Toy airplane

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6257946
  • Patent Number
    6,257,946
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, December 23, 1999
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, July 10, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Ackun, Jr.; Jacob K.
    • Cegielnik; Urszula M.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
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.
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1420194 Howard Jun 1922
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2361929 De Florez Nov 1944
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2555670 Babcock Jun 1951
2870568 Bergstrand Jan 1959
3369319 Brown Feb 1968
4253897 Pistone Mar 1981
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4458442 McDaniel Jul 1984
5007875 Dasa Apr 1991
5853312 Li Dec 1998