U.S. patent number RE33,769 [Application Number 07/433,527] was granted by the patent office on 1991-12-17 for ridable vehicle and assembly method.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Kransco. Invention is credited to Lawrence R. Harrod.
United States Patent |
RE33,769 |
Harrod |
December 17, 1991 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Ridable vehicle and assembly method
Abstract
A child's ridable vehicle is disclosed which includes generally
first and second body portions with proximal ends overlapped and
secured at alignment apertures to a frame of the vehicle. The
second body portion overlaps the first body portion at still
portions of each which are inverted U-shaped sections overlapped on
the frame. The second body portion has a unitary post bushing
passing through the alignment aperture in the first body portion
and into an aperture in the frame to be secured by a threaded
fastener and this locates both body portions relative to each other
and to the frame. The two body portions may be assembled by placing
them at a wide angle V and nesting them together then straightening
out the two parts to be in common plane and mating them with the
frame with a threaded fastener inserted through the frame and
securing the two overlapped body portions to the frame.
Inventors: |
Harrod; Lawrence R. (Fort
Wayne, IN) |
Assignee: |
Kransco (San Francisco,
CA)
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Family
ID: |
27029882 |
Appl.
No.: |
07/433,527 |
Filed: |
November 8, 1989 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
Reissue of: |
910019 |
Sep 22, 1986 |
04709958 |
Dec 1, 1987 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
296/177;
296/35.1; 296/209; 446/470; 296/181.4; 296/205; 296/193.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B62D
29/001 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B62D
29/00 (20060101); B62D 025/08 (); B62K 009/00 ();
A63H 017/26 () |
Field of
Search: |
;296/186,901,177,193-197,203,209,205,35.1 ;446/470,471 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Pedder; Dennis H.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Kolisch, Hartwell, Dickinson,
McCormack & Heuser
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A child's ridable vehicle comprising, in combination;
first and second complementary plastic body portions;
one of said body portions being the front and the other of said
body portions being the rear of a body for a child's vehicle;
a frame including first and second longitudinal frame members each
with an intermediate portion;
first and second inverted generally U-shaped sill portions on said
first body portion adapted to overlie the intermediate portion of
said first and second longitudinal frame members, respectively;
first and second inverted generally U-shaped sill portions on said
second body portion adapted to overlap and be complementary to said
first body portion sill portions;
an alignment aperture in each said sill portion; and fasteners
securing said overlapped sill portions to said frame at said
alignment apertures.
2. A ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 1, including a unitary
post on each of said sill portions of said second body portion, and
said posts being received in said alignment apertures of said first
body portion.
3. A ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 1, including a seam edge
on each of said body portions; and
said fasteners securing said overlapped sill portions to said frame
with said seam edges of said first and second body portions closely
adjacent.
4. A ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 1, wherein said body
portions overlap; and
a part of said first body portion closely overlying the proximal
end of said second body portion.
5. A ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 4, including a hook on
said proximal end of said second body portion;
a part of said frame engaged by said hook; and
said part of said first body portion closely overlying said hook to
retain said hook on said frame.
6. A ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 1, including a floor pan
on one of said body portions with a hook on one end thereof;
a transverse member in said frame; and
said hook disposed on said transverse member to support said one
end of said floor pan from said frame.
7. A ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 6, including U-shaped
transverse members supported by said frame longitudinal members;
and
grooves in said floor pan receiving said U-shaped transverse
members for support of said floor pan from said frame. .Iadd.
8. A child's ridable vehicle comprising:
a frame on which wheels are affixed;
first and second complimentary plastic body portions;
one of said body portions being the front and the other of said
body portions being the rear of a body for a child's vehicle;
first and second inverted generally U-shaped sill portions on said
first body portion;
first and second inverted generally U-shaped sill portions on said
second body portion, in which the inverted U-shape has a bight of
the U which is generally flat, horizontal and is complimentary to
and laps over a respective one of said first and second sill
portions on said first body portion;
alignment apertures in each said sill portion whereby fasteners
installed through said alignment apertures in said overlapped sill
portions of said body portions serve to locate said first body
portion relative to said second body portion; and
locators on said first and second body portions for locating said
body portions relative to said frame and fasteners for securing
said body portions to said frame. .Iaddend. .Iadd.
9. A ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 8, including a unitary
post on each of said sill portions of said second body portion,
each said unitary post being a post bushing having one of said
alignment apertures therein, and said posts on said second body
portion being received in said alignment apertures of said first
body portion. .Iaddend. .Iadd.
10. A ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 8 including a seam edge
on each of said body portions, in which said seam edges of said
first and second body portions are closely adjacent when said body
portions are located relative to one another with said first and
second sill portions on said second body portion overlapping the
respective first and second sill portions on said first body
portion. .Iaddend. .Iadd.11. A ridable vehicle as set forth in
claim 8 wherein said body portions overlap at proximal ends; and a
part of said first body portion closely overlies the proximal end
of said second body portion. .Iaddend. .Iadd.12. A ridable vehicle
as set forth in claim 11 including a hook on said proximal end of
said second body portion;
a part of said frame engaged by said hook; and
said part of said first body portion closely overlying said hook to
retain said hook on said frame. .Iaddend. .Iadd.13. A ridable
vehicle as set forth in claim 8, including a floor pan on one of
said body portions with a hook on one end thereof;
a transverse member in said frame; and
said hook disposed on said transverse member to support said one
end of said floor pan from said frame. .Iaddend. .Iadd.14. A
ridable vehicle as set forth in claim 13, including U-shaped
transverse members supported by said frame longitudinal members;
and
grooves in said floor pan receiving said U-shaped transverse
members for support of said floor pan from said frame. .Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many different wheeled vehicles have been used by children from
early wagons to the pedal crank foot propelled vehicles popular
decades ago. More recently electrically propelled vehicles with on
board battery power have been popular. The material used in
construction was originally a wooden body with some metal parts,
than an all metal body became popular, and now plastic body
components are more usual. The plastic body parts may be made by
different processes and a popular form is injection molded plastic
parts. In the larger size vehicles approaching four feet long this
would mean the injection molded part might need to be four feet
long and this is one which requires an exceptionally large and
powerful injection molding machine to properly assemble these body
parts to form a finished body for a ridable child's vehicle. This
can create problems of misalignment of parts and also excess labor
in the problems of attempting to assemble many different parts.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention problem is solved by a child's ridable vehicle
comprising, in combination first and second complementary plastic
body portions, one of said body portions being the front and the
other being the rear of a body for a child's vehicle, a frame
including first and second longitudinal frame members each with an
intermediate portion, first and second inverted generally U-shaped
sill portions on said first body portion adapted to overlie the
intermediate portion of said first and second longitudinal frame
members, respectively, first and second inverted generally U-shaped
sill portions on said second body portion adapted to overlap and be
complementary to said first body portion sill portions, an
alignment aperture in each said sill portion, and fasteners
securing said overlapped sill portions to said frame at said
alignment apertures.
The problem is further solved by the method of assembling a child's
ridable vehicle having a frame having first and second longitudinal
frame members each with an intermediate portion, first and second
complementary plastic body portions with one for the front and the
other for the rear of the completed vehicle and one body portion
having a depressed floor pan, each body portion having first and
second inverted U-shaped sill portions each with an alignment
aperture, said method including the steps of disposing said first
and second body portions at a wide angle V and inserting said sill
portions of said first body portion into said sill portions of said
second body portion and then opening out the V shape of said two
body portions to be aligned in a common plane, subsequently mating
said aligned body portions with said frame with said sill portions
being overlapped on the intermediate portions of said longitudinal
frame members and with said floor pan adjacent said intermediate
portions, and fastening said overlapped sill portions to said frame
at said alignment apertures.
Accordingly an object of the invention is to provide a child's
ridable wheeled vehicle wherein first and second body parts are
overlapped and secured to a frame by fasteners through alignment
apertures in the two body portions.
A still further object of the invention is to provide a method to
assembly two body portions of a child's ridable vehicle by placing
them in a wide spread V angle and inserting the proximal ends into
overlapping relationship and then opening out the V to be in a
plane which body portions may then be secured to a vehicle
frame.
Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be
had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the completed child's ridable
vehicle;
FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the vehicle of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a plan view of a vehicle frame with the body shown in
phantom lines;
FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of the completed vehicle;
FIG. 5 is a sectional view on line 5--5 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 6 is a sectional view on line 6--6 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 7 is sectional view on line 7--7 of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 8 is a side elevational view of the two body portions during
assembly.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The figures of the drawing illustrate a child's ridable wheeled
vehicle 11 and the method of assembly. This vehicle 11 includes
three main parts; a frame 12 and first and second body portions 13
and 14, respectively. The frame 12 is better illustrated in FIG. 3
in which the body portions 13 and 14 are shown only in phantom. In
the preferred embodiment, the frame 12 is made from first and
second longitudinal frame members 17 and 18 which may be made from
square steel tubing each with an intermediate portion 19 and 20,
respectively, which are bent outwardly to lie at the sill portions
of the completed vehicle. First and second transverse members 21
and 22 are fixedly secured to the longitudinal members, for example
by welding, to thus provide rigidity and stiffness to the entire
frame 12. Third, fourth and fifth transverse frame members 23, 24
and 25 are provided and may be cylindrical rods of metal such as
steel. The third transverse frame member 23 is loosely fitted in
apertures in the longitudinal members 17 and 18. The fourth and
fifth transverse frame members 24 and 25 are generally U-shaped
with L-shaped ends 26 as shown in FIGS. 4 and 6. These L-shaped
ends fit rather loosely in apertures in the intermediate portions
19 and 20 of the frame and are used to support the floor pan as
described below. King pins 29 and 30 are also journalled on the
frame 12 by passing through the first transverse frame member 21.
These king pins 29 and 30 are unitary with spindles 31 and 32,
respectively, on which the front wheels of the vehicle are
journalled. A usual steering mechanism 33 is provided to turn the
king pins 29 and 30 under guidance of a steering wheel 34. Four
post bushings 35 are provided affixed to the frame 12 and these may
be steel cups welded to the frame members. Two of these post
bushings at the front of the vehicle surround the king pins 29 and
30 and the remaining two are at the rear on the second transverse
frame member 22, and surround locator posts 37 and 38 affixed to
the frame.
The first body portion 13 includes generally the front of the
vehicle and the second body portion 14 the rear of the vehicle.
These two body portions 13 and 14 are better shown in FIG. 8,
without all of the added parts which make the complete vehicle. The
first body portion 13 is a unitary part and includes generally the
front fenders 41, a battery box 42, the instrument panel 43 and
first and second proximal sill portions 45 and 46, respectively.
Each of these sill portions is generally an inverted U-shape, with
the bight 47 of the U being at the top and overlying the
intermediate portions 19 and 20 of the longitudinal frame members.
Alignment apertures 48 are provided in each of the sill portions 45
and 46, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The first body portion 13 also
includes unitary posts 49 which are received in the front post
bushings 35 on the frame 12.
The second body portion 14 includes generally the rear quarter
panels 51 with fender openings for the rear wheels, the seat base
52, a depressed floor pan 53, a hook 54 on the front or proximal
end of the floor pan, and first and second sill portions 55 and 56
at the front or proximal end of this second body portion 14. All of
the aforementioned parts are unitary and made in a single injection
molded part. The first and second sill portions 55 and 56 are
generally an inverted U-shape, as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8 and are
complementary to the sill portions 45 and 46, respectively, on the
first body portion 13. The inverted U-shape has a bight 57 of the U
which is generally flat, horizontal and is complementary to and
laps over the respective sill portion 45 and 46. Each sill portion
55 and 56 has a unitary post bushing 58, each of which contains an
alignment aperture 59 into which a screw 60 with a washer 62 is
installed. The post bushing 58 is received in the alignment
aperture 48 of the first body portion 13, as shown in FIG. 7, and
passes through apertures 61 in the intermediate portions 19 and 20
of the frame to locate the two body portions on the frame. The rear
body portion 14 also includes unitary locator posts 63 which fit
inside the post bushings 35, at the rear of the frame and unitary
post bushings 64 secured near the rear of each frame by a sheet
metal screw 65. The rear body portion floor pan 53 also includes
two transverse grooves 66 and 67 to receive the U-shaped transverse
frame members 24 and 25 respectively.
The assembly of the vehicle 11 starts with the frame 12 being
prepared as shown in FIG. 3. The frame will include the parts 17
through 33 and welded or secured as specified above. This frame
will normally be disposed horizontally and the body portions 13 and
14 disposed above them. These body portions would be disposed as
shown in FIG. 8 at a wide angled V with the proximal portions
disposed adjacent each other. The battery box 42 may be rested on
the top of the hook 54 and the forward end of the body portion 13
raised to the position shown in FIG. 8. This makes the sill
portions 45 and 46 on the first body part straddling the floor pan
53 and below the sill portions 55 and 56 on the second body portion
14. The post bushings 58 on the sill portions 55 and 56 are one
reason why this wide angle V is required and then the front end of
the first body portion 13 may be lowered to pivot the sill portions
45 and 46 up into nested or overlapped position with the sill
portions 55 and 56. This will make the two body portions in planar
alignment and then the two body portions may be lowered onto the
frame 12. In straightening the two body portions into alignment,
the alignment apertures 48 in the sill portions 45 and 46 will be
received on the post bushings, and the alignment apertures 48 may
be slightly elongated to permit this. Then these post bushings 58
will be received in the apertures 61 in the intermediate portions
of the longitudinal frame members 17 and 18. This locates the first
body portion 13 relative to the second body portion 14 and locates
both relative to the frame 12. When the body portions 13 and 14 are
mated with the frame 12, there are other locators for the body and
frame. Two of these locators are at the front of the vehicle where
the unitary posts 49 are received in the post bushings 35 and the
king pins 29 and 30 extend up through a flange 69. A friction cap
70 may be placed on the top of these king pins, and this retains
the front of the body on the frame. Plastic engaging metal screws
60 may be driven from below up into the post bushings 58. At this
time a seam edge 71 on the first body part 13 will be closely
adjacent a seam edge 72 on the second body portion 14. The
dimensional tolerance between the king pin apertures and the
alignment apertures 48 will determine the closeness of the seam
edges 71 and 72.
When the first and second body portions are mated with the frame
12, there are additional locators on the second body portion 14.
The post bushings 63 will be received in the post bushings 35 on
the frame and pass over the locator posts 37 and 38. Friction caps
73 may be placed on these locator posts to secure the body portion
14 to the frame. Also, the post bushings 64 will rest on the rear
end of the frame and may be secured thereto by the sheet metal
screws 65 into preformed apertures in the frame again to secure the
rear of the vehicle to the frame. The U-shaped transverse frame
members 24 and 25 will be nested in the grooves 66 and 67,
respectively, to provide reinforcement for the depressed floor pan,
for example, when a child stands up in the vehicle. The front end
of the second body portion 14 is narrowed, generally in accordance
with the narrowing of the frame members 17 and 18, and the hook 54
at the front end of this body portion 14 is sufficiently narrow to
be hooked over the relatively short third transverse frame 23. This
provides support for the front end of the floor plan, and the
battery box 42 comes down to within a small distance, for example
1/16th of an inch, above the top of the hook 54. Since the battery
box is a unitary part of the first body portion 13, the hook 54
cannot become disengaged from the transverse frame member 23.
After the two body portions are mated with the frame 12, the
vehicle 11 may be completed by adding the steering column and
steering wheel 34, a windshield 77, seats 78, a roll bar 79, hood
80, wheels 81 and a power train including an electric motor 82 as
well as other finishing touches.
The present disclosure includes that contained in the appended
claims, as well as that of the foregoing description. Although this
invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain
degree of particularity, it is understood that the present
disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of
example and that numerous changes in the details of construction
and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to
without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as
hereinafter claimed.
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