Tricycle with steerable rear wheels

Aug. 8, 1961

E. W. RICH

2,995,384

TRICYCLE WITH STEERABLE REAR WHEELS

Filed March 24, 1959

Sheets-Sheet 1

<img file="US2995384A_D0001.tif" />

Aug. 8, 1961

E. W. RICH

2,995,384

TRICYCLE WITH STEERABLE REAR WHEELS

Filed March 24, 1959

Sheets-Sheet 2

<img file="US2995384A_D0002.tif" />

Everett W Rich

INVENTOR.

BY

V Attorneys

Aug. 8, 1961

E. W. RICH

2,995,384

TRICYCLE WITH STEERABLE REAR WHEELS

Filed March 24, 1959

Sheets-Sheet 3

<img file="US2995384A_D0003.tif" />

<img file="US2995384A_D0004.tif" />

Everett W Rich

INVENTOR.

BY ff Attorneys

2,995,384

Patented Aug. 8, 1961

United States Patent Office

995 384

TRICYCLE WITH STEERABLE REAR WHEELS Everett W. Rich, 424 W. Pardee Lane, Stockton, Calif.

Filed Mar. 24,1959, Ser. No. 801,575

Claims. (CI. 280—269)

The present invention generally relates to a wheeled toy and more particularly to an occupant propelled vehicle of the velocipede or tricycle type in that there are three supporting wheels and the vehicle is driven by offset pedals on the forward wheel.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a wheeled toy generally in the form of a tricycle in which the two rear wheels are pivotal about a vertical axis or kingpin for controlling the direction of movement of the vehicle with the front wheel being rotatable but non-pivotal in relation to the main frame of the vehicle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a wheeled toy in the form of a tricycle in which the steering control is provided by a handle bar assembly which pivots about an inclined longitudinal axis with the main frame member of the wheeled toy receiving a steering rod for steering control of the rear wheels.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a wheeled toy in accordance with the preceding objects in which the handle bar assembly is generally disposed in a vertical plane with the same being swingable about a generally longitudinal axis together with a device for indicating the degree of bank or tilt of the handle bar assembly thus indicating the degree of turning of the rear wheels.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a wheeled toy in which the seat and front powered wheels maintain a constant relationship with each other thereby providing a direct thrust on the pedals without the necessity of flexing the legs sideways as occurs in a conventional tricycle in which the front wheel is steerable.

Yet another feature of the present invention is to provide a wheeled toy that is much more stable than conventional tricycles which have the front wheel pivotal about an inclined vertical axis which enters a camber factor into the steering of the vehicle which quite often results in overturning of a conventional tricycle with the present invention differing from the conventional tricycle and overcoming this problem by providing rear steerable wheels.

Still another important object of the present invention is the provision of a wheeled toy which is ultra-modern in construction and appearance, safe in operation, long lasting and dependable, adjustable for different size children by varying the seat position longitudinally of the frame, adjustable as to orientation of the front fork, constructed to simulate an aircraft such as a jet plane, easy to propel and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the wheeled toy with a portion of the frame broken away showing the steering rod;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the construction of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a rear view of the wheeled toy;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse, vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 4—4 of FIGURE 1 illustrating the mechanism for providing steering control for the rear wheels;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 5—5 of

FIGURE 1 illustrating further structural details of the steering mechanism for the rear wheels;

FIGURE 6 is a partial front view of the steering rod, handle bar assembly and front wheel bracket; and

FIGURE 7 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 7—7 of FIGURE 3 illustrating further structural details of the handle bar assembly and the simulated instrument panel mounted thereon.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates the wheeled vehicle of the present invention which includes a generally vertically disposed handle bar member generally designated by the numeral 12, a front wheel assembly generally designated by the numeral 14, a frame assembly generally designated by the numeral 16 and a rear or steerable wheel assembly generally designated by the numeral 18.

The frame 16 includes an elongated tubular member 20 which is disposed longitudinally and which is upwardly inclined from front to rear. At the rear end of the tubular member 20 there is provided an inverted U-shaped frame member 22 secured to the tubular member 20 as by welding or the like designated by the numeral 24. At the forward end of the tubular member 20, there is provided an inverted U-shaped bracket 26 secured to the undersurface of the tubular member 20 as by welding 28 or the like.

Mounted on the tubular member 20 is a seat 30 having a generally oval shaped main portion 32 and a forwardly projecting narrow portion 34 which is substantially conventional in shape. The seat 30 is provided with the usual supporting frame 36 and resilient supporting springs 38. The supporting frame 36 is provided with a depending clamp 40 in the form of a split clamp which is mounted on the tubular member 20 and clamped thereon in longitudinally adjusted position by a clamp bolt 42. Secured to the seat by any suitable means and extending upwardly above and arcuately around the back edge of the seat is a curved rod 44 which generally follows the contour of the oval shaped portion 32 but is disposed above the surface of the seat thus forming generally a back rest and stop for a person disposed on the seat so that forward thrust may be provided by the person sitting on the seat 30 without the person sliding rearwardly off of the seat. As the seat 30 is longitudinally adjustable on the tubular member 20, the wheeled toy may be used by children having different length legs or as a child gets older, the seat may be moved farther rearwardly on the tubular member 20.

Pivotally attached to and extending downwardly from each leg of the U-shaped bracket is a support arm 46 secured to the bracket 26 by pivot pin or bolt 48. In spaced relation to the pin 48 is an anchor bolt 50 which will engage one of a series of arcuately arranged apertures 52 in the bottom edge of the legs of the U-shaped bracket 26 which are enlarged as designated by the numeral 54. The lower end of the members 46 journal the front axle assembly 56 carrying the front wheel and tire 58 thereon with the axle also having crank arms 60 attached thereto with pedals 62 being rotatable on the outer end thereof whereby pressure exerted on the pedals 62 will cause rotation of the front wheel 58 in a conventional manner. The front wheel 68 is provided with the usual arcuate fender 64 which is generally U-shaped in crosssection and which is supported by supporting shields 66 attached to the members 46 and to the fender 64 by suitable fasteners 68. Thus, the front wheel assembly 14 will not pivot about any axis but will be rotatable when the pedals 62 are driven. The adjustment provided by the bolt 50 and apertures 52 permits the wheel 58 to be lowered in relation to the frame 16 thereby permitting the tubular member 20 to be inclined at different angles. This also orientates the pedals so that substantially a straight forward thrust may be provided and due to the

2,996,384 rigidity between the tubular member 20, the bracket 26, the members 46 and the wheel axle, the line of thrust exerted on the pedals 62 will always be longitudinal and will remain the same since the wheel 58 does not pivot about a generally vertical axis as in conventional tricycles.

The handle bar assembly is attached to the forward reduced end 70 of an elongated steering control rod 72 rotatably received in the tubular member 20. The handle bar assembly 12 includes a depending member 74 clamped onto the flattened reduced end 72 by a split clamp with a clamp bolt 76 therefor. Extending upwardly from the member 74 is a pair of outwardly and arcuately curved members 78 which are interconnected by a top arcuately curved member 80 with the arcuate member 80 having a pair of hand grips 82 thereon.

The area of the handle bar assembly defined by the curved rod 78 and the rod 80 is filled in by a piece of high impact plastic 84 which is curved to conform to the curvature of the arcuate members 78 and curves in the manner illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 7. The side edges of the member 84 which are defined by the numeral 86 are spaced from the hand grips 82 to permit free access to the hand grips 82.

The portion of the plate 84 lying generally in the same plane has the arcuate member 80 secured thereto by brackets 88 and fasteners 90. Mounted on this- portion of the member 84 are three meters or dials designated by the numerals 92, 94 and 96. In each of the dials or meters 92 and 96, the needles 98 are heavier on the bottom side and are pivoted so that they will be activated when the handle bar assembly is pivoted about the steering rod 72. Each of the dials or meters is provided with an: arcuate plastic cover 100 and the center meter 94 is provided with an angle of bank graduations 102 at the upper edge thereof and the needle 104 is weighted at its bottom for indicating the angle of inclination of the handle. bar assembly. Below the center area of the meter 94, there is provided a red bead 106 and a- smaller spherical ball bearing member 108 which are freely rotatable under the cover 100 and since they are of different diameters they travel in different radii and being-of different weight will seldom line up thus simulating a radar screen which is activated by the tilting of the handle bar assembly.

Now referring particularly to FIGURES 4 and 5, the steering wheel assembly 18 includes a depending kingpin 110 extending downwardly from the lower end of each depending leg of the inverted U-shaped frame member 22. Each kingpin 110 receives a sleeve 112 rotatably thereon and the sleeve 112 is held in position by a washer 114 and a transverse pin 116. Rigidly affixed to the sleeve 112 is a generally L-shaped wheel support member 118 having one leg 120 forming an axle for a rear wheel 122. The other end of the L -shaped support member 118 is connected to an elongated tie bar or rod 124 by virtue of a vertical pin 126 which extends through the end of the tie bar 124 and through the end of the support member 118 and also through a bracket member 128 attached to the tie bar 124 and underlying the flattened end of the L-shaped support member 118. The pin 126 is held in position by a transverse- retainer pin such as a cotter pin designated by the numeral 130.

Intermediate the ends of the tie bar. 124, there is an upstanding vertically elongated lug 132- having an elongated slot 134 formed therein. The’ slot 134 receives a forwardly projecting pin 136 carried’ by an offset support arm 138 rigidly affixed to the rear end of the steering rod 72. Thus, rotation of the steering rod 72 about its longitudinal axis will cause arcuate swinging movement of the arm 138 in an axis perpendicular thereto and: will cause the pin: 136 to swing about the center.of rotation of-the steering rod 72. It is noted that the pin 136 is: not perpendicular to the arm 138. Rather, the pin 136'is perpendicular to the lug 132 for maintaining a perpendicular relation to the: lug 132 for operation of the same so that the lug

132 will be caused to move laterally and slightly longitudinally as the L-shaped support members 118 pivot about the vertical axes defined by the pins’ 110.

The L-shaped support member 118 also supports a pair of rear wheel enclosures or fenders 140 by brackets 142 and the rear wheel enclosures or fenders 140¹ may simulate an appearance the aft section of a jet plane including an open exhaust section 144 at the rear end thereof. Provided on the tubular member- 20 adjacent the forward end thereof is a suitable bell or other noise maker 146 supported by a clamp 148 and having an operating handle 15® extending vertically thereabove whereby depression of the operating handle 150 will cause operation of the noise producing mechanism 146 which may be in the form of a bell, siren or the like. Extending forwardly from the handle bar assembly adjacent the element 74 is a support arm 152 having an upstanding support member 154 mounted thereon together with a’ rotatable member 156 generally in the configuration of an anemometer for determining wind velocity. The entire construction may be attractively colored and will generally carry out the aeronautical motive.

The adjustment of the front fork enables the frame to be used as a chassis for a small sidewalk car when the fork is extended. This enables the driving pedal arrangement to be used in this type of car thereby eliminating the use of chain and sprocket drives along with brackets and chain guards for retaining the cost at a minimum. Since the front wheel does not turn for steering- control from side to side, a relatively small body may be placed around the front wheel which may be styled as a rocket or aircraft.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further,- since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.