Four-wheel drive toy vehicle

A four-wheel drive toy vehicle capable of negotiating hills and other obstacles, said vehicle comprising:

• A. a chassis to support a vehicle body, said chassis having front and rear axles extending thereacross whose ends have wheels attached thereto, each axis having a drive pinion thereon;
• B. a spiral spring motor mounted within the chassis at a position intermediate the axles, said motor having an input gear coupled to the spring through a one-way clutch whereby winding takes place only when the input gear is turned counterclockwise, and an output gear which turns clockwise when the spring winds, said input and output gears lying on a common axis parallel to the axles;
• C. first and second dual-section coupling gears on opposite sides of the motor for operatively linking the front and rear axle pinions to the input and output gears, the first dual-section coupling gear having a shaft parallel to said front axle and the second dual-section coupling gear having a shaft parallel to said rear axle, each dual section coupling gear having a front section intercoupling the associated pinion with the input gear and a rear section engaging the output gear whereby when the vehicle is pulled back on the ground by a player to travel in the reverse direction, the pinions then turn counterclockwise to cause the input gear to turn counterclockwise to wind the motor;
• and when the vehicle is released, the output gear turns clockwise to cause the pinions to turn clockwise to drive the vehicle in the forward direction;
• and
• D. a governor operatively coupled by a gear train to one of said pinions to regulate the speed of rotation of the output gear and prevent rapid unwinding of the spring.