US3706159A - Toy for simulating vehicle travel - Google Patents

Abstract

A toy which simulates the travel of a vehicle along roads. A rotary disc has an upper surface which simulates roads and terrain bordering on the roads. A drive is connected to the disc for rotating the latter, and a toy vehicle has wheels which rest on the upper surface of the disc so that when the latter rotates the vehicle will appear to travel on the upper surface of the disc. A manually operable structure coacts with the vehicle for moving the latter with respect to the disc, so that by manipulation of the manually operable structure it is possible to maintain the vehicle on roads which move with the rotating disc.

Description

1451 Dec. 19, 1972 [54] TOY FOR SIMULATING VEHICLE TRAVEL [72] inventors: Raymond J. Lohr; Carl J. Merl,

both of Erie, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Louis Marx & Co., Inc., New York,

221 Filed: Jan. 3, 1972 211 App]. No.: 215,969

52] us. Cl .46/240, 35/11 [51 int. Cl. ..A63h 33/26 [58 Field of Search ..3s/11; 46/240; 273/86, 86 B [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,918,284 12/1959 Baca ..273/86 3,231,988 2/1966 Freyde ..35/l1 X 3,525,175 8/1970 Wolf ..46/24O FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,031,011 5/1966 Great Britain Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Robert F. Cutting AttorneyAlex Friedman et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A toy which simulates the travel of a vehicle along roads.v A rotary disc has an upper surface which simulates roads and terrain bordering on the roads. A drive l2 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEB m1 9 I912 SHEET 1 OF 3 if INVENTORS f4 YMON0 J2 LaA/z 67724 J? M524 425 0, ,fm dmm w ATTORNEYS TOY FOR SIMULATING VEHICLE TRAVEL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to toys.

In particular, the present invention relates to toys for simulating the travel of a vehicle along roads.

While there are known toys of this general type, these known toys are generally extremely complex and expensive. Thus, the conventional toys of this general type include relatively large complex structures which occupy a large amount of space and which are costly to manufacture and maintain in operation. In the case where the vehicle moves with respect to stationary roads, an extremely large amount of space is required. However, with known toys where the road-simulating structure moves with respect to the vehicle, it is also necessary to provide extremely complex devices for moving the structure which simulates the roads as well as for controlling the position of the vehicle along the roads.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is accordingly a primary object of the present invention to provide a toy of the above general type which will avoid the above drawbacks.

Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide a relatively inexpensive toy which will occupy only a small amount of space and which at the same time is capable of providing a high degree of simulation of the travel of a vehicle along roads. I

Another object of the present invention is to provide a structure of this type which can readily be assembled and disassembled so that when it is not used it will occupy a small amount of space.

Furthermore it is an object of the present invention to provide a toy of the above type which will require a considerable amount of skill and practice on the part of the operator of the toy so that a high degree of entertainment will be achieved from the toy.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a toy of the abovetype which while being relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture at the same time can be operated in a number of different ways to achieve a high degree of entertainment.

. According to the invention the toy includes a rotary disc having an upper surface provided with a means for simulating roads and terrain bordering on the roads. A toy vehicle has wheels which rest on the upper surface of the disc and a drive means is operatively connected with the disc for rotating the latter so that as the disc rotates the vehicle will appear to travel along roads. A manually operable means coacts with the vehicle for moving the latter with respect to the disc so that in this way by manipulation of the manually operable means it is possible for the operator to, maintain the vehicle on the roads which turn with the disc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings which form part of this application and in which:

FIG. I is a top plan view of one possible embodiment of a toy according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of the toy of FIG. 1 as seen when looking toward the lower part of FIG. 1 with part of the structure at, the left of FIG. 2 being shown in section so as to more clearly illustrate the details of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional elevation taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and fragmentarily illustrating the manner in which the toy vehicle is moved along a rotating disc;

FIG. 4 is a transverse fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows and showing at an enlarged scale as compared to FIG. 2 part of the manually operable means and control means of the toy of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary sectional plan view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows and showing schematically the electrical drive means and the control means which controls the drive means;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 6.6 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows and illustrating a detent structure for holding the drive means in a selected operating position;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional elevation taken along line 7-7 of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrows and illustrating further details of the control means fo the drive means; i

FIG. 8 is a sectional elevation taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrows and showing at a scale which is enlarged as compared to FIG. 1 structure of the drive means as well as a clutch means for positively driving the rotary disc;

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectional elevation of the structure of FIG. 8 taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8 in the direction of the arrows and illustrating further details of the clutch means and drive means; and

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary plan view taken along line 10-10 of FIG. 4 in the direction of the arrows and showing further details of the manually operable means for controlling the movement of the vehicle with respect to the disc.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated therein a rotary circular disc 20 which has an-upper surface 22 which is generally horizontal and which carries a means 24' which simulates roads 26 and terrain 28 bordering on the roads. The disc 20 is made of a non-magnetic material such as cardboard, plastic, or even non-magnetic sheet metal. The means 24 may take the form of painted or otherwise reproduced coloring coating the exterior visible surface of the disc 20, particularly at its upper surface 22, so as to provide a simulation of a network of roads and terrain bordering on the roads. However, the upper surface 22 may be irregular so that it can have projections or sockets for receiving mating elements of structures simulatingbridges, buildings,

and the upper surface 22 of the disc 20 may have at its means 24 such features as simulations of gas stations, railroad stations, etc., so as to provide an interesting and varied patterns of roads, drives, etc., along which a vehicle-simulating toy 30 is to be guided.

As is apparent from FIG. 2 in particular, the disc 20 has as its periphery a downwardly extending cylindrical portion 32 which terminates in an outwardly directed flange 34, the cylindrical portion 32 and flange 34 also being shown in FIG. 9. I

A support means 36 supports the. disc for rotary movement. .The support means 36- is in the form of a spider having, in the-illustrated example, four arms in the form of rods or wires whose inner ends are received in sleeves 40 which are fixed to each other and which cross each other at a right angle while being located in a common plane, so that in this'way the several rods or wires 38 of the support means 36 radiate outwardly from the center formed by the intersection of the coplanar sleeves 40. These sleeves 40 may be molded in plastic so as to have the configuration shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1 with the outer ends of the sleeves being hollow so as to receive the inner ends of the rods or wires 38. The pair of perpendicular sleeves 40 are integrally formed with or fixedto an upstanding post 42 having a shoulderwhich is directed upwardly and which engages the disc 20 at its lower surface while the post 42 .itself extends upwardly through a central opening of the disc 20. At their outer ends the several arms 38 of the support means 36 have upwardly'directed portions 44, one of which is clearly illustrated in FIG. 2, at the left thereof, andthese upwardly directed portions 44 terminate in outwardly extending horizontal portions carrying rotary wheels 46, respectively, so that in this way the several wheels 46 engage the lower surface of the disc 20 at the region of the outer peripheral cylindrical portion 32 thereof with the several wheels 46 being angularly displaced with respect to each other by 90? around the center of the disc, as is apparent from FIG. 1. It is furthermore apparent from FIG. 1 that only three wheels 46 are prOvided. At the lower portion of FIG. 1 there is a unit 50 from which the controls are manipulated and at which is located a drive means for rotating the disc, this unit 50 being described in greater detail below. Thus, through the above simple expedient of a relatively small numberof rods or wires 38 which are assembled with each other in the manner of a spider-type of construction, as illustrated in FIG. 1 and described above, the simple, light disc 20 is'supported for free rotary movement.

As was indicated-above, a vehicle-simulating toy 30 rests directly on the upper surface 22 of the disc 20. Referring to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the vehiclesimulating toy 30 simulates an automobile. It has a body which carries for free rotary movement the four wheels 52, and this toy 30 can be constructed in any suitable way so that it will have a strong resemblance to a conventional automobile with the wheels 52 being freely turnable on suitable axles carried by the body 54 of the toy 30. As is apparent from FIG. 3, this body 54 is of a non-magnetic plastic. The body 54 fixedly carries a permanent magnet 56. Preferably this permanent magnet 56 has its north pole N at the part of the magnet 3. This magnet 56, which is the driven-magnet, is controlled by a driving magnet 58 which is magnetized through its thickness so that the driving magnet 58 has a south pole at the region of its upper surface and a north pole at the region of its lower surface. Thus, because of this polarity of the permanent magnet 58 its upper surface will attract the north pole of magnet 56 which is situated close to the front axle of the vehicle 30. a I

The magnets 56 and 58 form part of a manually operable means for moving the vehicle 30 with respect to the disc 20. This manually operable means includes an elongated bar or strip 60 which is of asuitable nonmagnetic material and to which thedriving magnet 58 is riveted, as by the hollow rivet 62 illustrated in FIG. 3. As is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2, the elongated bar 60 has alength approximating the length of the radius of the disc 20, and it extends from the region of the left portion of the disc, as viewed in FIG. 1, out to the lower peripheral portion of the disc, as viewed in FIG. .1.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the end of the bar 60 distant from the driving magnet 58 terminates in a. slightly offset portion 60' which is received beneath a wall portion 64-of a rotary member 68 made of a suitable plastic. This rotary member 68 has outwardly of the wall portion 64 a wall portion 70 located slightly below the wall portion 64, so that between the wall portions 64 and 70 there is an opening or slot 72 through which the offset end 62 of the bar 60 can extend to the position indicated in FIG. 4. As may be seen from FIG. 10, the rotary member 68 has, directed away from the pivot 74'and toward the disc 20 an elongated portion 76 formed with an upwardly directed groove the bot- 56 which is nearest to the front wheels 52. This location of the north pole N of the magnet 56 can be brought about by magnetizing the magnet 56 in a suitable way after it is mounted on the toy or the magnet 56 may be preliminarily magnetized and may carry a suitable dot or the like indicating the location of the north pole so that when the vehicle 30 is assembled the magnet 56 will be situated in this manner.

This magnet 56 forms a driven magnet and it is magnetized in such a way that the north and south poles are diammetrically opposed from each other in the region of the lower surface of the magnet 56, as viewed in FIG.

tom wall of which is formed by the elongated wall 70, and the outer end region of the bar 60 is received in this groove. The side walls 78 of the elongated portion 76 of rotary member 68 thus engage the side edges of the bar 60, so that as the member 68 turns about the upstanding pivot pin 74 the bar 60 will swing, so that this structure forms a swing member carrying the driving magnet 58 which will thus swing transversely of the disc causing the vehicle-simulating toy 30 to move with the magnet 58 due to the magnetic attraction as referred to above. In this connection it is to be-noted that by locating the. poles of the magnets 56 and 58 in the manner described above and indicated in FIG. 3, during swinging of the bar 60 it will appear that the front end of the vehicle swings with respect to the rear end thereof, closely simulating actual steering of a vehicle.

Referring to FIG. 4, it will be seen that the pivot pin 74 extends through a vertical bore of the rotary member 68 with the latter extending through a slot in a front wall 80 of a control box 82 which forms a housing for the control unit 50 shown at the lower part of FIG. 1. This opening in the front wall 80 is bridged by the pin 74 which is situated in bores above and below the opening in the front wall 80 through which the swing member 68 extends with the pin 74 extending through the swing member so that the latter is supported for swinging movement about the vertical axis defined by the pin 74.

Rearwardly of the pin 74 the member 68 is widened and formed with an elongated slot which extends along a circle whose center is in the axis of the pin 74, and the edge of this slot 84 (FIG. 10) which is distant from the pin 74 is formed with rack teeth 86.

The upper wall 88 of the housing 82 is formed with an opening through which a steering shaft 90 extends. This shaft 90 has a lower reduced end 92 received in an opening in the bottom wall 94 of the housing 82 (FIG. 4). Upwardly beyond the wall 88, the rotary steering shaft 90 fixedly carries a reduced portion 96 which at its top end carries a steering wheel 98. At the elevation of the rack teeth 86 the steering column or shaft 90 is provided with teeth 100 forming a pinion meshing with the teeth 86. Thus when the operator engages the steering wheel 98 so as to turn the steering column 90, the rotary 68 will swing in one direction or the other about the pin 74 so as to swing the bar 60 and the driving magnet 58 therewith, and in this way the toy vehicle 30 will be moved with respect to the disc 20. Thus, the train of motion-transmitting elements extending all the way from the steering wheel 918 through the shaft 90, the rotary member 68, and the bar 60 as well as the permanent magnets forms a manually operable means for moving the vehicle with respect to the disc.

As has been indicated above, a drive'means is provided for rotating the disc about its center on the I support means 36. This drive means includes an electric motor 102 shown at the right portion of FIG. 8 and illustrated schematically in FIG. 5. The electric motor 102 drives a shaft 104 which fixedly carries a worm 106 This worm may be formed integrally with the shaft 104, as shown in FIG. 9. The motor 102 together with the shaft 104 and the worm 106 are suitably supported on upstanding wall portions 108 which are integral with and extend upwardly from the bottom wall 94 of the housing 82.

In connection with the housing 82 it is to be noted that at its portion which is most distant from the disc the bottom wall 94 is formed with an opening 110 receiving, as shown at the lower right portion of FIG. 4, an upstanding free end portion 112 of the elongated rod or wire 114 which corresponds to the rods or wires 38 shown in FIG. 1 and described above. This rod 114 thus forms part of the support means 36. The bottom wall 94 of the housing 82 is raised above the'surface on which the device of the invention rests by way of an elongated supporting flange or lip 1 16 which is integral with and extends downwardly from the bottom wall 94, this supporting flange or lip 116 being integral with the wall 94. The flange or lip 116 is formed with suitable notches through which the rod or wire 114 extends, as

is apparent from FIG. 4, so that in this way the entire 1 unit 50 is properly oriented with respect to the rod 114 which itself is received in one of the sleeves 40, as illustrated in FIG. 1, so that-in this way the entire unit 50 has a predetermined location with respect tothe disc 20.

Referring now to the drive means, which includes the motor 102 and its output shaft 104 as well as the worm 106 carried thereby, this drive means further includes a rotary worm wheel 118 which has a lower portion extending through a suitable opening formed in the bottom wall 94. This worm wheel 118 is fixedly carried by an elongated shaft 120 which is supported in suitable bearings carried by upstanding portions 122 which may be formed integrally with the bottom wall 94, as indicated in FIG. 9. The shaft 120 extends to the exterior of the housing 82 through an opening 124 formed in a front wall of the housing 82, and outwardly of the housing 82 just beyond the front wall thereof the shaft 120 fixedly carries a drive wheel 126 which has the configuration shown most clearly in FIG. 9 and which is situated just beneath the outwardly directed flange 34 so that this flange 34 engages the front tapered portion of the drive wheel 126, as illustrated in FIG. 9.

The motor 102 is a reversible motor and is controlled in a manner described in greater detail below. When the motor 102 operates the drive wheel 126 will turn, .but the simple resting of the flange 34 on the upper surface of the drive wheel 126 will not provide a positive drive for the rotary disc 20. In order to achieve this positive drive a clutch, which is manually operable, is provided. This clutch means 128 includes a clutch wheel 130 which normally presses downwardly against the flange 34 at its upper surface so as to press the flange against the drive wheel 126. The clutch wheel 130 is identical with the wheel 126 but is displaced somewhatforwardly thereof, as illustrated in FIG. 9, so that the rear tapered surface portion of the clutch wheel 130 will overlap the'front tapered surface portion of the wheel 126 providing a positive drive in the manner shown most clearly in FIG. 9.

The clutch means 128 includes in addition to the wheel 130 a swing lever 132 of substantially U-shaped configuration supported for swinging movement in openings of upstanding portions 134 which are integral with the bottom wall 94 of the housing 82. The left upwardly directed portion 136 of the lever 132 has a forwardly directed extension which directly carries the clutch wheel 130 which is freely rotatable with respect to this forwardly extending portion of the left upper part 136 of the lever 132, as viewed in FIG. 9. The right part of the lever 132, as viewed in FIG. 9, extends upwardly through an elongated slot 140 formed in the upper wall 88 of the housing 82. At its outer end which is situated upwardly beyond the wall 88, the lever 132 carries a handle 142 shown in FIG. 8. As is apparent from FIG. 8, the portion 144 of the lever 132 which extends from the handle 142 is formed with an intermediate curved portion 146 onto which one end of a coil spring 148 is hooked. The other end of the coil spring 148 is hooked onto a stationary projection 150 carried by an upper portion of a projection which is integral with the bottom wall 94 of the housing 82. It will be noted from FIGS. 8 and 9 that the housing 82 is composed of a lower portion which carries the several upstanding parts integral with the bottom wall 94 for supporting the items referred to above, while this lower portion is joined with an upper cover so that in this way the housing 82 has a hollow interior. The top wall 88 forms part of the upper cover. This upper cover 88 has a front portion formed with an opening through which the upper end of the part 136 of lever 132 extends so that the entire lever can freely swing in order to displace the clutch wheel 130 upwardly away from and downwardly toward the drive wheel 126. Referring to FIG. 8, it will be seen that the spring 148 urges the elongated part 144 of the lever 132 toward the left position shown in FIG. 8, where this part 144 is situated in the region of the left end of the elongated slot 140 through which the part 144 extends to carry the handle 142 and along which the part 144 is swung by the operator in opposition to the spring 148. When the part 144 is in this latter left position shown in FIG. 8, the

arm 136 is in the solid line position of FIG. 8 where thewheel 130v is pressed downwardly against the flange 34 pressing the latter against the drive wheel 126. Thus it is apparent from FIG. 8 that the arms 136 and 144 of the lever 132 are angularly offset with respect to each other.

The swinging of the handle 142 from the solid to the dot-dash line position shown in FIG. 8'not only disengages the clutch but in addition it facilitates assembly of the components. Thus when the disc 20 is initially placed on the support means 36, the clutch wheel 130 will be raised by turning of the handle 142 from the solid to the dot-dash line position of FIG. 8, and this will provide between'the wheels 130 and 126 a gap into which ,the flange 34 can readily be moved when the parts are assembled, and of course through the reverse of these operations-the parts are readily disassembled. At the same time, during operation through the pressure of the spring 148 of the clutch means 128 a positive drive is transmitted to the rotary disc through the drive wheel 126. i

As has been indicated above, the entire controls vare located at the unit 50 which includes the-housing 82. Thus, the steering wheel 98 is available at the unit 50 to .be turned by the operator in a manner resembling the steering wheel of an automobile with the entire unit 50 resembling a dashboard of a vehicle, as will be particularly apparent from the discussion below. The energy for driving the motor 102 is preferably taken from batteries 154 such as any suitable well known drycell battery. The top wall of the housing 82 is provided with a removable cover 156 (FIG. 1) through which the batteries 154 can be introduced into an removed from the interior of the housing 82. FIG. 1 shows just in front of the cover 156 the handle 142 for the clutch means. The motor 102 is shown schematically in FIG. connected with the drive wheel 126'over which the clutch wheel 130 is illustrated with part of the disc being shown in phantom lines at the right portion of FIG. 5. The electrical leads for the motor 102 are connected to a pair of contacts 158 and 160 as schematically indicated in FIG. 5. These contacts are also indicated in FIG. 4 carried by the top wall 88 which is of a plastic, non-conductive material. The upper exposed surfaces of the contacts 158 and 160 are situated in the hollow interior of a plastic, non-conductive enclosure 162 which is fixed in any suitable way to the top surface of the top wall 88 and which has a central sleeve portion 164 surrounding part of the shaft 90 so as to support the latter for rotary movement or carrying a bearing in the form of a suitable sleeve through which the shaft 90 extends. The enclosure 162 may be fixed to the top surface of wall 88 as by being bonded thereto, for example.

Within the enclosure 162 is located a rotary control member 166 which is guided for turning movement by the sleeve portion 164 and which has an outer upwardly extending flange 168. This flange 168 is fixed with a control rod 170 shown in FIG. 5. Thus the rod 170 may be formed integrally with the flange 168 at a thickened portion of the latter, as is apparent from FIG. 5. The control rod 170 extends through an elongated cutout 172 which is formed in the side wall of the enclosure 162, so that the control member 166 can easily be turned. The outer end of the control rod 170 is freely accessible to the operator, as is apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2 in particular. This control rod 170 thus closely simulates a gear-shift lever of an automobile, and it will be noted from FIGS. 1 and 2 that the rod 170 is oriented with respect to the steering wheel 98 in a manner simulating the orientation of a conventional gear shift lever and steering wheel of an automobile. The upper surface of the wall 88 carries at the elongated cutout 172, as shown most clearly in-FIG. 5, the designations F, N, and R, which respectively indicate forward, neutral, and reverse, and the control rod 170 will be aligned with these designations in order to provide forward rotation of the disc 20 when aligned with the designation F, reverse rotation when aligned with the designation R, with the rotation'being terminated when the rod is aligned with the designation N, as illustrated in FIG. 5.

The rotary control member 166 is urged downwardly toward the wall 88 by a coil spring 172 which presses against the upper wall of the enclosure 162, surrounding the sleeve portion 164 thereof, and which presses downwardly against the rotary control member 166. In this way the member 166 is maintained at the elevation shown in FIG. 4 and a good electrical contactwill be achieved between the control switches,.as described below;

The peripheral portion of the rotary control member 166, at the region of the flange 168, is formed with one pair of opposed elongated cutouts 174 and 176 in which the motor contacts 158 and are located, as is apparent from FIG. 5 in particular. Midway between these elongated cutouts 174 and 176 the rotary member 166 is formed with a pair of diammetrically opposed shorter cutouts 178, one of which is clearly shown in FIG. 5. These cutouts 178 receive upwardly bulging portions of a pair of elongated curved springy switch contact members 180 and 182. These switch contact members 180 and 182 are fixed to and extend along the periphery of the rotary control .member 166 at the lower surface thereof. For example the switch members 180 and 182 may be suitably glued or bonded to the plastic material of the control member 166. .The springy switch members 180 and 182 terminate in free ends located in the cutouts 174 and 176 and curved upwardlyslightly so that these free ends will slide onto and off from the stationary contacts 158 and 160 which are connected electrically to the winding of the motor 102 as shown schematically in FIG. 5. i

In the neutral position shown in FIG. 5, the contacts 180 and 182 have their upwardly bulging portions in the cutouts 178 extending around and out of contact with a pair of stationary battery contacts 184 and 186. Thus, the batteries 154 are connected to the stationary battery contacts 184 and 186 in the manner shown schematically in FIG. 5. However, in the neutral position of rod and control disc 166 which is illustrated in FIG. 5, the central bulging portions of the pain of switch contacts and 182 extend around without engaging these stationary battery contacts. The position of the parts is particularly apparent from FIG. 7.

Assuming now that the rod 170 is swung into a position of alignment with the designation F, then, referring to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the switch contact 182 will simultaneously engage the pair of stationary contacts 158 and 186 'while the switch contact 180 will simultaneously engage the pair of stationary contacts-l84 and 160. As a result current will flow from the batteries in one direction through the winding of the motor 102. On the other hand, if the rod 170 is displaced into alignment with the designation R, then the contacts 158 and 184 will be bridged by the switch contact 180 while the contacts 186 and 160 will be bridged by the contact 182, and now the current will flow in the reverse direction through the motor 102. In this way the rod 170, corresponding to a conventional gear shift lever, can be manipulated to provide forward or reverse rotation of the disc '20.

In order to releasably maintain the control disc 166 in a selected angular position, a detent structureis provided. This detent structure includes three slots 188',

ball is mounted on a tubularmember 198 which eixtends through the lower end of the depression 194 and which is urged upwardly by a leaf spring 200-fixed to the wall 88 by a rivet 202. The leaf spring 200 has the width which is apparent in FIG. 5. At its left end, as viewed in FIGS. 5 and 6, the leaf spring has an upwardly directed portion of a narrower width extending into the tube 198 and terminating in lower upwardly directed shoulders which engage the'bottom end of the tube 198. Thus, when the parts are in the position of FIGS. 5 and 6, the disc 166 will be releasably held in the illustrated position by the pressure of the ball 196 in the lower portion of the slot 190 of the disc 166. When the rod 170 is moved to the forward position, the ball 196 will be pushed downwardly out of the slot 190 and will snap into the lower portion of the slot 192 so as to releasably hold the disc 166 in the position providing for forward rotation of the disc. In the same way when the rod 170 is moved to the reverse position the springpressed ball 196 of the detent means will be received in the lower portion of the slot 188.

Assuming that the parts are in the position shown in FIG. 1, it will be seen that the disc will not rotate because the rod 170 is in the neutral position where there is no electrical connection between the motor contacts 158 and 160, on the one hand, and the battery contacts 184 and 186, on the other hand. If the operator now desires to provide forward rotation, which would be clockwise rotation of the disc 20, as viewed in FIG. I, he will move the lever 170 to the F position. The motor 102 will thus become energized in the manner described above, and the rotating drive wheel 126 by frictional engagement with the flange 34, which is pinched between the clutch wheel 130 and the drive wheel 126, will provide the clockwise turning of the disc 20. This disc 20 will turn in this direction at a constant speed. If the steering wheel 98 is not turned, then the vehicle 30 will remain at a given distance from the center of the rotating disc while the latter turns with respect to the stationary vehicle 30, with the wheels of the latter turning due to the movement of the disc with respect to the vehicle. The vehicle is maintained stationary at this time by reason of the magnetic attraction between the magnets 56 and 58, as described above. It will be noted that from FIG. 1, that the several roads 26 formed by the means 24 curve in a variety of directions on the top surface 22 of the disc 20. The object isfor the operator to turn the wheel 98 so as to maintain the vehicle on'the roads. Asthe operator turns the wheel 98, the rack and pinion transmission 86, 100, referred to above, will bring about rotary movement of member 68 so that the bar 60 and the drive magnet 58 will swing. It will be noted from FIG. 3 that the upper surface of the magnet 58, at the left region of the latter, as viewed in FIG. 3, including the upper surface of the rivet 62, will glide easily along the lower surface of the disc 20. Thus, as the operator turns the steering wheel 98 thevehicle 30 will be moved with respect to the rotating disc, and the direction of turning of the wheel 98 willbe such as to maintain the vehicle 30 on the roads 26 which rotate around the centerofthe disc with respect to the vehicle which is displaced along the top surface of the disc along a curve whose center is in the axis of the pivot pin 74. Of course, the operator can at any time return the lever to the neutral position, or if desired this lever 170 may be placed in the reverse position to provide a counterclockwise turning of the disc 20 if desired.

Experience has shown that with this simple structure an exceedingly realistic simulation of movement of a vehicle along roads is achieved with a high degree of entertainment and with exercise of a certain amount of skill being required on the part of the operator in order to maintain the vehicle on the roads with the operator even selecting various roads along which the vehicle is to travel, so that a highly entertaining device is achieved. It will be noted from FIG. 1 that the range of swinging of the bar 60 is such that it can sweep through the lower left quadrant of the circular area occupied by the disc 20, so that the vehicle moves at this lower left quadrant with the entire disc 20 rotating continuously through this lower left quadrant while the vehicle 30 is displaced transversely, in a substantially horizontal direction as viewed in FIG. 1, to bring about the surprisingly realistic effect which is achieved with the structure of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In a toy for simulating vehicle travel, a rotary disc having an upper surface carrying a means which simulates roads and terrain bordering the roads, support means supporting said disc for rotary movement, drive means operatively connected with said disc for rotating the latter, a toy vehicle having wheels resting on said upper surface of said disc so that when the latter rotates the wheels of the toy vehicle will turn for simulating travel of the vehicle along the roads, and manually .operable means coacting with said vehicle for moving the latter with respect to the disc while the latter is rotated by said drive means, so that in accordance with the manipulation of said manually operable means the toy vehicle will appear to travel along the roads.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a manually operable clutch means coacts with said disc for providing a positive driving engagement between the latter and said drive means.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a manually operable control means is operatively connected with said drive means for actuating the latter to rotate said disc either in one direction or in an opposed direction.

tion of said drive means so as to terminate the rotation of said disc. y

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said support means supports said disc for rotation about a center of said disc and said drive means coacts with a peripheral region of said disc for rotating the latter about its center. 6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said disc is made of a non-magnetic material, said manually operable means which coacts with said vehicle for moving the latter. with respect to said disc including a permanent magnet carried by said vehicle, a second permanent magnet situated beneath said disc in the region of the permanent magnet carried by the vehicle, and a manually swingable non-magnetic member carrying said second magnet for swinging the latter to. act through the disc on the magnet carried by said vehicle for moving the latter with respect to the disc.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said manually swingable non-magnetic member includes an elongated bar carrying said second magnet and extending to a location at a peripheral region of said disc, a rotary member carrying said bar, and a steering wheel simulating member connected to said rotary member for turning the latter and said bar therewith.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein said steering wheel simulating member is supported for rotary movement about a predetermined axis and carries a pinion, said swingable member having a rack engaging said pinion so that in response to manual. turning of said steering wheel simulating member said bar will swing so as to displace said second magnet and thus move the vehicle with respect to the disc.

9. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said disc has at its outer periphery a cylindrical portion extending downwardly from said upper surface thereof, and

said cylindrical portion terminating beneath said upper surface in an outwardly directed flange, said drive means having a rotary drive wheel engaging said flange, and a manually operable clutch means coacting with said flange for pressing the latter against wheel;

10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said drive wheel is situatedv beneath saidflange and said clutch means includes ,a wheel situated above said flange, a lever-connected to said clutch wheel for replacing the latter toward and away from said flange, and a spring connected to said lever for urging the latter in a direction which presses said clutch wheel downwardly against said flange to .press the latter against said drive wheel, said lever being manually tumble in opposition to said spring to a location disencooperating with the latter pole of the magnet above the disc to provide an attractive force closer to the front than the rear wheels of the-vehicle-simulating toy so as to more closely simulate steering thereof during movement of the magnet below the disc, the latter magnet being carried by a swing member of said manually operable means so that the latter magnet can be swung to bring about movement of the vehicle with respect to the disc.

12. The combination of claim 11 and wherein said magnet beneath said disc is magnetized through its thickness and has an upper surface of a polarity which attracts the pole of the magnet above the disc which is nearest to the front wheels of the vehicle, and the latter magnet above the disc being polarized at its lower surface which is directed downwardly toward the disc with one of the poles at this lower surface of the latter magnet situated adjacent the front wheels to be attracted by the upper pole of the magnet which is beneath the disc.

said drive

Claims (12)

1. In a toy for simulating vehicle travel, a rotary disc having an upper surface carrying a means which simulates roads and terrain bordering the roads, support means supporting said disc for rotary movement, drive means operatively connected with said disc for rotating the latter, a toy vehicle having wheels resting on said upper surface of said disc so that when the latter rotates the wheels of the toy vehicle will turn for simulating travel of the vehicle along the roads, and manually operable means coacting with said vehicle for moving the latter with respect to the disc while the latter is rotated by said drive means, so that in accordance with the manipulation of said manually operable means the toy vehicle will appear to travel along the roads.

2. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a manually operable clutch means coacts with said disc for providing a positive driving engagement between the latter and said drive means.

3. The combination of claim 1 and wherein a manually operable control means is operatively connected with said drive means for actuating the latter to rotate said disc either in one direction or in an opposed direction.

4. The combination of claim 3 and wherein said control means has a neutral position terminating the operation of said drive means so as to terminate the rotation of said disc.

5. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said support means supports said disc for rotation about a center of said disc and said drive means coacts with a peripheral region of said disc for rotating the latter about its center.

6. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said disc is made of a non-magnetic material, said manually operable means which coacts with said vehicle for moving the latter with respect to said disc including a permanent magnet carried by said vehicle, a second permanent magnet situated beneath said disc in the reGion of the permanent magnet carried by the vehicle, and a manually swingable non-magnetic member carrying said second magnet for swinging the latter to act through the disc on the magnet carried by said vehicle for moving the latter with respect to the disc.

7. The combination of claim 6 and wherein said manually swingable non-magnetic member includes an elongated bar carrying said second magnet and extending to a location at a peripheral region of said disc, a rotary member carrying said bar, and a steering wheel simulating member connected to said rotary member for turning the latter and said bar therewith.

8. The combination of claim 7 and wherein said steering wheel simulating member is supported for rotary movement about a predetermined axis and carries a pinion, said swingable member having a rack engaging said pinion so that in response to manual turning of said steering wheel simulating member said bar will swing so as to displace said second magnet and thus move the vehicle with respect to the disc.

9. The combination of claim 1 and wherein said disc has at its outer periphery a cylindrical portion extending downwardly from said upper surface thereof, and said cylindrical portion terminating beneath said upper surface in an outwardly directed flange, said drive means having a rotary drive wheel engaging said flange, and a manually operable clutch means coacting with said flange for pressing the latter against said drive wheel.

10. The combination of claim 9 and wherein said drive wheel is situated beneath said flange and said clutch means includes a wheel situated above said flange, a lever connected to said clutch wheel for replacing the latter toward and away from said flange, and a spring connected to said lever for urging the latter in a direction which presses said clutch wheel downwardly against said flange to press the latter against said drive wheel, said lever being manually turnable in opposition to said spring to a location disengaging said clutch wheel from said flange.

11. The combination of claim 1 and wherein the vehicle-simulating toy has front and rear wheels resting on said upper surface of said disc, and said manually operable means including a pair of permanent magnets located respectively above and below the disc with the magnet above the disc being carried by the vehicle with a pole of the latter magnet situated closer to the front wheels than the rear wheels of the vehicle-simulating toy, the magnet which is beneath said disc having a pole cooperating with the latter pole of the magnet above the disc to provide an attractive force closer to the front than the rear wheels of the vehicle-simulating toy so as to more closely simulate steering thereof during movement of the magnet below the disc, the latter magnet being carried by a swing member of said manually operable means so that the latter magnet can be swung to bring about movement of the vehicle with respect to the disc.

12. The combination of claim 11 and wherein said magnet beneath said disc is magnetized through its thickness and has an upper surface of a polarity which attracts the pole of the magnet above the disc which is nearest to the front wheels of the vehicle, and the latter magnet above the disc being polarized at its lower surface which is directed downwardly toward the disc with one of the poles at this lower surface of the latter magnet situated adjacent the front wheels to be attracted by the upper pole of the magnet which is beneath the disc.

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