Patent Application
20060135035
Many children enjoy playing with remote controlled vehicles. Known vehicle packages or sets available in the market include a vehicle, a remote controller and a battery charger. However, these parts normally separate from each others. It is not convenient for a user to find a place to store all of them or carry them for outdoor playing.
The invention seeks to mitigate or at lease alleviate such a problem or shortcoming by providing an improved remote controller.
There is disclosed herein a remote control toy set comprising:
a vehicle having a battery and a receiver for receiving a wireless signal;
a controller comprising a compartment for storing the vehicle, and a transmitter for transmitting said wireless signal to the vehicle: and a charger removably stored within the compartment for charging the battery.
Preferably, the compartment is sized to completely enclose the vehicle and the charger.
Preferably, the toy set further comprises a cover hinged to the controller and closing the compartment.
Preferably, the vehicle has a pair of fasteners and the compartment has a pair of opposed grooves each for locating one of the fasteners in order to secure the vehicle inside the compartment.
Preferably, the grooves and fasteners have different is sizes so that the vehicle can be secured in the compartment in one orientation only.
Preferably, the transmitter comprises a bendable antenna.
Preferably, the controller is substantially cylindrical, having a circumferential groove for storing the antenna.
Preferably, the controller resembles a wheel.
Preferably, the controller further comprises a switch for controlling performance of the vehicle
Preferably, the cover is made of light transmissive plastics to enable the vehicle to be viewed therethrough.
Preferably, the vehicle has a recess for receiving a detachable re-chargeable battery.
Preferably, the charger has a receptacle for receiving the battery for charging.
Preferably, the compartment has a pair of opposed slots for locating respective side portions of the charger in order to secure the charger inside the compartment.
Preferably, the slots have different sizes to fit corresponding side portions of the charger, so that the charger can be secured in the compartment in one orientation only.
Preferably, the vehicle has a flashable LED which is controlled by the switch.
Preferably, the remote controller has an external cable connected with the vehicle so that a signal can be transferred from the switch to the vehicle to cause the LED to flash.
A preferred form of the invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring to the drawing, there is shown a remote control toy set 10 comprising a remote controller 20, a vehicle 50 and a battery charger 80. The remote controller has a casing 22, various control switches 23, and a antenna 24.
To increase the attractiveness of the remote controller 20, the casing 22 has a shape similar to a wheel and tire of a car.
The remote controller 20 is used for transmitting signals to the vehicle 50 through the antenna 24. The vehicle 50 is provided with a receiver that responds to signals from the remote controller 20 for changing its speed and/or its direction of travel. The battery charger 80 is used for charging a detachable re-chargeable battery module 82. The battery module is insertable to the vehicle as a power supply.
The control switches 23 include switches 23A for controlling the travelling speed and/or direction of the vehicle 50, a switch 23B for enabling the vehicle to perform a function to attract a user to play with the vehicle 50 or buy the toy set 10.
The vehicle 50 includes a body 52, two pairs of wheels 54 and a recess 56 for storage of the battery module 82. The recess 56 is located at the bottom part of the vehicle body 52, At the base of the recess 56, there is a pair of electrical contacts (not shown) engageable with corresponding contacts of the battery module 82 for power when the battery module 82 is disposed in the recess 56. Beside the recess 56, there is a socket 59 for connecting with one end of an external ribbon cable 70.
A resilient latch 58 is provided at one side wall of the recess 56 and extends vertically therein. The latch 58 engages a hole 84 of the battery module 82 to prevent the battery module 82 escaping from the recess 56 when the vehicle is in its normal upright position.
The vehicle further comprises respective fasteners at its front and rear ends. The front fastener is in a form of small rib 60 and the rear fastener includes a pair of forks 62 extending from the rear end of the vehicle body 52. Each fork 62 is used to support a small wheel 64. There is an LED located at each end and powered by the battery module 82, which will flash to attract the user to play with the vehicle 50 or buy the toy set 10 upon a manual depression of the switch 23B.
The charger 80 has a substantially rectangular body 81. The body 81 is divided into two portions 83 and 85 with different heights. At the intersection of the two portions 83 and 85, a rectangular receptacle 86 has an open upper end for receiving and holding the battery module 82, and a pair of base electrical pins for charging the battery module 82 therein. A latch 88 is provided at one side wall of the receptacle 86 in engagement with the hole 84 of the battery module 82 so that the battery module 82 is held in position for charging. The latch 88 includes a small button which is used to release the battery module 82 from the latch 88 upon depression.
The casing 22 has front and rear sides 18 and 19. The switch 23 and the antenna 24 are located at the front side of the casing 22. A groove 17 extends along the circumference of the casing 22 for storage of the antenna 24. The antenna 24 is made of a long and thin wire, and has one end fixed on the casing 22. The antenna 24 is freely bendable and completely lies within the groove 17 for storage.
The casing 22 has a central compartment 25 with front and rear open ends 26 and 27. The front open end 26 has a substantially circular shape and a relatively large dimension for receiving the vehicle 50 and the charger 80. The rear opening has smaller dimension, in comparison with the vehicle 50 or the charger 80, to prevent either one of them inadvertently dislodging from the casing 22.
The casing 22 further comprises a socket 21 for connecting with another end of the ribbon cable 70. Upon manual depression of the switch 23B, an operative signal can be transferred from the switch 23B to the vehicle 50 within the compartment 25 via the ribbon cable 70 and in turn the LED of the vehicle 50 will flash to attract the user.
The compartment 25 has a size that is large enough to completely enclose the vehicle 30 together with the charger 50. A light transmissive—preferably transparent plastics cover 28 is hinged at the front side 18 of the casing to close the first open end 26 so that the vehicle 50 within the compartment 25 can be viewed therethrough. The cover 28 has a bottom catch 29 in engagement with the groove 17 for holding the cover 28 in a closed position, and a thumb recess (not shown) for manually opening the cover 28.
The compartment 25 has two internal side walls, on each of which a longitudinal guide groove 33/34 extending from the front side to the rear side is located. The grooves 33 and 34 have different sizes for enabling the rib 60 and the forks 62 to enter therein respectively in order to secure the vehicle 50 inside the compartment 25. The wheels 64 of the forks 62 facilitate the vehicle 50 to slide along the grooves 33 and 34 for securing the vehicle in place and enabling removal of the vehicle when desired.
At the bottom part of the compartment 25, a pair of opposed slots 35 and 36 with different sizes extending from the front side to the rear side to receive the portions 83 and 85 of the charger 80. By the specific structures of the grooves 33 and 34 and the slots 35 and 36, the vehicle 30 and the charger 80 can be secured in the compartment 25 in one orientation only, for storage and display.
The invention has been given by way of example only, and various modification of and/or alterations to the described embodiment may be made by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as specified in the appended claims.
