GB2274522A - Racing toy apparatus - Google Patents

Description

2274522 Racing toy apparatus The present invention relates to a racing toy

apparatus that measures and displays the amount of time required by a racing toy, for example, a racing car that travels either by wireless remote control or on a track, to make one lap, the average time of several laps, the number of laps and so forth.

In other words, the present invention detects a reflecting surface by a photocoupler loaded on a racing toy, instantaneously controls time counting operation by a counting device loaded on the toy, calculates lap data such as lap time, and displays this time data by a display device. in addition, the present invention is mainly used for racing between said racing to-ys.

Although a method of measuring the above-mentioned time and number of laps during racing between the above-mentioned racing toys in the form of racing cars of the prior art typically involved the use of a stopwatch to make such measurements, this method had the shortcoming of it being difficult to make accurate- measurements, and said measurements requiring a considerable amount of expertise and skill.

However, a method has been developed in recent years wherein a gate-like structure is formed at the starting line (that may or may not also serve as the finish line), a plurality of light receivers are arranged on thi.s gate, and a light emitter is mounted on the racing car so that light is irradiated upward. A timer is started when light from said light emitter is received with the light receiver, and then stopped when light is received again. The amount of time that elapses between the timer is started and stopped is then displayed by an indicator connected to the above-mentioned gate by means of a lead wire.

However, the above-mentioned method had the problem of the cost of the racing cars being excessively high due to the need for an oscillator in the light emitter as a result of the need to set the emission pattern of the light emitter in the case of gimultaneously racing a plurality of racing cars.

In addition, together with it also being necessary to fabricate the gate to match the width of the track as well as attach a large number of-light receivers, since a decoding apparatus is required corresponding to the number of light receivers, this method also had the problem of the cost of the track being excessively high as well.

3 In an effort to solve the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a racing toy apparatus that is able to achieve a reduction in costs by eliminating the need for an oscillator and decoding apparatus as in the prior art, since, as a result of arranging a light emitter and light receiver on a racing toy, only a reflecting surface is required to be formed in the track surface.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the racing toy apparatus of the present invention is equipped with: a photocoupler that uses a light receiver to receive reflected light from a light emitter when said racing toy apparatus passes a reflecting surface formed in a racing track; and, a counting device that at least measures time by receiving the output from-said photocoupler.

racing toy apparatus of the present invention having the constitution as described above is able to measure lap time and so forth with a racing toy apparatus using a counting device to pdrform measurement of time by receiving reflected light with a light receiver in which light from a light emitter is reflected with a reflecting surface formed in a race track.

In addition, together with being able to store the above mentioned data in a storage device of a remote unit by means of 4 a transceiver and view said data whenever desired, since there is no need to view the racing toy itself, a large device can be used for the display device, thereby allowing reading of data to be performed easily.

Moreover, desired data, such as fastest lap time, average lap time and so forth, can be determined by performing computations with a computing device on the data stored in the abovementioned storage device, and that data can be preserved on paper by connecting a printer.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Fig. 1 is a top view of the race track over which the racing toy travels.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the essential components of the racing toy apparatus indicated in a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a circuit block drawing of the above.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view indicating the essential components of a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a circuit block drawing of the above.

Fig. 6 is a circuit block drawing of a third embodiment of the present invention.

The following provides an explanation of a first embodiment of the present invention with reference to Figs. 1 through 3.

In Fig. 1, A indicates the race track, while racing toy B, in the form of a racing car and so forth, circles the race track. Reflecting surface C, in the form of aluminum foil and so on, which reflects light, is formed across the entire width of the track in track A at the starting line of said track A.

Fig. 2 indicates racing toy B. Said racing toy B is equipped_ with a driving source, such as a motor, not shown in the drawing, and a wireless receiver. In addition, as indicated in Fig. 3, photocoupler 2 consisting of a light emitter and light receiver, counting device 3 that counts the time according to the output from said photocoupler 2, display device 4 that displays the time counted by said counting device, and reset switch 5 that resets the above-mentioned counting device 3 and display device 4, are housed in box 1 mounted on a carriage.

The following provides an explanation of operation based on the constitution described above. As indicated in Fig. 1, by placing racing toy B immediately in front of reflecting surface C at the starting line of track A, and starting said racing toy B by wireless remote control, racing toy B begins to travel around track A. As a result of first passing over ref lecting surface C, an output is generated at the starting line by 6 reflection and detection by photocoupler 2. Together with counting device 3 being reset by this signal, the traveling time from that point is counted and displayed with display device 4. When racing toy B completes one lap around track A and again passes over reflecting surface C, the counting of counting device 3 is ended by output from photocoupler 2, and that time is then displayed on display device 4. Thus, since the lap time for one lap around track A can be_ confirmed with display device 4 of racing toy B, in the case of racing while comparing the lap times between a plurality of racing toys, the starting time of each racing toy B can be accurately made to agree with those of the other racing toys B, thereby increasing the reliability of mutual lap times to facilitate easier confirmation. in addition, in the case of the starting line being provided at a- position other than reflecting surface C, by resetting counting device 3 with reset switch 5 in advance, lap time can be measured and displayed at the finish line provided at reflecting surface C. Namely, when racing toy B is operated by remote control and photocoupler 2 passes over reflecting surface C after counting device 3 and display device 4 have been reset by pressing reset switch 5, display device 4 is activated together with counting - 7 3 starting to count time.

device When racing toy B completes one lap around track A and photocoupler 2 again passes over reflecting surface C, counting by counting device 3 ends and the display of time by display device 4 is fixed at that point. Thus, the lap time for a single lap required by racing toy B when traveling from the starting line to the finish line can be determined by viewing display device 4.

Furthermore, even if racing toy B is not operated by a wireless remote control system, as long as track A is of a structure in which the path of travel is restricted to track A, similar effects can be obtained by providing racing toy B with a start switch and allowing it to travel on its own around track A.

The following provides an explanation of a second embodiment of the present invention with reference to Fig. 4. Furthermore, the same reference numerals are used to indicate those portions of this second embodiment that are identical to those of the above-mentioned first embodiment, and an explanation of those portions is omitted.

Ifi contrast to display device 4 being mounted on racing toy B in the above-mentioned first embodiment, in the present embodiment, this display is viewed with remote unit 8 connected by lead wire 7.

Namely, socket 6 is attached to box 1 on racing toy B. On the other hand, pin plug 9 is provided on remote unit 8 connected by lead wire 7. In addition, as indicated in Fig. 5, photocoupler 2 and counting device 3 similar to that in the first embodiment are provided within box 1 of racing toy B. Moreover, storage device 10, that stares time data and lap data counted by said counting device, as well as transceiver 11, that transmits time data and lap data stored by said storage device 10, are also provided within box 1 of racing toy B. On the other hand, transceiver 12, connected with the above-_ mentioned transceiver 11 by means of lead wire 7 and pin plug 9, storage device 13, that stores time data and lap data from said transceiver 12, and display device 14. that displays time data and lap data stored in said storage device 13, are contained within remote unit 8.

Moreover, operating switch 15, consisting of read switch 15a f or issuing commands to read data f rom storage device 10 of the above-mentioned racing toy B to storage device 13 within remote unit 8, and lap switch 15b for issuing commands to display the time data for each lap stored in said storage device 13, is contained within remote unit 8.

The following provides an explanation of the operation of a second embodiment of the present invention. When an output is transmitted to photocoupler 2 when racing toy B passes reflecting surface C in the same manner as the abovementioned 9 first embodiment, storage device 10 stores the time for each lap that is counted with counting device 3. Since lead wire 7 of remote unit 8 is connected to box 1 of racing toy B, by pressing read switch 15a of operating switch 15, data is read from storage device 10 to storage device 13 by means of transceivers 11 and 12.

The time data of each lap that is read is such that pressing lap switch 15b once displays the amount of time elapsed for the first lap, and, for example, pressing lap switch 15b three times displays the amount of time elapsed for the third lap.

Furthermore, although the amount of time for each lap is only displayed in the abovementioned second embodiment, as indicated in a third embodiment shown in Fig. 6, by connecting comput-ing device 16 between storage device 13 and display device 14, fastest lap time, average lap time and total elapsed time can be displayed, and the times can be arranged in order starting with the fastest lap. In this case, the constitution is such that the number of operating switches 15 is increased, or lap switch 15b is made to change the operating mode each time it is pressed.

In addition, the constitution can also consist of having two reflecting surfaces C arranged at prescribed distance intervals so that the maximum speed and average speed are displayed when racing toy B travels between these two reflecting surfaces C.

moreover, although speed and so forth are displayed on display devices 4 and 14 in all of the above-mentioned embodiments, by Y employing a constitution wherein a printer is integrated into a single unit with the above-mentioned remote unit 8 or allowed to be separated f rom said remote unit 8 when not in use, the above-mentioned data can also be printed out.

In addition, although the above-mentioned embodiments indicated that in which photocoupler 2 in racing toy B is housed in box 1, a composition may be employed wherein said photocoupler 2 is mounted anywhere on the carriage by connecting with counting device 3 within box 1 with a lead wire. Moreover, a constitution may also be employed wherein socket 6 of box 1 connected with pin plug 9 from remote unit 8 is connected with transceiver 11 with a lead wire, thereby increasing the degree of freedom of the mounting conditions of photocoupler 2 and socket 6 with respect to the racing toy.

As-described above, the present invention controls the time counting operation by a counting device equipped on a toy by detection of a reflecting surface by a photocoupler equipped on a racing toy, thereby making measurement of lap data, such as lap time and so forth, extremely easy. In addition, since this time data is displayed by a display device by providing said display device on said racing toy, together with allowing costs to be reduced by eliminating the need for an oscillator and decoding device as in the prior art, the amount of time during which the racing toy completes one lap around the race track can be visually determined.

In addition, together with being able to store the abovementioned data in a storage device of a remote unit by means of a transceiver and viewing said data when desired, since there is no need to view the racing toy itself, a large device can be used for the display device thereby allowing reading of data to be performed easily.

Moreover, desired data such as fastest lap time, average lap time and so on can be determined by performing computations on the data stored in the above-mentioned storage device with a computing device, while also offering the advantage of allowing data to be- printed out and preserved on paper by connecting a printer.

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Claims (7)

1. Racing toy apparatus comprising a racing toy having a photocoupler associated therewith, a racing track having a relecting surface and arranged so that, in use, light emitted from the photocoupler is reflected from the surface to be received by the photocoupler and a counting device that at least measures time according to the output from the photocoupler to count lap time and/or number of laps made by the toy around the track.

2. Apparatus according to Claim 1 having a display device for displaying data from the counting device on a data display unit which is mounted on the racing toy.

3. Apparatus according to any preceding claim having a storage device for storing data calculated by the counting device.

4. Apparatus according to Claim 3 having a first transceiver for transmitting data from the storage device, a second transceiver of a remote unit electrically connected to the first transceiver, a storage device that stores data received by the second transceiver and a display device for displaying data from the storage device on the remote unit.

5. Apparatus according to any preceding claim having a printer for printing out data from the counting device.

6. Apparatus according to Claim 4 having a computing device connected to storage device for computing fastest lap time, average lap time, total time and so forth by processing data from the storage device within the remote unit.

7. Appatatus substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to, and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.