1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a scooter, and more specifically to a caster switching mechanism for a scooter, which enables a wheel of the caster assembly to roll in one direction or in any direction selectively.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional scooters, which are commonly used as sports equipments, can be mainly classified into two types based on the construction thereof. One is equipped with a rigid caster having a wheel seat stationarily fastened to the bottom of a footboard of the scooter such that the wheel that is rotatably connected with the wheel seat can roll in one direction only. Under this circumstance, a user standing on the footboard needs to kick the ground with one foot to propel the scooter forward. The disadvantage of the scooter of this type lies in that the user will need a well-trained skill to manipulate the scooter especially in the process of changing the scooter's direction because the scooter is not easy to change its direction when the wheel is traveling along a fixed direction. On the other hand, the other type is equipped with a swivel caster having a wheel seat rotatably mounted to the bottom of the footboard of the scooter, such that the wheel of the swivel caster can roll in any direction. To propel the scooter of this type and to manipulate the heading direction of the scooter, the user standing on the footboard can twist his body in cooperation with the rotation of the wheel seat.
For many scooter fans, they usually learn how to play the first-type scooter at first, and then the second-type scooter after they develop their skills. However, there are no commercially available scooters adopting dual modes, i.e. a rigid caster mode and a swivel caster mode, at present. This means that the fans will need to spend more money on different types of the scooters for satisfying their learning and playing.
It is one objective of the present invention to provide a caster switching mechanism for a scooter, which can control whether or not a wheel seat is rotatable relative to a footboard of the scooter to satisfy different needs.
To achieve this objective of the present invention, the caster switching mechanism provided by the present invention comprises a caster assembly and a switch. The caster assembly has a wheel seat with a top end adapted for being rotatably connected with a bottom of a footboard of a caster, and a wheel rotatably connected with a bottom end of the wheel seat. The switch is adapted for being movably connected with the footboard of the scooter in such a way that the switch is movable relative to the footboard of the scooter between a restricted position where a first restricting portion of the wheel seat is stopped by a second restricting portion of the switch such that the wheel seat is prohibited from rotation relative to the footboard of the scooter, and an unrestricted position where the first restricting portion of the wheel seat and the second restricting portion of the switch are separated from each other for allowing the wheel seat to be rotatable relative to the footboard of the scooter.
Preferably, the first restricting portion of the restricting member is formed by two opposite planes, and the second restricting portion of the switch is formed by two spaced lateral walls. When the switch is located at the restricted position, the lateral walls of the switch are abutted against the planes of the restricting member, and when the switch is located at the unrestricted position, the lateral walls of the switch and the planes of the restricting member are separated from each other.
Preferably, a treadle can be mounted with one end of the switch and driven by an external force to move the switch.
Preferably, an elastic member can be disposed between the footboard of the scooter and the switch for elastically urging the switch by means of providing a rebound force to the switch.
To achieve the aforesaid objective of the present invention, a method of operating the caster switching mechanism provided by the present invention comprises the steps of a) stepping on the switch to drive the switch to move from the restricted position to the unrestricted position for enabling the wheel seat to be rotatable relative to the footboard of the scooter, and b) releasing the switch to allow the switch to move from the unrestricted position back to the restricted position for prohibiting the wheel seat from rotation relative to the footboard of the scooter.
To achieve the aforesaid objective of the present invention, another method of operating the caster switching mechanism provided by the present invention comprises the steps of a) stepping on the switch to drive the switch to move from the unrestricted position to the restricted position for prohibiting the wheel seat from rotation relative to the footboard of the scooter, and b) releasing the switch to allow the switch to move from the restricted position back to the unrestricted position for enabling the wheel seat to be rotatable relative to the footboard of the scooter.
Preferably, the wheel seat is adapted for being pivotally connected with a bevel plate of the footboard of the scooter and the wheel rolls along a direction parallel to a horizontal direction of an inclined surface of the bevel plate when the switch is located at the restricted position.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.
The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given herein below and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:
As shown in
As shown in
The switch 40 has two spaced lateral walls 44 forming a second restricting portion 46 for accommodation of the restricting member 36 of the wheel seat 31 therebetween, and a pivot 42 connected between the lateral walls 44 and located at about the middles of the lateral walls 44 and pivotally fastened to a rear end of the footboard 11 through a locking plate 48. By this way, the switch 40 can be pivotable around the pivot 44 relative to the footboard 11 between a restricted position P1 where the middle of the second restricting portion 46 of the switch 40 is abutted against the first restricting portion 362 of the restricting member 36 and the front end of the second restricting portion 46 of the switch 40 is abutted against two opposite sides of the rotating shaft 12, as shown in
The treadle 50 is fastened to the rear end of the switch 40, and drivenable by an external force generated from the user's stepping on the treadle 50 to move the switch 40 from the restricted position P1, as shown in
The elastic member 60, which is embodied as a U-shaped spring, is fastened to the footboard 11 in such a way that the elastic member 60 is located between the footboard 11 and the switch 40, as shown in
The structure of the caster switching mechanism 20 is described as above, and the method of operating the caster switching mechanism 20 of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description of the invention. The operation method includes the steps as follows.
a) Apply a force on the treadle 50 with the foot when a user stands on the footboard 11; therefore, the switch 40 can be driven to pivotally move from the restricted position P1, as shown in
b) Thereafter, the user can remove the foot from the treadle 50 to release the force applied on the treadle 50, such that the switch 40 will be pivotally moved by the help of the elastic member 60 from the unrestricted position P2 back to the restricted position P1 where the wheel seat 31 is prohibited from rotation relative to the footboard 11. Accordingly, the caster assembly 30 is at this condition served as a rigid caster assembly where the wheel 32 can roll along only one direction that is parallel to the horizontal direction of an inclined surface of the bevel plate 112 of the footboard 11. As a result, the user can kick the ground with one foot to move the scooter 10 forward.
By means of the aforesaid design, the switch can be driven to pivotally move by treading on the treadle for determining whether the wheel seat is able to rotate relative to the footboard or not, such that the user can choose the mode of operating the scooter according to the user's needs, and furthermore the user doesn't need to spend money to buy different types of scooters when getting promoted in operating skills. Thus, the scooter 10 equipped with the caster switching mechanism 20 of the present invention has the advantage of adding interest to the user and saving the user's cost.
It is to be mentioned that the pivot 42 of the switch 40 isn't limited to be connected with the middles of the lateral walls 44, and can be designed to be connected with the front ends of the lateral walls 44, such that the switch 40 is pivotally moved from the unrestricted position P2, as shown in
a) Apply a force on the treadle 50 with the foot when the user stands on the footboard 11; therefore, the switch 40 can be driven to pivotally move from the unrestricted position P2, as shown in
b) Thereafter, the user can remove the foot from the treadle 50 to release the force applied on the treadle 50, such that the switch 40 will be pivotally moved by the help of the elastic member 60 from the restricted position P1, as shown in
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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99136531 | Oct 2010 | TW | national |