Scooter

Details Scooter Scooter

2002-06-17

2003-09-16

Johnson, Brian L. (Department: 3618)

Land vehicles

Wheeled

Coasters

C280S087050, C280S287000, C280S040000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06619678

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to two-axled vehicles such as scooters.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The weight of traffic means that there is a need for an environmentally friendly alternative to or addition to automotive transport. There is a growing demand for an individual means of transport which can be used above all to move quickly and flexibly and which has to be sufficiently compact that it can be carried in public transport, in the car and indoors. The bicycle is not an adequate solution, since it cannot be carried in public transport. The chain drive mechanism means that fold-up bicycles are still too large and too heavy for most children and older people.
An alternative is the familiar scooter, comprising a frame having a platform section, connected at the front to a steering column in which a front wheel is arranged on a steering rod, and provided at the rear with a back wheel. While one foot is on the platform section, the other foot is used to push the scooter onwards. The absence of chain, gears, cranks, pedals and saddle makes the scooter much lighter and less expensive than the (folding) bicycle. However, a drawback which is common to this known scooter and the bicycle is that the turning circle is limited to a diameter of 3 to 4 m at some speed, since only the front wheel can be turned.
Foot-propelled vehicles are known in which the back wheel is designed so that it can be turned, so that the back of the vehicle can also turn. Kinslow (1949), U.S. Pat. No. 2,474,946 and Rademacher (1969), U.S. Pat. No. 3,442,528, describe 4-wheeled vehicles, of which the front and back wheel axles are rotatably connected to the ends of the platform board by means of non-vertical axles. The two extra wheels, situated at a relatively great distance from one another, make these vehicles wider and heavier compared to the known scooter. They also have the common, significant drawback that the two outer wheels turn relatively far outwards when cornering and will project with respect to the platform section, with the result that both vehicles become significantly wider and there is a high risk of them colliding with the pushing foot and hooking behind or hitting something, especially in situations where a rapid, short turn is required in order to be able to avoid something. Yet another drawback is that the two turning devices of both vehicles proposed cannot be controlled independently of one another. A further ergonomic drawback is that the inner wheels, when cornering, turn inwards, with the result that the space available for the foot is limited and positioning the foot is impossible or extremely critical.
Boyden U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,203,706 and 3,023,022 describes, inter alia, a wide, four-wheeled vehicle, in which the wheels are positioned on wide axles beneath the platform board, in such a manner that they can turn inwards obliquely (at an angle of 60-70 degrees with respect to the road) and to a very limited extent (approx. 10 degrees out of the neutral position) with respect to the platform board. Consequently, the board has to be made extremely high, in order to ensure that when cornering the wheels do not run into the bottom of the board, with resultant instability while, at the same time, the turnability is not greatly increased. Boyden also describes a combined use on ice and snow.
There are also patents which proposed vehicles with a platform board and ordinary handlebars, having one front wheel and one back wheel, of which the back wheel can be turned separately. For example, Vaverek (1969), U.S. Pat. No. 3,620,547 describes a variant of a scooter which can be used and is intended for down hill, driven by the force of gravity. The vehicle has an ordinary steerable front wheel and a back wheel which turns automatically when the frame is tilted, specifically in the same direction as the tilting, as a result of the turning axis being directed obliquely downwards and backwards, so that the virtual intersection between the axis and the ground lies in front of the point of contact between the back wheel and the ground. On account of the direction and position of the axis with respect to the back wheel, this design has the drawback that starting to turn to the left using the ordinary handlebars, which will always subconsciously involve the body, handlebars and frame being tilted slightly to the left (as in a bicycle), according to Vaverek also leads to the back wheel turning towards the left, while to go left it is required and expected that the back wheel will turn to the right. Another drawback of the Vaverek design is that the platform board, which is intended for both feet to be placed on (in order to simulate vedeln when skiing), is situated beneath the frame, with the result that when starting up the foot cannot be placed on the center of the platform. The foot which has been positioned off-center causes lateral loads on the frame, leading to undesirable and/or unexpected turning of the back wheel and therefore to unstable situations. Consequently, it is unsuitable for scooter travel on the ordinary road.
Others have also proposed vehicle designs with one or more turnable back wheels, mostly for the purpose of simulating skiing, but they have the common drawback that, on account of the turning device for the back wheel, they are usually longer than the ordinary scooter, with the result that greater spans are required in order to offer sufficient strength. Consequently, they have to be of relatively heavy design, with the result that the vehicles as a whole do not satisfy the conditions imposed in the context of the problem of compactness and light carrying weight in combination with an improved maneuverability.
NL 1 007 245 reflects the closest state of the art.
The main object of this invention is to provide an individual means of transport which can be used to move quickly and flexibly and which is sufficiently compact that it can be carried in public transport, in the car and indoors.
A further object is to provide a scooter-type vehicle which offers entirely new opportunities for sport activity.
Other objects will become clear from the further description.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
With respect to a vehicle of the prior art type, the present invention has a back section or tailpiece that projects as far as behind the back wheel area. The axis is directed forwards with respect to the support surface or ground. The back wheel axle is situated in front of the pivot axis, as seen in the direction of travel.
The shaped part preferably has two supporting arms (referred to below as “the two-pronged fork”), between which preferably a single back wheel with a wide, dimensionally stable running surface is supported via the wheel axle. To reduce the rolling resistance, the running surface is preferably concave, so that instead of a physical line of contact with the road there remains an imaginary line of contact, namely between the two contact points. However, a shaped part which has a single supporting arm with a wheel axle fitting through it is also possible, in which case a wheel (to be referred to below as the “back wheel”) is fitted onto this axle on either side of the arm, in order to create the same preferred contact line characteristic.
The above-mentioned suspension of the back wheel axle firstly makes the back wheel self-righting, so that it will seek to run straight on under the influence of a vertical load in the vertical position of the scooter. The wheel stabilizes itself and cannot wobble. Secondly, if the frame is tilted slightly out of the purely vertical position, the shaped part together with the back wheel will turn outwards the other way, so that a bend is steered into even though the front wheel, which is operated by traditional handlebars, just remains facing straight ahead. The bend is in the same direction as that in which the scooter is tilted out of its vertical position. The result is extremely great maneuverability which can be enhanced still further by also steering the front wheel.
The entire principle of the invention is suitable for be

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