Patent Publication Number: US-2011053453-A1

Title: Cartunes - Music box toy cars

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/238,278 filed Aug. 31, 2009, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to educational toy vehicles and more particularly pertains to a new toy vehicle assembly that plays a musical tune. The vehicle is also equipped with a means to print numbers, letters or symbols. 
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART 
     The use of toy vehicle assemblies that include electronic sounds and lights is well known in the prior art. The use of musical boxes is also well known to be used with dancing figures, jewelry boxes and snow globes. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 3,982,459 Akiyama Sep. 28, 1976 describes a toy musical vehicle with a motor driving an air musical instrument. 
     While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a toy vehicle that produces a musical tune without the use of batteries and electronics by the use of simple mechanical means. Further there remains a need for a design that captivates the attention of a young child while providing educational benefits of music, mechanics, number sequence and letter and symbol recognition. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In The present invention meets the needs presented above by incorporating a unique mechanical music box into a toy vehicle. By making the musical box visible it provides the young child user an opportunity to observe and learn simple mechanical principles of motion and simple gears and an understanding of an old method of storing and playing musical tunes 
     Further the musical box is coupled to at least one wheel so producing a musical tune during movement of the invention, thus the musical box does not need winding up as in the previous art. It also provides a young child a reference to the correct speed of a tune when the vehicle moves forward powered by the included spring, so they can emulate it when moving the vehicle forward by themselves. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a new toy vehicle that includes interchangeable rubber like treads on the wheels with numbers, letters or other symbols debossed on their surface which can be printed, providing another opportunity for education and entertainment. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a new toy vehicle assembly presenting a novel eye-catching conversation piece. This is further enhanced by including a detailed figure in each vehicle that is specific to the included tune. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new musical toy vehicle that does not require batteries or electronics. 
     To this end, the present invention generally comprises a new musical box design with a vehicle body member that is designed for attaching the music box. The music box assembly is designed so at least one wheel of said vehicle is coupled to it. The rotation of said wheel drives the musical box to produce a tune. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     The objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The invention will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a new toy vehicle assembly according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1  thereof, a new toy vehicle assembly embodying the principles and concepts of the present invention and generally designated by the reference numerals will be described. As best illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the musical box assembly includes a base member  10  that is adapted for inserting into the under side at position  20  of a wood toy vehicle  190 . Positioned substantially in the base member are the components of the musical box. In this design the music box base or bedplate as it is often called consists of vertical walls between substantially flat top and bottom surfaces. It is attached to the underside of said vehicle  190  with screws through internally positioned screw holes  15 . Further attachment screw holes on the opposite side are not shown. The long parallel sides  16  of the musical box thus become the sides of the vehicle  190  when attached. This design reduces the cost of manufacturing said vehicle  190  as no complex milling of the wood vehicle body is required and the musical box assembly can be installed as a complete unit. The flat sides of the bedplate  16  provide a surface that is ideal for debossing text onto, further reducing the overall cost of the toy vehicle. In one embodiment of the present invention the music box assembly can be seen from the top view of the vehicle  190  by means of a transparent plastic hood  200  and the addition of a hole cut vertically through the vehicle body from below the hood to the musical box. 
     The musical box assembly of this invention further comprises of a drive axle extending from position  50  to position  55  transversely to and supported by the bedplate  10 . This drive axle connects the components of the musical box and the vehicle front wheels  30 . It is knurled  70  on the outer ends to aid in attaching said wheels  30  so the wheels  30  are fixed to the axle and turn with it. On either side of said knurling  70  is machined a groove for the insertion of retainer washers  60  that prevent lateral movement of said wheels  30 . Alternatively the outer ends of the axle could be threaded so a washer and nut combination not shown can fasten the wheels  30  to said axle. Further the drive axle includes a spur gear  80  that is meshed with a spur gear  90  that is positioned axially to the center of the music box drum  110 . Although straight spur gears are depicted, helical spur gears are preferably as they are more robust and smoother. The gear ratio between the gears  80  and  90  is preferably approximately four to one, so four revolutions of the wheels  30  turns the musical box drum  110  once. With 36 mm diameter wheels  30  and  40 , the vehicle will need to travel 452 mm to rotate said drum  110  once, thus playing the included tune once. This distance is the approximate distance that a small child can move a hand holding the toy vehicle of this invention in one continuous motion without the need to reposition their body. If the wheel size was much smaller it would be preferable that the wheel axle  50  to  55  utilize a worm gear to mesh with the spur gear  90 . In this embodiment of the invention the music box spring and speed regulator would have to be connected directly to the wheel axle as they could not drive a worm gear in reverse. 
     The gear  90  positioned axially to the music drum  110  and riding on the same axle not visible in  FIG. 1  incorporates a ratchet tooth on the side facing the crown ratchet gear  100  attached to the music drum. This ratchet tooth engages the crown gear  100  when the vehicle moves in the forward direction rotating the music drum. The ratchet tooth slides over the teeth of the crown gear when the wheels are rotated in the reverse direction thus preventing the rotation of the music drum. When the music drum  110  is rotated the projections on its surface pluck the corresponding tines of the musical comb  120  thus producing the musical notes of the tune. This musical drum and ratchet system is well known and the present invention uses these widely available parts thus reducing costs. 
     In the depicted embodiment of this invention the musical box assembly also incorporates a spring in the housing in  140  and a speed regulator in the housing  160 . The spring  140  and speed regulator are also well known in the music box industry and are not explained in detail here. The embodiment of the present invention however does use the spring and speed regulator in a novel and unique way with the addition of a ratchet crown gear  150  attached to the axel of the spring gear  140 . This ratchet crown gear can be of the same design as the previously discussed crown gear  100 . The spring gear  140  is wound up when the toy vehicle is reversed, not by a key as is common in music boxes. When the vehicle is moved forward the axle  50  rotates in a clockwise direction when seen from the right side and gear side of the vehicle. The axle gear  80  drives the drum gear  90  in a counter clock wise direction. The drum gear  90  is meshed with the spring gear  130  and drives it in a clock wise direction. The ratchet, not shown, of the spring gear  130  will slide over the teeth of the spring crown gear  150  and the spring will not be affected. When the vehicle is moved in a reverse direction the spring gear  130  moves in a counter clock wise direction with its attached ratchet tooth engaging the spring crown gear  150  and winding up the spring. When the toy vehicle is released the stored energy potential of the spring  140  drives the spring crown gear in a clockwise rotation. The ratchet tooth of the spring gear  130  remains engaged to the crown gear  150 . The clockwise rotation of the spring gear  130  drives the music drum gear  90  in a counter clock wise direction thus engaging the music drum  110  via the ratchet crown gear  100  and the drum and music comb  120  will play the tune. The music drum gear  90  will in turn drive the axle gear and the vehicle will move forward. The speed at which the spring  140  unwinds is controlled by the speed regulator  160 . 
     The present embodiment of the music box provides an opportunity for a child to learn the correct timing of a music piece by providing a means for the tune to be played at the correct speed by the unwinding of the included spring and an opportunity for the child to emulate it by moving the toy vehicle forward manually. 
     The present embodiment of the invention also includes special wheels  30  that have a groove  35  in their perimeter to receive rubber like tires  40 . These rubber like tires  40  which can be made of various materials and in various colors provide additional function to the toy vehicle by creating greater friction to the surface the toy vehicle is moved on which is particularly desirable when the vehicle is moved in reverse to wind up the spring  140 . The tires  40  also prevent scratching of the playing surface from the wheels  30 , especially if they are made from wood. The tires  40  of the present invention can be removed and replaced with various designs that can be smooth, treaded or include designs such as letters, numbers and artistic symbols debossed on their perimeter surface  45 . 
     The tires  30  with debossed symbols  45  provide a unique means for a toy vehicle to be used as an educational tool to facilitate the learning of the alphabet, number sequence, length measurement and other possible options by having the tires run over an ink or paint pad and then printing the debossed details  45  of said tires  40  as they are rolled on paper or other material that the ink can be transferred to. 
     The present embodiment of the wood toy vehicle  190  includes a toy  FIG. 170 . The toy  FIG. 170  is designed to characterize the music tune of the music box included providing an entertaining toy, for an example an astronaut is used with the tune of “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Stars” or a Santa Claus with the tune “Here Comes Santa Claus”. Since the present invention uses a similar vehicle design with many different tunes and minimal packaging to reduce costs, the toy vehicles and the associated music tunes can be recognized at a glance via the characters. There are thousands of music tunes available so a series of vehicles is to be produced. The toy  FIG. 170  is further enhanced for interactive play by having bendable arms  180  and a head that swivels. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the invention, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present invention. It is also relatively apparent that variations in gear ratio and the attachment of mechanical links to one or more of the rotating parts herein to animate the vehicle toy figure is possible. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.