Patent Publication Number: US-9428868-B2

Title: Trailer for a children&#39;s vehicle

Description:
The present invention relates to a trailer for a children&#39;s vehicle. The children&#39;s vehicle may be a pedal vehicle, such as a tractor provided with a foot pedal, or, however, a children&#39;s vehicle provided with a motor. 
     It is the object of the present invention to indicate a trailer for a children&#39;s vehicle which has a high play value for children. 
     This object is achieved according to the invention by the features of claim  1 . 
     Advantageous developments of the invention are characterized in the sub-claims. 
     The trailer of the invention comprises a tub for accommodating spreading material, e.g. sand or granulate of a grain size that is not too coarse. The tub is positioned on a drive casing in which a drive axle of the trailer is rotatably supported, the drive axle being connected to at least one of the two wheels seated on the axle so as to rotate therewith. The drive axle is thus rotated when the trailer is drawn by a children&#39;s vehicle. 
     A drive wheel, preferably a drive gear, which is connected to the drive axle for rotation therewith, is seated approximately in the center between the wheels of the trailer. This preferably provided drive gear meshes with a train of gears which consists of preferably five gears and the gears of which are arranged in the drive casing. Moreover, according to the invention a spreading disc is provided which preferably consists of a flat, horizontally arranged circular disc on the top side of which ribs are mounted in a star-shaped configuration, the spreading disc being rotatably coupled with the driven gear of the train of gears. 
     The spreading disc can also be coupled in a different way with the drive axle, e.g. via a chain or belt drive. 
     To avoid a possible risk of injury and damage to the spreading mechanism when the spreading disc is blocked while the driven gear is rotating, a ratchet mechanism is provided by which the spreading disc can be decoupled from the driven gear. 
     The tub of the trailer has a bottom with an exit opening for the spreading material which is arranged above the spreading disc, so that exiting spreading material falls onto the spreading disc. 
     In winter a child can e.g. protect an entrance which has been cleared of snow, but is icy and slippery, and which leads to a front door or to a sidewalk along a property, against the risk of slippage with the help of the trailer according to the invention in that the child allows spreading material to exit out of the tub of the trailer and distributes said material over the area traveled along with the children&#39;s vehicle. This playful occupation is not only interesting for children and is associated with a high play value, but it is also very useful under corresponding weather conditions. 
     The tub of the trailer consists preferably of plastics and is preferably produced in an injection molding process. The bottom of the tub is sloping in the position of use of the trailer on a horizontal area towards the exit opening, so that upon discharge of spreading material, sand or the like will always automatically and continuously be sliding towards the exit opening. 
     With great advantage it is provided that a slide is guided underneath the tub so as to be movable back and forth and the slide can close or release the exit opening. The slide is provided with a grip portion which is exposed at the drawbar side of the trailer, so that it can be easily gripped by a child sitting on the children&#39;s vehicle to close or release the exit opening of the tub, the discharged amount of spreading material being adjustable with a selected opening position. 
     The tub is provided with a removable or hinged cover, which has the advantage that in case of rainfall the spreading material remains in a dry state in the tub and does thus not clump together. 
     Ribs which are spaced apart from one another may be arranged or formed above the exit opening of the tub and form a kind of sieve, whereby the grain size of the spreading material falling out of the exit opening is limited. The free distance between the ribs is advantageously about 5 mm to 10 mm. This sieve, which may e.g. also be formed as a mesh, prevents a situation where the spreading disc positioned thereunder may get blocked by excessively coarse gravel, or the like. 
     The drive casing on which the tub is positioned is advantageously composed of a lower casing part, which may comprise fixed vertical shafts for supporting the gears of the preferably provided train of gears, of an upper cover of the lower casing part and of an upper casing part arranged thereabove, with the drive axle of the trailer being rotatably supported in the upper casing part. The individual parts of the drive casing may be locked and/or screwed together. 
     The spreading disc is expediently positioned above the cover and underneath an upper horizontal wall of the upper casing part which covers the spreading disc with an approximately semicircular contour and comprises a recess for the spreading material that is in alignment with the exit opening of the tub. The spreading disc which is preferably horizontal (in the horizontal position of use of the trailer) is connected to a vertical shaft which is coupled with the driven gear of the train of gears. 
     When the trailer is pulled by the children&#39;s vehicle, the rotation of the drive axle which is connected to a wheel or both wheels of the trailer for rotation therewith is transmitted to the gearing and from there to the spreading disc, whereby the spreading material falling thereon is radially ejected. To ensure that this will only take place towards the rearward portion of the trailer, the upper casing part comprises a downwardly bent circumferential wall which covers the rotating disc towards the front side, i.e. in the direction of the drawbar, and leaves it open towards the rear side of the tub in that a gap remains open between the circumferential wall and the spreading disc. The spreading material strikes forwardly against the circumferential wall that is enclosing the spreading disc with a minimum distance, and the material will remain positioned almost completely on the spreading disc until said disc has continued its rotation. 
     The tub is expediently locked and/or screwed to the drive casing which is also preferably made of plastics. The tub rests here in a stable state on supports laterally projecting from the drive casing. 
     It is further suggested that two spaced-apart U-shaped webs into which correspondingly shaped arms of a drawbar are preferably inserted in a form-fit manner should be arranged underneath the tub. 
     A flat transverse wall should extend between the two U-shaped webs at a distance from the bottom of the tub on which the slide is positioned that is guided between the U-shaped webs and in the recesses or slits of the drive casing. 
     The two wheels of the trailer, the gears, the drawbar and the slide are also preferably made of plastics without the invention being limited thereto. 
    
    
     
       Further details of the invention become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment and on the basis of the drawings, in which: 
         FIGS. 1A-1E  are a perspective view, a rear view, a front view, a bottom view and a side view of the trailer; 
         FIG. 2  is an exploded view of the essential parts of the trailer, partly in section; 
         FIG. 3  is a similar view as in  FIG. 2 , but with a composite drive casing; 
         FIG. 4  shows the driven gear and the spreading disc for illustrating the ratchet function thereof. 
     
    
    
     The trailer shown in  FIGS. 1A-1E  in different views comprises two wheels  1  seated on a drive axle  2 , at least one wheel  1  being connected to the drive axle  2  for rotation therewith. The axle  2  is rotatably supported in a drive casing  3  to which a tub  4  is fastened. The tub  4  has a bottom  5  sloping obliquely towards the rear side of the trailer and is closed on its top side by a removable cover  6 . 
     The tub  4  is connected to a drawbar  7  which can be coupled to a children&#39;s vehicle (not shown). The drawbar  7  comprises two laterally spaced-apart, substantially cubically shaped arms  8  that are inserted into two U-shaped webs  9  mounted on the bottom  5  of the tub  4 . 
     A slide  10  is arranged between the two arms  8  of the drawbar  7  closely underneath the bottom  5  of the tub  4  and is provided with a bent hand grip  11  which is easily gripped by a child sitting on a vehicle and is supported to be movable back and forth. A transverse wall  12  on which the slide  10  is seated is formed between the U-shaped webs  9  at a distance underneath the bottom  5  of the tub  4 . 
     As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the bottom  5  is provided on its rear edge with an exit opening  13  for spreading material (not shown) accommodated in the tub  4 . The exit opening  13  is covered by parallel ribs  14  which have a distance of about 10 mm from one another and serve as a sieve for the exiting spreading material. 
     The sieve  10  extends such that its end section  15  facing away from the hand grip  11  is closely positioned underneath the exit opening and closes said opening when the slide  10  is in the pushed-in end position. When the slide  10  is pulled on its hand grip  11  towards the drawbar  7 , the exit opening  13  is more and more released. 
     As can be seen in  FIG. 2 , the drive axle  2  has seated thereon a bevel gear  16  approximately in the center of the drive axle  2 , the bevel gear being connected to the drive axle  2  for rotation therewith. The bevel gear is meshing with a bevel gear  17  of a train of gears that additionally includes four further intermeshing gears  18  so as to form a train of gears with which a spreading disc  19  can be rotated. The gears  17 ,  18  are arranged in a lower casing part  20  that comprises vertical shaft stubs  21  for supporting the gears. 
     The gears are covered by a cover  22  of the lower casing part  20 , the cover including a recess  23  through which the bevel gear  16  gets into engagement with the bevel gear  17 . The cover  22  has an approximately semicircular section  24  with a short tubular section  25  through which a shaft of the spreading disc  19  arranged thereon is coupled with the driven gear  18   a.    
     This shaft is formed by a tubular attachment  40  which is mounted or formed on the spreading disc  19  for rotation therewith and extends from the spreading disc  19  upwards and downwards. The lower end section of the tubular attachment  40  has formed thereon teeth  41  with inclined flanks that engage into corresponding teeth  42  formed on the top side of the driven gear  18   a . The upwardly extending part of the tubular attachment  40  is tapering towards a tubular section  43  in which a coil spring  44  is inserted that is supported with its lower end in the tubular section and projects beyond the edge  45  of the tubular section  43 . 
     The spreading disc  19  is guided with the lower part of the tubular attachment  40  in the tubular section  25  of the cover  22 , and the spring  44  is supported on the bottom side of the wall  30  of the upper casing part  27 , with a distance that is greater than the height h of the teeth  41  and  42  remaining between the edge  45  of the tubular section  43  and the wall  30  of the casing part  27 . A ratchet mechanism is thereby formed that makes it possible to drivingly disconnect the spreading disc  19  from the rotating driven gear  18   a  if the gear is e.g. blocked by a finger of a playing person or by spreading material that is too coarse-grained; in this case the teeth  41  will slide upwards along the inclined flanks of the teeth  42  against the force of a spring. This prevents a possible risk of injury as well as damage to the spreading mechanism. 
     The tubular section  43  can be guided in a tubular lower attachment of the upper casing part  27 . 
     Six, slightly bent ribs  25  that are substantially arranged in a star-shaped configuration and extend up to the tubular attachment  40  are formed on the top side of the spreading disc  19 . Three short ribs  46  are formed on the bottom side of the spreading disc  19  and prevent spreading material from collecting on the semicircular section  24  and from blocking the spreading disc  19 . 
     The lower casing part  20  and the cover  22  are fastened, preferably screwed, to an upper casing part  27 . The drive axle  2  is rotatably supported in sleeve-like sections  28  of the upper casing part  27 . The upper casing part  27  comprises laterally projecting, obliquely upwardly oriented supports  29  for the tub  4  that is positioned on the top side of the upper casing part  27  and is additionally screwed and/or locked to the upper casing part  27 . The upper casing part  27  comprises an upper wall  30  with an approximately semicircular contour  31  which covers the spreading disc  19 . The upper wall  30  has formed therein an opening  32  which is in alignment with the exit opening  13  in the tub bottom  5 , so that exiting spreading material falls through the opening  32  onto the spreading disc  19  arranged thereunder. The wall  30  has a downwardly bent circumferential wall  33  and  34 . The wall section  33  ends at some distance above the spreading disc  19 , so that spreading material can be ejected towards the rear side of the trailer. The circumferential wall  34  extends further downwards. As shown in  FIG. 2 , an inner circumferential wall  35  extends approximately around the front half of the spreading disc  19  and prevents spreading material from being ejected in that direction from the spreading disc  19 . To this end the circumferential wall  35  has an only minimal distance from the edge of the spreading disc  19 . 
     The slide  10  is guided with bent sidewalls  36  in slits  37  in the front face wall  38  and on guide surfaces  39  on the top side of the upper casing part  27 .