WO1987000069A1

WO1987000069A1 - Track for mobile toys

Info

Publication number: WO1987000069A1
Application number: PCT/DE1985/000334
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kurt Hesse
Original assignee: Carrera Century Toys Gmbh
Priority date: 1985-07-05
Filing date: 1985-09-25
Publication date: 1987-01-15
Also published as: JPS63500283A; NO870906D0; KR870700379A; FI870933A; DK106787D0; KR940002454B1; DE3524104A1; DE3524104C2; BR8507252A; ATE48237T1; FI870933A0; DK106787A; EP0207187A1; AU4956285A; EP0207187B1; NO870906L

Abstract

A track for mobile toys composed of track elements which can be fitted together, with a middle section which can be travelled over and with guide-pieces arranged perpendicularly to the latter on both sides, in which the track elements are held together by notched elements which can pivot slightly with a clearance and can be separated by displacement, in which the mobile toys are made independent of mobile sources of current by the fact that the middle sections (6) of the track elements (2) are provided with recesses (9) parallel to the axis of travel at a distance from one another, with wire spirals (10) which can be inserted and fixed through push-in slots (11) into the recesses (9), and the turns (10'') of the wire spirals (10) project, with ring sections, outwards from the edge surfaces of the push-in slots (11) to form current rails.

Description

Roadway for driving toys

The invention relates to a roadway for driving toys made of pluggable track section elements, with a drivable middle section and axially arranged on both sides of this guide bodies, in which the track section elements are held against one another by detent members with play so that they can be pivoted and slidably separated.

It is known to operate driving toys that can be driven by an electric motor on lanes formed by plugging together track section elements. Accumulators or batteries housed in the vehicle toy body serve as current sources for the drive element of these vehicle toys. Apart from the fact that these mobile power sources lead to an undesirable increase in the total weight of the toys, the capacity of

Accumulators or batteries are variable or limited, as a result of which malfunctions during game play or premature termination of operations become unavoidable.

It is an object of the invention to make motor-driven vehicles independent of mobile power sources on tracks formed from track element elements. According to the invention, this object is achieved in that the central sections of the track elements have recesses next to one another axially parallel in the direction of travel, that wire spirals can be inserted and fixed in the recesses via insertion slots, and that the turns of the wire spirals with ring sections Extend the outer surfaces of the insertion slots as busbars. The recesses receiving the wire spirals are expediently provided with an insertion slot, the clear width of which is slightly smaller than the diameter of the turns of the wire spirals. The recesses can preferably be cylindrical with a partial depth of the diameter of the wire spirals. The wire spirals result in flexible busbars on all sides, which follow the movements of the track section elements without hindrance and can be permanently tapped off by current collectors of the toy vehicle. The ability of the wire spirals to be introduced into prepared recesses advantageously allows the roadway to be initially erected by plugging together track element elements and subsequently to form busbars by a simple pressing-in process of the wire spirals. This makes it possible to drive? either to drive on the train in the usual way with driving toys receiving mobile power sources or to use driving toys which take the required electrical energy from the outside via the wire spirals acting as bus bars. In addition, the wire spirals allow mechanical and electrical connections to be made at their ends simply by pushing wire turns into one another. As a material for the wire spirals, an iron material or a material with larger electrical shear conductivity, for example copper. Finally, the arrangement of insertion slots with a width smaller than the diameter of the wire spirals results in a particularly simple automatic fixation of the wire spirals in the recesses due to the overlapping of the edge surfaces of the insertion slots. When the wire spirals are introduced into the recesses, a deformation of the wire spirals is first brought about under the influence of the insertion force, which is automatically canceled when the wire spirals enter the recesses due to the pretensions acting on the wire spirals.

In an embodiment of the roadway, a clamping member with connection eyelets that can be attached to the wire spirals is proposed for connecting electrical conductors to the wire spirals. The clamping member can be designed in the form of a clamp and can be plugged onto the wire spirals at any point. There is also the possibility of firmly arranging the clamping member in a recess in a piece of sheet element and providing it with an opening corresponding to the insertion slot of the recess. This ensures that when wire spirals are plugged in, they can be securely inserted into the recesses. It has proven to be expedient to arrange two wire spirals spaced next to one another in the track piece element, one of which is connected to the one pole of a current source with the interposition of a voltage-variable control device, for example a variable resistor, while the other wire spiral is directly connected to the other pole. the power source is connected. Accumulators, batteries or mains supply devices can be used as current sources. The invention further provides for a plurality of carriageways formed from track elements with wire spirals inserted into recesses of the same as busbars to be arranged next to one another and to be fixed to one another by means of connecting elements pushed in from below in the guide bodies of the track element. In this way, multi-lane roadways can be reproduced, in which the power supply to the driving toys takes place via the wire spirals serving as busbars.

How the invention can be carried out is illustrated by means of exemplary embodiments in the drawing. Here means:

1 is a perspective view of a roadway,

2 a perspective view of a track element,

Fig. 3 a track section element with a driving toy in front view, FIG. 4 4 a section along the line IV-IV of the

Fig. 2,

Fig. 5 shows a section of a wire spiral with a clamping member in a side view,

6 schematically shows a track element with electrical connections,

7 is a wire spiral enlarged in section,

Fig. 8 several sections of wire spirals in side view and Fig. 9 two track section elements according to Fig. 2 in front view. The roadway 1 shown in FIG. 1 is formed by a number of strip-shaped track section elements 2. The track section elements 2 are connected to one another by means of coupling elements 3 and 4 so that they can pivot and move with play. Each of the track section elements 2 has a central section 6 which can be driven by a driving toy 5 and which is delimited by guide bodies 7 at the lateral ends. Grooves 8 are formed in the central section 6 for better traction for the driving toy 5. At a distance from both sides of the longitudinal central axis, the web-folding elements 2 have recesses 9 which form channels for the pluggable reception of wire spirals 10 serving as busbars. The wire spirals 10 can be pushed into the recesses 9 by means of insertion slots 11 with a smaller clearance than the diameters of the wire spirals 10 and are fixed in the recesses by the edge regions of the insertion slots. The wire spirals 10 overlap the central section 6 with ring sections of the windings 10 ″ and can be tapped off as conductor rails by grinders 12 of the driving toy 5 (FIG. 3). The supply of the electrical energy to the drive motor of the driving toy 5 thus takes place from the outside. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the wire spirals 10 are contacted with the connecting wires 13, 14 by means of clamping clips 15 which can be plugged onto the wire spirals 10 and which have a connecting eye 17 for the connecting wires 13, 14. The clamping clips 15 can also deviate be firmly arranged in the recesses 9 (FIG. 7), the assignment of a lead-through opening 15 'to the insertion slot 11 ensuring the insertion of the wire spirals 10 into the recesses 9. The connection of the ends 10 'of wire spirals 10 can be effected simply by pushing together the windings 10''of the wire spiral ends 10' to be connected (FIG. 8). The windings 10 ″ of the one wire end 10 engage in spaces between the windings 10 ″ ″ of the other wire end 10 ′, so that the formation of thickenings is excluded.

It is understood that the track section elements 2 form a single lane. The flexibility of the wire spirals 10 serving as busbars also allows several lanes 1 to be set up next to one another and, if necessary, to be fixed to one another by connecting elements 16 (FIG. 9). Multilane lanes can thereby be reproduced Windings 10 '' can be pushed together, pulled apart or bent, and thus can follow any movements of the track elements.

Claims

Claims:

1.Lane for toys made of pluggable track section elements, with a passable Mittelab¬ section and axially arranged on both sides of this guide bodies, in which the track section elements are held by latching elements with play slightly pivotable and slidably separable against each other, characterized in that the central sections (6) of the track section elements (2) in the direction of travel, axially parallel, at a distance from one another, have recesses (9) that wire spirals (10) can be inserted and fixed in the recesses (9) via insertion slots (11) and that the windings (10 '') of the Wire spirals (10) with ring sections protrude outwards from the edge surfaces of the insertion slots (11) as busbars.

2. Roadway according to claim 1, characterized in that the wire spirals (10) receiving Ausneh¬ openings (9) have an insertion slot (11), the clear width slightly smaller than the diameter of the turns (10 '') of the wire spirals (10 ) is.

3. Roadway according to claim 1 and 2, characterized gekennzeich¬ net that the recesses (9) are cylindrical with a partial depth of the diameter of the wire spirals (10) are ausgebil¬ det.

4. Roadway according to claim 1, characterized in that the wire spirals (10) attachable clamping members (15) with a connecting eye (17) for electrical conductors (13, 14).

5. Roadway according to claim 4, characterized in that the clamping members (15) in the recesses (9) are fixedly arranged and with the insertion slots (11) of the recesses (9) have corresponding through openings (15 *).

6. Roadway according to claim 1, characterized in that the ends (10 ¹ ) of the wire spirals (10) or of wire spiral sections by pushing turns (10 **) are mechanically and electrically interconnectable.

7. Roadway according to claim 1, characterized by the arrangement of two wire spirals (10) formed at a distance next to one another in the track piece elements (2), one of which with the interposition of a voltage-variable control device (18), e.g. a variable resistance is applied to one pole of a current source, while the other wire spiral is connected directly to the other pole of the current source.

8. Roadway according to claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of lanes (1) made of track section elements (2) with wire spirals (10) inserted into recesses (9) as busbars are arranged next to one another and by means of one another in the guide bodies (7) arranged track piece elements (2) from below inserted connecting members (16) are fixed to each other.