Traveling toy

Claim 1

In a miniature wheeled toy vehicle adapted to be powered over a ground surface by a windable spring, a. a chassis, b. said chassis supported on an axle carrying ground wheels, c. a mounting frame on the chassis, d. a shaft journaled on the mounting frame parallel to the axle and carrying a spiral spring having one end fixed to the shaft and the other end fixed to the mounting frame, e. a gear fixedly mounted on the axle, f. an operating bar supported in the mounting frame in upright position for vertical sliding movement and having a rack of gear teeth spaced vertically therealong, g. said bar having a cross handle at its upper end and a pin on its lower end slidably seated in a holder on the mounting frame with a spiral spring encircling the pin and held under compression between the bar and mounting frame to yieldably bias the operating bar toward a raised position, h. a gear train of intermeshing gears connecting the rack to the axle gear and including gears fexed on the shaft carrying the spiral spring to transmit downward movement of the operating bar to store energy in the spiral spring when the bar is depressed and to transmit the energy in the spring to rotational movement of the axle when the bar is released, and i. said gear train including a pinion which is journaled in slots to be movable between a non-intermeshing position with the axle gear when the operating bar is moving downwardly and a position in intermeshing engagement with the axle gear when the bar is moving upwardly.