Toy airplane and method for making same

A toy glider airplane for being constructed at least partially from a container formed of generally planar material comprising:

• a drinking straw having a forward end and a rearward end;
• a plurality of wing structures constructed from the generally planar material of the container;
• first means for mounting at least one of said wing structures on the forward end of said straw to form a forward main wing of the toy glider airplane for providing lift during flight;
• second means for mounting at least one of said wing structures on the rearward end of said straw for controlling the orientation of the toy airplane during flight;
• and
• a tail slit formed through the rearward end of said straw and with at least one of said wing structures passing through said tail slit to form at least one flight control tail wing for controlling the orientation of the toy airplane during flight.

A toy glider airplane for being constructed from a container formed of generally planar material, comprising:

• a wing contructed of the generally planar material of the container, said wing having a V-shaped midregion with two spaced apart upper midregion edges and two wing portions extending outwardly from said upper midregion edges;
• a substantially rigid fuselage having forward and rearward ends;
• means for attaching the center of the V-shaped midregion of said wing adjacent to the forward end of said fuselage;
• a planar brace member constructed from the planar material attached to said wing and extending across the top of the V-shaped midregion between said spaced apart upper midregion edges to form a triangular load bearing wing structure, said planar brace member being operable to reinforce the V-shaped midregion of said wing to prevent deformation thereof under loading on the wing portions before and during flight of the airplane;
• and
• flight control means constructed of the generally planar material and being mounted adjacent to the rearward end of said fuselage for controlling the orientation of the airplane during flight.

A method for constructing a toy airplane from a fuselage and a container having top and bottom compartments attached together by a living hinge so that the top and bottom compartments may be rotated relative to each other about the living hinge, said method comprising the steps of:

• forming a tear line on the container in the shape of a wing oriented generally perpendicularly to the living hinge with the living hinge in the center of the wing and perpendicular to the span of the wing;
• tearing the food container along the tear line;
• removing the wing from the food container;
• attaching the wing to the fuselage to form a main forward wing of the toy airplane;
• and
• mounting flight control structure on the fuselage to control the orientation of the airplane during flight.

A method of constructing a toy airplane from a straw and a container having a top and bottom compartment attached together along one edge thereof by a living hinge so that the top compartments may be rotated relative to the bottom compartment about the living hinge, said method comprising the steps of:

• forming a wing tear line on the container in the shape of a wing oriented generally perpendicularly to the living hinge with the living hinge disposed in the center of the wing;
• tearing the container along the wing tear line;
• removing the wing from the container;
• forming a tab tear line on the container in the shape of an elongate rectangle;
• forming a brace tear line on the container in the shape of an elongate rectangle;
• tearing the container along the tab tear line and the brace tear line;
• removing the tab and the brace from the container;
• forming a forward slit through the forward end of the straw;
• forming a pair of opposing tab slits in the wing on either side of the living hinge and adjacent thereto;
• inserting the tab through the forward slit in the straw and through the tab slits to secure the wing to the forward end of the straw;
• forming a pair of opposing brace slits in the wing, the brace slits being located on either side of the living hinge and being disposed equidistantly therefrom;
• inserting the ends of the brace through the brace slits to form a triangular load bearing wing structure for resisting deformation during loading on the wing;
• and
• attaching flight control wing structure to the rearward end of the straw for controlling the orientation of the airplane during flight.

A method of constructing a toy airplane from a straw and a styrofoam container having an upper compartment with an open bottom, a closed flat top, and four generally upright sides inclined inwardly from the open bottom to the flat top so that the upper compartment has a truncated quadrangular pyramid shape, the upper compartment having rounded corners at the intersections of the upright sides and the top thereof and having rounded edges at the intersections of the upright sides thereof, the styrofoam container further having a lower compartment with an open top, a closed flat bottom, and four generally upright sides inclined inwardly from the open top to the flat bottom so that the lower compartment has a truncated quadrangular pyramid shape, the top of the lower compartment being constructed to mate with the bottom of the upper compartment to form a closed container, the lower compartment having rounded corners at the intersections of the upright sides and the bottom thereof and having rounded edges at the intersection of the upright sides thereof, the food container including a living hinge formed between a lower edge of an upright side of the upper compartment and an upper edge of an upright side of the lower compartment so that said upper and lower compartments are rotatable about the living hinge between a closed position in which the upper compartment is disposed above the lower compartment to form a closed food container and an open position in which the upper and lower compartments are disposed in a side-by-side relationship, said method comprising the steps of:

• forming a wing tear line along the upper and lower compartments outlining a wing of a toy airplane with the wing being positioned on the food container to dispose the living hinge in the center of the wing and in an orientation perpendicular to the wing span thereof, the wing being divided into two wing portions by the living hinge, the wing including a leading edge that extends across the flat bottom of the lower compartment, extends over a rounded corner at an intersection of the bottom and two sides of the lower compartment, extends along a rounded edge at the intersection of two sides of the lower compartment, extends across the living hinge, extends along a rounded edge at an intersection of two sides of the upper compartment, extends across a rounded corner formed at the intersection of two sides and the top of the upper compartment, and extends across the flat top of the upper compartment so that the leading edge of the wing is curled downwardly along a center portion of the wing formed from the rounded corners and edges to form a gull-wing;
• tearing the food container along the wing tear line and removing the wing from the container;
• rotating the wing about the living hinge to an extended position in which the wing portions on either side of the living hinge extend in generally opposing directions with a V-shaped midregion being formed in the wing by that portion of the wing taken from the sides of the upper and lower compartments and from the living hinge;
• attaching the wing to the forward end of the straw with the living hinge portion of the wing adjacent to the straw;
• and
• attaching flight control wings to the rearward end of the straw.

A container for containing food and the like and for use in constructing a toy airplane, comprising the combination of:

• an upper compartment having a boxlike shape with four generally upright sides, a top and an open bottom;
• a lower compartment having a boxlike shape with four generally upright sides, a bottom and an open top, the top of said lower compartment mating with the bottom of said upper compartment;
• a tear line formed in said compartment in the shape of at least one wing, said compartment being weakened along said tear line to facilitate tearing said wing from the compartment;
• a living hinge formed between the lower edge of an upright side of said upper compartment and the upper edge of an upright side of said lower compartment so that said upper and lower compartments are rotatable between a closed position in which the upper compartment is disposed above the lower compartment and an open position in which said upper and lower compartments are disposed in a side by side relationship;
• and
• said tear line being formed in the shape of a wing extending perpendicularly across said living hinge;
• and
• said living hinge being disposed in the center of said wing with two wing portions extending away from said living hinge so that the wing is removable from the food container by a tearing action and the wing portions are rotatable about the living hinge to an extended position in which the wing portions extend in generally opposing directions.

In a container having an upper compartment constructed of generally planar material with an open bottom, a closed flat top, and four generally upright sides inclined inwardly from the open bottom to the flat top so that the upper compartment has a truncated quadrangular pyramid shape, the upper compartment having rounded corners at the intersection of the upright sides and the top thereof, and having rounded edges at the intersections of the generally upright sides thereof, the container further having a lower compartment constructed of generally planar material with an open top, a closed flat bottom and four generally upright sides inclined inwardly from the open top to the closed flat bottom so that the lower compartment has a truncated pyramid shape, the open top of the lower compartment being constructed to mate with the open bottom of said upper compartment to form a closed container, the lower compartment having rounded corners at the intersections of the sides and the bottom thereof and having rounded edges at the intersections of the upright sides thereof, the container further having a living hinge formed between the lower edge of an upright side of the upper compartment and the upper edge of an upright side of the lower compartment so that said compartments are rotatable between a closed position in which the upper compartment is disposed above the lower compartment to form a closed container and an open position in which said upper and lower compartments are disposed in a side-by-side relationship, the improvement comprising:

• a wing tear line extending along along said upper and lower compartments and outlining a wing for a toy airplane on the container, said wing being positioned on the container with the living hinge disposed in the center of the wing in an orientation perpendicular to the wing span, the living hinge dividing said wing into two wing portions so that said wing may be formed from the container by tearing the container along the tear line and rotating the wing about said living hinge to an extended position in which the wing portions on either side of the living hinge extend in generally opposing directions with a V-shaped midregion being formed in said wing by that portion of the wing taken from the sides of the compartments and the living hinge;
• and
• said wing having a leading edge that extends across the flat bottom of the lower compartment, extends over a rounded corner at an intersection of the bottom and two sides of the lower compartment, extends along a rounded edge formed at the intersection of two sides of said lower compartment, extends across the living hinge, extends along a rounded edge formed at an intersection of two sides of the upper compartment, extends across a rounded corner formed at the intersection of two sides and the top of said upper compartment, and extends across the flat top of the upper compartment so that the leading edge of the wing is curled downwardly along and adjacent to the V-shaped midregion in said wing to form gull-wing shape.