Patent Publication Number: US-2002013118-A1

Title: Toy crash car crashable in front and back

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
     [0001] This application is entitled to the benefit of Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/221977 filed Jul. 31,2000. 
    
    
     
       BACKGROUND  
       [0002] 1. Field of Invention  
       [0003] In general terms, this invention is a toy vehicle, specifically a toy car that upon an impact upon its front or rear sections, that particular section will deform according to the pressure applied and the object that the section was impacted by; after which the said section will stay in its deformed shape until another impact or a moveable ‘block’ inside the car moves toward the section and forces the section back to its original shape.  
       [0004] 2. Description of Prior Art  
       [0005] Children enjoy playing with toys, and toys that look like motor vehicles are no exception. Toy manufacturers have been producing toy cars for many years, but these toys cannot simulate a car accident realistically and still be usable afterward.  
       [0006] The toy companies recognized this and produced a toy car that would break into pieces and could be reassembled. The problem with this kind of toy is that the reassembling the toy takes a very long time, and if the car is at a small scale such as 1:64 or 1:43, the pieces could be small enough to be swallowed by very small children and the pieces could be easily lost. Another disadvantage is that when a real car accident occurs, the car often crumples up and does not break into large pieces, so this kind of toy isn&#39;t very realistic.  
       [0007] Toy companies also came up with another kind of toy car, which had a hinge-like device on it that would make the car bend when it hit an object, and it was easy to repair. The problem with this kind of toy car is that it isn&#39;t very realistic either.  
       [0008] Then, a toy company patented a toy vehicle (U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,386 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,693,693) that could deform in the front end of the vehicle, and could be repaired quickly and easily. The disadvantage of this invention is that the car could only be deformed on one side, and therefore it isn&#39;t very realistic.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0009] My invention is a toy car that the front and rear sections of the toy will deform upon impact with an object, and it will be able to be repaired quickly and easily.  
       OBJECTS AND ADVANTAGES  
       [0010] There are several objects and advantages of this invention over the prior art, which are:  
       [0011] (a) to provide a toy car that will deform at both ends when the deformable section receives an impact, after which, the operator of the toy may quickly and easily repair the deformed section back to the original shape of the section at will;  
       [0012] (b) to provide a toy car that will have a relatively long playing life;  
       [0013] (c) to provide a toy car that is fairly uncomplicated and easy to manufacture, thus lowering production costs which in turn will lower cost for the consumer; and  
       [0014] (d) to provide a toy car that the front and rear sections of the toy will deform according to the pressure of an impact that they receive, and will be able to be repaired at will by the person playing with the toy. 
     
    
    
     [0015] Further objects and advantages will become apparent by looking at the ensuing description and drawings.  
     DRAWING FIGURES  
     [0016]FIG. 1 is a view of an embodiment of the invention looking at the bottom of the toy.  
     [0017]FIG. 2 is a view of the toy shown in FIG. 1 from the right side of the toy. 
    
    
     Reference Numerals in Drawings  
     [0018] 1 -wheels  
     [0019] 2 -moveable block  
     [0020] 3 -front section  
     [0021] 4 -intermediate section  
     [0022] 5 -rear section e  
     [0023] 6 -chassis  
     [0024] 7 -slot  
     [0025] 8 -knob  
     [0026] 9 -beam  
     [0027] 10 -wheel axle  
     DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION  
     [0028] Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a ‘crash’ toy car, which is deformable in the front and rear in accordance with the invention in a preferred embodiment, which takes the form of a four-wheeled Cadillac-style car. It is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in various other body styles, such as a sedan, convertible, truck, station wagon, van or minivan, or a coupe, so long as you can deform the front and/or rear sections of the car and still be able to return the deformed portions back to their original shape.  
     [0029] The crash car has an intermediate section 4  mounted on a chassis 6 , which are both composed of rigid material. There are front 3  and rear 5  sections which are composed of deformable material, and the front 3  and rear 5  sections are attached to the intermediate section 4 . The front 3  and rear 5  sections can be combined in one piece of material, or they may be two separate pieces of material. When an impact occurs on the front 3  and rear 5  sections, the section upon which the impact occurs will deform accordingly and retain its deformed shape until that section is forced back to its original shape.  
     [0030] The moveable block 2  forces the deformed section back to its original shape by moving towards the deformed section, thus exerting pressure on the deformed section. This pressure will force the deformed section back to its original shape, because the moveable block 2  is shaped so it can fit inside both the front 3  and rear 5  sections snugly. The moveable block 2  should be manually moved forward or backward by using a knob 8  protruding out of the slot 7 , and the knob 8  is attached to the moveable block 2 . The slot 7  should be of sufficient length so as to allow the ends of the moveable block 2  to move the length of the car so it can repair the deformed portions of the car. The slot 7  can be mounted anywhere on the car as long as it allows the moveable block 2  to move its ends the full length of the car.  
     [0031] When the moveable block 2  moves forward or backward towards the ends of the car, there should be a means to move the wheels 1  out of the way, either laterally or by moving downward. This can be accomplished by having the wheel axle 10  attached to a beam 9  hinged onto the chassis, which is arranged so that the wheels 1  can move out of the way easily without the wheels 1  falling out during normal operation of the toy.  
     [0032] The moveable block 2  should be able to snugly fit inside the front 3  and rear 5  sections of the car, but loose enough to allow the moveable block 2  to easily repair the deformed sections.  
     Alternative Embodiments  
     [0033] While there have been shown and described preferred embodiments of TOY CRASH CAR CRASHABLE IN FRONT AND BACK in accordance with the invention, it will be appreciated that many changes and modifications could be made in an implementation of this invention, without however, losing the invention&#39;s functionality or coverage under this patent. For example, the slot 7  could be on the sides or the top of the car, or securing mechanisms could be placed strategically to prevent the moveable block 2  and/or wheel axles 10  from moving out of position during normal operation. Also, you could make the moveable block 2  hollow and transparent and place tiny seats, steering wheels, or other details of a real car inside the moveable block 2 .  
     Advantages  
     [0034] From the description above, a number of advantages of this invention become apparent over other inventions, namely:  
     [0035] (a) this invention allows the front and rear sections of the toy to deform, unlike the prior art, which only allowed you to deform the front sections only;  
     [0036] (b) this invention simulates a car accident more realistically than previous inventions and prior art;  
     [0037] (c) this invention allows the user to repair the deformable sections more easily than previous inventions; and  
     [0038] (d) the unique way the wheels are attached to the car allow the wheels to move out of the way so the user can move the block over it.  
     Operation  
     [0039] The invention is a toy car that can deform in the front and rear sections, and still be able to return back to their original shape. The operation of this invention is as such:  
     [0040] (a) the user of the toy can use this toy like a “normal” toy car, by moving it along the floor, sending it down a ramp, or other things such as this;  
     [0041] (b) while playing with the toy, the user may run the toy into another object, such as another toy car or a wall, among other objects; and by running the toy into another object (or having another object run into it), if the impact takes place on a deformable section 3 / 5 , then the section will deform according to the impact;  
     [0042] (c) after the deformable sections 3 / 5  deform, the user can use the toy as normal unless the deformed section 3 / 5  interferes with the operation of the wheels 1 , in which case, the toy may not move along the ground like normal, thus simulating a real car accident;  
     [0043] (d) when the user of the toy decides that they want to repair the deformed section of the toy, then the user can do so by moving the knob 8  that is attached to the bottom of the moveable block 2  toward the deformed section along the slot 7 , which will cause the moveable block 2  to move toward the deformed section, and thus will exert pressure upon the deformed section and return it back to the original shape. When the moveable block 2  moves towards the front 3  or back 5  section, the wheels would normally interfere with this simple operation, but the wheels 1  are hinged to the chassis 6  so that the user can move the wheels 1  out of the way easily. The section may not be fully repaired by just moving the moveable block 2  toward the section, so the user may have to press the deformable material against the moveable block, thus smoothing out the material and restoring it back to its original shape; and  
     [0044] (e) after the deformed section(s) 3 / 5  are repaired, the user just moves the moveable block 2  back to its original position, and play continues as normal.  
     Conclusion  
     [0045] As you can see, there are many advantages of this invention over the prior art, which are:  
     [0046] this invention is a toy car that will deform at both ends, not just one;  
     [0047] this invention can simulate a car crash much more realistically than the prior art;  
     [0048] this invention is easier to manufacture than some of the prior art because it has less parts;  
     [0049] this invention has a mechanism that will allow the wheels to move out of the way, which the prior art did not have;  
     [0050] this invention can be made in many different body styles without losing the functionality of the invention.  
     [0051] Although the description above contains many specific examples and features, these should not be used to determine the scope of the invention; rather, the following claims should be used to determine the scope of this invention. The above description only describes some features that could be included and retain the functionality of the invention. For example, mechanisms to hold the wheels in place during normal operation of the toy are not described in the preferred embodiment of this invention, but could be included in an implementation of this invention and the invention would still retain its functionality.