Underground mining machinery toy
A toy or scale replica of an underground toy miner for coal mining having movable parts includes a body having an upper surface and movable caterpillar treads and a plurality of rotatable wheels mounted to the opposed sides of the miner, a boom mounted to the upper surface and extending from the front to the rear of the miner, an endless conveyor mounted on the boom with the distal end of the boom being laterally movable, a bucket mounted to the front and having at least two inwardly rotatably collectors for moving material from the bucket to the conveyor and boom and a ripper head terminating with a cylindrical ripper pivotably mounted to the front of the miner and above the bucket for gouging and digging material out of the wall of the mine for deposition in the bucket and thence movement rearward by the collectors to the conveyor and boom.
The present invention pertains to toy or replica reproductions of construction and industrial equipment and machinery, and more particularly pertains to toy and scaled replica reproductions of underground mining machinery.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONChildren's toys and games are as old as civilization itself. From simple handmade toys of cloth, sticks, and semi-precious stones common to all ancient civilizations to today's toys such as the popular Lego R building block sets, toys that require manual manipulation retain their popularity. Even with the advent and widespread popularity of video games, from handheld video games to interactive video games played by multiple players over the internet with the players spread across geographical regions, manually manipulable toys that represent various types of vehicles, structures, equipment, and machinery in the actual world, are still popular and perennially profitable for the toy and game industry. Indeed, toys that represent or exemplify vehicles can range from cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats, ships, airplanes, helicopters, emergency rescue vehicles, farm equipment and machinery, racecars, tractor-trailers, and construction and industrial equipment and machinery. The following patents disclose toy sets or individual toys of the above described kind—with a notable exception being mining equipment, and especially toys representing underground mining machinery and equipment.
For example, the Daenen patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,692) discloses a car and boat toy with removable parts wherein the removable parts include body axle and wheel parts as well as the toy body members that are disposed within the vehicle portion of the toy.
The Hendry patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,114,312) discloses a toy vehicle in the form of a miniature vehicle that includes a replaceable hood.
The Goldfarb et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,884) includes a miniature toy vehicle driven at three axes and which is electrically powered and able to climb over rough terrain, obstacles and up steep inclines.
The Shiraishi patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,040) discloses a construction toy set that includes a variety of component parts comprising, in part, bases, houses, auxiliary members and male and female connecting elements.
The Reiling, Jr. et al. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,700) discloses a toy combination resembling a tractor-trailer that includes a self-powered unit with driven wheels and a trailer with non-driven wheels.
The Pohlman patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,919,072) discloses a construction toy set for assembling a steerable toy vehicle wherein the toy vehicle is fabricated from a plurality of construction toy elements linked by a plurality of interlockable couplers.
Nonetheless, there remains a need for toy or scale replicas or reproductions of machinery and equipment especially pertaining to machinery and equipment used in underground coal mining.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention comprehends a toy or replica of equipment and machinery, and more particularly a toy or replica of underground mining machinery equipment such as toy or miniature miner. The miniature miner includes a number of moving parts to enhance the verisimilitude with the actual machine.
The miniature miner includes a body having a front and a rear, an upper surface and opposed sides. Mounted on the upper surface is a pair of headlights. Mounted to each opposed side is a rectangular-shaped tread plate, and each tread plate has a plurality of lights mounted thereto. Disposed inboard of each tread plate, and protected by the tread plate, is an endless caterpillar tread that is directly supported on a plurality of adjacent and aligned wheels. The wheels on one side can be connected to their opposite number by axles, or the wheels on both sides can be individually secured to the chassis on their own axis; and the rotation of the wheels causes the caterpillar treads to turn thereby resulting in the locomotion of the toy miner. Mounted on the upper surface, and extending from front to the rear, is a movable boom. The boom includes an endless conveyor belt that is supported on and, in the real-life version, rotates about the boom for transferring material dug from the mine walls to other equipment or structures for eventual conveyance out of the mine. The boom is comprised of a plurality of interconnected segments, and as the boom extends toward the rear, the boom is inclined upwardly away from the upper surface of the body of the toy miner and extends laterally and upwardly past the rear of the miner. The distal end or segment of the boom is able to laterally pivot or swing left and right, and the boom itself is movable up and down away or toward the upper surface of the body of the toy miner. Attached to the front of the body of the toy miner is a bucket or scoop, and mounted to the inside of the bucket is a pair of cross or t-shaped collectors. The collectors rotate or turn inward toward each other to move material onto the conveyor and boom. Extending from the front of the body of the toy miner, and positioned above the bucket, is a ripper head. The ripper head is capable of selectively pivoting up or down to reach and dig out material from the wall of the mine, and mounted to the distal end of the ripper head is a cylindrical ripper covered with teeth for gouging, digging and directing material to the bucket and collectors and thence to the conveyor and boom.
It is an objective of the present invention to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that includes moving parts to showcase the type of underground equipment used to mine coal.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery to show the general public the various types of underground mining equipment and machinery used to mine coal.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that includes a booklet that explains the functions and operations of the piece of machinery.
It is still yet another objective of the present invention to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that demonstrates the processes necessary to mine underground coal.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that can be die cast or manufactured from a plastic composition.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery for making such vital equipment and machinery used for underground coal mining more widely recognizable to the general public.
Still yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery wherein an entire line of mining machines can be represented as toys or scaled replicas.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a toy or scaled replica of underground mining machinery that is both fun and educational.
These and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a perusal of the following detailed description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing figures and appended claims.
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While the invention has been described by a detailed description of certain specific and preferred embodiments, it is understood that various modifications and changes can be made therein within the scope of the appended claims, and which are intended to include equivalents thereof of such embodiments.
Claims
1. A mining machinery toy, comprising:
- a body having a front and a rear, opposed sides, an upper surface and an opposed lower surface;
- a pair of tread plates with each tread plate mounted to each opposed side of the body;
- a pair of endless caterpillar treads with each caterpillar tread disposed inboard of each respective tread plate;
- two sets of wheels with one set of wheels encompassed by one caterpillar tread and the other set of wheels encompassed by the other caterpillar tread whereupon the sets of wheels and the caterpillar treads rotate together;
- a boom mounted to the upper surface and extending rearward past the rear of the body;
- the boom selectively movable up and down away from and toward the upper surface of the body and the boom including a distal segment that is laterally movable left and right with respect to the body;
- an endless conveyor mounted on and extending about the boom;
- a bucket mounted to the front of the body;
- a pair of collectors mounted inside the bucket with each collector inwardly rotatable toward the other collector;
- a ripper head mounted to the front of the body and positioned above the bucket with the ripper head movable up and down away from and toward the bucket; and
- a cylindrical ripper rotatably mounted to ripper head with the ripper including a plurality of teeth radially disposed about the ripper.
2. The mining machinery toy of claim 1 further comprising a plurality lights that are mounted to each tread plate.
3. The mining machinery toy of claim 2 further comprising a pair of headlights mounted to the upper surface of the body and facing toward the front of the body.
4. The mining machinery toy of claim 3 further comprising a motor housed within the body and actuated by an on/off switch located on the underside of the body.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 28, 2008
Publication Date: Jun 3, 2010
Inventor: David C. Nelson (Verdunville, WV)
Application Number: 12/315,041