Patent Publication Number: US-4146991-A

Title: Toy trackway

Description:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to a trackway along which a toy vehicle moves, and more particularly to a turn-around section which may be assembled in different configurations so as to permit the vehicle after travelling along the tortuous path of the turn-around section either to return to a position on one side of the turn-around section near the starting point, or to travel further away from the turn-around section. The turn-around section consists of a platform which has an upper level and a lower level, the upper level being provided with a trackway having locking members at each end thereof while the lower level is provided with two trackways each terminating in a locking member. Two flexible trackway sections, each terminating in locking members, are designed to connect the trackway of the upper level of the platform with different of the trackways of the lower level of the platform. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating the trackway orientated such that the turn-around section directs the vehicle back towards the vicinity of the starting point; 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view illustrating the locking flanges of adjacent sections of the trackway; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one of the two flexible trackways illustrating its curvature and the two sections thereof joined together with clip assemblies; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one of the two flexible trackways illustrating the configuration of the bottoms of the female locking flanges at each end thereof, and the two sections of which the trackway is formed spaced apart from each other prior to assembly with the clips; 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of parts of adjacent sections of one of the flexible trackways illustrating the construction of the clips which assemble these sections together; 
     FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the trackway illustrating attachment of the flexible trackways to the platform assembly in a manner permitting the vehicle after traversing the turn-around section to continue its movement away from the turn-around section; 
     FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the platform assembly illustrating attachment of two of the flexible trackways to the locking members of the upper and lower levels; 
     FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line 8--8 of FIG. 7 illustrating the configuration of the male and female locking flanges of the upper level of the platform; and 
     FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line 9--9 of FIG. 7 illustrating the configuration of the male and female locking flanges of the lower level. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The amusement device of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 1, wherein it will be apparent that the trackway consists of a plurality of sections 10, a trigger mechanism 12 for propelling the vehicle 14, the turn-around assembly generally designated by the reference numeral 16 which consists of a platform 18 and two flexible trackways 20, and a jumping mechanism 22 which may be interposed between adjacent of the sections 10 to cause the vehicle 14 to jump into the air. 
     As illustrated in FIG. 2, the trackway sections 10 are provided on their underneath side with opposing flanges 24, such that the inserts 26 may be slided within the flanges 24 to secure adjacent of the sections 10 to each other. The same arrangement is employed to connect the propulsion mechanism 12 and the jumping section 22 to the trackway sections 10. 
     It will be apparent that the propulsion section 12 is provided with a hammer mechanism 28 which may be retracted under the influence of a spring and then released so as to propel the vehicle 14 from the propulsion section 12 along the trackway sections 10 to the turn-around section 16. 
     The platform 18 of the turn-around section 16 is provided with an upper level along which there is defined a first trackway 30 and a lower level along which there are defined second and third trackways 32 and 34. The ends of the trackways 30, 32 and 34 terminate in first locking members in the form of male flanges 36 and 36&#39;. The configuration of the male locking flanges 36 of the upper trackway 30 are illustrated in FIG. 8, and the configuration of the male locking flanges 36&#39; of the lower trackways 32 and 34 are illustrated in FIG. 9. It will be apparent that although the male locking flange 36 is provided with a solid base 38 and the male locking flange 36&#39; is provided with upstanding legs 40, both of these flanges are provided with identical side edges 42 extending outwardly along the sides. The male flanges 36&#39; are designed to fit within the third locking members comprising the flanges 24 of the sixth and seventh trackway sections 10 and 10&#39; such that certain of the sections 10 can be joined to the lower trackways 32 and 34 of the platform 18. 
     Turning now to FIGS. 3-5, it will be apparent that each of the fourth and fifth flexible trackways 20 consists of two sections 44, each of which terminates in a second locking member in the form of a female flange 46. The flexible sections 20 are joined together with clips 48, it being apparent from FIG. 5 that each of the clips 48 is provided with a supporting surface 50 and flanges 52 extending outwardly therefrom such that after the ends 54 of the sections 44 are positioned against each other in abutting relationship the clips 48 are slided over the flanges 56 formed at the ends 54 of the sections 44 such that the supporting surfaces 50 and the flanges 52 of the clips 48 engage the flanges 56 of the adjacent sections 44. 
     As illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, the ends of the female flanges 46 of the flexible trackways 20 are each provided with a lower supporting surface 58 and flanges 60 extending downwardly therefrom, it being apparent that the opening defined at the end of the flange 46 by the surface 58 and the flanges 60 is complimentary in configuration with respect to the male flanges 36 and 36&#39;. Moreover, and as illustrated in FIG. 4, an opening 62 is provided in the bottom of the female flange 46 to accommodate the base 38 or the walls 40 of the male flanges 36 and 36&#39;. Thus, the female flanges 46 are designed to be inserted over either the male flanges 36 of the upper level of the platform 18 or the male flanges 36&#39; of the lower level of the platform 18. 
     It will be apparent from FIG. 1 that one of the female locking flanges 46 of each of the flexible trackways 20 is attached to the corresponding male locking flanges 36 of the upper level of the platform 18. The remaining female locking flanges 46 of the flexible trackways 20 may be attached to the male locking flanges 36&#39; of the trackways 32 and 34 of the lower level of the platform 18 on the same side of the platform 18, in which case the passageway defined by the base 47 and upstanding walls 49 of the flexible trackways 20 causes the vehicle 14 to traverse the turn-around section 16 and return along section 10&#39; which is attached to one of the male locking flanges 36&#39; towards the jumping section 22, the construction of which will not be described because it is not part of the present invention. Alternatively, and as illustrated in FIG. 6, it is possible to attach the other female locking flanges 46 to the male locking flanges 36&#39; located on opposite sides of the platform 18 and the section 10&#39; to the male locking flange 36&#39; on the other side of the platform 18 which results in defining a passageway of different configuration causing the vehicle 14 after traversing the trackways 20 to move away from the platform 18 in the opposite direction along section 10&#39;. Accordingly, the child is provided with the opportunity to change the configuration of the trackway from time to time.