Patent Application
20060169861
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to inline scooters, and more particularly, to a support stand for an inline scooter, wherein the support stand can be releasably attached to the scooter in a plurality of configurations including a scooter supporting position and a scooter operating position.
2. Background Art
Inline scooters have become very popular with both children and adults. However, the scooters are sold with no kick stand or parking mechanism to support the scooter when not in use. Thus, scooters are stored by either being dropped to the ground or leaned against a wall (which typically eventually results in the scooter being dropped to the ground). This treatment usually results in damage to the wall and/or the scooter.
As the typical inline scooter has 100 mm diameter wheels and a low foot board, traditional bicycle and kick stands can not be employed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,364,269 discloses a rigid rectangular base having longitudinally extending grooves defining a tapered slot, wherein the grooves of the tapered slot are selected to releasably engage the wheel of an inline scooter.
The need exists for an inline scooter stand that does not need to be carried by an operator. The need also exists for an inline scooter stand that can selectively support the scooter in an upright position as well as be connected to the scooter in a stored configuration during use of the scooter.
The present invention provides a support stand for supporting an inline scooter in an upright position, wherein the stand is configured to releasably engage the scooter in a first location for maintaining the scooter in the upright position, and a second location for allowing unobstructed operation of the scooter.
Generally, the stand includes a base and a resilient spring clip connected to the base, the clip sized to be alternatively cooperatively engage a wheel of the scooter and a portion of the scooter, so as to preclude unintended separation during use.
Thus, the present support stand cooperatively engages a portion of the inline scooter, such as the steering post to allow unobstructed use of the scooter. The support stand can be readily uncoupled from the steering post once engaged to one of the front or rear wheel to maintain the scooter in an upright position.
The support stand 30 is constructed for use with an inline scooter 10 as shown in
Referring to
As seen in
Although the base 40 is shown as a generally planar construction, it is understood the base can have a contoured top or bottom. In addition, the base 40 is shown as having a generally oval periphery wherein a major dimension of the oval is parallel to a longitudinal dimension of the scooter 10, the minor dimension of the oval is transverse to the longitudinal dimension of the scooter. In certain configurations, the major dimension of the base 40 is approximately seven inches and the minor dimension is between approximately four inches and approximately five inches, with a preferred minor dimension of approximately five inches. Referring to
Preferably, the base 40 is sized to preclude tipping of the scooter 10. That is, the base 40 maintains the scooter 10 in an upright position upon engaging a wheel 16,20. Further, it has been found that sizing the minor dimension of the base 40 to approximately five inches allows the support stand 30 to maintain the scooter 10 in an upright scooter supporting position, independent of orientation of the major dimension of the base with respect to the longitudinal dimension of the scooter. That is, the front wheel 16 can be turned from an in-line orientation relative to the rear wheel 20, wherein the support stand 30 maintains the scooter 10 in an upright position.
The base 40 includes a peripheral ground engaging flange 46 projecting from the bottom side 44. The flange 46 thus defines a recessed land area 45 sized to receive decal stickers or other user selected indicia. The user selected indicia can include a label or sticker sized to be received within the recessed land area 45. It is understood alternative attachments can be employed between the recessed land area 45 and the indicia, such as, but not limited to hook and loop fasteners, detents, tabs or fingers. Thus, an individual can customize the support stand 30 in accordance with their favorite team, group or association. The user selected indicia in the recessed land area 45 is displayed upon engagement of the support stand 30 in the scooter operating position, as seen in
It is further understood the periphery of the base 40 could be any of a variety of geometric shapes including curvilinear, multifaceted, circular, rectangular, square or triangular. It is also contemplated the base 40 could be a generally tripod configuration having a plurality of legs. However, to minimize the overall footprint of the scooter 10 upon operable engagement with the stand 30 in the scooter supporting position, an oval periphery has been found satisfactory.
Further, the base 40 includes a pair of through apertures 41, wherein the through apertures are counter sunk adjacent the bottom side 44 of the base 40. A material that has been found satisfactory for the base 40 is high density polyethylene.
Referring to
The clip 50 is a resilient spring material, which can be formed of a variety of materials including thermoplastic, hardened thermosets as well as spring steel.
Although not required, the clip 50 is formed of a pair of legs, which are mirror images about the longitudinal axis of the clip. Thus, the legs of the clip 50 define a converging guide ramp 52, a throat 54, a bulbous (curvilinear) post engaging section 56 and a parallel wall section 58.
The throat 54 and post engaging sections 56 are sized to allow the clip 50 (and hence stand 10) to be snap fit to the post 12 of the scooter 10. Thus, the stand 30 can be releasably engaged with the scooter 10 in an unobstructing, scooter operating position. Although the clip is shown as sized to engage the post 12, it is understood the clip can be configured to cooperatively engage alternative portions of the scooter 10. Upon engagement of the support stand 10 in the scooter operating position, the recessed land area 45 is exposed to display the indicia on the recessed land area.
The clip 50 is also sized to releasably engage a wheel 16, 20 of the scooter 10. The wheel is disposed within the clip 50 such that the clip engages the wheel at radially spaced locations, and preferably across two chords of the wheel. The typical wheel includes a hub area having a reduced dimension along the axis of rotation. The clip 50 can be sized to have the throat 54 engage the hub area of the wheel to provide the contact between the clip and the wheel. In this configuration, the parallel wall section 58 may contact the sides of the engaged wheel as the wheel moves relative to the clip, but the parallel wall section 58 does not clamp against the wheel.
The clip 50 is thus selected to sufficiently engage the wheel 16 to preclude unintended separation from the wheel.
Further, although the clip 50 and base 40 are shown as separate elements, it is understood they can be formed in a single piece configuration. That is, the support stand 30 can be formed of a single piece of material, wherein the legs of the clip are cut and folded from the base. Typically, in this integral configuration, the base 40 (and the clip 50) are formed of metal. However, it is understood in the integral configuration, the base 40 and the clip 50 can be formed of a polymeric material, such as thermoplastic having a sufficient to durometer on the Shore D scale.
It has been found that a height (or engaging height) of the clip 50 with the wheel relative to the width and length of the base 40 defines operable parameters for the stand functioning in the scooter supporting position. Specifically, an oval base 40 having a major axis of approximately 7 inches and a minor axis of approximately 4 inches has been found satisfactory upon the clip 50 engaging the wheel at between approximately 20% to 45% of a 100 mm wheel height (diameter). As the foot plate 18 has a typical width of at least 4 inches, the support stand 30 does increase the effective width of scooter 10. Although the clip 50 is shown as affixed concentric to the base 40, it is understood the clip could be attached to the base along the major axis of the base to locate a greater portion of the base within the existing footprint of the scooter.
Operation
In operation, one wheel of the scooter 10 is engaged with the clip 50 such that the clip engages the wheel, such as in a pair of radially spaced locations as well as along a pair of chords. The base 40 is then set on the ground and the peripheral ground engaging flange 46 contacts the ground and protects the indicia of the recessed land area 45. The support stand 30 thus retains the scooter 10 in an upright position. Further, depending upon the sizing of the base 40, the support stand 30 can retain the scooter 10 in the upright position, independent of the orientation of the steering post 12 and front wheel 16 relative to the longitudinal axis of the scooter.
To operate the scooter, the stand 30 is pulled from the wheel such that the clip 50 disengages the wheel. The guide ramp 52 of the clip 50 is then forced against the post 12 of the scooter 10. Upon sufficient bias, the clip 50 is flexed to engage the post 12 of the scooter 10. The clip 50 can then be slid vertically along the length of the post. The clip 50 sufficiently engages the post 12 to preclude unintended separation during operation of the scooter. Thus, the scooter 10 can be operated without interference from the base 40.
While the invention has been described in connection with a presently preferred embodiment thereof, those skilled in the art will recognize that many modifications and changes made be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention, which accordingly is intended to be defined solely by the appended claims.
