Toy amphibious boat

Claim 2

A combination pull toy and boat having a floatable hull body, a shaft tunnel extending crosswise of said body housing a shaft projecting from the body to engage a wheel at each of the opposite ends thereof; a combination carriage and water-propulsion wheel fixed upon said shaft at each of said ends, said tunnel having a side opening between its ends exposing a drive pinion on said shaft to mesh with a driving bull gear constituting part of driving gear means; motor means including a housing therefor from which projects a driving spindle supporting part of said gear means including a bull gear; coacting means on said housing and body seating said housing in a predetermined position thereon a predetermined alignment with said tunnel to align the motor spindle and bull gear for driving mesh with said driven pinion, said body being water tight and said shaft tunnel being substantially unsealed at its opposite ends and at said side opening but excluding water from entry into said hull body.

Claim 3

The construction set forth in claim 1 wherein said body is a hollow member having a deck portion sealing the same from entry of water and said shaft tunnel is disposed on the outer side of the deck with open ends at the corresponding opposite sides of the hull body, and said motor means housing is mounted as aforesaid on said outer side of the deck.

Claim 4

A construction according to claim 1 wherein the bull gear is coupled to said motor spindle through a slip clutch for pull-toy operation, said clutch comprising the formation of gear teeth on one side of the bull gear, a bored hub portion on the opposite side of the bull gear, a clutch disc having complementary gear teeth thereon and an extended spindle portion projecting from the side of the disc on which said teeth are formed and freely rotatably fitted into the bull gear bore with the respective teeth of the gear and disc meshing; spring means urging the disc toward the bull gear to mesh said teeth, and means keying the disc structure to said motor spindle, said teeth being adapted to permit slippage in case the wheels are over driven against the resistance of the motor spindle, as when the toy is pulled or pushed on a supporting surface.

Claim 5

The construction of claim 1 wherein said motor housing means comprises a casing for the motor including a sidewall and a bottom wall, said motor spindle projecting from said sidewall for driving coaction with the driving gear means as aforesaid, and means for seating said housing with said motor spindle in alignment with said wheel shaft and said bull gear meshing with said pinion, said seating means comprising a plurality of interfitting pin and socket pairs respectively situated on said bottom wall and said deck, at least, and arranged in predetermined locating relationship with said shaft tunnel to dispose the housing in the condition of alignment aforesaid.

Claim 6

The construction set forth in claim 4 wherein seating means is further characterized in that at least one of said paired members is disposed on said shaft tunnel to constitute at least one fixed point of alignment for the housing relative to the tunnel the shaft therein and said pinion on the shaft, and at least one other of said paired members on said deck at a side of said shaft tunnel to fix the location of the housing in the predetermined relationship set forth.

Claim 7

The structure defined in claim 5 wherein said housing including said bottom wall is substantially rectangular and one of the interfitting members of each said pair is situated in adjacency to one of the four corners of the housing on said bottom wall, and there are two of said interfitting members, each complementary to one of the members on said bottom wall, situated in spaced relation along the length of said shaft tunnel, and another two of said interfitting members, respectively complementary to the like members remaining on said bottom wall, spaced apart on said deck at one side of the shaft tunnel, the axis of said motor spindle being thereby disposed above the wheel shaft in parallelism therewith and with a line connecting said interformations on the shaft tunnel.

Claim 8

In a toy vehicle, a member having a bottom and upstanding sidewall portions defining a substantially hollow vehicle body; a joined to said sidewall portions and constituting a closure for said body; a tubular formation integral with said top member and extending crosswise thereof to define a shaft support; a shaft rotatably received in said tubular formation and having opposite end portions disposed at respective opposite sides of the body, each said end portion having a wheel element engaged therewith to support the body for rolling motion.

Claim 9

In a toy vehicle, a member having a bottom and upstanding sidewall portions defining a substantially hollow vehicle body; a joined to said sidewall portions and constituting a closure for said body; a tubular formation integral with said top member and extending crosswise thereof to define a shaft support; a shaft rotatably received in said tubular formation and having opposite end portions disposed at respective opposite sides of the body, each said end portion having a wheel element engaged therewith to support the body for rolling motion.

Claim 10

A construction according to claim 7 wherein each said wheel element has a hub portion concentric with the axis of rotation thereof and fitting freely into the proximate end of said tubular formation to support the appertaining wheel element for rotation in rolling motion as aforesaid. 9 In a toy construction, a body member having wheeled support and adapted to be fabricated by molding from synthetic plastic materials, said body having shaft-supporting means formed as an integral part of the molded material of one side of the body with hollow portions extending crosswise of the body and having a shaft member freely disposed therein with opposite ends exposed at respective opposite sides of said body; and a wheel member carried by each of said shaft ends and each wheel member having a hub portion fitting freely into the said body hollow portions at the appertaining side of the body to support the wheel member for rotation and dispose the shaft in a predetermined rotative clearance with respect to said hollow portions.

Claim 11

In an amphibious-type vehicle construction, a closed off substantially hollow vehicle body having at least one side affording a substantially flat wall portion merging with opposite side margins of said body; a drive shaft disposed to extend crosswise of said wall portion and body between said margins; a propulsion member carried at each of the opposite ends of said shaft for rotation therewith adjacent said body margins; tubular formations conformed integrally with said wall portion and situated at least adjacent said shaft end to surround portions of the shaft thereat and retain the shaft in operative position for rotation; a driving member for rotating the shaft carried thereon and located and exposed between said tubular portions in condition for driving engagement with a rotatable driving member adapted to be situated externally of the said hollow body, whereby the shaft does not penetrate the hollow portions of the closed body and the driving means can be disposed externally of the hollow parts of the body.

Claim 12

In an amphibious-type vehicle construction, a closed off substantially hollow vehicle body having at least one side affording a substantially flat wall portion merging with opposite side margins of said body; a drive shaft disposed to extend crosswise of said wall portion and body between said margins; a propulsion member carried at each of the opposite ends of said shaft for rotation therewith adjacent said body margins; tubular formations conformed integrally with said wall portion and situated at least adjacent said shaft end to surround portions of the shaft thereat and retain the shaft in operative position for rotation; a driving member for rotating the shaft carried thereon and located and exposed between said tubular portions in condition for driving engagement with a rotatable driving member adapted to be situated externally of the said hollow body, whereby the shaft does not penetrate the hollow portions of the closed body and the driving means can be disposed externally of the hollow parts of the body.