Patent Publication Number: US-2009230648-A1

Title: Foldable scooter

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a foldable scooter. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     There are numerous foldable scooter, for example, the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,270,095B1 and 6,234,501B1. The main disadvantage of these two cited arts is that the folding mechanism is located on the footboard and is exposed to the outside, which can be easily activated by the user when riding the scooter by accident. The location of the mounting seats on the footboard also cause inconvenience to the user when riding the scooter. The mounting seats being exposed will easily injure the user when accident occurs. 
     The mounting seats in U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,405B1 are covered by a connector plate, but the slots on the plate is a dangerous feature as the user may inadvertently place the finger in the slot when folding the scooter, and be injured by the flanges moving in the slots. 
     There is another foldable scooter existing in the market as shown in  FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b . The disadvantage of this foldable scooter is that such folding assembly contains many open slots  910 ,  920 ,  930  for the corresponding parts to slide therein or to provide space for the folding, which cause potential hazards to the user when folding the scooter. The user may accidentally place the finger in one of the slots  910 ,  920 ,  930  and be injured when the scooter is being folded. 
     The lever  940  being located on the upper surface of the footboard also cause inconvenience to the user when riding the scooter. When riding the scooter, the user may accidentally kick the lever and cause the scooter to collapse to the folded condition. The footboard should be kept free from any mechanical parts. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an objective of the present invention to provide an improved foldable scooter which is more safe and convenient to the user. 
     The scooter of the present invention includes a footboard, a steering column and a connecting member in between. The connecting member includes an elongated housing with an upper covering surface and two mounting seats at the rear portion, a pushing member pivotally disposed between said mounting seats, a lever pivotally connected to the rear portion of the housing for moving the pushing member. The lever is shielded substantially by the housing under the upper covering surface. The connecting member further includes a positioning member connected to a biasing device disposed at the front end of the footboard for biasing the positioning member against the mounting seats. 
     An advantage of the present invention is that the lever of the scooter of the present invention is disposed substantially inside the housing of the connecting member and is shielded by the housing. The pulling handle for pulling the lever is located on the connecting member and is distant from the footboard. 
     Another advantage is that the pushing member is designed not to have any sharp edges exposed to the outside. The pushing member includes a first lump and a second lump for respectively disengaging the positioning member from the mounting seats when opening and folding the scooter. The pushing member has a smooth, wide and curved surface without any sharp edges exposed to the outside to eliminate any potential injury to be caused to the user when accident occurs. The pushing member is disposed between the mounting seats with an outer exposed surface at the same level of or at a slightly higher level than the adjacent mounting seats to prevent the mounting seats from sticking out which causes potential danger to the user. 
     In the present invention, the main parts involved in the folding mechanism including the lever, the positioning member and the biasing device are all substantially shielded from the outside. 
     The present invention eliminates most of the slots and open spaces from exposing to the outside, which may cause injury to the user during the opening and folding of the scooter. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying figures, wherein: 
         FIG. 1   a  is a perspective view of a foldable scooter currently available in the market. 
         FIG. 1   b  is a partial perspective view of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 1   a.    
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of an embodiment of this invention. 
         FIG. 3  is another perspective view of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2  in the open condition. 
         FIG. 5  is a side view of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2  in the folded condition. 
         FIG. 6  is an explosive view of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 7  is a side view of the mounting seat of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 8  is a side view of the pushing member of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 9  is a side view of the lever of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIG. 10  illustrates the assembly of the connecting member, the pushing member and the mounting seat of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2 . 
         FIGS. 11   a - e  illustrate the corresponding positions of the pushing member, the lever and the positioning member with respect to the mounting seat of the foldable scooter in  FIG. 2  between the open and folded conditions. 
         FIG. 12  is a perspective bottom view of the positioning member in the footboard of  FIG. 2 . 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2-5 , a preferred embodiment of the present invention is a scooter  10  including a footboard  100 , a steering column  200  and a connecting member  300  connecting the footboard  100  to the steering column  200 . 
     The connecting member  300  has a front portion  310  rotatably connected to the steering column  200 , a rear portion  350  pivotally connected to a front end  110  of the footboard  100  and an elongated housing  320  in between the front portion  310  and the rear portion  350 . The front portion  310 , for example, is a cylindrical hollow column surrounding a lower portion  210  of the steering column  200  such that the steering column  200  can be turned freely inside the front portion  310 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the housing  320  has an upper covering surface  322  and two walls  324  on the side. The rear portion  350  includes two mounting seats  360  extended from the side walls  324 . Each mounting seat  360  contains a first pivot hole  363  for pivotally connecting to the front end  110  of the footboard  100 , and a first notch  361  and a second notch  362  for receiving and engaging with a positioning member  400  respectively in the open condition and the folded condition of the scooter  10 . The positioning member  400 , for example, may be a positioning shaft. 
     The positioning member  400  is connected to a first biasing device, for example, a spring  410  disposed at the front end  110  of the footboard  100 . The spring  410  biases the positioning member  400  against the mounting seats  360  to lock the positioning member  400  in the first notch  361  and the second notch  362 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  6 ,  8  and  10 , a pushing member  370  is disposed in the housing  320  at the rear portion  350  between the mounting seats  360  for disengaging the positioning member  400  from the mounting seats  360 . The pushing member  370  has a smooth and curved outer surface  376  with a first lump  371  and a second lump  372  for pushing the positioning member  400  away from the mounting seats  360 , and a first groove  381  and a second groove  382  for engaging with the positioning member  400 . The first groove  381  and the second groove  382  are positioned and configured to match with the shape of the mounting seats  360  and the positions of the first notch  361  and the second notch  362 . A second pivot hole  373  on the pushing member  370  is pivotally connected to the front end  110  of the footboard  100 . 
     In the open condition, the outer surface  376  of the pushing member  370  positioned between the upper exposed portions  365  of the mounting seats  360  is at the same level of or at slightly higher level than the upper exposed portions  365 , such that the exposed portions  365  do not stick out to cause danger to the user. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 ,  8 ,  9  and  10 , the pushing member  370  also includes a cavity  375  for receiving a push portion  392  of a lever  390 . The push portion  392  is shielded in the cavity  375 . The push portion  392  has a similar shape as the pushing member  370 , having a first notch  393 , a second notch  394  which match with the corresponding first groove  381  and second groove  382  of the pushing member  370 , and a first flange  395  and a second flange  396  which match with the corresponding first lump  371  and second lump  372 , so that the force from the lever  390  can be applied evenly on the pushing member  370 . 
     The lever  390  has a lever portion  398  opposite to the push portion  392  for the user to apply force to operate the pushing member  370 . A third pivot hole  397  is formed on the lever  390 . In the embodiment, the lever portion  398  extends beyond an open slot  325  on the upper covering surface  322  of the housing  320 , for connecting with a pulling handle  326 . The lever portion  398  is movable along the open slot  325  when the pulling handle  326  is pulled by the user. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , a second biasing device for example, a spring  391  connects the lever portion  398  to a lower plate  328  of the housing  320 . The spring  391  returns the lever portion  398  to the original position in the housing  320  after being pulled by the user. 
     As shown in  FIG. 11   a , in the open condition of the scooter  10 , the positioning member  400  is engaged in the first notch  361  of the mounting seats  360  and the first groove  381  of the pushing member  370 , such that the positioning member  400  is locked on the mounting seats  360 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 11   b , when the user pulls the pulling handle  326 , the push portion  392  of the lever  390  causes the pushing member  370  to rotate pivotally and the first lump  371  to push the positioning member  400  away and disengage from the first notch  361  of the mounting seats  360 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 11   c , the footboard  100  is folded toward the steering column  200  until the positioning member  400  is engaged with the second notch  362  and the second groove  382  in the folded condition and locked therein. The spring  391  is stretched when the pulling handle  326  is pulled, and is compressed to return the lever portion  398  to the original position in the housing  320  in the folded condition. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 11   d  and  11   e , to open the scooter  10  from the folded condition, the user pulls the pulling handle  326  to rotate the push portion  392  of the lever  390  pivotally and causes the second lump  372  of the pushing member  370  to push the positioning member  400  away and disengage from the second notch  362  of the mounting seats  360 . The footboard  100  and the steering column  200  are unfolded until the positioning member  400  is engaged with the first notch  361  and the first groove  381  in the open condition and locked therein as shown in  FIG. 10   a . The spring  391  is stretched when the pulling handle  326  is pulled, and is compressed to return the lever portion  398  to the original position in the housing  320  in the open condition. 
     The lower plate  328  of the housing  320  shields the pushing member  370  and the push portion  392  of the lever  390  to prevent the user from accidentally inserting the finger from below the housing  320  when opening or unfolding the scooter  10 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 12 , two elongated supporting members  140  extend from a bottom surface  135  of the footboard  100  for supporting the footboard  100  against the weight of the user. At the front end  110 , a fourth pivot hole  115  is formed on the supporting member  140 . A pivotal pin  118  is disposed though the first, second, third and fourth pivot holes  363 ,  373 ,  397 ,  115  for joining the footboard  100 , the connecting member  300 , the pushing member  370  and the lever  390  together. 
     A slit  150  is disposed on each supporting member  140  for receiving the ends  402  of the positioning member  400  so that the positioning member  400  can be slidably moved along the slits  150  when operating between the open and folded conditions. 
     The body portion  405  of the positioning member  400 , for example the middle portion, is attached to an end  422  of a first pin  420 . The first pin  420  is slidably disposed through a hole  435  in a body portion  432 , for example the middle portion, of a second pin  430 , which has two ends  433 ,  434  each attached to the corresponding supporting member  140 . A case  440  is attached to the supporting member  140  for shielding the positioning member  400 , the first and second pins  420 ,  430  and the spring  410 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 3 , a rear wheel  130  and a fender  132  for braking the rear wheel  130  are attached to the rear end  120  of the footboard  100 . The steering column  200  may be telescopic for reducing the height when folding. A front wheel  222  is attached to the lower end  220  of the steering column  200 . A steering handle  242  is attached to the upper end  230  of the steering column  200 . The steering handle  242  may be detached and mounted on a clip  245  attached to the steering column  200  in the folded condition. 
     The embodiments described in this specification and the contents disclosed therein are provided by way of illustration only. The invention can be applied equally well on other types of foldable scooter. 
     While the invention has been described in detail with reference to disclosed embodiments, various modifications within the scope of the invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in this technological field. It is to be appreciated that features described with respect to one embodiment typically may be applied to other embodiments.