Patent Abstract:
A rotatable pedestal for allowing single riders such as a child to use their body weight to cause a rotatable disc seat to rotate over a sloped surface on a support stand. Springs within the stand cause the seat to rotate in an erratic and jumpy manner while the seat goes from a horizontal position to tilted positions of up to approximately 20 degrees and back to a horizontal positions. The pedestal is small enough and light enough to be portable and strong enough for most children up to the age of approximately 12 years old.

Full Description:
This invention relates to toys, and in particular to a rotatable pedestal toy having a disc seat with handles for supporting a child that rotates over an uneven surface of a base allowing the child to tilt up and down while spinning in a circle. 
     BACKGROUND AND PRIOR ART 
     Children enjoy spinning about in circles for fun and have tried to enjoy this pleasure by either spinning about in circles or using some type of device to get the effect. For example, children have been known to spin around using chairs with swivel bases. However, most chairs are intended for office type use and are not intended to be used as a playtoy. For example, most toys have a back support or both a back support and armrests, and are intended by their use to be used with tables. Additionally, it can be dangerous to spin on chairs where the rotating causes the chair to disengage from the base. Thus, chairs with swivel bases are not a practical device for children to play on. 
     It is known that many community playgrounds have rotatable equipment for children to play on. However, these types of playground equipment can generally, be large, heavy and expensive devices that must be permanently anchored to the ground in order to be used. Additionally, these types of playground equipment are generally limited to only allowing the child to rotate in one horizontal plane always being continuously parallel to the ground. Thus, the large cumbersome playground equipment would not be suitable for a single child to play on, and would not be portable, and would also not be inexpensive enough to be sold in most stores. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The first objective of this invention is to have a rotatable pedestal that allows a single child user to rotate in a horizontal uneven plane. 
     The second objective of this invention is to have a rotatable pedestal for children that is both portable, lightweight and inexpensive to manufacture. 
     The third objective of this invention is to have a rotatable pedestal for children having a flat surface seat area with handgrips inside the seat but without upright armrests nor backing. 
     A preferred embodiment of the rotatable pedestal includes a base stand having an upper uneven edge surface and a lower ground engaging surface, and a seat attached to the base stand where the seat rides over the uneven surface edge going from a horizontal position to a tilted position and back to a horizontal position and back to a tilted position as the seat rotates relative to the base stand. The uneven surface edge can be a sloped surface having an upper height of approximately 4.5 inches and having a lower height of approximately 2.5 inches. The angle of tilt can take the rider from a level position to a tilted position of approximately 20 degrees to approximately 30 degrees. The seat can ride over the uneven surface edge of the base stand by two wheels such as rollers that can have rubber surfaces for creating a cushion effect. The seat can be attached to the base stand by having a t-post that has upper arms that pivot to cylindrical gimbal type housing fastened beneath the seat. The longitudinal leg of the post can rotate to and be connected to the axis of the base stand by bearings, and the like. 
     Elastic members such as springs having one end connected to the longitudinal leg of the post stand and opposite ends attached beneath the seat alternate between a compressed position and a stretched position as the rider is rotating. A rider starts the rotation of the seat by leaning to one side. Thus, putting body weight on the rollers causes the rollers to roll down the slope causing the seat to rotate at the same time. Inertia causes this motion to continue so that the original momentum allows the rolling to continue rolling up the upward slope portion. When the rolling begins to slow down, the rider can lean to the opposite side to continue rolling in the same rotational direction. Alternatively, the rider can continue leaning to the same side during the ride. This would cause the rotation to reverse. Thus, the ride can have a roller coaster effect. The stretching and compressing of the springs allows the pedestal to return to a level position when not in use. The seat can be disc shaped with side through-holes that act as handgrips for the rider. The pedestal is small enough and light enough to be portable and strong enough for most children up to the age of approximately 12 years old. 
     Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment which is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the rotatable pedestal invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a top view of the rotatable pedestal of FIG. 1 along arrow A 1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a front view of the rotatable pedestal of FIG. 1 along arrow A 2 . 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of the rotatable pedestal of FIG. 1 along arrow A 3 . 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the swivel, tilt components in the base of FIGS. 1-4. 
     FIG. 6A shows a rider on the rotatable pedestal in the front view position of FIG. 3 at 0 degree rotation and initial level orientation. 
     FIG. 6B shows the rider of FIG. 6A rotated ninety degrees in the direction of arrow R 1 , and tilted down to their right side at approximately 20 degrees from horizontal. 
     FIG. 6C shows the rider of FIG. 6A rotated approximately one hundred eighty degrees from the position shown in FIG.  6 A and at a level orientation. 
     FIG. 6D shows the rider of FIG. 6A rotated approximately 270 degrees from the initial position shown in FIG.  6 A and tilted down to their left side at approximately 20 degrees from horizontal. 
     FIG. 7A is a side view of the pedestal of FIG. 7A along arrow B 1 . 
     FIG. 7B shows a top view of the loaded down level pedestal of FIGS. 6A and 6C. 
     FIG. 7C is an enlarged side cross-sectional view of the pedestal of FIG. 7A along arrow B 2 . 
     FIG. 8A shows a side view of the loaded down tilted pedestal of FIGS. 6B and 6D. 
     FIG. 8B is a top view of the pedestal of FIG. 8A along arrow C 1 . 
     FIG. 8C is an enlarged side cross-sectional view of the pedestal of FIG. 8A along arrow C 2 . 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the rotatable pedestal  1 . FIG. 2 is a top view of the rotatable pedestal  1  of FIG. 1 along arrow A 1 . FIG. 3 is a front view of the rotatable pedestal  1  of FIG. 1 along arrow A 2 . FIG. 4 is a side view of the rotatable pedestal  1  of FIG. 1 along arrow A 3 . 
     FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of the swivel and tilt components  200  in the base  100  of the rotatable pedestal  1  of FIGS. 1-4. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-5, rotatable pedestal  1  includes a disc shaped seat  10  rotatably attached to a base  100  by swivel and tilt components  200 . Seat  10  can be disc shaped having dimensions of approximately 21 inches in diameter and approximately ¾ of an inch thick, concave rounded edges  11 , an upper planar seating surface  16 , and a lower planar surface  18 , and include two arcuate shaped through-hole slots  12 ,  14  with rounded interior edges, each being approximately 4 inches in length and 1 inch wide for use as handgrips for a rider. 
     Base  100  includes a ground coupler  110  which can also be disc shaped having dimensions of approximately 15 inches in diameter and approximately ½ inch thick. A raised hollow cylindrical stand  120  with flat bottom end  122  attached to the center of the ground coupler  110 . The cylindrical stand  120  can be approximately 6 inches in diameter and have an uneven upper edge surface that can be sloped with a height ranging from a high point  124  height, h 1  of approximately 4.5 inches to a low height, h 2  of approximately 2.5 inches, with a edge portion  125  approximately midway between high and low heights, h 1  and h 2 . 
     Referring to FIG. 5, attached to lower planar surface  18  of the seat  10  to be suspended below the seat  10  are two axles  130 ,  140  which are fixable attached to surface  18  by fasteners  132 ,  134 ,  142 ,  144 , such as but not limited to bolts, screws, and the like. About each of the axles  130 ,  140  are freely rotatable rollers  135 ,  145 , respectively. Between each of the rollers  135 ,  145  and their respective axles  130 ,  140  can be internal bearings  137 ,  147 . The rollers  135 ,  145  can be formed from hardened plastic, and the like. Additionally, the exterior surface of the rollers can be formed from a rubber type material to act as a cushion, shock absorber effect, for the rider on the seat  10 . The axles  130 ,  140 , bearings  137 ,  147 , and fasteners  132 ,  134 ,  142 ,  144  can be formed from metal such as aluminum, galvanized metal, and the like. The operation of the rollers  135 ,  135  and their related components will be described later in detail in reference to FIGS. 7A-8C. 
     Referring to FIG. 5, two hollow cylindrical gimbal bushing housings  160 ,  150  are fixably attached to the lower surface  18  of the seat  10  by hollow stem supports  152 ,  162 , the latter having internal walls with threads for mateably receiving threaded screws from fasteners  154 ,  164 . Fasteners  154 ,  164  can be flat headed screws having heads which can be counter sunk through the upper planar seating surface  16 . The axes of cylindrical housings  160 ,  150  are positioned in a cross pattern to roller axles  130 ,  140 . Inside each of the cylindrical housings  160 ,  150  are the upper arms  172 ,  174  of T-shaped gimbal post  170 . The axles  130  and  140  alternate pivoting toward post  176  in the direction of arrow P, such that the axles  130 ,  140  pivot relative to cylindrical housing  160 . In other words, the lower leg  176  of post  170  appears to be able to pivot in the direction of arrow P either toward axle  130  or toward axle  140 . Thus, the angle of rotation of post  170  is perpendicular to angle of rotation of rollers  135 ,  145 . Fixably attached to post leg  176  is a spring mount coupler  178 , which can be welded thereon, and the like. Connected to opposite edges of mount coupler  178  are spring members  182 ,  186 (which are more clearly shown in reference to FIGS. 7C,  8 C). The spring members  182 ,  186  are also connected at opposite ends to axles  130 ,  140 . Fixably attached to post leg  176  underneath coupler  178  is a post bearing washer  192 (a second  194  is shown in FIGS. 7C,  8 C). Post leg  176  passes through a gimbal type support housing  128  located inside of cylindrical housing  120 . Fixably mounted to support housing  128  is a first support bearing washer  196 (a second support bearing washer  198  is shown in FIGS. 7C,  8 C). Post leg  176  with coupler  178  and first post bearing washer  192  can rotate in the direction of arrow R relative to first support bearing washer  196  and support housing  178  by bearings  193 ,  195 (shown in greater detail in FIGS. 7C,  8 C). The internal detail of support housing  178 , post leg  176 , post bearings  192  and bearing washer  194  are shown in greater detail in reference to FIGS. 7C and 8C. 
     The rider  200  can initiate the rotation of the seat  10  by leaning to either side to the positions shown in FIGS. 6A-6D. FIG. 6A shows the rider  200  on the rotatable pedestal in the front view position of FIG. 3 at 0 degree rotation and initial level orientation where seat  10  is parallel to disc shaped ground coupler  110 . FIG. 6B shows the rider  200  of FIG. 6A rotated ninety degrees in the direction of arrow R 1 , and tilted down to their right side at approximately 20 degrees from horizontal, so that one edge of seat  10  becomes close to one edge of the ground coupler  110 . FIG. 6C shows the rider  200  of FIG. 6A rotated approximately one hundred eighty degrees from the position shown in FIG.  6 A and at a level orientation with seat  10  parallel to ground coupler  110 . FIG. 6D shows the rider  200  of FIG. 6A rotated approximately 270 degrees from the initial position shown in FIG.  6 A and tilted down to their left side at approximately 20 degrees from horizontal, so that another edge of seat  10  becomes close to another edge of ground coupler  110 . 
     FIG. 7B shows a top view of the loaded down level pedestal  1  of FIGS. 6A and 6C. FIG. 7A is a side view of the pedestal  1  of FIG. 7A along arrow B 1 . FIG. 7C is an enlarged side cross-sectional view of the pedestal  1  of FIG. 7A along arrow B 2 . Referring to FIGS. 7A-7C, seat  10  is positioned parallel to ground coupler  110  with rollers  135 ,  145  positioned on midway height edge  125  on the upper surface of cylindrical stand  120 . Post leg  176  can rotate in the direction of arrow Q within the slot opening  129  within gimbal type support housing  128 . Springs  182 ,  186  have inside ends attached to spring mount coupler  178 , and opposite ends attached to hooks  136 ,  146  that are attached to axles  130 ,  140  and respective axle fasteners  134 ,  144 . As can be seen in FIG. 7C, post leg  176  is substantially perpendicular to axles  130 ,  140 , and springs  182  and  186  are substantially equally elongated in nonstretched positions. 
     FIG. 8A shows a side view of the loaded down tilted pedestal  1  of FIGS. 6B and 6D. FIG. 8B is a top view of the pedestal  1  of FIG. 8A along arrow C 1 . FIG. 8C is an enlarged side cross-sectional view of the pedestal  1  of FIG. 8A along arrow C 2 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 8A,  8 B and  8 C, the seat  10  shown in FIG. 7B has rotated approximately 90 degrees in the direction of arrow R 1  where roller  145  abuts against upper edge  124  of cylindrical stand  120 , while roller  135  abuts against lower upper edge  126  of cylindrical stand  120 , and seat  10  is angled with handle  12  approximately 20 degrees from the horizontal position shown in FIGS. 7A,  7 C. Spring  186  has now gone to a fully stretched position, while spring  182  is in a compressed position. Additionally, post leg  176  has moved from a perpendicular position to axles  130 ,  140  to an angle of approximately 70 degrees to axle  130  and approximately 110 degrees to axle  140 . 
     When the seat  10  rotates 90 degrees more in the direction of arrow R 2  shown in FIG. 6B to the parallel position shown in FIG. 6C, the position of the internal components is equivalent to that shown in FIG.  7 C. Finally, when the seat  10  rotates 90 degrees more in the direction of arrow R 3  shown in FIG. 6C to the tilted position shown in FIG. 6D, the position of the internal components is similar to that shown in FIG. 8C, with the exception that the spring  182  is stretched and spring  186  is compressed. As previously described, the rider  200  can initiate the rotation of the seat  10  by leaning to one side, and then vice versa. The rider  200  moving from the horizontal seated position to the tilted position causes the springs  182 ,  186  to compress and stretch which causes the rotating seat to rotate in a jumpy erratic rotational speed. 
     While the preferred embodiment has the rider seated, the user can play on the pedestal by standing on it and balancing themselves such that the leaning to one side is done by putting the user&#39;s body weight to one leg and alternating back to the other leg during the ride. 
     Although the preferred embodiment describes a planar disc shaped seat, the invention can be practiced with other seat shapes such as rectangular, triangular, and the like. 
     While the preferred embodiment describes using two springs, the invention can be practiced with other types of elastic members such as but not limited to bungee type cords, rubber type bands, and the like. Additionally, one spring type member can be used, and more than two spring type members can be used to vary the erratic rotation of the seat in use. 
     Although the preferred embodiment describes using a single sloped surface for the base stand, the invention can be used with an uneven surface having more than one slope such as a rounded concave surface edge, and the like. 
     While the invention has been described, disclosed, illustrated and shown in various terms of certain embodiments or modifications which it has presumed in practice, the scope of the invention is not intended to be, nor should it be deemed to be, limited thereby and such other modifications or embodiments as may be suggested by the teachings herein are particularly reserved especially as they fall within the breadth and scope of the claims here appended.

Technology Classification (CPC): 0