Abstract:
A transformable baby rider which can be transformed from baby rider to a toy mower in order to help a child to learn walking. As a child reaches 1 year of age, he or she can start to learn walking by the baby rider mode. When the child grows up, the rider mode can be transformed into the toy mower mode. In doing so, the child can hold the handlebar and begin to learn independent walking.

Description:
FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY 
       [0001]    This invention relates to hand-propelled vehicles, and particularly relates to carriages for children which convert into a children&#39;s toy. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    Children can be grouped by ages. In this application, children generally refers to little boys and/or little girls preferably of the age group from 1 year old to 3 years old. Children usually begin to learn walking from 1 year of age, then graduate from such learning at 3 years of age. A baby rider is one of the popular tools adapted to help children to learn walking in the very beginning. A child rides on the baby rider and grasping the handlebar by two hands. When any of his feet abut the ground, the vehicle (the baby rider) is then pushed forward by the handlebar. In doing so, the child begins to learn walking. However, riding on such vehicle will tend to limit the child to further learn independent walking. Therefore, there must be a new tool for helping the child to upgrade his learning. 
         [0003]    Nowadays, many kinds of tools have been used to help children for independent walking. A belt around a child&#39;s breast with a handle on the back is the most simple and widely used tool. In doing so, when the child is walking, he is absolutely independent and without any support, but when he falls, the belt (or leash) will then support him. Another tool called a baby walker is a round fence with casters, the baby (little child) can sit on the belt seat which is suspended on the round fence. When he stands up, he can independently walk without any support. But when he is exhausted, he can sit down on the seat. Strictly speaking, both the leash and the baby walker do not necessarily help a child to learn independent walking, they only play a safety role for preventing the child from falling down. 
         [0004]    It is conventional knowledge that if a child is always riding on a baby rider, he will likely never learn independent walking. A growing child will quickly lose interest on a common baby rider. This is a shortcoming of all prior art baby riders. Therefore for many years, there has been a desire to have an up-graded baby rider which not only helps children learn walking in a first stage, but also helps children to learn independent walking in a successive stage. 
         [0005]    An object is to provide a baby rider which has the function of a common baby rider for helping children in their first stage learning of walking. When the children grow up, the baby rider of this invention can be transformed easily and quickly (say, in a matter of seconds) to a toy which can help the children to learn independent walking. Furthermore, the baby rider may continue to catch the attention of the children until they come into the next age group, say, 4-6 years of age. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0006]    The baby rider preferably comprises a main body including 4 wheels, a hood and motor cover and a seat with a handlebar. The hood and motor cover is pivoted at the middle of the main body. The seat is pivoted at the rear of the main body and the handlebar is pivoted at the front of the seat. For transforming the baby rider to a toy mower, the seat with its handlebar can be turned upwardly into a position which is simulating the grass collector of a mower. The handlebar can be turned into a position which is parallel to the seat. Then the hood and motor cover can be turned into the vacant space which formerly occupied by the seat for simulating the engine cover of a mower. After such transformation, a child can hold the handlebar and push the toy mower forward for practicing independent walking. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a transformable baby rider. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the baby rider of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is a front elevational view of the baby rider of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a top elevational view of the baby rider of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a toy mower which is transformed from the baby rider of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  is a side elevational view of the toy mower of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a front elevational view of the toy mower of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 8  is a top plan view of the toy mower of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 9  is a sectional view, partly in schematic, illustrating construction of a handle lock pivot (P 3 ) of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 10  is an exemplification for construction of the locking mechanism for a seat about (P 2 ) of  FIG. 5 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 11  is a fragmentary side view of an additional safety mechanism for the locking mechanism of  FIG. 10 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 12  is a circuit diagram for a representative sounder for the transformable baby rider. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0019]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a baby rider. It has a similar appearance as a prior art baby rider and also functions as any prior art baby rider. With additional reference to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4  (the side, front and top view of  FIG. 1 ), the baby rider comprises a main body  6  including four wheels  4 , a seat  3  with handlebar  2 , a hood and motor cover  1 . A baby (little child, not shown in all drawings) can ride on seat  3  with both feet touching on the ground, and both hands holding the handlebar  2 . When any of the feet abut the ground, the two hands can push the handlebar  2  to move forwardly. The vehicle (baby rider) is thus propelled. 
         [0020]    The hood  1   a  and the motor cover  1   b  can be made integrally or separately manufactured and then connected into one piece. A pair of handle lock pivots  7  being any of several prior art methods for providing two (or more) locking positions for a handlebar  2 . Similar means also used for keeping seat  3  and hood and motor cover  1  in their different positions. In this baby rider mode, the handlebar  2  is locked in a position which is perpendicular to the seat  3 . Four wheel hubs  5  are preferably used for preventing someone from accessing wheel screws (not shown) and to provide an appropriate aesthetic effect. 
         [0021]    With reference  FIG. 5 , a toy mower is transformed from the baby rider of  FIG. 1 . With additional reference to  FIG. 6 ,  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  (the side, front and top view of  FIG. 5 ), it will be apparent that all parts of  FIGS. 5 ,  6 ,  7  and  8  are the same parts used in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 ,  3  and  4 . The hood and motor cover  1  is pivoted on the middle of the main body  6  around pivot axis P 1 . The seat  3  is pivoted at the rear of the main body  6  around pivot axis P 2 , and the handlebar  2  is pivoted on the front of the seat  3  around pivot axis P 3 . In this toy mower mode, the handlebar  2  has been turned parallel to the seat  3  and self-locked in position. Therefore, in order to transform this toy mower into a baby rider, the hood and motor cover  1  should be turned counter-clockwise (as shown in  FIG. 5 ) around the pivot axis P 1  until the hood and motor cover  1  are transformed to the position shown in  FIG. 1 . Then, the handlebar  2  should be turned clockwise (as shown in  FIG. 5 ) around the pivot axis P 3  to make it perpendicular to the seat  3  as shown in  FIG. 1 . Finally, the seat  3  should be turned counter-clockwise (as shown in  FIG. 5 ) around the pivot axis P 2  until it transforms into the position shown in  FIG. 1 . When transforming from the baby rider mode into the toy mower mode, the above-mentioned steps are reversed. 
         [0022]    No matter whether this invention is in its baby rider mode or in its toy mower mode, additional accessories can be added for enhancing aesthetic effects. For example, in the baby rider mode, headlights, sounder (for simulating the sound of a motor), etc. can be added. In the toy mower mode, the same sounder can also be added. 
         [0023]    In the toy mower mode, the child can learn independent walking with his hand/hands holding the handlebar  2 . When he is tired, the toy mower can be transformed into the baby rider mode in few seconds for taking a rest. Thus, the product can provide two different modes to a child throughout the ages of approximately 1-year-old to 3 years old. Therefore, the product may not only save the money, but also economize on the space for storing toys. 
         [0024]      FIG. 9  is a sectional drawing of handle lock pivot  7 . The center line P 3  is the axis around which the handle  2  pivots. The handle lock pivot  7  comprises an inner gear  91 , an inner gear  92  and a pinion  93  meshing with both inner gear  91  and inner gear  92 . So in  FIG. 9 , three gears  91 ,  92  and  93  are in an engaged meshed condition. That is, there is no relative movement between gear  91  and gear  92 . If the pinion  93  is pushed by button  94  to the left, the pinion  93  disengages from the inner gear  92 , so the inner gear  92  can rotate freely. The handle  2  connected the inner gear  92  can be rotated to any intended position. Then, the button  94  is relieved. This will cause the pinion to return to its original position, that is, to mesh both gear  91  and  92  and once again rotatably lock them. In normal use, there are two buttons  94  that should be pressed simultaneously. Any young child cannot do this operation; this operation only can be done by a big child or an adult. 
         [0025]    In  FIG. 9 , two springs (one pushing the pinion to the right and one pushing the button to right) are not shown.  95  is a stud integral to the inner gear  91 . Stud  95  is used to keep inner gear  92  in position. Washer  96  and screw  97  are used for retaining the inner gear  92  on the stud  95 . The button  94  has two split legs as can be seen in its perspective view. The legs are pressed inwardly and inserted into matched slots of inner gear  92 . Since the legs expand outwardly when the pressure is released, the rim  98  of the legs then abut the edge of the slot and can not be push out by the spring. 
         [0026]    In this embodiment, since the number of teeth of any gear is usually over one dozen, the user can set the handle  2  at almost any intended angle. That is, the adjustment is almost continuous. 
         [0027]    The embodiment of  FIG. 10  is for pivot axis P 2 . All parts are similar to  FIG. 9  except two inner gears  91  and  92  are replaced by two inner rimmed cups  91 ′ and  92 ′ and pinion  93  is replaced by slotted circular plate  93 ′. Use of the rim and the slot for replacing the gear teeth simplifies the construction greatly. Therefore, the cost will be less than that for the embodiment in  FIG. 9 . 
         [0028]    In  FIG. 10 , this construction is used for seat  3 . The loading of seat  3  is much heavier than the handle  2 . Therefore, it is better to use an additional safety means to keep the seat  3  in its seating position. Therefore,  FIG. 11  shows a metal strip  111  with hook head on the top, and a pivot  112  on the middle. There is a push button  113  located on the lower back portion of the body  6 . Once the button  113  is pushed, the metal strip  111  will rotate around the pivot  112  and cause the hook head of the strip  111  to release the seat  3 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 12  is a representative circuit diagram for a sounder. The sounder  120  can be installed in the place shown in  FIG. 6 . Of course, any convenient location can also be selected. The sounder comprises an IC (SNC12030), a speaker, several LED bulbs, a motor and four push buttons. When this baby rider is in a rider mode, the baby can touch three push buttons. When the first button is pressed, the speaker will play surrounding noise (such as dog barks, bird chirps, people talk, etc) for 20 seconds. This simulates that this vehicle (the baby rider) is in an open air environment. When the second button is pressed, the speaker will play sound of a motor starting, and the baby rider vibrates (caused by the motor), and LED bulbs flash. This simulates the vehicle is starting and also ends in 20 seconds. When the third button is pressed, the speaker will play a sound of a horn, and the headlight will light. This action will terminate in 3 seconds. The time lines are generally desirable. Four AA size batteries will likely be exhausted in approximately 10 hours if any of the buttons are continuously pressed. 
         [0030]    When this baby rider is in its toy mower mode, the above mentioned three buttons are untouchable. The fourth button is now touchable. When the fourth button is pressed, the speaker will play the sound of a motor for 4 seconds, followed by a song. Then the sickle will rotate (by the motor), and LED bulbs flash, for a total of 12 seconds.