Information
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Patent Grant
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6257946
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Patent Number
6,257,946
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Date Filed
Thursday, December 23, 199924 years ago
-
Date Issued
Tuesday, July 10, 200123 years ago
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Inventors
-
-
Examiners
- Ackun, Jr.; Jacob K.
- Cegielnik; Urszula M.
Agents
-
CPC
-
US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 446 34
- 446 88
- 446 61
- 446 63
- 446 64
- 434 372
- 428 43
- 244 16
- 244 48
- 244 131
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A toy airplane includes a fuselage and a main wing fastened to the fuselage, the fuselage having a top clamping strip at a front side thereof, a vertical stabilizer at a rear side thereof, a plug strip spaced between the top clamping strip and the vertical stabilizer, a first retaining notch disposed between the top clamping strip and the plug strip, and a second retaining notch disposed between the plug strip and the vertical stabilizer, the main wing having two parallel front tips attached to the top clamping strip of the fuselage at two opposite sides, a first retaining notch longitudinally extended to a front side thereof and defined between the front tips and forced into engagement with the first retaining notch on the fuselage, a second retaining notch longitudinally extended to a rear side thereof and forced into engagement with the second retaining notch on the fuselage, and an elongated plug hole longitudinally disposed on the middle and engaged with the plug strip of the fuselage.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a toy airplane that flies when thrown into the air, and more particularly to such a toy airplane, which is made by clamping component parts to one another that are obtained from a sheet member by stamping.
FIGS. 1 and 2
show a prior art toy airplane that flies when thrown into the air. This structure of toy airplane is comprised of a fusclage
1
, a main wing
4
, and an elevator
5
. The fuselage
1
comprises a wing slot
2
, an elevator slot
3
, and a vertical stabilizer
6
. The main wing
4
and the elevator
5
are respectively fastened to the wing slot
2
and the elevator slot
3
. This structure of toy airplane has numerous drawbacks as outlined hereinafter.
1. The whole design of the toy airplane is monotonous and less attractive. This design does not allow additional airplane accessories to be attached to the fuselage or the main wing.
2. Because the main wing and the elevator are respectively plugged into the wing slot and the elevator slot and no retainer means is provided to secure the connection between the fuselage and the main wing/elevator, the main wing or elevator may fall out of the fuselage when the toy airplane is thrown into the air.
3. The limited area of the main wing and the elevator cannot help the toy fuselage fly in the air for long.
4. This design of toy airplane cannot be equipped with a delta wing.
If a long wing slot is made on the fuselage for the installation of a delta wing, the structural strength of the fuselage will be destroyed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is one object of the present invention provides a toy airplane, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. It is one object of the present invention to provide a toy airplane, which has a strong structural strength. It is another object of the present invention to provide a toy airplane, which is equipped with a delta wing and a tail fin. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a toy airplane, which is equipped with elevators for a long flight in the air. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a toy airplane, which is equipped with auxiliary wings for long fly in the air. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a toy airplane, which is equipped with a heavy nose that keeps the toy airplane in balance when flying. According to one aspect of the present invention, the toy airplane comprises s a fuselage and a main wing fastened to the fuselage. The fuselage comprises a top clamping strip at a front side thereof, a vertical stabilizer at a rear side thereof, a plug strip spaced between the top clamping strip and the vertical stabilizer, a first retaining notch disposed between the top clamping strip and the plug strip, and a second retaining notch disposed between the plug strip and the vertical stabilizer. The main wing comprises two parallel front tips attached to the top clamping strip of the fuselage at two opposite sides, a first retaining notch longitudinally extended to a front side thereof and defined between the front tips and forced into engagement with the first retaining notch on the fuselage, a second retaining notch longitudinally extended to a rear side thereof and forced into engagement with the second retaining notch on the fuselage, and an elongated plug hole longitudinally disposed on the middle and engaged with the plug strip of the fuselage. Because the plug strip of the fuselage is plugged into the plughole on the main wing from the bottom side and the top clamping strip and stabilizer of the fuselage are respectively clamped on the topside of the main wing, the connection between the fuselage and the main wing is stable. According to another aspect of the present invention, the main wing is a delta wing. According to still another aspect of the present invention, the main wing comprises two third retaining notches bilaterally disposed near the rear side thereof, and two auxiliary wings are respectively fastened to the third retaining notches on the main wing to improve the floating ability of the toy airplane in the air. According to still another aspect of the present invention, a retaining strip is secured to the second retaining notch on the fuselage and supported on the main wing to reinforce the connection between the stabilizer of the fuselage and the main wing. According to still another aspect of the present invention, a heavy nose is fastened to the front end of the fuselage to keep the toy airplane in balance.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an exploded view of a toy airplane according to the prior art.
FIG. 2
is a schematic drawing showing the toy airplane of
FIG. 1
assembled.
FIG. 3
illustrates a sheet member on which toy airplane parts are marked according to the present invention.
FIG. 4
is an exploded view of a toy airplane according to one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5
illustrates the toy airplane of
FIG. 4
assembled.
FIG. 6
is a side view in section of the toy airplane shown in FIG.
5
.
FIG. 6A
is a sectional view taken along line A—A of FIG.
6
.
FIG. 6B
is a sectional view taken along line B—B of FIG.
6
.
FIG. 6C
is a sectional view taken along line C—C of FIG.
6
.
FIG. 7
is an elevational view of a toy airplane according to an alternate form of the present invention.
FIG. 8
is an elevational view of a toy airplane according to another alternate form of the present invention.
FIG. 9
is an elevational view of a toy airplane according to still another alternate form of the present invention.
FIG. 10
is an elevational view of a toy airplane according to still another alternate form of the present invention.
FIG. 10A
is an elevational view of a toy airplane according to still another alternate form of the present invention.
FIG. 11
is an elevational view of a toy airplane according to still another alternate form of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to Figures from
3
through
5
, a toy airplane in accordance with the present invention is comprised of a fuselage
10
, a main wing
20
, two auxiliary wings
30
, a retainer strip
33
, a tail fin
35
, and a nose
40
. The fuselage
10
, the main wing
20
, the auxiliary wings
30
, the retainer strip
33
, and the tail fin
35
are cut from a sheet member
100
by stamping.
The fuselage
10
comprises a top clamping strip
130
at a front side thereof, a vertical stabilizer
11
at a rear side, a plug strip
16
spaced between the top clamping strip
130
and the vertical stabilizer
11
, a first retaining notch
13
disposed between the top clamping strip
130
and the plug strip
16
, a second retaining notch
15
disposed between the plug strip
16
and the vertical stabilizer
11
, a tail piece
110
, and a third retaining notch
12
on the tail piece
110
.
The main wing
20
is a delta wing comprising two parallel front tips
221
and
222
, a front wing retaining notch
23
longitudinally extended to the front side thereof and defined between the front tips
221
,
222
, a rear wing retaining notch
25
longitudinally extended to the rear side thereof, an elongated plug hole
26
longitudinally disposed on the middle between the front wing retaining notch
23
and the rear wing retaining notch
25
, two sloping elevator portions
211
and
212
disposed at two opposite sides of the rear wing retaining notch
25
, and two wing tip retaining notches
24
bilaterally disposed near the rear side. The auxiliary wings
30
each have an auxiliary wing retaining notch
31
. The tail fin
35
comprises a front retaining notch
36
. The retainer strip
33
comprises a rear retaining notch
34
.
The assembly process of the toy airplane is simple and outlined hereinafter with reference to FIG.
6
and FIGS. from
3
through
5
again. The first retaining notch
13
and second retaining notch
15
on the fuselage
10
are respectively forced into engagement with the front wing retaining notch
23
and rear wing retaining notch
25
on the main wing
20
, enabling the plug strip
16
of the fuselage
10
to be plugged into the plug hole
26
on the main wing
20
from the bottom side, the front tips
221
and
222
of the main wing
20
attached to the top clamping strip
130
of the fuselage
10
at two opposite sides, and the top claiming strip
130
of the fuselage
10
clamped on the side of the main wing
20
, and then the retaining strip
33
is put on the main wing
20
and fastened to the stabilizer
11
to stop the stabilizer
11
of the fuselage
10
from escaping out of the rear wing retaining notch
25
by forcing the rear retaining notch
34
of the retaining strip
33
into engagement with the second retaining notch
15
on the fuselage
10
, and then the auxiliary wings
30
are respectively fastened to the main wing
20
by forcing the auxiliary wing retaining notch
31
of each auxiliary wing
30
into engagement with the wing tip retaining notches
24
on the main wing
20
, and then the tail fin
35
is fastened to the tail piece
110
of the fuselage
10
by forcing the front retaining notch
36
of the tail fin
35
into engagement with the third retaining notch
12
on the tail piece
110
. Furthermore, a cylindrical nose
40
is fastened to the front end of the fuselage
10
. The cylindrical nose
40
has a weight that keeps the toy airplane in balance when thrown into the air.
FIGS. from
7
through
11
show different alternate forms of the present invention. In
FIG. 7
, the main wing
20
comprises two front fins
201
bilaterally disposed at the front side. In
FIG. 8
, the front fins
202
of the main wing
20
extend longitudinally backwards. In
FIG. 9
, two front fins
203
are fastened to the fuselage
10
above the main wing
20
. In
FIGS. 10 and 10A
, two tail pieces
110
or
111
and two tail fins
112
are respectively fastened to the main wing
20
at the rear side. In
FIG. 10
, the vertical stabilizers
111
are respectively fastened to the main wing
20
. In
FIG. 10A
, a connecting strip
113
is connected between the tailpieces
110
. In
FIG. 11
, two vertical tailpieces
111
are fastened to the main wing
20
at the rear side, and a tail fin
114
is fastened to the vertical tailpieces
111
.
It is to be understood that the drawings are designed for purposes of illustration only, and are not intended for use as a definition of the limits and scope of the invention disclosed.
Claims
- 1. A toy airplane comprising:a fuselage, said fuselage including a top clamping strip at a front side thereof, a vertical stabilizer at a rear side thereof, a plug strip spaced between said top clamping strip and said vertical stabilizer, a first retaining notch disposed between said top clamping strip and said plug strip, and a second retaining notch disposed between said plug strip and said vertical stabilizer; and a main wing fastened to said fuselage, said main wing including two parallel front tips attached to the top clamping strip of said fuselage at two opposite sides, a front wing retaining notch longitudinally extended to a front side thereof and defined between said front tips and forced into engagement with the first retaining notch on said fuselage, a rear wing retaining notch longitudinally extended to a rear side thereof and forced into engagement with the second retaining notch on said fuselage, and an elongated plug hole longitudinally disposed between said front wing retaining notch and said rear wing retaining notch and engaged with the plug strip of said fuselage; said main wing further including two sloping elevator portions disposed at two opposite sides of the rear wing retaining notch thereof, and said fuselage further including a tail piece, a third retaining notch on said tail piece, and a tail fin fastened to the third retaining notch on said tail piece below said elevator portions of said main wing.
US Referenced Citations (12)