Patent Application
20060292962
Examples of gyroscopic elements and toys in which gyroscopic elements are used can be found in U.S. patents and Patent Application Publications numbered: RE 30299; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,650,067; 3,726,146; 4,463,515; 5,353,655; 5,683,284; 5,823,845; 5,957,745; 6,030,272; 6,346,025; 6,612,895; 6,676,476; and US2002/0102906. The disclosures of the aforementioned patents and patent application publications are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
The present disclosure relates generally to handheld toys having included gyroscopic devices. An object of a toy with a gyroscopic element may be for a person to initiate rotation of the gyroscopic element and then play with the toy, with the gyroscopic element imparting a novel play experience to the toy. In some methods of play with the disclosed toy, a gyroscopic element in a toy may provide motion-related feedback and stability control. The toys of the present disclosure will be understood more readily after consideration of the drawings and the detailed description.
The present disclosure relates to a toy figure utilizing a toy body and a gyroscopic element. The components of a toy figure according to the present disclosure are shown in
Shown generally at 10 in
As shown in
Gyroscopic element 20 may embody the principle of conservation of angular momentum and may use that principle to impart novel entertainment value to a toy figure. A gyroscope essentially embodies a spinning wheel mounted on an axle. Typically, as seen in
A gyroscopic element 20 may be housed within a torso 12 of a toy
A gyroscopic element 20 housed in a toy
Rotational motion of the rotor of the gyroscopic element may be transmitted from the pull cord and handle to the rotor via a gear assembly 30 including a system of gears, seen in partial side view in
The gear assembly may serve to couple the manual acceleration device to the rotor for inducing rotation in the rotor. To initiate rotation of the rotor 23 of gyroscopic element 20, a user may grasp the handle 21 attached to pull cord 22 and draw the pull cord away from the body 11 of the toy figure, whether that body has a humanoid shape or some other shape. Drawing the cord out of or away from the body of the toy figure may cause the cord 22 to unwind from the spool 32. Since the cord may be, preferentially, attached to the spool by one of its ends, unwinding the cord may cause the spool 32 to rotate on its axis in a first direction. For repeated winding and unwinding of the spool, it may be useful to include a resistive device in the gear assembly, such that the resistive device provides a counter-rotational force on the spool 32 when it is initially rotated. A counter-rotational force may be provided by, for example, a spring 33 attached to one portion of the spool. In the illustrated embodiment, a spring 33 is attached to an inner surface of the spool 32 at one of its ends and to one portion of the gear assembly shell 31B, or another relatively immovable structure, at its other end. When the pull cord is pulled to initiate movement of the rotor 23, the spool may impart a force upon the spring 33, causing it to become partially uncoiled (in the illustrated embodiment; in other embodiments, the spring may initially be stretched longitudinally and then return to its original configuration). When a pulling force is no longer applied to the pull cord, the spring may recoil, causing the spool 32 to rotate in a direction counter to its initial rotation and to rewind the pull cord 22. In this manner, the pull cord may repeatedly be pulled and rewound, allowing a user to impart progressively increasing rotational speeds to the rotor 23.
As noted above, a force applied to the pull cord will induce rotation of the spool 32 and, eventually, the rotor 23 of the gyroscopic element. Transfer of rotational motion may proceed from the spool to the rotor via an assembly of gears 35-37. In the illustrated embodiment, three intermeshed gears form the operative connection between the spool 32 and the rotor 23. In a first interaction step, rotation of the spool 32 may induce rotation of a first, power gear 35 that is operatively coupled to the spool. The power gear 35 may be permanently coupled to the spool 32 or it may be coupled the spool in a nonpermanent manner. In another embodiment, the spool and the power gear may be configured as a single part. In the illustrated embodiment, the power gear 35 sits on an upper surface of the spool 32 and is rotationally coupled to the spool via a pair of tabs on the gear that insert into slots 34 on an upper surface of the spool. The power gear 35 may further interact with other gears in a gear assembly, or it may interact directly with the rotor. However, in an illustrated embodiment the power gear operates on the rotor through an interaction with a number of other gears.
The power gear, as shown, may interact with a second, transfer gear 36. The transfer gear 36 may include two “layers” of gear teeth on different, parallel planes. The two layers of a given gear may or may not have the same number of gear teeth, depending on design considerations. A lower set of gear teeth may interact with the power gear 35, while an upper set of gear teeth may interact with a next gear in the assembly, a drive gear 37. Drive gear 37 may also have gear teeth on two parallel planes. The lower set of gear teeth may interact with the transfer gear 36 to receive the rotational force that was initiated at the spool 32 and passed through the power gear 35. The upper set of teeth may, in turn, transfer that rotational force to the rotor 23. The rotor may include a pinion gear 38 on its lower surface, with the pinion gear 38 configured to receive the rotational force from the drive gear 37. As the gear assembly may be housed within a gear assembly shell, it may be necessary to provide a way for the rotational force of the gears to be passed through the gear assembly shell to the rotor. In the illustrated embodiment, a shell slot 39 is provided in the gear assembly shell; a portion of drive gear 37 projects out of the shell slot to engage the pinion gear 38 of the rotor, which sits near enough the shell slot to engage the drive gear.
Of note, although the words “upper” and “lower” have been used to denote the different layers of gear teeth on a given gear, the gear assembly need not be arranged in a series of horizontal planes. It is within the skill of one in the art to mount the gears in predominantly vertical planes, or to have some gears in vertical planes and some in horizontal planes, etc. Also, although the mechanical interaction is shown as involving tooth-to-tooth gear interactions, it is also possible that the mechanical interaction could be a frictional interaction between smooth-surfaced gears. Of course, appropriate materials would have to be utilized to allow rotational force to be passed between the gears in the absence of an arrangement using gear teeth to pass the force.
As noted above, it is possible to repeatedly apply force to the pull cord 22 to progressively increase the speed of the rotor 23. Such a repeated application of force to the rotor 23, without the rotor reversing direction during the rewinding of the manual acceleration device, may be achieved through the use of a clutch device. For example, it may be possible to provide for unidirectional acceleration (i.e. acceleration of the rotor consistently in one direction with repeated applications of a pulling force on the pull cord) with use of a ratchet-and-teeth assembly. The spool of the disclosure could have spring-loaded teeth that engage an inner surface of the power gear in one direction but then retract to allow the spool to rewind the pull cord. In an illustrated embodiment, the clutch effect is implemented by seating the drive gear 37 in a float slot 40 within the gear assembly.
In the illustrated embodiment, the power gear 35 and the transfer gear 36 each rotate about their individual axes, which are centered on axles mounted into a lower half 31B of the gear assembly shell. Each of the power and transfer gears is relatively fixedly mounted to the gear assembly shell 31 B. However, in the illustrated embodiment, the drive gear is mounted on an axle that is configured to slide within a roughly oval float slot 40; as such, the position of the drive gear 37 is variable in the gear assembly. The float slot may be oriented substantially perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the rotor such that the drive gear 37 may move near to the pinion gear 38 of the rotor 23 or it may move away from the pinion gear 38 of the rotor 23. As illustrated, the drive gear 37 moves near to, and engages with, the pinion gear 38 of the rotor when an accelerating force is applied to the power gear 35 (i.e. when the pull cord is pulled to accelerate the rotor). The drive gear 37 moves toward the pinion gear 38 because of the force applied to the drive gear 37 by the transfer gear 36. When the pull cord is being rewound (i.e. there is no accelerating force being applied) the gears of the gear assembly 30 move in a reverse direction due to the resistive effect of the spring 33 attached to the spool 32. The transfer gear 36 thus applies a reverse rotational force to the drive gear 37, causing the drive gear 37 to move away from an engaging interaction with the pinion gear 38 of the rotor.
In addition to being accelerated by a pull cord-type device, gyroscopic element 20 may also be mounted such that rotor 23 partially protrudes from torso 12. In such a configuration, rotational motion may be imparted to rotor 23 by frictional contact with a given surface. Such a surface may be a table, a floor, a user's hand, or any other suitable surface for imparting rotational motion on the rotor. Alternatively, gyroscopic element 20 may be activated through the use of mechanical levers or other means. For example, in one embodiment different portions, for example, legs, of the toy figure may be spaced apart in an outward position before the toy figure is used. A second position of the legs may be an inward position. Movement of the legs from an outward position to an inward position may, through appropriate coupling, impart rotation to a rotor 23 of the gyroscopic element 20. Such coupling may occur through mechanical linkages, or magnetic interactions, or other suitable coupling force. Other means of imparting rotational motion to gyroscopic element 20 are possible, including rack and pinion linkages, etc.
For play with the described toy figure, a user may initially grasp the handle 21 of a provided pull cord 22. The user may extend the pull cord 22 away from the body of the toy figure a single time to initiate rotation of the rotor 23 of gyroscopic element. A single pull of the pull cord may be enough to impart a desired play effect to the toy figure, but a user may initiate multiple cord pulls to increase the rotational speed of the rotor and the gyroscopic effect. Once desired rotation is initiated, the user may grasp the toy figure in one of his or her hands and move the toy figure about in space. Such movement by the user may encounter a degree of resistance on the part of the toy figure, as the gyroscopic element imparts some measure of inertia to the toy figure. The encountered resistance by the toy figure may cause the toy figure to provide an enhanced play experience to the toy user.
It is believed that the disclosure set forth above encompasses multiple distinct inventions with independent utility. While each of these inventions has been disclosed in its preferred form, the specific embodiments thereof as disclosed and illustrated herein are not to be considered in a limiting sense as numerous variations are possible. The subject matter of the inventions includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various elements, features, functions and/or properties disclosed herein. Similarly, where any claim recites “a” or “a first” element or the equivalent thereof, such claim should be understood to include incorporation of one or more such elements, neither requiring nor excluding two or more such elements.
Inventions embodied in various combinations and subcombinations of features, functions, elements, and/or properties may be claimed through presentation of new claims in a related application. Such new claims, whether they are directed to a different invention or directed to the same invention, whether different, broader, narrower or equal in scope to the original claims, are also regarded as included within the subject matter of the inventions of the present disclosure.
This application is based upon and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/688,040, filed Jun. 6, 2005. U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/688,040 is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60688040 | Jun 2005 | US |
