Bidirectional gear assembly for electromechanical toys

摘要

A gear mechanism having a shuttle gear adjacent both an auxiliary gear and an action gear and a cam plate, having a shuttle lock adjacent the shuttle gear and including a cam follower riding back and forth along a first cam pathway with an action element in mechanical communication with the action gear. A motor operates the shuttle gear with rotation of the motor in a first direction rotating the shuttle gear into engagement with the auxiliary gear, activating the shuttle lock to maintain the engagement throughout a predetermined rotational range of the cam plate and rotating the cam plate back and forth driving controlled back and forth movement of the auxiliary elements, with rotation of the motor in a second direction rotating the cam plate beyond the predetermined range releasing the shuttle lock.

主权项

1. A gear mechanism for an electromechanical toy; comprising:
a shuttle gear having a first and second working surface; an auxiliary gear disposed adjacent the shuttle gear and having a receiving surface for engaging the first working surface of the shuttle gear; a rotating cam plate having a cam surface and one or more follower pathways at the cam surface, the cam plate being driven by the auxiliary gear; one or more auxiliary elements operating with the cam plate, each auxiliary element including a cam follower riding back and forth along one of said follower pathways; a shuttle lock disposed adjacent the shuttle gear; an action gear disposed adjacent the shuttle gear opposite the auxiliary gear having a receiving surface for engaging the second working surface of the shuttle gear; an action element moving with the action gear; a motor driving rotation of the shuttle gear with rotation of the motor in a first and second direction driving rotation of the shuttle gear in a forward and reverse direction; and a shuttle lock cam follower in mechanical communication with the shuttle lock positioning the shuttle lock to maintain the first working surface of the shuttle gear with the receiving surface of the auxiliary gear when the shuttle lock is positioned at the shuttle gear maintaining the shuttle gear and the auxiliary gear together to rotate both in a forward and a reverse direction for rotating the cam plate back and forth for operating the auxiliary elements, the second working surface of the shuttle gear engaging with the receiving surface of the action gear when the shuttle lock cam follower no longer has the shuttle lock positioned at the shuttle gear.