US 11,857,887 B2
Toy vehicle with selected centre of gravity
Lee Gamble, Etobicoke (CA); Chaitanya Dogra, Oakville (CA); and Jason C Lee, Humarock, MA (US)
Assigned to Spin Master Ltd., Toronto (CA); and Bbx Design Group Inc, Humarock, MA (US)
Filed by Spin Master Ltd., Toronto (CA); and Bbx Design Group Inc, Humarock, MA (US)
Filed on Jun. 21, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/845,892.
Application 17/845,892 is a continuation of application No. 17/494,590, filed on Oct. 5, 2021, granted, now 11,364,446.
Application 17/494,590 is a continuation of application No. 16/723,986, filed on Dec. 20, 2019, granted, now 11,135,523, issued on Oct. 5, 2021.
Prior Publication US 2022/0314134 A1, Oct. 6, 2022
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A63H 17/00 (2006.01); A63H 17/26 (2006.01); A63H 30/04 (2006.01)
CPC A63H 17/004 (2013.01) [A63H 17/262 (2013.01); A63H 30/04 (2013.01)] 11 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
7. A toy vehicle, comprising:
a vehicle body;
at least one motor that is mounted to the vehicle body, wherein the at least one motor is sized to be capable of generating a selected amount of torque;
a plurality of wheels rotatably mounted to the vehicle body, wherein the plurality of wheels includes at least one driven wheel that is drivable by the at least one motor, and wherein the at least one driven wheel includes at least one flip-over wheel, wherein the toy vehicle has a first end and a second end, and wherein the at least one flip-over wheel has an axis of rotation that is closer to the first end than to the second end,
wherein the toy vehicle has an upright orientation in which the plurality of wheels support the vehicle body above a support surface, and in which the vehicle body extends above the plurality of wheels, and an inverted orientation in which the vehicle body in part supports the toy vehicle on the support surface and wherein at least one of the at least one driven wheel is engaged with the support surface and in part supports the toy vehicle on the support surface,
wherein the toy vehicle has a center of gravity that is positioned, such that, application of the selected amount of torque from the at least one motor to the at least one of the at least one driven wheel while the toy vehicle is in the inverted orientation, causes a reaction torque in the vehicle body to drive rotation of the vehicle body about the axis of rotation from the inverted orientation over to the upright orientation on the support surface,
wherein the vehicle body includes a balance surface arrangement that at least partially supports the toy vehicle on the support surface when the toy vehicle is in the inverted orientation, wherein the balance surface arrangement and the center of gravity are positioned such that a height of the center of gravity above the support surface rises by a distance that is less than 25% of the length of the toy vehicle during application of the selected amount of torque by the at least one motor to cause the reaction torque in the toy vehicle to drive rotation of the vehicle body over to the upright orientation,
wherein the toy vehicle further includes a battery,
wherein the at least one motor includes a first motor that directly drives a first motor gear, wherein the first motor gear is engaged with a first gear train, wherein a portion of the first gear train is positioned to directly engage the first motor gear and transfer power therefrom to a first driven wheel gear that is directly connected to a first one of the at least one driven wheel, and another portion of the first gear train includes a second driven wheel gear that is directly connected to a second one of the at least one driven wheel, such that the first motor drives the first motor gear, which in turn drives the first driven wheel gear, which in turn drives the second driven wheel gear,
and wherein the at least one motor further includes a second motor that directly drives a second motor gear, wherein the second motor gear is engaged with a second gear train, wherein a portion of the second gear train is positioned to directly engage the second motor gear and transfer power therefrom to a third driven wheel gear that is directly connected to a third one of the at least one driven wheel, and another portion of the second gear train includes a fourth driven wheel gear that is directly connected to a fourth one of the at least one driven wheel, such that the second motor drives the second motor gear, which in turn drives the third driven wheel gear, which in turn drives the fourth driven wheel gear; and
a control system that includes a wireless communications chip positioned to communicate with a remote control, a processor and a memory, wherein the processor is programmed to receive instructions via the wireless communications chip, and to carry out the instructions, the instructions including:
an instruction to rotate the first and second motors in a forward direction;
an instruction to rotate the first and second motors in a backward direction;
an instruction to rotate the first motor in a forward direction and the second motor in a backward direction; and
an instruction to rotate the first motor in a backward direction and the second motor in a forward direction.