US1750152A - Elastic-propelled toy vehicle - Google Patents

Description

March 11, 1930. M. ALLAND ELASTIC PROPELLED TOY VEHICLE Filad Nov. 50. 1928 m' w' m: 6 7

Patented Mar. 11, 1930 UNITED STATES MAURICE ALLAND, or ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY EnAsTrc-rEorELLEn oY vEHIcLE Application filed November 30, 1928. SerialNo. 322,805.

The object of this invention is to provide improvements in toyvehicles, and particularly in that type which is automatically propelled along a surface upon being released afterwinding certain elastic means by manually propelling it in reverse direction upon said surface a h r Another object has been to construct a toy of this character in which the movement of the toy when released creates a sound which is similar-to and represents the familiar sound given off by an automobile when the muffler iscutout. b

. A further object is to so construct the toy that the propulsion of it when released is caused by theunwinding of a rubber band,

or similar element, which at one end is readily attachedto or disconnected from a relatively fixed portion of the article, while its opposite endrportion is secured to a hook or other suitablemeans carried by the driving axle; and from which said band .or the like is readily 'disengageable when desired, but which hook forms a normally permanent connec tionebetween the band and the axle to all intentsand purposes. r

Stillanother object is to provide the driving axle with collars upon'opposite sides of thehook to prevent the elastic or the like from entering and entangling with the bearingsof saidaxle, at least one of such collars comprising a toothed gear or ratchet which is engaged by a resilient member secured at its opposite end to the body of the vehicle, so

2 5 that vibrations set up in said member through rotation of said toothed collar are communicated to said body and thereby magnified to create an easily audible sound.

With these and other objects in mind the t present invention comprises further details of construction and operation which are fully brought out in the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side 5 elevation of a toy vehicle comprising one embodiment of the invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same; and Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the same. Referring to the drawings, a. vehicle 1 t is illustrated as representing any Well-known type of automobile, but may instead represent any other form of vehicle desired. Being a toy, it is preferably made in the form of a shell, substantially as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, said shell. comprising a top wall 2 which has'an integral offset 3, representing the bust of a driver, a forward wall 4 and oppositely positioned side walls 5. Rotatably mounted upon the outer side of each of theside walls and the forward-portion thereof is a wheel 6, surrounded bylatire 7, in order toprevent these forward wheels from skidding laterally as the vehicle is propelledrapidly forward over a given surface. Extending forwardly from the lower portion of the forward wall 4 is a lug 8, representing the well-known connection provided for attachment of a crank, which in a genuine automobile serves the purpose of manually starting the engine when such is necessary. This lug'may comprise the head of a screw or pin, the opposite end of which extends inwardly through the front wall and provides a hook 9 adapted to normally and detachably receive one looped end portion of a rubber band or other suitable form of elastic 10 the opposite end of which elastic detachably engages 'a hook 11, which is secured to andextends longitudinally of the rear driving shaft12 of the vehicle.

Said driving shaft extends rotatably through thevsidewalls 5 of the vehicle and upon its outer ends supports driving wheels 13, providedwith tires 14 for frictionally engaging a given. surface and insuring the tra-ctive eifortof the drivingwheels with respect to said" surface.

' It has been found through extensive experiments'that as the driving wheels are, rotated in a reverse direction in any suitablejmanner, as forinstance by manually gripping the vehicle and moving it rearwardly with the driving wheel tiresin contact with a given surface, the'elastic 10 in windingupon the shaft 12 tends to wind toward one end or the other of said shaftand would enter the journal supports of the same were itnot for a pair of collars carried by said shaft.

In the present embodiment of the invention these collars 15 and 16 are secured to the shaft between: the

hook 11 and the vehicle walls 5, one of said collars being a mere flange or washer, while the other of said collars is notched to provide the equivalent of a ratchet or gear, having peripheral teeth which are yieldingly engaged by the free end portion of..a resilient member 17, the opposite transversely enlarged end portion 18 of which is normally secured rigidly to the upper wall 2 or any suitable portion of the vehicle body by means of a rivet, bolt, screw, or any other desired form of connection 19.

It has been found that with relatively light toys of this general nature in equi ping them with propelling mechanisms wh ch'tend to cause a sudden and ra id rotation of their driving wheels when re eased, it is necessary to weight them in such manner that a more positive coo ration between the driving wheels and t e supportin surface is insured. n the present instance t is has been accomaishedby means of a disc 20, referabl'y of ad and secured in any suitab e mannerto the rear ortion of the inner surface of the upper we 1 2 of the vehicle. As will be seen In the o feratio'n of the device, as previously referred to, the vehicle body is manually gripped and placed upon and with the drivmg wheel tires 14 in contact with a given surface, whereupon the vehicle is moved in a direction which is the o posite t that which it is intended to take when released an subsequently moving under its own power, Asthe vehicle is thus moved manuall the elastic 10 winds upon the drivin she t 12 as far as may be desired, or as far as ma be safe within the limit of elasticity of sec elastic, after which the vehicle body can be released and the tension of such elastic will operate to reversely rotate said driving shaft and propel the vehicle along the surface upon which it rests.

M the vehicle is pro lled rapidly forward- I, under the power the contracting elastic 10, the rapid frictional engagement of the resiliont member 17 with the notched or toothed collar 16 creates an intermittent sound which is conveyed to the upper wall 2 of the vehicle body which acts as a sounding board, the hollow interior of the body actlng as a resonance chamber,- and the sound escaping therefrom both from beneath the end and side walls 4 and and also from the upper surface of the top wall 2. By modifying the shape, size and resiliency of the member 17, the number and shape of the notches on the C01- in it, the method of attachment of the member 17 to the body wall 2, and by varying the material of the vehicle walls themselves, a wide range of audible sounds may be produced, including among others the wellknown sound created by an automobile when running with the mufiler cut out.

It is also to be noted that by extending the hook 11 parallel with the shaft 12, when the elastic has become fully unwound from said shaft and the momentum of the vehicle starts to wind said elastic reversely, there is no danger of the elastic jumping from said hook as was found to be the case when a book was employed havin a direction other than parallel with said s aft. It is also to be understood that the fixed end portion of the elastic may be attached to the body of the vehicle in any suitable manner whatever in addition to the hook 9 as shown.

Furthermore, it has been found that when operating the device u on an inclined surface, it will propel itse f in the manner described either upwardly or downwardly of such surface, but whether up or down, when the power of the elastic is spent, said elastic serves in effect as a brake, and prevents the device from moving downwardly under the force of gravit until manually so moved O1" raised freel flom said surface.

Having t us described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is A toy vehicle, comprising a hollow shell comprising top, side, and end walls and open at the bottom, a driving shaft journalled through said side walls, a weight secured to said vehicle substantially above said shaft, wheels fixed to said shaft, a hook carried by the central portion of said shaft and directly in parallelism therewith, a lug carried by said shell, an elastic extending between said lug and said hook, a toothed collar secured tos'aid shaft bet-ween said hook and one of said journals, and a resilient member secured at one end to said vehicle and having its free end in engagement with the teeth of said collar to create a vibratory sound as the shaft rotates under the impulse of said elastic when released after previous rotation of said shaft has caused said elastic to be wound thereupon.

In testimony whereof I have aflix'ed my signature.

MAURICE ALLAND.

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