TOY

Abstract

A toy includes a main body and a chassis supporting the main body. The chassis includes a mounting board, two wheels rotatably mounted to the mounting board, and at least one elastic module fixed on the mounting board. The at least one elastic module and the two wheels are arranged on three vertexes of a triangle for elastically supporting the main body.

Description

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure generally relates to toys, and particularly to a toy with two wheels.

2. Description of Related Art

Toys are generally provided with wheels or caterpillar tracks to move. Because wheels have advantages of flexibility and speed over caterpillar tracks, wheels are widely used on the toy.

However, two-wheeled toys are unstable. For example, when a two-wheeled toy comes into contact with an obstacle, the two-wheeled toy may flip over or may tilt on its side and be unable to move.

Therefore, a two-wheeled toy with high stability is desired.

Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the toy in FIG. 1 with the outer body removed.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of the toy in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an exploded view of the toy in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the toy in FIG. 1 in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the toy in FIG. 5 in accordance with an exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

References will now be made to the drawings to describe exemplary embodiments of a toy.

Referring to FIG. 1, a toy 400 includes a main body 300 and a chassis 100. The chassis 100 is capable of supporting and mounting the main body 300. In the exemplary embodiment, the main body 300 is detachably mounted to the chassis 100. In other embodiments, the main body 300 may be integrally formed with the chassis 100. A motor (not shown) may be mounted on the chassis 100 to propel the chassis 100 together with the main body 300 to move along a first direction or a second direction. The first direction may be a forward direction and the second direction may be a backward direction.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the chassis 100 includes a mounting board 10, two wheels 20, and at least one elastic module 30. The mounting board 10 is configured for mounting the main body 400. The two wheels 20 are coaxially mounted to the mounting board 10 and are substantially parallel to each other. The two wheels 20 are rotatable so as to drive the toy 400 to move along the backward and forward directions. The elastic module 30 is fixed under the mounting board 10 for selectively and elastically supporting the mounting board 10. The mounting board 10 may be an independent part connected to a bottom surface of the main body 300. The mounting board 10 may also be integrated with the main body 300 and arranged as a bottom component of the main body 300.

Further referring to FIG. 4, the mounting board 10 defines two openings 12 parallel with each other for rotatably receiving the two wheels 20. The mounting board 10 further includes two disk shaped fixing parts 11 for fixing the elastic module 30. Two pairs of lugs 14 protrude from the mounting board 10 and are adjacent to the two openings 12. Each of the pair of lugs 14 defines two pivot holes 17 for assembling a corresponding wheel 20 into a corresponding opening 12. The two fixing parts 11 are disposed on a surface opposite to the surface where the main body 300 is mounted. The two fixing parts 11 are arranged along a line substantially parallel to the moving direction of the wheels 20. Each fixing part 11 and the two openings 12 are arranged on three vertexes of a triangle respectively. Two columnar protrusions 15 substantially extend from the centre of the two fixing parts 11. Two grooves 13 are respectively defined around the circumference of the fixing parts 11, whereby two rings are formed.

Each of the two wheels 20 is equipped with two shafts 22 extending from two sides of the wheel 20. The two shafts 22 are insertable through the two pivot holes 17 of the one pair of the lugs 14 correspondingly, so as to mount the wheel 20 to the one pair of the lugs 14 correspondingly. As such, the two wheels 20 are positioned and rotated in the two openings 12 correspondingly. The diameter of the two wheels 20 are larger than the thickness of the mounting board 10, thus, the two wheels 20 extend out of the opposite sides of the mounting board 10 in the thickness direction of the mounting board 10, and upwardly support the main body 400 loaded on the mounting board 10.

The two elastic modules 30 are respectively attached to the two fixing parts 11, so that each elastic module 30 and the two wheels 20 are respectively arranged on the three vertexes of the triangle. When the two wheels 20 stand on a flat surface (not show), the height from the flat surface to the mounting board 10 is greater than the height of one end of the elastic module 30, facing the flat surface, to the mounting board 10. As a result, when the two wheels 20 stably support the main body 300, the two elastic modules 30 are not in contact with the flat surface. When the two wheels 20 can't stably support the main body 300 because of a weight of the main body 300, one of the elastic modules 30 contacts the flat surface to elastically support the main body 300. Thus, the toy 400 is prevented from falling over by the three points contacting the flat surface.

Each of the elastic modules 30 includes an elastic element 32, a telescopic element 34, and supporting element 36. The telescopic element 34 defines a through hole 340 extending from a first face to a second face deviating from the first face of the telescopic element 34. The size and shape of the first face accommodates the groove 13. The telescopic element 34 is connected to the mounting board 10 by placing the first face into the groove 13. The telescopic element 34 may also be a component which can be expanded and compressed under an external force.

The supporting element 36 includes a bottom 360 with a curved top surface, and a sleeve 362 connected to the bottom 360 and deviating from the curved top surface. The sleeve 362 is inserted into the thought hole 340 that the bottom 360 is tightly connected to the first face of the telescopic element 34. The bottom 360 is made of hard material and the curved surface is substantially smooth, thus the bottom 360 is wear-resistant and the surface friction coefficient is small.

The elastic element 32 is a coil spring, one end of the coil spring 32 is attached to the protrusion 15, and the other end of the elastic element 32 is received in the sleeve 362, the elastic element 32 thus is restricted between the supporting element 36 and the mounting board 10. In other embodiments, the elastic element 32 may be an elastic piece or an elastic block.

When the elastic module 30 is pressed by or subject to an external force, the elastic element 32 and the telescopic element 34 are compressed simultaneously and generate an elastic action on the supporting element 36. When the external force is released, the telescopic element 34 returns to the original state under the effect of elasticity.

Referring FIGS. 5 and 6, a toy 200 in accordance with a second exemplary embodiment is shown. The toy 200 is similar to the toy 400. A difference between the toy 200 and the toy 400 is that methods for assembling the elastic module 30 to the mounting board 10 are different. In the toy 200, the fixing parts 11 of mounting board 10 define two guiding holes 19. The elastic module 30 further includes a connecting element 31 with appropriate shape and size for accommodating the fixing part 11, and two screws 33. The connecting element 31 is stuck on one end of the elastic module 30 deviating from the supporting element 36. The connecting element 31 defines two screw holes 35 corresponding to the two guiding holes 19. The center of connecting element 31 defines a center hole 37 for restricting the coil spring 32. Each guiding hole 19 and each screw hole 35 are aligned to allow one of the screws 33 to insert therealong. The two screws 33 are respectively screwed into the screw holes 35 to secure the elastic module 30 on the mounting board 30.

As described above, the toy employs an elastic module. The elastic module and the two wheels are arranged to locate at three vertexes of a triangle on the bottom of the toy. When the toy comes into contact with an obstacle or climb on a slope, the toy may tend to fall to the flat surface along or opposite to the moving direction, the elastic module will contact the flat surface under the weight of the toy, thus the toy can be prevented from falling to the flat surface by employing the elastic module.

It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Claims

1. A toy, comprising: a main body; anda chassis supporting the main body, the chassis comprising: a mounting board;two wheels rotatably mounted to the mounting board, the two wheels being capable of rotating so as to drive the toy to move along a first direction; anda first elastic module fixed on the mounting board and deviating from the main body, the first elastic module and the two wheels being separately arranged on the mounting board in such a manner to form a triangle, the first elastic module and the two wheels being located at three vertexes of the triangle;wherein the first elastic module is capable of selectively and elastically supporting the main body, when the main body is stable, the main body is supported by the two wheels, when the main body is unstable, the main body is supported by the two wheels and the first elastic module, and the first elastic module is elastically deformed.

2. The toy of claim 1, wherein the chassis further comprises a second elastic module, the second elastic module is also fixed on the mounting board, and the first and second elastic modules are arranged along a line substantially parallel to the first direction.

3. The toy of claim 2, wherein when the two wheels stand on a flat surface, a height from the flat surface to the mounting board is greater than the height of one end of the elastic module, facing the flat surface, to the mounting board.

4. The toy of claim 2, wherein each of the first and second elastic modules comprises an elastic element with two opposite ends and a supporting element, one end of the elastic element is attached to the mounting board, and the other end of the elastic element is connected to the supporting element.

5. The toy of claim 4, wherein the elastic element is a coil spring.

6. The toy of claim 4, wherein a bottom of the supporting element comprises a smooth curved surface, and the bottom deviates from the mounting board.

7. The toy of claim 4, wherein each of first and second elastic modules further comprises a telescopic element for receiving the elastic element, one end of the telescopic element is connected to the mounting board, the other end of the telescopic element is connected to the supporting element, and the telescopic element is deformable when the telescopic element is subject to an external force, and returns to an original state when the external force is released.

8. The toy of claim 7, wherein the telescopic element is made of elastic material.

9. The toy of claim 7, wherein the telescopic element is stuck to the mounting board.

10. The toy of claim 7, wherein each of the first and second elastic modules further comprises a connecting element and screws, and the connecting element is connected to the telescopic element and is fixed on the mounting board via the screws.

11. A toy comprising: a main body;a mounting board connected to a bottom of the main body for loading the main body;two wheels rotatably assembled to the mounting board; andat least one elastic module fixed on the mounting board and deviating from the main body, wherein the at least one elastic module and two wheels are arranged on vertexes of a triangle for elastically supporting the main body.

12. The toy of claim 11, wherein the at least one elastic module is positioned between the two wheels.

13. The toy of claim 11, wherein when the two wheels stand on a flat surface, a height from the flat surface to the mounting board is greater than the height of one end of the at least one elastic module, facing the flat surface, to the mounting board.

14. The toy of claim 11, wherein the at least one elastic module comprises an elastic element with two opposite ends and a supporting element, one end of the elastic element is attached to the mounting board, and the other end of the elastic element is connected to the supporting element.

15. The toy of claim 14, wherein the elastic element is a coil spring.

16. The toy of claim 14, wherein a bottom of the supporting element is a smooth curved surface, and the bottom deviates from the mounting board.

17. The toy of claim 15, wherein the at least one elastic module further comprises a telescopic element for receiving the elastic element, one end of the telescopic element is connected to the mounting board, the other end of the telescopic element is connected to the supporting element, and the telescopic element is deformable when the telescopic element is subject to an external force, and returns to an original state when the external force is released.

18. The toy of claim 15, wherein the telescopic element is made of elastic material.

19. A toy, comprising: a main body;a mounting board connected to the main body for loading the main body;a pair of wheels rotatably mounted to the mounting board, the pair of wheels being capable of rotating so as to drive the toy to move along a backward and forward direction; anda first and second elastic modules, the first and second elastic modules being fixed to the mounting board for selectively and elastically supporting the mounting board;wherein when the toy contacts with an obstacle and is hindered to move along the backward and forward direction, one of the first and second elastic modules is subject to a downward force of the mounting board and the main body, such that one of the first and second elastic modules is elastically deformed to support the mounting board and the main body, thereby the toy is prevented from falling over.

20. The toy of claim 19, wherein each of the first and second elastic modules comprises: a coil spring; anda supporting element, the supporting element is fixed to the mounting board, the coil spring is restricted between the supporting element and the mounting board, when one of the first and second elastic modules is subject to the downward force of the mounting board and the main body, the supporting element is deformed and the coil spring is compressed to store a spring force, and when one of the first and second elastic modules is released from the downward force of the mounting board and the main body, the supporting element returns to its original state exerted by the spring force of the coil spring.