Prank apparatus with amusement effect

Abstract

A prank apparatus includes a base unit, a driving device and a decorative unit. The base unit includes a housing, a support rack, a sounder, a sensor, a power supply, and a control board. The driving includes a mounting seat, a drive wheel, a drive motor, a driven wheel, a support bar, and two torsion springs. The In the preferred embodiment, the decorative unit includes an extension shank having a first end connected with the support bar and a second end provided with a guide slot, a movable pin movably mounted in the guide slot, a first link having a first end pivotally connected with the movable pin, a decorative body connected with a second end of the first link, and a second link having a first end pivotally connected with the support rack and a second end pivotally connected with the first link.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a toy and, more particularly, to a prank (or tricky) apparatus with an amusement effect.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional prank toy has a strange a sliding motion of the movable pin 66 in the guide slot 64 said upward and forward motion of the extension shank 63, and the second link 67 is moved upward and forward by push said upward and forward motion of the first link 65 so that the decorative body 61 of the decorative unit 6 is instantaneously sprung upward and forward, and when extension shank 63 reaches a generally vertical orientation, decorative body 61 is permitted to continue its upward and forward motion by a sliding motion of the movable pin 66 in the guide slot 64 of the extension shank 63. At the same time, the sounder 42 can emit a sound when the decorative body 61 of the decorative unit 6 is sprung upward and forward. Thus, after the sensor 43 receives the signal from the user, the decorative body 61 of the decorative unit 6 is sprung upward and forward, and the sounder 42 emits a corresponding sound so as to achieve a video/audio frightening amusement effect. Subsequently, the drive wheel 53 is further rotated in the counterclockwise direction until the driven teeth 56 of the driven wheel 55 mesh with the drive teeth 54 of the drive wheel 53 again as shown in FIG. 11 so that the driven wheel 55 is driven by the drive wheel 53 to rotate in the clockwise direction again so as to move the support bar 57 and the extension shank 63 downward and backward and to compress the torsion springs 58 for storing a restoring force.

In a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sensor 43 of the base unit 4 is a contact switch (such as a footpad control switch, a try-me switch or the like). In practice, the sensor 43 of the base unit 4 has a connecting line which has a terminal embedded in a determined position of the housing 41. Thus, when the user touches the terminal of the connecting line of the sensor 43, the sensor 43 of the base unit 4 is operated to actuate the driving device 5.

Accordingly, after the sensor 43 receives the signal from the user, the decorative body 61 of the decorative unit 6 is initially moved downward and backward slowly and then sprung upward and forward suddenly, and the sounder 42 emits a corresponding sound simultaneously. In addition, the sensor 43 of the base unit 4 is operated in an optical, acoustical and manual contact manner so that the user can control the sensor 43 to actuate the driving device 5 so as to move the decorative body 61 of the decorative unit 6 easily and quickly.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A prank apparatus, comprising:

a base unit;

a driving device mounted on the base unit; and

a decorative unit mounted on the driving device;

wherein the base unit includes a housing, a sounder mounted in the housing, a sensor mounted in the housing, a power supply mounted in the housing, and a control board mounted in the housing;

the driving device includes a mounting seat mounted on the housing of the base unit, a drive wheel rotatably mounted in the mounting seat and having a periphery locally provided with a plurality of drive teeth, a drive motor mounted in the mounting seat and connected with the drive wheel to rotate the drive wheel, a driven wheel rotatably mounted on the mounting seat and having a periphery locally provided with a plurality of driven teeth meshing with the drive teeth of the drive wheel, a support bar connected with the driven wheel to move in concert with the driven wheel, and two torsion springs mounted on two opposite sides of the driven wheel and each having a first end connected with the mounting seat and a second end connected with the support bar;

the base unit further includes including a support rack mounted on the housing;

the decorative unit is being mounted on the support bar of the driving device and the support rack of the base unit;

the decorative unit includes including:

an extension shank having a first end connected with the support bar of the driving device and a second end provided with an elongate guide slot;

a movable in pin movably mounted in the guide slot of the extension shank;

a first link having a first end pivotally connected with the movable pin;

a decorative body connected with a second end of the first link; and

a second link having a first end pivotally connected with the support rack of the base unit and a second end pivotally connected with the first link.

2. The prank apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the decorative body is provided with a connector connected with the second end of the first link.

3. The prank apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the second end of the second link is located between the movable pin and the decorative body.

4. The prank apparatus of claim 1, wherein

the driving device is operable by the sensor of the base unit, the decorative body is movable in concert with the support bar of the driving device, and the sensor of the base unit is a light sensor, a sound sensor, a footpad control switch or a try-me switch that is operable to actuate the driving device.

5. A prank apparatus, comprising:

a base unit;

a power supply;

a driving device powered by the power supply, mounted on the base unit; and

a decorative unit mounted on the driving device;

the driving device including a drive wheel mounted on the base unit and having a periphery locally provided with a plurality of drive teeth, a drive motor mounted on the base unit and connected with the drive wheel to rotate the drive wheel, a driven wheel rotatably mounted on the base unit and having a periphery locally provided plurality of driven teeth intermittently meshing with the drive teeth of the drive wheel to rotate in a driven direction when the drive wheel rotates in a driving direction, a support bar connected with the driven wheel to move in concert with the driven wheel, and a torsion spring having a first end connected with the base unit and a second end connected with the support bar and configured to bias the driven wheel to rotate in a springing direction and the support bar to pivot in the springing direction opposite to the driven direction, and to cause the driven wheel and support bar suddenly to so rotate and pivot when the driven teeth of the driven wheel lose contact with the drive teeth of the drive wheel;

the decorative unit including:

an extension shank connected to the support bar to move in concert with the support bar, the extension shank having a first end connected to the support bar and a second end extending away from the support bar, said sudden pivoting of the support bar in the springing direction causing sudden pivoting of the extension shank in the springing direction and sudden upward and forward movement of the extension shank relative to the base unit;

a first link having a first end pivotally connected to the extension shank and configured to pivot relative to the extension shank in a direction opposite to said springing direction and to move upward and forward relative to the base unit in response to said sudden pivoting of the support bar and extension shank in the springing direction;

a decorative body connected to a second end of the first link positioned forward of the first end, the decorative body configured to spring upward and forward, and to rotate relative to the extension shank in the direction opposite to said springing direction, in response to said sudden pivoting of the support bar and extension shank in the springing direction; and

a second link having a first end pivotally connected to the base unit at a pivotal joint spaced forwardly of the driven wheel and a second end pivotally connected with the first link, the second link being located forward of the support bar and extension shank and configured to pivot relative to the base unit in response to the sudden pivoting of the support bar and extension shank in the springing direction of said sudden pivoting of the support bar and extension shank.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising the drive motor being mounted in a mounting seat of the driving device, the mounting seat mounted on a housing of the base unit.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising the drive wheel being rotatably mounted in the mounting seat.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a support rack, the first end of the second link being pivotally connected to the support rack.

9. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising

a sounder; and

a sensor selected from the group consisting of a light sensor, a sound sensor, a footpad control switch or a try-me switch;

the sensor being operable to actuate the driving device to cause the drive wheel to rotate in the driving direction and to actuate the sounder when the drive teeth of the drive wheel lose contact with the driven teeth of the driven wheel, so that a sound is emitted substantially simultaneously with the sudden movement of the decorative body.