GB2201901A - Wheeled toy - Google Patents

Abstract

A toy has ground engaging wheels 2, 3, and 4, a motive power source 22 connected by gearing to drive the wheels 3, and means for reversing the direction in which the toy is driven. Display means e.g. pincers 6, are movable between open and closed positions. An obstruction engaging mechanism e.g. tongue 8, includes a catch adapted to engage a cocking mechanism including a spring 20. The arrangement is such that when the obstruction engaging mechanism of the forwardly driven toy meets an obstruction, the catch is released whereby the display means move into a second position (closed pincers) under the action of the spring and the drive of the toy is reversed. A tail 9 is also raised. Drive reversal is effected by bringing wheels 4 into the broken line position of Figure 6. <IMAGE>

Description

TITLE A TOY INTRODUCTION This invention relates to a toy.

Toys which simulate animals are well known and such toys frequently possess mechanical movements which resemble the movements of the real animal. Some animals, after having caught their prey, have the characteristic of moving swiftly backwards dragging their prey with them. One such animal is the scorpion.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is the main object of this invention to provide a toy which simulates the movement of a scorpion in catching and dragging off its prey.

STATEMENTS OF INVENTION According to the present invention there is provided a toy having a body and ground engaging wheels, a motive power source carried by the body and connected by gearing to drive the wheels, means for reversing the direction of drive of the wheels, a display means mounted on and extending from the body to move from a first to a second position and vice versa, an obstruction engaging mechanism having a catch adapted to engage a cocking mechanism including a spring, the arrangement being such that when the catch of the obstruction engaging mechanism is engaged with the cocking mechanism and the spring extended, the display means are in said first position, and the drive of the toy is forwardly; and when the obstruction engaging mechanism meets an obstruction the catch is released whereby the display means move to said second position under the action of the spring and the drive of the toy is reversed.

The invention also includes a toy as aforesaid, in which the ground engaging wheels comprise front, centre and rear pairs of wheels, the power source being connected to the centre pair to drive the toy forwardly with the centre pair and one of the front or rear pairs in ground engagement; and in which, on release of the catch, the other of the front or rear pair of wheels moves to a ground engaging position and in driven contact with the centre pair, whereby the toy is driven rearwardly by ground engagement by the front and rear pairs of wheels.

Conveniently, the pair of front or rear wheels which may be moved to be in driven contact with the centre pair for rearward drive are mounted on a cranked axle.

Also, the cocking mechanism may comprise a plate having a hole therein through which passes the cranked axle, the front end of the plate being connected to the inner end of the display means and the spring being connected to the cranked axle.

Preferably, the display means is in the form of a pair of pincers pivotally mounted on and extending away from the body, said pincers being open in said first position and closed in said second position.

Preferably, the obstruction engaging mechanism is in the form of a tongue located between the pincers.

The invention also includes a toy as aforesaid in the form of a scorpion, in which the rear end of the plate is connected to an articulated tail which, when the mechanism is cocked, lies rearwardly of the body and, when the catch is released, articulates to become curled and lie above the body.

DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a perspective view of a toy scorpion constructed according to the invention and in the cocked mode; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the toy of Figure 1 in the released mode; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the toy of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a plan view of Figure 3; Figure 5 is a front view of the toy of Figures 3 and 4; Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3 with the body and head removed; Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 4 with the body and head removed; Figure 8 is a diagrammatic side view of part of the drive mechanism; Figure 9 is a diagrammatic front view of the mechanism of Figure 8; and Figure 10 is a diagrammatic plan view of the mechanism of Figure 8.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION Referring first to Figures 1 to 5, a toy animal in the form of a scorpion includes a body 1 and three pairs of ground engaging wheels consisting of front pair 2, centre pair 3 and rear pair 4. Attached to the body 1 is a head 5.

Projecting from the body 1 is a pair of pincers 6 pivotally mounted at 7 so as to move from the open position as shown in Figure 1 to the closed position as shown in Figure 2 and vice versa. Projecting from between the pincers 6 is a tongue 8. A tail 9 projects from the rear of the toy.

This tail 9 is articulated or jointed at 10 to move from a rearwardly extended position as shown in Figure 1 to a curled position as shown in Figure 2 to lie above the body 1.

The internal parts are shown in more detail in Figures 6 to 10.

The pincers 6 are provided with extensions 11 (see Figure 7) which meet at a pivot 12 to which is attached a plate 13 which extends rearwardly to the tail 9. From pivots 7 extend arms 14 which carry the tongue 8 in such a way that the tongue can rock about a horizontal axis to permit engagement or disengagement of a catch 15 (see Figure 6) with the forward end of the plate 13.

Wheel pairs 2 and 3 have straight axles 15 and 16 respectively whereas wheel pair 4 has a cranked axle 17.

This axle passes through a hole in plate 13 (see Figure 7) so that movement of the plate longitudinally of the toy will cause the axle 17 to rotate about its axis 18 thus moving the wheels 4 from the position shown in full lines in Figure 6 to the position shown in dotted lines at 19 and vice versa.

It is to be noted that the wheels 4 are in contact with the wheels 3 in position 19.

A spring 20 is connected at one end to the body and at its other end to the axle 17.

An electric battery 21 powers an electric motor 22 which, through gearing 23, 24, 25 and 26, drives axle 16 and the pair of centre wheels 3. This drive will be unidirectional to move the toy forwardly on actuation of a switch (not shown).

To operate the toy it is Eirst cocked by pressing downwardly on the top of the body 1. This moves the wheels 4 from their position 19 to the position shown in Figure 3 so that the drive wheels 3 are in contact with the ground.

The wheels 4 are held in the position shown in Figure 3 and the pincers are held in the open position by the catch 15 engaging the forward end of plate 13 thus cocking the mechanism. Also, when the mechanism is cocked, the tail will be extended rearwardly.

On the electric motor being energised, the wheels 3 will drive the toy forwardly until the tongue meets an obstruction. This will cause the tongue to rock and disengage the catch 15 from the plate 13. The spring 20 will move the plate 13 rearwardly which will snap the pincers 6 closed, cause the cranked axle 17 to rotate about axis 18 so as to bring wheels 4 into contact with wheels 3 and, at the same time causing wheels 3 to be lifted off the ground. The drive through wheels 3 and wheels 4 will then be reversed and the toy will move in the reverse direction with wheels 2 and 4 being in contact with the ground.

Thus, the movement of the toy simulates the actions of a scorpion catching its prey.

Modifications may be made to the toy from that described above within the scope of the invention. For example, the mechanism may be clockwork operated and at least one wheel pair may be replaced by a single centrally located wheel.

Also, other features of the toy may be operated when the cocking mechanism is released, for example, if the toy simulates a bird of prey and therefore has wings, the wings may be caused to flap.

Toys in accordance with the present invention may represent animals other than scorpions or, indeed, other entities, for instance, real or imaginary vehicles. In one alternative embodiment, the toy is in the form of a wheeled vehicle having a front bifurcated claw and a middle-section compartment having doors and housing a propeller-like device. When the claw engages an obstruction it points upwardly and, at the same time the compartment doors open and the propeller-like device is ejected by means of a spring arrangement mounted within the body of the device.

In another alternative embodiment the toy is similar but the middle-section compartment is replaced by a pair of extendible wings mounted within the body. When the claw engages an obstruction it moves upwardly and the wings move laterally outwardly from each side of the body.

In a further alternative embodiment of the invention, the toy is in the form of an imaginary multihorned animal having a pivotally mounted nose extending forwardly and downwardly from the animal's head. The animal is sixwheeled, with four front and two rear wheels, the latter being mounted in a cranked axle which in turn is located on the body of the toy. At its rear the toy is provided with a pivotally mounted tail. During forward movement, the nose is up, the tail is down and the rear wheels are spaced rearwardly from the front wheels.When the nose engages an obstruction, it points downwardly, the tail moves upwardly and the crank mechanism rotates to bring the rear wheels forwardly and downwardly to a position close to the rear pair of the front wheels, at the same time raising the body about the front pair of wheels so that, at the end of this movement, the middle pair of wheels is rising into a position in which they do not engage the ground.

In another alternative embodiment of the invention, the toy is in the form of an imaginary animal having two front claws each pivotally mounted on arms, each of which is itself pivotally mounted at the side of the body and extending to a position forward of the front of the body.

A tongue extends from the head of the animal between the arms. The toy is provided with six wheels. At the rear of the toy is a pivotally mounted tail with a compartment for accommodating a pair of extendible wings.

When the tongue engages an obstruction the arms move downwardly and the claws forwardly. At the same time the tail moves upwardly and the wings move laterally outwardly from each side of the tail.

Claims (8)

1. A toy having a body and ground engaging wheels, a motive power source carried by the body and connected by gearing to drive the wheels, means for reversing the direction of drive of the wheels, display means mounted on and extending from the body to move from a first to a second position and vice versa, obstruction engaging means having a catch adapted to engage a cocking mechanism including a spring, the arrangement being such that when the catch of the obstruction engaging means is engaged with the cocking mechanism and the spring extended, the display means are moved to said first position and the drive of the toy is forwardly; and when the obstruction engaging mechanism meets an obstruction the catch is released whereby the display means move to said second position under the action of the spring and the drive of the toy is reversed.

2. The toy as claimed in Claim 1, in which the ground engaging wheels comprise front, centre and rear pairs of wheels, the power source being connected to the centre pair to drive the toy forwardly with the centre pair and one of the front or rear pairs in ground engagement; and in which, on release of the catch, the other of the front or rear pair of wheels moves to a ground engaging position and in driven contact with the centre pair, whereby the toy is driven rearwardly by ground engagement by the front and rear pairs of wheels.

3 The toy as claimed in Claim 2, in which the pair of front or rear wheels which may be moved to be in driven contact with the centre pair for rearward drive are mounted on a cranked axle.

4. The toy as claimed in Claim 3, in which the cocking mechanism comprises a plate having a hole therein through which passes the cranked axle, the front end of the plate being connected to the inner end of the pincers and the spring being connected to the cranked axle.

5. A toy as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the display means is in the form of a pair of pincers pivotally mounted on and extending away from the body, said pincers being open in said first position and closed in said second position.

6. A toy as claimed in Claim 5 wherein the obstruction engaging mechanism is in the form of a tongue located between the pincers.

7. The toy as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in the form of a scorpion, in which the rear end of the plate is connected to an articulated tail which, when the mechanism is cocked, lies rearwardly of the body and, when the catch is released, articulates to become curled and lie above the body.

8. A toy substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.