Abstract:
A scooter for children which includes a long footboard between two small end wheels and is controlled by an upright steering handle attached to the front wheel through a spring member for absorbing and reducing the impact generated from the front wheel so as to prevent a store of fatigue from accumulating, to maintain a fine figure thereof and lengthen the life thereof.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a scooter for children and more particularly to a child&#39;s foot-operated vehicle consisting of a narrow board mounted between two wheels disposed in tandem with an upright steering handle attached to the front wheel for absorbing and reducing the impact generated from the front wheel during the operation of the vehicle.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0004]    Various types of scooters for children are known in the art. Generally, a scooter is a child&#39;s foot-operated vehicle which includes a narrow board, a front wheel, a rear wheel and an upright steering handle.  
           [0005]    However, such a conventional scooter suffers from a number of problems. For example, since the conventional scooter includes a U-shaped supporting metal piece attached to the bottom of the upright steering handle and connects with the front wheel thereof, the impact generated from the front wheel during the operation of the device is transferred directly to the hands of the user through the handle thereof. Therefore, the user frequently suffers from operational fatigue and the scooter suffers from physical fatigue which affects its operation over a period of time.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a scooter for children which eliminates the above problems encountered with conventional scooters.  
           [0007]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a scooter for absorbing and reducing the impact generated in the front wheel during its operation.  
           [0008]    A further object of the present invention is to provide a smooth scooter which includes a narrow board mounted between a front wheel and a rear wheel, an upright steering handle, and a spring member attached at one side to the bottom of the upright steering handle and at the other side to a U-shaped bracket which connects to the front wheel for eliminating the impact resulting from the operation of the scooter.  
           [0009]    Still another object of the present invention is to provide a scooter for children which is simple in structure, inexpensive to manufacture, durable in use, refined in appearance and safe in operation.  
           [0010]    Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.  
           [0011]    Briefly described, the present invention is directed to a scooter for children which includes a long footboard disposed between front and rear wheels, with an upright steering handle attached to the front wheel through a spring member for reducing impact and vibration resulting from the operation of the scooter generated in the front wheel.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a scooter for children according to the present invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a spring member used in the scooter according to the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is a side-sectional view of a portion of the scooter according to the present invention; and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a front-sectional view of the scooter according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0017]    Referring now in detail to the drawings for the purpose of illustrating the preferred embodiments of the present invention, the scooter for children as shown in FIGS. 1, 2,  3  and  4  includes a narrow and long footboard  1  disposed between a front wheel  6  and a rear wheel  7  and controlled by an upright steering handle  3 , an upright steering axle  2  connected to the handle  3 , and a spring member  11  connected to the bottom of the steering axle  2  at the upper end thereof and at the lower end thereof to a U-shaped iron bracket  5  which is attached to the front wheel  6 . A bolt  12  and a nut  17  are used to attach the spring to the bracket. The footboard  1  is provided with a supporting plate  101  for securely accommodating one foot of the user (FIG. 1).  
         [0018]    As shown in FIG. 2, the shock absorbing member  11  is a spring  14  disposed between an upper bushing  13  and a lower bushing  15 , and a cylinder  16  having a pair of vertical slits  161  for receiving a vertically positional projection  151  disposed within the lower bushing  15 . The spring member  11  is connected between an upper fixing ring  10  of the upright steering axle  2  and the bracket  5  through a lower fixing ring  9  utilizing the nut  17  as shown in FIG. 3. The spring can be replaced with other types of shock absorbing members, e.g., hydraulic cylinders, which are capable of performing similar functions as the spring.  
         [0019]    Referring to FIG. 1, the long footboard  1  is connected to a supporting cylinder  4 ′ through a connecting plate  4 . The iron bracket  5  has a U-shaped configuration for supporting the front wheel on a front wheel shaft  8 . the rear wheel  7  is connected to the end of the footboard  1  by a rear wheel shaft  8 ′. The cylinder  16  is mounted to the top of the U-shaped iron bracket  5 . The rear wheel  7  is supported by a rear wheel shaft  8 ′. The front wheel and the back wheel can include a plurality of wheels at each location.  
         [0020]    As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a projecting neck  201  which is an end part of the upright steering axle  2  is folded with an end axle  2  . The end axle  2 ′ has a vertical guiding protrusion  202  for slidably engaging with a vertical guiding groove  152  of the cylinder  16 . Thus the spring  14  with the lower bushing  15  moves up and down for reducing and absorbing the impact from the front wheel  6 . At this time, the vertical projection  151  is tightly engaged with the pair of slits  161  of the cylinder  16 . Therefore, when exposed to significant impact, the front wheel  6  cannot rotate freely which prevents the causing of an accident.  
         [0021]    The bolt  12  is provided with a washer  11 ′ which is inserted between a bolt head and the upper busing  13 . The U-shaped iron bracket  5  is provided with an aperture  501  disposed on the top thereof for receiving the bolt  12 , and a cover connected to the lower bushing  16 .  
         [0022]    As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the scooter for children according to the present invention operates as follows. When the user, for example, a child, holds the handle  3 , and the one foot of the user pushes the ground while the other foot is placed on the footboard  1 , the scooter moves forward quickly and smoothly. At this time, the bracket  5  is fixed to the upright steering axle  2 , the upper bushing  13  is biased by the spring to prevent it from going up due to the projecting neck  201  and the protrusion  161  of the cylinder  16  welded on the top of the U-shaped iron bracket  5 . Also, since the supporting cylinder  41  of the connecting plate  4  includes the upper and lower fixing rings  9  and  10  welded thereto, the end part of the steering axle  2  and the end steering axle  2 ′ cannot move up and down.  
         [0023]    However, since the lower bushing  15  can freely move up and down along the vertical guiding protrusion  202  of the end steering axle  2 ′ due to the elasticity of the spring  1 , when an impact or shock is generated in the front wheel  6 , the impact is effectively absorbed or reduced by this movement of the lower bushing  15 . Also, at this time since the vertical fixing projection  151  of the lower bushing  15  tightly engages with the pair of vertical slits  161  preventing the bracket  5  from rotating.  
         [0024]    The scooter for children according to the present invention has a number of advantages. For example, since the impact can be eliminated or substantially reduced, the fatigue on the user and the scooter can be reduced.  
         [0025]    The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included in the scope of the following claims.