Children's car driven by swiveling operations of a steering wheel

Abstract

The present invention relates to a children's car that moves forward with a simple and easy operation with particular care taken of the safety of the child riding the car. The car includes a transmission configured to allow forward rotation only of the drive wheels. A steering block which can be steered with a steering wheel and a steering column is provided at the front of the car body. Drive wheels having a ratchet wheel are provided on opposed sides of the steering block. Auxiliary wheels are provided at the front and the rear of the steering block to stably support the car body. As a child sits on or in the car and turns the steering wheel in alternating directions, the right and left drive wheels rotate in a forward direction. A pawl linked to the steering block engages the ratchet wheels to prevent inverse rotation of the drive wheels, causing the car to proceed ahead in a zig-zag pattern.

1 . A children's car, comprising: 
 a body;    a pair of ground-engaging drive wheels provided at a bottom of the body, each drive wheel having a ratchet operably connected thereto;    a rotatable steering block rotatably supporting the ground-engaging drive wheels and ratchets; and    a pair of pawls supported by the steering block and adapted for engaging the ratchets, whereby rotation of the ground-engaging drive wheels and ratchets is limited to a forward direction.    
   
   
       2 . The car of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one ground-engaging rear wheel provided at the bottom of the body.  
   
   
       3 . The car of  claim 1 , wherein the steering block substantially defines a parallelepiped.  
   
   
       4 . The car of  claim 1 , further including a steering mechanism for rotating the steering block.  
   
   
       5 . The car of  claim 4 , wherein the steering mechanism comprises a steering column extending upwardly from the steering block and adapted for rotating by a user.  
   
   
       6 . The car of  claim 1 , further including at least one auxiliary wheel rotatably supported by the steering block.  
   
   
       7 . The car of  claim 6 , wherein the at least one auxiliary wheel is held at a spaced distance from the ground.  
   
   
       8 . The car of  claim 7 , wherein the pair of ground-engaging drive wheels define a first longitudinal axis across the steering block and the at least one auxiliary wheel is supported along a second longitudinal axis defined across the steering block, the first and second longitudinal axes defining an included angle of about 90 degrees.  
   
   
       9 . The car of  claim 8 , further including a pair of auxiliary wheels supported on opposed sides of the steering block along the second longitudinal axis.  
   
   
       10 . A children's car, comprising: 
 a body;    a pair of ground-engaging drive wheels provided at a bottom of the body; and    a transmission adapted to transmit a motive force to the ground-engaging drive wheels;    whereby the transmission allows rotation of the ground-engaging drive wheels only in a forward direction.    
   
   
       11 . The car of  claim 10 , wherein rotation of the pair of ground-engaging drive wheels is controlled by the transmission to allow only forward rotation of each ground-engaging drive wheel in alternating sequence.  
   
   
       12 . The car of  claim 11 , wherein the transmission comprises: 
 a ratchet operably connected to each of the pair of ground-engaging drive wheels;    a rotatable steering block or bar supporting the ground-engaging drive wheels and ratchets; and    a pair of pawls adapted for engaging the ratchets whereby rotation of the ground-engaging drive wheels is limited to a forward direction only.    
   
   
       13 . The car of  claim 12 , wherein the steering block or bar further rotatably supports at least one auxiliary wheel.  
   
   
       14 . The car of  claim 13 , wherein the at least one auxiliary wheel is supported at a spaced distance from the ground.