AU2001100507A4 - Ride-on toy and drive assembly therefor - Google Patents

Description

P/00/011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990

ORIGINAL

SPECIFICATION

INNOVATION PATENT Invention Title: Ride-on toy and drive assembly therefor The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me: Prrnillt 24 Oce 20, (11:36) page 2 9r rn L e adIIIIID e ll iel bourne\003928818 t Printed 24 October 2001 (11:36) page 2 RIDE-ON TOY AND DRIVE ASSEMBLY THEREFOR This invention relates to a drive assembly for a ride-on toy vehicle and also relates to a ride-on children's toy vehicle propelled by the drive assembly.

Ride-on toys for children under about 5 years old are a popular recreation for those children as well as being useful for developing certain motor skills. Most ride-on toys include a rear pair of wheels and a forward pair of wheels connected by a steering rod directly to a steering wheel or handlebar arrangement. The steering rod and the forward wheel axles are in the same plane to provide the most direct form of steering. Such vehicles are usually propelled by the child propelling the vehicle along the running surface by a stepping action along either side of the vehicle body.

It is desirable to provide a drive arrangement for a ride-on toy vehicle which enables the vehicle to be propelled by the rider without the rider having to contact the running surface alongside the toy vehicle. It is also desirable to provide a rideon toy vehicle which can be propelled mechanically by the rider sitting wholly within the toy vehicle.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a drive assembly for a ride-on toy comprising wheel support means connected to a driveshaft for pivotal movement about the axis of the driveshaft, actuator means for oscillatory motion of the driveshaft and at least two drive wheels mounted to the wheel support means, wherein the axis of rotation of the drive wheels is spaced from the pivotal axis of the wheel support means.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a ride-on toy vehicle including a vehicle body, a seat for a rider, at least one support wheel and a drive assembly in accordance with the first aspect of the invention, wherein oscillation of the actuator means by the rider causes pivotal movement of the drive wheels which is translated to movement of the toy vehicle along a running surface.

Preferably, the at least one support wheel is a rear wheel or wheels, the drive assembly is a forward drive assembly and the driveshaft of the drive assembly Melbourne\003927613 Printed 24 October 2001 (9:55) extends substantially vertically through a forward section of the vehicle body.

The wheel support means preferably comprises a support member rigidly attached to the driveshaft so as to be pivotally movable with the driveshaft and extending rearwardly from the driveshaft, and the drive wheels are mounted on a rear part of the wheel support means so that the axis of rotation of the drive wheels is spaced rearwardly from the vertical axis of the driveshaft.

It has been found that by offsetting the forward wheel axles from the driveshaft or steering rod, the forward wheels pivot around the steering rod. By offloading the steering rod, the effort of counteracting the frictional forces between the running surface and the forward wheels caused by oscillatory pivotal movement is translated into forward movement of the vehicle along the running surface. The actuator means,which may be a steering wheel or handle, is gripped and pivoted about the axis of the driveshaft to cause the oscillatory pivotal motion. For convenience, the handle preferably has two grips, one on either side of the connection to the driveshaft.

The wheel support means is preferably a member directly connected to the driveshaft and the wheel support means is shaped so that the connection to the driveshaft is above the forward wheel axle.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in greater detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a ride-on toy vehicle in accordance with the invention; Figure 2 is a plan view of the toy vehicle of Figure 1; Figure 3 is an underneath plan view of the toy vehicle of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view of the toy vehicle of Figure 1; Figure 5 is a front view of the toy vehicle of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a rear view of the toy vehicle of Figure 1; Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of the drive assembly of the toy vehicle of Figure 1; Figure 8 is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of a ride-on toy Melboume\003927613 Printed 24 October 2001 (9:55) vehicle in accordance with the invention.

Referring to Figures 1 to 7, a ride-on toy or children's vehicle 1 is shown having a vehicle body 2, a seat 3 provided on an upper surface at the rear of the body, at least one and preferably two rear support wheels 4, and a forward drive arrangement 10. The rear support wheels 4 are mounted to respective wheel supports 5 which are received in locating holes 6 formed within the vehicle body 3.

The forward part of the vehicle body 2 has a central upper curved portion 7 extending from the front of the vehicle to a middle section, and a lower portion 8 provided with footrests 9 on opposite sides of the curved portion 7.

The drive assembly 10 for the toy vehicle is shown in more detail in Figure 7 and includes a driveshaft 12, a wheel support means 14 connected to the driveshaft 12, and at least two forward drive wheels 16 mounted to the wheel support means 14. The driveshaft 12 extends substantially vertically through apertures 15, 17 in the upper and lower portions 7, 8 of the vehicle body 2 and is rotatably mounted for pivotal movement relative to the vehicle body about the central longitudinal axis of the drive shaft 12. A hollow cylindrical bush 18 of foam rubber or other soft resilient material surrounds the drive shaft 12 in the region between the upper and lower portions 7, 8 of the vehicle body 2. A manually operable actuator means is mounted on the upper end of the driveshaft 12 for oscillating the driveshaft 12.

The actuator means 20 is shown in the form of a cut-down steering wheel, but it may equally take other forms, such as a handlebar or the like.

The wheel support means 14 is generally triangular in shape having a wider rear portion 22 and a narrower forward portion 24 which is rigidly connected to the drive shaft 12 so as to be pivotally moveable with the drive shaft 12 when the actuator means 20 is oscillated. The forward drive wheels 16 are rotatably mounted on either side of the rear portion 22 of the wheel support means 14 such that the axis of rotation of the forward drive wheels 16 is displaced rearwardly from the central axis of rotation of the substantially vertical driveshaft 12.

As shown in detail in Figure 7, the wheel support means 14 is rigidly connected to the lower end of the drive shaft 12 by a hollow mounting member 26.

Melbourne\003927613 Printed 24 October 2001 (9:55) The mounting member 26 has a hexagonal lower portion 28 received in a hexagonal bore 30 in the forward portion 24 of the wheel support means 14 and a cylindrical upper portion 29 which fits snugly within the lower end of the drive shaft 12. The hollow mounting member 26 which is secured in position by a bolt 32 with an enlarged head 34 extending through the hollow mounting member 26, a nut 36 and washers 38. A collar 40 is provided to tighten the engagement of the lower end of the drive shaft 12 with the mounting member 26.

In use, a child sits on the seat 3 of the vehicle body 2 with his/her feet placed on the footrests 9 and is able to propel the vehicle forwardly by oscillating the actuator means 20. Oscillation of the actuator means 20 and driveshaft 12 causes the wheel support means 14 and the forward drive wheels 16 to pivot about the longitudinal axis of the vertical driveshaft 12. The forward drive wheels 16 contact the running surface below the vehicle 1 and their pivotal movement across the running surface provides propulsion for forward motion. With the weight of the child on the toy vehicle, the frictional forces between the running surface and the forward wheels 16 transfer some of the force, applied to the actuator means 20 by the rider to oscillate the driveshaft 12 and wheel support means 14, into forward motion.

When the actuator means is oscillated, it is believed that the vehicle will generally move in the direction from the lower of the forward drive wheel axle and the driveshaft connection to the support member to the higher of the two above the running surface. With the configuration illustrated and described above, the forward wheels will generally adopt a position behind the driveshaft, i.e. between the driveshaft and the rear wheels, and the vehicle will move generally in a forward direction.

The orientation of the vehicle body and wheel heights can assist in providing forward motion when the actuator means is oscillated. If the vehicle body and seat is configured so that the rider is leaning forward slightly in the seated position and/or if the forward wheel axles are lower than the rear axles, then a horizontal component of the rider's weight will be in the forward direction, adding to the Melboume\003927613 Printed 24 October 2001 (9:55) forward forces.

These additional forward component forces will also assist in the forward movement established by the rotation of the actuator means.

Figure 8 of the drawings shows a modified embodiment of a toy vehicle in which a curved upper portion 57 of the vehicle body 2 terminates short of a central raised part 51 of the vehicle body 2 so that the seat 3 and raised part 51 simulate a saddle. Otherwise the toy vehicle of Figure 8 and its drive assembly are identical to the embodiment of Figure 1 and corresponding reference numerals have been applied to corresponding parts.

Since modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention may be readily effected by persons skilled in the art, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the particular embodiments described, by way of example, hereinabove.

Melbourne\003927613 Printed 24 October 2001 (9:55)

Claims (5)

1. A drive assembly for a ride-on toy comprising wheel support means connected to a driveshaft for pivotal movement about the axis of the driveshaft, actuator means for oscillatory movement of the driveshaft and at least two drive wheels mounted to the wheel support means, wherein the axis of rotation of the drive wheels is spaced from the pivotal axis of the wheel support means.

2. A ride-on toy vehicle including a vehicle body, a seat for a rider, at least one support wheel and a drive assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein oscillation of the actuator means by the rider causes pivotal movement of the drive wheels which is translated to movement of the toy vehicle along a running surface.

3. A ride-on toy vehicle according to claim 2 wherein the drive assembly is a forward drive assembly, the at least one support wheel is a rear wheel or wheels and the driveshaft extends substantially vertically through a forward section of the vehicle body.

4. A ride-on toy vehicle according to claim 3 wherein the wheel support means comprises a member rigidly attached to the driveshaft so as to be pivotally movable with the driveshaft and extending rearwardly from the driveshaft, and the drive wheels of the forward drive assembly are mounted on a rear part of the wheel support means so that the axis of rotation of the drive wheels is spaced rearwardly from the vertical axis of the driveshaft.

5. A drive assembly or a ride-on toy vehicle substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED: 23 October 2001 Freehills Carter Smith Beadle Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: RAYMOND L TESTER Melbourne\003927613 Printed 24 October 2001 (9:55)