle journal supports l3.

The front axle I4 pivots about the bolt l6 which extends through. thebolt holes I! and 8 in the front axle support |2and front axle M, respectively-,- and is held in place by'the nut I9. The

pair of lock washers 20 are preferably placed around .the bolt ||5 above and: below the front axle extremities of the threaded spindles 22.

m y' onytheir respective spindles 22, Sport roadster model that may be constructed" support l2. to'prevent loosening of the nut I9 as "the front axle |'4 pivots durin steering.

The-two .front'wheels 2| are journaled on the fthreadedspindles 22 at opposite ends of the front axle M adjacent the corresponding shoulders 23 provided by the enlarged central. portion of the front axle M, and are held in place by'the threaded front hubcaps 24 which screw-on the It is t be noted that the threaded portion. l5 of each front hubcap .24 does not extend completely through the. hubcap. Thus the lateral exterior surface of each hubcap 24 is unbroken. Sufficient play-is provided for the front. wheels 2| between .the corresponding shoulders 23 and front hubcaps" Zita-permit the front wheels 2| to rotate The-restriction. 25 is provided for the wheels 2| at the 7 forward portion of the chassis I ll to permit limited "pivotal. steering "movements'of the frontv axle l4 about theb'olt It".

l shown. or. by. screwing into threaded the. bolt. holes .30. or 3] The rear axle 26 fitswithin the half cylindrical ing collars 28. The plurality of bolts 29 pass throughjthe bolt-holes 30 of the. collars 2 8 and lthe-boltholes 3,|'.of'the supports. 13. and hold the callers. 28, in place... either by means. ofnuts, not portions of Each of the two rear wheel. assemblies comprises tthe nut-32 wh-ich is screwed onthe. corresponding threaded end portion 33 of the rear axle 26, being followed by a lock washer 34, a rear wheel 35, and rear hubcap 36 in that order, the latter being similar to the front hubcaps 24 and being tightly screwed on the threaded end 33 to cap the corresponding end of the rear axle 26. The nut 32 is then tightened against the lock Washer 34 to clamp the wheel 35 against the hubcap 36. Thus clamped, the rear wheels 35 turn as a unit with the rear axle 26, which latter is journaled in the bearings provided by the surfaces 21 and collars 28.

The basic body structure, indicated generally by the numeral 31, is adapted to be detachably mounted on the chassis l9 and is bolted thereto by bolts, not shown, which pass through the bolt holes 38 of the central raised portion The body 31 is held in proper alignment on the chassis I9 by the lower edges 39 of the body side structures which snugly overlap the chassis side portions 49.

The body 31 and the accessory parts of the kit are designed to permit assembly of models symmetrically about their longitudinal vertical.median planes. Accordingly, where this description refers to features of one side of the automobile models, the corresponding features also exist on the other side. The body 31 is also essentially a complete sport runabout body in itself with builtin front fenders 4| and rear fenders 42. Also provided by the body 31 are the dowel holes 43 and 44 in each rear fender 42, the dowel hole 45 in the rear deck, the dowel holes 43 and 41 diagonally placed in each front fender. 4| in parallelism with the sloping lines thereof, and the two dowel slots 49 in the lateral rear portions of the cowl.

The windshield 49 is preferably of transparent plastic material and provides the two downward extending dowel pins 48A which fit into the dowel slots 48 and secure the windshield 49 in an upright position to the body 31. The dowel holes 46 and 41 are adapted to receive the pins 46A and 41A, respectively, of the pair of external exhaust manifolds 59, which latter are thus detachably mounted laterally to the body 31. It is preferred that each pin 41A, for example, has a threaded end which will project through the hole 41 and receive a nut to positively secure the exhaust manifold 50 to the body 31.

Upon assembling-the wheels to the chassis H! as previously described, the sport runabout or racing model shown in Fig. 2 may be completed by mounting the body 31 to the chassis l and by mounting the windshield 49 and exhaust manifolds 59 to the body 31 as indicated above.

The sport roadster model of Fig. 3 may be assembled upon replacing each exhaust manifold 50 by a front fender I, which latter provides the dowel pin 46B for insertion into the dowel hole 46. It is to be noted that the front fenders 5| are sufficiently oversize to cover the fenders 4 I. Each fender 5| also provides a dowel hole 52 which is alignable with the corresponding dowel hole 43, the rearward projection 53, and the forward bumper retaining notch 54.

When the front fenders 5| are assembled to the body 31 with the dowel pins 463 in the dowel holes 46, the forward portion of each fender 5| is prevented from lateral displacement by the lateral wings 55 of the front bumper 56 which jcur've around the fenders 5| as shown in Fig. 3.

; Ihe front bumper 55 is secured to the front of -the body 31 by the bolt 51 which extends through the 11;

holes

58 and 59 of the mid-portion of the bumper 56 and forward central portion of the body 31, respectively. A projection 69, located on' retaining notch 64.

the inside of the bumper 56 adjacent each wing 55, interlocks with the corresponding bumper retaining notch 54 and rigidly holds the bumper 56 in its proper position.

The front fenders 5| extend essentially the length of the body 31 toward the rear fenders 6|. Each rear fender 6| provides a cutaway portion 62 which receives the rearward projection 53 of the corresponding front fender 5|, the threaded dowel 43A which extends through the hole 43 to receive a nut on the inside of the body 31 and to hold the fender 6| positively in place, the dowel 44A which fits into the hole 44, and the bumper Upon assembling the rear fenders 61 in place with the

dowels

43A and 44A within the respective dowel holes 43 and 44, the

. rear projection 53 of each front fender 5| is held against lateral displacement between the body 31 and the sides of the rear fender 6| by the threaded dowel 43A which also passes through the dowel hole .52 of the front fender 5|. The rear bumper 65 also provides lateral wings 66 which curve around the rear fenders 6|, the projections 61 which interlock with the bumper retaining notches 64 and securely hold the bumper 65 in position, and the centrally located bolt hole 68 for the bolt 69,, which latter extends through the hole 68 anda bolt hole, not shown, in the rear central portion of the body 31 and is secured as,-for example, bya nut to hold the bumper 65 to the body 31. Thenotches 1|] and 1|, at the front and rear, respectively, of the chassis II) ,are provided for the inward projections of the 48, and a dowel p-in, not shown, for the dowel hole 45.. Thecoupe of Fig. 4 may be readily converted into the sedan model of Fig. 5 by replac ing the top 12 by the sedan top 13, which is similarly provided with depending dowel pins 43C for the dowel slots 48, and a dowel pin, not shown, for the dowel hole 45.

Variation in the color between the tops 12 and 13 and body 31 is provided where desirable. -Both tops 12 and 13 are preferably formed from transparent plastic. The opaque portions of the tops 12 and 13 are painted the color desired, leaving the windshield and window portions transparent,

An important feature of the present invention lies in the facility with which the various toy automobile parts may be assembled or detached from each other by virtue of the various dowel pins provided by certain parts of the kit for mating with corresponding dowel holes of other parts of the kit. By the interlocking of selected parts as described, the entire assembly holds itself to- .gether as a sturdy unit with the minimum of The design and arscrew-threaded fastenings. rangement of the parts shown permit several modern and attractive toy automobiles to be readily and easily constructed even by small chil- 5|, give the appearance of luxuriance, provide a sporting low center of gravity, and also extend the front fenders 5| rearwardly to a position where they are held against displacement by the dowels 43A of the rear fenders 6|. The

bumpers

56 and 65 not only contribute to the attractive modern design of the assembled models, but also provide important structural features, particularly the

projections

60 and 61 which interlock with the corresponding notches 54 and 64 to hold both the bumper and fenders in their proper relative positions.

We claim:

1. A toy automobile assembly kit having a variety of parts selectively combinable to provide toy automobiles of various models and including a chassis with detachably mounted wheels, a basic body structure detachably mounted on said chassis, rearfenders detachably mounted to said body structure, forward cutaway portions of said rear fenders, a rear bumper detachably mounted to said basicbody structure, front fenders detachably mounted to said body structure, the rearwardly extending portions of said front fenders being projected into the said forward cutaway portions of said rear fenders and being held against lateral displacement between said rear fenders and said body structure, a front bumper detachably mounted to said basic body structure, means to prevent lateral displacement of said rear fenders and the front portions of said front fenders and including lateral wings provided by said rear and front bumpers, respectively, and curved around portions of said and front fenders, respectively.

2. A toy automobile assembly kit as claimed in claim 1 and being further characterized in that means are provided to hold said bumpers and fenders in positive alignment with each other in their assembled positions, said means including bumper supporting notches provided by said fenders and projections provided by said bumpers to interlock with said bumper supporting notches.

3. A toy automobile assembly kit including a chassis, a basic body structure mounted on said chassis, rear fenders detachably mounted on said body structure and having forward cutaway portions, front fenders detachably mounted on said body structure, the rearwardly extending portions of said front fenders being projected into the said forward cutaway portions of said rear fenders and being held against lateral displacement between said rear fenders and said body structure, and means to prevent lateral displacement of said rear fenders and the front portions of said front fenders.

4. A toy automobile assembly kit including a chassis, a basic body structure mounted on said chassis, rear and front fenders detachably mounted on said body structure, rear and front bumpers detachably mounted on said basic body structure, and means to prevent lateral displacement of said rear fenders and said front fenders and including lateral wings provided by said rear and front bumpers, respectively, and curved around portions of said rear and front fenders, respectively.

5. A toy automobile assembly kit according to claim 4 and further characterized in that bumper supporting notches are provided by said fenders and projections are provided by said bumpers to interlock with said bumper supporting notches to hold said bumpers and fenders in positive alignment with each other in the assembled position.

BENJAMIN A. GRAY. JOSEPH D. SABO.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,653,291 Katow Dec. 20, 1927 1,728,725 Dowst Sept. 17, 1929 1,877,661 Heisler Sept. 13, 1932 1,973,220 Mohr Sept. 11, 1934 2,024,590 Lindstrom Dec. 17, 1935 2,354,392 McCoy July 25, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 789,257 France Oct. 25. 1935