US3803758A

US3803758A - Programmable free-flight toy aircraft

Info

Publication number: US3803758A
Application number: US00303733A
Authority: US
Inventors: R Chang; D Bosley; M Roessler
Original assignee: Mattel Inc
Current assignee: Mattel Inc
Priority date: 1972-11-06
Filing date: 1972-11-06
Publication date: 1974-04-16
Anticipated expiration: 1991-04-16
Also published as: GB1381452A; CA975175A; DE2304200A1; JPS4976644A

Abstract

A free-flying toy aircraft is disclosed which is powered by a rechargeable, battery-driven electric motor, the motor driving both the toy''s propeller and an escapement that rotates a desired one of several cams having different cam surfaces. The cam moves a follower connected to the toy''s flight control surfaces whereby a predetermined course of flight of the toy aircraft may be selected by the choice of a particular cam. The cam drive mechanism continually rotates during operation of the toy''s electric motor, and the cam may provide a predetermined time delay after launch before the toy''s control surfaces are moved in accordance with the programmed flight path.

Description

United States Patent 1191 Chang et al.

1451 Apr. 16, 1974 PROGRAMMABLE FREE-FLIGHT TOY AIRCRAFT Inventors: Richard S. Chang, Rolling Hills Estates; Denis V. Bosley, Palos Verdes Peninsula; Manfred Roessler, Manhattan Beach, all of Calif.

Assignee: Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif.

Filed: Nov. 6, 1972 Appl. No.: 303,733

[52] [1.8. CI. 46/243 AV, 46/78, 46/244 [51] Int. Cl A63h 33/26 [58] Field Of Search 46/74, 76, 78, 244D, 243 AV 56] References Cited I UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,122,346 6/1938 Horn 46/78 2,457,281 12/1948 Shannon 3,355,838 12/1967 Huffman 3,717,952 2/1973 Strongin 46/244 D 3,699,708 10/1972 Mabuchi 46/243 AV Attorney, Agent, or FirmFranklin D. Jankosky; Max

E. Shirk [57] ABSI'RACT A free-flying toy aircraft is disclosed which is powered by a rechargeable, battery-driven electric motor, the motor driving both the toys'propeller and an escapement that rotates a desired one of several cams having difi'erent cam surfaces. The cam moves a follower connected to the toys flight control surfaces whereby a predetermined course of flight of the toy aircraft may be selected by the choice of a particular cam. The cam drive mechanism continually rotates during operation of the toys electric motor, and the cam may provide a predetermined time delay after launch before the toys control surfaces are moved in accordance with the programmed flight path.

5 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEUAPR 16 1974 $803 758 SHEEI 3 0F 3 PROGRAMMABLE FREE-FLIGHT TOY AIRCRAFT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention pertains generally to the field of toy aircraft and the like, and more particularly to flyable toy aircraft in which the toys propeller is driven by a self-contained electric motor.

2. Description of the Prior Art Toy vehicles having self-contained electric motors for driving the wheels of the toy are well known. In most instances the batteries used for driving these motors were of the dry cell type which must be replaced, usually after relatively short periods of use. The electric motors used were generally large, heavy and inefficient, which readily led to battery exhaustion. The weight of these batteries and the motor precluded practical use of this type of motivation power to flying toy aircraft applications and, instead, small reciprocating engines have been utilized as the basic source of power for this type of craft.

The numerous disadvantages of such liquid fuel powered power plants are well known, and in order to overcome the problems listed above, there has recently been developed relatively smaller, lighter and more efflcient electric motors and rechargeable batteries to produce a powerful self-contained flying toy air-craft propulsion power package.

There has also been a keen interest over the years'to develop wheeled and flying toy vehicles having programmable paths of travel. Several designs have been constructed that provide programmed controls for selecting the toys course of travel. However, these systems generally only provide a single programmed course and a separate motor is used to operate the programming and control mechanisms.

Many of these-developments also have their other disadvantages, such as having only a limited number of control surface portions which are arbitrarily switched from one to another. This scheme may cause the toy to change attitude so quickly that the craft follows anerratic course which is not pleasant to observe. Further, these prior art programming techniques often commence maneuvers immediately upon launch and may cause the toy to crash into the ground or into a nearby object because of the near proximity of the toy at that point of time to such problem areas. It should therefore be evident that a powerful, lightweight and selfcontained, electric, motor-powered programmable free-flight type toy aircraft that does not require a separate power plant to operate the toys programming and control surface mechanism and which allows for the selection of any one of a plurality of pre-determined flight maneuvers which do not commence until the craft is at a safe altitude for such maneuvers, would constitute a significant advancement of the art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the foregoing factors and conditions, characteristic of the prior art, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a new and improved programmable free-flying toy aircraft.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a combined propulsion and programmable flight mechanism for a programmable free-flight toy aircraft.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a programmable free-flight toy aircraft utilizing a single, self-contained, rechargeable battery-powered electric motor and providing a choice of several predetermined flight maneuvers.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a simple, yet effective, programmable free-flight toy aircraft that includes means wherein a predetermined delay time must elapse before the programmed maneuvers commence.

It is also another object of the present invention to provide a programmable free-flight toy aircraft which includes a constantly operating flight programming mechanism that allows the toys flight control surfaces to be actuated in a smooth, abruptless manner, and which includes means for minimizing the likelihood that the aircraft will be flying a straight course when its power becomes exhausted.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a programmable free-flight toy aircraft is provided which includes a toy airframe including a fuselage and wing and stabilizer surfaces and at least one flight path control member associated with a stabilizer surface.

The toy has electric motor means mounted in the airframe and includes an electric motor and a rechargeable battery arrangement electrically connectable to the electric motor for providing rotational power. A propeller is rotatably mounted on the airframe, and the invention also includes programmable flight path con-' trol means operatively coupled to the flight path control member for moving the control member in accordance with a predetermined flight pattern. A drive mechanism is also disposed in the airframe and operatively couples the electric motor means to the propeller and to the programmable flight path control means for simultaneously transmitting the rotational power of the motor means to the propeller and the control means.

The features of the present invention which are be- I BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a free-flight type toy air craft, partially broken away, showing the internally mounted power plant and programmable flight control mechanism, constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective illustration of the propulsion and programmable flight control mechanism shown in FIG. 1; 7

FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views showing theworking relationship between the rudder actuating'cam follower and the pre-programmed rotating cam of the mechanism seen in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4A is a plan view of a modified cam which may be substituted. for the pre-programmed cam of FIGS. 3 and 4;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the control mechanism taken along line 55 of FIG. 1; and.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the gear train arrangement of FIG. 5, taken along line 66.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a programmable free-flighttype toy aircraft having an airframe 1 1 including a fuselage 13 with conventional wings 15 attached thereto, and conventional horizontal and vertical stabilizer surfaces 17 and 19, respectively. In this presently preferred embodiment, the vertical stabilizer is provided with a rudder 21 pivotally attached along the trailing edge thereof by an integral hinge 23, the rudder 21 having an actuating mechanism 25 at its lower extremity, which includes a hinge'plate 27 through which a generally U-shaped control pin 29 is captured (see FIG. 2).

A conventional plastic or wood propeller 31 is rotatably mounted at the forward nose section 33 of the fuselage 13, the latter being provided with a tail skid 35 and a landing gear, which is not shown for the sake of clarity. Disposed within the fuselage 13 in the general.

area of the wings leading edge root 37, is a bulkhead 39. The bulkhead, in this embodiment, may be a molded integral part of the fuselage with an outer edge conforming to the fuselages outer skin 41. A nose cone inner housing 43 is attached to the bulkhead 39 and extends forward toward the propellers hub,45 and a propeller bearing element 47 disposed between the propeller hub and the forward nose section 33. I

Mounted by suitable means to the surface 51 of the bulkhead 39 is a powerful miniature electric motor 53. The motors output shaft 55 extends forward through a hole in the bulkhead 39, and'at the end of which a relatively small diameter pinion gear 57 is fixedly attached. The pinion is meshed with the circumferential teeth 59 of a relatively larger diameter coupling gear 61 that is fixedlymounted on a coupling shaft 63 that extends through an appropriate hole in the bulkhead 39. The coupling gear 61 is maintained in spaced relation to the bulkhead by a spacer projection 65 which may be an integral part of the gear 61." Mounted on the forward side of the coupling gear 61 is a coupling member 67 which is preferably fabricated from a'resilient material such a rubber, forexample. In turn, the coupling member 67 is attached tothe rear end of a propeller shaft 69, the forwardend of which extends through an appropriate opening in the nose cone housing 43 and the bearing element 47, and'is fixedly disposed in an axial bore in the propellers hub 45.

Referring now to FIGS. 1, 2, 5 and 6, the rearwardly extending end 71 of the coupling shaft 63 is rotatively held in a journal bearing portion 73 of a gear box 75. The shaft 63 extends through the bearing portion 73, and a worm pinion 77 is fixedly mounted adjacent the shafts end' 71. The worm 77 meshes with a worm gear 79 fixedly mounted on a gear box shaft 81. The axis of the shaft 81 is approximately orthogonal to the shaft 63, and an end 83 of the shaft 81 is held in a first open cup bearing portion 85 of the rigid end 87 of the gear box 75. The opposite end 89 of the shaft 81 is disposed in a second open cup bearing portion 91 of the gear boxs flexible end 93. The shaft 81 carries a worm 95 mounted between the worm gear 79 and the second cup bearing portion 91'.

The worm 95 meshes with a worm gear 97 which is fixedly mounted on a transverse shaft 99. An upper end 101 of the shaft 99 is held in a third open cup bearing portion 103 of the gear b0x'75, and the shaft is rotatively held in position by a split bearing portion 105 of the gear box 75, the shaft 99 and the gear 97 being maintained in a position by the capturing of the gear 97 between the cup bearing 103 and the split bearing 105.

A lower end portion 107 of the shaft 99 extends through an appropriate hole 109(FIG. 1) in a lower frame member l11, at the end of which shaft a cam retainer member 113 is affixed. The member 113, like the other worms and gears, may be molded from a synthetic material such as nylon, for example, and includes an upper bearing portion 115 and a lower bearing stud portion 117. Also extending downwardly, but to one side of the portion 117, is a cam drive pin 119.

The cam retainer 113 is provided with a circular rim portion 121 to which barbed ends 123 of four symmetrically positioned upstanding resilient arm portions 125 of a cam member 127, may engage. The cam member 127 is further provided with a central upstanding tubular bearing portion 129 and a pair of upstanding tab portions 131 extending radially in opposite directions from the tubular portion 129. The latter portion registers over the depending stud portion117, and the tab portions 131 cooperate with the cam drive pin 119 to cause the cam member 127 to rotate with the rotation of the shaft 99 whenever the drive pin 1 19 engages the tab portions 131.

The cam member 127 is preferably molded in a conventional process from a synthetic material such'as an a lower cup portion 133 from the upper edge of which horizontally extends a desired number of cam projections 135 (A through D, for exampleleach helping to define a special cam surface 137.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2-5, a cam follower arm 141 of a control rod 143 rides on the cam surface 137. The control rod 143 in this embodiment was fabricated from No. 1 I MWG music wire and includes a forward bent end portion 145 passing through a framework hole 146, the end of which portion is anchored by means of a finger 147 extending through a hole 149 in an appropriate fuselage framework wall 151. The rod 143 extends to the fuselage tail portion 153 (FIG. 1) where it terminates in an upstanding narrow U-shaped end portion 155 which engages the rudder control pin 29. It will be noted from the detail of FIG. 2, that anupper end 157 of the pin 29 is bent back andis anchoredin the rudder material, while its other extremity 159 is captured in the control rods end portion 155.

As is illustrated in FIG. 1, the control rod 143 may be guided for at least a portion of its length by a hollow tube 161, seen extending beyond the fuselage tail section 153. Alternatively, this guide may comprise a bearing formed as an integral part of the fuselage. The rod 143 is thus supported adjacent its

end portions

145 and 155 in such a manner that the cam fol-lower arm 141 may swing in an are indicated by arrows 163 and 165 in FIG. 2. However, the bent end portion 145 of the rod 143 is designed to bias the follower portion 141 in the direction indicated by the arrow 163, toward the cam surface 137. Thus, it can be seen that as the cam surface 137 changes in its contour, the cam follower arm 141 will follow these changes and cause the control rod 143 to rotate accordingly. I v

Rotation of the control rod-143 causes its end portion 155 to swing in an are indicated by arrows 167. This in turn causes the rudder 21 to pivot with respect to the acetal homopolymer, for example, and further includes vertical stabilizer 19, as shown by arrows 169. This pivoting is either to the left or to the right depending upon the extent and direction of the excursion of the cam follower portion 141 as it rides on the cam surface 137.

In operation, one of any number of cam members 127, each having a different cam surface contour, is snapped into place on the cam retainer 113. The cam 127 is then manually rotated in the direction of an arrow 171, as shown in FIG. 3, until a dot alignment mark 173 is alongside an appropriate mark (not shown) on the bottom of the fuselage. This procedure assures that the craft's direction control mechanism is always in a desired initial setting.

The rotation of the cam member 127 may cause one of the tab portions 131 to contact the drive pin 119. This will, in turn, cause the shaft 99 and its worm gear 97 to rotate in a direction 100, as illustrated in FIG. 6.

In order to avoid undue wear and possible damage to the gearing arrangement housed in the gear box 75, the shaft supporting cup bearing 91 is mounted in the flexible end 83 of the gear box. The flexibility of this end is assured by adeep notch 175 (see FIG. 5) in the adjoining upper wall 177. This feature allows the worm 95 to move in the direction indicated by arrow 179 (FIG. 6) whenever the worm gear 97 is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow 100 by manually rotating cam 127, and is easily slipped over the teeth ofthe worm gear 97 without damage to either part. The dashed outline in FIG. 6, clearly illustrates the movement of the various elements described immediately above. It will be noted however, that the end 87 of the gear box 75, opposite the flexible end 93, is rigid and, axial movement of the shaft 81 in a direction opposite that shown by the arrow 179, as will be caused by the gear 79 being driven by the motor 53, will not allow the teeth of these meshed parts 96 and 97 to slip by each other.

Once the cam 127 is properly orientated for initial operation, the electric motor 53 is activated. FIG. 1 shows that the motor 53 includes a first electric current input terminal 181 and a second terminal 183. The first terminal 181 is electrically connected through a conductor 185 to a positive terminal 187 of a rechargeable battery arrangement 189 comprising, in this embodiment, a pair of series connected, rechargeable

nickelcadmium batteries

191 and 193.

The second motor terminal 183 is in turn connected through a resilient conductor 195 having a bent end portion 197. The conductors end portion 197 is biased in a downward direction and is forced upward into contact with the negative terminal 199 of the battery arrangement 189 by a sliding movement of an on-off switch element 201. The battery arrangement may be recharged from a conventional charging current source (not shown) by the insertion of a conventionally constructed charging plug (not shown) in a hole 203 in the lower fuselage framework, so that the plugs tip contacts a positive contact arm 205, and its sleeve contacts an appropriately apertured plate 207 contacted by the bent portion 197 of the conductor 195 when the switch element 201 is in its off position.

When actuated, the motor will simultaneously drive 6 the propeller 31 (through the propeller shaft 69 and the coupling gear arrangements 67 and 59) and the cam member 127 (through the coupling shaft 63, the gearing arrangement in the gear box 75, and the shaft and cam retainer 99 and 113).

In order to delay any maneuvering movements of the flight path determined by actuating mechanism 25 until the craft is clear of the ground or other obstructions, as noted previously, a predetermined time delay is built into the system. This is accomplished by manually rotating the cam member 127, as noted above. This action causes one of the tab portions 131 to move from a position as indicated, for example in FIG. 3, to one that has pushed the drive pin 119 to the position shown in FIG. 4. In this position of cam 127, the cam follower arm 141 is riding in a neutral notch 208 on cam 127 so that rudder 21 assumes the straight-ahead" position shown in FIG. 4. Once actuated, the motor will cause the pin 119 to move along a curved path shown by a dashed arrow 209, before coming into contact with the other tab portion 131. At this time, after an approximate delay in the present case of about 12 seconds, the cam member 127 will be driven by the drive pin 119 in the direction 171, and cam follower arm 141 will move out of neutral notch 208 and onto the program built into cam 127 so that the control rod will respond accordingly to move the crafts actuating mechanism 25.

Referring now to FIG. 4A, a modified cam 127A may be substituted for the cam 127 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The cam 127A may be identical .to the cam 127 except that a different program is provided thereby by replacing the camprojections A-D with a cam surface 137A which not only includes the neutral notch 208, but also includes

notches

210, 212, 214, 216 and 218. These additional notches are a desirable feature on cam 127 because the program defined thereby is a figure-8 pattern which includes two straight courses of flight. If the toy airplane loses power on one of these straight courses, it could glide a long distance from its launching point. However,

notches

210, 212, 214 and 218 cause the airplane to rapidly execute slight righthand and left-hand turns during these straight courses of flight. This assures that the airplane will quite likely be set for a turn when its power supply becomes exhausted during one of the straight-course portions of its programmed flight.

From the foregoing, it should be'evident that a very advantageous and novel structure has been described which constitutes a significant advancement of the art. It should also be understood that the materials used in fabricating the invention as herein described are not critical and any material generally considered suitable for a particular function may be used. Furthermore, any conventional process, such as vacuum and injection molding, may be utilized to form the various structures illustrated.

Although a limited number of embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it should be realized that modifications and other embodiments incorporating the inventive features of the invention may be constructed. Accordingly, it is intended that the foregoing disclosure and drawings shall be considered only as illustrations of the principles of this invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A programmable toy vehicle, comprising:

a toy vehicle frame including a stabilizer surface, and

at least one travel-path control member associated with said stabilizer surface;

tainer.

motor means mounted in said frame and including an output shaft for providing rotational power;

programmable travel-path control means mounted in said frame and operatively coupled to said control member for moving said control member in accordance with a predetermined travel pattern, wherein said programmable travel-path control means also includes a control rod with a cam follower portion riding on the cam surface of said cam member, said control rod being engaged with said travel-path control member whereby said travel-path control member moves in accordance with the rotational position of said cam member relative to said cam follower portion; and i drive means disposed in said frame and operatively coupling said motor means to said programmable travel-path control means for transmitting said rotational power to said control means.

2. A programmable toy vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said driven structure of said cam member extends rectilinearly in the path of said drive pin whereby said drive pin may not contact said driven structure for up to approximately 180 of rotation of said cam re- 3. A programmable free-flight toy aircraft, comprising: v p

a toy airframe including a stabilizer surface, and at least one flight path control member associated with a stabilizer surface; motor means mounted in said airframe and including an output shaftfor providing rotational power; a propeller rotatably mounted on said airframe;

programmable flight path control means mounted in said airframe and opcratively coupled to said flight path control member for moving said control member in accordance with a predetermined flight pattern, wherein said programmable flight path control means also includes a control rod with acam follower portion riding on the cam surface of said cam member, said control rod being engaged with said flight path control member whereby said flight path control member moves in accordance with the rotational position of said cam member relative to said cam follower portion; and

drive means disposed in said airframe and operatively coupling said motor means to said propeller and to said programmable flight path control means for simultaneously transmitting said rotational power to said propeller and said control means.

4. A programmable free-flight toy vehicle according to claim 3, wherein said driven structure of said cam member extends rectilinearly in the path of said drive pin whereby said drive pin may not contact said driven structure for up to approximately of rotation of said cam retainer.

5. The programmable free-flight, toy according to claim 3, wherein said drive means includes a gear'train arrangement transmitting rotational power from said motor means output shaft to said cam retainer,'said arrangement including slip means for allowing manual rotation of said cam member and said cam retainer in a predetermined direction of cam rotation to a desired initial programmed setting.

Claims

1. A programmable toy vehicle, comprising: a toy vehicle frame including a stabilizer surface, and at least one travel-path control member associated with said stabilizer surface; motor means mounted in said frame and including an output shaft for providing rotational power; programmable travel-path control means mounted in said frame and operatively coupled to said control member for moving said control member in accordance with a predetermined travel pattern, wherein said programmable travel-path control means also includes a control rod with a cam follower portion riding on the cam surface of said cam member, said control rod being engaged with said travel-path control member whereby said travel-path control member moves in accordance with the rotational position of said cam member relative to said cam follower portion; and drive means disposed in said frame and operatively coupling said motor means to said programmable travel-path control means for transmitting said rotational power to said control means.

2. A programmable toy vehicle according to claim 1, wherein said driven structure of said cam member extends rectilinearly in the path of said drive pin whereby said drive pin may not contact said driven structure for up to approximately 180* of rotation of said cam retainer.

3. A programmable free-flight toy aircraft, comprising: a toy airframe including a stabilizer surface, and at least one flight path control member associated with a stabilizer surface; motor means mounted in said airframe and including an output shaft for providing rotational power; a propeller rotatably mounted on said airframe; programmable flight path control means mounted in said airframe and operatively coupled to said flight path control member for moving said control member in accordance with a predetermined flight pattern, wherein said programmable flight path control means also includes a control rod with a cam follower portion riding on the cam surface of said cam member, said control rod being engaged with said flight path control member whereby said flight path control member moves in accordance with the rotational position of said cam member relative to said cam follower portion; and drive means disposed in said airframe and operatively coupling said motor means to said propeller and to said programmable flight path control means for simultaneously transmitting said rotational power to said propeller and said control means.

4. A programmable free-flight toy vehicle according to claim 3, wherein said driven structure of said cam member extends rectilinearly in the path Of said drive pin whereby said drive pin may not contact said driven structure for up to approximately 180* of rotation of said cam retainer.

5. The programmable free-flight toy according to claim 3, wherein said drive means includes a gear train arrangement transmitting rotational power from said motor means output shaft to said cam retainer, said arrangement including slip means for allowing manual rotation of said cam member and said cam retainer in a predetermined direction of cam rotation to a desired initial programmed setting.