Machine element or mechanism – Control lever and linkage systems – Hand operated
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-13
2001-08-14
Herrmann, Allan D. (Department: 3682)
Machine element or mechanism
Control lever and linkage systems
Hand operated
C446S451000, C446S468000, C464S030000, C464S039000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06272946
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving device for moving and steering a miniature vehicle provided with at least one steered wheel.
2. Description of the Related Art
The invention is particularly advantageously applicable in the field of toys, and especially in the field of miniature vehicles remote-controlled by a control member whose dimensions and positioning correspond to the child's morphology; the child must be able to move and steer such a vehicle with the aid of the driving device while walking upright.
The majority of driving devices known from the prior art comprise archaic and generally rudimentary mechanisms. In the majority of cases, the orientation of the steered wheels is provided by mere pivoting of the axle on which said wheels are freely mounted. This movement, controlled by the rotation of the control member, is transmitted by the agency of transmission means generally taking the form of a more or less articulated steering column acting directly on the steering axle. It will readily be understood that this type of device is entirely incapable of simulating real driving or the behavior of a real vehicle, which considerably restricts the attraction of such a toy.
Efforts have been made to remedy these problems by providing the miniature vehicle with real steered wheels, that is to say wheels that can be oriented along different axes. In a known manner, each of them is mounted free to rotate on pivoting support means. The latter are, for their part, actuated individually by steering tie rods connected to a rudder bar which is itself interdependent with the steering column.
Although this type of embodiment proves superior in terms of enjoyment to that described previously, the fact remains that it is still insufficiently realistic to be able to communicate to its user genuine sensations of driving such as to give the toy a lasting interest.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Thus, the technical object to be achieved by the subject-matter of the present invention is that of providing a driving device for moving and steering a miniature vehicle provided with at least one steered wheel, said driving device comprising a control member, arranged outside the miniature vehicle, to be remote-manipulated by the user, transmission means transferring inside said miniature vehicle any movement produced on the control member, and means for deflecting each steered wheel which are controlled by said transmission means; which driving device would make it possible to avoid the problems of the prior art by providing an even more striking analogy between the behavior of the toy and that of a genuine vehicle, that is to say a device capable of realistically simulating the principal sensations derived from driving a genuine vehicle.
The solution to the stated technical problem resides, according to the present invention, in the fact that said driving device comprises conversion means for gearing down any primary movement actuating the transmission means into a secondary movement transmissible to the means for deflecting each steered wheel.
The invention as defined possesses the advantage of offering very great driving precision, precisely because of the phenomenon of gearing-down created by the conversion means, which reduces in a predetermined fashion the speed and extent of the primary movement actuating the transmission means. The secondary movement resulting from this conversion is thus adapted to the general configuration of the deflection means.
Consequently, the angular displacement of each steered wheel of the miniature vehicle does not correspond in an identical manner to that of the control member. In this specific case, the steering is not direct, contrary to the driving devices of the prior art, the deflection of each wheel being simply proportional to the angular displacement of the control member.
The sensitivity of the steering, in other words the deflection of the wheels as a function of a given angular displacement of the control member, may advantageously be modulated by varying the gearing-down ratio in order to obtain, as the case may be, extremely precise or substantially more lively driving.
According to a first embodiment of the invention, the conversion means comprise, in particular, two mobile members interacting in meshing, said mobile members being respectively interdependent with the transmission means and the deflection means. This configuration has the advantage of significantly reducing the functional plays and thus reducing wear phenomena to the same extent, while increasing the reliability of the driving device which is the subject of the invention.
According to a first alternative version of the first embodiment of the invention, the mobile member interdependent with the transmission means comprises a pinion, while the mobile member interdependent with the deflection means takes the form of a component forming a rudder bar, mounted to pivot relative to the miniature vehicle and possessing a notched sector capable of interacting by meshing with said pinion. The secondary movement transmissible to the deflection means is in this case a rotary movement.
According to a second alternative version of the first embodiment of the invention, the mobile members interdependent with the transmission means and the deflection means comprise, respectively, a pinion and a rack, that is to say a notched bar. The assembly thus formed is able to transform any rotary movement actuating the transmission means into a linear movement transmissible to the deflection means.
According to a second embodiment of the invention, the conversion means comprise two mobile members interacting to produce driving by adhesion. As in the first case, these mobile members are interdependent with, respectively, the transmission means and the deflection means, but the functional play in this case is eliminated completely, so that the precision of driving is further substantially improved.
In a particularly advantageous manner, at least one of the two mobile members comprises an adhesive coating on the surface intended to come into contact with the associated mobile member. This coating may, of course, be constituted on the basis of any soft and adhesive material, such as for example rubber of an appropriate hardness, but may equally well be any other known material having equivalent mechanical properties.
According to another special feature, at least one of the two mobile members comprises a rough zone on the surface intended to come into contact with the associated mobile member. Here again, this rough zone may be of any conceivable shape. If necessary, it may even be rubberized, for example by overmolding. However, its presence is only fully justified in combination with another rough zone made on the contact surface of the associated mobile member, or with an adhesive coating arranged on said contact surface of the associated mobile member.
According to a first alternative version of the second embodiment of the invention, the mobile member interdependent with the transmission means is constituted by a wheel, while the mobile member interdependent with the deflection means takes the form of a component forming a rudder bar, mounted to pivot relative to the miniature vehicle and having a sector capable of interacting by adhesion with said wheel. The secondary movement transmissible to the deflection means is here a rotary movement.
According to a second alternative version of the second embodiment of the invention, the mobile members interdependent with the transmission means and the deflection means are constituted, respectively, by a wheel and by a rod, which are respectively movable in rotation and in translation. The assembly thus formed is able to convert any rotary movement actuating the transmission means into a linear movement transmissible to the deflection means.
It should be noted that, throughout this description, the term “interdependent with” means that the members in question are dependent upon one another a
Herrmann Allan D.
Nilles & Nilles SC
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