Modular Toy Cart With Rotatable Spheres for Omnidirectional Rolling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modular toys, particularly toy carts, suffer from limited rolling performance and play options due to their lightweight construction, often made from injection-molded plastics, which affects their functionality and versatility.
Innovation Solution
A modular toy design featuring a cart body with a hub portion and radially extending sphere connectors that allow for the attachment of rotatable spherical bodies, along with a toy figurine that is non-rotationally attached to the hub, enhancing the toy's maneuverability and play options through increased momentum and spinning capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the cart body is made from lightweight injection-molded plastic, then manufacturing cost and ease of manufacture are improved, but rolling performance and momentum are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines lightweight plastic cart body with heavy spherical bodies (marbles, metal balls, or dense polymer spheres) to create a composite system. The plastic provides ease of manufacture and low cost, while the dense spherical bodies provide the necessary weight and momentum for improved rolling performance. This composite approach resolves the contradiction by integrating materials with complementary properties.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the toy figurine is attached to the cart body, then play options are improved, but the cart body becomes heavier
Solution Approach 1:
The toy figurine is designed as a separate, detachable component that can be attached to or removed from the cart body. This segmentation allows the figurine to contribute to play options when attached, while allowing the cart to maintain its optimal weight for rolling performance when the figurine is removed. The figurine attaches to the hub portion and can be easily detached to avoid permanent weight increase.
3Reliability
If spherical bodies are attached to sphere connectors, then rolling performance and play options are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spherical bodies serve multiple functions: they provide weight for momentum, act as rollers for movement, and can be attached or removed to change the cart's configuration. The sphere connectors provide a simple, standardized interface that accommodates various spherical bodies. This multi-functionality justifies the added complexity by delivering significant performance benefits across multiple operational modes.
Solution Approach 2:
The spherical bodies are designed to be freely rotatable on the sphere connectors, creating a dynamic system that adapts to different movement requirements. The rotatable spheres can orient themselves optimally during rolling, and the entire assembly can be reconfigured by attaching or removing spheres. This dynamic capability enhances rolling performance while keeping the connection mechanism simple.
4Ease of operation
If the toy figurine is non-rotationally attached to the hub portion, then ease of operation is improved, but the cart body becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment mechanism for the toy figurine uses asymmetric coupling means (such as a pin fitting into a slot or an asymmetric connector) that prevents rotation of the figurine relative to the cart body. This asymmetric design provides stable, non-rotational attachment that improves ease of operation by preventing unwanted figurine rotation during play, while the coupling mechanism itself remains relatively simple in construction.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a modular toy including a toy figurine and a cart body. The cart body has a hub portion with an upper side, a lower side, and a side surface. Further, the toy figurine is releasably attachable to the upper side of the hub portion such that the toy figurine is non-rotationally attached to the cart body. Three or more sphere connectors extend radially from the side surface of the hub portion. Each sphere connector is configured for releasably attaching a spherical body such that when a spherical body is attached to the sphere connector, the spherical body is rotatable relative to the sphere connector. The sphere connectors are arranged such that the center of the spherical bodies attached to the sphere connectors are in the same plane parallel to the lower surface of the hub portion.