Amusement devices: toys – Construction toy – Having parts assembled for relative movement
Reexamination Certificate
1998-09-29
2001-02-06
Nguyen, Kien T. (Department: 3712)
Amusement devices: toys
Construction toy
Having parts assembled for relative movement
C446S092000, C446S118000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06183332
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toy, in particular, to a toy and for intellectual training for a child or the like to play by joining a plurality of power transmission parts freely.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, an intellectual training toy for a child and the like to play by assembling a plurality of power transmission parts is known, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Gazette No. 3,041,412. The intellectual training toy has a structure in which a square plate is disposed to fix on a field portion of a base member and a rotary driving member like a gear are provided on the square plate. The rotary driving member is connected to a handling disc which is arranged at a corner of the base member, through a driving mechanism provided inside the base member.
In the intellectual training toy, the rotary shaft of a gear-like rotary member of a driven member is inserted into one of small holes which are formed in the base member so that the driven member can be connected to the rotary driving member. Thus, the driven member can be rotated by rotation of the handling disc.
In such an intellectual training toy, because the relative position of the driven member to the rotary driving member is determined by the position of the holes formed in the base member, freedom of arrangement is restricted. In the structure of the intellectual training toy, because insertion of the rotary shaft into the hole can be performed only from the upper side, it is not possible to connect the driven member to the rotary driving member while the rotary driving member is rotating.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention has been made in view of the above problems.
It is an object of the invention to provide a toy which has a large freedom of arrangement and enables connection between the driven member and the rotary driving member even while the rotary driving member Is rotating.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the toy includes a base member which has a driving mechanism built-in and a field portion having a smooth surface; a rotary member which is engaged with the driving mechanism and is rotatable around an axis perpendicular to the smooth surface of the field portion; a driving member having a rotary portion, which is attachable to the field portion of the base member so that the rotary portion is connected to the rotary member to rotate according to a rotation of the rotary member; and a first driven member which can be held at a desired position on the field portion of the base member by magnetic attraction force and can engage with the rotary portion of the driving member while being held on the field portion of the base member by magnetic attraction force, the first driven member has a first acting portion which takes action according to the rotation of the rotary portion. One of the field portion of the base member and the first driven member may be made of magnetic material and the other of them may be made of a magnet.
According to such a toy, because the first driven member can be held at a desired position on the field portion of the base member by magnetic attraction force, it is possible to enhance the freedom for arrangement of the driven member and to increase interest thereto. The manner to connect the first driven member to the rotary portion of the driving member depends on the connection structure thereof. However, in the present invention, it is mostly possible to connect the first acting portion of the first driven member to the rotary portion of the driving member from the direction along the upper surface of the field portion, even while the rotary portion of the driving member is rotating. Therefore, it is unnecessary to stop the rotation of the rotary portion of the driving member prior to connecting the first driven member thereto.
Preferably, the rotary member is exposed from the field portion, and a shaft of the rotary portion of the driving member can be fitted with the rotary member.
According to the toy having such a structure, it is possible to connect the driving member to the rotary member easily and surely, by fitting the shaft of the rotary portion of the driving member with a portion of the exposed rotary member.
The rotary portion of the driving member and the first acting portion of the first driven member may be gears which can engage with each other. The gears may be spur gears, screw gears, or bevel gears.
According to the toy having such a structure, it is possible for a child or the like to have effective intellectual training to know the power transmission mechanism using gears.
The rotary portion of the driving member and the first acting portion of the first driven member may be rollers which can press against each other. The rollers may be cylindrical ones or conical ones.
According to the toy having such a structure, it is possible for a child to have effective intellectual training to know the power transmission mechanism using rollers.
The rotary portion of the driving member may form a crank, and the rotary portion of the driving member and the first acting portion of the first driven member may form a linkage.
According to the toy having such a structure, it is possible for a child to have effective intellectual training to know the power transmission mechanism using a linkage.
A cord member or a band member may be wrapped around the rotary portion of the driving member and the acting portion of the first driven member, to form a wrapping connector driving mechanism.
According to the toy having such a structure, it is possible for a child to have effective intellectual training to know the power transmission mechanism using a wrapping connector driving mechanism.
The toy may further include a second driven member which can be held at a desired position on the field portion of the base member by magnetic attraction force and can engage with the first driven member while being held on the field portion of the base member by magnetic attraction force, wherein the second driven member has an acting portion which takes action according to the action of the first driven member.
According to the toy having such a structure, because a plurality of driven members can be connected successively to transmit the power in turn, it is possible to increase interest thereto.
The toy may further include a first slide switch for changing a rotational direction of the rotary member, for example, by changing the rotation of a motor from normal direction to reverse one and vice versa. A second slide switch may be provided for changing a rotational speed of the rotary member by a movement thereof. The second slide switch may be mechanically communicated with a rotational speed changing member which can take first and second stable positions at which transmission of driving power from a motor to the rotary member is performed through trains of gears different from each other. Preferably, the rotational speed changing member has two branches which put a gear in the driving mechanism between them to move the gear by changing one of the first and second stable positions of the rotational speed changing member to the other, in order to change a train of gears used for transmission of driving power from the motor to the rotary member.
According to the toy having such a structure, it is possible to increase interest thereto.
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Carlson Jeffrey D.
Nguyen Kien T.
Staas & Halsey , LLP
Tomy Company, Limited
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