Abstract:
A motorized retrofit kit for lightweight collapsible mini scooter is described as a complete conversion for a lightweight push scooter to motor driven units. Owners of existing scooters can install a mini electric motor battery system, wiring and on/off button to drive rear wheel with limited skills and equipment.

Description:
[0001]    The present invention claims the priority date of a prior filed provisional patent application having serial No. 60-240548, and official filing date of Oct. 12, 2000, and which discloses substantial similar matter as described herein. 
     
    
     
       FIELD OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention is directed to a collapsible motorized mini scooter, a retrofit motorized unit in kit form for a mini scooter.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    During the past few years, the lightweight collapsible mini scooter has become very popular in the market place. The scooter is very durable and very compact when folded up. The steering tube can be collapsed; handle grips folded and unit can be placed in a bag and carried over one&#39;s shoulder. Children, teenagers and some adults use the mini scooter today. A motorized unit for these existing scooters would be a great added value and enjoyment for existing scooter owners, as long as it comes in a kit form and easy to install with minimum skills and equipment.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0004]    The invention is embodied in a kit form converting a non-motorized mini scooter into a motorized scooter which does not damage the original scooter construction by drilling, machining or breaking any of the scooters original parts. The kit will provide all the components to convert and motorize the mini scooter: Motor, batteries, charging system and hardware for installation.  
           [0005]    Power to the motor will begin when rider engages forward motion, which sends current to a relay, which in turn sends current to motor, and directs forward motion. When the rider releases the switch, the current is discontinued. The drive is engaged by a positive lock lever or thumbscrew mounted with the motor bracket, battery pack NiCad and required relay are in cavity located underneath footrest platform. Motor bracket is placed where existing fender is located by replacing fender with bracket and motor. In turn fender is then placed on motor bracket. Motor is activated by button switch on handle bar and ground current to relay is sent through rotating contact shoe on adjustable handle bar tube, or optional remote system on some units are provided which use a transmitter on the handles grips and an additional receiver located in the battery cavity, and a cam lock motor bracket adjuster is used as well as a foot lock motor adjuster. The forward motion is obtained by a small spindle located on electric motor shaft, which comes in contact with the rear wheel.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0006]    [0006]FIG. 1 is a side view of motorized kit installed on razor type mini scooter.  
         [0007]    [0007]FIG. 2 is the lower cavity for battery storage rotating cup and battery tray.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIG. 3 is present invention retrofit kit contents, battery tray, isolator ring, contact shoe, and motor bracket thumbscrew.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 4 is the motor bracket with thumbscrew and pivot pin.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 5 is the adjusting pivot pin  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 6 activating foot brake  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 7 activating foot brake  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 8 represents clip on retrofit rotating contact shoe.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 9 represents the pre-production motor bracket.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 10 represents the motor bracket with different fender options.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 11 represents the rotating contact collar.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 12 represents scooter foot platform  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 13 represents spring instead of thumbscrew  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 14 represents complete kit in box form for consumer purchase.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 15 represents butterfly bracket with motor and isolator collar, start stop, charger, spring installer tool, pin tool, wiring system and battery tray.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0021]    While the present invention is susceptible of embodiment in various forms, there is shown in the drawings and will hereinafter be described the presently preferred embodiments of the invention with the understanding that the present disclosures is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention and it is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated.  
         [0022]    The invention is embodied in a kit for converting a non-motorized scooter into a motorized scooter which does not damage the original scooter&#39;s construction by drilling, machining or breaking any of the scooter&#39;s original parts. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a non-motorized scooter  1  for use with the kit  51  of the present invention includes a base platform  3  which is stepped upon by the rider when the scooter  1  is in use. The scooter  1  also includes a head tube  15 , which attaches to the front of the base platform  3  by a hinge assembly  21 . The hinge assembly  21  permits the head tube  15  to rotate approximately 90 degrees from a reclined position for storage, to an extended position for use. The hinge assembly  21  preferably includes a hinge lock  23  for locking the head tube  15  in either a reclined or extended position. Telescoping through the head tube  15  is a steering column  7  including an upper tube  9  and lower tube  11 . The steering column  7  is rotably attached to the head tube  15  using bearings  17 , which are mounted to the top and bottom interior of the head tube  15 . Preferably, the upper tube  9  is slidably telescopic within lower tube  11  and can be locked in various vertical position using a clamp lock  19 . At the top of the steering column  7  are horizontally extending handlebars  5  which enable the rider to rotate the steering column  7  by manual rotation of the handlebars  5 . Affixed at the bottom of the steering column  7  is a front fork  25 . Rotably mounted by a front axle  29  to the front fork  25  is a front wheel  27 .  
         [0023]    At the rear of the scooter  1  is a rear fork  31 , which extends rearwardly from the rear of the base platform  3 . The rear fork  31  is applied to a laterally extending rear axle  35 , which rotably mounts the scooter&#39;s rear wheel  33 . Preferably, the scooter  1  also includes a rear fender foot break  37 . The fender foot break  37  is hingably attached to the front of the rear fork  31  by a pin, or a screw and nut combination, which extends laterally through two holes  41  formed in the rear fork  31  and two corresponding holes formed at the front of the fender foot break  37 . The fender foot break  37  is biased upwardly by a spring  39 . In use, a rider of the scooter  1  depresses the fender foot break  37  against the rear wheel  33  to inhibit the wheel&#39;s rotation and cause braking of the scooter  1 .  
         [0024]    The scooter  1  of the prior art provides a lightweight collapsible structure, which is driven by a user by a push-and-go method in which a rider uses one of his feet to propel the scooter which is ridden by balancing on the rider&#39;s other foot. Referring to all of the figures, and particularly FIG. 3, the kit  51  of the present invention is directed to converting the non-motorized scooter of the prior art into a motorized structure. The kit  51  includes a bracket  53  (best shown in FIG. 9), a motor  59  and an additional fender foot break  63  already affixed to the bracket  53 . Referring to FIG. 9, to this end, the bracket  53  includes a pair of top holes  57  for hingably affixing the fender foot break  63  using a pivot pin passing through the top holes  57  and corresponding holes formed at the front extremity of the fender foot break  63 . Meanwhile, the motor  59  is affixed to the bracket  53  using typical fasteners at motor mount holes  60 .  
         [0025]    In a preferred embodiment, the kit  51  for converting the scooter  1  into a motorized scooter includes a low torque motor having a twenty-seven winding, single strand armature. For a preferred embodiment for creating a high performance scooter, the motor  59  includes a fourteen winding, three strand armature. The motor  59  also preferably includes internal bearings for withstanding forces imparted upon the motor&#39;s spindle  61 . Suitable motors are available from Mabuchi Motor in Japan.  
         [0026]    The kit  51  of the present invention also includes a battery pack  71  including a plurality of batteries  75  for providing electrical power to the motor. In a first preferred construction, the battery pack  71  includes twelve 1.2 volt rechargeable batteries. The batteries are wired to provide two sets of six 1.2 volt batteries wired in series, with each set of six batteries wired parallel to provide a battery pack  71  providing 7.2 volts. In a second preferred embodiment, the battery pack  71  includes fourteen 1.2 volt rechargeable batteries for providing additional torque. The batteries are wired to provide two sets of seven 1.2 volt batteries wired in series, with each set of seven batteries wired in parallel to provide a battery pack providing 8.4 volts. Providing protection for the battery pack  71  is a battery tray  73  which is affixed to the scooter  1  using Velcro attachment  77  or the like.  
         [0027]    The battery pack  71  is connected to the motor  59  using relative high current wires  84  which extend from both the battery pack  71  and motor  59  and are connected using male and female connectors  79  and  81 . The flow of current from the battery pack  71  to the motor  59  is controlled using a control circuit  85  which includes a high current relay  83  controlled by a switch constructed as an on/off button  99 . Numerous suitable relays are available to those skilled in the art. However, a twelve-volt relay typically used to control the headlamps of automobiles have been found to be particularly acceptable. The on/off button  99  is connected to the relay  83  through a pair of signal wires  87  and  89 , which are, in-turn, connected by a contact strip  91  and contact with the contact strip  91  by a circular collar  105 .  
         [0028]    The kit  51  of the present invention preferably includes a numerous minor attachments means for attaching the signal wires  87  and  89  to the scooter  1  such as cable ties  103  or mounting bases  101  having an adhesive backing. The above-described kit  51  provides all of the components necessary for transforming a typical prior art non-motorized scooter into a motorized scooter, which can be installed in only a few minutes using only a hammer and a screwdriver, the assembly of which will not damage the original scooter in any way.  
         [0029]    Again with reference to all of the figures, to convert the non-motorized scooter into a motorized construction, the original fender foot break is removed by removing the preexisting pivot pin  43 . In place of the preexisting fender foot break, the bracket  53  is affixed to the scooter&#39;s rear fork  31  using pivot pin  43  which is threaded through the holes in the rear fork  31  and the bottom holes  55  formed in the bracket  53 . With reference to FIGS. 4, 5,  6  and  7 , the bracket  53  is hingably attached to the scooter&#39;s rear fork  31  with the pin  43  so that clockwise rotation of the thumb screw  67  against the base platform  3  causes the bracket  53  to rotate rearwardly, which in-turn causes the motor&#39;s spindle  61  to engage the external surface of the scooter&#39;s rear wheel  33 . Thus, activation of the motor  59  causes the rear wheel  33  to rotate. Conversely, counter-clockwise rotation of the thumbscrew  67  causes the force of the motor spindle  61  against the surface of the rear wheel  33  to be reduced enabling the rider of the scooter  1  to operate the scooter  1  in a non-motorized mode. As illustrated in FIG. 13, in an additional embodiment, instead of using a thumbscrew  67 , a spring is used to bias the bracket  53  and motor  59  rearwardly against the scooter&#39;s rear wheel  33 .  
         [0030]    With reference to FIG. 2, the battery pack  71  and relay  83  are mounted within a channel typically formed on the underside of the scooter&#39;s base platform  3 . After the battery pack  71  and relay  83  are mounted to the scooter&#39;s underside using typical fasteners known to those skilled in the art such as glue or Velcro, the battery cover  73  is also attached to the underside of the scooter&#39;s base platform  3  using Velcro or the like to protect the battery pack  71  and relay  83  from damage during riding. As shown in FIG. 2, the battery pack  71  is connected to the relay  83  and in-turn to the motor  59  through high current wires  84  and connectors  79  and  81 .  
         [0031]    The control circuit  85  is installed on the scooter  1  by routing signal wire  89  through battery cover  73  to the front of the scooter&#39;s base platform  3  and then upwardly along the side of the scooter&#39;s head tube  15 . Preferably, the wire  89  is affixed in place using adhesive backed tie bases  101  and cable ties  103 . With reference to FIGS. 1, 2 and  8 , the contact strip  91  is affixed in annular fashion to the top of the head tube  15  using double stick tape or the like to form an electrical ring on the head tube&#39;s upper exterior surface. Meanwhile, the collar  105  is affixed to the lower extremity of the rotable steering column  7  so that the lower portion of the collar extends concentrically around the contact strip  91 . Attached to the interior of the collar  105  is the contact bar  95  which is positioned to slidably contact the side of the contact strip  91  as the steering column  7  and collar  105  are rotated. The single wire extending from the contact bar  95  is routed upwardly along the length of the steering column  7 , and preferably is coiled along the steering column&#39;s upper tube  9  so that the upper tube  9  may still telescopically extend and retract within the steering column&#39;s lower tube  11 . The on/off button  99  is then affixed to the handlebars  5  using bracketry or tie wraps as could be constructed by those skilled in the art.  
         [0032]    The on/off button  99  is preferably constructed so that depression of the button causes a current to flow through the switch, with the removal of pressure from the on/off button  99  causing the circuit to open. As would be understood by those skilled in the art, the signal wires  89  and  97 , in cooperation with contact strip  91 , in rotational contact with contact bar  95  provide a first electrical path to the on/off button  99  from the relay  83 . Providing a second electrical path from the on/off button  99  to the relay  83  is the frame of the scooter  1  itself. To this end, the handlebars  5 , steering column  7 , bearings  17 , head tube  15 , hinge assembly  21  and base platform  3  are all constructed of electrically conductive metal such as stainless steel. One of the terminals of the on/off button  99  is electrically connected directly to the underside of the platform base  3 . Thus, depression of on/off button  99  causes a circuit to close through signal wire  89 , contact strip  91 , contact bar  95 , signal wire  97 , handlebars  5 , steering column  7 , bearings  17 , head tube  15 , hinge assembly  21  and base platform  3  causing the relay  83  to close, permitting current to flow from battery pack  71  to the motor  59 .  
         [0033]    Once the components of the kit  51  have been installed on the scooter  1 , a motorized scooter is thus provided. Depressing the on/off button  99  energizes the motor  59  causing the rear wheel  33  to rotate. Braking is provided by depressing the fender foot break against the rear wheel  33 .  
         [0034]    Preferred embodiment is complete kit FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 ready for consumer purchase which includes FIG. 14, battery charger  150 , twelve volt adapter  151 , spring installer  152 , pin installer  153  and FIG. 15, butterfly motor bracket  154  and all necessary wiring and relay installations.  
         [0035]    Although the present invention has described with reference to the preferred embodiments, workers skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.