US3594949A

US3594949A - Toy vehicle having simulated headlights with on-off control

Info

Publication number: US3594949A
Application number: US17110A
Authority: US
Inventors: Paul Tam
Original assignee: Mattel Inc
Current assignee: Mattel Inc
Priority date: 1970-03-06
Filing date: 1970-03-06
Publication date: 1971-07-27
Anticipated expiration: 1988-07-27

Abstract

A member having headlight beam simulating indicia, such as white paint, is slidably mounted in a toy vehicle having headlight fixture simulating apertures whereby the headlights of the vehicles may be ''''turned-on'''' by moving the member so as to expose the headlight beam simulating indicia in the headlight fixture simulating apertures.

Description

United States Patent [72] inventor Paul Tam Los Angeles Cam. [56] References Cited [2]] Appl. No 17,1) UNlTED STATES PATENTS [22] Filed Mar. 6, 1970 3,099,243 7/1963 Schwartz et al 46/202 X [45] Patented July 27, 1971 3,107,453 10/1963 Balthazor l 46/221 {73] Assignee Mattel, Inc. 3,181,271 5/1965 Withams 46/202 Hawthorne c Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Robert F. Cutting s41 TOY VEHICLE HAVING SIMULATED HEADLIGHTS WITH ON-OFF CONTROL I ABSTRACT: A member having headlight beam simulating in- [52] US. Cl 46/202, dicia, such as white paint, is slidably mounted in a toy vehicle 46/221 having headlight fixture simulating apertures whereby the [5 l Int. Cl ..A63h 17/26 headlights of the vehicles may be tumed-on by moving the Field of Search 46/202, member so as to expose the headlight beam simulating indicia 221 223, 222, 230 in the headlight fixture simulating apertures I 7.9 9; 4: 65 68 I I I I 11. 62 8955 1 l 4; 77 I 1 I 47 8 I I; 7! 1 2 g l I I l I as 17 1: 19 a1 59 17 1! TOY VEHICLE HAVING SIMULATED HEADLIG HTS WITH ON-OFF CONTROL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The background of the invention will be set forth in'two parts.

1. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally to the field of toy vehicles and more particularly to toy vehicles having simulated headlights.

2. Description of the Prior Art Toy vehicle constructions which employ means to simulate realistic counterparts of actual devices, vehicles, accessories, animals or human beings hold much more attraction for children and even adults than toys which are not. Accordingly, it is generallyfound that. the more closely a toy vehicle resembles an actual automobileor truck, the greater will be the demand for the toy.

However, there have been found to be problems in manufacturing realistic scale toys, especially where the toys are very small. Such is the case in providing miniature cars and trucks with simulated headlights. In the larger toys, battery operated flashlight bulbs have been used with an appropriate on-off switch to provide thedesired effect. But there is insufficient space available in miniature toys to house even the light bulbs. Also, there is further the advantage of higher costs of manufacture and less reliability in that bulbs filaments tend to break under the high impact generally imposed on such toys in use. Thus, it has been the trend in the industry to manufacture vehicle toys with simulated headlights which cannot be turned on or off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing factors and conditions characteristic of-miniature toy cars and trucks, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a toy vehicle having simulated headlights with on-off control.

ltis also an object of the present invention to provide a toy vehicle with simulated headlight apertures whereat simulated headlight beams are made to appear and disappear.

It is another object of this invention to provide a toy vehicle with controlled simulated headlights which are readily operably by its user. 7

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a very simple and reliable technique to control simulated headlights for toy vehicles. I j

According to the present invention, a toy vehicle is provided having simulated headlights with on-off control including a toy vehicle body with suspension and wheel assemblies, the body also including headlight simulating apertures. Movably mounted in the body is simulated headlight means including headlight beam indicia registerable with the apertures for simulating the headlights being turned on by moving the headlight means to expose the headlight beam indicia in the apertures.

The features of the present invention which are believed to be novel are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The present invention, both as to its organization and manner of operation, together with further objects and ad vantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer to like elements in the several views.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a toy vehicle incorporating simulated headlights in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional side view of the toy vehicle of FIG. 1 showing the simulated headlight control in its off" position; i.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of FIG. 2 showing the simulated headlight control in its on position;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional representation of FIG. 2 taken along line 4-4; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional representation taken along line 55 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to the drawing and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a toy vehicle constituting a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, generally designated 11. The vehicle includes a suspension assembly 13 with four ground wheels 15 rotatably mounted on axles 17 held in place by a suspension plate 19.

Positioned below the suspension assembly 13 is a lower body member or chassis 21 having a peripheral lip portion 23 with wheel well indentures 25 and axle clearance notches 27. Thechassis 21 also includes a lipped aperture 29 and an upstanding post 31 forward thereof.

Mounted on. the upper side of the suspension assembly 13 is an upper body unit 33. The body unit includes a pair of headlight fixture apertures 35, a large cockpit aperture 37, a rectangular engine compartment aperture 39, and a forwardly disposed depending post 41. Within the cockpit area of the vehicle 11 is situated a simulated interior member 43 including a backrest 45, a floor 47 and a notched guideway 49 in which is s'lidably positioned a slide member 51.

- The slide member 51 includes a generally centrally disposed I elongated aperture 53, a control notch portion 55 at one of its ends, and a pair of spaced raised portions 57 adjacent the other end of the member 51. Each of the raised portions 57 is provided with headlight beam indicia which for example may take the form of painted white or yellow surfaces 59 with adjacent surfaces 61 having the same color as that of an enclosing body section 63.

The body section 63 may resemble a sports car as shown with fender areas 65, a cockpit opening 67 and a recessed engine compartment 68 with an aperture 69. It may also be fabricated as a replica of any'manufactured automobile or truck or as an original design. In any case, it will include headlight simulating apertures 71 disposed to be registerable with the headlight beam indicia 59 and the adjacent surface area 61 ofthe slide member 51.

The toy is assembled as indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 1. In this manner, the upstanding post 31 of the chassis 21 is positioned through a centrally located circular aperture 73 in the suspension plate 19 and flattened by pressure or heat or both to form a rivet-type head 75. Subsequently, a post 77 depending from a member 79 simulated engine is placed through the engine aperture 69 in the body 63, through a relatively large aperture 80 in the suspension plate 19, and through the lipped aperture 29 of the chassis 21. Similarly, a forwardly positioned post 81 depending from the underside of the body section 63 passes through the elongated aperture 53 in the slide member 51 and through a raised-lipped aperture 83 in the chassis 21. The ends of both of these

posts

77 and 81 are then flattened by conventional means to provide rivet-type assembly retaining

heads

85 and 87, respectively. Of course, other methods of maintaining the relative positions of the various assembled portions of the toy may be employed, depending on such circumstances as the size of the toy and the materials used. Furthermore, a window member 89 having locating tabs 91 to register with seats 93 in the interior member 43, may be disposed between the body section 63 and the interior 43.

In operation, the slide member 51 is moved by means of an operator placing the end of a finger through the cockpit opening 67 and into the notched portion 55 to push the member 51 in a rearward direction as indicated by arrow 95 to only expose the surfaces 61 in the apertures 71 as seen in FIG. 2, or to push the member 51 in a forward direction as indicated by arrow 97 to only expose the headlight beam indicia 59 in the headlight simulating apertures 71 as shown in FIG. 3.

It can therefore be seen that by simply manually moving the 3 can be turned off and on as desiredIThe views shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are presented to aid in identifying the various portions of the toy and the functions pf each as it is. affected by the movement of the member 51 as shown by arrows 99. Thus in FIG. 5, the surface 61 is shown exposed in the aperture 71 while the beam indicia portions 59 are hidden under the body section 63. As noted previously, this is the of position of the control or slide member 51 and the surface 61 may be either painted black or other dark color, or may be of the same color as that of the outer surface of the body section 63. In either case, the extent of travel possible by the slide member is restricted by the position of the post 8] in the clongatcd slot 53.

Accordingly, it should be evident from the foregoing that there has been described an extremely simple and reliable yet novel and useful toy vehicle having simulated headlights with on and off control.

It is to be further pointed out that the materials used in fabricating the invention are not critical and any material generally known to be suitable for the-application desired may be utilized. For example, the various members making up the toy vehicle assembly may be metal or a synthetic or any combination of these.

This invention has been described in its presently preferred embodiment and it should be clear thatit is susceptible to numerous modifications and embodiments within the skill of the routine engineer and without the exercise of the inventive faculty. For example, the headlight beam indicia may be of a fluorescent material which, after being exposed to light, will glow in the dark.

Accordingly, it is intended that the foregoing disclosure and drawings shall be considered only as illustrations of the principles of this invention and are not to be construed in a limiting sense.

What I claim is: I

l. A toy vehicle having simulated headlights with on-off control, comprising:

a toy vehicle body including suspension and wheel assemblies, said body also including headlight simulating apertures;

simulated-headlight means movably mounted in said body, said means including headlight beam indicia registerable with said apertures for simulating the headlights being turned on by exposing said headlight beam indicia in said apertures only when said headlight means is moved to an appropriate position.

2. A toy vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said headlight means includes a slide member with spaced colored sections adjacent and registerable with said headlight simulating apertures, each of said sections having headlight beam indicia portions and adjacent differently colored portions.

3..A toy vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said slide member is manually operable.

4. A toy vehicle according to claim 3, wherein said toy vehicle body includes a cockpit opening and wherein said slide member includes a notched control portion accessible for manual operation through said cockpit opening.

5. A toy vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said adjacent portions have a color similar to that of said toy vehicle body adjacent said headlight simulating apertures.

6. A toy vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said adjacent portions have a dark color.

7. A toy vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said headlight beam indicia portions are colored white.

8. A toy vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said headlight beam indicia portions are colored yellow.

9. A toy vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said headlight beam indicia portions are fluorescent.

10. A toy vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said slide member also includes an elongated slot, and wherein said toy vehicle body includes a vertical post extending through said elongated slot to limit the extent of that of said slide member.

Claims

1. A toy vehicle having simulated headlights with on-off control, comprising: a toy vehicle body including suspension and wheel assemblies, said body also including headlight simulating apertures; simulated headlight means movably mounted in said body, said means including headlight beam indicia registerable with said apertures for simulating the headlights being turned on by exposing said headlight beam indicia in said apertures only when said headlight means is moved to an appropriate position.

3. A toy vehicle according to claim 2, wherein said slide member is manually operable.