For example, the insertion end 48 of the push handle 50 can contain a groove or an opening which mates with a spring forced lever arm which is disposed within the aperture 46 to form a snap fit coupling. When held in this snap fit coupling, the handle 50 can be used by a parent or other person, to push or pull a child who is riding in the vehicle Alternatively, the insertion end 48 of the handle 50 can be releasably press fit into the aperture The chassis 12 may also include an integrally hinged, or otherwise releasable seat A storage compartment 44 or multiple storage compartments may be accessed by opening the seat The storage compartment 44 can be used to store snacks, small toys, vehicle accessories or tools, among other things.
However, it should be noted that when the body module 14 is comprised of separate sections, for example as in FIG. For example FIG. The mounting bosses 17 and pins 19 may be round as shown square, rectangular, ovular, or any other shape appropriate for a press fit coupling. The body module 14 , or body modules in the case where the body module 14 comprises separate body modules such as front, rear and side modules 16 , 18 , 20 , and 22 may be additionally secured to the chassis 12 utilizing a hinged plug For instance, in one embodiment, the chassis 12 contains a slot 54 into which the mounting portion 55 of the hinged plug 52 fits.
The body module 14 , in turn, comprises a rotatable female plug 57 which forms a rotatable press fit coupling with the hinged plug When such an arrangement is utilized on the front body module 16 , the female plug 57 of the front body module 16 may be secured to the hinged plug 52 of the chassis 12 while a back portion of the front body module 16 is rotated away from the chassis 12 to simulate the motion of an opening of a hood of a typical adult-sized vehicle. Rotating the front body module 16 away from the chassis 12 allows an attachment site 41 shown in FIG.
The hinged plug 52 and the rotatable female plug 57 may similarly be used to rotatably secure the rear body module 18 to the chassis In the same manner as is described above, the rear body module 18 can be rotated away from the vehicle chassis 12 to expose an attachment site, in this case attachment site 45 shown in FIG. In an alternative embodiment, the chassis 12 may comprise slider pins 58 which mate with openings 59 in the body module When the body module 14 is placed on top of the chassis 12 , the slider pins 58 can be extended through the body module openings 59 such that the body module 14 is rotatably coupled to the chassis In this example, the body module 14 may comprise a strip which couples to a pad on the chassis.
In one example the strip is a magnetic strip and the pad is a metallic pad, such that a magnetic coupling may be formed. In yet another example, the strip comprises a rail which protrudes from a surface of the body module 14 and the pad comprises a slot or a groove into which the rail may be inserted. The rail may reside relatively loosely in the slot or groove or it may be press or snap fit into the slot or groove. To form this coupling arrangement, the body module 14 is placed above the chassis 12 and lowered until the knobs mate with the mating openings which secure the knobs to the chassis As the body module 14 is lowered, the chassis 12 compresses the knobs until the knobs reach the openings , at which time the knobs decompress and form couplings with the mating openings In the alternative, the knobs can be semi-rigid and the chassis 12 can be formed of a flexible material such that when the body module 14 is lowered the knobs compress the chassis 12 until the knobs mate with the openings , at which time the chassis 12 decompresses to return to its previous form.
The spring assemblies comprise a pair of spring loaded roller arms which are biased towards each other. When one of the pins is inserted into one of the spring assemblies , the pin forces the roller arms apart such that the roller arms trace the perimeter of the pin The pin comprises a pin head which is wider than the pin base , such that after the wide pin head has been inserted into the spring assembly , the roller arms form around the narrower pin base to releasably trap the pin head within the assembly , thus securing the body module 14 to the chassis For example, the spring may comprise spring arms that are biased away from each other and have head portions that widen.
When the spring is inserted into the chassis opening , the wide head portions of the spring are compressed towards each other by the walls of the chassis opening When the head portions of the spring have extended beyond the chassis opening , the spring arms spring back to their original positions such that the head portions of the spring are coupled to the end of the chassis opening which acts as a shoulder to secure the head portions of the spring to the chassis 12 , thus securing the body module 14 to the chassis Nevertheless, these arrangements are also contemplated by the present invention.
The arm may be inserted unto the chassis opening such that the arm head extends beyond the chassis opening The arm head may then be rotated such that the end of the chassis opening acts as a shoulder to secure the arm to the chassis 12 , thus securing the body module 14 to the chassis The latching mechanism may comprise a lever arm and a latch pivotally secured to the lever arm by a pin When the hook has been inserted into the chassis opening , the latch may be positioned around the hook and the lever arm may be pivoted away from the latch to tighten the latch around the hook , thus securing the body module 14 to the chassis The latching mechanism may comprise an arm , a handle and a housing The handle may be attached to the arm such that a movement of the handle causes the arm to move within the housing The handle may be interlocked with the housing in either a unlocked position or a locked position When the pin is inserted into a chassis opening , the arm may be inserted into a pin opening by moving the handle from the unlocked position to the locked position As a result, the arm secures the pin and thus the body module 14 to the chassis In this example, the spring loaded arm may be biased in a direction towards the chassis opening A handle on the arm can be used to force the arm away from the chassis opening such that the pin can be inserted into the chassis opening such that the pin opening is extended beyond the chassis opening Once in this position, the handle can be released to allow the arm to be inserted into the pin opening to secure the body module 14 to the chassis The pin comprises one or more knobs and the chassis opening widens to form shoulders When the pin is inserted into the chassis opening , the walls of the chassis opening compress the knobs until the knobs reach the shoulders , at which time the knobs decompress and form couplings with the shoulders , thus securing the body module 14 to the chassis In the alternative, the knobs are semi-rigid and the walls of the chassis opening are made of a flexible material such that when the knobs are inserted into the chassis opening , the walls of the chassis opening flex away from the knobs and snap back to position when the knobs reach the shoulders Also shown in FIG.
The arm may comprise a locked position and an unlocked position. When the arm is in the unlocked position, it may be inserted into and travel through the pin opening until the arm reaches a shoulder area When the arm is in the shoulder area , the turning knob can be rotated to the locked position, which in turn rotates the arm into a position against the shoulder area , thus securing the body module 14 to the chassis For example, the hooking assembly may comprise a turning knob , such that when the pin is inserted into a chassis opening the turning knob can be rotated to move the hook from its unlocked position into its locked position.
In the locked position, the hook engages the pin opening , thus securing the body module 14 to the chassis The closed hook assembly may comprise a lever arm , a handle , and a hook The level arm may be biased in the direction towards the hook , such that a closed hook is formed. The handle may be moved in a direction away from the hook to force the lever arm into an opened hook position. When the pin is inserted into the chassis opening , and the lever arm is in the open hook position, the hook may be positioned interlockingly with the pin opening , the handle can then be released to place the lever arm in the closed hook position such that the body module 14 is secured to the chassis In this case the vehicle body module 14 resembles a sports car.
In this example, the vehicle body module 14 is comprised of four separate module sections, the front body module 16 , the rear body module 18 , the left side body module 20 and the right side body module The body modules 16 , 18 , 20 , and 22 may be attached to the vehicle chassis 12 by any of the means described in FIGS.
In addition to the front, rear, left and right side body modules 16 , 18 , 20 and 22 of FIG. Example accessories include, a variety of wheel covers, such as sporty wheel cover 70 , a sporty steering wheel 72 , a backrest 73 , a rear spoiler 74 , racing tires 68 , and an exhaust pipe 64 , among other accessories.
These additional sports car accessories may be attached to either the chassis 12 or body module 16 , 18 , 20 , or 22 by any of the methods described in FIGS. In addition, the front body module 16 may comprise an opening 76 out of which the engine 43 shown in FIG. The rear body module 18 may also comprise an opening 77 out of which the engine 43 may protrude. Referring back to FIG.
Additional engine components may be attached to the engine 43 to form various engine styles. For instance, engine components 47 and 49 may be attached to the engine 43 to form a racing style engine assembly, or engine components 51 and 53 can be combined to form a high performance engine assembly.
The engine components 43 , 47 , 49 , 51 and 53 can be interchangeably attached both to each other and to the attachment sites 41 and 45 by any of the methods of FIGS. The left and right side body modules 20 and 22 may comprise adjacently positioned attachment mechanisms which are of a different shape, size or style to prevent the side modules 20 and 22 from being assembled up-side-down or backward onto the chassis For example, referring to FIGS.
Although pegs have been described, any of the attachment mechanisms described in FIGS. An example embodiment of an assembled foot-to-floor vehicle is shown in FIG. In this case the vehicle body module 14 resembles a truck. In this example, the vehicle body module 14 is comprised of four separate module sections, a front body module 16 a , a rear body module 18 a , a left side body module 20 a and a right side body module 22 a.
The truck body modules 16 a , 18 a , 20 a , and 22 a may be assembled onto and disassembled from the vehicle chassis 12 in the same manner as is described above for the sports car body modules 16 , 18 , 20 , and As a result, if for example a sports car has been assembled as described above, but is no longer desired, the sports car body modules 16 , 18 , 20 , and 22 as well as any other sports car accessories can be disassembled and replaced by the truck body modules 16 a , 18 a , 20 a , and 22 a and truck accessories such that the toy vehicle 10 is completely transformed from a toy vehicle 10 which resembles a sports car to a toy vehicle 10 which resembles a truck.
Alternatively, some of the sports car body modules 16 , 18 , 20 , and 22 and sports car accessories can remain assembled while other sports car body modules 16 , 18 , 20 , and 22 and sports car accessories are disassembled and replaced by truck body modules 16 a , 18 a , 20 a , and 22 a and other truck accessories, such that a hybrid car is produced.
For example, the sports car rear body module 18 can be removed from the chassis 12 and replaced with the truck rear body module 18 a such that a sports car with a truck bed is produced. In addition, a hybrid vehicle can be comprised of any other combination of sports car components and truck components. Also, any combination of any of the plurality of stylistically different body modules and vehicle accessories can be attached to the same vehicle chassis 12 to form a wide range of hybrid vehicles.
In addition, truck front body module 16 a may comprise attachment sites wherein one of a plurality of stylistically different interchangeable grills 80 and 81 may be attached. The truck rear body module 18 a may resemble a pickup truck bed, and may comprise a rotatable tailgate 82 which has an opened position and a closed position. The truck rear body module 18 a may also contain slots 83 which mate with stake bed plugs 84 to attach a stake bed 85 to the rear body module 18 a.
Example truck accessories include, a variety of wheel covers 84 - 86 , side exhaust pipes 87 and 88 , a truck-style steering column 89 , a variety of steering wheel styles not shown , and over-sized tires 90 , among other accessories. These additional truck accessories may be attached to either the chassis 12 or body module 16 a , 18 a , 20 a , or 22 a by any of the methods described in FIGS.
Each of the components discussed in conjunction with FIGS. A second model of the toy vehicle 10 of the present invention is a pedal toy vehicle model shown in FIGS. Each of the assembly techniques described above in conjunction with the foot-to-floor vehicle of FIGS. Also like the foot-to-floor vehicle, the pedal vehicle may be designed such that a child of reasonable knowledge, skill and dexterity for the intended age group, in this case years of age, can interchange the vehicle module body styles and accessories without assistance from others.
In addition, like the foot-to-floor vehicle, the components of the pedal vehicle may be constructed from a material such as a blow molded plastic material, an injection molded plastic, such as ABS, a machined plastic, such as ABS, or a machined metal, such as aluminum or stainless steel.
Secured to the chassis is a transmission unit The transmission unit may comprise rotatable foot pedals Rotation of the foot pedals causes an axle to rotate, which in turn causes wheels which are secured to the axle to rotate, such that the vehicle is propelled when the vehicle is on a riding surface.
Any number of a plurality of stylistically different interchangeable vehicle body modules, such as vehicle body module , may also be removably secured to the chassis In FIG. In addition, vehicle accessories for each of the various body styles may be secured to the vehicle body module or the chassis so that the pedal vehicle more closely resembles the vehicle type to which it is intended to depict.
Also, as is described for the foot-to-floor vehicle, the vehicle body module and vehicle accessories for the pedal vehicle from different body types may be combined on the same chassis to form a hybrid pedal vehicle having, for instance a pedal vehicle front end which resembles a sports car and a pedal vehicle back end which resembles a truck.
An example embodiment of an assembled pedal vehicle is shown in FIG. A third model of the toy vehicle 10 of the present invention is an electric toy vehicle model shown in FIGS. Also like the foot-to-floor vehicle, the electric vehicle can be designed such that a child of reasonable knowledge, skill and dexterity for the intended age group, in this case years of age, can interchange the vehicle module body styles and accessories without assistance from others. Since the electric vehicle is designed for use by children in an older age range than the intended users of the foot-to-floor vehicle, the assembly techniques and attachment devices for the electric vehicle may be slightly more advanced than that which is described above for the foot-to-floor vehicles.
For example, some simple mechanical tools such as screw drivers may be required for the assembly and interchanging of parts for the electric vehicle For instance, the body module made be secured to the chassis by a plurality of screws which pass through apertures in the body module 14 and into sections of the chassis which may be internally threaded.
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