JPH0434424B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a meandering toy that has a simple structure and is capable of meandering motion similar to that of real objects such as snakes and dragons.

(Prior art and its problems) Conventionally, toys shaped like animals with long bodies such as snakes, dragons, centipedes, eels, insects, fish, etc. have been designed to meander to resemble the movements of real objects. Various types of complicated drive mechanisms have been proposed to perform the movement.

However, most of the conventional serpentine toys have a structure that moves them forward by attaching running rollers or tires to a non-extendable body that is fixed in a serpentine shape in advance, and the movement is far from that of the real thing. It was hot.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems and, in particular, provides a meandering toy that is designed to mimic the movements of snakes, dragons, etc. and is capable of realizing meandering motion, which is a prerequisite for meandering motion. purpose.

(Means for Achieving the Object) In order to achieve the above object, the meandering toy according to the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of block-like segments are connected in series to the rear of a head body having the following configuration. shall be.

(a) Adjacent segments are connected so as to be rotatable in the left-right direction, and a vertically elongated guide hole is formed through the center of the wall adjacent to each segment.(b) The above-mentioned connected segments are A helical core material formed in a spiral shape is inserted into the segment body, and the helical core material passes through the inside of the guide hole. A drive unit is provided to rotate the device.

(Function) According to the above configuration, when the helical core material is rotated by the drive unit, the helical core material is aligned with the center axis of the spiral at the portion that passes through the guide hole of the adjacent wall of each segmental wall. It will rotate around. At this time, since the guide hole is formed vertically, the above-mentioned part of the spiral core material moves up and down within the guide hole, so the segments do not move vertically, but the above-mentioned part of the helical core material moves up and down. Since the lateral movement of the part is not absorbed by the guide hole, the segment body is pressed and moved to the left and right. As a result, the entire toy undergoes a meandering motion. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize left and right meandering motion, which is a prerequisite for meandering motion.

(Example) Hereinafter, the meandering toy of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, and this meandering toy 1 includes a head body 2 located at the top, and articulated bodies sequentially connected to the rear of the head body 2 in series and rotatably to the left. 20, a drive unit 5 such as a motor mounted on the head body 2, a battery 6, and tires 25a, 2 protruding from both sides of the leading segment 20A and rotatably supported.
5b, stoppers 26a, 26a which are also rotatably supported by the leading segment 20A, and guide holes 21a formed vertically in the center of each partition 21 of each segment 20 from the front to the rear. A helical helical core member 22 that penetrates through the helical core member 22, a transmission mechanism 10 that transmits the drive torque from the drive unit 5 to the helical core member 22 (FIG. 2 a, b, c), and a group of segment bodies 20. The roller-shaped rolling element 30 is rotatably supported at a predetermined angle on some bottom surfaces of the roller.

As shown in FIG. 2a, for example, the head body 2 is configured in the shape of a snake's or dragon's head, and is supported fixedly or rotatably in the vertical direction with respect to the leading segment 20A. The head body main body 2a and the main body 2
Upper jaw part 2b that is integrated with a and supports the drive part 5
, the lower jaw 2c holding the wireless receiver 7, and the main body 2.
It is comprised of a corner part 2d which is rotatably attached to the main body 2a and holds the battery 6, and a transmission mechanism 10 which is held inside the main body 2a. Reference numeral 7a is an on/off switch of the radio receiving section.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2b, the driving section 5 is connected to a receiving section 7 and a receiving antenna 7b that receive a control signal from a wireless transmitter (not shown), and is driven based on the control signal. The helical core member 22 is configured to be rotated by the transmission mechanism 10. Transmission mechanism 10
As shown in FIGS. 2b and 2c, the drive torque from the output shaft 5a of the drive unit 5 such as a motor is transferred to the intermediate gear 11.
configured to transmit to the propulsion shaft 12 via the
The rear end of the propulsion shaft 12 is connected to the tip of the helical core 22 by a universal joint 13.

As the drive unit, various types other than those shown in this embodiment can be applied, and for example, a drive unit other than a wireless operation type may be used.

Each left and right tire 25a, 25b is the leading segment 2
0A, and the stoppers 26a, 26a are rotatably supported on both left and right sides of the wall 21 of the segment body 20A, and their tips touch the outer peripheral surfaces of the tires 25a, 25b. It only allows each tire to rotate forward when engaged,
It is configured to prevent it from rolling backwards.

As shown in FIG. 3, each segment 20 includes an upper plate 20a, a wall 21, and a lower plate 20, except for the leading segment 20A.
The same U-shaped objects made up of b are connected by pins 23 so as to be rotatable in the left and right directions. Only the leading segment 20A has a box shape as shown, and is connected to the segment 20 located immediately after it so as to be rotatable left and right. A support hole 21b for rotatably supporting the universal joint 13 is formed in the front wall 21 of the segment 20A, and a guide hole 21b for supporting the spiral core 22 is formed in the rear wall 21 similarly to the other segments 20. 21a. Antenna guide hole 21c is formed next to each guide hole 21a of each segment 20A, 20, through which the antenna 7b is inserted and guided rearward.

Weights 35 are attached to some of the segments located in the center of the segment group 20. This weight 35 is necessary in order to obtain stability when the entire toy 1 moves forward meanderingly.

Further, as shown in the bottom views of FIG. 2
Three segments 20 located immediately after the bend B of
are supported at a predetermined angle of inclination on the bottom surface of each. This angle of inclination is different when the head is swung to the right in the direction of travel (Fig. 4 b) and when it is swung to the left (Fig.
In Fig. c), the first and second bent portions A and B are appropriately set so as not to create a large resistance against the floor surface and prevent the entire meandering toy 1 from moving forward. In this embodiment, the rolling elements 30 constituting the two rolling element groups have different inclination angles, and are inclined to the right (upward in the drawing) in the direction of travel; (bottom of drawing)
It may be tilted to If each rolling element is not given an inclination angle and is arranged perpendicular to the front-rear direction of each segment, each rolling element located at the bottom of each bending part A, B will move in the direction of movement of each bending part. (which is always diagonally forward) makes it difficult to rotate smoothly, and at the same time, the vehicle is dragged, creating a major obstacle to forward movement.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which a spiral core material 22 is inserted into each segment, and the spiral core material 2 is a metal wire, such as a piano wire, spirally wound and fixed in shape. Its front end is rotatably supported by a universal joint 13 as shown in FIG. 2, and its rear end is rotatably supported by a rear segment (not shown). Therefore, when the propulsion shaft 12 rotates, the vertically elongated guide hole 2 of each segment 20
Since the spiral core member 22 penetrating inside 1a also rotates around the central axis of the spiral, its plurality of curved parts press the inner wall of the vertically long guide hole 21a in the left-right direction, causing the pressed segments to wave. Move it alternately to the left and right. As a result, the toy as a whole can meander. By the rotation of the spiral core material 22,
When the leading segment 20A swings left and right, the left and right tires 25 supported on the sides of the leading segment 20A
a and 25b are also configured to alternately rotate forward. That is, when the head is swung to the right in the traveling direction as shown in FIG. 4b, the left (outside) tire 25a rotates forward while the right (inside) tire 2
5b tries to roll backwards, but the right stopper 26
Since the tire 25b is prevented from rotating, the entire toy can be pushed forward in the right direction using only the left tire 25a. Conversely, when the head is swung in the direction of travel as shown in FIG. 4c, the right tire 25b rotates forward while the left tire 25b
A tries to roll backwards, but the left stopper 26a
prevents this, the right tire 25b
You can push the entire toy forward and to the left with just that.
If the stoppers 26a, 26a are not used,
This will allow the inside tire to roll backwards, so
The head and the leading segment 2A are only swung left and right, making it impossible to move forward. Guide hole 21a
As a result of being vertically long, the helical curved portion can be displaced vertically along the groove when the spiral core member 22 rotates, but it is difficult to displace horizontally. That's what I do.

In the above configuration, when a control signal is output from the wireless transmitter with the switch 7a turned on, the signal is inputted to the receiver and the drive unit 5 is driven to rotate. The rotational torque of the drive unit 5 is transmitted from the output shaft 5a to the intermediate gear mechanism 11, the propulsion shaft 12,
is transmitted to the helical core material 22 via the universal joint 13,
The spiral core member 22 rotates while pressing the left and right inner walls of the guide hole 21c formed in the partition wall 21 of each segment 20, respectively. When the guide hole 21C is pressed left and right, the segment having the pressed groove is displaced left and right accordingly. Then, using the straight line state shown in FIG. 4a as an intermediate form, the robot advances forward while repeating the rightward forward movement shown in FIG. 4b and the leftward forward movement shown in FIG. 4c. When the head body 2 swings to the right, the left (outside) tire 25a rolls forward, and when the head body 2 swings to the left, the right (outside) tire 25b rolls forward. At this time, the backward rotation of the inside tire is at stopper 2.
6a and 26a, the toy 1 can reliably advance alternately forward to the right and forward to the left.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire embodiment of the present invention, Figs. 2 a, b, and c are explanatory views of the structure around the head body, Fig. 3 is an explanatory view of the exploded structure of the segment body, and Fig. 4 a,
b and c are bottom views showing each posture of the meandering toy when it moves forward, and FIG. 5 is a side view of each segment. Code, 1...Meandering toy, 2...Head body, 2a...
...Body, 2b...Upper jaw, 2c...Lower jaw, 5...Drive unit, 5a...Output shaft, 6...Battery, 7...Wireless receiver, 7a...Switch, 10...Transmission mechanism,
11... Intermediate gear, 12... Propulsion shaft, 13... Universal joint, 20... Joint body, 20A... Leading joint body,
21... Partition wall, 22... Spiral core material, 21a... Guide hole, 21b... Support hole, 21c... Guide hole, 2
3...Pin, 25a, 25b...Tire, 26
a, 26a... Stopper, 30... Rolling element, 35
……weight.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A meandering toy comprising a plurality of block-like segments connected in series at the rear of a head body having the following configuration. (a) Adjacent segments are connected so as to be rotatable in the left-right direction, and a vertically elongated guide hole is formed through the center of the wall adjacent to each segment.(b) The above-mentioned connected segments are A helical core material formed in a spiral shape is inserted into the segment body, and the helical core material passes through the inside of the guide hole. A drive unit is provided to rotate the device.