Suspension for unibody toy vehicle
AssigneeCarter Brothers Mfg. Co., Inc.
InventorRoderick Uphaus
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A go-kart construction uses a unibody construction wherein the body serves as a part of the suspension as well. The molded body is made from a flexible yet resilient material such as fiberglass or a suitable plastic such that it has sufficient flexion about a longitudinal axis to allow some twisting deformity without sagging when a passenger is supported in the vehicle. The forward suspension is mounted only to the forward portion of the molded body and includes a transverse member on which vertical bearings for the steerable guidance wheels are mounted, however, the transverse member is connected to the flexible body only by a pair of longitudinally extending members which are freely rotatably connected to the transverse member at their forward ends.
Claims12
A vehicle, suitable for use by a child, having an internal combustion engine providing motive power thereto, comprising, in combination:
- a. a molded unitary body of a flexible resilient material defining a front portion, a rear portion, and a passenger seat;
- b. a forward suspension assembly affixed to said front portion of said molded unitary body and to a pair of concomitantly steerable front wheels, said suspension and said body adapted to allow each of said pair of front wheels to follow the contour of a surface supporting said vehicle independently of said other one of said pair of front wheels.
A vehicle, suitable for use by a child, having an internal combustion engine providing motive power thereto, comprising, in combination:
- a. a molded unitary body of a flexible resilient material defining a front portion, a rear portion, and a passenger seat;
- and
- b. a forward suspension assembly affixed to said front portion of said molded unitary body and to a pair of concomitantly steerable front wheels, said suspension and said body adapted to allow each of said pair of front wheels to follow the contour of a surface supporting said vehicle independently of said other one of said pair of front wheels, said suspension assembly including a first and second longitudinal members extending subjacent said front portion and affixed thereto in spaced relation from one another, a transverse member extending between said first and second longitudinal members and rotatably receiving a forward end of each of said members therethrough, and means for mounting said steerable front wheels to opposing ends of said transverse member for concomitant steering about an axis substantially orthogonal to said transverse member and said longitudinal members.
In a vehicle for children, wherein said vehicle has an internal combustion engine and a means for controlling the direction of said vehicle through a pair of forwardly mounted wheels, the improvement comprising:
- a flexible unitary body having a forward and rear portion and serving as part of the suspension of said vehicle to support a passenger on a seat formed thereon;
- forward suspension means cooperatively connected to said unitary body at said forward portion such that said body and suspension means allow each of said pair of forwardly mounted wheels to follow the contour of a surface supporting said vehicle without the use of springs said forward suspension including a pair of longitudinal members affixed to the forward portion of said body and a transverse member supported on said forwardly mounted wheels and extending between said pair of longitudinal members at a forward end thereof with each of said pair of longitudinal members independently rotatably connected to said transverse member;
- and a separate rear suspension affixed to and supporting said rear portion of said body on a pair of drive wheels.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.