Abstract:
A manually-driven hand-navigable wheel toy comprising a handle with a fork portion comprises at least two prongs that rests on a wheel and which enables and guides the wheel&#39;s motion during the operation. The at least two prongs straddle the wheel rim with the fork portion being in contact with the outer portion of the wheel rim during operation. The wheel is set in motion via, for example, a forward push of the wheel through the handle and is kept steadily moving toward a desired direction by steering the wheel with the aid of the at least two prongs of the fork portion of the handle. The wheel toy further comprises lights such as blinking LED lights located along various sections of the toy.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]    The present application is based on, and claims the benefits of priority of U.S. application Ser. No. 62/016,762, filed on Jun. 25, 2014, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the invention 
         [0003]    This invention relates to a handle-navigable rolling wheel toy. 
         [0004]    2. Background Art 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 2,253,030 discloses a toy comprising a wheel pushable with a handle on which various toys can be attached and wherein the handle is connected to the wheel&#39;s hub. 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,791 discloses a single-wheel push or pull toy comprising a hollow cylinder, two circular discs mounted-on either end of hollow cylinder, wherein the handle for pushing or pulling is connected to the smaller cylinder positioned off-center within the larger cylinder. 
         [0007]    “Having Fun the Traditional Way” reference shows two images in which one and two boys, respectively, are shown with a traditional toy in which a wheel (which does not appear to have any spokes) is pushed using a stick. The images do not clearly show how the stick is connected to the wheel, but the image that shows two boys pushing his own push-wheel toy seems to suggest a stick having a hook-like design to keep the wheel in motion. 
         [0008]    Other push-wheel type toys have also been previously disclosed, but they comprise a wheel hub to which the handle is directly connected. For example, the reference entitled “Plastic Pushing Wheel” reference discloses a toy consisting of a single wheel in which the handle for pushing the wheel, which is shown as having 3 spokes, is connected to the wheel&#39;s hub. 
         [0009]    Another reference entitled “Rare Vintage Hand Push One Wheel Cultivator” discloses not a toy, but a farm implement, in which the handle is also attached to the wheel&#39;s hub, wherein the wheel has multiple spokes. The portion of the handle that connects to the hub also connects on the other end to a Y-shaped metal bar, with two ends connected to the wooden handle, and the other hand being connected directly to the cultivator. 
         [0010]    The reference entitled “Having Fun the Traditional Way” shows two images in which one and two boys, respectively, are shown with a traditional toy in which a wheel, which does not appear to have any spokes, is pushed using a stick. The images do not clearly show how the stick is connected to the wheel, but the image that shows two boys pushing their own push-wheel toy seems to suggest a stick having a hook-like design to keep the wheel in motion. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0011]    The present invention relates to a manually-driven hand-navigable wheel toy comprising a handle with a fork portion comprising at least two prongs that rests on a wheel which enables and guides the wheel&#39;s motion during the operation. The at least two prongs straddle the wheel rim with the fork portion being in contact with the outer portion of the wheel rim during operation. The wheel is set in motion via, for example, a forward push of the wheel through the handle and is kept steadily moving towards a desired direction by steering the wheel with the aid of the at least two prongs of the fork portion of the handle. The wheel toy may further comprise a transparent hollow tubular wheel that may contain multi-colored objects such as plastic balls or may further comprise lights such as blinking LED lights located along various sections of the toy. 
     
    
     
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
         [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention that comprises a transparent tubular wheel comprising multi-colored objects. 
           [0013]      FIG. 2  shows an embodiment of the present invention that comprises a solid semiflat wheel with lights. 
           [0014]      FIG. 3A  illustrates another embodiment of the present invention comprising two wheels connected to a single handle. 
           [0015]      FIG. 3B  shows the handle portion of the two-wheel embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3C  shows the fork portion of the handle shown in  FIG. 3B . 
           [0017]      FIG. 4A-4F  illustrates the various embodiments of the handle of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 5A  illustrates an embodiment of the fork portion without a clip-lock. 
           [0019]      FIG. 5B-5E  shows the fork portion of the present invention viewed from different perspectives. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6A-6D  illustrates the various embodiments of the wheel of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0021]      FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4  describes an embodiment of the present invention comprising a system for monitoring and controlling climate and moisture in a beehive. An assembly of top section where ventilation fans are located according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to  FIG. 1 . 
         [0022]    The present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements. 
         [0023]      FIG. 1  shows hand-driven rolling toy comprising at least one wheel  114 ; a handle  110  for pushing or pulling the wheel; and a fork portion  112  in contact with the wheel for enabling and guiding the wheel&#39;s motion, wherein the fork portion comprises at least two prongs, the two prongs are on opposite sides of a wheel rim, the fork portion of the handle rests on the outer surface of the wheel during operation, the two prongs are separated by a length preferably only slightly wider than the wheel&#39;s rim to enable wheel motion with minimal wheel wobbling, and the forks allows the wheel to be navigated in any direction preferably with a slight twisting hand motion, and wherein the wheel&#39;s motion can be reduced or stopped by a twisting hand motion or by pressing one of the forks downwards against the wheel rim. 
         [0024]    In the embodiment of the invention as shown in  FIG. 1 , the wheel comprises transparent cylindrical tube with a hollow inner portion that can accommodate small objects such as one or more multi-colored balls  116  that can roll inside the wheel during operation. The one or more multi-colored balls preferably generate light or sound when the wheel moves. Other types of objects may be placed inside the wheel. For example, the wheel may contain a brightly-colored liquid such as a liquid with a neon green or fluorescent orange dye. The brightly-colored liquid may also contain multi-colored objects such as multicolored plastic balls. Other items, such as, glitters of various colors may also be added to make the wheel more attractive to children. 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  shows an embodiment of the present invention that comprises a solid semiflat wheel  214  with lights  216 . In one exemplary embodiment, the toy comprises one or more lights along the handle or in the inner portion of the wheel. The one or more lights may comprise light emitting diodes and wherein the one or more lights may comprise multicolored blinking lights. For example, the wheel may comprise any number of different battery-powered LED lamps with different colors that blink while the wheel rotates. Thus, in one embodiment of the present invention, the individual lamps are installed adjacent each other to form a continuous ring of light that may be of the same color, but most preferably of different colors. In another embodiment of the invention, the inner portion of the wheel comprises a single continuous strip of LED light array. Commercially available batteries, such as lithium batteries, are preferably used to power the lights. In a most preferred embodiment of the invention, the handle comprises a switch that allows the toy user to turn on or off all, or at least some, of the lights. 
         [0026]    In another preferred embodiment, the lights are motion-activated so that the wheel&#39;s rotation activates the blinking of the lights. In another embodiment, the individual lamps may have their own separate switch for turning on and off. The lights may be attached to the wheel toy using various methods including using a double-sided tape, adhesives, screws, etc. In still another embodiment, the wheel may also include other implements such as bells and other music- or sound-playing implements that are activated via either a switch or some other mechanisms such as a motion sensing switch. Thus, in one preferred embodiment, the wheel&#39;s motion is accompanied by both lights and sounds. 
         [0027]      FIG. 3A  illustrates still another embodiment of the invention in which the toy comprises two wheels  316  that are connected by a bar  312  that connect each fork portion of the separate wheels. In this embodiment, the handle is connected to the center of the bar that connects the two wheels. As in the single-wheel embodiment of the present invention, the present invention&#39;s two-wheel toy&#39;s motion can be preferably controlled via the toy user&#39;s hand-twisting motion towards a desired direction. 
         [0028]      FIG. 3B  shows the handle portion of the two-wheel embodiment of the present invention, while  FIG. 3C  shows the fork portion of the handle shown in  FIG. 3B . 
         [0029]      FIGS. 4A-4F  illustrates the various embodiments of the handle corresponding to a single-wheel embodiment of the present invention. In a most preferred embodiment of the invention, the toy&#39;s handle is curved, such as the embodiment shown in  FIG. 4A and 4B  although it is also possible for the handle to be substantially straight such as the one shown at the bottom portion of  FIG. 4E-4F . The end of the handle that the toy user uses to grasp the toy&#39;s handle with a hand to control the wheel can be of any shape that is preferably ergonomically-designed to allow for comfortable control of the wheel. For example, the end of the handle that the user grasps during the toy operation may be made of foam, rubber, polymer or plastic such as polypropylene, or some combination of materials. The handle itself is preferably made of polymer typically used in plastic toys, but other types of materials such as wood, aluminum, or fiberglass, for example, may also be used, 
         [0030]    In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the wheel is navigated via the at least two prongs of the fork portion of the handle,  FIG. 5A  illustrates an embodiment of fork portion without a clip-lock. 
         [0031]    As shown in  FIGS. 1 ,  2 , and  3 A the two prongs preferably straddle the wheel rim and allow the wheel to be controlled by a twisting motion of the hand during operation of the toy. The preferred separation between the two prongs is such that the prongs can easily control the wheel motion using the handle. In the most preferred embodiment, the two prongs are separated by a distance that is sufficiently wide to allow a smooth, unimpeded motion of the wheel, but which is also sufficiently narrow to maintain wheel stability during motion. 
         [0032]    In another embodiment of the invention, the two prongs&#39; ends are connected via, for example, a detachable snap-on connector or a clip-lock to prevent separation of the wheel from the handle during operation.  FIGS. 5B-5E  show the fork portion  510  with a clip-lock viewed from different perspectives. A clip-lock or snap on connector  512  may be made, for example, of a small piece of plastic such as a plastic rod with spherical bulbous ends that can be pushed into a portion of the fork that allows that clip-lock to snap in place and prevent the separation of the wheel from the handle during use. 
         [0033]    In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the horizontal prong-connecting portion of the fork portion that connects the prongs has a length that can be adjusted and set in a selected fixed position to accommodate different wheel diameters. The wheel of the present invention comprises any substantially round object., 
         [0034]    In one embodiment of the invention, the wheel has an essentially flat profile along its cross section. Alternatively, the wheel may be semi-circular or cylindrical. In another embodiment, the wheel may comprise a depression in the middle portion of the wheel&#39;s cross-section.  FIG. 6A-6D  illustrates various embodiments of the wheel of the present invention comprising different light configurations, wherein the lights, such as LED lamps, are attached to the inner side of the wheel. 
         [0035]    Both the wheel and handle may be made of various types of materials, preferably plastic, but other types of materials such as fiberglass, wood, acrylic, metal such as aluminum, etc. may also be used. Both the wheel and handle may be hollow or solid, or either one may be hollow or solid. For example, the wheel may be made of either a hollow or a solid polymer commonly used in plastic toys. In all embodiments of the present invention, the wheel and handle must be sufficiently rigid to prevent deformation of the wheel and handle during use. 
         [0036]    The wheel preferably has dimensions of 16″ and 24″ for the wheel and handle, respectively. In another preferred embodiment, the toy has a dimension of 16″ and 20″ for the wheel and handle, respectively. In a highly-preferred embodiment of the invention, the wheel preferably has a thickness of about ¼″ and 2″ width. But other combination of dimensions may be also used. 
         [0037]    Other embodiments of the present invention may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention. 
         [0038]    Having illustrated and described the principles of the present invention in a preferred embodiment, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiment can be modified in arrangement and detail without departing from such principles. Any and all such embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the following claims.