Video enhanced guided toy vehicles

#This invention relates generally to toy vehicles, such as track-based toy cars and toy trains.

#Toy vehicles may be propelled along a track that acts as a guide to cause the vehicles to traverse a desired course. In addition, the vehicles may receive power through contacts in the track. The operator, from a remote location, can control the speed of the vehicles by adjusting the power supplied to each vehicle.

#While this user model has been extremely popular for generations, it has also been relatively unchanged over a large number of years. Thus, it would be desirable to enhance the capabilities of guided toy vehicles.

#FIG. 1 is an enlarged, partial, perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is an enlarged, partial, cross-sectional view of one embodiment of the present invention;

#FIG. 3 is a block depiction of one embodiment of the present invention;

#Referring to FIG. 1, a toy vehicle 10, illustrated in the form of a toy car, may progress along a track 14. The vehicle 10 may have an onboard video camera 12. The track 14 may include a pair of conductors 16 and 18 that respectively provide power to and receive video signals from the vehicle 10 and its camera 12.

#The toy vehicle 10 is referred to herein as a “guided vehicle” because its forward progress is guided. That is, the vehicle 10 is either guided by mechanical features on a track 14, or is otherwise guided by another characteristic of the track, such as its color, or the signals it emits. Alternatively, the vehicle 10 may be guided by a lead vehicle. For example, the lead vehicle may have a target that the video camera 12 can track so that the following vehicle is guided by the lead vehicle, even though no mechanical restraint guides the following vehicle.

#Turning next to FIG. 2, the vehicle 10 includes a video camera 12 coupled to a frame buffer 17 that stores the captured video frames before transmission over an electrical link 20. The electrical link 20 may be a spring contact, in one embodiment of the present invention. The link 20 may maintain, through spring force, contact with the track 14 and particularly with the conductor 18. Thus, video signals captured by the video camera 12 may be temporarily stored in the frame buffer 17 before transmission to the track 14.