Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~IL272~35
The invention relates to a car racing game-
kit comprising a travelling toy and a racing surEace consis-
ting of straight and curved sections having two tracks
and embedded current-conductors, wherein the said sections
comprise lateral guide-edges along which a web, projecting
beyond the lateral surfaces of the said toy, slides, while
the curved sections comprise an upright supporting wall
running parallel wi-th, and at a distance from, the inner
guide-edge, the said supporting wall being lower than the
said guide-edge, and in which the said web engages with
a downwardly directed retaining member in the groove-shaped
space between the said guide-edge and supporting wall against
which it is caused to bear by centrifugal force.
In order to avoid track-points, it is known
to support high-speed travelling toys by slight lateral
outward pivoting of the front wheels with a web arranged
at the front of the toy, upon lateral guide-edges on the
track-section. Travelling toys thus guided permit free
track-changing. It is also known tohold the -toy to the inner
track by guiding a retaining member, arranged upon the
web, on a supporting wall arranged at a distance from the
inner guide-edge. At high speeds, however, the toys tend
to swing out laterally as a result of the rear end pivoting
about -the retaining member, and this has a detrimental
effect upon the progress of the game. In addition to this,
travelling toys running at high speeds, and guided by a
retaining member, tend to tilt while running on the inner
track around curves. This causes the retaining member to
lift out of the groove-shapsd space between the guide-edge
and the supporting wall, whereupon the toy, being no longer
guided, is slung freely outwardly.
It is the purpose of the invention to guide
travelling toys safely along the inner track in the curved
areas of racing surfaces.
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According to the present invention, there is
provided a car-racing game-kit comprising a -travelling
toy and a racing surface consis-ting of straight and curved
sections having two -tracks and embedded current-conductors,
wherein the said sec-tions comprise lateral guide-edges
along which a web, projecting beyond the lateral surfaces
of the said -toy, slides, while the curved sections comprise
an upright supporting wall running parallel with, and at
a distance from, the inner guide-edge, the said supporting
wall being lower than the said guide-edge, and in which
the said web engages, with a downwardly directed retaining
member, in the groove-shaped space between the said guide-
edge and supporting wall, against which it is caused to
bear by centrifugal force, wherein: in the curved racing-
surface section, a substantially L-shaped moulding is arran-
ged, in the longitudinal direction, stationarily but deta-
chably and designed with the curvature of the inner guide-
edge, one leg of the said moulding engaging at a distance
above the groove-shaped space, while the other leg is secu-
red to the section of the racing surface, and in that thesaid travelling toy is provided with two webs spaced apart
one behind the other, the said webs passing through the
gap between the supporting wall and leg of the moulding;
and the retaining members, formed thereon, projecting into
the said groove-shaped space.
The retaining members of the two webs prevent
the travelling toy from being slung out even under the
action of major centrifugal forces, while the leg of the
moulding, acting as a cover for the groove-shaped space,
prevents the toy from tilting but leaves a clearance for
the webs.
The car-racing game-kit may further present
the following preferred characteristics.
According to one configuration of the game-
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kit, the leg of the moulding covering the groove-shaped
space bears upon the guide-edge, while clamping elements,
arranged on the other leg, engage under the racing-surEace
section and hold it releasably. This means that the mould-
ings may be selectively fitted -to, or removed from, the
curved racing-surface sections. It is desirable for a curved
racing-surface section to form a quarter-circle of the
track and for the inner guide-edge to accommodate two fitted
mouldings one behind the other. It is to be understood
that the mouldings may be of any desired length, so that
more than two mouldings, or one single moulding, may be
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forming a quarte~-circle Or the track. In additlon to thi~, it i5 al90
pos~ible to fit ~uitablv prepared mouldings to track-section~ which are
not arc3 of a circl~.
The moulding is preferably secured to the racing-surface section by
two clamping elements ~paced from each other and held to the moulding
by mean~ Or plate-parts and screws. Apart from the fact that thi~
allows the mouldings to be Froduc0d by simple in~ection-moulding equip-
ment, it i9 pos~ible to make the ~aid clamping element3 of a material
whic'~ dirrers from that of the moulding, more particularly a re3ilient
material
According to another configuration Or the game-kit, tha front web is
fixed to the travelling toy, while the rear web i9 ~ecured detachab].y
thereto. In order to be able to u9e the toy, if necessary, without re-
tention by the web, the front ends of the stationary ~ront web comprise
coupling element3 which are secured thereto and onto which independent
web-sections may be slid and retained frictionally,-the said web-
section~ comprising a retaining member which passes through the gap and
pro~ects into the groove-shaped space. If the web-sections are pushed
off and the rear web is removed, the toy may travel freely upon the
tracks. ~inally, in order to compensate ''for transverse impacts~ the
retaining members are desi~ned to deflect re3iliently at right angles
to the longitudinal axis Or the toy.
The rear web may rreferably be in the form of an orfset flat strip
adapted to be secured to the travelling toy and comprising strip'
shaped retaining members which are upright and are integral with the
front ends of the ~aid flat strip. Attachment Or the ~aid rear web
may be b~ clampin~ mean~. e.g. screw~. It is desirable to provide cams
at the free ends Or the retaininB member~, the said cams extending
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outwardly over a part of the height. The 3aid camfi provide low-
friction support Or the travelling toy upon -the guide-edge3 of the
racing-surrace sections, with little wear in the webs and guide-edges.
Finally~ for the purpose of improving and retainin~ th0 contact
between the racing surface and the travelling toy, the chafisi~ thereof
consist~s of two parts arranRed axially with a common partin~, plane
between the front and rear wheels, the said parts being connected to-
~ether, non-displaceabky but freely rotatably, by a connecting ele~ent,
.
one chassis-part bein~ secured stationarily to -the body of the toy
while the other is separate from the said body. Th~9 ensures that one
part of the chassis may tilt freely to one side or the other in rela-
tion to the other part, thus providing compensation for distortion o~
the racing surface sections. The floating suspension Or a pair of
wheels thus obtained prevents unwanted torsional forces from acting
upon the chassis or body of the toy, for example when it is travelling
around sharp curves with varying angles of inclination in the direction
Or travel. Thir en.sures that the two pairs of wheels remain upon the
track, while steerin~ and drivin~ force~ are transferred reliably
from the wheels to the track-secttons and satisractory stability is
a~sured.
According to one preferred confi~u~ation, the two parts of the
chassis are connected together, non-displaceably but freely rotatably,
by means of an axis secured to one part of the chassis and freely
rotatab:le in the other part of the chassis. In this connection, it is
desirable for the ~aid axis to be located in the rear chassis-part
which may be secured to the body o~ the toy, and to en,~age in a re-
ceiv1ng sleeve arranged on the front chassifi-part.
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In order to obtain simFle axial location Or the pivotable chassi~~
Fart, the free end of the said axi3 carries a ~houlder which aats as an
abutment t.o su~port to sup~ort the rotatable chassis-part non-displaco-
ably between itself and the rear chassis-part. Fir~lly, provision i~
al~o made for securinF the said axis quite simplv, by means of ~crew~d
clip9, to one of the chassis-Farts, preferably the rear part, and for
usinF another cllp to.allow it to rotate freely in the other chassi3-
part. In or~er to ensure ~mooth tiltin~, this latter clip may hold
the said axi~ with~a small amount of pla~
rhe invention is ex~lained hereinafter in con~unction with the ex-
ample of embodiment illustrated in the drawing attached hereto, wherein
Fig. 1 is a plan view Or a part of a curved racing-~urface section
carrying a travelling toy;
Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of the racing surface with a moulding;
Fig 3 is a front elevation, to an enlar~ed scale, of a part ~f a
web;
: ~ig. ~ is a plan view, to an enlar~ed scale, of a part Or a web;
Fig. 5 i8 a side elevation of a rear web;
Fig. 6 is a plan view of a part of a curved racing-surface
section with fitted mouldings;
Fig. 7 is a side elevation, to an enlarged scale, of a mouldi.ng.
Fi~. ~ is a front elevation Or a travellinF toy with the front
wheels tilted to one side;
Fig. 9 i9 a front elevation of a travelling toy with the front
wheels tilted to the other side;
Fi~..10 is a view of the travelling toy from below.
In FiF. 1, 1 indicates a curved racing-surface section comprising
two track9 2 each havin~ four conductor-rails 3, the said section
beinp defined laterally by an inner guide-edFe L~ and an outer guide-
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edge 5. Section 1 i8 adapted to be fitted to other racine-surrace
sections by mean~ of plug-in Fins 6 and. matchin~7 re¢esse~ 7. ~ I.ndi-
cates a travelling toy which i9 adapted to be driven rreely by motiv~
power upon the track formed by racing-surrace sections 1. If front
wheel~ 9 o~ the toy are pivoted sli.ghtly outwardlyJ front and reAr webs
10,11 of the toy bear upon guide-edges 4 OI' S along which the said
toy slides. Appropriate pivoting Or the said front wheels makes it
possible for toy ~ to travel, as de~ired, upon inner or outer track 2.
Arranged in parallel with innrr p,uide-edge ~ and at a distance
therefrom, i3 an upriRht supportine wall 12 which forms, ~oi.ntly with
said inner guide-edge l~, a groove-shaped space 13 (Fi~. 2). A retainin~
memher 14 o~ front web 10, and a retiaining member of rear web 11, pro-
~ect into the sai~l groove-fihaped space as the toy travels arouncl curved
racing-Yurface 3ection 1, so that even at high speeds an-l in spite of
centrirugal rorce, the said toy remains upon inner track 2. ~ear web
11 may be in th~ form Or an ofrset flat strip which is ~ecured to toy
~ b~ mean~ Or screw~ ls and carries, at it~ two ends, u~-right flat parts
as rstainin~ members 15. In order to prevent retain:ing members 1l,,].5
from sliding out Or groove-shaped space 13, a moulding 17 i9 ritted to
racin~-surface 0ection 1, the said moulding being secured to the.said
~ection detachably (Fl~. 2) by means Or two clampingelements 20 secured
to the said moulding by means of plate-parts 1~ and screws 19. ~lould-
17 is ~u~,ported by means o~ a fold 21 upon front surface 22 Or inner
~uide-edge 4.
Figs. 2 and 7 show -that moul~ling 17i9 substantially L shaped and th~t
one lee 171 thereo.r pro~ct~ abo~ F,roove-~haped space 13, the clearance
being greater than the thickness or webs 10,11 and the retainin~ member.
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The other leg, with which clamping elements 20 enp,a~e, i3 marked 17".
TravellinF toy ~ can thu~ move freely along the track an~l is able to
tilt 31ightly, but it is lmpossible for web3 10,11 and their retaininP
members 1l,,1~ to lift completely ou-t of groove~shaped space 13. It iB
de3irable for each of the said retaini~g.~elnber 1~, and/or 1~ to be pro-
vided , near the ~ree end, with an external cam 21 which reduces fric-
tion and wear on inner guide-edp,e 4.
In ord?r to allow toy ~ also to traJel along the track without
guidance, web 11 may be removed from the toy by r;leasing screws 16 and
the free ends of web 10 may be ~ade detachable. With this in view, the
two ends of web 10 carry cylindrical part~ 22 onto which a cup-shaped
conn~cting part 23 is adapted to be slid and retained frictionally~ a
U-shaped extension 2l~ Or the said connecting part carrying a retain-
ing member 1~. As sho~m in broken lines in Fig. 3, connectin~ part 23
may be withdrawn from below for the purpose of remwing the said retain-
ing member. It i~ to be understood that, in order to retain the di3
tances between toy ~ and inner guide-ed~e ~, it is pos~ib].e to fit to
cyllndrical part 22 a connecting part 23 having a corresponding]y long
extension 2~ (not shown). Current-co]lectors~ marked 25, make contact
wlth conductors rails 3.
In ~i~s. ~ to 10, thP bod~y Or a travelling toy is marlced 26 and may
be of any desired conriFuration~ Secured to the said body i~ a chas3is-
part 27 accommodating rear wheel3 2~ Or the toy, This Fatr of wheels
is adapted to be dri~en, through a sha~t 29 mounted in cha3sis-part
27, by an electric motor also mounted in chassis-part 27, but not
shown. Associated axially with chassis-part 27 is another indepen-
dent chassis-part 30 carryine a pair of rront wheels 31 adapted to
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pi~ot in known fashlon. Chassis-parts 27 and 30 are connected to-
~dth~r by an axis 31 which i9 secured to chassis-part 27 by m~ans of
a clip 32 and is held rotatably in another clip 33 which i~ con-
nected to chassis-part 30 and acts as a hin~ge-sleeve. Axis 31 ha~ a
~houlder 31! which hold~ chassis-part 30 immovably between it and
chassis part 27. Clips 32, 33 are secured to cha~sis-Farts 27, 20 by
mean~ of screws 38. 3~ are current-collecting bru~h~s which co-
orerate in a manner known per ss with conductor-rails smbeddPd in -th?
racin~-surface s~ctions when toy 8 i~ placed thereon. I~loreover,
chassis-part 30 comprises a web 36, and chassis-part 27 comrrises
another web 37, thP free ends of which carry retainin~ members and
which support th~ toy on the racing-surface sections with lateral guide-
ed~ss.
It may be seen from Fips. ~ and 9 that chassis-Fart 30, holdin~ front
pair "r wheel5 31, is adapted to tilt to the left or rightas desired
through anPular degr~-~s, whereas rear chassis-rart 27, with rear pair
of wheels 28 and body 26, assumes an upright position on the track, for
example.
