Abstract:
A scooter which includes a base, front and rear wheels near respective opposed ends of the base, an upwardly extending support, a seat at an upper end of the support, structure, at a lower end of the support, which includes at least first and second relatively moveable formations which are respectively engageable with third and fourth formations on the base, and an actuator for causing relative movement of the first and second formations thereby to secure the structure to the base.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     This invention relates to a scooter which, in this specification, is intended to include a multi-wheeled device, whether of two, or more, wheels.  
         [0002]     Small scooters which may be driven by petrol engines or electric motors currently enjoy widespread popularity. Some of these scooters are designed to include seats to facilitate user comfort. A practical problem which arises however when a scooter has a seat is that the space required for storing the scooter is increased.  
       SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
       [0003]     The invention provides a scooter which includes a base, front and rear wheels near respective opposed ends of the base, an upwardly extending support, a seat at an upper end of the support, structure, at a lower end of the support, which includes at least first and second relatively movable formations which are respectively engageable with third and fourth formations on the base, and an actuator for causing relative movement of the first and second formations thereby to secure the structure to the base.  
         [0004]     The actuator may be provided on one or more of the base, a suitable part of the structure, and the support.  
         [0005]     Preferably the first and second relatively movable formations are respectively first and second hook-shaped formations which are respectively engageable with the third and fourth formations on the base.  
         [0006]     In one form of the invention the third and fourth formations on the base are respective apertures with which the hook-shaped formations are respectively engageable.  
         [0007]     Preferably the structure includes a locking member which is pivotally mounted to the support and which includes the first relatively movable formation, and a second member which includes the second relatively movable formation.  
         [0008]     The actuator may be operable to cause the locking member to pivot relatively to the support and to the second member.  
         [0009]     The actuator may be of any suitable kind. It may for example be a pressure lever, eg. of an over-centre design so that, when pressed down, it causes the locking member to engage securely with the base.  
         [0010]     Preferably, though, the actuator includes a screw device which is threadedly engaged with at least one of the locking member and the support.  
         [0011]     According to a different aspect of the invention there is provided a scooter which includes a base, front and rear wheels near respective opposed ends of the base, an upwardly extending support, a seat at an upper end of the support, a load transferring structure, at a lower end of the support, which bears against an upper surface of the base, at least two spaced formations on the load transferring structure which are respectively engageable with two complementary formations on the base, a locking member which is mounted for movement relatively to the support and which has at least one formation which is engageable with a complementary formation on the base, and an actuator for causing movement of the locking member relatively to the support thereby to secure the locking member and the load transferring structure to the base.  
         [0012]     Preferably the load transferring structure includes a plate which bears on the upper surface of the base and the two spaced formations are hook-shaped formations on the plate, and the two complementary formations on the base are two respective apertures.  
         [0013]     The invention also provides a scooter which includes a base, front and rear wheels near respective opposed ends of the base, an upwardly extending support, a seat at an upper end of the support, two webs which are fixed to a lower end of the support, a plate which is fixed to the webs and which bears on an upper surface of the base, the plate having two spaced hook-shaped formations which are respectively engageable with apertures in the base, a locking member which is pivotally secured to the base and which is engageable with a complementary formation on the base, and an actuator which is operable to move the locking member relatively to the plate thereby to secure the plate and the locking member to the base.  
         [0014]     In a variation the plate is formed with holes and the base has hook-shaped formations which are engageable therewith. Similarly the locking member may have a hole which is engageable with a suitable formation on the base. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]     The invention is further described by way of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a side view of a scooter which includes a seat arrangement according to the invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a side view of a lower end of the seat arrangement shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0018]      FIGS. 3 and 4  are perspective views from the front and rear respectively of the lower end of the seat arrangement, as shown in  FIG. 2 , engaged with a base of the scooter; and  
         [0019]     FIGS.  5  to  8  respectively illustrate possible variations of the invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0020]      FIG. 1  of the accompanying drawings illustrates a scooter  10 , according to the invention, which includes an elongate base or chassis  12 , a front wheel  14 , a steering arrangement  16  fixed to the front wheel, a rear wheel  18 , an engine  20  for driving the rear wheel through a suitable drive arrangement or gear box  22 , and a seat arrangement  24 , near a rear end of the scooter, which extends upwardly from the base.  
         [0021]     The seat arrangement  24 , as is shown in further detail in  FIGS. 2, 3  and  4 , includes an upwardly extending support  26 , which is formed from a length of pipe which has a bend  28  at a lower end. The bend defines a forwardly extending section  30 , and load transferring structure  32  is fixed to a lower end of this section.  
         [0022]     The load transferring structure  32  includes a brace component  34  formed from two outwardly extending braces or webs  36  and  38  respectively and a transverse plate  40  which is fixed to lower ends of the webs  36  and  38  and which includes hook-shaped formations  42  and  44  respectively at opposed ends.  
         [0023]     A locking member  46  which includes components  48 A and  48 B respectively are located on opposing sides of the section  30  and are pivotally engaged therewith by means of a rod  50  which passes through registering holes which are formed in the components and in the section. A bridging piece  52  extends between upper ends of the hook-shaped components  48 A and  48 B. An actuator  53  in the form of a bolt  54  passes through a hole in the bridging piece and is threadedly engaged with a nut  56  which is fixed to the section  30 . The bolt is rotatable in either direction, according to requirement, by means of a knob  58  secured to an outer projecting end of the bolt.  
         [0024]     As is evident from  FIGS. 3 and 4  the base or chassis  12  of the scooter, in this example, is formed from a sheet material with a plurality of apertures. The hook-shaped formations  42  and  44  on the plate  40  can be inserted into respective apertures  62  and  64 . The hook-shaped components  48 A and  48 B are engageable with a single aperture  66  when the bolt  54  is loosened in a direction which allows limited movement of upper ends of the hook-shaped components in a direction  68 , which is away from the section  30 , see  FIG. 2 . If the bolt is tightened by rotating the knob  58  then the degree of relative movement is restricted and is for practical purposes eliminated thereby ensuring the various formations  42 ,  44 ,  48 A and  48 B remain engaged respectively with the apertures  62 ,  64  and  66 .  
         [0025]     The seat arrangement is readily attached to the base  12 , or detached from the base, when required, simply by rotating the bolt  54  in one direction or in an opposing direction. The plate  40  and the divergent webs  36  and  38 , together with the forwardly extending section  30 , impart a distributed load-transferring arrangement from the support  26  to the base. The result is that the seat arrangement is rigidly attached to the base and there is no lost motion between the base and the support  26 .  
         [0026]     FIGS.  5  to  8  illustrate possible variations to the principles described thus far.  
         [0027]      FIG. 5  is a cross sectional side view of a modified base  12 A and a modified structure  32 A. The plate  40  is replaced by a plate  40 A with holes, only one of which marked  44 A is visibly, instead of the hook-shaped formations  42  and  44 . Conversely the base has hook-shaped formations, again only one of which marked  64 A is shown in place of the apertures  62  and  64 . The locking member  46 A is similarly modified in that each of the components  48 A and  48 B is replaced by a component  48 D with a foot  48 E in which is formed a hole  48 F which is engageable with a hook-shaped formation  66 A on the base. The actuator  53  has the nut  56  fixed to the member  46 A and a leading end of the bolt  54  bears against a flat surface of the support  26 .  
         [0028]     Clearly, by rotating the actuator  53  the plate  40 A and the locking member  46 A can be moved apart so that the structure  32 A is releasably, yet securely, fixed to the base  12 A.  
         [0029]     The arrangement in  FIG. 6  is similar to the arrangement in  FIG. 5  except that the orientations of the formations  64 A and  66 A are reversed. In contrast to the process adopted with the  FIG. 5  arrangement the locking member  46 A is moved towards (and not away from) the plate  40 A to fix the structure  32 B to the base  12 A.  
         [0030]      FIG. 7  shows structure  32  which is similar to that shown in  FIG. 5  wherein the actuator designated  53 A has a bolt  54  which is threadedly engaged with a nut  56 A fixed to the locking member, and which bears against the webs  36  and  38 . If the actuator is rotated in one direction the locking member and the plate  40  are moved apart, and are thereby securely fixed to the base, while counter-rotation of the actuator releases the seat arrangement from the base.  
         [0031]      FIG. 8  shows an over-centre actuator  53 B which replaces the screw device  53 . The actuator  53 B has two levers  53 C and  53 D respectively which are pivotally attached to the section  30  and the locking member  46  at points  70  and  72  respectively, and to each other at a point  74 . If the lever  53 C is pushed down, in the direction of an arrow  76 , pressure is applied to the locking member, a lower end of which moves in a direction  78  into secure engagement with the base, while the section  30 , and hence the plate  40 , are moved in the opposite direction thereby to secure the seat arrangement to the base. The lever  53 B, when moved to an over-centre position, locks in position yet is readily released, when required, by lifting the free end of the lever away from the section  30 .