1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an infant scooter.
2. The Relevant Technology
Scooters have experienced a renaissance in early 2000 which is due to the modernization of the traditional scooter concept using new materials and in particular offering improved driving qualities. Here, in particular, the following three types have gained acceptance.
On the one hand, the two-wheel folding scooter, preferably made of aluminum; on the other hand, the kickboard normally designed with three wheels (registered European trade mark of Micro Mobility Systems AG), with the features of a flexible, concave footboard made of wood; and finally a kind of combination of the two basic models, namely the two-wheel scooter, also with a so-called flexdeck, i.e. a flexible concave footboard made of wood. Two-wheel scooters normally have height adjustable handle bars with grips similar to a short bicycle handle bar. In contrast, kickboards normally only have a steering bar with a spherical termination of plastic.
The kickboard is generically referred to as 3-wheeler and has found many imitators. The advantage of the kickboard is that the drivability is more dynamic than with the rigid two-wheel scooter; the driving behavior is thus closer to that of a skateboard. Due to the existing handle bar, however, it is much easier to drive than a skateboard and, due to the normally provided two front wheels and one rear wheel, it is on the other hand easier to drive than a two-wheel scooter, in particular for infants.
Since the kickboard, in difference to skateboards, is nevertheless a vehicle that can and should be used on public roads, its construction is stable in this respect, in contrast to the skateboards designed for extreme sports or for playing.
Due to this very solid design and the minimum size required for a sturdy driving behavior, kickboards are rather suited for adolescents and adults than for children or infants.
To overcome this problem, in 2006, the present applicant developed a kickboard for children which is, as to its design and driving behavior, very close to the kickboard, but which is nearly completely made of plastic. Due to this fact, the corresponding vehicle is very light and thus also suited for infants. Moreover, fabrication is inexpensive, and correspondingly cheap prices can be obtained. Finally, with this design, any sharp edges or hard materials can be avoided so that the risk of injury is minimized. Moreover, the handle bar is shortened, corresponding to the infants' requirements.
This child's kickboard has meanwhile become a trendsetter and is accordingly popular with children as well as with responsible adults.
While some two-year-olds can already easily drive the child's kickboard, and these child's kickboards increasingly replace corresponding walking or balance bikes, one can generally say that for two year old and younger children, driving a child's kickboard involves certain risks due to possible falls. Two-year-old and younger children therefore still use, as before, conventional tricycles to sit on, tractors, and the like. The Bobby Car is particularly popular (registered trademark of the Company BIG). This design is also characterized by a low weight, stable construction, blunt edges and good drivability
It is the object of the present invention to suggest a kickboard or scooter version which is well-suited also for infants under the age of three.
This object is achieved by the claimed subject matter.
Preferred embodiments are the subject matter of the subclaims.
In the following, preferred basic embodiments of the present invention are illustrated more in detail with reference to the enclosed drawings. The drawings show in detail:
The front chassis support supports a steering mechanism 7 as well as two large front wheels 8 which are mounted to rotate about an axle 9.
The front chassis support is designed like a dome and bifurcated towards the front. The shape of this chassis support is shown again in detail in
The front chassis support centrically comprises a base 10 in which a steering bar 11 is inserted, screwed or glued. A seat means 12 is fixed to the steering bar in the upper region of the steering bar with a threaded joint 13. This seat means is in addition supported by a crossbar 14 for improved stability, the crossbar supporting itself on the one hand at the rear lower portion of the seat means and on the other hand in the lower region of the steering bar 11. Correspondingly, in the state ready to start, the crossbar preferably extends starting from the lower rear seat area diagonally downwards towards the steering bar.
The basic construction of the seat means or the saddle, respectively, including the crossbar, can be made of plastic or aluminum. The mounting of the seat means at the upper region of the steering bar is preferably effected by screw clamps, other solutions known to the person skilled in the art which permit a firm connection of the seat means to the steering bar being also conceivable here. In the upper region, the seat means comprises a padded region 15, this region preferably consisting of a foam or plastic layer which is firmly connected to the supporting elements located under it.
A handle 16 is fitted or screwed or glued onto the steering bar and preferably has an annular design. Particularly preferred, the annular handle has an elliptic shape. This type of grip proved to be particularly suited for infants in tests. It is thus neither a handle bar which involves certain risks of injury, nor a spherical terminal element, like with the kickboard, which is too difficult to grip for infants and would result in a more difficult steering behavior. The annular holding element can be gripped by infants with both their hands and involves very little risks of injury due to its round embodiment. The radius of the circular element is dimensioned such that on the one hand, infants can comfortably grip it, and on the other hand, sufficient lever action is developed to be able to drive curves.
The present invention generally permits a modular concept. The footboard with the chassis supports and wheels can be generally made such that the steering bar can be removed together with the seat means. It can be released by threaded joints or plug-in connections. Correspondingly, the steering bar with the gripping means and the seat means can be removed and replaced by a steering bar with a spherical termination, similar to kickboards for adults. In this manner, the vehicle for infants is converted into a vehicle for bigger children and so to speak “grows” together with the child. According to the present invention, however, it is also provided that only the seat means is removable, so that a vehicle of the type of a kickboard for infants with a gripping means is formed which clearly differs from the conventional kickboards and is better suited for infants. Finally, after the seat has been removed, a steering bar can be employed as a steering bar which is similar to that of scooters, i.e. a steering bar similar to bicycle handle bars. This variant can thus be considered as next stage and can be driven even more easily than the variant where a steering bar with a spherical thickening is inserted.
The profile of the basic seat means 62 in the front region is particularly mentionable. As is shown, the basic seat means 62 is relatively thin in the rear region, but it is getting increasingly thick towards the front due to its curved shape, so that in the front region, an element is formed which extends over at least 10 cm, preferably 20 cm, along the steering bar. Here, the front element 66 has a round recess 67 in which the central part of the steering bar extends in its mounted state. As is furthermore shown, the profile in the front area is approximately triangular, so that when the basic seat means is placed onto the steering bar, a kind of skirt extends to the other side of the steering bar. The corresponding two skirt elements 68 comprise a bore 69 through which, in the mounted state, a bolt can be inserted by which the two skirts each press against the steering bar enclosed by the skirts and thus reliably hold the seat means at the steering bar. Due to the relatively long vertical extension of the front part of the basic seat means, forces are well absorbed, so that a particularly stable seat and a particularly safe vehicle are formed. Preferably, a plastic clamp 70 is also added from the front by which the enclosed steering bar is also covered from the front, the plastic clamp 70 also being held by the mentioned bolt and the plastic clamp having corresponding bores to this end. The plastic clamp 70 in connection with the skirts of the basic seat means thus form a complete case which, in the mounted state, comprises the central part of the steering bar, so that a particularly compact and optically appealing appearance results.
It is evident for the person skilled in the art that all variations according to
Preferably, in all variants, and in particular in the variant shown in
The bumper is, as is shown, designed in a bifurcated manner, being quasi integrated in the front chassis support which is preferably dome-shaped. By the preferred integration, the bifurcated embodiment adopts the dome-shaped extension, such that the two fork elements converge from the top to the bottom in a bent manner.
The vehicle according to the invention is, as described above, preferably designed as a child's kickboard from its basic construction, however, it is essentially designed with a different steering means, in particular the oval handle and a seat means which is preferably fixed to the steering bar. In particular, the present invention is also based on the idea of steering the vehicle by shifting of weight and thus driving curves, and not via a steering wheel, as it is the case, for example, in the mentioned Bobby Car. As is shown with reference to the various figures, steering via shifting of weight is in particular achieved in that the two front wheels comprise a double-pivot steering, wherein the two front wheels in particular comprise an inclination, whereby, seen from the front, the distance between the front wheels tapers towards the top. Moreover, the two front wheels can be easily run out of the parallel track, preferably, the tracks of the two front wheels extend away from each other, such that the distance of the front wheels is greater in the foremost region than in the rear region.
Due to this configuration and in particular in combination with the provided double-pivot steering, the vehicle will tilt into the driven curve when the weight is shifted, i.e. the footboard is tilted during cornering. This is because, due to the mentioned inclination, the inner wheel is tilted still further, the tilt at the outer wheel, however, is reduced, and thus the axle of the internal wheel has a smaller distance to the ground than the external wheel during cornering. This is all accomplished by shifting of weight, wherein the double-pivot steering on the bottom side works against a spring 30 which, after the force of weight transfer is reduced again, takes care that the wheels align uniformly again. Preferably, the double-pivot steering centrically has a U-shaped clip which is fixed to the bottom side of the footboard and which is, during shifting of weight, laterally shifted at the same level with respect to its ends.
With the vehicle according to the invention, one can thus drive considerably narrower radii than with typical Bobby Cars. Moreover, the curve properties are furthermore improved if such a double-pivot steering is not provided only at the front, but also at the rear of the vehicle, i.e. with altogether four wheels and a double-pivot steering at the front and rear, as is shown in
Despite the different variants shown in connection with
Seen from the front, a distance typically remains between the skirts, so that one can see the steering bar at the same level from the front. For an even more integral impression, it is preferably provided to mount a kind of cover or intermediate piece from the front which is quasi seamlessly incorporated in the design, so that an altogether closed impression is given and the steering bar is thus completely enclosed by this overall construction in the central part.
As mentioned above, the vehicle according to the invention can have a modular design, so that an alteration can be achieved corresponding to the development phase of the child. In the first phase, the vehicle is configured similar to
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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20 2011 001 596 U | Jan 2011 | DE | national |
This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/291,847, filed May 30, 2014; which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/346,591, filed Jan. 9, 2012, which issued on Jun. 3, 2014 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,740,236; and which claims priority to German Application No. DE 20 2011 001 596.3, filed Jan. 17, 2011, which applications are hereby incorporated by reference.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 14291847 | May 2014 | US |
Child | 14692141 | US | |
Parent | 13346591 | Jan 2012 | US |
Child | 14291847 | US |