Autonomous, gravity-assisted motorized racer configured to travel through non-straight tube segments

Abstract

A portable, lightweight racer vehicle. The racer includes a body, a motor and a battery powering the motor, a motorized wheel, a first wheel, and a spring-loaded wheel to cause the motorized wheel to maintain contact with a surface upon which the motorized wheel rotates. The first wheel is larger than the motorized wheel and the spring-loaded wheel. A tube section includes a first half section having a pair of interlocking fingers and a pair of notches; and a second half section having a pair of interlocking fingers and a pair of notches. The two halves are removably snap-fit or press-fit together by joining the pair of interlocking fingers of the first half section with the pair of notches of the second half section while simultaneously joining the pair of interlocking fingers of the second half section with the pair of notches of the first half section. A splitter pipe includes a body having an input port and at least two output ports, and a remotely controlled valve between the input port and the at least two output ports. The splitter pipe is non-opaque, and an inner diameter of the input port does not exceed 2 inches.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A portable, lightweight vehicle, comprising:
 a body;   a motor and a battery that powers the motor;   a motorized wheel mechanically coupled to the motor, the motorized wheel being spring-loaded to cause the motorized wheel to maintain contact with an inner surface of a tube upon which the motorized wheel rotates and to collapse an overall height of the vehicle to a collapsed height in response to the vehicle being inside the tube;   a plurality of free, unpowered wheels extending from the body;   wherein the collapsed height of the vehicle does not exceed 2 inches, and a length of the vehicle does not exceed 3 inches, and a weight of the vehicle does not exceed 8 ounces,   wherein the vehicle has dimensions that allow the vehicle to pass through a curved section of the tube having an inner diameter not exceeding 2 inches.   
     
     
         2 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the motorized wheel is a spring-loaded compression wheel. 
     
     
         3 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein a height of the vehicle inside the curved section does not exceed 1.5 inches. 
     
     
         4 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein a length of the vehicle does not exceed 2 inches. 
     
     
         5 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the inner diameter does not exceed 1.7 inches or does not exceed 1.5 inches. 
     
     
         6 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the motorized wheel includes a second powered wheel. 
     
     
         7 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein the motorized wheel is spring-loaded by a spring that compresses to collapse an overall height of the vehicle. 
     
     
         8 . The vehicle of  claim 7 , wherein the overall height of the vehicle is collapsed about 0.1 inches. 
     
     
         9 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , in combination with a tube assembly, comprising:
 a plurality of straight tubes each of whose inner diameter does not exceed 2 inches;   a plurality of curved tubes each of whose inner diameter does not exceed 2 inches;   wherein at least one of the plurality of straight tubes and at least one of the plurality of curved tubes are transparent or semi-transparent or non-opaque;   wherein each of the plurality of straight tubes and each of the plurality of curved tubes are configured to be removably coupled together.   
     
     
         10 . The vehicle of  claim 9 , wherein a ratio between (a) a radius of one of the curved tubes measured to an inner curved surface thereof and (b) an overall height dimension of the vehicle is substantially 4:1.4. 
     
     
         11 . The vehicle of  claim 9 , wherein a ratio between (a) a radius of one of the curved tubes measured to an inner curved surface thereof and (b) an overall height dimension of the vehicle is substantially 5:1.4. 
     
     
         12 . The vehicle of  claim 9 , wherein the tube assembly further comprises a funnel configured to be connected to one of the plurality of straight tubes or the plurality of curved tubes to allow the vehicle to be caught by the funnel from outside the tubes. 
     
     
         13 . The vehicle of  claim 9 , wherein the tube assembly further comprises a funnel-shaped tube section having a first end and a second end, wherein a diameter of the first end is larger than a diameter of the second end or is at least twice as large as a diameter of the second end or is at least three times as large as a diameter of the second end. 
     
     
         14 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , in combination with a remote control to operate the e. 
     
     
         15 . The vehicle of  claim 9 , wherein each of the tubes comprise:
 a first half section having at least a pair of interlocking fingers and a pair of notches;   a second half section having at least a pair of interlocking fingers and a pair of notches, wherein the two halves are removably snap-fit or press-fit together by joining the pair of interlocking fingers of the first half section with the pair of notches of the second half section while simultaneously joining the pair of interlocking fingers of the second half section with the pair of notches of the first half section.   
     
     
         16 . The vehicle of  claim 15 , wherein the first half section has a first part and a second part separated by a distance from one another, the first part having a first of the interlocking fingers of the first half section and a first of the pair of notches of the first half section, and the second part having a second of the interlocking fingers of the first half section and a second of the pair of notches of the first half section. 
     
     
         17 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein a diameter of one of the free-unpowered wheels is larger than a diameter of the motorized wheel. 
     
     
         18 . The vehicle of  claim 1 , wherein a single one of the plurality of free, unpowered wheels is at one end along the body opposite to a second end along the body, and the motorized wheel is at the second end. 
     
     
         19 . An assembly, comprising:
 a tube assembly, the tube assembly comprising:
 a plurality of straight tubes each of whose inner diameter does not exceed 2 inches; and 
 a plurality of curved tubes each of whose inner diameter does not exceed the inner diameter of the straight tubes, 
 wherein at least one of the plurality of straight tubes and at least one of the plurality of curved tubes are transparent or semi-transparent or non-opaque, 
   wherein each of the plurality of straight tubes and each of the plurality of curved tubes are configured to be removably coupled together;   the assembly further comprising a portable, lightweight vehicle, the vehicle comprising:
 a body having a first end and a second end opposite the first end; 
 a motor and a battery that powers the motor; 
 a motorized wheel at the first end and mechanically coupled to the motor, the motorized wheel being a spring-loaded compression wheel (a) to cause the motorized wheel to maintain contact with a surface upon which the motorized wheel rotates and (b) to collapse an overall height of the vehicle to a collapsed height that does not exceed an inner diameter of any of the tubes in response to the vehicle being inside the tubes; and 
 a plurality of free, unpowered wheels extending from the body, 
 wherein a length of the vehicle does not exceed 3 inches, and a weight of the vehicle does not exceed 8 ounces, 
 wherein the vehicle has dimensions that allow the vehicle to pass through a curved section of any of the tubes having an inner diameter not exceeding 2 inches. 
   
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein a ratio between (a) a radius of one of the curved tubes measured to an inner curved surface thereof and (b) an overall height dimension of the vehicle is substantially 4:1.4 or 5:1.4.