Toy airplane

Dec. 12, 1939. j. e. brubaker 2,182,913

TOY AIRPLANE

Filed Oct. 4, 1939

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Z3

Patented Dec. 12, 1939

2,182,913

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,182,913 TOY AIRPLANE

Jacob E. Brubaker, Lancaster, Pa., assignor to The Hubley Manufacturing Company, Lancaster, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania

Application October 4, 1939, Serial No. 297,953

Claims.

This invention relates to toy airplanes, and has for one of its special objects to increase the attractiveness, play value and interest to children of toy airplanes by providing the same with land-5 ing wheels which are. mounted to be moved between extended and retracted positions in simulation of the retractable landing gears of commercial airplanes. Moreover, toy airplanes equipped with landing wheels Which may be re10 tracted or folded relative to the airplane wings or body by which they are carried, have the additional important advantage that they may be compactly packaged for shipment and storage purposes.

Another special object of the invention is to provide a simple, practical means of easily and sturdily mounting landing wheels on a toy airplane for movements between extended and retracted positions with respect thereto, whereby.

2o the toy may be produced at low cost and is capable of withstanding harsh usage.

Another special object of the invention is to provide simple, practical means for securely holding the landing wheels in both extended and re25 tracted positions relative to the wings or body of the toy airplane by which they are carried.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention, is better understood·, the 30 same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a toy airplane equipped with landing wheels which. are sr₄₀ mounted in accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention to be swung between extended and retracted positions, the wheels being shown in their retracted positions; and

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the wings _;45 of the toy showing the landing wheels in their extended positions.

Referring to the drawing in detail, A designates, generally, a toy airplane including, as usual, a body IQ, wings I! and landing wheels 52.

In accordance with the invention the body 19 and the wings li may be formed in any desired manner from any suitable material. For example, they may be pressed in one piece from sheet metal or any other suitable sheet material or they -.55 may be comprised by. any desired number of sep(CI. 46—76) arate pieces pressed from any suitable sheet material and connected with each other in any desired manner. Alternatively, they may be cast from any suitable metal or molded from any suitable plastic material either in one piece or in any 5 desired number of separate pieces which may be joined together in any desired manner. Moreover, the landing wheels 12 may be mounted on either the body10 or the wings IL In any event said landing wheels 12 are carried by struts 13 10 and together with said struts constitute landing wheel units which are pivotally mounted on the body 10 or on the wings 11, as the case may be, whereby they may be swung between retracted and extended positions as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 15 of the drawing, respectively.

It is, of course, within the purview of the invention to pivotally mount the landing wheel units on the body ί 0 or on the wings 11 in any suitable or desired manner, and to provide any ₂₀suitable or desired means to hold said units in retracted and extended positions relative to the body 10 or the wings 11 as the case may be. However, simplicity and economy in manufacture as well as ruggedness and strength are important _2gconsiderations concerning both the manner of pivotally mounting the landing wheel units on the body 10 or the wings II and the means for holding said units in retracted and extended positions. There accordingly have been devised ₃θ means for these purposes which are strong and sturdy and which, at the same time, are quite simple and of low production cost.

For pivotally mounting the landing wheel units on the body 19 or the wings· 11, the said body or _3gwings, as the case may be, is, or are, provided on its or their under side or sides with spaced pairs of spaced apart lugs 14, 14 and the struts 13 are provided at their upper ends with trunnions 15, 15. The lugs 14, 14 are pressed from, or are cast on, or are suitably fastened to the body iQ or ⁴⁰the wings 13 and in their original form the lugs of each pair are sufficiently spaced apart throughout their lengths to permit a related trunnion 15 to be inserted between them. The trunnions of each strut 13 are inserted between related pairs of the lugs and the free end portions of the lugs then are bent toward one another about the trunnions, whereby the latter are held confined between the lugs. The struts ί 3 thus are pivotal- _g0ly connected to the body 10 or the wings ! I, as the case may be, in a simple, economical and sturdy manner.

For holding the struts 13 in extended and retracted positions there is associated with each _gg

2,182,913 strut a related bowed leaf spring 16. Each spring 16 is confined between the upper end of its related strut 13 and the under side of the body 10 or wing 11, as the case may be, to which the strut is pivoted, and extends at right angles to the pivotal axis of the strut. Moreover, the body 10 or the wings il, as the case may be, is, or are, provided with pressed or cast ribs 17 forming U-shaped pockets which accommodate the ends of the springs 16 and hold said springs against endwise and sidewise movements. The springs are bowed downwardly where they overlie the upper ends of the struts 13 and exert constant downward pressure upon the said upper ends of said struts. At its upper end each strut 13 is provided with a finger or fingers 18 for engagement with a lug or lugs 19 on the body 10 or on the related wing 11, as the case may be, to prevent swinging movement of the strut in one direction beyond an extended position in which it is disposed vertically or substantially vertically relative to said body or wing. At its upper end each strut also is provided with a lug 20 having top and free edge portions which are offset laterally with respect to the axis of rotation of the strut and which respectively cooperate with the related spring 16 to hold the strut in extended and retracted positions. In other words, when the strut is in an extended position depending vertically or substantially vertically from the body 10 or the related wing 11, as the case may be, the related spring 16, by its downward pressure against the top face of the lug 20, tends to rotate the strut in a direction in which it is held against rotation by engagement of its finger or fingers 18 with the lug or lugs 19. The strut thus is yieldably held in its extended position. On the other hand, when the strut is in a retracted position, underlying the body 10 or the related wing, as the case may be, parallel or substantially parallel thereto, the spring 16, by its downward pressure against the free edge of the lug 20, tends to rotate the strut in a direction such that it is urged against the body 10 or the related wing 11, as the case may be. The strut thus is yieldably held in its retracted position. In short, each spring 16 cooperates with the lug 20 of the related strut so that the strut partakes of a snap action in being moved from its extended position to its retracted position and from its retracted position to its extended position, and is yieldably held in both its extended and retracted positions.

Obviously, any suitable means in lieu of elements such as the fingers 18 cooperating with companion elements such as the lugs 19, may be provided to limit swinging movement of each strut from its retracted position beyond its extended position. Obviously, too, any suitable means, such as flat top and side surfaces on the upper end of each strut, may be provided in lieu of the lug 20 for cooperation with the spring 20 to hold each strut in its retracted and extended positions.

In the present instance the struts 13 are illustrated as being pivotally mounted on the wings I ί, transversely with respect thereto, at points spaced outwardly from the body 10 and as being swingable inwardly and upwardly from extended to retracted or folded positions. Also, in the present instance, the under side of the body 10 is illustrated as being formed with depressions 21 to accommodate the wheels 12 when the struts 13 are swung to their retracted positions. Obviously, however, the struts 13 may be swingable upwardly and outwardly from their extended to their retracted positions, whether they are carried by the wings 11 or by the body 10.

The fact that the struts 13 and their wheels 12 are swingable to retracted or folded positions 5 relative to the body 10 or the wings 11, as the case may be, is of particular advantage in permitting compact packaging of the toy for shipment or storage purposes. Besides, the fact that the struts and their wheels are swingable be- io tween retracted or folded and extended positions, considerably enhances the attractiveness and play value of the toy.

Since the struts 13 may be mounted on either the body 10 or on the wings 11, and since the 15 wings 1 ί may, generally speaking, be considered as parts of the body of the toy, the term “body element” as used in the claims, is intended to mean either the body 10 or the wings 11.

Without further description it is thought that 20 the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the ait, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without 25 departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.