US3740032A

US3740032A - Helicopter toy

Info

Publication number: US3740032A
Application number: US00208572A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Chang
Original assignee: Mattel Inc
Current assignee: Mattel Inc
Priority date: 1971-12-16
Filing date: 1971-12-16
Publication date: 1973-06-19
Anticipated expiration: 1990-06-19
Also published as: FR2165372A5; DE2231137A1; DE2231137C3; GB1343249A; CA972155A; JPS52129391U; JPS4868342A; DE2231137B2; IT964636B

Abstract

A toy helicopter system that can be produced at low cost, and which enables remote control of the flight of a toy helicopter by tilting it. The system includes a housing designed to rest on the ground, and a modified parallelogram boom connecting the housing to the helicopter to control it and to guide a flexible shaft that drives the helicopter rotor from a motor in the housing. A child can make the helicopter fly forward or backward by operating an actuator that twists the boom to alter the pitch orientation of the helicopter so its rotor pulls it forward or backward. One of the arms of the boom is hollow and serves as a guide for a flexible shaft that extends from the housing to the helicopter rotor to drive it. The hollow arm is shorter than the other arm, and opposite ends of the hollow arm are connected by pivotally mounted links to the housing and helicopter, respectively, and the hollow arm is connected by slide connectors to the other arm.

Description

United States Patent 1 1 Chang HELICOPTER TOY [4 June 19, 1973 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Arnold W. Kramer [75] Inventor: Richard S. Chang, Rolling Hills Attorney seymour A seholnick Estates, Calif.

[73] Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif. 57 ABSTRACT [22] Filed: Dec. 16, 1971 A toy helicopter system that can be produced at low 7 cost, and which enables remote control of the flight of [21] Appl. No.: 208,572 a toy helicopter by tilting it. The system includes a housing designed to rest on the ground, and a modified parallelogram boom connecting the housing to the heli- [52] U.S. Cl. 272/31 B opter to control it and to guide a flexible shaft that [51] Int. Cl. A6311 27/12 drives the helicopter rotor from a :motor in the housing. [58] Field Of Search 2 31 30, A child can make the helicopter fly forward or backi 55 ward by operating an actuator that twists the boom to alter the pitch orientation of the helicopter so its rotor [56] References Cited pulls it forward or backward. One of the arms of the UNITED STATES PATENTS boom is hollow and serves as a guide for a flexible shaft 3,022,069 2/1962 Pettit 272 31 A that extends fmm the musing the heliccpter rotor 3 3 3 110 1963 Brown n 272 31 B X drive it. The hollow arm is shorter than the other arm, 2,067,828 1/1937 Christiansen 272/31 A and oppo te e ds of the hollow arm are connected by 2,300,649 11/1942 Christiansen 272/31 A pivotally mounted links to the housing and helicopter, 2,216,899 /1940 Berger 272/31 A respectively, and the hollow arm is connected by slide connectors to the other arm.

7 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures L l 7} 46 J6 III I! M 22; r" 60 r 42 ,4 3 J3 /I I x r J0 J6 gaf saa ij "2 a I "r 42 6 4 J? 10 71 a: a

I 1 i ,f' 1,

HELICOPTER TOY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to toys and more particularly to remotely operated vehicle toys.

One type of flying toy helicopter flies at the outer end of a boom, the boom having an inner end mounted on a housing that is supported on the ground or a tabletop. Inasmuch as as toy helicopters generally do not have a tail rotor or other means for aerodynamically stabilizing them against tipping, a relatively rigid boom is generally utilized to keep the helicopter upright. The helicopter can be made tofly in a circle by operating a motor or hand crank that slowly rotates the boom about the housing. However, this creates a somewhat artificial effect, inasmuch as real helicopters generally change their direction of flight by tilting the entire helicopter so that the rotor tends to pull the craft in a desired direction as well as lifting it. If the direction of movement of a toy helicopter could be controlled by such tilting while assuring stable operation, the realism and entertainment value of the toy could be appreciably enhanced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a toy apparatus is provided with can be mass produced at relatively low cost and which enables remote control of a flying toy helicopter in a realistic manner. The apparatus includes a helicopter with a rotor, a remote houming that can be supported on the ground or a tabletop, and a boom connecting the housing to the helicopter. A motor mounted in the housing is connected by a flexible shaft extending along the boom to the helicopter rotor to rotate it, so that the spinning rotor supports much of the weight of the helicopter. A bracket is rotatably mounted on the hosuing, and an inner end of the boom is mounted on the bracket so that the helicopter can fly in circles about the housing. A child can control the flight of the helicopter to make it move forward or backward around the circle or hover, by operating an actuator that twists the boom to thereby tilt the helicopter so its spinning rotor urges it forward or backward. The boom is a largely parallelogram type so that it maintains the helicopter upright against banking to the left or right while enabling the helicopter to rise or fall to different levels above the ground.

In order to simplify the apparatus, one of the arms of the boom is hollow, and the flexible shaft that connects the motor in the housing to the helicopter rotor extends through the hollow arm. The sharpness of bending of the flexible shaft, at any position of boom as it pivots up and down, is minimized by making the hollow arm of the boom shorter than its other arm, and utilizing a pair of links to connect opposite ends of the hollow arm to the bracket and helicopter.

The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention will be best understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawmgs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy aircraft system constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 2; and FIG. 4 is a partial perspective view of the joystick control mechanism of the system.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS I FIG. 1 illustrates a toy helicopter system which includes a helicopter 10, a pylon control box 12 which the helicopter can fly around, and a remote control box pylon housing 12. A boom 18 extending from the pylon housing 12 to the helicopter serves to maintain the helicopter substantially upright, while also serving to produce a controllable forward or rearward tilt to the helicopter to make it move forward or backward. The boom 18 alse serves to transmit power from a motor in the pylon housing 12 to the rotor 16 to drive it. The remote control box 14 has a joystick 20 that can be pivoted by a child to control the speed of the motor that drives the helicopterrotor to thereby cause the helicopter to rise or fall, and which also controls movement of the boom 18 that causes the helicopter to fly forward or backward. A coupling 22 connects the box 14 to the pylon 12, so that a child can control the helicopter from a position outside its circle of flight.

Referring also to FIGS. 2-4, the pylon 12 includes a housing 24, a motor 26 mounted within the housing and a bracket 28 pivotally mounted on the housing. The bracket 28 has a tubular lower portion 30 which extends through a bearing hole 32 in the housing, so that the bracket rotates about an. axis that is vertical when the housing 24 is upright. The boom 18 has two

arms

34, 36 that extend parallel to one another. The first arm 34 has an inner end pivotally mounJed at 38 on the bracket 28, and an outer end pivotally mounted at 40 on the helicopter on a fore-and-aft axis. The second arm 36 is tubular and is shorter than the first arm so that it does not extend completely between the bracket and helicopter. A pair of guides or

arm connectors

42 and 44 hold the two

arms

34, 36 parallel to one another, each arm connector being fixed to the second arm 36 and slideably engaged with the first arm 34. A single tube can be employed instead of using two separate arm connectors. The

arm connectors

42, 44 also serve to connect the second arm 36 to the bracket and helicopter, by means of a pair of

links

46, 48. Each

link

46, 48 has one end pivotally connected to one of the

arm connectors

42, 44 and an opposite end pivotally connected to the bracket 28 or the helicopter 10. This arrangement of arms, arm connectors, and links, serves largely as a parallelogram coupling that serves to maintain the helicopter 10 substantially upright, particularly against banking to the left or right, so that the helicopter always appears substantially upright, regardless of elevation changes.

The motor 26in the pylon housing is connected to the rotor 16 by a flexible shaft 50. The flexible shaft 50 has an inner end connected by a connector bushing 52 to the motorshaft 54, and has an outer end connected to therotor by means of a nose 56 of the rotor. The shaft 50 extends through the tubular arm 36 of the boom, and also extends through

flexible sheaths

58, 60 respectively positioned at the bracket 28 and helicopter 10. The flexible shaft 50 also extends through the tubular portion 30 of the bracket. The motor 26 is positioned so that the axis of its shaft 54 is coincident with the axis of the bracket portion 30.

The construction of the system with the shaft 50 extending through the axis of rotation of the bracket 28, enables unrestricted flying of the helicopter in circles about the pylon 12. The use of a short, hollow arm 36 in the boom enables the flexible shaft 50 to rotate without obstruction or sharp bending even when the boom is pivoted to a large angle as indicated at 18A or to a small angle as indicated at 188. In addition, the tubular arm 36 of the boom is made to serve two purposes, as the arm of a modified parallelogram boom and as a sheath for the flexible shaft, thereby minimizing the cost of the toy. The unique arrangement of links and guides allows the use of the short arm that provides a large region for bending of the flexible shaft, while also making the boom arrangement function much like a parallelogram linkage to keep the helicopter substantially upright at all positions.

The mounting of the motor 26 remote from the helicopter reduces the weight of the helicopter and therefore the required rotor speed. To further decrease the required speed of the rotor, a spring wire 59 is employed that has an inner end captured at two

points

60, 62 on the bracket and an opposite end held at 64 on the arm connector 42. The spring 59 provides a lifting force to the boom that counteracts much of the weight of the helicopter. Accordingly, the helicopter rises off the ground for even a low rotor speed. The spring 59 provides a decreasing lifting force as the boom is lifted so that the helicopter does not continuously climb at a constant rotor speed, but tends to maintain a particular elevation which is increased or decreased as motor speed is increased or decreased.

The boom 18 is mounted so that it can be twisted about an axis extending long its length, to tilt the helicopter in pitch, that is to tilt it so that the rotor axis extends with a forward or rearward directional component instead of precisely vertically. The purpose of the tilting is to allow the rotor to pull the helicopter forward or rearwardly, so that the helicopter can be made 'to fly in a desired direction around the plyon 12, or can be made to hover. Twisting or turning of the boom about its length, is accomplished by an actuator 66. The actuator includes a bell crank 68 pivotally mounted at 70 on the pylon housing 24. It also includes a bushing 72 that can be made to slide up and down along the tubular portion 30 of the bracket 28, and a rod 74 (FIG. 3) that couples the bushing 72 to an end of the first arm 34 of the boom.

The inner end portion of the arm 34 of-the boom is bent at a right angle, so that an arm portion 76 extends substantially perpendicular to the rest of the arm. The bracket 28 has a bearing aperture 78 at the pivotal mounting point 38, that receives the arm at its bent portion. The aperture 78 is formed to pivotally mount the arm so that it can pivot about the horizontal axis 80 for raising and lowering the boom and about a perpendicular axis 82 extending along the length of the arm. The rod 74 is pivotally connected to the arm portion 76, so that when the rod pulls or pushes on the portion 76, it causes the arm to twist about the axis 82, and yet the arm can freely pivot about the axis 80 as the helicopter rises and falls. A spring 84 is provided whose end portions 86 are fixed to the bracket 28 and whose center portion engages the arm portion 76 to urge the arm 34 toward the position wherein the helicopter is oriented with its rotor axis, vertical, while allowing resilient twisting of the boom to urge the helicopter to fly forward or rearwardly.

Operation of the actuator 66 is controlled by a link 88 (FIG. 2) which can pull or push on an end of the bell crank 68 to pivot it. The bell crank engages pins 90 on the bushings 72 to raise and lower it so as to move the rod 74 up and down to pivot the boom arm 76 and thereby twist the boom arm 34. Movement of the link 88 is controlled by the joystick 20 in the remote control box 14, as will be described below. The speed of the motor 26 can be controlled by another link 91 that extends along the coupling 22 and is operated by the joystick 20, as also will be described below. The link 91 moves a wiper arm 92 of a potentiometer that is connected in series with a battery 94 in the plyon and with the motor 26, to vary the electrical power supplied to the motor and therefore its speed.

The joystick 20 moves the two

links

88 and 91 that respectively control direction of helicopter movement and speed of its rotor. As best shown in FIG. 4, the joystick is pivotally mounted about an axis 96 on a joystick bracket 98, the joystick bracket 98 being pivotally mounted about an axis 100 on a housing 102 of the control box. A lower end portion 104 of the joystick has a slot 106 which engages an end portion 108 of the speed control link 91. When the joystick 20 is pivoted about the axis 96 the end portion 104 thereof pulls or pushes the link 91 to move the wiper arm of the rheostat in the pylon and change the motor speed. The end portion 108 of the speed control link extends perpendicular to about the other axis of pivoting 100 of the joystick, so that any pivoting of the joystick about the axis 100 does not affect the position of the link 91 and therefore does not change the motor speed. The joystick bracket 98 has an arm 110 fixed thereto and extending substantially radially therefrom with respect to the axis of pivoting 100 of the joystick bracket. The arm 110 is received in a slot 112 of a lever 114. The lever 114 is fixed to a shaft 116 that is pivotally mounted on the control box housing. Another lever 1 18 is fixed to the shaft 116 and has an end fixed to the direction control link 88 that controls tilting of the helicopter for forward and rearward movement. When the joystick 20 is pivoted about the axis 100, the bracket 98 pivots, causing the

levers

114 and 118 to pivot and causing the link 88 to be pulled or pushed. Pivoting of the joystick 20 about the axis 96 does not cause pivoting of the bracket 98, and therefore should have no effect on the direction of helicopter movement. It may be noted, however, that when more power is supplied to the motor, more torque is also supplied through the flexible shaft to the helicopter, and this can cause twisting of the boom. The joystick construction can be modified so that movements that adjust motor power also cause corrective twisting of the boom.

Thus, the invention provides a toy aircraft system particularly useful in the case of a helicopter, which provides a relatively constant orientation of the helicopter while enabling controlled tilting in pitch so as to make the helicopter move forward or backward. This is accomplished by the use of a parallelogram type boom and an actuator for controlled twisting of the boom. The rotor of the helicopter is driven by a motor located in a housing that rests on the ground, and is coupled thereto by a flexible shaft. The boom is constructed to allow the flexible shaft to bend in a wide area as the boom moves up and down so as to avoid a sharp bend in the shaft, by utilizing a modified parallelogram boom arrangement. In this arrangement, one of the arms of the parallelogram is shortened and is hollow so that it forms a sheath for the flexible shaft. Separate links are employed for substantially pivotally connecting opposite ends of the shortened arm to a bracket on the pylon housing and to the helicopter.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated herein, it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art, and consequently, it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy helicopter system comprising:

a helicopter having a rotor;

a housing which can be supported upright indeperu dently of said helicopter;

a bracket mounted on said housing for rotation about a substantially vertical first axis when said housing is upright;

an elongated boom having upper and lower elongated arms extending substantially parallel to each other and being relatively movable in the direction of their length;

coupling means pivotally coupling opposite ends of said arms to said bracket and helicopter at vertically spaced points on each, to limit banking of the helicopter;

motor means coupled to said helicopter rotor to drive it; one of said arms being pivoted to said helicopter on a fore-and-aft axis only; and

operable means on said housing for twisting said one arm about an axis extending along its length, whereby to tilt said helicopter in pitch so its rotor has a selected forward or rearward inclination to fly said helicopter in a chosen direction about said housing.

2. The toy helicopter system described in claim 1 wherein:

said coupling means includes a pair of arm connectors mounted at opposite end portions of said boom, each arm connector slideably engaged with one of said arms and fixed to the other arm, means pivotally connecting opposite ends of said one arm respectively to said bracket and helicopter, and a pair of link means, each link means having one end pivotally connected to a different one of said connectors and an opposite end respectively pivotally connected to said bracket and helicopter.

3. The toy helicopter described in claim 2 wherein:

said other arm of said boom is hollow; and

said motor means includes a motor mounted on said housing and a flexible shaft extending through said hollow arm and having opposite ends coupled to said motor and rotor.

4. The toy helicopter system described in claim 3 wherein:

said bracket has means defining a bearing engaged with a first end of said one arm for enabling twisting of said end about a first axis extending along the length of the arm as well as pivoting about an axis which is substantially horizontal and angled from said first axis; and i said means for twisting said arm. includes an acitvator mounted for up and down movement and connected to a location on said first arm laterally spaced from the location thereon which is pivotally mounted on said bracket, for twisting said first arm about its length.

5. The toy helicopter system described in claim 1 wherein:

said operable means includes a bushing mounted on said bracket coaxial with said first axis to enable up and down sliding of said bushing on said bracket, linking means coupling said bushing to said one arm to twist it in accordance with the sliding movement of said bushing, and a manually controlled member mounted on said housing and coupled to said bushing to slide it up and down.

6. A toy aircraft system comprising:

an aircraft with a rotably mounted airscrew member for driving it through the air;

a housing for support independently of said aircraft;

an elongated first arm having first and second end portions, saidfirst end portion pivotally coupled to said aircraft;

means pivotally coupling said second end portion of said first arm to said housing;

a second elongated arm extending parallel to said first arm, said second arm being tubular;

arm connector means fixed to one of said arms and slideably engaged with the other arm;

first and second links, each having a first end coupled to said arm connector means;

means coupling a second end of said first link to said housing;

means coupling a second end of said second link to said aircraft;

a motor mounted on said housing; and

elongated flexible shaft means extending through said tubular second arm and having opposite ends respectively connected to said. motor and airscrew member.

7. The toy aircraft system descibed in claim 6 wherein:

said means pivotally coupling said second end portion of said first arm to said housing includes a bracket mounted on said housing for rotation thereon about a substantially vertical axis when said housing is supported on :a level surface, said bracket having a bearing that supports said end portion of said first arm for pivoting about a horizontal axis and twisting about an axis parallel to its length;

said means coupling said second end of said first link to said housing includes means on said bracket pivotally supporting said second end of said first link; and including an actuator having manually operable means coupled to said second end portion of said first arm for twisting it, whereby to control tilt of said aircraft in pitch.

Claims

1. A toy helicopter system comprising: a helicopter having a rotor; a housing which can be supported upright independently of said helicopter; a bracket mounted on said housing for rotation about a substantially vertical first axis when said housing is upright; an elongated boom having upper and lower elongated arms extending substantially parallel to each other and being relatively movable in the direction of their length; coupling means pivotally coupling opposite ends of said arms to said bracket and helicopter at vertically spaced points on each, to limit banking of the helicopter; motor means coupled to said helicopter rotor to drive it; one of said arms being pivoted to said helicopter on a fore-andaft axis only; and operable means on said housing for twisting said one arm about an axis extending along its length, whereby to tilt said helicopter in pitch so its rotor has a selected forward or rearward inclination to fly said helicopter in a chosen direction about said housing.

2. The toy helicopter system described in claim 1 wherein: said coupling means includes a pair of arm connectors mounted at opposite end portions of said boom, each arm connector slideably engaged with one of said arms and fixed to the other arm, means pivotally connecting opposite ends of said one arm respectively to said bracket and helicopter, and a pair of link means, each link means having one end pivotally connected to a different one of said connectors and an opposite end respectively pivotally connected to said bracket and helicopter.

3. The toy helicopter described in claim 2 wherein: said other arm of said boom is hollow; and said motor means includes a motor mounted on said housing and a flexible shaft extending through said hollow arm and having opposite ends coupled to said motor and rotor.

4. The toy helicopter system described in claim 3 wherein: said bracket has means defining a bearing engaged with a first end of said one arm for enabling twisting of said end about a first axis extending along the length of the arm as well as pivoting about an axis which is substantially horizontal and angled from said first axis; and said means for twisting said arm includes an acitvator mounted for up and down movement and connected to a location on said first arm laterally spaced from the location thereon which is pivotally mounted on said bracket, for twisting said first arm about its length.

5. The toy helicopter system described in claim 1 wherein: said operable means includes a bushing mounted on said bracket coaxial with said first axis to enable up and down sliding of said bushing on said bracket, linking means coupling said bushing to said one arm to twist it in accordance with the sliding movement of said bushing, and a manually controlled member mounted on said housing and coupled to said bushing to slide it up and down.

6. A toy aircraft system comprising: an aircraft with a rotably mounted airscrew member for driving it through the air; a housing for support independently of said aircraft; an elongated first arm having first and second end portions, said first end portion pivotally coupled to said aircraft; means pivotally coupling said second end portion of said first arm to said housing; a second elongated arm extending parallel to said first arm, said second arm being tubular; arm connector means fixed to one of said arms and slideably engaged with the other arm; first and second links, each having a first end coupled to said arm connector means; means coupling a second end of said first link to said housing; means coupling a second end of said second link to said aircraft; a motor mounted on said housing; and elongated flexible shaft mEans extending through said tubular second arm and having opposite ends respectively connected to said motor and airscrew member.

7. The toy aircraft system descibed in claim 6 wherein: said means pivotally coupling said second end portion of said first arm to said housing includes a bracket mounted on said housing for rotation thereon about a substantially vertical axis when said housing is supported on a level surface, said bracket having a bearing that supports said end portion of said first arm for pivoting about a horizontal axis and twisting about an axis parallel to its length; said means coupling said second end of said first link to said housing includes means on said bracket pivotally supporting said second end of said first link; and including an actuator having manually operable means coupled to said second end portion of said first arm for twisting it, whereby to control tilt of said aircraft in pitch.