US1350417A - Convertible toy battleship and tank-car - Google Patents

Description

W. E. McLAREN.

CONVERTIBLE TOY BATTLESHIP AND TANK CAR. APPLICATION FILED AuG.21. 1919.

1 350 ,4 1 7 I Patentd Aug. 24, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

E i m w. E. McLAREN CONVERTIBLE TOY BATTLESHIP AND TANK GAR. APPLICATION FILED AUG-21. 1919,

1,350,417. Patented Aug. 24, 192m.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM E. MQLABEN, .OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO MoLAREN-SLEIGHT CORPORATION, OF ST. JOSEPH, MICHIGAN, INCORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

CONVERTIBLE TOY BATTLESHIP AND TANK-CAR.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. MCLAREN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Convertible Toy Battleships and Tank-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in a structural and convertible toy and consists in certain novel features and peculiarities of the construction, combination arrangement and operation of thevario'us parts thereof as will be hereinafter more fully set forth and specifically claimed.

The principalobject of the invention is to provide a toy for the use and amusement of children, the parts of which shall be so constructed and may-be so arranged as to afford a toy battleship of unique and attractive design, which can be readily converted into a toy tank car of the design or in simulation of the tanks or such cars used inv the latewar, or vice versa, which shall be simple in construction, strong, durable and highly efficient and serviceable in use or operation.

, A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the above mentioned general character which will not only furnish amusement to children when used as a toy battleship or toy tank car, but which will require considerable ingenuity on the part of the user to convert the toy from one type to another, thereby educating to some extent, children, in the structural art.

Still another object is to provide simple and efficient means for looking or holding the parts of the toy securely in position without the use of nails, screws and the like, to the end, that the conversion "of the device or the disassembling of its parts in one form and the reassembling of said parts in another form may be accomplished with ease and rapidity.

A still further object is to provide a de- 7 opening 15 I Specification of Letters Patent. Patented A g; 241. 1920 Application filed August 21, 1919. Serial No. 318,897. i

In the accompanying drawings, which serve to illustrate an embodiment of the in vention Figure 1 is a View partly in elevation and partly in longitudinal vertical section of the toy with its parts assembled to form a battleship. i

I Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the parts arranged in the positions they will occupy to form a toy tank car. 1

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the tank car, and

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 4-4: of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring now to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the reference numeral 7 designates the bottom or hull of the ship, the numeral 8 the body thereof, and the numerals 9 and 10 superimposed decks, and the numeral 11 a gun turret or another deck. The three mem- V bers 7, 8 and 9 are substantially of the same shape and dimensions as will be understood by reference to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings, and are elongated and tapered toward. each of their, ends. The bottom member 7 is provided near its middle in its upper surface with a pair of sockets or openings 12 which are arranged at suitable distances apart on the longitudinal axial line of said member.

Located in each of the sockets or openings 12 is the lower end of a cylindrical rod or member 13, which, when the parts are as sembled to form a battleship as shown in Fig. 1 represent the smoke stacks of the ship and serve to hold. the super-imposed members thereof in position against longitudinal or lateral movement. Each of the rods or smoke stacks 13 is firmly secured at its lower end to the member 7 by means of screws 14 extended through the bottom of said member and engaging the lower ends of said rods. On each of its side edges forward and aft of the transverse axial line thereof the member 7 is provided with an which openings are for the reception of the axles 16 of the wheels 17, a. pair of which wheels is located on each side of the bottom member 7 of the ship, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1. of the drawings. Each of themembers 8, 9,- 10, and. 11 is pro and to which it is by preference permanently secured. The member 10 is provided on its upper surface with a transversely disposed rectangular recess 19 the main portion of which is located betwen the rods or smoke stacks 13, see Fig. 1 of the drawings,

' which recess is provided for the purpose to be presently explained.

The uppermost member or gun turret representing memberll is provided near each of its ends with a downwardly extended transversely disposed recess 20 the purpose 7 and use of which will soon be explained.

, As shown, the member 10 is provided at each of its ends with a longitudinally ex tended rod 21 which are fashioned and may be painted a suitable color to indicate guns or cannons. The rods 21 are by preference fixed in the member 10 and are directed for wardly and rearwardly of the device in both of the constructions thereof. Each of the ends of the turret representing member 11 is provided with a detachably mounted rod 22 which may be shaped and otherwise camouflaged to simulate guns or cannons. As shown in Fig. 1 the rods or guns 22 are also directed forwardly and rearwardly of thetoy when the same is constructed to form a battleship.

. Each of the members 7 and 8 is provided forwardly of its transverse axial line near one of its edges with an opening 23 which by preference extend entirely through said members and are for the reception of the axles 16 for the wheels 17 used on the device when its parts have been converted into a toy tank car as is .clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4: of the drawings. Each of the members 7 and 8 is provided at its middle near its upper edge with a transverse opening 24. which are for the reception of the inner ends of the detach-able rods 22 which the member 11 carries at each of its ends.

Each of the axles 16 employed in the construction of the toy by preference is of the cotter-pin type, that is, each axle is divided longitudinally from its inner end to its outer end thus forming two prongs 25 which are united at their outer ends by means of a spring loop 26 which has a tendency to expand or separate the inner portions of the prongs 25 as will be readily understood by reference to Fig. 4 of the drawing. This construction of the axles is of great importance as it permits the axles to be readily inserted in the openings 15 or 23 in the members 7 and 8 in which they will be securely held by the expansion or tendency to separate of the prongs 25 thereof. 7

Another important object attained by the aforesaid construction of the axle, is, that when the child removes the wheels and axles from the members 7 and 8 in the operation of disassembling the parts from one form of the toy the axles will be prevented dislocation from the wheels thereby preventing the loss of the axles unless the wheel carrying the same is also lost. Each of the members 7, 8 and 9 may be provided at one end thereof with an opening 27 through which a cord or wire can be extended and used for pulling the'device when in the battleship form, as shown in Fig. 1, for it is apparent that said openings will register with one another.

'It will be understood that when the parts are assembled as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, thereby forming the toy battleship, that the said parts will be securely held against longitudinal or lateral dislocation by means of the rods or smoke stacks 13 which may be painted in simulation with. the smoke stacks of ships. It will also be understood that the openings 18. in each of the members mounted on the bottom memher 7 is of such size as to fit snugly around the rods 13 in such a manner that they will be retained in position against accidental vertical movement by the gravity of 7 said parts and the snug fit of their openingsv on the said rods.

Assuming that the arts. have been assembled as shown in *ig. 1 andgit is desired to convert the device into a toy tank car, the following and simple operation isperformed. The wheels and axles 17 and 16 respectively are removedfrom the openings in the side edges of the member 7 and the members 9, 10 and 11 are removed from the rods or smoke stacks 13 after which the members 7 and 8 are turned to rest on their edges when the member 8 may be slid from the member 7 onthe rods13 which now become transverse supporting rods or mem bers, until the outer surface of the member 8 is flush with the free. ends of the rods 13, see Figs. 3 and 4: of the drawings- When the members 7 and 8 which now constitute the sides of the tank car are thus positioned, the member 9, to the upper surface of which the member 10 is fixed, is placed between the adjacent sides. of the member 7 and 8 and will rest on the transversely extended supporting rods 13 with the recess 19 on the upper surface of the part 10 extendedcrossfit into the recesses 20 on the lower surface of the member-.11 near each of its ends. hen this member is so applied, it will be understood that its lower portion will fit in the depression 19' of the part 10 and that the side pieces 7 and 8 and the members- 10 and 11 will be firmly secured together against accidental dislocation. The axles 16 of the wheels 17 can now be inserted into the openings 23 located in the side piece 7 and 8 near their lower edges when the device will be completed in the form of a toy tank car.

To render the simulation of a tank car more perfect the outer surfaces of the members 7 and 8 may have displayed thereon along or near their edges an imitation of a caterpillar traction belt or chain 28, which s so disposed as to indicate connection with the wheels 17 for imparting rotation thereto. As a further simulation of a tank'car, the sides 7 and 8 thereof may have displayed on their outer surface by means of paint or otherwise diagrams or pictures 29 and 30 of armored housings and guns protruding therefrom respectively.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a convertible toy, the combination with an elongated bottom member, of a pair of spaced apart rods fixedv at one of their ends to said member and extended at right angles therefrom a plurality of elongated members each having a pair of spaced apart and registering openings, a smaller member fixedly mounted on one of the last named members and having a pair of openings in register with said other openings and provided with a transversely disposed groove between its openings, a projection in simulation of a cannon extended from each end of the fixed member, another member of less size than the fixed member and having a pair of spaced apart openings to register with the other openings and provided near each of its ends with a transverse recess, the last named member having at each of its ends a longitudinally extended opening therein, a rod in simulation of a cannon detachably mounted in each of said openings, the said members being super-imposed one on the other in the order named with the rods on the first named member extended through said registering openings and beyond the last named member to provide the effect of smoke stacks whereby a miniature battleship, in appearance, as one form of the toy, will be provided, and whereby the removal of the member carrying the fixed part and the recessed member from the said rods can be effected, and the member adjacent to the member carrying the centrally disposed rods can be slid therefrom on said rods, and the member carrying the fixed member can'be placed between said members and supported by the said rods, and the recessed member can be placed cross-wiseof the thus constituted side members with its recesses engaging the upper edges of the said members and its lower portion engaging the groove in the fixed member, and so that the recessed member can be fixed to the side members by means of the detachable rods carried by the recessed member to produce, in appearance, a miniature tank car as another form of the toy.

2. A convertible toy, including in combination an elongated member having a pair of spaced apart and transversely disposed openings in each of its side edges and a pair of similarly disposed openings extended therein from one of its faces near one of its edges, a wheeled axle of the cotter-pin type adapted to be interchangeably located at its inner portion in each of the openings in the edges of said member and in each of the openings in the faces of said member, a pair of spaced apart rods fixed at one of their ends on said member near its middle and extended substantially at right angles therefrom, a plurality of elongated members each having a pair of spaced apart openings for the reception of said rods and super-imposed one on the other and on the first named member, one of said members having a transverse groove and another of said members having a transverse recess near each of its ends, a rod in simulation of a cannon mounted on each end of the grooved member and on each end of the recessed member, the rods on the latter member being detach-ably mounted thereon, another one of the elongated members having a pair of spaced apart openings extended therein from one of its faces, two of said wheeled axles of the cotter-pin type also adapted to be located in the last named openings, all constructed, arranged and operating substantially as shown and described.

3. A convertible toy including in combination an elongated member having in each of its side edges at least one transversely disposed opening and in one of its faces at least one similarly disposed opening, an axle consisting of a pair of prongs united together at one of their ends and located in substantial parallelism with one another and having a tendency to separate at their free portions adapted for interchangeable location in the opening or openings of the side edges of said member and in the open- 7 ing or openings in the face of said member,

and a wheel rotatably mounted on the axle near the juncture of its prongs.

4. In a convertible toy the combination with an elongated member of a pair of spaced apart rods fixed thereto at one of their ends and extended therefrom in substantial parallelism with one another, another elongated member having a pair of spaced apart openings and adapted to be movably mounted on said rods, a third elongated member having a fixed'part mounted thereon between its ends, said fixed part having in its outer surface a transverse groove, the last named member adapted to belocated longitudinally between the adja* cent surfaces of the member carrying the said rods and the movable member and to its recesses engaging the upper edges of the two first named members, and means to fix the fourth member in said position. 7 p

'In testimony whereof, I hereunto have set 'my hand and seal, this 7th day of'August,

WILLIAM E. MQLAREN.

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