Patent Grant
8337273
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy parking tower, and more particularly, to an operation unit for a toy parking tower.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional toy parking set is too simple to attract children to play for a long period of time and the convention toy parking set simply is a plate enclosed by a fence which includes an entrance and an exit, the players move the toy cars into the paring set via the entrance and leave the parking set from the exit. The simple way is so boring and cannot attract the children.
The box 21 includes a rotation unit 25 located at the top thereof and a shaft 26 is connected between two opposite walls of the parking tower 20. An operation wheel 27 is connected to outside of the parking tower 20 and a rope has one end wrapped around the shaft 26 and the other end of the rope is fixed to the box 21. The players rotate the operation wheel 27 to lift the box 21 form the lower floor 11 to a higher floor 12 or 13 so as to deliver the car in the box 21 to the desired floor. When the car needs to be lower from the higher floor to the lower floor, the operation wheel 27 is released and the gravity will lower the box together with the car in the box 21 to the lower floor.
However, the weight of the box and the car in the box may not be sufficient to descend and there is no proper guide system to smoothly guide the box to descend.
The present invention intends to provide an operation unit for a toy parking tower which provides the players more fun during multiple operation steps.
The present invention relates to a toy parking set which comprises at least two floors and a tower is connected to the toy parking set and includes an opening which is located corresponding each of the at least two floors. The tower includes two opposite walls other than the wall having the opening, one of the two opposite walls has a slot defined therethrough. A box is movably received in the tower and an operation unit is connected on a top of the box. The operation unit includes a frame within which a space is defined. The frame is fixed on the top of the box and has a hole defined through an end thereof. A shaft is located in the space and a spring is mounted to the shaft. The shaft includes a flange at a first end thereof and the spring is biased between the flange and an inside of the end of the frame. A second end of the shaft extends through the hole of the box and the slot of the tower and is connected to an end member.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a toy parking set which allows the players to directly move the box along the tower so as to precisely set the box at the corresponding floor. The car in the box is moved onto the floor. The precision of the movement of the box increases the attraction to the players and enhances the value of the toy parking set.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy parking set wherein the box is guided by the guide groove in the tower and the ridge of the box such that the movement of the box is smooth and easy.
The present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the present invention.
Referring to
A box 55 is movably received in the tower 50 and an operation unit 60 is connected on a top of the box 55. The operation unit 60 includes a frame 61 within which a space 62 is defined. The frame 61 is fixed on the top of the box 55 and has a hole defined through an end thereof. A shaft 63 is located in the space 62 and a spring 65 is mounted to the shaft 63. The shaft 63 includes a flange 64 at a first end thereof and the spring 65 is biased between the flange 64 and an inside of the end of the frame 61. A second end of the shaft 63 includes a connection end 630 which extends through the hole 610 of the box 55 and the slot 52 of the tower 50 and is connected to a connection portion 660 of an end member 66. The end member 66 includes an engaging portion 67 which is shaped and sized to be removably engaged with the slot 52 of the tower 50. The box 55 further includes a ridge 56 which is movably engaged with the guide groove 54. An operation member 68 is connected to the end member 66 which is accessed from outside of the tower 50.
When the players do not pull the operation member 68 away from the tower 50, the force of the spring 65 clamps the wall of the tower 5o between the wall of the box 55 and the operation member 68, so that the box 50 can be set at a desired position.
As shown in
While we have shown and described the embodiment in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20110230117 A1 | Sep 2011 | US |
