Abstract:
A vehicle toy combination includes a wireless controlled toy vehicle having a mobile platform configured to move over a surface. A central controller on the platform is configured to control at least one aspect of the toy vehicle. A hand-held manually actuable wireless controller is configured to remotely control user selected movement of the toy vehicle. An optical receiver is attached to the platform to look downward on the surface and is coupled to the central controller. The receiver is configured to read a predetermined reflective pattern located on the surface over which the toy vehicle moves. Multiple vehicles can be controlled simultaneously with multiple wireless, manually operated controllers operating at the same frequency by initially synchronizing the controllers to transmit in non-overlapping windows.
Abstract:
A positioning mechanism for use in conjunction with rod and connector construction toy sets, such as K'NEX, to enable incrementally adjustable positioning of rods relative to associated connectors. The new mechanism includes first and second positioning members. The first, positioning member is, mounted on a rod for angular movement and includes a cylindrical outer surface with multiple detent notches. The second positioning member has a convergent pair of resilient fingers engaged with a spaced pair of the detent notches to releasably retain the first positioning member in any incrementally adjusted position. The second positioning member includes mounting studs engageable with laterally spaced connectors of an assembly, and a separate locating element engageable with at least one of the connectors to fix the second positioning member against rotation. The first and second positioning members are easily incorporated into otherwise standard rod and connector structures to achieve the desired incremental adjustability.
Abstract:
A positioning mechanism for use in conjunction with rod and connector construction toy sets, such as K'NEX, to enable incrementally adjustable positioning of rods relative to associated connectors. The new mechanism includes first and second positioning members. The first, positioning member is, mounted on a rod for angular movement and includes a cylindrical outer surface with multiple detent notches. The second positioning member has a convergent pair of resilient fingers engaged with a spaced pair of the detent notches to releasably retain the first positioning member in any incrementally adjusted position. The second positioning member includes mounting studs engageable with laterally spaced connectors of an assembly, and a separate locating element engageable with at least one of the connectors to fix the second positioning member against rotation. The first and second positioning members are easily incorporated into otherwise standard rod and connector structures to achieve the desired incremental adjustability.