Retractable Toy Sword With Video and Sound Effect

The present invention relates to a toy sword, particularly a retractable toy sword with visual and sound effects.

As a weapon in the history of human beings, the sword is also a symbol of status. There are a lot of stories about heroes and their weapons. In some novels, swords are something miraculous and they can emit different types of light. Today, the sword is a tool for sport and a decoration as well. Moreover, they are available as toys in the market, mostly for boys. Most boys like swords, for they can play with swords by imaging themselves as heroes in many movies and comics. However, though there are numerous toy swords in the market, none of them have any particular function which can satisfy the children, and moreover, the design of such swords may be risky for children because of their offensive nature. However, it is more dangerous if stick or the like rather than toy sword is used in playing the game of hero.

Though there have been some improvements in the structures of toy swords, such as a retractable sword formed by a hilt and blade sections, its use of a spring for rapid extension is still dangerous for children because such rapid extension may injure children's eyes. It is not ideal because a considerable force is required to retract the toy sword.

In view of the above defects, the inventor created a retractable toy sword with visual and sound effects. It provides new functions for toy swords by design of automatic extension and retraction and, generation of visual and sound effects--emission of light and generation of a variety of sounds, such as collision noise "Dang" and flying noise "Hee" to satisfy children's curiosity. Moreover the present invention can provide the children with a sense of justice, since it is designed as a miraculous sword for the real hero. Its retraction mechanism can extend and retract the blade slowly to prevent injury to children, and to minimize the risk from using of it as a toy.

These and other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a retractable toy sword with visual and sound effects according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmental view of a retraction driver for the retractable toy sword with visual and sound effects according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram for the retraction driver in the retractable toy sword with visual and sound effects according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic circuit diagram for a visual and sound effects driving circuit in the retractable toy sword with visual and sound effects according to the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 for a sectional view of a retractable toy sword with visual and sound effects according to the present invention. The sword body 1 is divided into two parts: a hilt 11 and a blade 12. The hilt 11 has a hollow front section with two guide posts 111 and 111' in the middle, two openings 112 and 112' for switches at a side of a middle section and an opening 113 for a speaker at the opposite side of the middle section, and a battery chamber 114 with a cover 115 in the bottom section. The blade 12 is composed of at least two blade sections 12' and 12". Each blade section 12' or 12" is a hollow structure containing a spring 121 or 121', and has a L-like front end 122 and a L-like rear end 123 for mutual engagement during extension or retraction. A groove 13 is designed at the junction between the hilt 11 and the blade 12 for installation of a reflective hood 14 and a convergent lens 15. A round hold penetrates the center of the reflective hood 14 and the convergent lens 15, and a round hold is designed at the lower right side of the refelective hood 14.

The present invention includes a retraction driver 2 composed of a reduction gear box 21, a motor 22, a pulley 23, two transmission gears 24A and 24B, a roller 25, a motor cover 26, a steel cable 27, a timing gear train 28, two micro switches SW1 and SW2, a slide switch SW3, and a battery 29 located within the hollow front section of the hilt 11. The slide switch SW3 is placed at the opening 112 of the hilt 11, and the battery 29 is loaded in the battery chamber 114 in the hilt 11. The reduction gear box 21 contains a reduction gear. The motor 22 is fixed to the back 21A of the reduction gear box 21. A pinion 221 is installed at the shaft of the motor 22 for engaging the reduction gear in the reduction gear box 21. The pulley 23 has a substantially U-like left end, a gear at its right end, and a circular hollow center for insertion of the motor 22. The roller 25 is located on the back 21A of the reduction gear box 21 and locked by the motor cave 26. An end of the cable 27 is fixed on the pulley 23, and its other end passes over the roller 25, the guide posts 111 and 111' of the hilt 11, the central holes of the reflective hood 14 and the convergent lens 15, the interior space of the blade 12 and is fixed to the last blade section 12". The timing gear train 28 is installed on the front side 21B of the reduction gear box 21, with a micro switch SW1 at the left side and another micro switch SW2 at the right side so that the motor 22 can be controlled for normal or reverse rotation, and consequently the blade 12 can be controlled for extending or retracting by sliding the slide switch SW3, while the corresponding micro switch SW1 or SW2 serves to control its position and turn off power source. The timing gear train 28, located on the front side 21B of the reduction gear box 21, comprises a driving gear 281, two reduction gears 282A and 282B, a positioning gear 283, and a stop lever 284. The driving gear 281 is driven by the reduction gear in the reduction gear box 21. The driving gear 281 and the transmission gear 24B rotates synchronously. After reduction by the reduction gears 282A and 282B, the driving gear 281 drives the positioning gear 283. The positioning gear 283 is incorporated with a stop lever 284 to push a micro switch SW1 or SW2 at its left or rights side when the blade 12 has fully extended or retracted in order to cut off the power source and stop the motor.

The present invention includes a visual and sound effects driving circuit composed of a base board, an integrated circuit IC1, two transistors Q1 and Q2, a capacitor C1, five resistors R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5, a speaker 32, a slide switch SW4, and a bulb L1, all located on the base board as per its layout diagram, and fixed in the hollow front section of the hilt 11 in a way that the speaker 32 is fixed at the opening 113, and the slide switch SW4 is fixed in the opening 112' of the hilt 11. Power for the visual and sound effects driving circuit 3 is provided by the battery 29 in the retraction driver 2. By turning on the slide switch SW4, the circuit 3 can provide sound and light. The light is reflected and converged by the reflective hood 14 and the convergent lens 15, and directed to emit upwards.

FIG. 4 shows a circuit diagram for the visual and sound effects driving circuit 3 according to the present invention. The battery 29 is the power source for all circuits in the present invention. When the slide switch SW4 is ON, the integrated circuit IC1 receives power through the resistor R1 and generates a signal to read a variety of collision noise "Dang" and flying noise "Hee" stored in a read only memory ROM. The noises are amplified by the resistor R1 and the transistor Q1, and given out by the speaker 32. At the same time, the integrated circuit IC1 gives an oscillating signal. The signal, after amplification by the resistor R3 and the transistor Q2, lights the bulb so as to flicker.

As described above, the retractable toy sword with audio and visual effects according to the present invention comprises a sword, a retraction driver, and a visual and sound effects driving circuit. The sword can be divided into two parts: a hilt and a blade. The hilt is a hollow structure, and the blade is composed of at least two blade sections, each having a hollow interior space for holding a spring, and each has L-like front end, and an L-like rear end for mutual engagement during extension and retraction. The retraction driver is placed within the hilt to control extension and retraction of the blade. The visual and sound effects driving circuit is located in the hilt too. It can generate a variety of noises, such as a collision noise "Dang" and a flying noise "Hee", and a directed emission of light by reflection and convergence at a reflective hood and a convergent lens.

Many changes and modifications in the above described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.