A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to any reproduction by anyone of the patent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
The present invention relates to the field of miniature vehicles, and more particularly to a miniature vehicle with a foot steering arrangement, wherein the user is able to steer the miniature vehicle by the feet of user so as to enhance the precise steering control of the miniature vehicle.
Go-karts or miniature motorized vehicles are well known in the art. The conventional go-kart comprises a chassis having a seat frame for a user sitting thereon, a combustion engine supported by the chassis, and a control system. The control system comprises a foot gas pedal and a foot brake pedal for allowing the user to control a speed of the go-kart via the feet of the user, and a steering wheel held by the user's hand for controlling the direction of the go-kart.
The main feature of the go-kart is that the go-kart has the ability to traverse the ground at an apparent high rate of speed relative to the proximity to the ground. However, the component-arrangement of the go-kart is not ergonomically designed to lower the center of mass of the user during driving the go-kart. It is because the user must sit upright in order for the hands of the user to reach the steering wheel. In other words, in response to the sitting position of the user, it is unsafe or unstable to drive the go-kart during cornering. In addition, the size of the chassis is fixed and is non-adjustable. Therefore, a short user may not able to reach the foot gas pedal and the foot brake pedal when the user sits on the seat frame. Likewise, a tall user may need to bend his or her feet to reach the foot gas pedal and the foot brake pedal.
The invention is advantageous in that it provides a miniature vehicle, such as a go-kart, with a foot steering arrangement, wherein the user is able to steer the miniature vehicle as a ground vehicle by the feet of user so as to enhance the precise steering control of the miniature vehicle.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a miniature vehicle with a foot steering arrangement, wherein the foot steering arrangement is located at the very front end of the miniature vehicle, such that the user is able to precisely steer and control the miniature vehicle.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a miniature vehicle with a foot steering arrangement, wherein the user sitting position is optimized in an ergonomically designed manner to lower the center of mass of the miniature vehicle with the user sitting thereon.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a miniature vehicle with a foot steering arrangement, which is a rear wheel drive vehicle that provides a better balance and a better acceleration.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a miniature vehicle with a foot steering arrangement, which can be powered by an electric motor, such that the miniature vehicle is an environment friendly vehicle.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a miniature vehicle with a foot steering arrangement, wherein the brake adjustment is easy to do by the user to have a tighten brake feel or loosen brake feel.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a miniature vehicle with a foot steering arrangement, wherein the length of the chassis frame is adjustable to fit different user's height.
Another advantage of the invention is to provide a miniature vehicle with a foot steering arrangement, wherein no expensive or complicated structure is required to employ in the present invention in order to achieve the above mentioned objects.
Therefore, the present invention successfully provides an economic and efficient solution for providing simple and precise steering configuration for the miniature vehicle.
Additional advantages and features of the invention will become apparent from the description which follows, and may be realized by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particular point out in the appended claims.
According to the present invention, the foregoing and other objects and advantages are attained by a miniature vehicle, comprising:
a vehicle frame which comprises a chassis frame and a seat frame supported thereon for a user sitting on the seat frame;
front and rear wheel assemblies operatively coupled at front and rear ends of the chassis frame respectively;
a motorized assembly supported on the chassis frame to power the rear wheel assembly; and
a foot steering arrangement operatively coupled to the front wheel assembly for steering operation by feet of the user.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the present invention comprises a miniature vehicle, comprising:
a vehicle frame which comprises a chassis frame and a seat frame supported thereon for a user sitting on the seat frame;
a wheel assembly operatively coupled at the chassis frame;
a motorized assembly supported on the chassis frame to power the wheel assembly;
a hand operational control operatively linked to the motorized assembly for speed control by hands of the user; and
a foot steering arrangement operatively coupled to the wheel assembly for steering operation by feet of the user.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims.
The following description is disclosed to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present invention. Preferred embodiments are provided in the following description only as examples and modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art. The general principles defined in the following description would be applied to other embodiments, alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Referring to
According to the preferred embodiment, the vehicle frame 10 comprises a chassis frame 11 and a seat frame 12 supported thereon, wherein a user, or a rider/driver, is able to sit on the seat frame 12 for operating the miniature vehicle. In particular, the chassis frame 11 comprises a weight supporting base 111 and an extension frame 112 frontwardly extended from the weight supporting base 111.
The wheel assembly 20 comprises a front wheel assembly 21 and a rear wheel assembly 22 operatively coupled at front and rear ends of the chassis frame 11 respectively. Accordingly, the front wheel assembly 21 comprises two front wheels 211 spacedly and rotatably coupled at the extension frame 112. The rear wheel assembly 22 comprises two rear wheels 221 spacedly and rotatably coupled at the weight supporting base 111.
The motorized assembly 30 is supported on the chassis frame 11 to power the wheel assembly 20. In particular, the motorized assembly 30 is supported on the weight supporting base 111 at a position between the two rear wheels 221 to power the rear wheel assembly 22.
The foot steering arrangement 40 is operatively coupled to the wheel assembly 20 for steering operation by feet of the user. In particular, the foot steering arrangement 40 is operatively coupled to the front wheel assembly 21 to steer the miniature vehicle when the user sits on the seat frame 12.
The hand operational control 50 is operatively linked to the motorized assembly 30 for speed control of the miniature vehicle. In particular, the hand operational control 50 operatively linked to the motorized assembly 30 to control an output thereof and to the rear wheel assembly 22 to brake the rear wheels 221.
As shown in
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In order to pivotally connect the steering control 1122 with the leg extension 1121, the leg extension 1121 comprises a tubular member 1123 integrally formed at the front end thereof and a steering shaft 1124 upwardly extended from the mid-portion of the steering control 1122 to coaxially engage with the tubular member 1123 so as to enable the steering control 1122 being pivotally connected to the front end of the leg extension 1121.
As shown in
The motorized assembly 30 further comprises a rechargeable battery 33 operatively linked to the electric motor 31, wherein the user is able to charge the rechargeable battery 33 as a power source of the miniature vehicle, as shown in
As shown in
According to the preferred embodiment, the two front wheels 211 are rotatably coupled at two side ends of the steering control 1122 respectively. In addition, the two foot steering pedals 41 are spacedly coupled at the steering control 1122 at a position that the front end of the leg extension 1121 is positioned between the foot steering pedals 41 for the user's feet stepping on the foot steering pedals 41 respectively. In order to steer the miniature vehicle of the present invention, the user is able to place the feet on the foot steering pedals 41 respectively and selectively apply a pushing force on one of the foot steering pedals 41 by the user's foot, so as to pivotally move the steering control 1122, as shown in
As shown in
According to the preferred embodiment, the hand operational control 50 further comprises two handle frames 53 extended from two sides of the chassis frame 11 respectively for enabling the user's hands to grip at the handle frames 53 in a hand down position when the user sits on the seat frame 12. In particular, the handle frames 53 are extended from two side of the weight supporting frame 111 at a position that the seat frame 12 is positioned between the handle frames 53, such that when the user sits on the seat frame 12, the user's hands can naturally drop down to grip the handle frames 53. Accordingly, the hand throttle control 51 and the hand brake control 52 are coupled at the handle frames 53 respectively.
As shown in
The hand brake control 52 comprises a brake lever 521 pivotally coupled at the other handle frame 53 and a brake cable 522 extended from the brake lever 521 to the rear wheel assembly 22, such that when the brake lever 521 is pivotally pressed or squeezed, a brake unit 523 is actuated to frictionally engaged with the rear wheel 221 to slow down the miniature vehicle. Preferably, the thumb switch 511 is coupled at the right handle frame 53 to control the output unit 32 for the left rear wheel 221. The brake lever 521 is coupled at the left handle frame 53 to control the brake unit 523 to frictionally engaged with the right rear wheel 221.
The hand brake control 52 further comprises a brake adjustment 524 operatively coupled between the brake lever 521 and the brake cable 522 to selectively adjust a brake feeling of the brake lever 521. As shown in
The miniature vehicle of the present invention further comprises a location indicator 60 to indicate the driving location of the miniature vehicle. Accordingly, the location indicator 60 can be an indicating flag detachably mounted to the vehicle frame 10 to indicate the driving location of the miniature vehicle during the operation. It is worth mentioning that since the user must lean back on the miniature vehicle when sitting on the seat frame 12 to substantially lower the center of mass of the vehicle during the operation, the location indicator 60 is important to indicate location of the moving vehicle.
Alternatively, the location indicator 60 can be a flash light or a sound generator to indicate location of the moving vehicle.
According to the preferred embodiment, the miniature vehicle of the present invention provides a maximum wheelbase to enhance the stabilization of the vehicle during operation by locating the front wheels 211 at the very front end of the chassis frame 11 and the rear wheels 221 at the very rear end of the chassis frame 11. In addition, the user is able to lean back on the miniature vehicle when sitting on the seat frame 12 to substantially lower the center of mass of the vehicle during the operation. The user is able to control the speed of the miniature vehicle by the hands that the right hand of the user is able to control the operation of the electric motor 31 and the left hand of the user is able to control the brake operation. The feet of the user can control the steering of the miniature vehicle. Therefore, the operation of the miniature vehicle of the present invention is relatively simple and easy. It can be a recreational vehicle for a kid to ride.
Preferably, the user must wear a helmet, knee pads and elbow pads for safety in order to drive the miniature vehicle.
One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting.
It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. The embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201810495675.6 | May 2018 | CN | national |
201820770719.7 | May 2018 | CN | national |