Patent ID: 7216878

Claim:
A children's ride-on vehicle, comprising: a body; a plurality of wheels mounted rotatably on the body and including at least one steerable wheel; and a steering assembly coupled to the body and configured to steer the at least one steerable wheel, the steering assembly comprising: a steering mechanism configured to interface with a child steering the vehicle, a steering column coupled to the steering mechanism and including a proximal portion, a distal segment, and a shoulder extending generally transversely between the proximal portion and the distal segment, and a linkage mechanism that couples movement of the steering column to a change in orientation of the steerable wheel through coupled motion of the steering column and the linkage mechanism, the linkage mechanism including a receiver structure configured to receive the distal segment of the steering column from a first direction and a retainer mechanism configured to engage the shoulder so that movement of the steering column in a second direction generally opposing the first direction is restricted, wherein the retainer mechanism moves with the receiver structure and relative to the body during coupled motion of the steering column and the linkage mechanism.