Rotating vehicle toy

A vehicle toy comprising:

• first and second lateral sides, front and rear ends, and an outer perimeter;
• at least three pairs of wheels, each pair having a common rotational axis, the wheels of each wheel pair being opposed to one another on the first and second lateral sides, the wheels on each lateral side of the vehicle being arranged in a polygon at the outer perimeter, such that adjoining pairs of the wheels define planes which are mutually transverse to one another and which entirely circumscribe the outer perimeter of the vehicle;
• and
• motor means drivingly coupled with at least two pairs of wheels for driving the at least two pairs of wheels;
• wherein two wheel pairs are located proximal the rear end, and one wheel pair is located proximal the front end, such that the transverse planes form a triangle;
• and
• wherein the two pairs of wheels proximal the rear end are spaced sufficiently far apart from one another such that the vehicle can maintain itself upright on the two pairs of wheels proximal the rear end when the vehicle is operated with the two pairs of wheels proximal the rear end in contact with a surface supporting the vehicle.

A vehicle toy comprising:

• first and second lateral sides, front and rear ends, and an outer perimeter;
• first, second and third wheels pairs, each wheel pair having a common rotational axis, the wheels of each wheel pair being located opposite one another on the first and second lateral sides, and the wheels on each lateral side of the vehicle being triangularly positioned to entirely circumscribe the outer perimeter, such that only two wheel pairs contact a generally level surface at a time and such that the vehicle can be operated on any two adjoining pairs of the three pairs of wheels;
• a first reversible electric motor drivingly coupled with at least two wheels on the first lateral side, the at least two wheels being coupled together for common rotation;
• and
• a second reversible electric motor drivingly coupled independently of the first motor with at least two wheels on the second lateral side opposing the at least two coupled wheels on the first lateral side, the wheels on the second lateral side being coupled together for common rotation.

A vehicle toy comprising:

• first and second lateral sides, front and rear ends, and an outer perimeter;
• at least three pairs of wheels, each pair having a common rotational axis, the wheels of each wheel pair being opposed to one another on the first and second lateral sides, the wheels on each lateral side of the vehicle being arranged in a polygon at the outer perimeter, such that adjoining pairs of the wheels define planes which are mutually transverse to one another and which entirely circumscribe the outer perimeter of the vehicle, wherein two wheel pairs are located proximal the rear end, and one wheel pair is located proximal the front end, such that the transverse planes form a triangle;
• a first reversible electric motor drivingly coupled to at least two wheels proximal the rear end on one of the two lateral sides of the vehicle;
• a second reversible electric motor, independently operable from the first motor, drivingly coupled to at least two wheels proximal the rear end on a remaining one of the two lateral sides of the vehicle opposing the two wheels on the one lateral side;
• a controller responsive to control signals received from a source remote to the vehicle, the controller being coupled with the first and second electric motors;
• and
• the vehicle being balanced and powered sufficiently to rise up from an initial orientation supported by one pair of unpowered wheels proximal the front end and one pair of the powered wheels proximal the rear end and to rotate to a second orientation supported on the two pairs of powered wheels proximal the rear end and to be rotated from the second orientation to a third orientation supported on a remaining one of the pairs of powered wheels proximal the rear end and the one pair of unpowered wheels proximal the front end.

A vehicle toy comprising:

• first and second lateral sides, front and rear ends, and an outer perimeter;
• at least three pairs of wheels, each pair having a common rotational axis, the wheels of each wheel pair being opposed to one another on the first and second lateral sides, the wheels on each lateral side of the vehicle being arranged in a polygon at the outer perimeter, such that adjoining pairs of the wheels define planes which are mutually transverse to one another and which entirely circumscribe the outer perimeter of the vehicle;
• and
• motor means drivingly coupled with at least two pairs of wheels for driving the at least two pairs of wheels;
• wherein two wheel pairs are located proximal the rear end, and one wheel pair is located proximal the front end, such that the transverse planes form a triangle;
• wherein two wheels on one of the lateral sides of the vehicle are powered by one motor and are coupled together for common rotation;
• wherein the two pairs of wheels proximal the rear end are the powered pairs of wheels;
• wherein at least one of the at least three pairs of wheels is unpowered by the motor means, the at least one pair of unpowered wheels being located proximal the front end;
• and
• wherein the vehicle is balanced and powered sufficiently to rise up from an initial orientation supported by the one pair of unpowered wheels proximal the front end and one pair of the powered wheels proximal the rear end and to rotate to a second orientation supported on the two pairs of powered wheels proximal the rear end and to remain in the second orientation until selectively accelerated sufficiently to be rotated from the second orientation to one of the first orientation and a third orientation supported on a remaining one of the pairs of powered wheels proximal the rear end and the one pair of unpowered wheels proximal the front end.