Motorized scooter

Details Motorized scooter Motorized scooter

2001-02-26

2002-04-30

English, Peter C. (Department: 3619)

Motor vehicles

Special wheel base

Collapsible or knockdown for storage or transport

C180S214000, C180S065510

Reexamination Certificate

active

06378642

ABSTRACT:

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
none
STATEMENT REGARDING FED SPONSORED R & D
none
REFERENCE TO MICROFICHE APPENDIX
none
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention pertains to a motorized three-wheeled scooter for use by adults as well as teen-agers that are limited in their bodily movement. The limited movement is either caused by an accident or through a birth defect. The scooter is also designed and constructed for when a person's disability is such that the person can stand for awhile but then easily fatigues and must sit down. This scooter can accommodate both of these instances. The scooter of the invention also shows its versatility when operating the same in a crowded environment where the operation of a motorized scooter can be dangerous because a person sitting down has limited view or visibility. With the motorized scooter of the invention a person operating in this crowded environment has a choice of either standing up or sitting down when operating the scooter. When standing up, the person has an excellent view over the crowd because of the platform on the scooter, on which the person is standing. The person, when standing up has a steady support by simply grasping the handle bars of the steering column of the scooter. The person is somewhat elevated above the crowd and can therefore plot the way to go. This versatility from standup to sit-down can be accomplished within seconds without any tools or other major operations. The scooter itself consists of only three major components which can easily be disassembled and stored in the trunk or the back seat of a car. Scooters are known in the prior art either from patents or from sales brochures.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 430,063 shows a three-wheeled electric scooter apparently having a front wheel drive. The structure of the front wheel drive cannot be gleaned from the drawings and/or description. The illustrated scooter has a standup platform only.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 414,220 illustrates a three-wheeled scooter that also has a standup platform only. The scooter appears to be driven by the rear wheels.
U.S. Des. Pat. No. 428,365 illustrates a three wheeled scooter. It is not clear if there is a power drive and where. The seat assembly cannot be adapted to move from an active position to an inactive position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,189 shows a scooter that is not motorized. It is not three-wheeled and has a very large front wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,950,755 discloses a three wheeled scooter having a rear wheel drive. The seat cannot swing from an active position where a person can sit on a seat to an inactive position where the person can assume a standing position. This is a disadvantage in that the scooter dimensions have to be increased considerably especially in its length which will impact on its maneuverability.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,337 shows a three wheeled scooter having a rear wheel drive and the seat is not described as being swingable from an active position where a person can sit on the seat to an inactive position where a person can stand on the platform of the scooter. The sales brochure by “Lifestyle Mobility Aids” illustrates a three-wheeled scooter “Minitraveler™” having a rear wheel drive including a seat. It is not designed and constructed to be used as a sitdown or a standup scooter.
The sales brochure by “Lark of America” shows a three-wheeled scooter under the name of “Lark 3”. The scooter shown has a rear wheel drive and a sitdown chair. It is believed that both scooters shown in the above brochures cannot be used for any standup operation unless the seats are removed altogether first.
SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
One of the objects of the invention is to construct and to present a three-wheeled scooter that is very versatile in that it can be used alternately in a standup or sitdown mode without requiring any tools or major operations such as assembly or disassembly. This is simply accomplished by manually moving the chair from a use to a non-use position on the scooter. Another object is to provide a front wheel drive which is very sure-footed by using a gear drive. Another object is to design a steering column or driving tiller which is adjustable in height and into various vertical positions. The scooter consists of three components which can easily be disassembled and again assembled without the use of any tools which components can easily be stored in the trunk or the back seat of a car.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3099326 (1963-07-01), Weigel et al.
patent: 3603609 (1971-09-01), Hott et al.
patent: 3659871 (1972-05-01), Hott
patent: 3704759 (1972-12-01), Vitkov et al.
patent: 4570739 (1986-02-01), Kramer
patent: 4750578 (1988-06-01), Brandenfels
patent: 4944360 (1990-07-01), Sturges
patent: 6100615 (2000-08-01), Birkestrand
patent: 6199652 (2001-03-01), Mastroianni et al.
patent: 93/01788 (1993-02-01), None

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