MINIATURE VEHICLE AND SET

• US 20130040533A1
• Filed: 08/12/2011
• Published: 02/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Spin Master Limited (Spin Master Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Andrew Kevin Miller
• Inventors: MILLER, Andrew Kevin
• Application Number:
  US13/208,554
• Publication Number:
  US 20130040533A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 446/429
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 18/16 Control of vehicle drives by interaction between vehicle and track; Control of track elements by vehicles

Abstract

In an aspect, the invention is directed to a set that includes a miniature vehicle that drives one or more wheels with an on-board motor that draws power from an on-board power source. A switch is provided to control the transmission of power from the power source to the motor. A first drive-related magnetically-responsive member is movable between first and second positions to control whether the switch is off or on. A second drive-related magnetically-responsive member is positionable to interact with the first drive-related magnetically responsive member to move the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member to the second position so as to close the switch.

Claims

1. A set, comprising:

a miniature vehicle including a chassis, a plurality of wheels rotatable with respect to the chassis, a motor, wherein the plurality of wheels includes at least one driven wheel that is drivable by the motor, a power source connectable to provide power to the motor, a switch operatively connected to control power transmission from the power source to the motor, and a first drive-related magnetically-responsive member that is positionable in a first position wherein the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member opens the switch to disconnect the motor from the power source, and a second position wherein the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member closes the switch to connect the motor to the power source; and

a second drive-related magnetically responsive member that is positionable to interact with the first drive-related magnetically responsive member to move the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member to the second position when the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member is sufficiently close to the second drive-related magnetically-responsive member, thereby closing the switch and causing the motor to drive the at least one driven wheel.

2. A set as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a guideway that includes a base and a pair of guide walls positioned to guide the vehicle.

3. A set as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second drive-related magnetically responsive member is positioned in the guideway.

4. A set as claimed in claim 3, wherein the second drive-related magnetically-responsive member is positioned in the base of the guideway.

5. A set as claimed in claim 4, wherein the guideway is made up of a plurality of connectible sections, wherein one of the connectible sections is an accelerator section which has the second drive-related magnetically-responsive member thereon.

6. A set as claimed in claim 5, wherein the accelerator section is selectively positionable at any one of a plurality of positions along the length of the guideway.

7. A set as claimed in claim 6, wherein the accelerator section is one of a plurality of accelerator sections which are selectively positionable at a plurality of positions along the length of the guideway.

8. A set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member is a magnet and the second drive-related magnetically-responsive member is a ferrous metal.

9. A set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member is biased towards the first position.

10. A set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of wheels includes at least one steerable wheel, wherein the vehicle further includes a steering linkage connected to the at least one steerable wheel, wherein the steering linkage has a first steering-related magnetically-responsive member thereon and is positionable in a first position to steer the vehicle generally straight forward, in a second position to steer the vehicle towards the left and a third position to steer the vehicle towards the right, wherein the steering linkage is biased towards the first position,

and wherein the set further includes a second steering-related magnetically-responsive member that is positionable to interact with the first steering-related magnetically responsive member to cause movement of the steering linkage to one of the second or third positions when the first steering-related magnetically-responsive member is sufficiently close to the second steering-related magnetically-responsive member.

11. A set as claimed in claim 10, wherein the first steering-related magnetically-responsive member is a left first steering-related magnetically-responsive member and is movable when sufficiently close to the second steering-related magnetically-responsive member to cause movement of the steering linkage to the second position, and wherein the steering linkage further has a right first steering-related magnetically-responsive member thereon that is movable when sufficiently close to the second steering-related magnetically-responsive member to cause movement of the steering linkage to the third position.

12. A set as claimed in claim 11, wherein the second steering-related magnetically-responsive member is removably connectable to a selected one of the guide walls.

13. A set as claimed in claim 11, wherein the second steering-related magnetically-responsive member is removably connectable to a selected one of the guide walls at any one of a plurality of positions along the length of the guideway.

14. A set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second steering-related magnetically-responsive member is positioned in the base of the guideway.

15. A set as claimed in claim 14, wherein the guideway is made up of a plurality of connectible sections, wherein one of the connectible sections is a steering section which has the second steering-related magnetically-responsive member thereon.

16. A set as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power source includes a battery.

17. A set as claimed in claim 16, wherein the power source further includes a voltage boosting circuit that stores charge from the battery at a higher voltage than the battery voltage and that drives the motor when the switch closes.

18. A set as claimed in claim 17, wherein the voltage boosting circuit is a boost converter.

19. A miniature vehicle, comprising:

a chassis;

a plurality of wheels rotatable with respect to the chassis;

a motor, wherein the plurality of wheels includes at least one driven wheel that is drivable by the motor;

a battery;

a voltage boosting circuit that stores charge from the battery at a higher voltage than the battery voltage and that is selectively connectable to the motor; and

a switch that is selectively closeable to operatively connect the voltage boosting circuit to the motor.

20. A miniature vehicle as claimed in claim 19, wherein the voltage boosting circuit is a boost converter.

21. A set, comprising:

a miniature vehicle, including a chassis, a plurality of wheels rotatable with respect to the chassis, a motor, wherein the plurality of wheels includes at least one driven wheel that is drivable by the motor, a battery, a voltage boosting circuit that stores charge from the battery at a higher voltage than the battery voltage and that is selectively connectable to provide power to the motor, a switch that is selectively closeable to operatively connect the voltage boosting circuit to the motor; and

a switch controller that is external to the vehicle and that controls the position of the switch.

22. A set as claimed in claim 21, wherein the vehicle includes a first drive-related magnetically-responsive member that is positionable in a first position wherein the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member opens the switch to disconnect the voltage boosting circuit from the motor, and a second position wherein the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member closes the switch to connect the voltage boosting circuit to the motor,

and wherein the switch controller includes a second drive-related magnetically responsive member that is positionable to interact with the first drive-related magnetically responsive member to move the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member to the second position when the first drive-related magnetically-responsive member is sufficiently close to the second drive-related magnetically-responsive member, thereby closing the switch and causing the motor to drive the at least one driven wheel.

23. A packaging for a miniature vehicle for use with a guideway including a base and a pair of guide walls, comprising:

a blister member; and

a backing member connected to the blister member, wherein the backing member forms a section in the base of the guideway.

24. A miniature vehicle that includes a base portion that is driven by a motor;

and

a plurality of performance-altering members, each of which are removably connectable to the base portion of the vehicle, including a first performance-altering member that, when connected to the base portion, electrically controls the motor to operate a first way in response to a given input, and including a second performance-altering member that, when connected to the base portion, electrically controls the motor to operate a second way in response to the given input.

25. A miniature vehicle as claimed in claim 24, wherein when the first performance-altering member is connected to the base portion, the motor operates for a first period of time in response to a given input, and when the second performance-altering member is connected to the base portion, the motor operates for a second period of time in response to a given input.

26. A miniature vehicle as claimed in claim 25, wherein when the base portion includes a voltage-controlled switch to control current flow through the motor, and wherein a main voltage source is selectively connectable to the voltage-controlled switch to control the state of the voltage-controlled switch, wherein each performance-altering member includes a secondary voltage source, which, when connected to the base portion of the vehicle, controls the voltage-controlled switch to keep the voltage-controlled switch closed for a selected period of time after disconnection of the main voltage source from the voltage-controlled switch.

27. A miniature vehicle as claimed in claim 26, wherein the secondary voltage source is a capacitor.

28. A miniature vehicle as claimed in claim 27, wherein the capacitor is chargeable by the main voltage source when the main voltage source is connected to the voltage-controlled switch.

29. A miniature vehicle as claimed in claim 24, wherein the first performance-altering member includes a first body shell that represents a first type of vehicle having a first level of performance, and the second performance-altering member includes a second body shell that represents a second type of vehicle having a second level of performance.

30. A miniature vehicle as claimed in claim 29, wherein the first body shell represents a racecar and the second body shell represents a sedan.