Toy school bus and station device therefor

Claim 2

A toy comprising, in combination, a station device including a track part and a platform part, wheeled and powered vehicle adapted to travel on a suitable surface and to pass over the track part of said station device, and a plurality of passengersimulated models each having a suitably weighted base portion so as to normally keep standing on a support, said station device further including manually controllable means for causing the vehicle to be stopped on and released from the track part thereof, said vehicle including a chassis and a transparent body detachably mounted thereon and having on one side thereof two longitudinally spaced-apart openings serving as the entrance and the exit for said models, respectively, said vehicle further including means for automatically conveying the models loaded thereon through said entrance to the vicinity of said exit and manually operable means for unloading the models conveyed to the vicinity of said exit one by one from said vehicle through said exit, said station device still further including a ramp detachably mounted on the platform part thereof and adapted for interconnecting said exit of said vehicle with said platform when said vehicle is stopped in place on said track part, whereby when the models conveyed are unloaded from said vehicle through the exit thereof they can be automatically transferred onto said platform while sliding down said ramp.

Claim 3

A toy as set forth in claim 1, wherein said means for automatically conveying the models loaded thereon through said entrance to the vicinity of said exit comprises a motor-driven belt conveyor extending longitudinally along the axis of said chassis over the length substantially equal to the distance between the entrance and the exit of said transparent body, and a worm-like member positioned inside said entrance at right angles to said belt conveyor and arranged to be rotated by said belt conveyor, said worm-like member serving to receive the passenger-simulated models through said entrance and to feed them onto said belt conveyor.

Claim 4

A toy as set forth in claim 2, wherein said belt conveyor and said worm-like member are each provided, on both sides thereof, guide walls for guiding the models being conveyed by them therealong so that the models are smoothly conveyed to the vicinity of said exit.

Claim 5

A toy as set forth in claim 1, wherein said manually controllable means for causing the vehicle to be stopped on and released from the track part thereof comprises two parallel shafts spaced longitudinally of and extending transversely of said track part, two said shafts being rotatably supported by bearings fixed to the underside of said track part, two pairs of friction rollers each being fixedly mounted on each of the two shafts and transversely spacedly disposed in the path of travel of said vehicle on said track part so as to be engaged by driving wheels of said vehicle, and a push-button projecting upwardly from said platform part and operatively connected to one of the two shafts, the pair of friction rollers mounted on the other of the two shafts being always freely rotated when engaged by the driving wheels of said vehicle being rotated, the other pair of friction rollers mounted on the shaft to which said push-button is operatively connected being freely rotated when engaged by said driving wheels being rotated and when said push-button is not depressed, thereby arresting the forward movement of said vehicle, and the said other pair of friction rollers rotated by said driving wheels in engagement therewith being stopped by the braking action produced and transmitted thereto via the shaft operatively connected to said push-buttoN when said push-button is depressed, thereby releasing said vehicle from said track part for resuming its forward movement.

Claim 6

A toy as set forth in claim 1, wherein the passenger-simulated models each comprises a substantially frust-conical hollow body with its lower end opened, a substantially hollow spherical head fixedly mounted on the top of the body, and a circular base having on its upper face a suitable weight and detachably secured to the body to close the lower opening thereof by means of a screw.

Claim 7

A toy as set forth in claim 1, wherein said manually operable means for unloading the passenger-simulated models from said vehicle through said exit comprises a swingable plate for discharging the models one by one through the exit and an operating lever for swinging said plate toward and away from said exit.

Claim 8

A toy as set forth in claim 1, further comprising a track for guiding the vehicle therealong, said track including a plurality of track sections and at least the station device.