Toy Racetrack Obstacle Pairs for Vehicle Ejection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing toy vehicle racetracks lack a mechanism to efficiently determine the winning vehicle and provide a dynamic, engaging racing experience by allowing only the leading vehicle to progress through obstacles, while ensuring consistent ejection of trailing vehicles, especially in scenarios where significant leads are created.
Innovation Solution
The racetrack design incorporates a plurality of lanes that narrow through strategically placed obstacle pairs with immediate and delayed unlatching assemblies, ensuring only the leading vehicle can pass, with immediate unlatching near the start and delayed unlatching near the finish, and includes a finish line gate to indicate the winning vehicle.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If immediate unlatching assembly is used throughout the track, then trailing vehicles are ejected consistently when close behind, but vehicles with significant leads may be incorrectly ejected due to timing issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by implementing two different unlatching mechanisms (immediate and delayed) that operate based on the dynamic racing conditions. The immediate unlatching responds instantly when vehicles are close together, while the delayed unlatching waits for a time delay to confirm a significant lead exists, allowing the system to adapt its response based on the real-time relative positions of vehicles.
2Productivity
If multiple lanes are maintained throughout the track, then all vehicles can race simultaneously, but the winning vehicle cannot be clearly determined
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the track into multiple lanes that progressively narrow from four lanes at the start to two lanes in the middle section, and finally to one lane at the finish. This segmentation allows vehicles to race simultaneously in multiple lanes while the progressive narrowing ensures that only the leading vehicle can reach the finish line, clearly determining the winner.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the track is designed as a fixed rigid structure, then the racetrack is stable and durable, but it is difficult to transport and store
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the racetrack into multiple separable segments that can be easily assembled and disassembled. Each segment contains specific features like lanes, obstacles, and unlatching mechanisms, allowing the track to be configured in different layouts and easily transported or stored when not in use, while maintaining stability during operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A toy vehicle racetrack is provided with one or more obstacle pairs. The obstacle pairs may be arranged in a geometrical progression and each obstacle pair may determine the relative positions of two toy vehicles and impede the travel of the trailing vehicle. Impeding the travel of the trailing vehicle may be accomplished by ejecting the trailing toy vehicle from the track.