US2625831A - Transmission - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 20, 1953 P, B. SAUNDERS, JR 2,525,831

TRANSMISSION Filed Feb. 15, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 IEZEHZE: PAL 1B. SAUNDERS JR.

Jan? 1953 l P. B. SAUNDERS, JR

TRANSMISSION 2 SHEETSSHEET 2 Filed Feb. 15, 1950 27.251: PAUL B. SAUNDERS JR.

Patented Jan. 20, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFl-LCE" TRANSMISSION IaulB. Saunders, J'r., Aurora, I11

Amalieation'Februaryf15, 1950; Serial,Ni-,1414',224;-

2:Cl'aims. (01. 74-342,)

This. invention, relates to an improvement in the. operating mechanismof a toy.

, Aneimportant object of, the'inventionisto'provide' a toy with means for automatically changing theidireotion of its movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide aitoy having contact members and means operable; byv said; members to vary the direction of movement: of the toy;

Afrirtherobject of the invention is to provide a toy having at its ends obstacle contacting membars with means operable thereby for reversing the directionof'movement ofrthetoyr Still another object :of the. invention is. to pros vide aztoywhich is simple in design, ruggedini construction and economical to ;m'anufaeture.

Other objects and advantagesof: the invention will -be apparent during the course of the following description of an embodiment illustrated by way of example in the accompanying' drawing-sin.v

which:

Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of atoy embodying principlesof this invention and show:- in'g 'in dotted'lines the outline of a vehicle body;

Figure 2 is abottom' plan view of the'toyshown in'Figure 1';

Figures isa top plan view'thereof showing the relative position of-parts efiecting movementof' the toy in one direction;

Figure-A-isa similar view showing the relative:

position-of operating parts when the reversing mechanism has been actuated to change the:

direction of 'movement of-thetoy; and

Figure 5 is. a horizontal cross-sectional view;

With'parts i'n-elevation', taken along the linel5-5' of Figure 3.

The improvements embodied in this invention are shown in the drawings, by way of example, in associationw-itha wheeled toy vehicle. It is to be; understood, however, that thisinvention may be used with other toys, whether driven by' a propeller, or other means.

In the present instance, the invention is shown in Figure 1 applied to an: automobile having. .a

her 22 to slidenwith'in thefrfame [2 between. the frame, and ,the truck I'll Elongated,-slots.23,l 214- and, 25 in the frame/respectively, receivetherethrough fiat headed pins26, 21 and Z8,.carrie d. .by, the actuator member 22. Coactionvof .thelpins and slots limits relativeendwisemovement orth'e; actuator member on the frame.

Therearaxle assembly is mounted on theframe; by meansv of asub-frame 29. Aslcvestgshownin Figures 3 and, 4,; the sub-frame .issboxelike in, appearance and is moun edv directly oven the; actuator member 22 Journalled in the, side walls. of the .suit-ffamev isgthe rear. axle la and other shaftswhich carry gears and pinions connecting a flywheel 30 ,tosth'e rear axle for drivingtheisame. Thefiywheel mounted on. one end 0f a shaft ,3 withiapinion, 32xon the opposite end thereof. A first idler. shaft 33 has mounted, on; an endthereof I a compound gear having a gear portion and a pinionp orr tion 35. The gear portion 34 is in constant meshing engagement with the pinion 3 2 An actuator. shaft- ,36- is journalled in. the side-H walls of the, sub-frame in spaced relation-to the idler shaft 33. One end of theshaft36 extends beyond, the sub-frame; isujournalled in an actu atorsupport-i3], andhas: fixedly mounted thereon; a gear. 38 positionedbetween the support; 31andthe nearestqsidewall ofv the sub-frame. Ashes-t; shown in; Figure 5-, the support 31 has a bottom: leg 31a whichxslidably fits. within. guide-slots 39:- and til in. the sidewalls. of the sub-frame:- This; permits the support to be shifted in a horizontal, direction in. which: the upright leg sl-b istmovable towardand away-lfromvthe; sub frame, Thel'n bv My ofithe geartfl-isperipherally grooved adjaeent; its: outenzend;;to'receive: therein he Q kfid 6 11 312), of :the. I actuator, support; Such an arrange ment permits the aetuatorwtoe ShlftthQzSl-lfifit; 36.; in. an axiali endwise direction while: permitt g rotation:of-thesshaft.

It: wilL be: noted-that; the pinion ,3 5-,is: sufliciently- I wideytogpermit': the gear:.38 to 1be=shifted laterally;- with shaft ,36 while;maintaininggcons-tant:mesh;

ingengagement .therebetweem The-limit :of :th

shifting of thageartileonrthe piniomtfiiiszshowm infiguresfiuand 4;.

Asecon'd idler ,shaft fivispositioned between: and slightly below shafts 33 and 36. A compoundpinion on the; shaft. has .spaced. toothedgportions fit 'and Mi with -a conneetingshubx lia It? willihe r noted in Figure e-that thehub 4a'5JliSuWide1 than? a pinion-46 carried b-ythe actuator shafitfilix 'Ilhista is for a purpose =tobe more fully described hereinaften A third idler shaft 41 (Figure 5) is journalled in the sidewalls of the sub-frame and has a wide pinion 48 thereon adjacent one end. This pinion is between and in constant meshing engagement with the pinion 43 and a driving pinion 49 mounted on the vehicle rear axle l5.

The actuator support 31 is shifted laterally of the vehicle frame by movement of the actuator member 22 in a lengthwise direction. As best seen in Figures 2 and 4, the actuator member is provided with a slot 50 which is disposed generally in an angular direction relative to the longitudinal axis of the actuator member. A headed pinion 51 is carried by the leg 31a of the actuator support 31 and the shank of the pin seats within the slot 50.

During movement of the vehicle, should the rear bumper 52 or the front bumper 53 encounter any obstruction such as a Wall, a piece of furniture,.or the like, the force of the impact moves the actuator member backward. As seen in Figures 2 and 3, movement of the actuator member forwardly on the vehicle moves pin to the rear end of the slot 50 and thereby displaces the pin to one side of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle frame. This displacement of the pin simultaneously effects a lateral movement of the actuator support 31. In Figure 3 is shown the lateral movement of the actuator support in one direction and in Figure 4 lateral movement thereof in the opposite direction.

When the actuating member 22 is moved forward (Figure 3) the actuator support 31 is shifted to .the right which brings pinions 44 and 46 into meshing engagement. Motion of the flywheel 30 is transmitted to the rear wheels l6, l6 of the vehicle successively through pinion 32, gear 34, pinion 35, gear 38, and pinions 46, 44, 43, 48 and 49. Rotation of the flywheel in a clockwise direction effects forward movement of the Vehicle.

On contact of the front bumper 53 with an obstruction, the actuating member is moved to the rear and by cooperation of the slot 50 and pin 5| the actuator support 31 is moved to the left or toward the sub-frame. In this relative position, the pinion 46 is moved out of engagement with pinion 44 and into engagement with pinion 48. This eliminates the pinion 44 from the chain of power transmission thereby effecting a reversal of rotation of the vehicle wheels and a change in direction of movement of the vehicle.

On contact with the rear bumper 52 with an obstruction, reversal of movement of the vehicle is automatically effected. It will be obvious that movement of the vehicle in backward and forward directions will continue so long as rotation of the flywheel is sustained.

Rotation at high speed of the flywheel is accomplished by pushing the vehicle rapidly in.

relatively short strokes several times over a surface such as a floor. As the vehicle is pushed more rapidly with each stroke, a faster spin is imparted to the flywheel through the gear train. The inertia of the flywheel weighted at its periphery tends to maintain and prolong movement of the vehicle over a floor or other surface.

Although the toy described herein is a wheeled vehicle, it is apparent that the reversing mechanism can equally well be applied to a toy driven by a propeller, such as an airplane or boat.

The invention has been described herein more or less precisely as to details, yet it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereby, as changes may be made in the arrangement and proportion of parts and equivalents may be substituted, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. Reversing mechanism for a toy, comprising a wheel mounted frame, a first actuator mounted on said frame for reciprocal movement thereon in one direction thereof and having a slot extending angularly with respect to the path of said movement, a second actuator mounted on said frame for reciprocal movement angularly with respect to said first actuator and having a pin engaging within said slot, the slot and pin arrangement being such that the reciprocal movement of one actuator effects reciprocal movement of the other, a shaft mounted for rotation and endwise movement and having a peripheral groove, an actuating member operable with one of said actuators and seated in said peripheral groove to permit the shaft to rotate, a driving gear carried by and rotatable with said shaft, and spaced driven gears separately engageable by the first mentioned gear, said driving gear being movable with the shaft by the actuating member into and out of engagement alternately with said spaced gears whereby to change the direction of movement of said toy.

2. Reversing mechanism for a toy, comprising a wheel mounted U-shaped frame, a first actu ator mounted in said frame for reciprocal movement lengthwise thereof and having a slot extending angularly with respect to the path of said movement, a second actuator mounted on said frame for reciprocal movement laterally thereacross and having a pin engaging Within said slot, relative movement of the pin and slot efiecting reciprocal movement of one actuator by reciprocal movement of the other, a shaft having a peripheral groove adjacent one end thereof, bearings mounting said shaft for rotation and endwise movement, a forked member operable with said second actuator and seated in said peripheral groove to permit the shaft to rotate, a driving gear carried by and rotatable with said shaft, a driven gear through which the toy is actuated, and spaced idler gears one of which is in meshed engagement with the driven gear, said driving gear being movable with said shaft through the forked member by said second actuator into and out of engagement alternately with said driven gear and the other of said idler gears.

PAUL B. SAUNDERS, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 367,420 Luchs Aug. 2, 1887 694,028 Protheroe Feb. 25, 1902 768,268 Clark Aug. 23, 1904 819,812 Schutze May 8, 1906 991,275 Clark May 2, 1911 1,101,060 Clark June 23, 1914 1,388,113 Huth Aug. 16, 1921 1,547,517 Nefi July 28, 1925 1,603,261 Adams Oct. 19, 1926 2,149,180 Muller Feb. 28, 1939

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