Winding mechanism for rubber band motor

A rubber band motor winding device comprising a shaft having a model airplane propeller attached to one end and a manually operated clutch at the other end, means for attaching a rubber band motor directly to said shaft, a spring biased pulley and a separate ratchet, said pulley having a pull string wound thereon and releasably coupled to turn said shaft, a pull on said string storing recoil energy in said spring bias and simultaneously winding said rubber band, a release of said string rewinding it on said pulley responsive to the stored spring bias energy, and means for operating said clutch during said pulling of said string in order to hold the energy in said wound rubber band and for disengaging said clutch after said pulling is completed whereby energy stored in said rubber band may rotate said propeller free of said spring bias at said pulley.

A toy airplane motor comprising a shaft having an end with a keying surface on one end thereof, a propeller fitting said keying surface in order to cause said shaft and propeller to turn as a unit, means on an opposite end of said shaft for holding a rubber band, a pair of shaft ratchets on said shaft, each of said ratchets enabling a rotation of said shaft in a wind up direction, a spring biased pulley with string wound thereon for turning said shaft when said string is pulled and for rewinding said string when it is released, a ratchet driver interposed between said pulley and one of said shaft ratchets for transmitting a turning of said pulley to said shaft when said string is pulled but not when it rewinds, pawl means associated with the other of said shaft ratchets for holding said shaft while said string rewinds, and means for disengaging both of said ratchets to enable energy stored in said rubber band to freely turn said shaft.

A toy airplane motor comprising a shaft having an end with a keying surface thereon, a propeller fitting said keying surface in order to cause said shaft and propeller to turn as a unit, means on said shaft for holding a rubber band, a pair of shaft ratchets on said shaft, each of said ratchets enabling a rotation of said shaft in a wind up direction, a spring biased pulley with string wound thereon for turning said shaft when said string is pulled and for rewinding said string when it is released, a ratchet driver interposed between said pulley and one of said shaft ratchets for transmitting a turning on said pulley to said shaft when said string is pulled but not when it rewinds, pawl means associated with the other of said shaft ratchets for holding said shaft while said string rewinds, and means for disengaging both of said ratchets to enable energy stored in said rubber band to freely turn said shaft, said pulley and ratchet driver being mounted to rotate in unison and with a sliding relationship between them, spring means between said pulley and ratchet driver for normally urging said ratchet driver into engagement with said one shaft ratchet, and said disengaging means sliding said ratchet driver away from said one shaft ratchet.