Children's ride-on vehicle with mechanical speed control

A children's ride-on vehicle, comprising:

• a reduced scale chassis having a seat configured to accommodate at least one child;
• a drive assembly including a drive wheel and a battery powered motor assembly with a motor output;
• a motor output linkage adapted to engage the motor output;
• a drive wheel linkage adapted to engage the drive wheel;
• and
• a torque attenuator configured to selectively transmit torque from the motor output linkage to the drive wheel linkage, wherein the torque attenuator is adapted to temporarily interrupt the transmission of torque to the drive wheel linkage and delay the transmission thereof in response to a triggering event, wherein the torque attenuator comprises:
• a drive member rotationally coupled to the motor output linkage and including a drive member engagement portion, wherein the drive member engagement portion includes a drive detent structure;
• a driven member rotationally coupled to the drive wheel linkage and including a driven member engagement portion that is configured to couple with the drive member engagement portion for rotation as a unit, wherein the driven member engagement portion includes a driven detent structure that is configured to engage the drive detent structure;
• and
• a resilient member configured to exert an engaging force to bias the drive member and the driven member together to rotate as a unit and to transmit torque from the motor output linkage to the drive wheel linkage;
• and
• wherein the torque attenuator is configured to respond to an applied torque from the motor output, wherein the applied torque has a magnitude that exerts a disengaging force to oppose the engaging force, wherein upon receipt of an applied torque that exerts a disengaging force that exceeds the engaging force, the torque attenuator is adapted to disengage the drive member and the driven member for rotation independent of one another, and further wherein the torque attenuator is configured to respond to a subsequent reduction in the disengaging force below the engaging force by biasing the drive member and the driven member back into engagement with each other to rotate as a unit.

A children's ride-on vehicle, comprising:

• a reduced scale chassis having a seat configured to accommodate at least one child;
• a drive assembly including a drive wheel and a battery powered motor assembly with a motor output;
• a motor output linkage adapted to engage the motor output and receive a rotational input therefor;
• a drive wheel linkage adapted to engage the drive wheel;
• and
• a torque attenuator configured to selectively transmit torque from the motor output linkage to the drive wheel linkage, wherein the torque attenuator is adapted to temporarily interrupt the transmission of torque to the drive wheel linkage and delay the transmission thereof in response to a triggering event, and further wherein the triggering event includes a positive acceleration of the ride-on vehicle.

A self-contained torque attenuation system for reducing drive assembly stresses in a children's ride-on vehicle having a drive assembly with a battery-powered motor assembly and a drive wheel, the torque attenuation system comprising:

• a housing configured to be coupled to a children's ride-on vehicle drive assembly between the motor assembly and the drive assembly, wherein the housing includes a motor output linkage configured to rotationally couple to an output of a motor assembly having a rate of rotation, a drive wheel linkage configured to rotationally couple to a drive wheel having a rate of rotation, and a resilient member configured to respond to a difference in the rate of rotation of the motor output linkage and the rate of rotation of the drive wheel linkage by interrupting the transmission of rotation from the motor output linkage to the drive wheel linkage, wherein the difference in the rate of rotation of the motor output linkage and the rate of rotation of the drive wheel linkage is caused by a triggering event that includes an applied torque from the motor output linkage that exceeds a magnitude threshold, and wherein the system further comprises a drive member that includes a drive detent structure and a driven member that includes a driven detent structure adapted to engage the drive detent structure, wherein the resilient member is configured to bias the drive member and the driven member together.

A self-contained torque attenuation system for reducing drive assembly stresses in a children's ride-on vehicle having a drive assembly with a battery powered motor assembly and a drive wheel, the torque attenuation system comprising:

• a housing configured to be coupled to a children's ride-on vehicle drive assembly between the motor assembly and the drive assembly, wherein the housing includes a motor output linkage configured to rotationally couple to an output of a motor assembly having a rate of rotation to receive a rotational input therefrom, a drive wheel linkage configured to rotationally couple to a drive wheel having a rate of rotation, and a resilient member configured to respond to a difference in the rate of rotation of the motor output linkage and the rate of rotation of the drive wheel linkage by interrupting the transmission of rotation from the motor output linkage to the drive wheel linkage, wherein the difference in the rate of rotation of the motor output linkage and the rate of rotation of the drive wheel linkage is caused by a triggering event that includes an applied torque from the motor output linkage that exceeds a magnitude threshold, and further wherein the housing includes a through bore adapted to accommodate an axle of a children's ride-on vehicle, wherein the housing is configured to mount on the axle via the through bore and align the motor output linkage with the output of the motor assembly.