Toy vehicle game

The toy vehicle game includes a track, a toy vehicle for operation thereon, and a launcher for launching the vehicle to propel it along the track. The track includes a start position at which the launcher is located and an end position, located above the start position, whereby a vehicle launched onto the track at the start position traverses the track to the end position, above the start position. The track includes a pivoted section at the end position having a center of gravity located such that it normally is in a horizontal position but will pivot when the toy vehicle moves onto it, thereby to deposit the vehicle down onto the start position of the track and return it to the launcher for relaunching onto the track.

The present invention relates to toy vehicle games and more particularly to 
a toy vehicle game wherein toy vehicles are repeatedly launched onto the 
track after each traverse of the track. 
Toy vehicle race games have been previously proposed in a variety of 
different types of constructions. Particularly popular are toy vehicle 
race games utilizing battery or electric powered toy vehicles in a 
continuous game. Such games, however, are relatively expensive to 
manufacture and sell and they further require careful maintenance during 
use. Other toy vehicle games utilize spring driven motors in order to 
simulate a continuous race but again these games are relatively expensive 
to manufacture and sell and require a certain amount of maintenance and/or 
repair. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide a toy vehicle race game 
which is extremely simple in construction and operation. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy vehicle race 
game in which the vehicles are powered by the manual operation of a 
launcher. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a toy vehicle race 
game which is relatively simple in construction and inexpensive to 
manufacture. 
A further object of the present invention is to produce a toy vehicle race 
game which is durable in construction. 
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention a toy vehicle race 
game is provided which has a track that may be in the shape of an oval or 
a figure-8, or the like. The track has a plurality of walls that define at 
least two separate lanes on the track upon which the toy vehicles can 
independently operate. A pair of toy vehicle launchers are associated with 
the track lanes for separately and independently launching the respective 
toy vehicles onto their associated lanes. 
The track includes a pair of start positions and a pair of end positions, 
one for each lane, with the end positions of the track being defined by 
ramp sections positioned to locate the end position above the start 
position in the respective track lanes. Each ramp section includes a 
pivotally mounted end track section which is balanced to be normally 
maintained in a horizontal position thereby to receive a toy vehicle 
entering from the ramp. The pivoted track section has an abutment which 
stops forward movement of a vehicle entering it. The balance of the 
pivoted track section is changed by the weight of the toy vehicle entering 
it so that it pivots downwardly when the vehicle is stopped on it to 
return the vehicle in a reverse direction downwardly back onto the start 
position of its associated lane and into the launcher. As a result, after 
each traverse of the track, the toy vehicles are automatically returned to 
their associated launchers which are manually operated by the players to 
relaunch the vehicles back onto the track. The launchers are constructed 
to cooperate with the toy vehicles to apply a squeezing force on wedge 
elements in the toy vehicles which will propel the vehicle in a forward 
direction about the track so that it will pass from the start position 
along the track back to the end position where it again returns to the 
launcher. 
Toy vehicle launchers which apply a squeezing force to a toy vehicle have 
been disclosed in the past, such as, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 
3,952,442; but these launchers have not been used in toy vehicle race 
games which are constructed to automatically return the vehicle to the 
launcher. In addition, the construction shown in the above-mentioned 
patent requires that the toy vehicle have an unrealistic shape, since the 
body of the vehicle itself forms a surface upon which the squeezing force 
is applied. The construction of the present invention enables a toy 
vehicle to have a more realistic appearance and to enable automatic 
reengagement of the vehicle with the launcher without manual positioning 
of the vehicle by the players.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and initially to FIG. 1 thereof, a 
toy vehicle game 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention 
includes a track 12, a pair of vehicles 14, 16, and a pair of launchers 
18, 20, respectively associated with each of the toy vehicles. The 
launchers are of essentially identical construction as described 
hereinafter. 
Track 12 consists of a plurality of track sections interconnected in any 
convenient known manner. In the illustrative embodiment of the invention, 
the track is laid out in a figure-8 shape, however, other shapes such as 
ovals or multiple loops can be utilized instead. Regardless of the track 
arrangement, the track is constructed to provide a pair of separate and 
independent lanes 22, 24 in which the toy vehicles 14, 16, respectively 
and independently operate. Each lane has a start position 26, and an end 
position 28 located immediately above the start position. The end position 
of each lane is defined by a ramp section 30 which guides the toy vehicle 
to a position superimposed above the start position. In the illustrative 
embodiment, a central bridge arrangement 32 is provided to permit the 
track lanes to cross one another. By this construction, the track lanes 
have exactly the same length so that a toy vehicle race can be simulated. 
In the race, toy vehicles 14, 16 are launched by their respective 
launchers 18, 20 and propelled along their associated track lanes. The 
vehicles move along their lanes and are guided to the end sections 28 by 
sidewalls 34 formed along the track sections. At each end track section, a 
pivoted section 36 is provided which has an end abutment 38 that stops 
movement of the toy vehicle in the forward direction. This pivoted track 
section is normally in the horizontal position so that it can receive the 
toy vehicle from the ramp section of the track. When the vehicle enters 
the pivoted section 36, the weight of the vehicle causes the section to 
pivot downwardly so that the vehicle rolls under the force of gravity in 
the reverse direction down the pivoted track section and into its 
associated launcher which can then be operated to propel the toy vehicle 
again along the track. If desired, the launchers and/or the end track 
sections may include an automatic counter of any convenient construction 
(not shown) so that the players can keep count of the number of laps 
traversed by their toy vehicle. The first player to accumulate the 
preselected number of laps wins the race. 
The toy vehicle and launcher construction is shown more clearly in FIGS. 3 
and 4. Since each of the launchers are identical in construction, only 
launcher 18 is illustrated and described in detail. As seen therein, the 
launcher includes a base plate 40 on which a housing 42 is secured. A 
first lever 44 is pivoted by a pair of pins 46 in housing 42. This lever 
has a first end portion 44a which is generally wedge shaped. The opposite 
end 48 of lever 44 is generally square in cross-section and engages the 
hook end 50 of a handle 52. The latter is pivotally mounted by a pin 54 in 
housing 42 with its pivotal movement being limited in the clockwise 
direction by an abutment 56 formed on base 40. End 52b of the handle is 
generally T-shaped to permit ready manual engagement by the player. 
Preferably, handle 52 is provided with a coil spring 53 wound about pin 54 
and engaged between base 40 and handle 52 to normally bias the handle to 
its upright position shown in solid lines in FIG. 4. 
Toy vehicle 14 (which is identical to toy vehicle 16 in construction) has a 
frame on which a plurality of wheels are rotatably mounted. The vehicle 
includes a body portion 14a which has a rear end 58 including an opening 
60 formed therein. A drive wedge 62, formed of a low friction material, 
such as Tevlar or Teflon, is mounted within body 14a of the vehicle and 
may be formed as an integral part of the vehicle frame. The drive wedge 
includes a flat, lower surface 64 which extends generally parallel to the 
horizontal surface of the track, and an upper, downwardly inclined surface 
66 which forms the driving surface for the wedge. Surfaces 64 and 66 meet 
at a pointed apex 68 located at opening 60 in the vehicle body. 
Lever 44 is balanced or weighted such that it is normally in the dotted 
line position shown in FIG. 4, i.e. with its lower surface 44c engaged 
against the surface of base 40. Its forward end 44d defines an apex with a 
slight upward incline. By this construction, when the toy vehicle moves 
rearwardly toward the launcher, apex 68 of drive wedge 62 enters below tip 
44d of lever 44 and urges the lever upwardly in a counterclockwise 
direction into the solid line position shown in FIG. 4. This causes the 
rear end 48 of lever 44 to move downwardly against tongue 50 of handle 52 
which, as mentioned, is normally maintained in its upright solid line 
position, shown in FIG. 4, by spring 53. 
The vehicle is guided into engagement with lever 44 by a tongue 70 formed 
as an extension of base 40. Tongue 70 passes between the rear wheels of 
the vehicle, as shown in FIG. 4, to insure that the vehicle is properly 
aligned with the lever. When wedge 62 engages the forward end 42a of 
housing 42, movement of the vehicle is stopped and the vehicle is in 
position for launching. In this position, the player presses down sharply 
on handle 52 in a counterclockwise direction, to quickly move the handle 
against the bias of spring 53 into the dotted line position shown in FIG. 
4. This quick sharp motion drives lever 44 in a clockwise direction, from 
its solid line position to its dotted line position to apply a squeezing 
force against surface 66 of drive wedge 62, propelling the vehicle 
forwardly. The vehicle then enters the track, as shown in FIG. 2, and 
moves along the track until it completes its loop and moves up ramp 
section 30 onto end track section 36 in the end position of the track. As 
shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, end track section 36 has an abutment 38 which 
extends across the track to stop forward movement of the toy vehicle. 
Track section 36 is pivotally mounted by pins 80 or the like on pylons 82. 
The track section is balanced or weighted such that the abutment end of 
the track section is slightly heavier than the end to the right of pivot 
pins 80, as seen in FIG. 5. The adjacent ends 81, 83 of track section 36 
and ramp 28 are shaped to engage each other and thereby cooperate to hold 
track section 36 normally in the horizontal position against 
counterclockwise movement beyond this horizontal position. Thus, section 
36 is normally held in alignment with the remainder of the ramp section of 
the track so that it will receive the toy vehicle as it moves up the ramp. 
However, when the toy vehicle enters track section 36 the balance thereof 
is changed, and the weight of the toy vehicle causes track section 36 to 
pivot downwardly, in a counterclockwise direction, as seen in FIG. 7. This 
downward movement of track section 36 causes the toy vehicle to roll down 
the track section in the rearward direction, and back onto start section 
26 of the track where it rolls backwardly into engagement with launcher 
18. As seen in FIGS. 5-8, the sidewalls 34 of the track at the start 
position have notches 84 formed therein to permit the pivotal movement of 
track section 36 to the position shown, and to stop the pivotal movement 
at that position. Once the toy vehicle has moved off track section 36, the 
weight of the track section and its balancing causes it to return to its 
upper horizontal position, as shown in FIG. 8. As this occurs, the toy 
vehicle enters launcher 18 and the launcher can then be operated by the 
player to drive the vehicle in the forward direction. 
Accordingly, it is seen that a relatively simply constructed toy vehicle 
game is provided which automatically returns the toy vehicles to their 
associated launchers so that they can be quickly and rapidly relaunched by 
a simple pivotal movement of handle 52. As a result, a very rapid action 
game is provided in which the players can continuously drive their 
vehicles about the track in a competitive race to determine who completes 
the required number of laps first. Of course, it will be appreciated that 
the toy vehicle and launcher arrangement can be used separately without 
the specific track construction shown in the drawings herein. 
Although an illustrative embodiment of the invention has been described 
herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood 
that the invention is not limited to that precise embodiment, and that 
various other changes and modifications may be effected therein by one 
skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of this 
invention.