Abstract:
A pair of runner attachments for use in retrofitting an existing scooter into an all-season toy. The runner attachments having a runner on a lower side and are securely mounted on an upper side to the axle of the vehicle&#39;s wheel supports in a manner such that the runner is restrained from plowing into the snow or ice. The runners may be configured as a skate or ski.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a pair of runner attachments for use in converting a scooter, such as sold in the Great Scooter Craze of 2000, into a vehicle that can be used on snow or ice. 
     2. Brief Description of the Prior Art 
     An estimated 5 million scooters will be purchased in the United States in 2000. It would be desirable to retrofit these scooters into a vehicle that can be used on snow or ice, thus making them into an all-season toy. 
     Scooters previously retrofitted with skis differ structurally from the scooters which are currently popular. It is to the requirements of the current scooters that the present invention is addressed, safety being of importance. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pair of runner attachments for converting a currently popular scooter into an all-season toy. It is another object to provide a pair of runner attachments which can be securely attached to the scooter. It is also an object to provide a pair of runner attachments which are independently pivotable but which are stopped from accidentally plowing into the snow or ice and spilling a rider from the scooter. Other objects and features of the invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter. 
     A stand-up vehicle is retrofitted with a pair of runner attachments in accordance with the present invention. The vehicle is of a kind having a longitudinal horizontal footboard of such width as to support a foot of a rider with a first wheel support positioned at one end of the horizontal footboard in which is pinned an axle generally in a plane of the horizontal footboard. A vertical steering column is positioned at an opposite end of the horizontal footboard and is pivotally connected thereto. The steering column has a steering handle at an upper end thereof and a second wheel support positioned at a lower end comprising a pair of ears between which an axle is pinned generally in the plane of the horizontal footboard. 
     Each of said runner attachments has a runner on a lower side and a means for mounting on an upper side, said means securely mounting the runner attachments to the axles of the vehicle and between the ears of the second wheel support. The runner attachments are long enough to contact an underside of the horizontal footboard when the runner attachment is pivoted about the axle in one direction whereby said runner attachments convert a stand-up vehicle into a vehicle mounted on runners and restrain the runners from plowing into the snow or ice. 
     The invention summarized above comprises the constructions hereinafter described, the scope of the invention being indicated by the subjoined claims. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING 
     In the accompanying drawings, in which several of various possible embodiments of the invention are illustrated, corresponding reference characters refer to corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings in which: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a scooter retrofitted with a pair of runner attachments in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a prior art, currently popular scooter to be retrofitted in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective detail showing a prior art front wheel being removed from a lower end of a steering column; 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective detail showing a prior art rear wheel being removed from a rear end of a horizontal footboard; 
     FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective detail showing a runner attachment being mounted on a lower end of a steering column; 
     FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective detail showing a runner attachment being mounted on a rear end of a horizontal footboard; 
     FIG. 7 is a side elevation of a scooter retrofitted with runner attachments in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 8 is a side elevation of a scooter retrofitted with a second embodiment of the runner attachments in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective detail showing a runner attachment as shown in FIG. 8 being mounted on a lower end of a steering column; and, 
     FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective detail showing a runner attachment as shown in FIG. 8 being mounted on a rear end of a horizontal footboard. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the drawings more particularly by reference character, reference numeral  10  identifies a pair of runner attachments for converting a scooter  12  into a vehicle mounted on runners. As shown in FIG. 2, scooter  12  is a stand-up vehicle with a longitudinal horizontal footboard  14  of such width as to support a foot of a rider  16  (seen in FIG.  1 ). A first wheel  18  is positioned at one end of horizontal footboard  14  in a wheel support including an axle  20  generally in a plane of the horizontal footboard. As seen in FIG. 4, the rear end of horizontal footboard  14  terminates with a pair of generally horizontally extending ears  22  in which axle  20  is pinned. It will be understood that with other scooters  12 , axle  20  may be pinned in a V-shaped slot or the like provided at the rear end of horizontal footboard  14 . Axle  20  is formed from a specialized nut  24  with a threaded hollow tube extension  26  into which is received a bolt  28 . Ears  22  have coaxial bores  30  formed therethrough and are spaced apart a distance sufficient to accommodate wheel  18  on axle  20 . 
     With continuing reference to FIG. 4, a vertical steering column  32  is positioned at an opposite end of horizontal footboard  14 . Steering column  32  is pivotally connected to horizontal footboard  14  through a standard  34  which is hinged  36  to the footboard such that the steering column can be folded flat against the footboard. An upper end of standard  34  has a ferrule  38  into which steering column  32  is fastened with members  40 ,  42 . Steering column  32  is preferably hollow at an upper end to receive an extension  44  which can be adjustably held in place with a clamp  46 . This is for the purpose of adapting the height of steering column  32  to rider  16  who is to operate scooter  12 . At the top of steering column  32  is a horizontal steering handle  48 . A second wheel  50  is positioned in a wheel support at a lower end of steering column  32  including an axle  52  generally in the plane of horizontal footboard  14 . As seen in FIG. 3, the lower end of steering column  32  terminates with a pair of generally vertically depending ears  54  in which axle  52  is pinned. Ears  54  have coaxial bores  56  formed therethrough and are spaced apart a distance sufficient to accommodate axle  52  which is formed in the same manner as axle  20 . 
     Pair of runner attachments  10  are composed of first or rear runner attachment  10   a  and second or front runner attachment  10   b.  Runner attachments  10   a  and  10   b  have an upper side  60  and a lower side  62 . A runner  64  is provided on lower side  62  and a means  66  for mounting runner attachment  10  to one of axles  20 ,  52  is provided on upper side  60 . Means  66  mount runner attachment  10  such that the runner attachments are independently pivotable about axles  20 ,  52  as more particularly described below. As shown in FIG.  1  and FIG. 5-10, runner  64  is similar in configuration to ice skate blades, so that runners  64  are conveniently sharpenable by standard ice skate sharpening apparatus. It will be understood, however, that runner  64  may be configured as a ski with an elongated generally planar runner portion. In this connection U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,179,433 and 1,209,398 are incorporated by reference herein as showing runners formed as skis. Whether runner  64  is configured as a skate or a ski, it has an upturned front portion  68  to negotiate surface irregularities encountered when runner attachments  10  are in use. A rear portion  70  is also slightly curved upward to facilitate sideslipping of the runner on a surface during turning. 
     A first means  66   a  for mounting runner attachment  10  to one of axles  20 ,  52  is shown in FIGS.  1  and  5 - 7 . Means  66   a  is a tang  72  attached to upper side  60 . Tang  72  has a width at an upper end substantially the same as the thickness of first or second wheels  18 ,  50  which are removed from scooter  12  as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Tang  72  has an axial bore  74  for receipt of one of axles  20 ,  52  such that runner attachments  10  may be mounted on scooter  12  in place of wheels  18 ,  50 . A plurality of vertically spaced axial bores  74  may be provided on tang  72  to facilitate mounting runner attachments  10  to various existing scooters  12  such that horizontal footboard  14  has enough clearance above a supporting surface that scooter  12  will glide over the surface. It will be understood that this distance may have to be greater when runner  64  is a ski and scooter  12  is for use in soft snow. 
     As best seen in FIG. 7, rear portion  70  of runner attachment  10   b  is long enough to contact an underside of horizontal footboard  14  when pivoted clockwise as viewed in the drawing. As illustrated, this contact may be made with a shoe  58  provided on upper side  60 . This is a safety feature as it prevents front portion  68  of runner  64  from plowing into the snow or ice, causing scooter  12  to stop suddenly and rider  16  to fall. It will be seen that front portion  68  of rear runner attachment  10   a  is also long enough to contact an underside of horizontal footboard  14  when pivoted about axle  20  in one direction (i.e., counterclockwise as viewed in FIG.  7 ). 
     A second means  66   b  for mounting runner attachment  10  to one of axles  20 ,  52  is shown in FIGS. 8-10. As shown in these drawings, first and second wheels  18 ,  50  are not removed from scooter  12  (or if removed while runner attachments  10  are being installed on the scooter are then reattached to the scooter). Means  66   b  includes a generally semi-circular recess  76  on upper side  60  of runner attachment  10   b.  Recess  76  has a diameter substantially the same as that of one of wheels  18 ,  50 . As illustrated in the drawings, recess  76  includes a longitudinally upwardly concave wheel engaging surface  78  which is integrally formed with side members  80 , the latter members being vertically oriented. Side members  80  of runner attachment  10   b  may be notched  82  to provide relief for ears  22 . A band  84  passes over each of wheels  18 ,  50  with opposite ends attached to upper side  60  for cinching the wheels into recess  76 . As illustrated in the drawings, band  84  is an elastomeric member, opposite ends of which are pinned  86  to upper side  60 . It will be understood, however, that band  84  may take other forms such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,194,753, 3,774,926 and 3,321,211 which are incorporated by reference herein as showing bands for cinching wheels  18 ,  50  in recess  76 . 
     Runner attachments  10  as shown in FIG. 1 are attached as shown in FIGS. 5-6 after wheels  18 ,  50  have been removed as shown in FIGS. 3-4. When nut  24  and bolt  28  have a socket head, an allen or other wrench (not shown) is needed for removing wheels  18 ,  50  and attaching runner attachments  10   a.  When runner attachments  10   b  are as shown in FIG. 8, wheels  18 ,  50  may be left on scooter  12 . Wheels  18 ,  50  are slipped into recess  76  and cinched into the recess with band  84  as shown in FIGS. 9-10. 
     To operate scooter  12  on snow or ice (as shown in FIG. 1) with runner attachments  10  in place, rider  16  takes hold of steering handle  48  and puts one foot on horizontal footboard  14  directly behind standard  34  for steering column  32 . With the other foot, he pushes himself forward. For this purpose when runner  64  is a skate, rider  16  may have cleats  88  on his shoes. A few strokes with the foot will cause scooter  12  to glide rapidly over the ice or snow so that rider  16  can place both feet on horizontal footboard  14  and coast until the momentum attained has spent itself and scooter  12  slows down or stops. The operation may then be repeated until sufficient speed is again attained to permit coasting. 
     In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of the invention are achieved and other advantageous results attained. As various changes could be made in the above constructions without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.