BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to self-propelled apparatus, and more particularly to aquatic toys having an electro-mechanical articulating propulsion mechanism.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,650 to Duncan Tong describes one form of self-propelled aquatic toy. The toy has a body portion and at the rear a middle tail and an outer tail. The middle tail is pivoted by suitable drive means so that it reciprocates from side to side and the outer tail is freely pivoted to the middle tail. As a result, such a toy is driven through the water by the side-to-side reciprocation of the middle tail and some power in driving the creature is obtained as the outer tail flaps from side to side.
What is desired is an aquatic toy having an electro-mechanical articulating propulsion mechanism, wherein said mechanism simulates the action of a duck, and other similar waterfowl.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a self-propelled aquatic apparatus having a body that is partially filled with floatation material, a base, a waterproof battery container, a battery, a battery compartment, an electro-mechanical propulsion mechanism, wherein the mechanism comprises at least one articulating propulsion member, an electric power control switch that is in selectable control of the electrical conduction between the waterproof battery container and the electro-mechanical propulsion mechanism. An example of a body is a duck, and an example at least one articulating propulsion member is a pair of webbed feet, which alternately articulate from a forward down position to a rearward raised position. An example of an electric power control switch is an on-off power switch or a rheostat for variable speed control.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The foregoing and other objects will become more readily apparent by referring to the following detailed description and the appended drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the upper body of a self-propelled aquatic apparatus, wherein the apparatus is a toy duck.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a housing having two chambers, a waterproof chamber for housing the motor, and a gear chamber for supporting and protecting the gear assembly.
FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the gear assembly; a pair of cranks, wherein each is drives a primary rocker, and a compartment for receiving a waterproof battery container.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the lower body of the self-propelled aquatic apparatus, where the apparatus is a toy duck, a waterproof battery container, and a cover. The view also illustrates the switch and the articulating members, which are webbed feet.
FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic side view illustrating how the crank interacts with the primary rocker, the secondary rocker, and the articulating member to produce articulation. The crank is turning counterclockwise.
FIG. 6 illustrates the opposing side of the toy duck wherein the crank is turning clockwise, and the pawlls of the cranks are offset from each other by 180 degrees, such that when one webbed foot is paddling backwards driving the duck forward, the other webbed foot is moving forward.
FIG. 7 is a side view of the self-propelled toy duck illustrating the relative position of the webbed feet.
FIG. 8 is an overhead view of the bottom of the upper body, wherein the lower body has been removed.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged side perspective view of a webbed foot having a coupling extension, wherein the foot is slightly cupped and the extension has a shorter end that allows the foot to shift closer to the lower body, thereby reducing hydrodynamic drag on the toy duck.
FIG. 10 is a partially cut-away view of the toy duck illustrating the relative position of the flotation material, the housing for the electromechanical propulsion mechanism, and the compartment for the battery container and battery contained therein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention is a self-propelled aquatic apparatus 10 having a body 12 that is partially filled with floatation material 18, a base, a waterproof battery container 22, a battery 20, a battery compartment 50, an electro-mechanical propulsion mechanism 26, wherein the mechanism comprises at least one articulating propulsion member 28, an electric power control switch 130 that is in selectable control of the electrical conduction between the waterproof battery container and the electro-mechanical propulsion mechanism.
The illustrated embodiment has a body of a toy duck, wherein the articulating propulsion members 28 is a pair of webbed feet 40, which alternately articulate from a forward down position to a rearward raised position. In the illustrated example the electric power control switch is an on-off power switch 130, which is located on near the rear of the duck. The self-propelled toy duck is illustrated in FIG. 7. The duck 10 has a body 12 that is comprised of an upper body 14 and a lower body 16. Projecting from the lower body are the articulating members 28, a pair of webbed feet 40.
FIG. 10 is a partially cut-away view of the duck illustrating many of the major components. Much of the upper interior portion of the duck is filled with flotation material 18, such as Styrofoam, while the remainder of the interior portion is substantially occupied by the electromechanical propulsion mechanism and the housings protecting them.
Referring to FIG. 2, housing 37 is comprised of a waterproof chamber 160 and a gear assembly chamber 170. The waterproof chamber secures the electric motor 60 and seals the chamber with cap 39. The gear assembly chamber 170 protects the worm and reducing gears and provides a journal/groove 35 with a live axel 32 of the gear assembly 70. The gear assembly is illustrated in FIG. 3. Housing 37 is attached to a compartment 50, which as shown in FIG. 3 has chamber 170 that provides for the gear assembly. The gear assembly 70 is comprised of worm 72 on electric motor shaft 62, where the worm 72 drives worm gear 74. Worm gear 74 has an adjacent reducing gear 76, which drives idler gear 78, which in turn drives a drive gear 80. Drive gear 80 turns a live axel 82, which is fitted with a pair of cranks; a left crank and a right crank 90. The cranks are positioned such that the pawl 91 of one crank is 180 degrees out of phase with the pawl on the opposing crank. One crank rotates clockwise, while the other crank rotes counterclockwise. The live axel is positioned so that it rests on supports 84 and is aligned by the groove/journal 35 of the housing 37 (see FIG. 2). A given crank 90 causes the connected primary rocker 92 to oscillate forward, while the opposing crank causes the connected primary rocker 92 to oscillate backwards. The action can best be seen in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.
To differentiate a right side from a left side, the right side indices have been designated with an apostrophe. As shown in FIG. 5 from left to right, the left crank 90 turning counterclockwise causes the pawl 91, moving in slot 94 of the primary rocker 92, to move the primary rocker 92 to the left. Primary rocker 92 is fixedly pivoted at point 96 by a screw 97 (see FIG. 3), therefore causing the stirrup 98 to move to the right. The secondary rocker 100 is fixedly pivoted at 104 and has an upper axel 102, which intersects with the stirrup 98. The leftward movement of primary rocker 92 causes a rightward movement of the secondary rocker 100, and this causes the articulating element 28, which is connected to the secondary rocker at the lower axel 106 to move forward. The articulating element moves backwards when the pawl is in the down position as shown in B. Note, the primary rocker is in the center and therefore so is the secondary rocker, when the pawl is at 12 or 6 o'clock position. As the pawl starts moving up, as shown in 5C, pressure is applied to the right side of slot 94 causing the primary rocker 92 to move to the right. In turn, the secondary rocker 100 moves to the left and the articulating element 28 is brought up toward the rear closer to the lower body. The reciprocal action occurs in FIG. 6. As the crank turns clockwise, the primary rocker moves to the right and the secondary rocker moves to the left. In comparing FIG. 5 and FIG. 6, the reader is reminded that crank in FIG. 5 as illustrated is turning counterclockwise, while the crank in FIG. 6 is turning clockwise, however propulsion is not dependent on the direction of rotation of the cranks, however the rotation is synchronized such that as depicted the duck moves forward. It is recognized that in some embodiments of the invention, frontward and rearward motion would be desirable and this can be achieved by changing the rotation of the live axle.
Now referring again to FIG. 3, the compartment 50 has a positive contact 52 and a negative contact 54 wherein the contacts are 2-sided and provide an electrical conduit for electrical energy emanating from a battery container 22 shown in FIG. 4. 4B is the outside electrical contact 54B is a U-shaped band of metal wrapped around the end wall of the compartment 50. The opposing end of the compartment 50 as the positive contact 52, which has a similar u-shaped wire, all by the wire on the inside is spring-loaded. The compartment is attached to the face 20 of the lower body, as shown in FIG. 4.
The elements of the switch 130 are illustrated in FIG. 4. The switch 130 has an external lever 135, which controls the position of the cam arm 134. The cam arm 134 is in contact with a flat spring contact wire 132 that is pushed into contact with the outside electrical contact 54B of the compartment 50 when the external lever 135 is slide to one side, thereby actuating the electro-mechanical propulsion mechanism 26. The waterproof battery container 22 is comprised of a twist off cap 58 with a seal (not shown) and a cylinder 57 having a bottom with a spring and a mouth. The cap has an electrical contact that extends through the cap, and the spring has an electrical contact that extends through the bottom, which has a through-bottom contact 59. When the waterproof battery container 22 is in the compartment 50, the battery 20, shown in ghost, is electrical communication with the compartment contacts 54 and 52.
FIG. 8 is an overhead view of the bottom of the upper body, wherein the lower body has been removed. The upper body 14 is fitted with a sealing ring 32 with aligning tapped studs 34 for connecting the upper and lower body. Most of the electro-mechanical propulsion mechanism 26 is visible as the housing 37 is removed. The motor and waterproof chamber 160 are projecting upward into the neck region of the duck.
FIG. 9 is an enlarged side perspective view of a webbed foot 40 having a coupling extension 42. The foot is slightly cupped to facilitate paddling. The extension 42 has a shorter end 46 that enables each of the webbed feet, while in the rearward raised position, to rotate closer to the lower body as the apparatus is propelled through water, thereby lowering the hydrodynamic resistance of the raised webbed foot. The longer end 44 acts as a stop to prevent the webbed foot from bending as the foot is articulating (paddling) from the front to the rear. The hole 48 enables each foot to be connected to the lower axel 106 of the corresponding secondary rocker 100. The webbed feet are comprised of a relatively flexible material, like plasticized PVC or rubber, such that the webbed feet will distort rather than break if they encounter a hard surface or are bent. The feet are soft enough and have no sharp edges such that will scratch the skin of a small child.
It is to be understood that the foregoing description and specific embodiments are merely illustrative of the best mode of the invention and the principles thereof, and that various modifications and additions may be made to the apparatus by those skilled in the art, without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention, which is, therefore, understood to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.
Patent Application
20070054591
