Children's Ride-On Vehicle Assembly

Abstract

A children's ride-on vehicle assembly comprises a vehicle body and an interchangeable cleaning apparatus. The vehicle body comprises a front end and a rear end. The vehicle body further comprises a seat sized for a child. The vehicle body further comprises a plurality of driving wheels and a steering assembly. The plurality of driving wheels is rotatably coupled to the vehicle body and adapted to contact a floor surface. The steering assembly comprises a steering mechanism for use by the child sitting on the seat of the vehicle body and a plurality of steerable wheels. The interchangeable cleaning apparatus is attached to the vehicle body and is configured to clean the floor surface while the vehicle body moves around the floor surface.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to children's ride-on vehicles. More specifically, the present invention is a children's ride-on vehicle assembly including a cleaning apparatus for cleaning surfaces such as floors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Children's ride-on vehicles are reduced-scale vehicles that are designed and sized for use by children. Typically, children's ride-on vehicles include at least one seat adapted to accommodate one or more children and steering and drive assemblies that are adapted to be operated by a child sitting on the seat. The drive assembly that is often used in children's ride-on vehicles includes a battery-powered motor that is adapted to drive the rotation of one or more of the vehicle's wheels.

However, existing children's ride-on vehicles only have a single entertainment function which is to move children around. It is an objective of the present invention to provide a children's ride-on vehicle assembly that includes a cleaning apparatus such that the floor surface may be cleaned while the vehicle moves around.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention discloses a children's ride-on vehicle assembly. The children's ride-on vehicle assembly comprises a vehicle body and an interchangeable cleaning apparatus. The vehicle body comprises a front end and a rear end. The vehicle body further comprises a seat sized for a child. The vehicle body further comprises a plurality of driving wheels and a steering assembly. The plurality of driving wheels is rotatably coupled to the vehicle body and adapted to contact a floor surface. The steering assembly comprises a steering mechanism for use by the child sitting on the seat of the vehicle body and a plurality of steerable wheels. The interchangeable cleaning apparatus is attached to the vehicle body and is configured to clean the floor surface while the vehicle body moves around the floor surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the invention. They are meant to be exemplary illustrations provided to enable persons skilled in the art to practice the disclosure and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the dimensions of the components of the present invention, independently and in relation to each other can be different. It should be noted that the drawings are schematic and not necessarily drawn to scale. Some drawings are enlarged or reduced to improve drawing legibility.

FIG. 1 depicts a perspective view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts another perspective view of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts another perspective view of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram illustrating the main electronic components of the present invention.

DETAIL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INVENTION

As a preliminary matter, it will readily be understood by one having ordinary skill in the relevant art that the present disclosure has broad utility and application. As should be understood, any embodiment may incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed aspects of the disclosure and may further incorporate only one or a plurality of the above-disclosed features. Furthermore, any embodiment discussed and identified as being “preferred” is considered to be part of a best mode contemplated for carrying out the embodiments of the present disclosure. Other embodiments also may be discussed for additional illustrative purposes in providing a full and enabling disclosure. Moreover, many embodiments, such as adaptations, variations, modifications, and equivalent arrangements, will be implicitly disclosed by the embodiments described herein and fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

Accordingly, while embodiments are described herein in detail in relation to one or more embodiments, it is to be understood that this disclosure is illustrative and exemplary of the present disclosure and is made merely for the purposes of providing a full and enabling disclosure. The detailed disclosure herein of one or more embodiments is not intended, nor is to be construed, to limit the scope of patent protection afforded in any claim of a patent issuing here from, which scope is to be defined by the claims and the equivalents thereof. It is not intended that the scope of patent protection be defined by reading into any claim a limitation found herein that does not explicitly appear in the claim itself. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of patent protection is to be defined by the issued claim(s) rather than the description set forth herein.

Additionally, it is important to note that each term used herein refers to that which an ordinary artisan would understand such term to mean based on the contextual use of such term herein. When not explicitly defined herein, to the extent that the meaning of a term used herein—as understood by the ordinary artisan based on the contextual use of such term—differs in any way from any particular dictionary definition of such term, it is intended that the meaning of the term as understood by the ordinary artisan should prevail.

Furthermore, it is important to note that, as used herein, “a” and “an” each generally denotes “at least one,” but does not exclude a plurality unless the contextual use dictates otherwise. When used herein to join a list of items, “or” denotes “at least one of the items,” but does not exclude a plurality of items of the list. Finally, when used herein to join a list of items, “and” denotes “all of the items of the list.”

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers are used in the drawings and the following description to refer to the same or similar elements. While many embodiments of the disclosure may be described, modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possible. For example, substitutions, additions, or modifications may be made to the elements illustrated in the drawings, and the methods described herein may be modified by substituting, reordering, or adding stages to the disclosed methods. Accordingly, the following detailed description does not limit the disclosure. Instead, the proper scope of the disclosure is defined by the appended claims. The present disclosure contains headers. It should be understood that these headers are used as references and are not to be construed as limiting upon the subject matter disclosed under the header.

Other technical advantages may become readily apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art after review of the following figures and description. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.

Unless otherwise indicated, the drawings are intended to be read together with the specification and are to be considered a portion of the entire written description of this invention. As used in the following description, the terms “horizontal”, “vertical”, “left”, “right”, “up”, “down” and the like, as well as adjectival and adverbial derivatives thereof (e.g., “horizontally”, “rightwardly”, “upwardly”, “radially”, etc.), simply refer to the orientation of the illustrated structure as the particular drawing figure faces the reader. Similarly, the terms “inwardly,” “outwardly” and “radially” generally refer to the orientation of a surface relative to its axis of elongation, or axis of rotation, as appropriate. As used herein, the term “proximate” refers to positions that are situated close/near in relationship to a structure. As used in the following description, the term “distal” refers to positions that are situated away from positions.

The present disclosure includes many aspects and features. Moreover, while many aspects and features relate to, and are described in the context of children's ride-on vehicles, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to use only in this context.

The present invention is a children's ride-on vehicle assembly. It is an aim of the present invention to provide a toy vehicle assembly that incorporates different types of cleaning apparatus. It is another aim of the present invention to provide a children's vehicle that is simple in structure, inexpensive to manufacture, and easy to use.

Referring now to the figures of the present disclosure. FIGS. 1-4 are perspective views of two different embodiments of the present application. The only difference between the two embodiments lies in the attached cleaning apparatus.

The children's ride-on vehicle assembly of the present invention comprises a vehicle body 100 and an interchangeable cleaning apparatus 200. The vehicle body 100 is the main body of the present invention and can be used to house a variety of electronic components. It should be noted that the vehicle body 100 can be of any shape, size, material, features, type or kind, orientation, location, quantity, components, and arrangements of components that would allow the present invention to fulfill the objectives and intents of the present invention. For example, although the vehicle body 100 has a substantially rectangular shape, any other suitable shapes are also contemplated. The vehicle body 100 comprises a front end 102 and a rear end 104. Moreover, the vehicle body 100 comprises a seat 106 that is sized to accommodate a child. The vehicle body 100 further comprises a steering assembly 110 and a plurality of driving wheels 130. The steering assembly 110 comprises a steering mechanism 112 for use by the child sitting on the seat 106 of the vehicle body 100 and a plurality of steerable wheels 118. Preferably, the steering assembly 110 is located adjacent to the front end 102 of the vehicle body 100. In another preferred embodiment, the steering assembly 110 further comprises a steering column 116 that connects the steering mechanism 112 to the plurality of steerable wheels 118. In the illustrated embodiment, the steering mechanism 112 takes the form of a steering wheel 114. However, it is within the scope of the present disclosure that other mechanisms may be used, such as handlebars or steering levers.

The plurality of driving wheels 130 may be installed at any suitable location but is preferably installed at the rear end 104 of the vehicle body 100. In one embodiment, the vehicle body 100 further comprises a driving motor 132, a battery 134, a drive actuator 136, and a controller 138. The driving motor 132 is configured to selectively drive the rotation of the plurality of driving wheels 130. Preferably, the driving motor 132 is an electric motor powered by the battery 134 carried on the vehicle body 100. In a preferred embodiment, the driving motor 132 is a brushless DC motor. The battery 134 is electrically connected to the driving motor and configured to selectively energize the driving motor 132. The battery 134 is preferably a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, nickel metal hydride battery, nickel cadmium battery, lithium iron phosphate battery, etc. The drive actuator 136 is configured to receive a user input directing the battery 134 to energize the driving motor 132. Examples of suitable drive actuator 136 include an on/off switch, a foot pedal, a throttle lever, and a rotational handgrip on a steering mechanism that includes a handlebar. In the illustrated embodiments, an example of a drive actuator 136 is shown in the form of a foot pedal 137 positioned for actuation by the child sitting on the seat 106. The controller 138, as shown in FIG. 5, is configured to control operation of the driving motor 132 in response to the user input received from the drive actuator 136. The controller 138 may include a microprocessor or suitable control circuit that is adapted to control the actuation or energization, of the driving motor 132 by the battery 134 to regulate electronically the rotational input transmitted by the driving motor 132 to the plurality of driving wheels 130.

In reference to FIGS. 1-4, the interchangeable cleaning apparatus 200 may be attached to the vehicle body 100 via any suitable attachment means. It should be noted that the interchangeable cleaning apparatus 200 can be of any shape, size, material, features, type or kind, orientation, location, quantity, components, and arrangements of components that would allow the present invention to fulfill the objectives and intents of the present invention. In the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interchangeable cleaning apparatus 200 comprises a motorized scrub head 210. The motorized scrub head 210 comprises one or more scrubbing members 212 and a scrubbing motor 214. The scrubbing members 212 may include one or more brushes, such as bristle brushes, pad scrubbers, microfibers, or other hard (or soft) floor surface scrubbing elements. Scrubbing members 212 may include a disc-type scrub brush rotating about a generally vertical axis of rotation relative to the floor surface, as shown in FIGS. 1-4. Alternatively, for example, scrubbing members 212 may include one or more cylindrical-type scrub brushes rotating about a generally horizontal axis of rotation relative to the floor surface.

The scrubbing motor 214 is configured to rotate the one or more scrubbing members 212. Preferably, the controller 138 is further configured to control operation of the scrubbing motor 214 in response to the user input received from the drive actuator 136. In the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interchangeable cleaning apparatus 200 comprises a mop head 220, which is attached to the vehicle body 100 via a plurality of attachment members 222. It should be noted that any other suitable cleaning apparatus may be used, including but not limited to vacuum cleaners, sweepers, dust-collecting devices, etc.

Although the disclosure has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure.

Claims

1. A children's ride-on vehicle assembly, comprising:

a vehicle body;

an interchangeable cleaning apparatus;

the vehicle body comprising a front end and a rear end;

the vehicle body further comprising a seat sized for a child;

the vehicle body further comprising a plurality of driving wheels and a steering assembly;

the plurality of driving wheels being rotatably coupled to the vehicle body and adapted to contact a floor surface;

the steering assembly comprising a steering mechanism for use by the child sitting on the seat of the vehicle body and a plurality of steerable wheels; and

the interchangeable cleaning apparatus being attached to the vehicle body and configured to clean the floor surface while the vehicle body moves around the floor surface.

2. The children's ride-on vehicle assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the steering assembly is located adjacent to the front end of the vehicle body.

3. The children's ride-on vehicle assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the steering assembly further comprises a steering column that connects the steering mechanism to the plurality of steerable wheels.

4. The children's ride-on vehicle assembly as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:

a driving motor configured to selectively drive the rotation of the plurality of driving wheels;

a battery electrically connected to the driving motor and configured to selectively energize the driving motor;

a drive actuator configured to receive a user input directing the battery to energize the driving motor; and

a controller configured to control operation of the driving motor in response to the user input received from the drive actuator.

5. The children's ride-on vehicle assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the drive actuator is a foot pedal.

6. The children's ride-on vehicle assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interchangeable cleaning apparatus comprises a motorized scrub head.

7. The children's ride-on vehicle assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the motorized scrub head comprises one or more scrubbing members and a scrubbing motor, the scrubbing motor being configured to rotate the one or more scrubbing members.

8. The children's ride-on vehicle assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the interchangeable cleaning apparatus comprises a mop head, the mop head being attached to the vehicle body via a plurality of attachment members.