Patent ID: 8011995

Claim:
A toy comprising an elongated track comprising a printed circuit board having electrically conductive traces, said track having multiple electrical conductors, each with segments comprised of said electrically conductive traces, said traces (1) alternately extending transversely across a desired path for a moveable object to be moved along said track and (2) being spaced from each other along the length of the track, said printed circuit board having multiple layers of said electrically conductive traces, wherein each of said multiple conductors conducts electrical current in a first direction along said path and transversely back and forth across said desired path a plurality of times, and then loops back to conduct said current along said desired path in a direction opposite said first direction and transversely across said desired path in the same direction as said current conducted in said first direction so that alternating groups of the segments of the same conductor that extend transversely across said desired path conduct current in the same transverse direction and thus produce electromagnetic fields having the same polarity, an electric power source supplying multiple phases of alternating current to said multiple conductors so that said conductor segments alternately extending transversely across said desired path sequentially produce alternating polarity electromagnetic fields extending above the surface of said track, along said desired path, while said power source is applied to said multiple conductors, each of said multiple phases being supplied to one of said conductors that includes traces located on a layer of said printed circuit board different from any layer having traces included in any other conductors supplied with any other phase, and said moveable object containing a permanent magnetic element whose magnetic field interacts with said alternating polarity electromagnetic fields to move said object along said desired path by magnetic attraction and repulsion when said object is placed in proximity to the surface of said track while said power source is applied to said multiple conductors.