Amusement devices: toys – Construction toy – Having parts assembled for relative movement
Patent
1990-05-31
1991-12-10
DeMille, Danton D.
Amusement devices: toys
Construction toy
Having parts assembled for relative movement
74498, 74 8918, 446468, 446128, A63H 3312, A63H 1736, F16H 2920
Patent
active
050713841
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention concerns a steering mechanism for toy building sets, such as toy vehicles, and of the type comprising a rack means and a pinion adapted to cooperate with it.
The German Patent Specification 3 035 611 discloses a steering device of said type which comprises a linear rack means with a plane toothed face adapted to cooperate with a gear wheel oriented perpendicularly with respect to said face.
The U.S. Pat. No. 2,651,882 discloses another steering device which is directly based on the principle of a non-linear rack means for cooperation with a pinion. This structure includes a bridge structure which is rotatably suspended and on which an arc-shaped rack means is secured, said rack means engaging a steering wheel controlled pinion. The engagement face of the rack is here disposed in a vertical plane in which the arc shape likewise extends.
It will be appreciated that the mentioned mutual position of rack and pinion is essential to proper tooth engagement, which means that a structure like the one mentioned above is not particularly suitable in connection with alternative structures of a toy model or as a component for incorporation in other model variants.
Further, the German Offenlegungsschrift 2 909 557 discloses a steering structure involving components for a building set that can be interconnected in various ways; however, the possibilities of the mutual positions of rack and pinion are nevertheless limited since the rack is often placed in a horizontal plane and with a horizontally projecting, arc-shaped toothing. The flexibility of these components is thus also limited.
The object of the invention is to provide a steering mechanism which has a very compact structure, which is at the same time very flexible in that it may be used in various, mutual positions of the constituent parts and in connection with incorporation in other toy models.
This object is achieved by providing a steering mechanism as stated in the characterizing portion of claim 1. When a rack means is constructed integrally with steering rod means, the steering gear may be incorporated in various model variants, since the assembled steering rod may be rotated about its longitudinal axis so that the coupling means may be mounted in an arbitrarily disposed plane, and without it being necessary to consider the orientation of the toothing and thus the engagement with the pinion adapted to reciprocate the rack means.
By the steering rods forming an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the rack means, as stated in claim 2, it is achieved that the ends of the steering rods perform a movement which is not only rotatory but also translatory, when the rack means is rotated about its own axis.
To improve the flexibility additionally, the bearing bushing may be rotatable as mentioned in claim 3 so that the pinion may slide transversely to the rack. Then the steering gear may be adapted to various requirements and needs for the individual toy model and variants of it.
This is feasible because the toothing is provided over such a great extent that it satisfies the requirement with respect to the various possible positions of the steering rod means and their coupling means, while the toothing area is sufficient to accomodate various steering wheel inclinations. When, as stated in claim 4, a corrugation is provided externally on the bushing means, the steering column may assume various inclinations, the corrugation being caused to cooperate with a flexible engagement means.
The invention will be described more fully below with reference to the drawing, in which
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a steering gear housing and a bushing means according to the invention adapted to be received by said housing,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the components illustrated in FIG. 1 in connection with a steering rod according to the invention adapted to be positioned in the bushing means,
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the constituent parts of the steering mechanism,
FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the mode of operation of the steering mechanism of
REFERENCES:
patent: 2651882 (1953-09-01), Core
patent: 3822606 (1974-07-01), Yoshino
patent: 4270397 (1981-06-01), Adams
patent: 4314710 (1982-02-01), Kamoshita
patent: 4573372 (1986-03-01), Abe
DeMille Danton D.
INTERLEGO AG
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