1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to the toy field and more particularly, to a spring powered prime mover which is capable of providing a driving force for toys, such as toy vehicles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous forms of spring powered prime movers have been used in the toy industry to drive toy vehicles. Every child is familiar with a spring driven toy vehicle. Frequently, the spring drive is powered by a key which stores energy by tightening a spring band into a tensioned coiled condition. Usually, a series of gears alone or in combination with a flywheel are utilized to transmit the released stored energy from the spring into rotational motion for the driving of wheels on the toy vehicle.
As can be readily appreciated, the economics of the toy business require the spring motor to be relatively inexpensive. In this regard, the toy industry has utilized a spring and is affixed to an opening in a metal housing wall. Generally, the housing wall is made of a soft metal having tabs that can be bent to form a rectangular housing configuration. A gear train is appropriately mounted within the housing wall to drive an output shaft. Usually, when the spring is mounted, it must be cut with notches to fit within an aperture in the housing wall. These notches provide a weak point in the spring and frequently permit the fracturing of the spring and release from its anchoring position upon overtensioning by accident.
The toy industry is further seeking to miniaturize toy vehicles to enhance the play value for children and incidentally reduce material cost. Problems occur in providing durable and operative gear transmissions with reduced sizes, especially in molded material.
With the general increase in labor cost around the world, the prior art is still seeking new and improved low cost miniature spring wound prime movers that are equal to or superior to the prior art devices heretofore used. Additionally, the prior art is further seeking to provide a prime mover that can be economically assembled with a minimum of labor.