WO1998050265A1

WO1998050265A1 - Vehicle steering mechanism

Info

Publication number: WO1998050265A1
Application number: PCT/GB1998/001319
Authority: WO
Inventors: Wendy Mccouaig
Original assignee: Wendy Mccouaig
Priority date: 1997-05-07
Filing date: 1998-05-07
Publication date: 1998-11-12
Also published as: ZA983839B; AU7343998A; GB9709271D0

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle steering mechanism, in particular a mechanism for enabling steering of a children's car by an adult from behind. There is described a toy vehicle, in or on which, a child may, in use, sit, the vehicle including two steerable rotatable wheels mounted upon a chassis (20), the steering being controlled by means of a handle (24) extending from the rear of the vehicle; characterised in that the steerable wheels are mounted upon respective wheel stub axles (40, 41) each forming a part of a respective crank lever (42, 43) which includes a respective spigot (40, 45) engageable for rotation within a respective socket (46, 47) mounted upon the chassis; and in that the crank levers include respective link arms (48, 49) provided orthogonally to the respective spindle (40, 45) directed rearwardly and linked by a tie rod (50) through pivotable couplings such that rotation of one spigot about its vertical axis causes a corresponding rotation of the other spigot.

Description

VEHICLE STEERING MECHANISM

The present invention relates to a vehicle steering mechanism, in particular a mechanism for enabling steering of a children's car by an adult from behind.

Numerous constructions for enabling the steering of a vehicle from behind have been proposed, one such proposal being made in US 4646860, an emergency personnel carrier. GB 2246546 describes a steering mechanism, for a children^'s car. The mechanism includes a handle extending from the rear of the car to the front axle. This results in a handle which must be moved quite considerably, as with a tiller on a boat, in order to steer the front wheels. In some manoeuvres, this means that the adult has to walk directly behind the car, rather than to one side, which could cause the adult's feet to come into contact with the car, possibly tripping up the adult.

The present invention seeks to overcome the problems of GB 2246546 and provide a different and more easily steerable children's car.

The present invention provides a toy vehicle, in or on which, a child may, in use, sit, the vehicle including two steerable rotatable wheels mounted upon a chassis, the steering being controlled by means of a handle extending from the rear of the vehicle; characterised in that the steerable wheels are mounted upon respective wheel stub axles each forming a part of a respective crank lever which includes a respective spigot engagable for rotation within a respective socket mounted upon the chassis; and in that the crank levers include respective link arms provided orthogonally to the respective spindle directed rearwardly and linked by a tie rod through pivotable couplings such that rotation of one spigot about its vertical axis causes a corresponding rotation of the other spigot

Preferably, it is the front wheels of the vehicle which are steerable

Preferably, one of the crank levers has a further steering arm substantially orthogonal to the link arm giving the crank lever a generally L-shaped appearance, the steering arm being coupled to a steering rod extending longitudinally beneath the chassis frame to the rear of the vehicle, the rear end of which steering rod is pivotally coupled to one end of a hnkage bar, the other end of which is rigidly connected to the bottom end of a substantially vertical handle mounted within a housing on the chassis

The above and other aspects of the present invention will now be described m detail, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows in a perspective view an embodiment of a vehicle including the steering mechanism of the present invention.

Figure 2 shows in plan view the chassis of the vehicle of Figure 1 ,

Figure 3 shows the chassis of Figure 2 in a side view,

Figure 4 shows the left crank arm of the chassis of Figure 2 in plan and side views, and Figure 5 shows the right crank arm of the chassis of Figure 2 in plan and side views,

Referring to Figure 1, there is shown generally at 10 a children^'s car The car may be of the pedal car type or, as shown, simply a car in which a child sits and is pushed around (by an adult) The car comprises a car body 1 1 including a canopy 12, doors 13 and a steering wheel 14 The steering wheel is non-functional The car body 11 is mounted on a chassis 20 which carries four wheels in two pairs, a front pair of wheel 21 and a rear pair of wheels 22 As shown, the car preferably includes a bumper 23 at the front - typically formed from steel bars welded to the chassis and covered with a foamed material. The car is pushed from behind by an adult holding on to handle 24 Handle 24 also serves to steer the car 10 in the desired direction, as will now be described in further detail

Figure 2 is a plan view of the chassis of the children's car of Figure 1 with the wheels 21,22 omitted for clarity The chassis 20 includes a frame 30 upon which the floor pan 31 of the passenger compartment is secured A rear axle 32 is welded to the chassis frame 30 to carry the rear wheels 22 A brake bar 33 is provided, pivotally mounted on the frame for engagement against the rear wheels and biased into both the braking and disengaged positions by means of a spring 34 Preferably, the brake bar 33 has a ridged surface to provide good grip upon the wheels in the braked position A lever 35 attached to the brake bar 33 assists the user in engaging and disengaging the brake The right and left front wheels (as viewed from behind - or from a seated position inside the car) are mounted in a conventional manner on respective wheel stub axles 40, 41 forming part of respective crank levers (shown generally at 42 and 43 respectively). Crank levers 42,43 include respective spigots 44,45 which engage for rotation within vertical sockets 46,47, thereby defining axes of rotation for the crank levers Sockets 46.47 are welded to the chassis frame 30 and spigots 44,45 are secured therein with locking nuts Crank levers 42.43 include respective link arms 48,49 provided orthogonally to the spindle 44.45. directed rearwardly and linked by a tie rod 50 through pivotable couplings such that rotation of one spigot about its vertical axis causes a corresponding rotation of the other spigot

In the embodiment shown, the right hand crank lever 42 has a further steering arm 51 substantially orthogonal to the link arm giving the crank lever a generally L-shaped appearance In the embodiment shown (Figure 4(a)), the steering arm 51 is at an angle

of 108° to the link arm 48 Steering arm 51 is pivotally coupled to a steering rod 52

which extends longitudinally beneath the chassis frame 30 to the rear of the vehicle The rear end of the steering rod 52 is pivotally coupled to one end of a linkage bar 53 the other end of which is rigidly connected to the bottom end of a substantially vertical handle 54 Handle 54 is mounted within a housing on the frame 30 of the chassis 20 only for an axial rotational movement with respect to the frame. Handle 54 is bent at the top to include a horizontal hand grip. The left and right crank levers described could, of course, be exchanged without affecting the operation of the steering mechanism Rotation of the handle 54 about its axis causes the steering rod 52 to be displaced longitudinally thereby pivoting the right crank lever 51 about its axis resulting, by virtue of right link arm 48, in sideways movement of the tie rod 50 in turn, by left link arm 49 causing pivoting of the left crank lever 43 about its axis The axial pivoting of the crank levers 42,43 results in common changes in the angular orientation of each front wheel

Preferably, each wheel is mounted for rotation upon its respective axle 32 or stub axle 40,41 and handle 54 within its housing with appropriate bushes and bearings that enable the wheels to run freelv and the handle to be pivoted with ease The handle is preferably formed of two interconnecting parts for ease of storage and transport, such that the horizontal part thereof does not extend more rearwardly than the chassis

The vehicle of the present invention is particularlv useful to occupy a child whilst a parent shops The vehicle may have any body shape, such as that of a car, as illustrated here, or that of a steam engine The vehicle may advantageously be provided with a basket or 'tender' for the parent s shopping The vehicle is preferably also provided with a vertically projecting (suitably from the handle 54) uniquely numbered or named sign or flag 60, to enable the vehicle to be identified from other similar or identical vehicles which may in the same area

Claims

1 A toy vehicle 10, in or on which, a child mav in use, sit the vehicle including two steerable rotatable wheels 21 mounted upon a chassis 20 the steering being controlled by means of a handle 24 extending from the rear of the vehicle 10, characterised in that the steerable wheels are mounted upon respective wheel stub axles 40,41 each forming a part of a respective crank lever 42,43 which includes a respective spigot 44 45 engagable for rotation within a respective socket 46 47 mounted upon the chassis 20, and in that the crank levers 42 43 include respective link arms 48,49 provided orthogonally to the respective spindle 44 45 directed rearwardlv and linked by a tie rod 50 through pivotable couplings such that rotation of one spigot 44,45 about its vertical axis causes a corresponding rotation of the other spigot

2 A toy vehicle as claimed in Claim 1 in which the front wheels of the vehicle are steerable

3 A toy vehicle as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 in which one of the crank levers 42,43 has a further steering arm 51 substantially orthogonal to the link arm giving the crank lever a generally L-shaped appearance, the steering arm 51 being coupled to a steering rod 52 extending longitudinally beneath the chassis frame to the rear of the vehicle, the rear end of which steering rod is pivotally coupled to one end of a linkage bar 53, the other end of which is rigidly connected to the bottom end of a substantially vertical handle 54 mounted within a housing on the chassis