HK1161167B - Toy vehicle booster and track set - Google Patents

Abstract

A toy vehicle booster and track set is disclosed. More particularly, a booster for accelerating toy vehicles is disclosed. The booster includes a rotation source and first and second wheels operatively coupled to the rotation source. Each wheel includes a thin-walled member configured to engage toy vehicles passing between the wheels as the rotation source rotates the wheels in opposite directions. The thin walled member is characterized by an S-shape that allows the relative distance between the wheels to change, thereby accommodating differently sized vehicles.

Description

Toy vehicle booster and track set

Background

The toy vehicle track set may include one or more track segments configured to form a closed loop around which one or more toy vehicles may travel. The toy vehicles used in the closed loop may be self-contained or receive power from an external source. The means for accelerating the unpowered toy vehicle about the track is commonly referred to as a "booster".

The booster typically includes one or more motor-driven turning wheels adjacent a portion of the track. As the vehicle passes the portion of the track occupied by the booster, the turning wheels temporarily engage the passing toy vehicle and accelerate the toy vehicle forward.

The most common type of booster includes a pair of spaced apart wheels on either side of a track. The pair of spaced wheels cooperate with each other and engage the passing toy vehicle from both sides in synchronization.

There are problems with prior art booster wheels. The most common type of booster wheel includes a disc-shaped member formed of a resilient foam material. Such wheels are prone to wear and can undesirably warp a passing vehicle from below and thus lift the vehicle off the track. In addition, the foam may not deform sufficiently to accommodate a wide toy vehicle.

One prior attempt to improve resilient foam booster wheels is described in U.S. patent No. 6793554. This patent describes a thin-walled booster wheel constructed from plastic or rubber. The thin-walled booster wheel has improved wear resistance compared to foam booster wheels. However, under some operating conditions, the thin-walled booster wheel described in U.S. patent No.6793554 may cause some toy vehicles to warp from below, thereby lifting the vehicles off the track.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides a booster for a toy vehicle track set. The booster includes a booster wheel constructed from a thin-walled material. The thin-walled material is resiliently folded into an S-shaped configuration to transmit energy to a variety of different shaped toy vehicles. The folded shape of the booster wheel also applies pressure evenly over the surface of the toy vehicle, thereby helping to avoid the vehicle from lifting off the track.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a toy vehicle track set including a booster for accelerating a toy vehicle;

FIG. 2 shows a booster wheel assembly from the booster of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3A illustrates a front cross-sectional view of the thin-walled member of FIG. 2 with the booster wheel in a rest configuration;

FIG. 3B shows a front cross-sectional view of the thin-walled member of FIG. 3A in a compressed configuration;

FIG. 3C illustrates a front cross-sectional view of another thin-walled member according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a front cross-sectional view of the booster of FIG. 1;

fig. 5 is a bottom sectional view of the booster of fig. 1.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 illustrates a portion of an exemplary toy vehicle track set 10. Track set 10 includes one or more track segments 12 over which toy vehicles 14 can travel. Track set 10 also includes a booster 16 that accelerates the toy vehicle on the track. For simplicity, FIG. 1 only shows the portion of the track adjacent booster 16. It should be understood that substantially any number of different track designs may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention. These designs include closed loop tracks and open tracks. Further, while FIG. 1 shows only a single booster, it should be understood that the same track set may be used with two or more boosters. The booster according to the present invention may also be used to accelerate toy vehicles in play configurations that do not include fixed tracks.

The booster 16 includes a pair of booster wheels 20A and 20B. Fig. 2 shows booster wheel 20A in more detail. Although not required in all embodiments, booster wheel 20A includes a gear 22 and an intermediate support 24. The booster wheel also includes a thin-walled member 26 for contacting the toy vehicle and accelerating it forward. Fig. 3A and 3B show a cross section of a portion of the thin-walled member 26.

Thin-walled member 26 may be formed in a folded or S-shaped configuration. Further, the thin-walled member may be composed of an elastic material that can rebound from deformation. The combination of the folded configuration and the resilient material provides flexibility to the wheel that is well suited to engaging a variety of different sized and shaped toy vehicles with sufficient friction to accelerate the toy vehicle forward without lifting it off the track.

As shown in fig. 3A, the thin-walled member includes an outer wall 28 at the outer diameter of the wheel. The outer wall 28 is the portion of the wheel that physically engages the toy vehicle. In the embodiment shown, the outer wall is shaped like a cylinder. In other embodiments, the outer wall may be shaped like a truncated cone or other suitable shape. Generally, the outer wall is shaped to provide sufficient friction to the toy vehicle such that the outer wall grips the toy vehicle and accelerates it forward. The shape of the outer wall also prevents the toy vehicle from being lifted off the track. Thus, the outer wall does not include any flanges or protrusions that might warp the underside of the toy vehicle.

The outer wall is at least partially defined by a terminal bottom edge 30 spaced from the inner wheel axis of the wheel. In other words, the outer wall is supported only from the top. The outer wall has greater horizontal flexibility since it is only supported from the top.

The thin-walled member comprises an intermediate wall 34 concentrically located inside the outer wall. The shape of the intermediate wall may resemble a cylinder, a truncated cone or other suitable shape. In the illustrated embodiment, the outer wall and the intermediate wall are substantially parallel, but not all embodiments require that they be parallel. Although the intermediate wall is shown as being shorter than the outer wall, it may be as tall as the outer wall or even higher without departing from the scope of the invention. The relative heights of the outer and intermediate walls and the spacing therebetween may be selected to adjust the relative horizontal compliance of the wheels. The thickness of the thin-walled member may also be selected to tune the flexibility of the wheel.

The thin-walled member comprises an outer connection 36 connecting the outer wall to the intermediate wall. In the illustrated embodiment, the external connection member has a generally U-shaped cross-section, but this cross-sectional shape is not required for all embodiments. As shown in fig. 3B, the outer link is capable of flexing to reduce the distance between the outer wall and the intermediate wall. In this way, the outer wall can accommodate toy vehicles having different widths and side profiles. The outer wall can remain substantially vertical when the outer link flexes, or the outer wall can tilt inward or outward. This flexibility allows the booster wheel to accommodate a variety of different shaped toy vehicles.

The intermediate wall includes an inner connection 38 connecting the intermediate wall to the interior of the wheel assembly. For example, as best shown in FIG. 4, the internal connection is connected to an intermediate support 24, which is connected to a gear 22 that is operatively connected to a source of rotation, such as a motor 50. It should be understood that the arrangement shown is provided by way of example only. The inner linkage may alternatively be configured to accommodate different rotation sources and/or inner wheel configurations.

In the illustrated embodiment, a portion of the inner connecting member has a substantially U-shaped cross-section. The inner link supports the intermediate wall in a spaced relationship relative to the interior of the wheel. In this way, as shown in FIG. 3B, the inner link is able to flex so that the distance between the intermediate wall and the interior of the wheel is reduced. The inner connector cooperates with the intermediate wall and the outer connector to support the outer wall in a compliant manner, essentially acting as a tuning spring that allows the outer wall to deform as needed to accommodate differently shaped toy vehicles.

Figure 3C shows a cross-sectional view of a portion of another S-shaped thin-walled member 40 according to the present invention. Like thin-walled member 26, thin-walled member 40 includes an outer wall 42, an intermediate wall 44 concentrically located inside the outer wall, a generally U-shaped outer connector 46 connecting the outer wall with the intermediate wall, and an inner connector 48 including a generally U-shaped cross-section. In this embodiment, the outer connection 46 is made thicker, thereby reducing the relative angular flexibility at the outer connection. In this way, the inner linkage can function as a pivot point about which the outer wall can pivot when engaged with the toy vehicle.

Fig. 4 and 5 illustrate an exemplary mechanism that can be used to turn a booster wheel in accordance with the present invention. In particular, fig. 4 shows a rotational source in the form of a motor 50 capable of receiving power from an ac power line. Alternative sources of rotation may be electric, spring operated or powered by other suitable sources. For the purposes of the present invention, the portion of the booster wheel other than the thin-walled member may be referred to as the portion of the rotation source. For example, the intermediate support 24 may be referred to as part of the rotation source.

The motor 50 rotates a drive gear 52, the drive gear 52 operatively connected to a gear 54 of the booster wheel 20B. Gear 54 is operatively connected to gear 22 of booster wheel 20A. As best shown in fig. 5, when drive gear 52 rotates in the direction indicated by arrow 56, gear 54 (and booster wheel 20B) rotates in the direction indicated by arrow 58, while gear 22 (and booster wheel 20A) rotates in the direction indicated by arrow 60. The reverse rotation of the booster wheels 20A and 20B provides the proper direction of rotation for accelerating a toy vehicle entering the space therebetween. In addition, the gear ratios between the gear 22 and the gear 54 can be matched so that the booster wheels 20A and 20B rotate at the same speed. The gear ratio between drive gear 52 and gear 54 may be selected to provide a desired rotational speed of the booster wheel relative to the rotational speed of the rotation source.

Although the present invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments, it should be understood that the spirit and scope of the invention is not limited to those embodiments. Rather, the scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims. All subject matter which comes within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims (15)

1. A toy vehicle track set comprising:

a track; and

a booster adjacent to the track for accelerating a toy vehicle along the track, the booster comprising:

a first wheel having a folded configuration and comprising an outer wall, an intermediate support and a thin-walled member connected to the intermediate support and an intermediate wall, the intermediate wall being connected to the outer wall by an outer connection having a generally U-shaped cross-section and to the intermediate support by an inner connection having a generally U-shaped cross-section, the first wheel being formed of a resilient material, the folded configuration of the first wheel allowing movement of the outer wall of the first wheel;

a second wheel having a folded configuration and an outer wall, the second wheel being formed of an elastic material, the folded configuration of the second wheel allowing movement of the outer wall of the second wheel; and

a drive mechanism connected to the first and second wheels, the drive mechanism operable to counter-rotate the first and second wheels, an outer wall of the first wheel and an outer wall of the second wheel being engageable with a toy vehicle when the first and second wheels are rotated by the drive mechanism.

2. The toy vehicle track set of claim 1, wherein the outer wall of the first wheel has a generally cylindrical shape.

3. The toy vehicle track set of claim 1, wherein the outer wall of the first wheel and the intermediate wall of the first wheel are substantially parallel to each other.

4. The toy vehicle track set of claim 1, wherein the outer wall of the first wheel has a height and the intermediate wall of the first wheel has a height, the height of the outer wall of the first wheel being greater than the height of the intermediate wall of the first wheel.

5. The toy vehicle track set of claim 1, wherein the outer wall of the first wheel has a terminal bottom edge spaced from a center of the first wheel.

6. The toy vehicle track set of claim 1, wherein the external connection is flexible and allows a distance between an outer wall of the first wheel and an intermediate wall of the first wheel to vary.

7. The toy vehicle track set of claim 1, wherein the interior connection is flexible and allows a distance between an intermediate wall of the first wheel and the intermediate support to be varied.

8. The toy vehicle track set of claim 1, wherein the cross-sections of the outer wall of the first wheel, the intermediate wall of the first wheel, the outer coupling of the first wheel, and the inner coupling of the first wheel collectively have a generally S-shaped configuration.

9. A toy vehicle track set comprising:

a track; and

a booster proximate the track for accelerating a toy vehicle along the track, the booster comprising:

a booster wheel mounted for rotation, the booster wheel including a thin-walled member having a folded configuration and an interior, the thin-walled member including a first wall and a second wall, the second wall of the booster wheel being connected to the first wall of the booster wheel by an external connection that allows movement of the first wall of the booster wheel relative to the second wall of the booster wheel, and the interior being connected to the interior of the booster wheel by an internal connection that allows movement of the second wall of the booster wheel relative to the interior of the booster wheel; and

a motor connected to the booster wheel, the motor operable to rotate the booster wheel, the first wall of the booster wheel engageable with the toy vehicle as the booster wheel is rotated by the motor.

10. The toy vehicle track set of claim 9, wherein the first wall of the booster wheel is substantially parallel to the second wall of the booster wheel.

11. The toy vehicle track set of claim 9, wherein the first wall of the booster wheel is generally cylindrical and the second wall of the booster wheel is generally cylindrical.

12. The toy vehicle track set of claim 9, wherein the outer connector flexes to allow a distance between a first wall of the booster wheel and a second wall of the booster wheel to decrease.

13. The toy vehicle track set of claim 9, wherein the internal connection flexes to allow a distance between the second wall of the booster wheel and an interior of the booster wheel to decrease.

14. The toy vehicle track set of claim 9, wherein at least one of the outer and inner connectors has a folded configuration.

15. A toy vehicle track set comprising:

a track; and

a booster proximate the track for accelerating a toy vehicle along the track, the booster comprising:

a drive mechanism; and

a booster wheel including an intermediate support and a thin-walled member connected to the intermediate support, the booster wheel being mounted for rotation about the intermediate support, the booster wheel being connected to the drive mechanism such that the drive mechanism imparts rotation to the booster wheel during operation, the thin-walled member of the booster wheel has a folded configuration, the thin-walled member including an intermediate wall and an outer wall, the outer wall having a surface capable of engaging a toy vehicle, a first connector connecting the outer wall to the intermediate wall, a second connector connecting the intermediate wall to the intermediate support, the cross-sections of the outer wall, intermediate wall, first connector and second connector together have a generally S-shaped configuration, the folded configuration of the thin-walled member allows movement of the outer wall relative to the intermediate support, such that the surface of the outer wall of the booster wheel can be used to engage toy vehicles having different configurations.