US Patent 9849394 Toy top set and launcher

A toy top includes a pinion gear and a locking portion. A launcher includes a rack belt and a holder. The rack belt includes an elastically deformable belt portion on which rack teeth capable of intermeshing with the pinion gear are formed. The toy top is set to the holder by intermeshing the rack teeth with the pinion gear. A rotational force is then applied to the toy top by pulling the rack belt to rotate the pinion gear. A space is formed in the holder, which is disposed in a vicinity of an intermeshing portion of the rack teeth and the pinion gear. The space allows deformation of the belt portion so that the belt portion previously attached to the holder does not interrupt setting the toy top to the holder.