Patent Application
20100035511
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a model container car that imitates the form of a real car and, in particular, to a mounting structure of a removable container.
2. Description of the Background Art
Model train fans have their own tastes. Examples of fields that have been popular in recent years include container freight cars (Japanese Railway Vehicle Type: Koki 106 Type, Koki 5000 Type, Koki 25000 Type, etc.). Containers loaded on the container freight cars include various types of containers such as 5 t containers (t is ton), 10 t containers, 40 f containers (f is feet), 31 f containers, and tank containers. The containers of the same type vary in design and coloring. The designs that look the same may slightly differ in details in many cases. From such wide variations, the container freight cars are also significantly popular in model railroad industries. There exist even garage makers that sell containers, which are subjected to various types of designs and coloring, alone.
Actual container binding methods are not common to containers of all types. The binding methods corresponding to the types are employed. Therefore, a plurality of types of binding mechanisms is also mounted on actual container freight cars that load and carry various types of containers. For example, at the time of loading of a 5 t container, a folding type binding apparatus for the 5 t container, described above, is used. Specifically, a pair of binding apparatuses set on a loading surface sandwiches the container from the outside, to fix the container. At the time of loading of a container other than the 5 t container, bosses respectively provided at four corners at the bottom of the container are inserted into mounting holes previously formed on a loading surface, to fix the container. In this case, the folding type binding apparatus corresponding to the size of the 5 t container interferes with the bottom of the container (excluding the 5 t container) if it remains projecting upward from the loading surface. Therefore, the folding type binding apparatus is set folded sideward.
On the other hand, container mounting methods in models are common to containers of all types. Projecting claws A integrally formed in frames are uniformly employed. However, the projecting claws A can realize functions required as the models in simple configurations, while reducing reality as the models. For example, in a 40 f container larger in size than the 5 t container, cutout portions for avoiding the projecting claws A should be respectively provided on front and rear surfaces of the container. The mounting of the 40 f container by the projecting claws A is achieved by engagement with projections or depressions formed on an inner side surface of the container. Conditions for this are that the inner side surface of the container exists at a position where the projecting claws A are arranged, that is, both the projecting claws A and the container are opposed to each other. In the case of containers other than the 40 f container, the conditions are satisfied. In the case of the 40 f container, the conditions are not satisfied because the position of the projecting claws A and the wall of the front surface (or the rear surface) of the container are just overlapped with each other. For the 40 f container only, slit-shaped cutout portions are formed on the front and rear surfaces of the container to avoid interference with the projecting claws A. Of course, such cutout portions do not exist in actual 40 f containers. Therefore, the existence of the cutout portions degrades reality as models. Note that the cutout portions are not required if the arrangement itself of the projecting claws A is changed. In the case, the arrangement of the projecting claws A is not consistent with the arrangement of folding type binding apparatuses, thereby reducing the reality in another sense.
Furthermore, in forms at the time of non-loading of containers in which containers are not mounted on the model container freight cars, the appearances are not good. The heights of projecting claws A with loading surfaces used as the basis, that is, projection heights are important factors that affect engagement performances (engagement forces with the containers and ease of engagement). From this viewpoint, the projecting claws A are forced to increase in height to some extent. When grasped on the same scale, therefore, the projecting claws A are significantly higher than the actual folding type binding apparatuses. In forms at the time of loading of the containers, the projecting claws A are covered with the containers. On the other hand, in the forms at the time of non-loading of the containers, the projecting claws A are exposed, so that their unnatural heights are noticeable.
With respect to improvements on such problems, latent needs in markets are seem to be significantly high. In view of circumstances where the projecting claws A are widely recognized as “virtual standards”, however, compatibility with the conventional products must be also considered.
In view of such circumstances, the present first to third inventions are directed to improving the reality of a model container car.
The first invention provides a model container car having a vehicle main body and a mounting member. The vehicle main body has a plurality of mounting holes provided side by side along a vehicle length, and opposed to one another along a vehicle width on a loading surface on which a container is mounted. The mounting member is removably mounted on the mounting hole. The mounting member includes a first engagement portion and a second engagement portion. The first engagement portion is provided within an insertion area inserted into the mounting hole and engageable with the vehicle main body. The second engagement portion is provided above the insertion area and engageable with an inner side surface of the container.
The second invention provides a model container car having a vehicle main body and a plurality of mounting holes. The vehicle main body has a loading surface on which a container is mounted. The mounting holes is provided side by side along a vehicle length, and opposed to one another along a vehicle width on the loading surface. Wherein a mounting member used for mounting the container on the loading surface and having a first engagement portion provided within an insertion area inserted into the mounting hole and being engageable with the vehicle main body is removably mounted on the mounting hole.
In the above first or second invention, the arrangement of the mounting holes on the loading surface may conform to the arrangement of a folding type binding apparatus mounted on a real car.
In the above first or second invention, the first engagement portion may have an engagement shape vertically projecting along the vehicle length. At this point, the first engagement portion may include a pair of curved claws opposed to each other along the vehicle length and curved inward toward each other. As alternated, the first engagement portion may include a pair of projecting claws respectively having projections opposed to each other along the vehicle length and projecting outward from each other.
In the above first or second invention, a first part and a second part may be selectable as the mounting member. The first part has a form that imitates the shape of the appearance of the folding type binding apparatus mounted on the real car represented therein. The second part does not have the form that imitates the shape of the appearance of the folding type binding apparatus represented therein. In this case, a third part may be selectable in order to represent a form at the time of non-loading of the container. The third part is removably mounted on the mounting hole, includes the first engagement portion, and has the form that imitates the shape of the appearance of the folding type binding apparatus represented therein in place of the second engagement portion above the insertion area.
The third invention provides a model container car having a vehicle main body and a plurality of mounting holes. The vehicle main body has a loading surface on which a container is mounted. The mounting holes are provided side by side along the vehicle length, and opposed to one another along the vehicle width on the loading surface. Wherein any one of a first part, a second part, and a third part differ in form and are removably mounted is selectively mounted on the mounting hole. The first part is used for mounting the container on the loading surface, is provided within an insertion area inserted into the mounting hole, includes a first engagement portion being engageable with the vehicle main body and a second engagement portion being engageable with an inner side surface of the container, and has a form that imitates the shape of the appearance of a folding type binding apparatus mounted on a real car represented therein. The second part is used for mounting the container on the loading surface, includes the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion, and does not have the form that imitates the shape of the appearance of the folding type binding apparatus represented therein. And the third part is used for representing a form at the time of non-loading of the container, includes the first engagement portion, and has the form that imitates the shape of the appearance of the folding type binding apparatus represented therein in place of the second engagement portion above the insertion area.
According to the first and second aspects of the present invention, the mounting member used for mounting the container is provided as separate parts, and is removably mounted on any of the mounting holes. When the container of a type that interferes with the wall of the container is mounted, the mounting member is not mounted on the mounting hole that is overlapped with the wall of the container. This does not cause interference itself with the container, which becomes a problem in the case of the conventional non-removable projecting claws, thereby eliminating the need for cutout portions that are provided on front and rear surfaces of the container of this type. This can result in improvement in the reality of the model container car on which the container of this type is mounted. Furthermore, with the provision of the mounting member as separate parts, there can be provided a plurality of types of parts that are selectable by a user and differ in form.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the plurality of types of parts that differ in form are prepared and are left to the selection of a user, so that various types of forms such as forms at the time of loading of the container and the time of non-loading of the container can be accurately reproduced. This can result in improvement in the reality of the model container car, as compared with that of the conventional product on which the non-removable projecting claws are mounted.
A plurality of mounting holes 2b that vertically penetrates the frame 2a is provided on the loading surface of the vehicle main body 2. All the mounting holes 2b have the same opening shape, and their upper openings are rectangular. The mounting members 5A made of plastic are removably mounted on the mounting holes 2b, and their mounting positions are left to the selection of a user. As the arrangement of the mounting holes 2b, the pair of mounting holes 2b opposed to each other along the vehicle width X of the vehicle main body 2 is taken as a basic pair, and the plurality of pairs line up along the vehicle length Y of the vehicle main body 2. The arrangement of the mounting holes 2b conforms to the arrangement of folding type binding apparatuses mounted on the real car, similarly to the arrangement of the conventional non-removable projecting claws. The containers 4A are fixed on the loading surface by a linkage of the mounting holes 2b and the mounting members 5A irrespective of their types. A dummy circular holes 2c represented at an appropriate position of the loading surface is not involved in the fixing of the containers in the model and is only a mere representation of the shape of the appearance of the real car, although a mounting hole corresponding thereto in the real car performs the function of fixing containers. The pair of carriages 3 is mounted on both sides of the vehicle main body 2, and couplers (connector) are respectively mounted on beams at their ends.
The container 4A made of plastic has a hollow box shape whose bottom is only opened, and has a design and coloring in an actual container reproduced by printing or coating on its outer surface. The container 4A shown in
Specifically, the lower engagement portion 52 is composed of a pair of curved claws opposed to each other along the vehicle length Y and opposed while being curved inward toward each other. Each of the curved claws has a substantially semicylindrical shape whose circular arc extends along the vehicle width X. As shown in
An upper engagement portion 53 is provided above the insertion area, i.e., in the vicinity of the top of the raised portion 51. The upper engagement portion 53 projects in a convex shape outward along the vehicle width X, similarly to the conventional non-removable projecting claws, and engages with projections or depressions formed on an inner side surface of the hollow-shaped container 4A, as shown in
An intermediate area, below the upper engagement portion 53, in the raised portion 51 is provided with a sideward projection portion 54 projecting outward along the vehicle width X, and a form that imitates the shape of the appearance of the folding type binding apparatus mounted on the real car is represented in the sideward projection portion 54. In the case of the container 4A that imitates the 5 t container, the sideward projection portion 54 enters a clearance (gap) between the container bottom and the frame 2a so that the sideward projection portion 54 is exposed to the outside. This allows the representation of the folding type binding apparatus in the sideward projection portion 54 to be viewed from the outside. Note that since the actual folding type binding apparatus is in the same color as the real car, the forming color of the mounting member 5A may be the same as that of the vehicle main body 2 from the viewpoint of reality.
Parts that are removably mounted on the mounting holes 2b will be then described. With the provision of the conventional non-removable projecting claws as separate parts, a plurality of types of parts is prepared as selectable parts. The user selects the part conforming to a form to be reproduced and employs the selected part, so that various forms such as forms at the time of loading of the 5 t container, the time of loading of a container other than the 5 t container, and the time of non-loading of containers can be represented. When the form at the time of loading of the St container is represented, the mounting member 5A is used as a first part, as described above.
Note that the second part 5B is also used in mounting a 40 f container, a 31 f container, and so on in addition to the 10 t container. As to the 40 f container, the container is mounted with the second part 5B inserted in the case of the conventional product in which the slit-shaped cutout portions exist. On the other hand, the container 4B is mounted, after the second part 5B is removed, on an area where interference with the wall of the container occurs in the case of an improved product in which such cutout portions do not exist. Note that the second part 5B is also used in mounting the 5 t container (the conventional product) in which the form of the folding type binding apparatus is represented.
Note that if the parts 5A, 5B, and 5D (hereinafter generically referred to as a “mounting member 5”) are together used, a state where various types of containers are mixed can be faithfully reproduced. If the part 5C is further combined therewith, a state where the containers are spaced apart when loaded can be also faithfully reproduced.
As described in the foregoing, according to the present embodiment, the conventional non-removable projecting claws are replaced with the mounting member 5, and the mounting member 5 is provided as separate parts that are removably mounted on any of the mounting holes 2b. When the 40 f container is mounted, the mounting member 5 is not mounted on the mounting hole 2b that interferes with the wall of the container. This eliminates the occurrence of interference itself with the container, which becomes a problem in the case of the conventional projecting claws, thereby eliminating the need for the slit-shaped cutout portions provided on the front and rear surfaces of the container of this type. This can result in improvement in the reality of the container freight car 1 on which the 40 f container is mounted.
According to the present embodiment, with the provision of the mounting member 5 as separate parts, there can be provided a plurality of types of parts 5A to 5D that can be selected by the user. Leaving the selection of the parts 5A to 5D to the user allows accurate reproduction of any of various types of forms such as forms at the time of loading of a 5 t container, the time of loading of a 10 t container, the time of loading of a tank container, the time of mixed-loading of various types of containers, the time of non-loading of containers, and the time of loading of a part of a container. This can result in improvement in the reality of the model container freight car 1 or the reality of the 40 f container itself, as compared with those of the conventional product on which the non-removable projecting claws are mounted.
According to the present embodiment, the form of the folding type binding apparatus is represented in the first part 5A. Therefore, the forming color of the first part 5A enables the folding type binding apparatus and the vehicle main body 2 to be easily in the same color. On this point, in the conventional product, the form of the folding type binding apparatus is represented on the side of the container, so that the form of the folding type binding apparatus is basically represented in the same color as that of the container (in the real car, the folding type binding apparatus is in the same color as that of not the container but the container freight car). In order to represent the folding type binding apparatus and the container in different colors, therefore, an area where the form of the folding type binding apparatus is represented must be coated. The present embodiment is advantageous in that such coating work is not required.
Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the lower engagement portion 52 has an engagement shape deformed so as to vertically project along the vehicle length Y. Therefore, the present embodiment has the effect of effectively preventing interference with the carriage 3 in addition to the effect of reducing the wall thickness of the mounting member 5 along the vehicle width X. This effect is particularly effective in a form in which the vehicle main body 2 is mainly composed of the frame 2a. Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, the lower engagement portion 52 is composed of the pair of curved claws opposed to each other along the vehicle length Y. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the downward projection amount H of the lower engagement portion 52 to effectively prevent the interference with the carriage 3.
In the present embodiment, a variation other than the above-mentioned lower engagement portion 52 using the pair of curved claws will be described as an example.
According to the present embodiment, the same effect as that of the above-mentioned first embodiment is produced. Particularly, the lower engagement portion 52′ has an engagement shape vertically projecting along the vehicle length Y. This can effectively prevent interference with a carriage 3 in addition to reducing the wall thicknesses of the parts 5A′ to 5C′ along the vehicle width X. Since the outward projections must be formed in the present embodiment, however, it is feared that the downward projection amount H of the lower engagement portion 52′ increases. On this point, the engagement structure using the curved claws as in the first embodiment is superior.
Although the model container freight car with an HO gauge was described as an example in the above-mentioned embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the same. The present invention is also applicable to model container freight cars in the other standards (e.g., with an N gauge). Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the model container freight car. The present invention is widely applicable to model container cars that imitate real cars on which containers can be loaded, including a container truck.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-201817 | May 2008 | JP | national |
