TRAVELING TOY

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 USC 119 from Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-127446 filed on Aug. 4, 2023, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a traveling toy.

BACKGROUND ART

In the related art, a traveling toy including a seat portion and a steering wheel and imitating a car is known. For example, JPS60-010699U discloses a traveling toy imitating a left-hand drive car in which a steering wheel is provided at a portion facing a seat portion. This traveling toy is provided with a weight at a front end, which is formed to be detachably attached to an engaging portion on a hood.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In reality, depending on whether cars travel on the right or left, there are countries where left-hand drive cars are the mainstream and countries where right-hand drive cars are the mainstream. Therefore, even for traveling toys imitating cars, there are cases where a user may want to use a right-hand drive when playing while assuming a country where cars travel on the left, and a left-hand drive when playing while assuming a country where cars travel on the right. In traveling toys of the related art, the fun of playing sometimes decreases because the left-hand drive and the right-hand drive cannot be easily switched.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a traveling toy that can easily switch between left-hand drive and right-hand drive.

A traveling toy according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes: a seat portion; an attachment portion provided to face the seat portion; and a panel member detachably attachable to the attachment portion, the panel member including: a panel body formed in a point-symmetric elongated shape when viewed from a front surface of the panel body; and a steering wheel provided on the front surface while being offset from a center position of the panel body in a longitudinal direction of the panel body.

According to the above aspect, it is possible to provide a traveling toy that can easily switch between left-hand drive and right-hand drive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be described in detail based on the following without being limited thereto, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a steering wheel of a traveling toy according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is set to a left-hand drive, when viewed from the front;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a state in which the steering wheel of the traveling toy according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is set to the left-hand drive, when viewed from the rear;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which the steering wheel of the traveling toy according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is set to a right-hand drive, when viewed from the rear;

FIGS. 4A and 4B show a panel member of the traveling toy according to the embodiment of the present disclosure, in which FIG. 4A is a front view of the panel member, and FIG. 4B is a perspective view of the panel member seen from a back surface; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a state in which the panel member of the traveling toy according to the embodiment of the present disclosure has been removed, when seen from the rear.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a traveling toy 1 has a form imitating a four-wheeled car that is an open car. A vehicle interior 40 is formed by a vehicle interior member 41. In the vehicle interior 40, a seat portion 10 is provided. The seat portion 10 consists of two seats on a front side and two seats on a rear side. In the vehicle interior 40, a panel member 20 is provided that faces the seat portion 10 and includes a steering wheel 21. Note that, in the following description, the front side as a car in the traveling toy 1 is referred to as front, the rear side is referred to as rear, the upper side is referred to as upper, and the lower side is referred to as lower. In addition, the left side will be described as left and the right side will be described as right when viewed from a state of sitting on the driver's seat that is the seat portion 10 facing the steering wheel 21.

The seat portion 10 of the traveling toy 1 includes two front seat portions 11 on the front side and two rear seat portions 12 on the rear side. On the left side of the rear seat portions 12, a toy stroller 18 imitating a stroller is provided. The toy stroller 18 is provided with wheels (not shown), is freely attachable and detachable with respect to the rear seat portion 12, and can be attached to the rear seat portion 12 by hooking a handle portion onto a headrest of the rear seat portion 12. In FIG. 1, the left front seat portion 11L is a driver's seat, and the right front seat portion 11R is a passenger seat.

Front wheels 2 and rear wheels 3 of the traveling toy 1 are provided to be freely rotatable. The traveling toy 1 does not have a drive source. The traveling toy 1 is formed as a traveling toy for doll play that is played by placing a small doll on the seat portion 10 and pressing it with a hand.

The panel member 20 provided with the steering wheel 21 is detachably attached to an attachment portion 30 provided facing the seat portion 10 (see FIGS. 2, 3, and 5). The panel member 20 is formed in an elongated shape that is long in the left-right direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the panel member 20 can be attached to the attaching portion 30 with the left and right sides reversed. This makes it possible to change the traveling toy 1 imitating a left-hand-drive car (FIGS. 1 and 2) to the traveling toy 1 imitating a right-hand-drive car (FIG. 3).

As shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the panel member 20 has a front plate 22. In addition, the panel member 20 has two top plates 23 and 24 having the same shape and provided facing each other. The front plate 22 is formed in a substantially long rectangular plate shape with the left-right direction as a longitudinal direction and the upper-lower direction as a width direction. The top plates 23 and 24 are each formed in a substantially long rectangular plate shape with the left-right direction as a longitudinal direction and the front-rear direction as a width direction. The front plate 22 is arranged with a plate surface facing toward the front-rear direction. The top plates 23 and 24 are arranged with plate surfaces facing toward the upper-lower direction. Here, the surface shown in FIG. 4A where the steering wheel 21 is attached is a front surface 25, and an opposite surface is a back surface 26, as shown in FIG. 4B. The panel member 20 is attached to the attachment portion 30 with the back surface 26 facing toward the front side.

Edges 23a and 24a on the front surface 25 side of the top plates 23 and 24 are curved in a gentle arc shape that protrudes toward the front surface 25 side when viewed from the upper-lower direction. Edges 23b and 24b on the back surface 26 side of the top plates 23 and 24 are formed in a straight line shape.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the front plate 22 is formed into a substantially arc shape with a central portion slightly bulging up and down. The front plate 22 is connected to the top plates 23 and 24 while being sandwiched by the top plates 23 and 24 in the upper-lower direction (the width direction of the front plate 22). Accordingly, the top plates 23 and 24 are also formed in a substantially arc shape with central portions slightly bulging up and down when viewed from the front-rear direction, imitating the shape of the upper and lower edges of the front plate 22.

The front plate 22 is arranged on the back surface 26 side with respect to the edges 23a and 24a on the front surface 25 side of the top plates 23 and 24. Accordingly, the edges 23a and 24a protrude toward the front surface 25 side relative to the plate surface on the front surface 25 side of the front plate 22, and the portions protruding relative to the plate surface on the front surface 25 side of the front plate 22 are formed as protrusions 23c and 24c (see also FIGS. 2 and 3). Left and right edge portions of the front plate 22 are formed with rib-shaped protruding edge portions 27 connecting the top plates 23 and 24. The protruding edge portion 27 protrudes relative to the plate surface on the front surface 25 side of the front plate 22. As shown in FIG. 4B, an amount of protrusion by which the protruding edge portion 27 protrudes from the plate surface on the front surface 25 side of the front plate 22 is smaller than an amount of protrusion by which the protruding portions 23c and 24c protrude from the plate surface on the front surface 25 side of the front plate 22.

On the back surface 26 side of the left and right protruding edge portions 27, plate-shaped locking portions 28 are provided between upper and lower cut portions 28a, respectively. The locking portion 28 is provided in a direction in which a plate surface is oriented in the left-right direction, and imparts elastic force in the left-right direction. At a distal end of the locking portion 28, a locking protrusion 28b protruding outward is provided. The left and right side surfaces of the panel member 20 are substantially flat, but slightly protrude in the vicinity of base portions of the locking portions 28. Additionally, two vertical ribs 220 connected to the top plates 23 and 24 are provided on the back surface 26 side of the front plate 22 between the top plates 23 and 24.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a small circular portion 22a protruding in a circular ring shape is provided substantially at the center in the left-right direction on the front surface 25 side of the front plate 22. On both left and right sides of the small circular portion 22a, large circular portions 22b are provided which protrude in a circular ring shape similar to the small circular portion 22a and have a larger diameter than the small circular portion 22a. The small circular portion 22a and the two large circular portions 22b express the perimeter around the meter of the car.

In addition, a radio portion 22c expressing a radio is provided next to the large circular portion 22b on an opposite side to the steering wheel 21. The radio portion 22c includes three circular protrusions 22c1 protruding in a circular shape, expressing knobs such as a radio volume or tuner, and arranged side by side in the left-right direction. At a position corresponding to the upper-lower direction of the three circular protrusions 22c1 (lower side in FIG. 4A), a rectangular recess portion 22c2, which is long in the left-right direction, is provided. The recess portion 22c2 expresses a window portion for radio tuning. As for the recess portion 22c2, as shown in FIG. 4B, on the back surface 26 side, a rectangular protruding portion 22c21 elongated in the left-right direction is formed corresponding to the recess portion 22c2. Thereby, even if the recess portion 22c2 is provided, the recess portion 22c2 can be provided without making a plate thickness of the portion of the recess portion 22c2 extremely thin.

In this way, the surface on the front surface 25 side of the front plate 22 is configured as a car panel surface. Note that, when the left-hand drive and the right-hand drive are switched, the radio portion 22c is turned upside down, but the knobs such as a volume (circular protrusions 22cl) will be arranged on the upper side or lower side of the window portion for a radio tuning (recess portion 22c2), which forms a design without a sense of discomfort because both can exist in a real car.

The steering wheel 21 has a shaft portion 21a divided into two branches. The shaft portion 21a has a hook-shaped distal end and is inserted into a steering wheel bearing portion 22d protruding in a substantially cylindrical shape on the back surface 26 side of the front plate 22. Thereby, the steering wheel 21 is rotatably held by the front plate 22.

Here, a panel body 200 of the panel member 20 includes the front plate 22 and the top plates 23 and 24. The panel body 200 is formed in a point-symmetric elongated shape when viewed from the front (see FIG. 4A). In addition, the steering wheel 21 is provided while being offset from a center position CL (approximately a center of the small circular portion 22a) in the longitudinal direction (left-right direction) of the panel body 200 (in other words, while being offset leftward or rightward from the center position CL in the left-right direction).

As shown in FIG. 5, the attachment portion 30 is formed in a substantially recessed shape with the seat portion 10 side open. The attachment portion 30 has a front surface 30a, a lower surface 30b, a left side surface 30c, and a right side surface 30d. The left side surface 30c and the right side surface 30d are connected to the front surface 30a and the lower surface 30b, respectively. The lower surface 30b is formed in a substantially arc shape with a substantially central portion in the left-right direction bulging downward when viewed from the front-rear direction, in conformity to the top plates 23 and 24 of the panel member 20 to be attached. The front surface 30a, the left side surface 30c, and the right side surface 30d are flat surfaces.

Locking hole portions 31 that are open long in the upper-lower direction are each provided at a corner portion where the left side surface 30c and the front surface 30a are connected and at a corner portion where the right side surface 30d and the front surface 30a are connected. Note that in FIG. 5, only the locking hole portion 31 on the left side surface 30c side is shown. In addition, a tongue-shaped body locking portion 32 provided substantially at a center of the front surface 30a in the left-right direction is a locking portion for attaching the vehicle interior member 41 to a body 7 of the traveling toy 1. Here, the vehicle interior member 41 includes the attachment portion 30 and the seat portion 10.

Openings 33 whose upper sides are semicircular are provided on the left and right sides of the body locking portion 32. Thereby, elastic force is imparted to the plate-shaped portion between the locking hole portion 31 and the opening 33, making it possible to easily attach and remove the panel member 20.

The attachment portion 30 is provided in a recessed shape with a length matching a length in the longitudinal direction of the panel body 200 of the panel member 20. That is, a length between the left side surface 30c and the right side surface 30d is substantially the same as lengths in the longitudinal direction of the top plates 23 and 24 (the length between outer sides of the left and right protruding edge portions 27). In addition, a length in the width direction of the lower surface 30b of the attachment portion 30 (i.e., lengths in the front-rear direction of the left side surface 30c and the right side surface 30d) is substantially the same as lengths in the width direction of the top plates 23 and 24 (a length in the front-rear direction of a side surface of the panel body 200).

The panel member 20 can be attached to the attachment portion 30 as a left-hand drive specification with the steering wheel 21 on the left side. By rotating the panel member 20 180 degrees around a normal direction of the front plate 22, the panel member can be attached to the attachment portion 30 as a right-hand drive specification with the steering wheel 21 on the right side. In addition, the upper surfaces connected to the left side surface 30c and right side surface 30d of the attachment portion 30 are formed into arc-shaped surfaces 30c1 and 30d1. In other words, the arc-shaped surfaces 30c1 and 30d1 are provided on the lateral sides of the attachment portion 30. The arc-shaped surfaces 30c1 and 30d1 are continuous with the top plate 23 or top plate 24 of the panel member 20 attached to the attachment portion 30.

According to the embodiment of the present disclosure as described above, a traveling toy of the following aspects can be provided.

A traveling toy according to a first aspect includes a seat portion; an attachment portion provided to face the seat portion; and a panel member detachably attachable to the attachment portion, the panel member including: a panel body formed in a point-symmetric elongated shape when viewed from a front surface of the panel body; and a steering wheel provided on the front surface while being offset from a center position of the panel body in a longitudinal direction of the panel body.

According to this configuration, the traveling toy can set the steering wheel 21 to the left side or right side by removing and rotating the panel member 20, making it possible to easily switch the left-hand drive and the right-hand drive.

In the traveling toy according to a second aspect, the attachment portion is provided in a recessed shape with a length matching a length of the panel member in the longitudinal direction.

According to this configuration, since the lengths of the panel member and the attachment portion can be matched, the panel member can be attached so that there is no sense of apparent discomfort even if the steering wheel is switched to the left or right side.

In the traveling toy according to a third aspect, the panel member includes: a front plate having an elongated shape and including the front surface; and two facing top plates connected to the front plate so as to sandwich the front plate in a transverse direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction, in which the two top plates are formed in a same shape.

According to this configuration, the front surface side of the front plate can be shaped like a car panel, so a traveling toy can be provided which does not cause any sense of discomfort even when the two top plates are turned upside down.

In the traveling toy according to a fourth aspect, the two top plates are formed to have an arc shape, the attachment portion is provided in a recessed shape with a length matching a length of the panel member in the longitudinal direction, and an arc-shaped surface is provided on a lateral side of the attachment portion such that the arc-shape surface is continuous with one of the two top plates when the panel member is attached to the attachment portion.

According to this configuration, even if a panel member that is detachably attached to the attachment portion is provided, the design of the surface extending from the periphery of the attachment portion to the panel member can be improved, so that a traveling toy with a panel member can be provided which does not cause a sense of discomfort with a shape adjacent to the attachment portion.

In the traveling toy according to a fifth aspect, the front plate includes a car panel surface imitating a meter.

According to this configuration, it is possible to provide a traveling toy with a design that more closely resembles a real car.

Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be variously changed without departing from the scope.

TRAVELING TOY

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