CN2405632Y - gear system toy - Google Patents

Abstract

A toy with a gear system includes a driving unit (100) including a main body (110), a gear (120) supported by the main body with at least a portion of teeth (122) exposed, a motor (130) rotating the gear, and a transmission (140) disposed between the motor and the gear, and at least one gear unit (200). The gear unit (200) comprises a main body (220) and a gear (210) supported by the main body (220) and rotated by the gear of the drive unit, the main bodies (110,220) being respectively provided with self-mounting means (115,222) for attaching the drive unit and the gear unit to any desired non-predetermined position of the plane such that the engaged gears (120,210) rotate simultaneously.

Description

gear system toy

The present invention relates to gear system toys.

A commonly known type of gear system toy comprises a plate provided with motorized gears and a plurality of individual gears each having an axle positioned by respective slots on the plate to be turned by the gears on the plate. Since the grooves are formed at predetermined positions on the plate, the individual gears are defined at their positions, and their arrangement is considerably restricted. Having to use boards is another limitation.

It is an object of the present invention to solve or at least reduce these disadvantages by providing an improved gear train toy.

According to the present invention, there is provided a gear train toy comprising a drive unit and at least one gear unit. The driving unit includes: a main body; a gear supported by the main body, at least a part of teeth of the gear are exposed to the outside for gear meshing; a motor for rotating the gear; and a transmission device provided between the motor and the gear . The gear unit includes a main body and a gear supported by the main body and rotated by a gear of the driving unit. Each of the main bodies is provided with a self-installation device, which is used to install the drive unit and the gear unit on any desired non-predetermined position on the plane, and the gears will rotate simultaneously with the meshing of the teeth of the gears.

In a preferred embodiment, the drive unit body is formed with side slots through which at least a portion of the teeth of each gear protrude.

Preferably, said groove is part circular and extends around the side of said drive unit body over an angular range of at least 180°.

In a preferred embodiment, the gear unit body is in the form of a base on which the gears are supported for rotation.

Preferably, wherein said base is circular and smaller than a corresponding gear, said gear is coaxially supported on said base so that all of its teeth protrude beyond the circumference of the base.

Preferably each self-mounting means is provided by a magnetic element.

In particular the magnetic element is preferably in the form of a plate or a strip.

Preferably, the magnetic elements are attached to the respective bodies by adhesive bonding.

Preferably, the transmission is provided by a reduction gear train.

The present invention will be specifically described by way of example only below in conjunction with accompanying drawing, wherein

Figure 1 is a top view of an embodiment of a gear system toy according to the invention, said system having a drive unit and several gear units;

Figure 2 is a top view of the drive unit in Figure 1 with the upper case removed; and

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of the drive unit of Fig. 1 with the lower case removed.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a gear system toy embodying the present invention comprising a drive unit 100 and one or more individual gear units 200 driven by said drive unit 100 .

The drive unit 100 has a generally flat body 110 consisting of an upper housing 112 and a lower housing 114 with a semicircular front end 116 of reduced size. The output gear 120 is horizontally supported on the main body front end 116 for rotation. Upper housing 112 is formed with a partially circular side slot 118 extending around said main body front end 116 over an angle of substantially or at least 180°. Gear 120 is relatively larger than body front end 116 and is located coaxially between housings 112 and 114 such that at least half of teeth 122 protrude through slot 118 for gear engagement.

The output gear 120 has a coaxial clutch gear 124 that maintains clutch engagement with the output gear under the action of a coaxial coil spring 126 on the other side. Clutch engagement is achieved by engagement of a ring of apertures 121 formed on the body of output gear 120 with a ring of studs 125 formed on the body of clutch gear 124 . Due to clutch engagement, output gear 120 may rotate with clutch gear 124 .

A magnetic plate (or strip) 115 is attached to the bottom of the lower case 114 of the main body 110, such as with an adhesive, so as to fix the main body drive unit 100 on a metal surface by magnetic force.

The drive unit 100 includes in its main body 110 a motor 130 for driving the output gear 120, a gear train 140 arranged between the motor 130 and the gear 120 for transmission, a battery compartment for discharging batteries to power the motor 130 , and a switch 160 (operable at one side of the main body 110) for turning on and off the motor 130. The motor 130 has a horizontal shaft 132 with a coaxial pinion 134 . The gear train 140 consists of the following gears along the transmission direction, three vertical reduction pinions/gear series 141 to 143, a horizontal reduction crown pinion/gear 144 that changes the transmission angle by 90 degrees, and a final horizontal gear 145.

The first gear 141 and the last gear 145 mesh with the motor pinion 132 and the clutch gear 124 respectively so that the output gear 120 is rotated at a low rate once the motor 130 is energized.

Referring to the gear units 200, each of them has a horizontal gear 210 and a circular base 220 on which the gear is coaxially supported for free rotation. The gear 210 is relatively larger than the base 220 so that all teeth 212 of the gear protrude beyond the circumference of the base 220 . The lower part of the base 220 is provided with a magnetic plate (or strip) 222, which is attached thereon, for example by adhesive, so as to fix the whole gear unit 200 on the metal surface by magnetic force.

The gear system toy is designed to be played on a flat metal plate, which may be horizontal, such as a tabletop, or vertical, such as a refrigerator door, or any ferromagnetic surface. In operation, the drive unit 100 and the gear unit 200 are attached to a metal surface to form a gear member such that the gears 210 in each gear unit 200 mesh with each other to form a gear train, and the last gear meshes with the gear 120 of the drive unit 100 so that Turn at the same time. Once switched on via the switch 160, the drive unit 100 will drive all the gear units 200 so that their gears 210 rotate simultaneously. The gear unit 200 may mesh with more than one gear train for simultaneous rotation by the drive unit 100 . The or each gear train can be extended in series and/or like a tree branch, adding to the entertainment and creativity of play.

The gear train 140 of the drive unit 100 may be replaced by a drive belt, or include a drive belt, or any other equivalent means.

It is contemplated that the drive unit 100 and the gear unit 200 could be attached to a flat surface by any self-mounting means instead of magnetic elements. For example, if suction cups are used instead of magnetic plates 115 and 222, drive unit 100 and gear unit 200 can be played on any flat surface to which suction cups can be attached. If the drive unit 100 and the gear unit 200 and the flat surface are provided with a hook-and-loop fastening tape that can be fixed to each other, it is also possible to play.

The essence of the gear system toy is that the gear unit 200 can be placed in any desired or random position relative to the drive unit 100, the position being not predetermined, so as to form a gear train.

The present invention is described by way of example only, but various other improvements and/or modifications to the described embodiments may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope specified in the appended claims.

Claims (9)

1. A gear system toy, comprising a drive unit and at least one gear unit, characterized in that the drive unit comprises: a main body; a gear supported by the main body, at least a part of the teeth of the gear are exposed outside so that the gears mesh a motor for rotating the gear; and a transmission device arranged between the motor and the gear, the gear unit includes a main body and a gear that is supported by the main body and rotated by the gear of the drive unit, and each of the main bodies is respectively provided with There are self-mounting means for attaching the drive unit and the gear unit at any desired non-predetermined position on the plane so that the meshing gears rotate simultaneously. 2. The gear system toy of claim 1, wherein the drive unit body is formed with a side slot through which at least a portion of the teeth of the corresponding gear protrude. 3. The gear system toy of claim 2, wherein the groove is partially circular and extends around the sides of the drive unit body over an angle of at least 180°. 4. The gear system toy according to claim 1, wherein the gear unit body is in the form of a base on which the corresponding gears are supported for rotation. 5. A gear system toy as claimed in claim 4, wherein said base is circular and smaller than the corresponding gear, said gear being coaxially supported on said base, with all its teeth protruding from outside the circumference of the base. 6. A gear system toy as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein each self-installing means is a magnetic element. 7. The gear system toy according to claim 6, wherein the magnetic element is in the shape of a plate or a belt. 8. The gear system toy of claim 6, wherein the magnetic elements are attached to the corresponding bodies by gluing. 9. The gear system toy according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein the transmission device is a reduction gear train.

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