Tunnel with off-center shaft therein having further shafts slideable therethrough

A mechanical device includes a block of material having a hollow tunnel formed therein. An elongated rotary shaft is floatingly mounted in the tunnel, generally parallel to but off-set from the longitudinal center thereof. A number of holes are diametrically formed through and more or less evenly distributed along the length of the shaft, perpendicular to the axis thereof. Each hole is angularly offset from the other holes, by a predetermined angular distance. A sliding shaft, which slides freely through each of these diametrical holes, has a wheel on each of its opposite ends. The contour of the tunnel wall is unique and is defined by the paths followed by the wheels on the ends of the sliding shafts, as the shaft rotates and as the sliding shafts slide freely through the holes.

This invention relates to entertaining devices and more particularly to 
devices having rotating and moving parts which do not appear to fit into 
the scheme of existing machinery. 
Adult "toys" include many different forms of entertaining and educational 
machines. The Rubik's cube is currently an example of a device which may 
be manipulated to both entertain and educate. Often the more unique and 
unknown a device is, the more lasting and consuming its attention getting 
ability becomes. 
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a new and unique 
device having a plurality of moving parts. Here, an object is to provide a 
rotary device which may be utilized as a motion and movement demonstration 
device. In particular, an object is to provide a mechanical device, having 
a function which is not immediately apparent, to the casual observer. 
Another object is to provide a rather simple mechanical device for 
accomplishing the foregoing objects, which device does not require a 
substantial amount of either cost or time for the assembly thereof. 
In keeping with an aspect of the invention, these and other objects are 
accomplished by a block of material having a hollow tunnel formed therein. 
An elongated rotary shaft is floatingly mounted in the tunnel, generally 
parallel to the axis thereof. A number of holes are diametrically formed 
through and more or less evenly distributed along the length of the shaft, 
perpendicular to the axis thereof. Each hole is angularly off set from the 
preceding and the following holes by a predetermined angular distance. 
Thus, if a line is drawn along the surface of the shaft and through the 
centers of the opposite ends of the holes, theoretically a double spiral 
line is drawn along the length of the shaft, the spirals being off set by 
180.degree., with respect to each. (Actually, the holes may be distributed 
in any suitable manner for mechanical strength.) A sliding shaft slides 
freely through each of these diametrical holes and has a wheel, roller or 
ball mounted on each of the opposite ends thereof. The contour of the 
tunnel wall is unique and is defined by the paths followed by the wheels 
on the ends of these sliding shafts, as the shaft rotates and as the 
sliding shafts slide freely through the holes.

In FIG. 1, a block 20 has a tunnel 22 formed therein. The tunnel is formed 
around a substantially straight axis and has substantially smooth walls; 
however, it is contemplated that in some more complex designs, the tunnel 
may have other suitable design configurations. For example, in some 
embodiments, the cross-section may be an ellipse with one end of the 
tunnel having a cross section which is somewhat rotated relative to the 
cross section of the other end. There may be an internal spiral of the 
cross-section, or other suitable effects. Accordingly, it should be 
understood that the tunnel wall may have any suitable contour for forming 
an internal roadway for the sliding shaft arms to follow. 
Horizontally mounted in the tunnel 22 and parallel to the axis thereof is a 
floating shaft 24, which is best seen in FIG. 2. This shaft has a number 
of holes (one is seen at 26) diametrically formed therein. The axis or the 
center of the cross-section of each hole is perpendicular to and passes 
through the axis of shaft 24. Each hole is angularly off-set relative to 
its neighboring holes. For example, FIG. 2 has been drawn to show a shaft 
having an exemplary eight holes. Therefore, the axis of each hole is 
off-set from the axis of its immediately neighboring holes by an angle of 
22.5.degree. (180.degree..div.8=22.5.degree. ). However, any other 
suitable relationship may also be provided. 
A sliding shaft freely slides through each of these holes. For example, 
FIG. 1 shows a sliding shaft 28 sliding through a hole 30 while FIG. 2 
shows a sliding shaft 32 sliding through hole 34. For simplicity and 
understandability of the drawings, the remaining sliding shafts are not 
shown, but it should be understood that a similar sliding shaft is 
provided for each of the shaft holes. Each sliding shaft has a wheel 
mounted on each of the two opposite sliding shaft ends. For example, 
sliding shaft 28 has wheels 36, 38 on its opposite ends, and sliding shaft 
32 has wheels 40, 42 on its opposite ends. These wheels could be replaced 
by rollers or ball bearings, or the like. The contour of the tunnel wall 
forms an endless "roadway" which is defined by the paths which these 
wheels follow as the shaft rotates and as they roll along the "roadway". 
Resting on top of the shaft is a shoe 44 which rides on the turning shaft. 
To facilitate operation, it may be desirable to reduce the friction 
between shoe 44 and shaft 24 to a minimum. For example, roller or ball 
bearings may be carried by or embedded in the bottom of the shoe 44. 
A vertical shaft 46 slidably extends from shoe 44 upwardly and out of a 
hole 47 in the block 20. The top of vertical shaft 46 terminates in any 
suitable pad 48. If pressure is applied against pad 48, that pressure is 
transferred through vertical shaft 46 to the shaft 24. The geometrical 
relationships are such that this pressure is transferred to shaft 24, in a 
linear direction which passes through the axis of the shaft. For example, 
if the end of the shaft is viewed as the face of a clock with the 12 
o'clock position uppermost, as viewed in the various drawings, the 
pressure upon pad 48 causes a net vector of force acting outwardly of the 
shaft 24. 
Inside the tunnel 22, there are any suitable, spaced parallel roller or 
ball bearings for preventing the floating shaft from moving toward the 
center of the tunnel. Thus, FIG. 1 shows arms 50, 52 having vertical faces 
54, 56. These faces prevent the shaft from moving to a position which is 
left of them (as viewed in FIGS. 1-3). However, the shaft remains free to 
float and to move toward the right or up or down, as viewed in the various 
figures. 
FIG. 4 shows the criteria for designing the device. As the shaft 24 
rotates, the various sliding shafts slide through their individually 
associated diametric shaft holes. The center of the sliding shafts follows 
a locus 55, seen in FIG. 4, as the sliding shafts rotate about point P2. 
The locus is best described as a closed path, which may be a circle, for 
example, having a point P1 on the path which lies at the geometrical 
center of the tunnel and, diametrically opposed thereto, another point P2 
on the path, point P2 being about halfway between the center point P1 and 
the wall of the tunnel 22. The radius R of circle 55 should be about 1/8 
as long as the sliding shafts (28, for example). 
As the centers of the rotating sliding shafts follow the locus 55, the 
sliding shafts slide through the holes in the shaft, while their 
associated wheels roll along the inside of the tunnel wall. 
Various modifications would change the number and distribution of the 
various sliding shafts. For example, to provide a better balance, there 
could be, say, three identical groups of sliding shafts distributed along 
the length of shaft 24 so that at each angular position, there is, in 
effect, three identical sliding shaft positions (in each sliding shaft 
direction) for supporting the opposite ends and center of the shaft 24. 
Likewise, any suitable number of the vertical shafts 46 may be distributed 
along the length of the shaft 24. 
A person's fingers or a motor may be used or connected to turn shaft 24. In 
any event, the device gives a person something to look at, play with, and 
to try to figure out how or why it works. 
Those who are skilled in the art will readily perceive how to modify the 
system. Therefore, the appended claims are to be construed to cover all 
equivalent structures which fall within the true scope and spirit of the 
invention.