This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. Section 119 of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 2010-2596, entitled TOY TOP, filed Apr. 19, 2010 which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety into this application.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy top and, more particularly, to a toy top with a function of continuing to spin at a reduced rotational speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a toy top capable of readily changing an operation mode by rearranging component members was proposed by the assignee of the present application (refer to, for example, Japanese Utility Model Registration No. 3149383) and has been in practical use. This toy top is configured by layering an upper layer member with a function of attacking an opponent toy top, a middle layer member that determines the height of the toy top, and a lower layer member that determines a movement mode of the toy top on a playing board. A number of lower layer members having an inverted truncated-cone shape are prepared with shaft portions having different shapes formed to protrude downward. By the replacement of one of the lower layer members with another one with a shaft portion having a shape different from that of the former one, the operation mode on the playing board can be changed.
In this conventional toy top, although the operation mode on the playing board can be changed by replacing the lower layer member, the toy top begins to wobble with a reduction in rotational speed and the upper layer member comes into contact with a playing surface of the playing board, leading to a problem that its spinning may stop earlier than that of an opponent toy top while playing a match therewith.
The present invention has been made in view of the abovementioned problem. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel toy top capable of continuing to spin without spinning being abruptly stopped by contacting of an upper layer section with a playing surface when the toy top wobbles with reduction in rotational speed, to thereby spin longer than an opponent toy top.
In order to solve the abovementioned problem, according to the present invention, there is provided a toy top which is spun on a playing board to play therewith. The toy top includes: a shaft portion having a circular shape in cross-section and adapted to come into contact with a playing surface of the playing board for serving as a center of rotation when the toy top spins; a rotating plate having an insertion hole of an inner diameter greater than an outer diameter of the shaft portion, the rotating plate being attached to the shaft portion so as to freely rotate around the shaft portion while the shaft portion is inserted through the insertion hole; and an engagement means for permitting the rotating plate to freely rotate and preventing the rotating plate from detaching from the shaft portion when the rotating plate is attached to the shaft portion.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the insertion hole is disposed in the center of the rotating plate, and the rotating plate is formed in an inverted truncated-conical shape having the insertion hole located at the center thereof.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the engagement means includes an engaging projection provided on an outer peripheral surface of the shaft portion and an engaging edge portion formed around the insertion hole on a lower side of the rotating plate.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the rotating plate includes a cylindrical wall which is formed around an edge of the insertion hole on an upper surface thereof so as to protrude upward, and the wall has an inner diameter greater than the outer diameter of the shaft portion and has a height smaller than a length of the shaft portion to permit the rotating plate to tilt with respect to the shaft portion, the rotating plate and the shaft portion being in a point contact with each other when the rotating plate tilts.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the wall has cutouts formed therein so as to flex outward when the shaft portion is inserted through the insertion hole of the rotating plate.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the toy top further includes an upper layer section having a function of attacking an opponent toy top, a middle layer section determining a height of the toy top, a lower layer section having the shaft portion and fitted on the middle layer section, and a coupling member coupling together the upper layer section and the middle layer section.
According to the present invention, when the rotational speed of the toy top decreases, the rotating plate first comes into contact with a playing surface of the playing board and supports a main body of the toy top in a short time to delay contacting of the main body of the toy top with the playing surface. Therefore, a toy top can be realized which does not stop spinning at once when the rotational speed decreases and which thus has an advantage in a competition with an opponent toy top.
The first attacking member 10 is, as shown in
The second attacking member 20 is, as shown in
The middle layer section 2 is, as shown in
The middle layer section 2 is also provided on a lower end outside surface of a cylindrical portion 34 thereof with a pair of engaging protrusions 36 that are formed so as to respectively engage with a pair of engagement receiving portions 43 formed on the lower layer section 3 described later.
The lower layer section 3 is, as shown in
A pair of arcuate openings 42 is formed point-symmetrically with respect to an axis of the shaft portion 41 outside the shaft portion 41, and part of an inner wall of each opening 42 is protruded toward the shaft portion 41 to form the engagement receiving portion 43. Thus, when the lower layer section 3 is fitted from below onto the middle layer section 2 and is then turned in a circumferential direction, the engaging protrusions 36 of the middle layer section 2 engage the respective engagement receiving portions 43 of the lower layer section 3, so that the lower layer section 3 can be fixed on the middle layer section 2.
Further, the shaft portion 41 of the lower layer section 3 has a pair of engaging projections 44 which are formed on a distal end thereof so as to protrude diametrically outward as a first element of engagement means described later. These engaging projections 44 are arranged so as to engage with an engaging edge portion 53 of a circular insertion hole 51 formed in the center of the rotating plate 5 so that the rotating plate 5 may not detach from the shaft portion 41 when the shaft portion 41 is inserted through the insertion hole 51 of the rotating plate 5. Thus, the engaging edge portion 53 of the rotating plate 5 serves as a second element of the engagement means described later.
The rotating plate 5 is formed in such an approximately truncated-conical shape that a conical portion thereof is inclined upward from the center toward an outer periphery thereof as shown in
The insertion hole 51 is, as shown in
The wall 52 of the rotating plate 5 has an inner diameter W1 slightly greater than the outer diameter W2 of the shaft portion 41 and has a height L1 smaller than a length L2 of the shaft portion 41 as shown in
When the toy top A having the above-described configuration is assembled, the first and second attacking members 10 and 20 for the upper layer section 1, the middle layer section 2 and the lower layer section are firstly selected as shown in
Next, the screw portion 4a of the coupling member 4 is inserted through the opening 24 of the second attacking member 20 and is screwed into the screw hole 32 of the middle layer section 2, so that the upper layer section 1 with the first attacking member 10 stacked on the second attacking member 20 is fixed on the middle layer section 2 as shown in
Then, the engaging protrusions 36 formed on the cylindrical portion 34 of the middle layer section 2 are opposed to and inserted into the openings 42 of the lower layer section 3, and the lower layer section 3 is turned in a circumferential direction relative to the middle layer section 2 to engage the engaging protrusions 36 with the bottom sides of the engagement receiving portions 43, whereby the toy top A constituted by the upper layer section 1, the middle layer section 2 and the lower layer section 3 can be assembled, as shown in
When the toy top A thus assembled is launched by a starter (not shown) so as to rotate or spin at high speed onto a playing surface b of a playing board B (see
In the case of a conventional toy top, when the conventional toy top A′ is launched by a starter (not shown) so as to spin at high speed onto a playing surface b of a playing board B and spins at high speed, the toy top A′ moves around while spinning upright on the playing surface b, whereas when the rotational speed of the toy top A′ decreases, the toy top A can not maintain its upright attitude and spins while wobbling, as shown in
In contrast, in the toy top A of the illustrated embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
As described above, when the toy top A is rotated or spun at high speed and launched onto an inclined portion of the playing surface b of the playing board B, the toy top A maintains its upright attitude during spinning at high speed and then begins to wobble with the reduction in rotational speed. At this time, the rotating plate 5 first comes into contact with the playing surface b, before the upper layer section 1 does, so that the rotating plate 5 supports the toy top A and thus contacting of the upper layer section 1 with the playing surface b can be retarded. Therefore, the toy top A can continue to spin much longer than the opponent toy top.
In addition, in the state where the rotating plate 5 supports the toy top A, the wall 52 of the rotating plate 5 and the shaft portion 41 of the lower layer section 3 are in a point contact with each other rather than in a surface contact, so that the frictional resistance can be minimized. Thus, according to the present invention, a toy top capable of lengthening the period of time for spinning can be realized even though it has a simple structure in which a rotating plate of a truncated-cone shape is merely attached to a shaft portion of the toy top.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2010-2596 | Apr 2010 | JP | national |