Toy vehicle capable of traveling on both its top and bottom surfaces

• US 4,300,308 A
• Filed: 04/23/1980
• Issued: 11/17/1981
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/1979
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Tomy Kogyo Co., Inc.
• Original Assignee: Tomy Kogyo Co., Inc.
• Inventors: Ikeda, Masaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Mancene, Gene
• Assistant Examiner(s): Foycik, Jr., Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US06/143,092
• Time in Patent Office: 573 Days
• Field of Search: 46/206, 46/212, 46/201, 46/202, 46/251, 46/111, 46/112, 46/97, 46/98-105, 46/204, 46/211
• US Class Current: 446/457
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/004 Stunt-cars, e.g. lifting front wheels, roll-over or invertible cars
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 17/40 Toy vehicles automatically steering or reversing by collision with an obstacle

Abstract

A toy vehicle has a first and a second surface which are spaced apart from one another and reversibly serve as the top and bottom of a vehicle. When one of the surfaces is serving as the top of the vehicle the opposite surface of the vehicle is serving as the bottom of the vehicle. The vehicle includes wheel members which are capable of supporting the vehicle over a support surface no matter which of the surfaces of the vehicle is serving as the top or the bottom. Also incorporated in the vehicle is an inverting mechanism which alternately inverts the vehicle such that the surface serving as the top of the vehicle after inverting serves as the bottom of the vehicle and the surface serving as the bottom of the vehicle after inverting serves as the top of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A mechanism for lifting at least a portion of a toy off of a surface on which the toy rests, said toy of the type having an outside housing, which comprises:

a motor located in said toy housing and capable of producing a rotary output;

a rotary member located in said housing and operatively connected to said motor and rotating in response to said rotary output of said motor;

a curved wall formed on said rotary member, said curved wall having a convex surface and including an opening between the ends of said curved wall, said wall and said opening rotating as said rotary member rotates;

at least one furcated member movably mounted in said housing and positioned in said housing in a location allowing in a first instance a first portion of said furcated member to be extended away from said housing when a second portion of said furcated member is located within said opening between the ends of said wall and in a second instance said first portion of said furcated member to be retracted towards said housing when said second portion of said furcated member is located adjacent to said convex surface of said wall;

biasing means operatively associated with said furcated member biasing said furcated member to said position wherein said first portion of said furcated member is extended away from said housing, said second of said furcated member when located adjacent to said convex surface of said wall retaining said first portion of said furcated member towards said housing against the force of said biasing means and said second portion of said furcated member when located within said opening between the ends of said wall allowing said first portion of said furcated member to be extended away from said housing under the bias of said biasing means;

said first portion of said furcated member when extended away from said housing capable of lifting at least a portion of said toy off of said surface on which said toy rests.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 including:

two of said furcated members, each of said two furcated members capable of lifting a portion of said toy off of said surface on which said toy rests.

3. The mechanism of claim 2 wherein:

said two of said furcated members comprise a first and a second furcated member, the second portion of each of said first and said second furcated members being associated with said rotary member such that each of said second portion of said furcated member can be located adjacent to said convex surface or within said opening between the ends of said wall.

4. The mechanism of claim 3 including:

a clutch means, said clutch means operatively associated with and interspaced between said motor and said rotary member such that the rotary output of said motor is transferred to said rotary member by said clutch.

5. The mechanism of claim 4 wherein:

when the second portion of said first furcated member is located adjacent to said convex surface of said wall the second portion of said second furcated member is located within said opening between the ends of said wall.

6. The mechanism of claim 5 wherein:

said housing of said toy includes a first housing surface and a second housing surface spaced apart from each other and both of said first housing surface and said second housing surface reversibly capable of serving as a top for said housing or a bottom for said housing such that when said first housing surface serves as said top, said second housing surface serves as said bottom and when said second housing surface serves as said top, said first housing surface serves as said bottom.

7. The mechanism of claim 6 wherein:

said first portion of said first furcated member is associated with and is capable of extending away from and being retracted towards said first housing surface and said first portion of said second furcated member is associated with and is capable of extending away from and being retracted towards said second housing surface.